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Description
The next page is here: faile35.deviantart.com/art/Boo… . For more information on the entire series, read the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… or the "'Demon's Due' Plus" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… .

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"So, Scholarling," the Hellbinder speaks slowly in a voice hollow like an ancient tree, "you wish to bargain with us? Or, at least with the Jervil fragment that resides within us?"

Frozen in place and now rooted there by a dozen rope lengths coiled about her waist and thighs, Elina feels instinctively the need to avoid directly answering the "yes or no" inquiry, suspecting that either would be wrong in her malefic opponent's eye. "As the woman Callista did, perhaps," she says meekly, "and as Jervil himself hoped to do when the Harbinger arrived."

Elina is horrified to see what she believes is a smile on the fanged, misshapen mouth, if such a thing is possible. The Hellbinder speaks again, but its voice is now rich and thick as syrup. "The woman, Callista didn't bargain with us, Scholarling; she bargained with Anjerome Villios' Bookbinding. And, given those constraints, such a bargain was a reasonable pursuit for the one called Jervil. But once the Bookbinding was fulfilled, its constraints broken, how did we... deal with her? Surely you read that as well?"

Now it is Elina's turn to pause in growing uncertainty, but the Hellbinder stalls her response and complicates it further. "Or the Cat Witch? How did she fare with us, with the Jervil fragment alone, after the Bookbinding was fulfilled? To what Fate did her deal with us commit her? Is this what you are asking of us, Scholarling? By your gesture of submission to us, are you committing yourself to the fates of these others?"

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Had some issues with tense (past, present, etc.) in the above comments that I think I fixed.

As has been stated in a comment or two over the last couple of pages, Elina is unique in her talents and therefore in her resistance to potential capture; bringing to bear a mind that readily engages in intellectual pursuits hasn't been much of an option for Valerin, Deirdre, Callista, Anna, or even Zirena. Avora could have done it, but didn't get the opportunity (in either the original or the upcoming revision of Twisted Plot), and Drea could have done it, but she got hypnotized and railroaded into a situation that urged her into a more violent physical confrontation. Before anyone frets too much, no one needs be concerned that the attempt will take the remainder of the chapter, or even a sizable portion of it.

Enjoy!

Note: Bookbinding and Demon's Due are a work of fantasy and fiction. The artist/creator in no way condones real mistreatment of this kind toward any woman or man, by living person, gremlin, plant, assassin, ratman, viscous fluid, programmed device, animated home furnishings, or otherworldly spiritual beings. Furthermore, the artist opposes the marginalizing and restriction of women in general by any institution, political and/or religious, including those which have individual women amongst their membership touting/promoting their own happiness within that institution as evidence that ALL women should feel the same way. This includes the religion I was raised in and which I have utterly discarded from my life over this and other issues.

Description
The next page is here: faile35.deviantart.com/art/Boo… . For more information on the entire series, read the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… or the "'Demon's Due' Plus" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… .

***********************************************

"So, Scholarling," the Hellbinder speaks slowly in a voice hollow like an ancient tree, "you wish to bargain with us? Or, at least with the Jervil fragment that resides within us?"

Frozen in place and now rooted there by a dozen rope lengths coiled about her waist and thighs, Elina feels instinctively the need to avoid directly answering the "yes or no" inquiry, suspecting that either would be wrong in her malefic opponent's eye. "As the woman Callista did, perhaps," she says meekly, "and as Jervil himself hoped to do when the Harbinger arrived."

Elina is horrified to see what she believes is a smile on the fanged, misshapen mouth, if such a thing is possible. The Hellbinder speaks again, but its voice is now rich and thick as syrup. "The woman, Callista didn't bargain with us, Scholarling; she bargained with Anjerome Villios' Bookbinding. And, given those constraints, such a bargain was a reasonable pursuit for the one called Jervil. But once the Bookbinding was fulfilled, its constraints broken, how did we... deal with her? Surely you read that as well?"

Now it is Elina's turn to pause in growing uncertainty, but the Hellbinder stalls her response and complicates it further. "Or the Cat Witch? How did she fare with us, with the Jervil fragment alone, after the Bookbinding was fulfilled? To what Fate did her deal with us commit her? Is this what you are asking of us, Scholarling? By your gesture of submission to us, are you committing yourself to the fates of these others?"

***********************************************

Had some issues with tense (past, present, etc.) in the above comments that I think I fixed.

As has been stated in a comment or two over the last couple of pages, Elina is unique in her talents and therefore in her resistance to potential capture; bringing to bear a mind that readily engages in intellectual pursuits hasn't been much of an option for Valerin, Deirdre, Callista, Anna, or even Zirena. Avora could have done it, but didn't get the opportunity (in either the original or the upcoming revision of Twisted Plot), and Drea could have done it, but she got hypnotized and railroaded into a situation that urged her into a more violent physical confrontation. Before anyone frets too much, no one needs be concerned that the attempt will take the remainder of the chapter, or even a sizable portion of it.

Enjoy!

Note: Bookbinding and Demon's Due are a work of fantasy and fiction. The artist/creator in no way condones real mistreatment of this kind toward any woman or man, by living person, gremlin, plant, assassin, ratman, viscous fluid, programmed device, animated home furnishings, or otherworldly spiritual beings. Furthermore, the artist opposes the marginalizing and restriction of women in general by any institution, political and/or religious, including those which have individual women amongst their membership touting/promoting their own happiness within that institution as evidence that ALL women should feel the same way. This includes the religion I was raised in and which I have utterly discarded from my life over this and other issues.