Chapter 5

Amanda felt yet another sharp tug on her collar chain despite the fact that she was keeping pace; she suspected that Halno, the Head of Staff, did it because he could.

The completion of her remedial training meant she was a full slave, and thus accessible to Norlan's servants. Unlike slaves, servants were employees, and thus entitled to salary and benefits. Amanda and her ilk were one of the latter.

At first, Amanda had been grateful. The servants were a talkative lot, and liked to trade gossip or comment on current events. Moreover, Halno had the authority to unseal her if a servant wished actual intercourse. In fact, all requests to use her in that particular manner had to come through him. Thus he exercised his own "executive privilege" with Amanda every morning.

Halno took Amanda to his quarters just after the sun had risen, shining milky-white through the frosted windows. It was a single chamber, with living and sleeping areas merged into one cramped space not much larger than her old slave quarters in Oceanus. Everything was impeccably clean and arranged in a calculated order. A faint antiseptic smell hung in the air.

He removed the chain from her collar, but left her wrists shackled behind her. He turned his lean, lanky frame towards her and slapped the inside of one of her thighs, even as Amanda had already started to spread her feet.

Amanda's breath quickened. Her pussy oozed in anticipation, and her heart pounded in hope that this time would be different. But Halno prepared the unsealant as he always did, with just a few tiny dabs on a single fingertip.

Nevertheless, she shuddered when his fingertip slid slow and slick over her damp seal. The seal dissolved at the center of her tunnel and around the edges of her labia. More moisture was liberated, which coated his finger. When the remaining unsealant was properly diluted and useless, he slipped his finger inside her with a faint squish.

Amanda shivered and bit her lower lip, willing herself to respond as he pumped his finger in and out of her primed sex. She felt little more than a tiny, dull rise, her womanhood still encased in sealant and almost numb to his direct touch. He verified it with cruel certainty when he rubbed her sealed womanhood with vigorous strokes of his now slick finger. She felt little more than a vague, tantalizing tingle.

Halno withdrew his finger and slapped her ass, pointing to his bed. He never said a word to her, even in command. He never acknowledged that he thought one such as Amanda could even understand the spoken word, so much so that he had no qualms over speaking of internal matters with the staff in her presence. She believed this was a small price to pay for information.

Climbing upon the bed with her wrists secured behind her posed little problem. She had become adept at such things, and wondered if she would ever have a use for her hands again. Halno undressed and followed, his manhood already engorged. He positioned himself on his back and slapped her thigh again. She straddled him, a knee on either side, and nestled the side of his shaft within her damp folds.

He grasped her breasts and flicked his fingernails at her hard nipples until she panted and fresh moisture oozed over his cock. The little spike of pleasure in her sex primed her to anticipate more. He slapped her thigh once more, and she lifted her hips. He positioned his swollen manhood at her entrance and pulled her down hard, spearing her helpless pussy.

At first she was grateful to feel his hard presence inside her. He rubbed the pads of his thumbs against her nipples as she humped, renewed pleasure coursing through her sealed womanhood. But then his hands fell away, and so did her pleasure.

Amanda wanted to rush it; the thrust of his manhood inside her was little more than a duty now. Yet Halno would not let her. He kept a firm grip on her hips, forcing her to the exact pace that he wanted. When she forgot herself and tried to move faster before he was ready, she earned a sharp, stinging slap across her breasts.

She no longer felt that her pussy was her own, but simply a thing attached to her for his convenience. She could insist she was still a person, but she had to detach the notion of self from this part of her anatomy. Her pussy was a commodity, to be owned, used, bought, and sold.

Halno arched his back and moaned, and his movements faltered, his long fingers curling hard against her hips. Amanda guessed he was in climax. Only when she looked down and saw his seed trickle down his shaft as it leaked past her labia did she know for sure.

Amanda suppressed a sigh as Halno slapped her thigh so that she would extricate herself from him. As soon as Halno had climbed off the bed, she followed, earning a silent rebuke in the form of a dark look from his narrowed eyes. She guessed she was supposed to wait until he slapped her ass to signal his desire for her to leave the bed. She sometimes forgot that the Urisi wanted no initiative from a slave.

Or he simply enjoyed slapping her. Amanda believed that was just as likely. Halno resealed her, then reattached the chain and yanked her back into the corridor and led her to the servants' wing.

The servants on duty occupied their own small wing buried in a back corner of the palace. The burial was literal. The uneven lands around the palace rose such that the servants' wing abutted a small hill. The wing was separated from the rest of the palace by an archway covered by a thick drape, though few servants passed through it in the normal course of their duties. Instead, many narrow side-corridors ran along the outside walls, or along the thicker, load-bearing inside walls, so that they could see to the needs of Norlan and his guests, but melt into the background otherwise.

Yet Halno took her through this portal, parting the drapes for himself but letting them fall back before Amanda was through. The drape covered her face like a heavy, suffocating mask for a moment, and she gasped her next breath when she was through.

They had entered a long, rectangular chamber. Simple wooden chairs were strewn about the edges in no particular pattern. Two chambermaids were seated near one another. One had removed her shoes and was rubbing her feet. She glanced up at Amanda, frowned, and averted her eyes. Her companion made a noise of disgust, and turned herself in her chair so that her back was to the rest of the chamber.

Openings led to other chambers on either side. Amanda heard the clatter of dishes and cutlery as well as the splash of water. The air was heavy with the smell of soap and lye. From one of the entrances another maid appeared, pushing a cart filled with fresh linens. She kept her head carefully turned away from Amanda until she and her cart had disappeared down an adjoining corridor. At the far end of the chamber were four narrow doorways covered in more thick drapes.

Halno snapped the chain and pulled Amanda forward. From another entrance emerged three man-servants. Two had been engaged in conversation, something about needing to order more fresh meats by the next quarter moon. Their conversation stopped as Amanda passed. Unlike the women, they stared with lips curling into lascivious smirks. One gave Amanda's rear a playful slap as she passed, chuckling to himself and exchanging a lewd comment with his compatriot. Only the third of the trio remained silent, his eyes darting as if he did not know where to place his gaze.

Halno led Amanda to the rightmost of the four draped doorways. He slid the drape to one side, faint traces of magical energy crackling across its width as the spell upon it was momentarily lifted. Beyond it was a small alcove, the floor covered in furs. Several large wrought iron hooks jutted from the back wall just above Amanda's head.

Amanda understood that the Urisi high-borns preferred privacy in the sexual act, but it seemed misplaced here. The male servants went out of their way to ogle her and make crude sexual comments. Yet most of the female servants seemed as concerned with making a production out of their disapproval. Nothing of what she saw quite fit.

Halno attached the end of Amanda's chain to one of the hooks and secured it with a padlock. He left just enough slack on the chain so that Amanda could kneel if desired of her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key to her shackles, attached to a small chain. He reached up to hang the key from the other hook.

"Master Halno?"

Halno frowned at Amanda as if the interruption were somehow her fault before turning his head. Amanda looked past him and saw one of the trio of man-servants standing just outside the alcove, the one with the uncertain eyes. Even now his gaze seemed furtive, as if he were trying to both look and not look at Amanda.

"What is it now, Marris?" Halno said. His voice was deeper than she had expected from someone so thin.

"I, uh, was told that I need to talk to you to get access to Lord Norlan's slave manifests."

Halno's frown deepened. He turned fully towards the servant, blocking Amanda's view and forcing her to lean to one side. For a moment, Marris looked straight into Amanda's eyes, his own shimmering.

"And why would you need that?" Halno asked in a cool voice.

"I need to know the slaves, um, skills. So I can properly arrange for the right matches at the High Feast."

Amanda took a half step forward. This would be the first time she heard any further detail about the High Feast past what little Norlan had told her.

"I do not recall giving you that duty, Marris."

"I know. I'm volunteering for it."

"I do not recall asking for volunteers, either."

"Master Halno, I've done this sort of thing before. I've worked for High Lord Astor in the past. He never had a complaint."

"I did not ask for your past work history. I had already assigned you management of the guest list."

Amanda took a closer look at Marris. She tended not to see much detail of anyone she met among the servants, as they all treated her the same behind the privacy drape: as an inanimate sex toy. Yet she was sure she would have remembered him for his blonde hair if nothing else, since most of the other servants had darker hair.

"That requires little effort," said Marris, sounding more confident. "I have already finished. I did wish to ask you, however, if the listing for Lord Ambassador Mandas was correct."

Amanda's eyes widened. She had heard that name before.

"The list is from the hand of Lord Norlan himself," said Halno in a haughty voice. "Unless you claim his memory is faulty."

"Not at all, Master Halno!" Marris said quickly. "I just know that there is, well, a history between Lord Norlan and--"

"That is not your concern. If he is on the list, he is an honored guest. Cease applying your creative interpretations on your orders."

Now Amanda remembered. Mandas was the one that had entered into a rather acrimonious bidding war over Amanda, filled with as many insults as it had actual bids.

"Yes, of course, Master Halno," Marris said.

"And you are not the first one to try such painfully obvious means to get at that manifest."

Marris looked at his superior with what Amanda thought was genuine confusion in his gray-green eyes. "I'm sorry?"

"I will tell you the same thing that I have told the others. You will use whatever slaves are posted here, and you will take your chances that they will give you what you want. Any slave is as good as another. They are all the same."

Marris started to shake his head, but stopped himself when he caught Amanda's gaze again. "Um." He paused, his eyes darting between her and Halno, and finally resting on the latter. "Uh ... yes. Yes, that's right! I am terribly sorry, Master Halno."

Halno glanced behind him and scowled. Amanda retreated to her original spot, hiding Marris from her view. "You are interested in this one, is that it?" said Halno as he turned to face Marris again.

"Um, yes, that's right. When I'm free later, that is."

"And I suppose you wanted to know what her expertise was."

"Yes, of course, that's it."

Halno sighed. "Hrm. I guess you've done good work since you came here. All right. Just so you don't go bothering me about this again, this one is good with her mouth. Really good." He lowered his voice. "On everyone."

"Every... ? Ah. Oh, um, yes, I understand."

Halno paused a moment as if in silent evaluation before he asked in a calculated voice, "Do you want her now?"

Amanda tensed in the silence. She found herself hoping he would say yes.

"Not right now, Master Halno," said Marris, his voice quavering slightly. "I have other duties to perform."

"Hrm." Halno turned and hung the key on a hook, then headed out of the alcove. "And yet you were so bothered about wanting to know--"

His words were cut off as the drape was yanked closed and the privacy spell activated once more, plunging her into stark silence.

Mandas was further convinced that Norlan was little better than a peasant after spending no more than a single candlemark seated at the table in the back of the tavern. Despite the establishment's somewhat more upscale clientele (several High Lord advisers sat in quiet conversation a short distance away) he felt it would take a quarter moon of bathing to wash the lingering sweat and grime from his person. Every time the door opened, the musky smell of fertilizer and fresh dirt wafted in from the fields across the road. He considered destroying the clothing that he wore as he was sure his washing maids would never get the smell out of it.

Thus the words of the scruffy, blonde-haired servant did little to calm him. "That's it?" Mandas demanded. "That's all you have on her?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Ambassador!" Marris cried, then glanced about and lowered his voice when he spoke again. "Master Halno would not let me see the manifests."

"Then how did you find out what little you did bring me? Did you make it up on the way over here?"

"No, my Lord! He ... Master Halno told me."

Mandas raised an eyebrow.

Marris sighed. "He thought I wanted to ... well, to use her."

Mandas smirked, a gesture entirely without humor. "And we know that's not true, don't we?"

Marris looked up, stricken.

"Oh, don't deny it. That's why you're so nervous around the slaves."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marris said in a flat voice, though his eyes shimmered.

"Deny it if you wish. Frankly, I am not interested in the perversions of the peasantry. Most of what the peasants do disgust me as it is, so this is just one more on the heap."

Marris said nothing, keeping his gaze level with that of the Lord Ambassador.

"But others are not as magnanimous as I am. Perhaps you should consider that as well in your dealings with me."

"I-I know nothing else, my Lord," said Marris. "I told you the truth. That is all I was able to find out."

Mandas remained silent, looking pensive.

"My Lord, if that is all, may I go?"

Mandas sneered. "What? No demand of payment?"

"You're not satisfied with my information, so I thought it too presumptuous to ask."

Mandas nodded slowly. "Perhaps there is hope for you yet. Yes, you're right. You will not receive payment until I am satisfied, and now I will alter the payment. Now the payment is me keeping your little perversion a secret."

Marris' eyes widened before he could stop himself. "My Lord, I-I said, I wasn't--"

"All the more incentive to do as I ask to avoid propagating this 'vicious lie' about you. Now, some of the servants will be assigned to deal with the slaves during the High Feast, correct?"

"Yes, my Lord, but Master Halno has me handling the guests instead."

"Regardless, you will ensure you are involved, and you will ensure that I am paired with Amanda."

"But could you not simply make a request for her specifically?"

Mandas frowned. "You're no better than that oaf to whom you are employed. That is a breech of etiquette, and an excuse for Norlan to refuse me. Or did you forget that such things are at the host's discretion?"

"No, my Lord," Marris said in a low voice.

"This must be kept secret. You know all about keeping secrets already, so this should not be difficult. You can use my expressed desires as an excuse for the pairing."

"I'll try, my Lord."

"You will not try, you will do. Now, are you sure there is nothing else you have on her? Perhaps something you saw yourself with your own meager powers of observation?"

"She was in remedial training for awhile after Lord Norlan purchased her."

"Idiot. That is no different from any former Oceanus slave. Give me something else."

"Um ... she ... well, she seems very intelligent."

Mandas narrowed his eyes. "And how do you come by that, considering intelligence is not exactly a forte of your social class?"

Marris' eyes burned for a moment, and his voice was tense when he responded. "I've seen a lot of slaves in my time as a servant to various high-borns, my Lord. I can tell a lot about one by looking at her face."

"I suppose that would be the only part of her that interested you."

Marris' voice rose a bit. "And I can see whether there is any real thinking behind that face. I don't tend to see that a lot, so when I do see it, it tends to stand out. Let's put it this way, my Lord: if intelligence were light, her face would shine like a lighthouse."

Mandas considered. "Hmm. At the auction they stated she was undraughted."

"I would believe that, my Lord."

"It is little wonder, then, that the Oceanus slave system collapsed. Strange that it did not happen earlier. Surely proof that it was being propped up by the Nobility."

Marris said nothing. The knuckles of his fingers grew white as they gripped the edge of the table.

Mandas uttered a dramatic sigh. "Fine. You have your orders. Get out of my sight."

Marris bolted to his feet, the chair tipping back, saved from a crash to the floor by a frantic grab. He remembered himself just as he was about to turn away and bowed his head to Mandas before he fled.

Mandas waited until the servant had left, then exited the establishment himself, wrinkling his nose as a breeze blew off the tilled fields. He scurried away until he was no longer downwind, tall trees rising on either side of the winding road just short of the the center of town. He scrutinized his person, as if expecting to see bits of the lower social orders clinging to him in tangible form.

When he looked up again, a young, brown-haired figure raced towards him from the center of town. It was Mandas' Runner, a servant that received Farviews for him. Urisi protocol among high-borns favored using others to conduct the minutiae of Farviewing. It was considered crude to allow Farviewing pearls to be bound to one's person directly. Thus every Lord had a Runner for receiving Farviews and a Viewer for sending them.

Norlan was a notable exception, which earned him yet more disdain from his peers.

"What is it now?" Mandas demanded.

His Runner shuddered to a stop, kicking up dirt and gravel and earning a reproachful look from Mandas. "A message has arrived for you from Ambassador Norlan, my Lord," said the Runner in a breathless voice.

"What does the uncultured oaf want of me now?"

"He states that the storm along the coast has passed and that he intends to meet with the Lord Admiral of the rogue fleet."

Mandas frowned. "When?"

"This evening, my Lord."

"That bastard. He knows I can't make it before--"

Mandas stopped himself. Norlan would not know that Mandas was a stone's throw from Norlan's own palace.

"Summon my Viewer," Mandas said. "Have him get in touch with someone at the Royal Court to get me Portal passage to Port Heldon."

"But, my Lord, are not the use of the Portals restricted to--"

"Contact whomever you need to in order to authorize it!" Mandas snapped. "Contact the High Minister of State if required. Escalate it to His Majesty if you must!"

The Runner's eyes widened slightly, but he stood at crisp attention and bowed his head. "Yes, my Lord, at once!"

Mandas' lips curled into a sly smile as he watched his Runner dash back towards town. He believed he was already one step ahead of Norlan; he was not about to let Norlan leave him behind again.