The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Legend of the Spectral Seal

Fortune Bound

by Phantom Pen ()

The Spectral Seal has been well-known in less-traveled circles nearly since its creation. It brings respect and notoriety in equal measure, and perhaps more attention than one would knowingly invite.

Westfarthing, England 1862

Delving Manor

Jack crept silently from foothold to foothold as he crawled across the vine covered southern face of the palatial Delving Manor. The Delving Family had become wealthy and powerful through their influence and investments in the East India Trading Company, and this enormous summer domicile was only one of their many extravagant displays of affluence. In fact, just one of the three floors in just of the three wings had more floor space than every house Jack had ever lived in during the twenty-two years of his life. Combined. But that was okay, he was here to fix all that. If there were two things Jack was sure of, it was these: that rich people would never be able to resist showing off their wealth as ostentatiously as possible; and whenever a wealthy socialite wanted to put his treasures on display for the world to see, he wanted to make them hidden again. Preferably in his own ample pockets until he could dispose of them to someone else. The Delving Family might be professional socialites, but Jack was something even more professional: a thief.

With a sense of profound satisfaction, Jack found the opening he was looking for, a small square hole for dumping bathwater. It looked barely large enough for a housecat, but it was the only entrance to the uppermost story that was not barred or guarded. With a grunt, Jack began to squeeze his smallish frame inside. He thought for a moment that his hips were going to get stuck, but they followed his shoulders after a little grunting and a hurried plea to whatever deity would decide to notice thieves in a good light.

Once he was through the chute, Jack took quick stock of his inventory: rope, a mask that covered the upper half of his face, a form fitting black shirt and pants that wouldn’t snag on anything or make noise, a pair of gloves and soft-soled shoes made from the same fabric, and a small toolkit containing his lock-pick and a small knife. The clothing had cost him most of a year’s worth of work, but it had saved his hide more than once so far. Normally he carried a small knapsack on his back to put the objects he “put into secure storage” in, but this was not an ordinary snatch-and-grab. Tonight he was on a mission.

Jack exited the well-decorated lavatory and crept into the hall. The entire floor was dark and quiet, just the way he liked it. With less sound than a scurrying rat, he slid along the wall towards the westernmost corner of the building. He came to a large set of double doors with an absurdly complicated lock and smiled. According to his sources, who were reliable more often than not, the object of his attention lay on the other side of this ... temporary inconvenience. The inconvenience proved somewhat less temporary than he had hoped, however, and his nerves had begun to tell him that he was spending far too long in one place before he finally picked the lock and heard the bolt retract with the smooth motion of well-oiled clockwork.

He flowed into the room like a shadow, wondrously taking stock of the marvels before him. Some thieves really were the uncouth ruffians they were made out to be, but Jack liked to think that stealing exclusively from the obscenely wealthy gave him a touch of class. Sure, he might not know the significance of the ancient-looking masks on the wall or the brightly-ornamented sticks on display or any of the musty tomes on the shelves, but he knew they were of far greater value to some collectors than any boring old precious stones or fancy necklaces.

At first glance, he didn’t see what he was looking for, so he did another, slower circuit of the gallery. At first he missed it—a place where a display table should have been, but was not. On a closer inspection, he suddenly realized his error. As beautiful as a full moon after the rain, he saw it seemingly floating in mid-air. A medallion almost the size of his fist, worked in gold.

* * *

“Yer good, Jack old boy. I’ll give ye that. Toppin’ yer coffers wit t’ pockets o’ t’ rich themselves’s a gutsy way t’ go, and no mistake. But ye haven’t made a good enough splash fer y’self to be well known in this here business yet, laddie. Sure, yer good. Brilliant, mayhaps. But ye keep yer head too low t’ be respected by yer peers, yet.”

“Nonsense, Cap. The whole idea is for no one to find you.”

“No one to find ye, aye. But no one t’ give ye yer due? That’s another matter entirely. What y’need is a high-profile job. Something no one’s ever managed to make off with before, something that’s claimed the careers of more thieves through the years than ye or I would care t’ name.”

“Sounds like you’ve got something in mind already, Cap.”

“Aye, I sure do, laddie. I sure do. Let me tell you about the Spectral Seal.”

* * *

Jack pondered the view before him. His knowledge of how the world worked was far from perfect, but he was pretty sure objects didn’t just float in the air unless they were attached to a balloon, and—quick check—no balloon. He ran his hand a foot above the Spectral Seal to see if it was suspended by a thread he couldn’t see, but without luck. He stepped back, perplexed. To the naked eye, the Spectral Seal appeared to be simply hovering at chest height without any form of support. Hesitantly he reached for it, but a few inches short his fingers were stopped by an unseen and wooden-sounding object.

Face scrunched up in confusion, he felt around it to discover something that amazed him completely. The Spectral Seal appeared to be resting in a solid wooden stand with a locked hinge on the lid. At first he was so spooked by the presence of the impossibly invisible box that he almost left. But then, a thought came to him. No one else had been able to get over the unnatural, invisible case and the strangely invisible lock, but, by Jove, he was made of sterner stuff. With an effort of conscious willpower, Jack forced himself to pick the lock despite his increasingly restless nerves. It was tricky without any kind of visual cues to aid him, but a few minutes later he felt the catches release. Trembling, he lifted the top and reached for his objective inside.

His heart leaped as he put his hand around it and lifted it out. It was everything he ever wanted. Fortune, notoriety, the respect and admiration of his peers in the thief’s arts. His elation took a sudden plunge however, when he saw the Seal’s stand slowly fade into visibility in front of him. He was speechless for a moment, watching the impossible spectacle before his eyes, until he noticed something even stranger. His gloves were fading away with the same lazy reluctance, as if they were unsure if they should really be doing it or not. In the space of perhaps fifteen seconds, they faded to complete invisibility. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he whispered.

“And why would that be?” a quiet voice whispered back.

Jack whirled suddenly at the voice behind him, breath coming quickly and heart pounding in alarm. In the open doorway stood a woman. She was a vision of loveliness, with flowing dark hair and startling eyes that seemed to whisper at him through the darkness. A thin nightgown clung to her delicate but womanly figure as she stood there, calmly watching him. A growing silence held them both motionless, observing the other. “Who are you? How long have you been there?” he asked.

Her laughter was like a cascade of wind chimes. “I am the Lady Elena Delving. I’ve been watching you for the last several minutes.” She smiled in a condescending way. “You have come farther than any other before you, but won’t leave here with your prize. In fact, unless I miss my guess you may never leave here at all.”

“Just watch me.” Jack thought for a moment, then smiled broadly. “Or better yet, don’t watch me. Just watch me ... disappear.” With one smooth motion he brought the Spectral Seal up by his face and touched it to his lips. His eyes widened for just a moment in surprise, then went blank as he felt his willpower suddenly leave him through them.

Lady Delving chuckled throatily. “Oh, yes. I seldom miss my guesses. Now come along, Pet. I have ...” she ran her fingers through her hair, “uses for you.”

Jack followed along obediently behind her as she walked away, the Spectral Seal still pressed to his lips.

Soon enough, something entirely different was pressed to them.