Chapter 17

In the treatment area of Vanlo's office, Roquan stood in silent contemplation. Doran's eyes shot from him, to Vanlo and Lanno, and back again.

"Well?" Doran roared.

"Well, what, Doran?" Roquan asked.

"Explain to me what this means. I have a feeling I should be angry with Freya with the heat of blazing hellfire, but I want to make sure I know why."

"One would think she had done enough up to this point to earn such rebuke."

Doran shook a finger at Roquan. "Do not push me today, Roquan! I have already had it with the Urisi Ambassador and his endless stalling tactics. He has had plenty of time to experience Amanda for himself."

"Do not attempt to compete with me in righteous anger towards Ambassador Norlan. You are not the one whose slave has been abused by the use of those infernal sex seals."

"Your Lordships, please, " implored Vanlo, raising his hands. "With all due respect, the matter at hand is grave enough. I believe we should deal with that first."

Roquan turned his head and nodded once. He knew if his Healer had the audacity to speak up to not one but two Overlords that the matter was very close to his heart and thus vitally important. "My apologies, Vanlo."

Doran looked at Vanlo. "You say that Freya has a Healer altering her Draught, so that it can be used outside of Portal-shock?"

"That is my understanding, yes," said Vanlo.

"And that's based on what Lanno saw in the Farview?"

"No, your Lordship," said Lanno quickly. "Vanlo had that part figured out from what he has been doing and the herbs that Freya's Healer Evella had ordered."

"Yes, yes, this bit of nonsense about reversing the effects of a Draught..."

"It is not nonsense," Lanno snapped. "Why do you have trouble believing that a Healer with Vanlo's tremendous talent could not..."

"Lanno, please," said Vanlo, though he could not help but let a smile tug very slightly at his lips. "Be respectful of the Overlords."

"Doran, if Vanlo says that he has done it, I tend to believe him," said Roquan.

"In the interests of fairness, however, I must state that it has yet to be tested. All empirical observations based on the knowledge of chemical interactions dictates that the theory is sound and that the counter agent I have developed should work, and, further, that the Draught can be altered to eliminate certain effects in the first place."

Doran threw up his hands. "All right, I concede! So Freya's Healer has done something similar. She can administer the Draught after Portal-shock. What of it?"

"There is another unfortunate side-effect of this, ah, breakthrough," said Vanlo. "If it can be administered outside of Portal-shock, then it can be given to anyone. Even a Narlassi."

Doran simply stared, dumbfounded, though the slight edge to his gaze suggested that he had indeed thought of the most likely consequence, but refused to accept it.

Vanlo turned to Lanno. "Lanno, please recount the bit near the end of your conversation with Evella. The one where we believe she gave you the vital clue."

Lanno nodded and did so, describing precisely how Evella had shook her had while saying key phrases. There was a pause, then Doran's eyes slowly widened.

"She has altered the Draught," said Roquan. "She has a large number of new Captives in a very short period of time. Now do you see the implications of..."

"How dare she!" Doran exploded.

Lanno nearly jumped.

"Doran, calm down, please," Roquan began.

"Do not placate me! I will hear none of it! You are the one that ought to be bellowing, not me! That conniving bitch has the audacity to accuse you of impropriety when she herself wishes to set civilized society back three millennia! I will see her dead before I let her carry out her plans!"

"You should not speak of such things. I do not want rash action to be taken."

"Rash? You talk to me about rash?"

"I simply mean that that there has been enough strife among the Overlords. We need to take care of this in a calm manner."

"Narlassi do not enslave Narlassi! I will not ... "

Doran's towering rage faltered. He uttered a strangled gasp, staggered, and clutched at his chest.

"Great gods..." Roquan muttered. He surged forward, but Vanlo and Lanno were already there, each gasping an arm and guiding the stricken Overlord to a seat.

"Emergency heart elixir! Now!" Vanlo shouted.

Lanno was already halfway to the cabinet. By the time he returned with a vial containing a sickly green fluid, Doran was already waving one hand shakily in the air. "I'm all right, I'm all right, stop fussing..." he said in a weak voice, though he winced in pain, his fingers at his chest curling into his tunic.

Vanlo took the vial from Lanno, popped the cork with a single finger, and upended it into the Overlord's mouth. The Overlord swallowed as much as he could before screwing up his face in disgust and giving several explosive coughs. "Great gods in the heavens, that was awful!"

"It should ease the pain and allow your heart to work better," Vanlo said.

Slowly, Doran's fingers unclenched. He swallowed and nodded. "It's better, yes. Thank you."

"Doran, I thought you had that under control," Roquan said gravely.

Doran looked up. "Now don't you start! I get enough of that from my Healer."

"With all due respect, your Lordship, you are not doing a good job listening to him," said Vanlo mildly. "Had you not been in my office where I had quick access to my supplies, you may very well have died."

"To be fair, Vanlo, he has been under a great deal of stress lately," said Roquan.

"My recommendation is that he return to his Manor as soon as possible," said Vanlo. "His Healer has more experience with the nuances of his condition."

"I cannot leave yet," Doran said. "Not until we deal with the Urisi. And Freya! And I am feeling better the more I sit here."

"It is temporary relief only, your Lordship. If you will not return to your Manor, I will need your leave to contact your Healer directly. I trust you have a Farview pearl to him."

Doran nodded. "Her, not him. Back in my quarters."

"I will learn what treatment regime she has prescribed and attempt to duplicate it here. Realize that I will not be able to do this for long, as I do not have many cardiac herbs. There is not much call for it at this Manor."

"Really, Doran, you could go back to your Manor if you wish," said Roquan. "Rennis is on his way."

Doran frowned and stood up. "Rennis is so much like you anymore that he will just agree with whatever you say. No, I need to stay and see this through."

"I do not wish to see you die," said Roquan in an unusually somber voice. "There has been enough strife. And you are not someone I would wish to lose as a friend."

Doran paused for a long moment. It was the first time that Roquan had ever expressed friendship to him in such an overt manner. He clasped Roquan's shoulder. "I am not about to let this stop me, Roquan. I helped you trigger the events that have led us to where we are now. It is my responsibility to help see you through them."

Vanlo stepped up to them. "I must insist, your Lordships, that Overlord Doran be allowed some rest first." He handed Doran two vials, another filled with green, and a second filled with blue. "If you experience severe chest pain again, do not hesitate. Down the contents of this before contacting myself or Lanno." He indicated the green vial. "Meanwhile, take one sip of this..." He indicated the blue vial. " ... every four candlemarks until I determine what regular treatment you require. If you cannot remember, please avail yourself of a slave to assist you."

Doran frowned as he snatched the vials from the Healer. "The problem is with my heart, not my head!"

"Lanno, please escort Overlord Doran to his quarters."

"At once," said Lanno, coming alongside Doran. The Overlord tried to wave him off at first, but Lanno persisted and led the stricken statesman from the office.

Roquan waited until they were away. "Vanlo, I honestly had no idea he had let his heart condition go to this point. He had it well under control at the Conclave."

"Yes, so much so I had no idea he had one until he clutched his chest," said Vanlo. "He really ought to be under the care of his own Healer, your Lordship. If something were to happen, I am unsure I could save his life."

Roquan sighed. "He is too stubborn. We will have to see to it that he keeps himself under control. If it had not been for that infernal Freya and her machinations..."

"Which brings me to ask, your Lordship, if you know how you will deal with this yet?"

"I do not know, Vanlo. If she is truly attempting to turn native Narlassi into slaves, that is so reprehensible that she could be deposed without the formality of a Conclave. But I would require more proof. Unfortunately the accusation would be seen as so incredible it would take nothing short of a signed parchment containing her full confession to convince the others. Do you believe this Healer Evella could assist us?"

"My feelings on the young woman are in conflict, your Lordship," said Vanlo. "On the one hand, I feel she was very brave to bring us this information when it was clear she believed she was being monitored in some manner. But I also feel she has violated every tenet of Healing by assisting Freya in her plans."

"Lanno did say he thought she was being held against her will. Or perhaps she did not know it would be used in this manner."

Vanlo slowly nodded. "Such is the impetuousness of youth, to jump in feet-first without knowing how deep the waters."

Roquan's gaze hardened as he glanced towards the door. "This must not go on. Not Freya and not the Urisi. I must insist the Ambassador give me a decision. I must lift that burden from Doran's shoulders."

"I voice a similar concern, your Lordship, but it is more for Amanda's sake."

Roquan looked at his healer. "You do not need to remind me of that."

"My apologies, your Lordship. But she does not look happy at all in that covering that the Ambassador insists she wear."

"A sex seal. The most barbaric thing ever devised by the Urisi slavemasters. You will cease to see it on Amanda once the treaty is concluded. It sickens me that I agreed to it for the sake of a signed scrap of parchment."

"You do what you believe is the best for all," said Vanlo. "You have always done that, and you will continue to do it. That is all you can do."

Roquan slowly relaxed. "Thank you, Vanlo. I am glad that there is someone who will not hate me for this."

Vanlo shook his head. "Do not underestimate Amanda. You should realize by now, your Lordship, that you do so at your own peril."

"I was actually concerned about Sirinna."

"Ah. Your Lordship ... about Sirinna..." Vanlo shifted uneasily. "As I mentioned before, I have prepared what I believe will be the counter agent to the intelligence degradation but it needs to be tested. And..."

"And you wish to test it upon Sirinna."

"More to the point, Amanda wishes it."

"Permission is granted, Vanlo."

Vanlo hesitated. When he spoke again, his voice was more subdued. "Your Lordship, I feel you and Amanda both place too much confidence in me. You both believe me infallible."

Roquan raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand."

"You tasked me with one thing only, which was to find an antidote for the intelligence degradation in new slaves."

"Yes, and you already informed me that you can do the same after the fact. I said before it was good news and I meant it."

"But would you also consider the restoration of memory to be such as well?"

Roquan looked surprised. "Restoration of memory? Is that even possible?"

"As it turns out, your Lordship, the Draught is based on a premise that is wrong: that memory is destroyed by the Draught. It is merely suppressed. That alone is what allowed me to counter the effect."

"But you can choose which effects to counter, correct?"

Vanlo paused. "In time, yes. At the risk of shattering your illusions about me, your Lordship, it appears that my initial calculations were off. I had thought that it was the addition of the sexual enhancement that degraded intelligence. It is not. It is, in fact, the memory suppression itself."

"Which means?"

"Memory and intelligence are very tightly entwined. It is exceedingly difficult to alter one and not affect the other. Hence the original problem of degraded intelligence. I have tried my best with this first elixir. But I do not believe I have achieved a sufficient separation. I believe it will reverse the degraded intelligence. But it may also open the door on blocked memories."

Roquan stepped away from Vanlo, brow wrinkled in thought. "And if you are given more time?"

"I will likely achieve more separation. I cannot tell you if it will ever be complete."

"We are under no deadline, Vanlo."

"No, we are not. But I suspect that I will be unable to obtain more ingredients without resorting to the black market. The Healer Hall is objecting to my research and is withholding supplies."

Roquan frowned. "Objecting? Why?"

Vanlo paused, then shook his head. "The reasons are not important now, your Lordship. We are faced with a dilemma. I can very well discard this first attempt and continue, resorting to other means to obtain ingredients if needed. But without the knowledge that this potion works at all, I could very well be going up a blind alley."

Roquan let out a sigh through his nose. "So you do need to test it now."

"I wish to test it now. But you needed to know the implications first."

Roquan nodded. "The purpose of the memory removal ... suppression ... was to make the slave more tractable and easier to train. Certainly this is not something that is required for Sirinna. She has proven her loyalty to me many times over. I do not believe this will be to her detriment or mine."

"Realize, your Lordship, that increased intelligence itself may spark increased ambition to be something other than a slave."

"So be it."

Vanlo allowed himself a small smile. "That is as I had hoped it would be. Very well, I will arrange it. I wish to perform a few chemical tests on the elixir first to insure its purity."

"The timing on this could not be more perfect, Vanlo. Rennis is coming to the Manor. He cares for Sirinna as much as I, if not more. I am sure he will be happy to see this as well."

Ambassador Norlan cast a placid gaze down at Amanda. One hand lay lightly against the back of her head, though it was largely for ceremony. He found Amanda's skills required no coaching from him. It was symbolic of his mastery over her, that he could move her to a rhythm of his desire should he wish it.

Despite her skill, the only sign of his rising excitement was a slightly elevated breathing. Amanda could only barely hear it, but wondered if she really had. From behind her, another slave groped her breasts to keep her aroused for him.

She closed her eyes and tried hard to concentrate on her task and nothing else. She focused her mind on the sensations from his manhood sliding past lips and tongue, on the musky aroma of his arousal, on the feel of his balls bouncing lightly against her fingers.

The other slave teased her taut nipples, flicking at them with her fingertips. Amanda shuddered, and her thighs quivered. She let out a moan as moisture gathered and oozed through the seal.

Amanda slid her knees apart, as if expecting a touch. But she knew none would come, and even if it had, she would not feel it.

By the time Norlan uttered a very soft groan as his pleasure crescendoed, Amanda was shivering with desire. Her nipples had been left more sensitive by an over-indulgence of the salve naiduna under her brief time with Overlord Freya. Touching them for any length of time was a sure way to arouse her intensely.

Amanda felt her Master's fingers curl into her hair, and he uttered a short, heavy gasp as his manhood throbbed. Amanda struggled to keep her mind on the last of her task: milking him until he was spent, and then carefully cleaning him with her tongue and lips. She swallowed obviously and with relish.

Norlan stepped back, softly panting. He paused to catch his breath before gesturing towards Amanda and the other slave. "Rise."

The two slaves stood. Amanda was panting hard as the other slave did not cease her ministrations.

Norlan closed his robe and stepped forward. He reached between Amanda's legs and ran a finger over her slit. It came back slick and moist. Amanda looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Stop," the Ambassador said. The other slave lowered her hands from Amanda's breasts. "You may go."

The slave bowed her head respectfully and left. Amanda raised her sultry eyes to Norlan. They became more desperate as Norlan grasped her breasts and played with her nipples. She uttered a low whimper and swung her hips back and forth in a vain attempt to relieve the growing pressure in her sex.

"You think this is cruel, don't you, slave?" Norlan asked.

"I ... n-no ... I don't..."

She let out another needful moan when Norlan pinched her nipples and tugged at them. "Do not lie to me, slave."

"I-I'm not ... not for me ... cruel maybe for another slave, one that's had the Draught..." Amanda managed to stammer.

"As the Overlord is so fond of telling me. Did he put you up to saying that to me?"

"No, Master! I thought of it on my own. I can think, because I haven't had the Draught."

Norlan paused, then lowered his hands. Amanda let out a whimper, her hands briefly clenching at her sides. The constant sensual assault had made her pussy rise as if it had been stimulated directly, and now it sat in unrelenting, steamy sexual heat behind its prison.

"That was rather bold of you to say," said Norlan with a small smile.

Amanda did not bother to disguise the look of defiance in her eyes.

"And how do you come to this conclusion, slave?"

Amanda hesitated. The words had come in a moment of weakness. "Just that the other slaves are too distracted by their sexual needs to be able to think of much else, Master."

"Ah, yes, the sexual need. It seems the Overlord is quite concerned about that as well."

Amanda said nothing, despite having the desire to do so.

"Realize that our own slaves back home also have sexual cravings." He reached into his robe and withdrew another cherry-colored vial. "As you have already seen. It does not traumatize in the least."

Amanda eyed the vial anxiously. If he were to insist she drink it now, she would be practically useless at the Healer office. She wondered if that was how slaves were kept in line in the Urisi Nation, by giving them nothing else to think about except their intense sexual need that could be satisfied only when her Master or Mistress unsealed her.

Norlan smiled. "And, to be honest, the great appeal of Oceanus slaves is that we do not need to use this on them. That is, of course, unless more were Draughtless, like yourself."

Amanda continued to stare at the vial. She could only think of hapless slaves being forced to suffer in constant, burning lust with no way to satisfy it. For all the faults of that particular additive in the Draught, at least Overlords allowed their slaves to indulge themselves as they needed.

Norlan slipped the vial back into his pocket. "No, I will not use this on you now, slave. But I will not unseal you just yet. Come to me at the midday hour. I will unseal you then so that you may attend to your training. You may go."

"Thank you, Master," said Amanda dutifully.

"I am saddened to hear of Doran's illness," said Ambassador Norlan in a somber tone. "I wish him a speedy recovery."

"He is not quite infirm," Roquan said as he handed Norlan a goblet of wine. "It was one episode due to a chronic heart condition. He should be fine with some rest."

"That is good to hear. Do you wish to postpone negotiations until he is better?"

Roquan was tempted to take Norlan up on his offer, if for no other reason than Freya would not enjoy overhearing their debate. He could not ask the Ambassador to meet him elsewhere in the Manor. To do so would be to potentially alert Freya, as Roquan had to assume that Norlan was in communication with her. Even if he were not, he would question the sudden change of venue, giving him further cause to stall.

"No," Roquan said firmly. "Doran would not want us to delay, and I am anxious to conclude this treaty."

Norlan smiled. "Conclude? I do like your optimism, Overlord."

Roquan remained unperturbed. "There is no more need for this endless back and forth between us. There is but one remaining issue on the table."

Norlan paused to take a sip of his wine. "Ah, yes, the sex seals."

"You have heard every conceivable argument against their use, so I will not repeat them. Suffice it to say that I have made an ample case of why they would be detrimental to my slaves. I do not speak for your use of them on Urisi slaves, only mine and those of the other Overlords. What remains from you is to decide whether you will concede on the sole issue standing between us and a signed treaty."

The Ambassador looked thoughtful, taking another sip of his wine. "You know, Overlord, Amanda is a most fascinating young slave."

Roquan's eyes narrowed, but he otherwise controlled his response. "Indeed?"