Chapter 16

The Wanderer lived up to his name. Or at least inasmuch as it would seem to someone watching him.

In reality, Jollis had his path well thought out. He knew Roquan would be quite busy that day with the opening of the Conclave. However, he wished to insure that he could catch the Overlord at some point before the man retired for the evening. It was very important for him to meet with the man, to establish a rapport with the Overlord.

In effect, to build the man's trust.

This would be crucial to his plans later, for it will keep him close to the Overlord at all times in preparation for the critical moment. It was then that his plan would come to fruition, and he could begin his master's work. Such was his humble mission.

Thus he wound in and around the grounds, between gardens, the road skirting Roquan's quarters, and the bluff. He nodded his head respectfully at the other Overlords and smiled brightly at the nubile maidens that were Roquan's slaves. Yes, it did indeed look like wandering to one who might be watching.

Then, at some point, his pattern changed, for he realized that he was indeed being watched.

He turned down a path that he knew from his explorations the day before would guide him along the east side of the Manor, where many empty slave quarters lay. It was quiet here, the cries of birds and buzzing of insects the only sounds that could be heard.

Now he looked about, his steps becoming more purposeful. He made furtive glances around the sides of buildings, staring off into the underbrush at the edge of the Manor grounds, as if looking for something. Finally he paused, then quickly ducked between two structures and slipped into the dark shade just around the curve of one of them.

He waited, and soon his patience was rewarded by the soft sounds of footsteps on sand. The sound grew very close, then ceased. A pause, and then a figure cautiously leaned around the side of the building.

But not cautiously enough.

Jollis made two movements, but they may have well been only one for as seamlessly as they flowed one to the other. A hand flicked out and grasped the wrist of the intruder. A foot cracked against a knee.

Yet to the intruder's credit, he was prepared. Briefly, light glinted off bladed steel. But Jollis was prepared as well and ducked the incomplete lunge, his free hand sending the dagger spinning off into the foliage behind him.

There was a loud thud, and Jollis smoothly pinned a knee to the intruder's chest and lay the side of his arm tightly against the man's throat. The pleasant smile on Jollis' face altered not a bit as he looked down at his catch. "Ah, good day to you, Merchant Herdon."

Herdon clenched his teeth as pain flared hot in his left knee. He lifted his hands to push Jollis from him, only to be forced to relent when his adversary pressed his weight dangerously on the arm across Herdon's throat. "Get off me, foreigner!" Herdon said, spitting out the word as a epithet.

"You miss a point of protocol, my good merchant, but this can be forgiven. It is customary to use one's title or name in normal conversation."

"You broke my gods-damned knee!"

"I did nothing of the sort. You will be fine in a short while. I have no wish to harm you."

"Then why... hellfire, let off my throat!"

Jollis paused a moment, then relented, pulling his arm back. He left his knee on the man's chest and applied a small amount of weight, just enough to be uncomfortable. Herdon took a few moments to gasp in air, clutching at his bruised throat.

"Then why are you skulking about the Manor, if not to do harm!" Herdon spat.

Jollis chuckled. "I do not skulk, good merchant. I simply do not take kindly to be stalked."

Herdon looked up in amazement. "You knew I was following you?"

"Oh, indeed. One who travels across these lands as much as I do has need of such skills." He leapt back from Herdon and rose to his feet. "As well as, you can see, self-defense."

Herdon scrambled to his feet and grimaced when the pain in his knee bit him. However, he was able to set his weight upon it, and it did not buckle. He gave Jollis a sharp look. "I suppose now you will claim you could have killed me if you had wished it."

Jollis grinned, making Herdon all the more irritated. "Would you not be able to say the same thing, were the roles reversed? And I might remind you of the blade you attempted to use against me not a moment ago."

Herdon sighed and rubbed at his still aching throat. "Fine, you have a point."

"Now, good merchant, perhaps you will enlighten this one as to why you felt the need to follow?"

Herdon didn't like being put on the spot like this. At the same time, he could not simply refuse to answer the question. "I saw you skulking... all right, walking... near Roquan's quarters. I was curious as to what your interest in it was."

"Ah, I see. Perhaps you assumed ill intent on my part, yes?"

Herdon said nothing, fuming.

"You will recall, I wished accommodation only to this Manor. I shall need to make may way from here when your Clan leaves. Would it not be prudent for me to secure a deal with the Overlord?"

Herdon frowned. "A deal? You mean as in trade?"

Jollis smiled indulgently. "Is that not what merchants do?"

"With what goods? You will have no claim to ours, I can tell you that!"

"And I have no need of them. As I have stated, I have contacts."

Herdon snorted. "Contacts! They will get you goods here? This far from port?"

Jollis did not reply. He simply continued to smile serenely at the Ne'land merchant.

Herdon rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course," he said sourly. "Never reveal your contacts to another Clan."

"Ah, you understand then. Very good."

"You'd compete with Uridon right here in the Manor?"

"Clan Leader Uridon has made a very profitable deal through me," said Jollis. "I have my doubts he will be terribly upset at any small pittance I may make on my own."

Herdon narrowed his eyes.

He did not trust this man. No man that could be trusted gave such easy and quick answers as Jollis did. He felt as if Jollis were working from something rehearsed just for this occasion. In fact, everything the merchant did appeared to him to be carefully planned and executed. He never faltered, never hesitated. The answer was always there, as if he had manipulated events to occur as they did.

Herdon frowned. His father often accused him of being paranoid. A relic of his soldiering days, Uridon would say. The reality was that Uridon did not know the half of it. Or what his own plans were.

Plans that did not take well to being disrupted by a foreign merchant.

Jollis stepped up to Herdon. The smile on his face became tight. "A word for you, good merchant: cautious."

Herdon made a face. "I beg your pardon?"

"It is what you should be from now on, Herdon. Cautious. Around me. Please do not require me to warn you again."

Jollis inclined his head respectfully at the stunned merchant. He strolled past Herdon and returned to his wanderings.

Amanda was fortunate in that most of the other Overlords were already too deep into deal-making to spare time for her. Even Gronnus had become otherwise occupied, and Roquan took advantage of this to show some mercy on Amanda. He kept her close to his side until evening fell and the Overlords retired for the night.

Yet all through it, Amanda remained restrained, and the salve on her nipples continued to act upon her. Even though no one touched them, the simple act of breathing moved her breasts enough to keep them mildly stimulated. By the time Roquan escorted her back to Sirinna, she was trembling again with the need for release.

Sirinna saw Amanda's predicament immediately. As soon as Roquan had left, Sirinna brought Amanda relief with a few soft strokes of her fingers. As soon as Amanda's orgasm had faded and her lover had removed the restraints, her remaining composure shattered. She burst into tears and hugged Sirinna fiercely.

Sirinna was a little nonplussed at first, and could only hold Amanda until she was calm enough to talk, whereupon Sirinna got the whole story.

Sirinna sighed and brushed her fingers through Amanda's hair. "I'm sorry, love," she said in a forlorn voice. "If I had known Mistress Freya would use Naiduna on you, I would have told you exactly what it did."

"Huh?" Amanda said, wiping her eyes. "What did you call it?"

"Naiduna. It makes your nipples really sensitive. You can almost cum from it, but not quite."

"Yes, I know, I found that out!"

"Amanda."

Amanda paused, and then sighed deeply. "I know, I know. I'm not being a good slave. I should do as I'm told and like it."

"It sounds to me like you did everything she asked of you, love."

"But I didn't like it! I didn't like being kept from cumming like that!"

"Just so you know, Amanda, not all -- not even most -- clients will do that to you," Sirinna said cautiously. "And Master Roquan tends not to deal with ones that do it excessively. When he uses it, it is generally in small amounts to enhance the sexual act. He uses the larger amounts only for punishment purposes."

Amanda sniffled and nodded. "I... I just blew it, that's all."

"No, no, no. You didn't 'blow it'. Roquan would have punished you if you had."

"I think the only reason he didn't is because he took pity on me after Mistress Freya had me," Amanda said bitterly.

"Perhaps he did. But that also means he believes you did your best."

"He hardly spoke to me at all on the way over here. I think he's angry with me."

Sirinna opened her mouth and then closed it again without saying a word. Sirinna knew her master's responses well. Roquan was not angry. He was furious. But not with Amanda. Her guess was that it was Freya that was the target of his ire.

She could not let herself say this out loud. It was tantamount to a slave insulting another Overlord. Even in private, even though Roquan shared her own anger, it was not what a good slave should do.

"Amanda, you pleasured Mistress Freya, did you not?"

Amanda paused and nodded. "Though she wasn't too impressed with the job I did."

Sirinna's lips curled into a small smile. "Did you hear her moan? Did you hear her pant?"

Amanda nodded slowly.

"Then despite... despite what she said, I would say you did a good job."

That was the closest Sirinna would allow herself to come to disparaging an Overlord. The gesture, however, was not lost on Amanda. She broke into a smile and hugged Sirinna again. "Thank you, Sirinna."

Sirinna hugged her back, and ignored the momentary forgetfulness about her Trainer's title.

Amanda was still troubled, however. What really upset her was something she could not mention. Overlord Freya D'yros had tried to make her say something that would have implied she had not had the Draught. She had not expected that. Roquan might have, however.

I suspect the intentions of the Overlords.

Amanda wished he had told her. In her moment of weakness, when she had been desperate for sexual release, she had almost given the wrong answer. It was as if Freya had been trying to torture an answer out of her.

And that was what scared her.

"I'm just glad it's over, mistress," Amanda breathed.

Sirinna slowly broke off the embrace. "Over?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes. You said yourself, the Presenting is only a day."

"Sometimes it lasts an additional day, love."

"None of the others were interested in me after Mistress Freya. I don't think they want me."

Sirinna smiled softly. She knew what the truth likely was. Roquan would want her again, at least for one more day. Yet she knew that Amanda needed comfort right now more than anything else. "Perhaps you're right. Now, why don't you let me go get us some dinner? You must be hungry after all of that."

Amanda smiled and nodded. She was so grateful to have Sirinna. She shivered slightly at the thought of being sold or given to another Overlord. Or contracted to a client for that matter. Though at least in that case, she would eventually return to the Manor, even if just to wait for another contract to be negotiated. At least she would see Sirinna then.

To be cut off from her completely was too much for Amanda to bear.

"It is not bad enough that she is the most insufferable of the lot of them!" Roquan shouted. "Now she treats a slave of mine no better than those accursed slavemasters of the Urisi!"

It was rare when Roquan became angry enough to raise his voice to this degree, and Rennis knew enough to simply let his fellow Overlord vent without saying a word. There would be time later to deal with him when he was calm.

Doran, unfortunately, was not aware of this. "Roquan, you are overreacting to this!"

Roquan stared at him incredulously. He raised a finger to emphasize his words. "Doran, I will not have my slaves mistreated! Not by a client and certainly not by another Overlord!"

"Blazing hellfire, Roquan! Freya used Naiduna on her! It is not like she whipped the girl!"

"It might have well been a whipping, considering the amount she used."

"And you have not used such amounts yourself?"

"As a punishment!"

"Perhaps Amanda gave her reason to do so."

Roquan was so furious that he could not speak for a moment. Instead, he picked up his empty wine goblet and hurled it across the room.

"I didn't say she deserved it! Great gods, Roquan! Calm yourself! Freya D'yros is widely known among the other Overlords as the strictest disciplinarian of the lot. It is quite possible Amanda made some very minor gaff that she chose to blow up into this."

"And for what reason?" Roquan demanded.

"Just what you're doing now," Rennis spoke up. "Losing your temper. Letting her get to you."

Roquan remained silent, quietly seething.

"She's playing mind-games with you, Roquan, and you're letting her."

Roquan drew himself up. "And here you were just saying it was not my mind she was interested in."

Rennis could not help but smirk at this, and even Doran managed to crack a small smile.

"Regardless, Roquan, just let it drop," said Doran. "You have more urgent matters to deal with."

"And if Amanda managed to handle this," said Rennis. "I would imagine the rest of the Overlords would be easy."

Roquan took a deep breath to steady himself. He was still quite angry. His eyes blazed at the thought of what Freya had done to Amanda. The other Overlords often scoffed at the fierce protectiveness he showed for his slaves. He did not care. They were valuable to him. And he cared for them. He wanted to see his slaves happy, or at the very least, content.

"I think we can get Trennan, Roquan," Doran said with a small smile. "I am fairly confident that Gronnus has offered him wine as well, but only half of what I can give you. He just doesn't have enough to offer to counter us."

Roquan nodded curtly, but this was indeed good news to him. "Then I only need to make the deal and close it."

"Well, you make an offer. He won't accept it right away."

Roquan frowned. "But we clearly will be offering more."

"Yes, but he doesn't want you to know that. He'll wait another day, and then he'll take it. That's how it works."

Roquan sighed through his nose. "I hope you are right about that."

"Should he give Amanda to him at that time?" Rennis asked.

Doran considered. "Not strictly necessary, but as the host, Roquan should take every advantage he can get."

"I will let him have Amanda," Roquan said. "He I can trust to treat a slave properly."

"You can't use that as a criteria," said Rennis. "I overheard Gronnus commenting to another that he wanted Amanda for himself tomorrow as well."

"He will have her. But not before Trennan. Perhaps knowing that I gave Amanda to Trennan specifically before him will send him a message."

Doran grinned. "Now you're starting to get the hang of it."

"Yes. Though I do not know whether or not it is something to be proud of."

"Come morning, I will leave you to make the offer and we should have a deal by evening. I will likely not see you until the afternoon Conclave meeting."

"And what will you be doing?"

Doran chuckled. "Getting you some votes. And you'll like this: I'll be getting them largely on your words."

"It is about time," Roquan grumbled.

"You think that some of the other Overlords might actually agree with us, Doran?" Rennis asked.

Roquan frowned. "And why is that so surprising, Rennis?"

"Gentlemen, please," Doran said with a sigh. "I knew someone would be swayed by the situation, it was just a matter of pinning down who. Now that we have made our speeches, they are easier to see. Anyway, I will be done by the midday meal. We should meet then, and we can go over what we may need to say at the debate."