Chapter 31

Amanda's panting was the only thing that broke the silence, save for the faint wet sounds of Roquan's manhood inside her excited sex. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, some of her pants becoming soft gasps and low moans.

Her legs were splayed wide around the Overlord's body. They trembled with her need for release, her pussy already straining at the edge. She was not to orgasm until he was close, and then in time with him. He show no signs of getting there quickly.

Amanda could sense someone's mood by his lovemaking. Both Roquan and Lanno changed their technique when things weighed heavily on their minds, but in different ways. Lanno became frantic and intense. Roquan was the opposite. He became more meticulous and exacting, as if he were calculating the exact touch and pace.

Roquan shifted position and angle. Amanda arched her back and shuddered as she nearly went over. Her hands clutched at his arms. His body pressed down upon her, until her breasts were squeezed against his broad chest. Her nipples tingled at the touch against hard muscle.

Amanda welcomed the distraction. It kept her mind off her own worries and troubles.

For one, she was not welcome in the Healer office that morning. Vanlo was to apply the Draught antidote to Evella, and he thought it best that there were no naked slaves in the vicinity. Amanda understood the need to shield Evella from the shock, but no one had thought to ask her if she were willing to simply put on some clothing.

For another, she caught Sirinna tossing and turning in her sleep again. Sirinna had already been acting increasingly subdued and distracted the past few days but would not admit to anything wrong.

And then there was Freya.

Amanda gasped as Roquan's pace abruptly increased. Her body rocked with his thrusts. She clung to him and moved her hips in tandem with his. She nearly let go, thinking he was about to reach his peak. She had to remind herself of the enormous discipline that Roquan could command over his body.

Freya was the one thing that kept creeping into her thoughts, even the intensity of sex failing to drive it away. It hovered in the back of her mind like a dark pall. She had not come into contact with the Overlord -- or was it former Overlord now -- since she had arrived. Yet just her presence seemed to touch off a vague fear.

Amanda closed her eyes tightly, struggling to keep control and banish thoughts of Freya. Finally, she felt a shudder from the Overlord. She waited as long as she could, her pussy straining so hard that it ached.

It was all she could do. His thrusts were relentless. Her control crumbled, and her pussy began to throb. She clenched her teeth to hold in her cry, until at last Roquan groaned loudly and his manhood pulsed inside her tunnel.

Everything else was driven from her mind. She rode the orgasm, letting it play out naturally. Roquan's skill was such that he alone could keep it going, his manhood slow to lose its erection even as his climax waned.

Roquan left himself inside her and deftly rolled them over so that he was beneath her. Only then did he slip from her and wrap his arms around her. She let out a slow sigh and snuggled up to him.

Her sigh was only partially from sexual contentment. Some of it was frustration. It seemed every time she did a slave duty, her thoughts churned in rebellion. She knew she was having doubts about her status in this world, but it seemed to be crystallizing into something else ever since Freya had arrived.

Perhaps that was the real reason she was fearful of Freya. It was not the Overlord herself, but what she represented. Amanda had her own doubts under control. She could simply not think about them and continue to play the part. Freya was a constant reminder of those doubts.

Amanda tucked her head under Roquan's chin and closed her eyes, letting out a very small sigh. Roquan's arm squeezed her briefly.

"You are troubled," Roquan said evenly.

Amanda remained silent for a long moment. She wished he could not read her so well. "It's nothing, Master."

"Do not be evasive. I vowed to be honest with you. I insist on that in return."

"Is that why you didn't tell me about the visit from Jollis, Master?" Amanda said, her voice icy.

"I was intending to inform you about that. There was much that was happening, and I simply did not think of it immediately."

Amanda understood, and wished she had not said it. She felt guilty for obtaining the information from Vanlo by pretending that the Overlord had already told her. Yet she did not feel a pressing need to apologize. "What are you going to do with Freya, Master?"

"I will hold her here until I can seek guidance from the other Overlords."

Amanda sensed tension in the Overlord's voice. "And then what?"

"And then we will see justice done for her crimes."

"And just what were her crimes, Master?"

Roquan shifted a bit. "Do you need me to answer that, Amanda? You are aware of what she has done as much as I am."

"Yes, Master, please, I need an answer. What will the other Overlords think her crimes are?"

"She modified the Draught in a manner inconsistent with Overlord aims," Roquan began. "She attempted to enslave native Narlassi. She attempted to kill a slave. It likely can also be shown that she has engaged in a pattern of slave abuse over the years."

Amanda remained silent and still in the wake of the Overlord's response.

"You do not agree with this assessment?" Roquan asked.

"What is wrong with enslaving Narlassi?" Amanda asked flatly.

Roquan tensed. "You are a student of Oceanus history now, Amanda, from the scrolls that I had procured for you. You should know the answer to that."

"They just say that we don't do it anymore, Master, that it fell out of favor. It doesn't say why it is wrong now."

"I do not understand the point of your question."

Amanda raised her head. "It's not okay to enslave Narlassi, but it's okay to go to other worlds and snatch people away and enslave them. No one thinks twice about it."

"This is the way that it is done," Roquan said firmly.

"But that doesn't answer the question, Master. Why is it okay to do that but not the other?"

Roquan sighed. "You are asking questions that have no easy answers."

Amanda stared at the Overlord, fixing her dark and dubious eyes on him. Finally, she turned her gaze aside and lowered her head to his chest again, feeling both guilty and frustrated. It was the same response that Doran had given her. She had hoped that Roquan would offer her more insight, or even say something to her that would assuage her fears and somehow make it sound all right.

"The only thing I can tell you, Amanda, is that this is how it has been done for two centuries," Roquan said. "It is not about to change anytime soon. But it does not change the fact that what Freya has done must be addressed. She must be held responsible for her actions."

Amanda swallowed. "Master ... I ... I don't see much difference between giving a Narlassi the Draught and giving it to an offworlder. Both are destroying the old person just so you can have another slave."

"It is not ... memories alone do not..." Roquan began, paused, then sighed in frustration.

Amanda closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Master," she said in a very small voice.

After a long silence, Roquan finally said, "Do not be. I have given you the privilege to speak more openly to me. I do not intend to hold you to task for anything you say to me in private. But I do not have any answers for you, nor can I tell you that things will change to your liking. This is simply the way things are and must be accepted for now."

Amanda opened her eyes. For now?

Could she dare to hope that he might be willing to change his ways after the war was over? She was afraid to ask. Then she wondered if she were being too presumptuous. Who was she to tell this world what it should or should not do? Was she taking some high moral ground or was she simply seeking something better for herself? Were her motives altruistic or self-serving? Or somewhere in between?

"Yes, Master, I understand," Amanda said in a soft voice.

Or was she just a confused teenage girl still caught in the throes of growing up?

Evella could not stop crying for nearly a full candlemark, clinging to Lanno fiercely as the only thing that was familiar to her. She would not let go, forcing Lanno to sit with her in his lap. All he could do was hold her, as no words would soothe her. Meanwhile, Vanlo camped out in the reception area of the office and turned away most of the slaves that came to him that morning unless it was serious enough to warrant immediate treatment.

By the time the young Healer's tears stopped, Lanno's shirt was damp, and her eyes red and puffy. He still thought they were beautiful when they rose to his. She blinked a few times and opened her eyes wide. "L-Lanno ... how ... h-how did you ... how did I get back?"

Lanno smiled. He could not help it. It was the first intelligent thing that he had heard Evella say. Vanlo had not been completely sure it had worked. "Vanlo figured out how to counter these effects of the Draught."

She stared at him for a few moments, as if struggling to think. "Vanlo ... Vanlo! Good gods, not Vanlo G'tort?"

"Yes, I thought you might know him."

"Know him? Of course I do! He's the best in ... in the field of ... um..." Evella frowned and looked off to the side. "Chemistry. Yes, chemistry, that's it. Why did I have to struggle to remember that? It's like my head is full of molasses."

"Vanlo said you might need a second dose for complete recovery. He wanted to make sure there were no ill effects from this dose before he administered the second."

Evella nodded slowly and looked back at Lanno. Her eyes glistened as if she were about to cry again. "Oh gods, I wish i-it could get rid of the memories of what I did after she gave ... gave me..."

Lanno hugged her tightly. "C'mon, don't dwell on that. It's over. Overlord Roquan is going to make sure no one does this again."

Evella gasped and tried to push out of Lanno's embrace. "Wait, we're at another Overlord Manor?"

"Evella, it's all right, please. No sane Overlord would have done what Freya did. In fact, I think the other Overlords will want Freya's hide. And no one is more angry at her than Roquan."

Very slowly, her panic retreated. She had to tell herself that someone with Vanlo's ethics would not work for an Overlord like Freya. He had the strength of courage that she did not. At this thought, she did dissolve into tears.

"I'm so sorry!" she wailed. "This is all my fault! I did this for her!"

"Shh ... please ... don't worry about that now," Lanno said softly.

"M-maybe you should have left me like I was ... just a mindless slave ... it's all I-I'm good for now..."

Lanno had no more words to stop her self-recrimination. He had the uneasy feeling that the Healer Guild would not relent, either. Once word got back to them, life would be very hard for Evella. If they even let her remain a Healer.

Evella squirmed in Lanno's lap. "Vanlo's potion didn't do everything," she whispered in a voice that was both despairing and needful. "I still ... I-I ... my sex still burns like..."

Lanno let out a breath slowly. He tried to push any erotic thoughts out of his head. Though the way her body wriggled against him was not helping matters.

"Vanlo saw no need to counter that," Lanno explained, struggling to keep his thoughts purely academic. "He did not want to risk messing with the formula. He thought the effects of that would fade over the next quarter moon since they were no longer supported by the memory and intelligence effects. Or he could make something separate for that if it bothers you too much."

Evella closed her eyes tightly. One of her hands on his chest curled and clutched his shirt. "She f-fed more more of that when she gave me the Draught ... I have to do something, Lanno, I can't..."

Lanno sighed in desperation as he felt a tingling in his nether regions. "Look, I can give you some privacy somewhere. You can ... you can take care of it yourself."

Evella looked up, her cheeks pink. She squirmed again. "You don't understand ... it's really hard to satisfy myself like that ... I-I mean, I can, but it doesn't last."

Lanno swallowed. Now his manhood stirred. "Maybe it's different now, since the other effects are gone. Maybe you should try."

Evella paused as if considering. But then she shifted in his lap again and felt something stiffening against her backside. She blinked and glanced down for a moment.

"I'm sorry!" Lanno blurted. "Please, ignore it. It's just ... it's only physical, because you're sitting there and moving around and..."

Evella looked up. Her lips twitched as they curled into a faint smile. "You mean you don't want to do it with me?"

Lanno stared, wide-eyed. Finally he let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't ask me questions like that, Evella."

"You did back in the Guild Hall. I had to keep putting you off."

"Yes, I know. It's your choice."

Evella nodded once, paused, then slid closer to him. His now hard manhood pressed into her rear. She shivered. "So ... I-I can choose to do it with you now."

Lanno bit his lip. He shook his head. "It's not a choice now. You're being affected by what Freya fed you."

"I know! ... I know ... But Freya just f-forced partners on me. She ... she made me do it with other girls, and I'm not like that. Please, Lanno, the only other thing I could do would be to do it with a girl! You're the only man here that I know and that I trust."

Lanno looked surprised. "Wait ... you trust me?"

Evella smiled faintly. "Back in the Guild Hall, you knew 'no' meant 'no.'"

"But I kept pestering you..."

"But you never tried to force yourself on me. And when I broke it off completely, you didn't pester me after that, even after you insisted on keeping the Farview pearl." Her smile widened. "See, I remember that. It's coming back to me a little easier now."

"I just don't want you to regret this."

"Honestly, Lanno? I might. But at least I can trust you that you won't pursue anything else with me if I tell you not to."

"I still have my doubts about this."

Evella squirmed against his hard manhood. "Part of you doesn't."

Lanno had little resistance left. "All right. Let's go back to my quarters then." Evella clutched at him as he was about to stand up, forcing him to pause. "What is it?"

"Just ... just don't ... don't treat me like a slave when you do it ... be a little more gentle. Take some more time. Okay?"

Lanno slowly smiled and hugged her. "Of course I will, Evella," he said softly into her ear.

"Lord Admiral, I insist you procure more dreadnoughts for your fleet," the Emperor's Farview image demanded. "They are the only ships that have the necessary reach."

Lord Admiral Vortas V'quenna sighed, his hands folded behind his back. His great broad chest stretched across the Farview image as he stood resplendent in his ornate uniform. In a deep baritone voice, Vortas replied with as much calm and aplomb as he could. "With all due respect, my Emperor, I explained this to you yesterday. The nearest dreadnought-heavy fleet I could call upon is the Fourth Fleet, which is stationed along the northern coast to support the northern incursion."

"Those orders have been changed. They are no longer needed."

"Very well, my Emperor, but it will still take them at least a half moon to reach where you want them at full sail, and that is assuming they spend no days becalmed."

"I am not sure we have that kind of time, Lord Admiral."

Vortas' eyebrows rose. "You expect an attack that soon, my Emperor?"

"I ... I don't know, Lord Admiral," Z'haas said. "I don't know! Duric may be on his way here now. Or he may be waiting for another opportune moment. I simply do not know!"

Vortas was distressed by the tone of the Emperor's voice. He had never heard Z'haas so anxious before, even panicked. "My Emperor, I am currently sailing with the Sixth Fleet, which is the closest fleet to the Imperial territories. We can reach you in five days, four if we encounter a good strong tailwind, and the Captain's Weather Mage tells me the odds are good. We have three dreadnoughts and four frigates that might have enough range if the approach close enough to the coast. I think this will suffice."

The Emperor glowered. "Very well, Lord Admiral. But I will be ordering the Fourth Fleet southward as well."

"Understood. If I may ask a question, my Emperor?"

Z'haas looked impatient. "Yes?"

"Has consideration been made about the merchants?"

The Emperor frowned. "Merchants? What are you blathering about?"

Vortas stiffened. His eyes became cool and his voice tense. "What I am 'blathering' about is that firing upon the southern approaches to the Imperium will risk striking merchant caravans traveling the roads. Has the Merchant Guild been forewarned?"

The Emperor fumed at what he found to be the disrespectful tone of the Lord Admiral's voice. The Oceanus Navy was second to none in Narlass in power and prestige save for the Emperor himself. Its officers tended to flaunt that. They were willing to risk the disfavor of the Emperor for voicing their opinions because they knew they were so indispensable.

"I have no need to consult anyone about my decisions, Lord Admiral."

Translation: no, he didn't, Vortas thought to himself in resignation. He uttered a windy sigh and said in a clearly irritated voice, "Very well, my Emperor. I can only hope that we are not refused supplies the next time we come into port."

"You will concern yourself with your own responsibilities, Lord Admiral. Do not attempt to tell me how to carry out mine!" The Emperor's image flickered out.

Vortas closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. "You heard?"

From the other side of the cabin, a younger man in more muted attire and a more relaxed stance nodded. "Yes, I heard."

Vortas opened his eyes and turned his head. "Captain, what are your thoughts on a bombardment against our own lands?"

Captain Boddas V'yed shook his head, his lips curling into a small smirk. "Not our lands, my Lord. The enemy lands. The rebel lands."

The Lord Admiral's face became sour. "I suppose I still have trouble believing that. And really, what we are being asked to do is sheer madness. Firing that far inland? It will be a miracle if we actually hit Duric's troops!"

"I think I can do it, my Lord."

"But not without a great deal of collateral damage, I wager."

"Some. But small price to pay for defending our glorious Emperor."

Vortas' eyes narrowed. "Be careful, Captain. That sentiment is not shared universally among the ranks. Or even among command."

The Captain laughed. "Relax, my Lord. I'm not here to play politics, just to do my duty. Now, may I go up above and do just that?"

The Lord Admiral frowned, but nodded his head once. "Dismissed."

Boddas saluted and left.

Vortas did not like this one bit. Whenever they went up against a pirate base holed up in some coastal village, they took great pains to avoid using the mage-fire batteries when possible, or waited until they could close with smaller, faster ships that had pinpoint accuracy.

The Navy shall not become an instrument by which the Emperor frightens or coerces the populace. That was written in the Charter, and every navy officer memorized it. It was impossible for the population to not be frightened by these actions, whether intentional or not, no matter how accurate the Captain claimed to be.

The crystal goblet lowered from High Lord Ardon's lips. He stared across his private study at the man seated in the plush chair. "You are quite mad."

Norlan put his goblet aside, its amber contents untouched. He was in no condition to imbibe, as tired and wrung out as he felt. He had accepted the drink out of politeness, a desire to adhere to protocol as much as he could afford given the circumstances. He folded his hands in his lap. "I am not the one that makes this offer, only the one that delivers it."

"Yes, but the fact that you passed it along at all implies you believe it has merit!" Lord Ardon frowned. He put the goblet down loudly and turned away, folding his hands behind him. "It is madness in its purest form. You are asking us to accept -- for His Majesty to accept -- a conquest of one of the most powerful nations on Narlass."

Norlan stood up. "And do you believe we have much choice in the matter?"

Ardon turned. "We have every choice in the world. We can choose not to accept it."

"Yes, true. Meanwhile, the Inonni do what they please anyway, and instead of having a friend to our west, we will have an enemy."

Ardon made an exasperated noise. "This is ludicrous! We are asked to accept him at his word that he will not act hostile towards us once he takes Oceanus. You of all people know that a man's word is worthless unless it is backed up by action."

"Yes, I am aware."

"And this bold claim of his, that he can take Oceanus so quickly from within. I would have less trouble believing that Oceanus is about to be conquered by Faeries sprinkling magic dust."

Norlan remained where he was as Ardon paced out a path around the periphery of the room, turning placidly in place to remain facing the High Lord. "My Lord, you know of Mandas' reports, do you not? Did he not uncover that Oceanus knows of an enemy with an advanced Portal technology?"

"More fantasy! Our Mages assure me that this is impossible, that there has been no serious advancement in this area in centuries because there is none to be had."

"What if they are wrong, my Lord?"

Ardon stopped, his face creased with both anger and worry. "You had best hope that they are not."

"I most certainly do hope, but my instincts say otherwise."

"And this man never claimed to be using Portals for his plans."

"I know. But he is likely unaware how much we knew of them through Mandas. He would not want to tip his hand."

"And yet he expects you to believe it anyway!" Ardon declared. "He could be playing us for fools, Norlan."

Norlan rubbed his eyes as if it were the dead of night instead of early morning. "Do you not think that I considered this? I have spent many sleepless nights wrangling over it. It took me this long to bring it to you. I kept going over it many times, trying to determine some other angle. I came up with nothing."

High Lord Ardon frowned deeply. He shook his head and sighed. "This is not for the High Lords. You need to take this to His Majesty at once."

Norlan stepped forward. "My Lord, please think this through. If this man's boast is true, and there is much circumstantial evidence in favor of it, then there is nothing we can really do. If I inform the King, and he intends to try to rush to Oceanus' aid, or warn them in some manner, or both, we will be making a very powerful enemy."