Chapter 17

Overlord Trennan D'vard had a bearing similar to Rennis in that he was lean of frame and not overtly muscular of build. He was not quite as tall, however, and much of his hair had gone silver. Yet like most Overlords, he was fit, with a face that was hard without being haggard. Other than his hair, he showed no evidence of his advancing age.

He was soft spoken, though his eyes remained attentive and sharp as they gazed at his fellow Overlord and host.

"So you see, Trennan, it is my wish to have your support when the Conclave comes to a vote in the days hence," said Roquan. Despite the fact that Doran had told him to simply state the offer to the other Overlord, he could not resist making his case anyway. He kept it short, no more than reiterating what he had said at the open of the Conclave.

And he remained true to his promise not to mention the trade agreement with Colos.

Trennan, however, was the least political of the Overlords. His desires never lay around what the Overlords "should" or "should not" do. Thus he was less impressed with Roquan's speech than Roquan had hoped.

He clasped his hands behind his back and stepped to the side, appearing to be lost in thought for the moment. "It would appear this is quite important to you, Roquan," he said simply.

"I believe I have made that apparent, yes. We are speaking of the separation between the venues of the Overlords and the Imperium."

Trennan gave a single nod at this in acknowledgment, though it factored very little in his thinking. He cast a small but pleasant smile at the other Overlord. "And were the Conclave to act, one could see it as stumbling into the same quagmire."

"Only to correct the mistake of the Emperor."

"One good mistake deserves another, then, eh?"

Roquan paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "One would hope our intention is not to make a mistake. It would indeed be a mistake to do nothing."

Trennan, one of the oldest of the Overlords, could see right through the naivete of Roquan, but he decided not to point it out. It ultimately mattered little. "Doing nothing is what Overlords are ultimately best at," he said, allowing himself a small smirk, just to see how it might rile his host.

Roquan remained steady, though his eyes did grow a touch cool. "Perhaps, then, it is time to discuss a means by which we avoid doing nothing."

Ah, now he comes to it. Trennan wondered why the man did not simply come out with it in the first place. It would have saved so much time. Trennan's smile grew easy, and he turned more fully towards Roquan. "I can see my way clear to be convinced to come to your side. It all depends on how much you wish my support."

"I wish it enough to offer twenty casks of fine wine."

One of Trennan's eyebrows arched almost imperceptibly. "Really? What vintage?"

"Doran's own vineyards."

Trennan cupped his fingers under his chin. "Twenty, you say..." he said softly.

"I believe you will find it satisfactory. Doran's wine is well known abroad."

"Indeed, indeed."

The reality was that Trennan was quite excited about Roquan's offer. Gronnus had already offered him ten, which was all that Gronnus had stockpiled. This was by far the better deal. He would gladly give his vote for such a take.

In the silence of Trennan's pause, Roquan decided not to take any chances. "Actually, Trennan, you will forgive me. My mind is elsewhere today."

"Oh?"

"The number was, in fact thirty."

"Thirty?" Trennan declared before he could catch himself.

Roquan simply nodded, yet inwardly he was quite pleased. He had the deal in his hand, he knew that now.

Trennan swiftly recovered, returning to his calm, subdued demeanor. "I shall consider your offer, Roquan. It is quite generous of you. You will have my answer in the evening."

"I thank you, Trennan. If it would please you, as a show of hospitality on my part, I would offer you my Trainee Amanda for your pleasure."

Trennan slowly smiled. "I would indeed find that pleasing. Bring her at your earliest convenience."

"I shall fetch her now. Good day to you, Overlord Trennan."

"Good day, Overlord Roquan," replied Trennan, completing the protocol.

Trennan smiled to himself after the Overlord left. Yes, this was going to turn into a very profitable experience for him. More so than the two previous Conclaves he had attended in his life combined.

And yet he would have more opportunity later. Why, only that morning Gronnus had visited with him and hinted that he should expect another Overlord later that day, who would sweeten the deal even further. He had to admit, however, Roquan's offer was rather hard to beat. Thirty casks! Even twenty he had found to be quite astonishing an amount.

Yet he would do as he did with Roquan. Each side would get their chance to have his vote. And as for the Emperor and Roquan's grievances? Feh. He could care less about that. It was nothing in the larger picture. No, regardless of the decision of the Conclave, things would continue as they always had for centuries.

Nothing ever truly changed across the face of Narlass. And the Overlords liked it that way.

Amanda hid her disappointment at being summoned to the Overlord's quarters that morning right after breakfast. She knew why as soon as she saw the slave girls again waiting for her. She was bathed, though more quickly than before, and they offered her no sexual release.

She was surprised at how calm she was. Or perhaps it was more resignation. Despite Sirinna's earlier reassurances to her that she had likely experienced the worst with Freya, she still was not looking forward to any more encounters with the others.

Unfortunately, it was a foregone conclusion that this was exactly what she would endure when Roquan stepped into his bedchamber, the now clean and dried Amanda standing before him, bereft of her collar from when it had been removed for her bath.

Roquan examined her critically for a moment. Amanda maintained her gaze to his for only a moment before it was to much for her. She dropped her eyes and folded her hands before her and remained still. She had been dreading this moment more than any further encounters with the other Overlords.

Roquan raised an eyebrow at this and stepped forward. "Why do you cast your eyes down, Amanda?"

"Isn't this proper for me, master?" Amanda said in a soft, forlorn voice.

"Proper?"

"For when I am about to be punished."

"And why do you feel the need to be punished?"

"Mistress Freya was not pleased with me, master."

Roquan's jaw tightened. He paused a moment to relax it. "Look up."

Amanda slowly raised her head.

"You are not to be punished. You have done nothing wrong."

Amanda looked confused. She opened her mouth, caught herself, and closed it again.

"You may speak."

At first she was just going to shake her head and deny that she wanted to say anything at all. But the memory of the day before sparked a renewed streak of defiance in her, albeit subdued, and she did not want to lose the chance to give vent to it. "Why do you think I don't need to be punished, master?"

"Do I really need to explain this to you, Amanda?"

"Yes, master, you do."

"Very well. Freya D'yros is rather strict with her own slaves. She applied that expectation to you as well. I, however, do not abide by that. Thus in my eyes you have done nothing wrong."

For some reason, Amanda did not find this answer acceptable to her. "But, master, I was trained that I am supposed to please the one I am given to. I didn't please her."

Roquan drew in his breath slowly and let it go. "As I said, her expectations were different."

"I don't understand, master."

Roquan allowed himself a small sigh, and there was a trace of exasperation in his voice. "Why is this hard for you, Amanda?"

"What you just said about Mistress Freya. Can't you say that about your clients? Aren't their expectations all different as well?"

"That may be true, Amanda, however, it does not apply in this case."

"Why not, master?"

Roquan's eyes hardened. "I said you could speak, Amanda," he said coolly. "I did not say you could argue with me."

Amanda paused a moment. In a softer voice, she said, "I'm sorry, master. I just want to learn."

"That is admirable, Amanda, but there is little you can learn from this."

"But there is! I want to know what I would do if I were given to a client like her."

"This is not something you need to know."

"Why not?"

"Because I would never give you to a client such as her!" Roquan snapped.

Amanda fell silent, satisfied. Her gaze remained level and unyielding, even as the Overlord's grew icy.

Roquan had not been angry with Amanda before, but now he was quite furious with her. She had made him openly disparage a fellow Overlord. It mattered not what his opinion of Freya was. Overlords were to be respected by the slaves. That was the rule. There were no exceptions to that rule, regardless of their actions.

Worst of all, she made him lose his temper. That was even worse a transgression, at least to Roquan, a man who prided himself on remaining calm and confident before his slaves at all times.

"Thank you for answering me, master," Amanda said softly.

Roquan glared at her, but it quickly faded. No, he would have no more loss of self control.

He swiftly moved to the bed and swept up her chain and collar. She stood still as he secured the collar again to her neck. "You are to be brought to Overlord Trennan D'vard," he said in a crisp voice. "You will attend to whatever his needs are. You will be on your best behavior and will remember your training."

"Yes, master," Amanda said, dutifully crossing her wrists behind her so that he may restrain her.

"Another Overlord has requested your attentions as well. I will allow you a short rest before bringing you to him."

"Thank you, master."

She felt the cuffs drawn tight around her wrists. A little too tight, in fact. It was just slightly uncomfortable, but she could tolerate it if this Overlord were a little kinder to her than Freya. She could tell she had angered Roquan now. For some reason, this did not worry her as much as his anger because of poor performance would.

She uttered a small gasp as he abruptly whirled her around. Her eyes shimmered as she looked up into his face, though she refused to cringe.

"Do not believe you can take liberties in the privacy of my bed chamber," he said in a dark voice. "You are as much a slave here as you are out there. You will not provoke my anger needlessly. Is this understood, Amanda?"

"Yes, master."

Roquan gave the chain a hard snap that made her blink. She turned, and took the lead before her Overlord as they headed out the door.

Overlord Freya D'yros stood in her quarters just off to the side of the bed. As she had risen only a short while ago, she was still quite nude. This did not seem to bother her, and she willingly -- or perhaps purposely -- left the shades up on her window, apparently without a care as to who might see her.

She looked down, pondering the clothing she had laid out for herself, wondering which would be most appropriate to wear. All were very simple pullover dresses with a tie to cinch it about the waist. Her underthings were few, and comprised only of the bottom half. She finally picked up one and lay it against her body, peering down at it. It barely reached down to the tops of her thighs, and would obscure her sex only if she were standing upright and there were no breeze to speak of.

It was also bright red in color, considered to be rather unusual and unfashionable for an Overlord, even a female one.

There was a brief knock at her door. She put down the dress. "Enter," she said without looking up.

The door opened, and Gronnus let himself inside. As soon as his eyes fell upon Freya, he paused, and a small smirk curled his lips. "Have I interrupted something?"

Freya rolled her eyes. "Please. Spare me your dry humor. I was merely deciding what to wear today."

"I daresay you have chosen well."

"It is getting only worse. You have moved from dry to hackneyed. What is it you wish? And no more jokes, please."

Gronnus cut off another saucy reply. He let himself admire her beauty for a few moments before closing the door behind him and assuming a more businesslike air. "I had not had a chance to speak with you yesterday. I was wondering how it had gone with Amanda."

Freya picked up the red dress again. She held it up and twirled it around once. "Oh, she was everything I thought she would be. Undisciplined. Defiant." She paused and looked up. "And clever."

Gronnus raised an eyebrow. "Did you say 'clever', Freya?"

"Yes, clever. She knows how far to push things, and she knows when to listen."

"I believe you have lost me."

"That's not hard to do, dear," Freya said with an amused grin. She lifted the dress and slipped it over her lithe frame. She wriggled her body until the bottom fell into place over her hips. "I tried to trip her up about the Draught."

"And?"

"She almost slipped. Almost. But she managed to stop herself. Even when I had her just short of begging to be allowed to cum."

Gronnus rubbed his chin. He knew Freya was most accomplished at disciplining her slaves through lack of sexual release. What Roquan occasionally did to his slaves was considered light compared to what Freya could do.

She also used a slightly altered formula for the Draught, one that insured her methods had maximum effectiveness on slaves she trained herself.

"So you did not get what you wanted from her," Gronnus ventured.

"Oh, I got enough. It is obvious to me that the girl is thoroughly untrainable. At least by normal methods."

Gronnus felt uneasy at this. It was one thing to want to strike at Roquan, but he drew the line at torturing slaves. Naturally, the definition of "torture" varied from Overlord to Overlord. The only thing that all could agree on was that anything that drew blood or caused extended, chronic pain or discomfort was forbidden. Yet that left a lot of room for other methods. Nothing restricted the psychological, for one, and Freya played this to the hilt.

Freya tugged down the sides of her dress and cinched it about her slim waist. She turned, the dress fluttering lightly about her hips. Each time it did, the triangle of her sex was exposed.

Gronnus could not help but grin at this. "And this was better than nudity... how?"

Freya gave Gronnus an icy look and snatched a pair of lacy red panties from the bed. "You could wish to have as much as I do to show off, Gronnus."

Gronnus bristled but said nothing. Nevertheless, his reaction brought a satisfied smile to Freya's face. He despised that cutting tongue of hers. He watched her slip the panties on before speaking again. "So when do you intend to make a play for the girl? Today?"

"Oh, no, that is far too soon. I wish to have her one more time, and then I shall have enough to confront Roquan over it."

"Then when you have this, will you finally throw your support behind me?"

Freya sighed. "Are you still harping on that?"

"Yes, Freya, I am!"

"You have my vote. What more do you want of me?"

"Your influence over the others! It is important that Roquan be allowed few allies."

"I thought you had that well in hand already. You told me you would get Trennan. Or did Roquan outbid you when I saw him leaving Trennan's quarters just a short while ago?"

Gronnus grinned. "Whatever Roquan told the old sot matters not. I already have plans to tip the balance. I am one step ahead of him already."

"And Doran?"

"Yes, I have that taken care of. Let him talk all he wants, the blowhard. I already have secured deals with some of those he will be speaking with today. Words do not hold up against goods and platinum."

Freya pulled her panties up closer to her body, making the crotch outline the contours of her sex more. She turned and let her dress twirl about her hips once more and her breasts bounce naturally under the fabric.

"By the way, Freya," said Gronnus. "How do you expect to have Amanda again? As I told you before, the tradition is once for each Overlord and no more, whether you care for that or not."

"Oh, that's easy. You're going to give up your turn."

"I am what?" Gronnus declared, aghast.

Freya came around the foot of the bed. She gave the other Overlord a sultry smile, giving her hips a bit of extra swing to them as she approached him. Some of his initial indignation faded as his eyes flicked up and down her body. "You're going to give me your turn at her, dear Gronnus," Freya said in a soft, husky voice.