When Nua left the palace of the Prince, she found the carriage of the hotel Notilion waiting for her, the driver sat in a cloak with his hood up, waiting with seemingly perfect patience. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew intuitively it was the same young man.
“I did as promised, My Lady!” He shouted as he jumped down smoothly from the top, his boots slamming into the cobblestone, only the fact that he’d grabbed a brass bar on the side of the carriage meant to help him down, kept him on his feet from the slippery stone.
He reached over and grabbed the handle of the door, yanking it open sharply while rain pounded him and his two night black horses. They nickered and pawed at the ground unhappily under the storm, and Nua walked past him without a word. She let her foot fall on the low step leading up into the interior, and pressed her weight on it twice more, ensuring that he saw her check his work. Though the springs gave, there was no disgraceful squeak to show a lack of perfect maintenance from the establishment at which she stayed.
Her silence was her praise, and he flushed with relief, closing the door before she was even fully seated and scrambling to climb back up into the driving seat of the carriage. The soft wood gave slightly under his weight, and excellent slick cloak or not, his skin felt drenched, like a dog dropped into a most unwelcome bath. He cracked the whip and drove the carriage out, the way was empty. ‘Rainy season may be gone, but it looks like we had one more in us before things really start to dry out. Probably for the best, last paddy harvest wasn’t great, prices were too high for my liking…’ The driver pondered over inconsequential things to ignore the endless wet and dark. The sound of the clip and clop of horse hooves on cobblestone was drowned out and such was the driving rain that even the stones beneath them were drowned and almost invisible. Only the way the water itself bobbed up and down, or occasionally cast a stone loose from its position, gave away that they were there at all.
He drove slow, despite his desire for the night to end and for himself to return to his own bed. “Drive to arrive, alive.” He murmured the hotel’s instructions about carriage driving in conditions like these. ‘Like they care about us getting there alive, their guest? Yes. The carriage? Yes. Drivers? Bah!’ It was almost a pleasant spitefulness to hold out a hand to accept tips from guests who were under no obligation to give him anything. Sometimes he wondered if they actually knew about the gratuities and ignored it in hopes that their workers would work harder just on the ‘hope’ of extra money. ‘Nahh, no way.’ He dismissed it and let his mind wander on, waiting to quit for the night.
Inside the carriage, Duchessa Nua Calen Aiewenor was wrapped up in her own thoughts. “Ill dressed for the occasion or not, it looks like it worked out in my favor after all.” She muttered, looking at the rain outside and down at her enchanted travel clothing. She threw back the hood of the cloak that was secured by a small adamantite chain around her neck. Despite being almost entirely dry, she twitched her long ears to shake off a stray drop or two that had dared invade her space.
Behind her at the palace, she imagined the licentious trio was engaged in another round of debauchery, despite… or because of, the dire situation in which they found themselves.
“Poor bastards. All of them. This whole city.” Nua reflected and stared at the empty seat in front of her, vaguely wishing she’d had her teacher join her. The unending despair and the frantic search for happy touch and sensation weighed on her like a stone secured around her neck. She tried to stop thinking of that, and turned her mind instead to Priceless. ‘Poor girl, poor girl. She never did anything to deserve that life, just a bad roll of the dice… then she had to end up with me. And all because of that, now she’s taken.’ Guilt weighed heavily on her heart. ‘I’m sure Kaiji is beyond frantic to find her, for both their sakes. If she’s not found, I’m sure Kaiji isn’t eager to find herself alone in a room with me.’ Nua leaned to one side, setting her elbow on an armrest and propped her head up casually. Her right hand traced over the cushion beside her legs. Touching, stroking, and pressing into the rich silk fabric of the expensive down stuffed seat cushion was a guilty pleasure of hers. The way it gave and bounced back, it was like magic without being magic.
‘Like the sheets on Aalon’s bed, and the mattress beneath.’ The distant memory of his loving face as he entered her, his thighs as she hooked her legs behind him and pulled him in farther. The way his teeth nibbled at her ears with gentle attention, the warm breath of his want. ‘We were both so naive then…’ She pressed her fingers hard against the plush fabric, and relaxed the pressure allowing it to bounce back, just the way the bed had when her master’s son climaxed in her embrace. Nua shook the memory off before bitterness took hold, and felt the carriage begin to slow down.
She didn’t wait for the driver to get down, she popped open the door, suddenly eager to escape the comfort plush seating. She flung the hood up over her head, drew out a coin of gold and tossed it over her shoulder to land in the boy’s lap. “Keep it, good work, boy. Go buy yourself a hot meal,
a hot drink and a warm bed!” She shouted over the din as he stared down at the heavy gold piece that had literally dropped into his lap.
He stared at the dark cloaked elven woman, oblivious for the moment to the rain that seemed to want to drown the city. Her high black boots scattered puddles beneath her step until the steps became the stone leading up to the luxuriant hotel.
She threw back her cloak’s hood when she passed through the large double doors, and found Onimeus seated nearby. The older man approached and bent the knee to her with his head bowed. “Mistress. I respectfully report that the search was called off. The mystic burst was sent skyward over two hours ago.”
Nua nodded, nonplussed. “I expected as much, if they didn’t find her before, there’s no way they’d find her in those conditions. How about Teacher and Sado? Have they returned?”
Onimeus shook his head, “No, mistress. The rain wasn’t that bad when they left, but given the conditions, they’ve probably chosen to remain at the guild until morning.”
“More likely Solution just wanted to watch Sado fight some high ranking adventurers.” Nua said with a deadpan face before she recalled Sado’s powerful limbs and the heavy blow he was capable of landing, “Or… maybe Sado asked for that himself?”
Onimeus felt his spine tingle to hear his former prince referred to so casually, but kept his face down and blank as an unused canvas. “Yes… either is possible, but I don’t expect them until morning.”
“Then I don’t either, you may return to your cage, you should have been given fresh blankets and some food, if you see none of it, before you lock yourself in, notify me.” Nua gave the instruction casually and began to move on, but it rocked the iron collared Komestran slave to the core to hear her say such a thing.
‘If she’s mocking me… I can’t tell.’ he thought, and hastily chose to acknowledge it, “As-As you will, mistress.” He stammered and rose to his feet when she was well past him, venturing out to the temporary discomfort, and ‘security’ of the bars.
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Nua ascended the winding fine wooden steps of the hotel, other than the front desk clerk and Onimeus himself, nobody was around to see her. It was unsurprising at that hour, and more than a little bit of a relief. Her long blonde hair bounced in time with her long rhythmic steps, her footfalls made no sound on the red carpet that ran between the rails and the expensive suites. Her sensitive ears caught faint sounds within, some were snoring, some were thrashing, some were moaning, and some were blended moans from couples lying together.
When Nua got to her own room however, she heard nothing. Her hand stopped on the handle. The tiny twitch of her ears sought any hint of threat within. ‘Is Kaiji sleeping?’ She brought her ear to the door, and there was, however faint, breathing. [Stallion’s Ear] She uttered the assassin martial art, her now vastly better hearing told her there was one person within her room. And that person was on the floor. The breathing was uncomfortable, but healthy. ‘She’s been crying again, poor thing.’ Nua found herself repeating the earlier phrase. She cut off the art, took a deep breath, held her hand up to see if she had the scent of wine on her, and felt relief that she did.
She opened the door, and there in the faint glow of lights along the walls, was Kaiji. However, she was not dressed as Nua had left her, the demon-elf was in fact, not dressed at all. She was as naked as the day Nua had purchased her, save for the bronze collar and the purple tag that denoted her status in service.
More alarming to Nua, was that Kaiji was not only not dressed, she was prostrate on the floor where Nua would see her immediately, with her hands thrown far forward with her head pressed so hard into the floor that the demon-elf horns that grew from the back sides of her head, could almost touch the floor themselves. Untouched between her hands, sitting on the floor, was a brown whip.
When the door shut behind Duchessa Aiwenor, and before she could speak, Kaiji was already crying out. “I failed you! I failed you mistress! I lost your Priceless and couldn’t find her! I tried! We tried! You trusted me with her and they took her away! I’m sorry! I submit myself to punishment…” She blubbered to the floor. “I didn’t even know they’d taken her, if only I’d said something immediately! If only I’d asked… she might be here… might be safe… now who knows who took her or what they’ve done to her… your Kaiji failed you…” She rocked her forehead back and forth along the floor.
Nua strode slowly over to where Kaiji had lain herself, and picked up the brown leather lash.
“This isn’t mine.” Nua said matter of factly, then added, “Is it…?” As if she had forgotten.
Kaiji whimpered, “No… no. I… didn’t buy it… I got it… I got it…” She hesitated, fighting the urge to swallow her words.
“Yes?” Nua prompted, towering over her, Kaiji could see only the surface of her owner’s boots, and hear the sound of her owner inspecting the leather.
“I told the front desk clerk… told him I failed, that some of your property was taken and it was all my fault… I asked… I asked for something to discipline me with, something you could use… to make me pay for my failure. Whatever happens to Priceless… I can’t make it right… You gave me your purple tag, you gave me your trust, and a treasure beyond worth went missing because of me… They gave me that.” She gulped from the floor.
Nua folded the whip and yanked it taut. “When you were a mistress… did you do this to your slaves often when they failed you?”
Kaiji felt herself almost jump out of her skin at the sound of the leather snapping as it was tested.
“I… yes. No. I mean, I wasn’t cruel… I didn’t think. But when I was Lady Kaiji, I sometimes disciplined the ones I had, for infractions. For theft, for damaging things, things like that.”
Nua snapped the leather tightly again, watching the way her slave jumped out of her skin at the noise, while somehow remaining prostrate on the ground, tense and waiting.
“Did you hurt Priceless?” Nua asked, her eyes boring into the back of Kaiji’s skull.
The demon-elf slave felt the stare, heard the cold words, but the very question ripped her to her core.
“Never! I love her! I love her! I would never hurt her…” She denied it instantly and rocked her head back and forth on the floor, she raised it a bit, and lowered it over the black boot of the owner that had preserved her life.
“Did you conspire with anyone to take her, or did you use the magic that caused the weather to turn for the worse and make searching impossible.” Nua asked, sliding the long slender leather cord between her fingers, the wrapping work exceptional. ‘They really do spare no expense here.’
“No! I promise! I promise I didn’t! I can’t even use magic that powerful, or that kind!” Kaiji spouted the denials as fast as her lips could move without looking up.
“Are you absolutely loyal to me, slave?” Nua asked, and after checking the tip to find it in perfect condition, she let the whip unroll and trace over the dark purple skinned back of the demon-elf.
Kaiji was quick to answer, the tracing leather over her back was soft, but that didn’t calm her. “I am! You are my mistress! You bought me and saved my life! You saved the Prince I helped raise! You gave me my Priceless! You let me… us… Mistress, I am yours… completely and totally loyal, punishing me for my failure will not change that!” The prostrate demon-elf felt her heart throb and her body tense itself for the inevitable blows.
“Then why would I hurt you?” Nua asked, and tossed the whip aside. She crouched down, then sat on the floor and took Kaiji by her hard, bone horns, and pulled her over, so that the slave was in her lap. “There there…” Nua whispered and started stroking her like a child, “There there… you didn’t know what would happen, nobody knew. And you did your best today, didn’t you?”
“Every day!” Kaiji’s mind was whirling from the moment she heard the leather lash discarded and clatter into a heap after it struck the wall.
“I know… I know. I could see how much you love her, how much you need her. I know you wouldn’t have risked that this way… and it’ll be alright, she’ll be found, and she’ll be found alive.”
Kaiji held her eyes open like saucers and looked through one solid ruby colored eye up at the azure blue of the face over her. The breath that reached her face was cold as death, but carried with it the tracings… abundant, of wine.
‘She’s kinder when she drinks.’ She thought to herself, and let her settle into the lap she’d been tugged to, acutely conscious of her nakedness, and that they were alone.
“Mistress… are you… you’re really not going to punish me? Not going to, I mean, I failed you, I let your property get taken,” She asked the question with an uncomprehending stare upward, even though she savored the reassuring touch of the giving right hand.
“You’re punishing yourself far worse than I could. Why would I make it worse?” Nua asked the question rhetorically, but went on regardless, “You didn’t ask for this life… you just got unlucky, got caught… and got me.” The brutal enchanted hand was gloved, but that did nothing to reduce the raw terror that raced through her veins like ice being carried by a flood.
‘She could drain my life away with that… like… like before? What does she need with a whip anyway, just being close to her, a grave’s breath and a life taking hand...’ She shuddered, and yet at the same moment other thoughts warred within.
‘She gave me my life and my Priceless and let us make love without making it some game to amuse herself, she called her a treasure and made her happy… all good things come from her hands… all safety comes from her will. Mistress… goddess… what’s the difference? Priceless, I understand.’ She kept looking up at the way her face was bathed in the dim light, like a spirit coming out of the dark, Kaiji made a bold move, and wrapped her arms around the waist of her owner.
“Mistress…” She sniffled, “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.” Nua stroked the poor fallen noblewoman’s bare arm and set her back straight against the wall, staring upward at the ceiling, all she thought for a moment was, ‘I’m glad Solution isn’t here for this.’
“Priceless, before she went missing, she told me… told me to learn to love you, to love serving you. She said… she said that was the best way to… to just ‘be’. She said even if I had to lie to myself, I should learn to believe it. She… she was trying to help me live in this life, since my old one is gone and will never come back. I know… I know you’ll never set me free, so I just have to make this the best life I can for myself. Maybe… maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, Mistress.” Kaiji took Nua’s right hand and kissed her palm as soft as the flapping of a butterfly’s wings.
When her touch to the palm faded, Kaiji kept talking. “I… didn’t believe her at first, not that I didn’t respect you…” She added hastily, “You’re strong, powerful, successful, dangerous… rich, you saved my life and are good to those of my city you’ve acquired. I… yes, I respected you, but… but now? Now seeing how far you’re going for my Priceless, and how kind you’re being to me now when… when I just… when it was my fault… and you don’t… don’t…”
“Mistress I love you. I love you.” She brought Nua’s palm to her lips and kissed it again, “I abjure the stars, they’ve despised me, their fate casting destroyed my city and made us all… just the possessions of the six cities. You’re my goddess, the only good things I have anymore, come from you. My only safety… lies in you. You had my body by law… but I love you as a supplicant, by choice.” Kaiji’s eyes closed to hide her inner thoughts.