Chapter 24

Gronnus was growing increasingly displeased with the Conclave, and for the first time he was seriously concerned over how the endgame would be played out.

He stepped out of his quarters and into the glowing red dusk. The sun had descended not long before, the clouds still rimmed with deep purple and maroon highlights. He wrinkled his nose at how sodden the air still felt. Even the breeze from the ocean appeared to do little to stir it.

He wandered down a short distance to another of the Overlord's quarters and rapped smartly at the door frame.

"Enter."

Gronnus took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Despite steeling himself for what he might see, he was given pause as his eyes fell upon Freya's naked body. She was turned away from him, however, and a moment later she slipped into a black dress.

Gronnus noted the difference between this and the others and smirked. "Changing fashions, Freya?"

Freya turned around smoothly. Unlike the red dress, this one was open in the front. She paused a moment, letting Gronnus catch a lingering glimpse of her naked breasts, her mound already covered with lacy black panties. She afforded him a sly smile and abruptly closed one fold of the dress over the other.

"I wear whatever the situation demands," she said as she tied the sash around her waist. The bottom of the dress covered her hips better than the red one had, the hem extending partway down her thighs and hiding her panties from view. There was also a single button near the top of the dress, which allowed the material to be stretched tightly across her breasts. Her nipples appeared as two small raised bumps against the shiny, satiny material.

"Will you also now vote in Conclave as the situation demands?"

Freya uttered a suffering sigh. "Really, Gronnus. Must we cover that again?"

"You are going to try to get Amanda from Roquan tonight, aren't you?"

Freya smiled sweetly. "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

Gronnus frowned. "Freya, I don't have times for games."

Freya paused and arched an eyebrow at him.

He sighed. "I need your support."

"Oh?" Freya sat down on the bed and crossed one leg over the other with a sly smile on her face. "Do you now?"

"It is imperative that I have it. I am... willing to deal for it if needed."

"Oh, but my dear Gronnus, I already have what I wanted from you. I got the information I needed about Roquan's little indiscretion. What more would I want?"

Gronnus clenched his teeth and had to pause a moment. "Freya, be reasonable," he said in a strained voice. "It is very important the vote goes as we want."

"You mean as you want."

"All right! Fine! As I want!" Gronnus exploded. "Are you satisfied now? Yes, this is what I want. It is what the others should want as well, but I will not go into that..."

"Are you not having the luck that you had hoped for in making deals with the other Overlords?"

Gronnus fumed. "He is up to something with Weton. I have a bad feeling he is attempting to sway the man with better goods."

Freya looked bored. "Is that not how these deals are supposed to work, Gronnus?"

"Not when dealing with a man that by rights should have no resources or contacts!"

"You act as if you are sure you are about to lose the deal with Weton."

"Weton brushed me off earlier when I attempted to engage him after the Conclave. That concerns me."

Freya gave Gronnus a sly smile and stood, sauntering over to him. "And how much is my vote worth to you, Gronnus?"

Gronnus took a deep breath. He was already taxing himself to the limits trying to secure deals against Roquan. But he had no choice. "Name your price."

"Ooo, that might be a bad idea," Freya said in a sultry voice. "I can think pretty big, you know."

"Whatever it is, I will pay it! This is too important! It should be important to you, but I will not hold my breath on that score!"

Freya looked thoughtful. "I will consider it."

"That's all? You will consider it? What if..."

"Gronnus, I do not have time for this. I have other matters to attend to."

Gronnus made a face. "Yes, I can imagine," he said icily.

Freya simply smiled. "Can you? Don't get yourself too excited over it now."

She stepped past Gronnus and headed to the door. Just as she was about to leave, she paused and turned. "You know, I don't believe I am dressed for this quite right after all."

Gronnus' eyes widened as she reached under her dress and hooked her thumbs into her panties. She slid them down her legs and stepped out of them. Giving Gronnus a grin, she tossed them to him.

Nonplussed, he barely caught them before they fell from his hands.

Freya snickered and headed out.

For the first time in a long while, Roquan actually had to puzzle over the question of what to wear.

Even consulting with Doran had not enlightened him on this score. There was no specific protocol for one-on-one debates such as this. He did not even bother asking Rennis, knowing full well that the man would not be able to stop from grinning and cracking jokes about it.

He ultimately opted for something light, but neat and still reminiscent of his station.

Roquan waited for her in the outer chamber. He made sure the curtain to his bedchamber was fully closed. He did not want to give Freya any more ideas than she may already have. He was truly not interested in a tryst with her, no matter how enticing a prospect it may be on a purely physical level.

Well, almost purely physical.

The truth of the matter was, his ego ruled his thoughts. He felt towards Freya as he did towards Amanda early on, that she was a wild spirit that needed to be tamed. He quite relished the idea of doing such a thing to Freya, though he would never openly admit this, nor actually attempt it on his own. Yet thinking about it, he felt, afforded him the proper attitude in dealing with her.

He was not left to his thoughts for very long. Freya slipped into the room before dusk had turned to full night, not bothering to announce her presence in any way. She was simply there when Roquan turned, already closing the door quietly behind her.

Roquan remained silent for a moment, simply taking her in. He had expected her to dress provocatively, yet at first glance this appeared no worse than at the Conclave. It was only when she started to move towards him that he saw that the dress was designed to both accentuate her body and be slipped off easily from the same.

Roquan kept his gaze steady and his face impassive as he gave a single respectful nod of his head. "Overlord Freya."

"Overlord Roquan," said Freya in a husky voice. She crossed the chamber slowly, swinging her hips. Roquan's eyes darted to them briefly and then returned to her eyes. Her smiled widened.

"Would you care for some wine before we begin?"

Freya allowed herself a small chuckle. "Pass. Wine dulls the senses. I would rather remain... alert."

Roquan paused a moment before clasping his hands behind his back. "It is likely best we get down to business. This is something that should be resolved as quickly as possible so that the Conclave may return to the matter at hand."

"Everything is about business with you, isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Business. Protocol." One corner of her mouth twitched. "Tradition."

"These are what define an Overlord's life, Freya."

"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Roquan paused. "I am unsure of your meaning here."

Freya's lips curled into a sly smile. "You're quite well known among the other Overlords as being something of a traditionalist."

"You recall Doran's words at the start of the Conclave. Tradition is everything."

Freya uttered a small sigh. She placed a hand lightly on Roquan's shoulder. He glanced at it briefly before returning his gaze to her. "I am uninterested in what Doran had to say on the matter," she said in a soft voice. She averted her eyes for a moment, tracing a single finger down his arm, pressing lightly into the bulge of his muscle. "I am more interested in your thinking."

Roquan paused as Freya played her finger in light swirls against his skin. "One might believe, Freya, that it is not quite my thinking you are interested in at the moment."

Freya paused and chuckled. "Oh, but you do have a rather high opinion of yourself." She stepped closer to him, her body almost touching his. She slid her hand up his arm and back to his shoulder. "Don't you?"

Roquan reached up and took Freya's hand tightly in his. Freya gave him an inquisitive look.

"I know what you are trying to do," Roquan said in a low voice.

"Oh? Do you?"

"Yes. And it will not work."

Freya's grin became wicked. "Oh, but it is. I can see it very clearly in your eyes."

Roquan's fingers tightened around Freya's. He wondered if she truly could see it, or if she were guessing. In any case, he silently cursed her for being correct.

"But you resist it. Why?"

"You came here to conduct business, Freya," Roquan said softly. "Not this."

"There are many ways in which business can be conducted, Roquan." She lifted her free hand to his chest. "Some are more pleasant than others."

Freya's hand slid slowly across Roquan's broad chest, her fingers teasing a few of the buttons open in his shirt. Just as she slipped her hand under his shirt and over bare skin, he caught it and now held both of them.

Freya cast a small smile at him.

"You will not sway me in this way," Roquan said in a low, heavy voice. "This is too important. The Conclave..."

"... is of little interest to me at the moment. Do you need proof of this?"

Before Roquan could respond, Freya leaned into him and touched her lips to his.

Roquan did not respond at first. He even tried to back out of it. But Freya persisted, writhing her body sensuously against Roquan's. Her softness slid against the hardness in his loins. He drew in a breath and returned the kiss. His hands let go of hers and instead gripped her by the waist, fingers curling and digging into Freya's skin.

Freya broke off the kiss, the two of them panting lightly.

"Freya... this is not what we should be doing..." Roquan breathed.

"Always the traditionalist are you?" Freya said softly with an evil gleam in her eye. One of her hands covered one of Roquan's about her waist. "I thought that you would be one to break with tradition now and then."

"And why would you think..."

"I'll explain later." She lifted his hand from her waist, all the while gazing intently into his eyes. "Right now... perhaps a little more proof of how little I care about our debate at the moment."

Roquan knew this was wrong, yet he let her guide his hand anyway. She slid it down towards her sex, lifting her dress with the other hand. Roquan's eyes widened very slightly as his fingers found not the soft fabric of her undergarment but the warm, slick wetness of her pussy.

Freya's eyelids slid closed and she drew in her breath slowly through parted lips as his strong fingers sank into her. He paused a moment, his hand unmoving, until she encouraged him with a push of her hips. Her mound pressed into his hand, fingers pressing hard against her swelling womanhood.

Freya let her breath go as a slow, sensual sigh as Roquan's fingers slowly began to tease her.

"You planned this from the start," Roquan said in a low, accusing voice.

Freya's eyes opened halfway and she cast a sultry, languid gaze at him. "I leave nothing to chance. You ought to know that about me from the other Overlords."

"I have heard many things about you from the other Overlords, Freya."

One of his fingers pushed past her folds and into her cunt. Freya moaned softly and pressed her body to his. One of her hands gently caressed the long hardness that bulged against his clothing. "Hopefully one of them is that I cannot be taken like a slave. I... uhhh..."

Freya was panting lightly as his fingers made gentle thrusts into her.

"No. But in some ways, you respond like one," Roquan said evenly, a very tiny smile on his lips.

"Mmm, so this is how you would treat a fellow Overlord..." Her hand suddenly slipped under Roquan's clothing, fingers curling directly around his manhood. "With insults even as you touch her intimately?"

Roquan drew in his breath deeply and let it go as Freya's fingers played along his cock. "Perhaps... now is not the time for further conversation."

Freya pulled Roquan into another lingering kiss before responding. "For once, Roquan... I agree with you."

"And how are you this evening, little one?"

Amanda smiled. "Quite well, master."

"This is good to see, your life improving before my eyes," Jollis said with a soft smile.

Yet even as he said this, a slightly subdued look came over Amanda's eyes. The merchant saw this, but chose not to make note of it to her yet. It would be better to draw it from her slowly. Besides, he needed something to distract him from the most distasteful task he had to perform in the deeper night.

Amanda looked thoughtful. "I guess you could say it that way, yes," she said cautiously.

"Where I am from, little one, we judge our day by whether we have accomplished what we have set out to do. That is what decides our fortune, good or ill."

Amanda paused. "I am not sure that would apply to me, master."

"Oh?"

"I am a slave. I do not choose what I do from day to day."

Jollis simply grinned at her. "Ah, but it is the wise man that knows how to choose what he sets out to accomplish. Only the fool chooses that which he cannot possibly obtain."

Amanda considered this for a moment. "And what of things that he didn't set out to accomplish, master?"

Jollis looked inquisitively at her. Perhaps she was about to reveal what was on her mind without any further prodding from him.

"What about things you don't expect?" Amanda continued. "Things that you get but you weren't expecting them?"

"And were these good things that you acquired, little one?"

Amanda knew that one was. She was looking forward to having something to read again, something to do other than just being a slave, or even being Sirinna's lover. Neither was enough for her any longer. She wanted more from her life. The promise Roquan made to her would help her with that.

Yet what she had learned about the Draught...

"I'm not sure, master," Amanda finally said in a lower voice.

Jollis studied her for a moment. It was clear that something good had happened. For a moment after he had asked his question, there was a flicker of satisfaction across her face. Yet it had been tempered by something else.

He decided to take a chance. "Sometimes, little one, the bad can be adequate price for the good."

She looked at him with interest. Jollis sensed he had guessed correctly.

Amanda felt mildly frustrated. She wanted to talk to someone about what she had learned, but she had to keep it a secret from everyone. She was sure that Roquan did not want to talk about it with her any longer. Not that such a thing would have helped.

She bit her lip and looked at Jollis, as if trying to decide how far to trust him and how far she was willing to go in breaking her agreement with Roquan.

"Master, may I ask a question of you?"

"Of course, little one. I am here for the conversation as much as the company."

"Have you ever... ever been told something important... something that really changed how you looked at things... and you couldn't tell anyone?"

Jollis pondered Amanda's words carefully. She would not be saying such a thing unless it had actually happened to her. He had to wonder what Roquan could have possibly told her. Naturally he assumed it was the Overlord. He was the only one of any import that might tell her something to cause her this distress.

He smiled at her. "Are you asking me if you should tell someone?"

"Oh, no, master. I... um... I really have said too much about it."

Jollis reached out and touched her hand. "Do not worry. You have told me nothing out of confidence. Whatever it is, I know nothing of it."

Amanda smiled wanly at him.

"I am simply sorry it has caused you distress."

She shrugged slightly. "Maybe not all that much. It was just... something I had not expected."

Slowly, Jollis was attempting to piece together in mind what it could have been. He hated manipulating her in this manner, but it was the only way to get the information from her without her breaking whatever confidence she had entered.

"Sometimes, it is good to have a new perspective," said Jollis. "Even if it, at first, reveals things we wished had remained hidden."

Now Jollis knew he had hit something from the darkening look in Amanda's most expressive eyes. She had discovered or was told something that was supposed to remain secret from her, and now she was bound to the same secrecy. He reasoned it had something to do with the Overlords. Or her Overlord in particular.

"It's just something that... that makes me realize something about myself," Amanda said softly. "Not something bad, but... something I really can't do anything about."

Jollis realized he had hit upon an important clue, but the answer did not reveal itself to him immediately. He let it settle into the back of his mind for now.

He smiled gently at her and slid closer. Amanda appeared to relax, and the troubled look turned to one of anticipation. His hand alighted on her knee, and she immediately let it fall to the side, opening her intimate regions to him. "Perhaps, then, little one, it is something that you should not be worried about."

"It's hard," Amanda said in a very soft voice, her eyes glistening slightly.

"I understand." He let his fingers slide slowly over her thigh. Her lips curled into a tiny smile. "There are things that I, too, wish I could do something about, but cannot."

"So what do you do, master?" Amanda asked, her voice growing husky.

Jollis did not advance on her sex as she had expected, but instead slipped it around her hip and up her side. She enjoyed the touch anyway, and it still made her pussy tingle with renewed desire. "I do as any man can." His fingers played under the curve of one of Amanda's breasts. "I accept them, and occasionally... try to forget them."

Amanda closed her eyes as his fingers drew up and over her breast, lighting stroking the nipple. She spread her legs further apart. At least with Jollis, she knew exactly how to be a good slave, for it was everything she wanted to do with him.

Jollis leaned forward, his hand sliding from her breast and around her back. He drew her into an embrace. Then to his surprise, he felt one of her hands alighting on his hardness, stroking it very lightly through his clothes.

"It would appear you are most eager this evening," Jollis whispered into her ear.

Amanda wanted to tell him how much she loved having him visit her, how she loved how good he made her feel about herself. But such things were inappropriate for a slave to say. Instead, she would have to show it in other ways.

"Let me do something for you, master," Amanda said in a pleading voice. "Please."

Jollis smiled. Yes, he would let her. He felt right about that now.

"Of course, little one. I would be most honored."