Chapter 38

The room which served as the parlor for High Lord Bortho seemed confining despite its owner's great wealth and love of large, expansive chambers. Indeed, in this case, its own opulence was its undoing.

Rich tapestries and beautiful paintings marched high along the walls, their edges almost touching one another. Before them stood statues and carvings composed of every material from wood to stone to metal. Arranged before them were vases, gourds, goblets, and other small treasures, sitting upon small pedestals of marble. Every last one was arranged with expert aplomb such that nothing would completely occlude another while their admirer stood in the center of the chamber. Polished surfaces gleamed so bright as if to resist dust by their mere existence.

The only anomaly lay at the back of the room, where a broad, square marble dais stood low to the floor with nothing before, behind, or atop it. Embedded in the edge facing the center of the chamber was a blue pearl.

All the warmth in the chamber seemed to concentrate into the confined space of its center. The roaring heat in the fireplace rushed over Amanda's already flushed skin. She had no means of retreat; two shackles melded to one another without an intervening chain held her ankles together, forcing her legs closed and straight. Her wrists were chained behind her and to the back of her collar, held high up her back.

Amanda glanced at the mantle as if she expected to see the Farviewing pearl magically appear. Her faint hope that Lord Bortho would purchase it along with her had been dashed the moment she understood for whom she had been purchased. Her new Mistress would have scoffed had Lord Bortho presented her with such a worthless trinket.

Amanda was still stunned at how quickly the transition had come. Auctions were calm, staid affairs among the Urisi highborns, consisting of buyers strolling about examining the merchandise and issuing discrete inquiries to one of several auction coordinators. Lord Bortho, a quiet and unassuming man, had seemed embarrassed to be there.

Amanda worried she might start to sweat. That morning, her Mistress' servants had bathed her most thoroughly, scouring even the smallest spot of dirt from under her nails, which themselves were trimmed and sculpted to perfection. They brushed her hair until it shone and treated it so that not a single split end or tiniest flake of dandruff remained.

Finally, she had been fed a concoction which tasted faintly like the arousal drug, but she soon discovered this formula was far more refined. Now her pussy was no more than pleasantly warm and just wet enough to glisten in the light. Her nipples rose to erect, sensitive nubs which throbbed faintly with her heartbeat.

She flinched when she heard the door to the parlor open, and her Mistress stood in the doorway, gazing at Amanda with eyes both appreciative and scrutinizing. Her ice-white hair was coiffed into an elegant tower, the remainder flowing from the top like a ponytail, the ends brushing the back of her neck. Framed by her light hair, her deep blue eyes were like sapphires set against white velvet.

She swept into the room, the rich silks of her violet gown swishing about long, lithe legs clad in black stockings. The bodice was laced tight about her slim frame, pushing up her breasts until they swelled against the hem. Matching gloves covered her hands and arms to her elbows. The ends of translucent veils were sewn to the gloves just below the wrists, the remainder wrapped loosely about her waist. They billowed like dragon wings when she spread her arms as she approached Amanda, her red-pink lips curling into the smile of a child who had just unwrapped a desired present.

"Ah, so you are my husband's latest gift to me," High Lady Erisa said, her voice soft and breathy. "So thoughtful of the man, remembering what I do for him and how he has gained so much because of me."

Amanda kept her face to the expression of bemused innocence she had practiced before the auction. "This slave does not understand, Mistress," Amanda said in a soft voice.

"Of course you don't. No matter. Now, for a name."

"This slave's name is--"

Lady Erisa raised an admonishing finger, though her lips curled into a small smile. "Now, now. Quiet. Let me think. Hmm." She produced a blue pearl in one of her gloved hands. "This will be easier without the restraints."

She waved her hand over the pearl. The shackles about Amanda's ankles sprang open. The shackles behind her back released her wrists and fell with a loud clank. The chain unraveled and fell atop it in a cascade of iron. Only her collar remained.

Lady Erisa giggled and caressed the pearl as if stroking a beloved pet. "Another little gift from my husband. I do hate having to call on servants all the time for such simple things. Now, step forward."

Amanda did as she was bid. Keeping her thoughts separate from her actions was proving easy, but only because she still did not know what to make of her new Mistress. Despite Lady Erisa's pleasant voice and gentle touch, something made Amanda anxious.

Lady Erisa tilted her head, letting out a slow sigh of what Amanda could interpret only as wonder. The highborn woman let strands of Amanda's luxurious black hair flow through her fingers like water. She brushed more hair away from Amanda's eyes and gazed intently into them.

Amanda tried not to react. Was this where Lady Erisa would discover that Amanda was not Draughted? Norlan often had noted he could see such things in her eyes.

"Oh yes," Lady Erisa whispered, her own eyes widening until they appeared as crystal pools of indigo. "Yes, that would be perfect. So perfect. Dark hair and eyes, wonderfully fair skin. Neither overwhelms the other. You suggest neither day nor night. Twilight. Yes, that's it."

Amanda blinked. Twilight? Was that what Lady Erisa wanted to call her?

Lady Erisa stepped back and giggled. "Yes, Twilight! Perfect name. Perfect time. The velvet sky would look so wonderful against your dark hair, and your skin would suggest the white sparkle of the stars as they come out."

Amanda simply stared at Lady Erisa. Both the confusion and curiosity on her face were genuine, but her heart was also pounding.

Lady Erisa paced back and forth before her newly christened slave. "Yes, I simply must move some of my servants out of the west wing for my remaining time here! There is a hall with a window in the perfect place. The sky is quite expansive there, and would set you off perfectly."

Amanda thought of the dais behind her and understood. She was to become another trophy like the rest of this woman's collection. She wondered if she would eventually see Lady Erisa's other slaves scattered about the palace, each tasked with maintaining a pose atop a marble dais like a living statue.

Lady Erisa stopped before Amanda and heaved a sigh, turning out her lower lip in a pout. "But, alas, there are those who will clamor to see you before the right time, and I simply cannot refuse them, dear Twilight." She picked up her dress and sauntered past Amanda, stopping by the stone dais. She smiled and gestured. "Come and stand here."

Amanda obeyed, though her heart thundered. She was not sure why she was so anxious; being a trophy was not much worse than being a sex toy.

The stone felt chilly against her feet, and she shivered slightly as she turned to face the chamber. Lady Erisa smiled and stepped back. "Now, tilt your hips a bit to one side."

Amanda hesitated, stuck on which direction to go. She finally thrust her hips to the left. She guessed at what Lady Erisa wanted and glided her torso the other way, tilting herself forward slightly so her breasts appeared more prominent.

"Oh, quite good, quite good, Twilight!" Lady Erisa bubbled. "Yes, you understand! But we need a bit more ... a bit more action. Spread your legs, and masturbate lightly."

Amanda was surprised enough at the order that she was slow to comply. Never had Norlan or Halno allowed her to touch herself. She knew she had arrived unsealed but had assumed this would change before long.

She slid her feet apart and lay her fingers against her folds. She felt another shiver, this one of delight. She had forgotten how pleasant this simple act could be. Her pussy responded to her touch, growing more liquid and slick. She had to resist the urge to plunge her fingers deeper.

"Light, very light, just teasing," Lady Erisa said. Her eyes were wide, and her voice quavered with excitement.

Amanda's fingertips drew light swirls about her womanhood. Pleasure trickled through her sex until she let out a breath as a low, husky sigh. Her nipples throbbed, sending more warm tingles through her body.

"Yes, that's it," Lady Erisa murmured in a lustful voice. She slowly raised the hand holding the blue pearl. "Fondle one of your breasts with your free hand."

Amanda cupped the soft flesh and shivered hard as the touch of her nipple against the palm of her hand flooded her pussy with liquid heat, her fingers squishing against the wetness of her folds. She grasped the nipple and moaned, bending her legs slightly at the knees, her fingers sinking a bit further into her slit.

Lady Erisa's eyes glittered. "Perfect."

Her other hand waved over the pearl, and Amanda froze in place.

Amanda thought time itself had somehow come to a dead stop, until she saw Lady Erisa lower her hand and could not shift her gaze to follow it. Her pussy ached from the teasing pleasure, but she could not stroke her fingers against it. Her hand remained clutched at her breast, the fingers closed on the nipple, as still and unyielding as stone.

Amanda wanted to cry out, but her throat was as frozen as the rest of her. Then she wanted to scream when she feared her lungs had been frozen as well, turning her from living stone to dead stone when she suffocated. But she was not stone; her chest still rose and fell, her eyes blinked, and her skin was as soft and fair as it had been moments before.

She heard Lady Erisa step back. "You look absolutely wonderful, Twilight. I am sure the others will just adore my latest little gift from my husband. And you will be nothing less than stunning when I show you off in a proper setting. Now, Twilight, if my guests are sufficiently enamored with you tonight, you will be allowed to finish pleasuring yourself before you head off to sleep." She gave her slave a sly smile. "And just maybe I will allow you to pleasure me in return, if I'm not too worn out."

Lady Erisa sauntered out of the chamber.

Nothing Amanda did allowed her to move. The pearl embedded in the dais glowed, bathing her feet in pale blue-white light. Her fingers remained pressed at the same exact pressure against her sensitized folds and nipple, leaving her on a maddening knife's-edge of pleasuring and non-pleasuring. A drop of her still hot, liquid arousal trickled down the inside of her thigh.

Despite the intense feeling of vulnerability and helplessness, she felt a small measure of relief. She understood what was desired of her right at the start. She was to be the trophy, the object d'art to be put on display as a symbol of wealth, prestige, and power. The sex was almost an afterthought. With Norlan, she realized now she had been caught in a limbo between "real" Urisi slave and "special" Oceanus slave, and he could not decide which he had really wanted.

Perhaps Twilight was a very apt name for her indeed.

Riddon gazed seaward over the prow for the fourth time that morning, wiping his stubbled face with a beefy hand. He uttered a sigh and scratched his unkempt hair as he stared at the horizon, where a distant haze hovered over a becalmed sea. The sun blazed from an azure sky, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The footsteps behind him were heavy and purposeful. He ignored them and folded his arms, staring into the distance until phantom dots swirled in his view. He narrowed his eyes as the footsteps stopped, feet shuffled, and whispers exchanged.

"You tell him."

"No, you. Wuz yer ideer."

"Fine!" The crewman cleared his throat and spoke in a louder voice. "Uh, Capt'n? We wanna talk to ya 'bout sumthing."

Riddon scanned the horizon once more before turning around. He scowled at the three crewman and growled, "Yeah? Whaddaya want?"

The crewman in the lead hesitated and glanced at one of his compatriots, who jabbed him in the ribs with a whispered "go on!" He turned back to Riddon and cleared his throat again. "Uh, we jus' wanna know, uh, when we're gonna get outta here."

Riddon frowned. "What the blazing hellfire for?"

"Well ... we've been here fer six days and nuthin'! We think ... we think that Gedric fella wuz right all along."

"Oh, do ya, huh?"

The crewman blanched at the tone of contempt in Riddon's voice. Another crewman jumped into the silence. "C'mon, Riddie, when have we ever had ta wait this long?"

"We hadda wait nearly a half moon once fer that shipment of smuggled Honrus artifacts, 'member?"

"Yeah, but that was on land!" piped the third crewman. "We never had ta wait this long in the middle o' the bloody sea!"

"An' how d'ya expect me ta go anywhere when we're becalmed, huh?!"

"We still got some Mage wind left," said the second crewman. "C'mon, Riddie, we gotta get goin' b'fore the navy blokes show up!"

"That's it, I'm tired of this bilge!" Riddon pushed through the crewmen. "Where the bloody hell is pretty-boy?"

"He's down below, doin' inventory on--"

Riddon leaned over the opening in the deck and bellowed, "Get yer fancy-pants arse up here, pretty-boy!"

Footsteps scrambled up the ladder from below-decks, and Gedric's face appeared. "Aye, Captain, what is it?"

"I said get up here!"

Gedric climbed onto the deck. As soon as he had stepped off the ladder, Riddon shoved him hard and nearly sent him falling back into the cargo hold. "You put 'em up ta this, didn't ya?" Riddon demanded.

Gedric frowned. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"All this bilge-water 'bout leavin'!"

"I spoke not a word to anyone."

"He's tellin' the truth, Riddie!" cried the second crewman. "He didn't say nuthin' about this!"

"Shaddup! I wasn't talkin' ta you!" Riddon snapped.

"With all due respect," Gedric began, his tone cool. "I suspect they would have come to you anyway regardless of anything I had said. Surely you realize by now that--"

An arm suddenly speared the air towards the port side from the crow's nest. "SHIP OFF THE PORT BOW!"

The crewmen exchanged shocked and worried looks, then scrambled across the deck to the port-side railing. Gedric turned to join them, but Riddon shoved him out of the way and marched in front. He elbowed several crewmen aside, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the horizon. "I don't see nuthin'."

Gedric craned his neck to see around the others until two crewman parted to allow him room. He thrust his arm over the side. "There! I see it!"

Finally, the others could as well. A speck shimmered against the distant haze and rising thermals. As they watched, it grew in size and steadied, taking on a more definite shape.

"Get the distance viewer," Riddon grunted.

Moments later, the telescoping metal tube was slapped into Riddon's outstretched hand. He brought it to his eye and squinted hard through the lens.

"What is it, Capt'n?" a crewman asked.

"Is is a navy ship?" another asked in a fearful voice.

"Should I fetch the jars of Mage wind?"

"Mebbe we should ask Gedric what he thinks it is."

"All of ya, shut yer bloody pie holes!" Riddon growled. He stared into the viewer for another few moments of tense silence. "Two masts. Wide. Full sail. Can't see no guns. Wait ... she's comin' around a bit, musta got a bit of wind ... yeah, broad and not too long. Gotta be a merchant ship."