Trade Secrets

[Skie and Avery]

A Woman reclined along a sunbaked rooftop over Harper Street. Around her, aged and crumbling gargoyles regurgitated what remained of the night’s rains into Radasanthia’s gutters, washing over a drunken man as if to try in vain to cleanse him of sins unknown. The dweller in the overhanging eaves, however, knew there was no need to question. Sins were there alright, not just in the man who mumbled in his dreams below. Radasanthia was a place where sin flourished for and against everyone. The other continents had their race wars, and some of it washed into this city, but for the most part Corone was welcoming to anyone. True enough, anyone with enough money, determination, and callous gift for taking advantage of people could become a model citizen here.

Again, the woman turned her eyes back to the crowd that moved along with the lazy feel of a weekend afternoon. The sun hadn’t been up for an hour, though the smells and sounds of the city were beginning to swell, as if the tide of humanity were finally coming in after a long moonlit night. Here, a baker opened his windows and his door, there a farmer urged his mule to pull the produce laden cart one last mile to the Bazaar. In a group of students, she found what she was looking for. A small group of three made their way along the often traveled road, curving right when it split. The watcher herself had walked along those cobbles many times - they led to the Citadel. The small group looked like many who found mentors and an education at the Church of Bones and Blood, with one exception.

Walking a ways behind the other two, a small girl walked. She was not a child - the curve of her hips suggested that she was at least sixteen - but still so tiny. The woman made a quick comparison when the girl walked by a familiar doorway and was surprised to find that had she been down there, the girl would only have come to about her shoulder. 4’8”, she decided. 4’10” at best In fascination, the woman watched the girl further. Her frame was completely in proportion to her height, a fragile doll of a thing, with strawberry blonde hair that was pulled back in a knot. Even her student’s robe, so plain and practical, was worn with an elegance the other students didn’t seem to possess.

Ahead of the students, by a pie-maker’s cart, another girl stood. This one was tall and stocky, hunched over as if to make herself smaller. Her hair was a honey color, braided down her back, and she dressed in a long tunic and pants that were more appropriate for a cool fall afternoon, rather than these dying days of summer. Her clothes were clean and well cared for, but they were like their wearer and looked dull without really trying. As the students passed her, she stepped back for a moment, seemingly absentminded and bumped into the smaller girl. It was gentle, and as she turned, apologizing profusely, the other girl smiled for a moment and touched her hand. The girls separated and went their own ways, and no one thought more of the incident, except for maybe the watcher.

“Did they pass it?” asked a voice behind the woman. She turned to look at her, and as he scrutinized her, the pale bands around her wrists and neck glowed softly.

“Yes. I almost didn’t see it. They are getting talented at passing these things on without notice.” she replied quietly, leaning against a snarling gargoyle.

“Well, this is the last. I want you to apprehend the notes, all of them, and the girls.” His statement was met only with her hateful glare and finally, she spoke, as if she had been forced to dig the words out of a deep chasm before they could be brought out.

“I don’t see why that’s necessary. We already know more or less what they say, and the girls won’t dare to speak without having any evidence.” A long pause passed between them after she spoke, filled only with the splatter of water far below them. The rings glowed even brighter, and the woman clutched at her throat as the man advanced on her.

“Do not take advantage of my kindness, Skie dan Sabriel. I have allowed you to speak freely, but I could take that priviledge just as easily. You know your place. You will do as I have told you, and if you try and oppose me again, sweet pet, I will turn you over to Her. I thought I was understood after the last incident. I trust everything is clear now.”

She nodded, a sob of hate at both him and herself barely escaping as the glow died down, and the man vanished from the eaves. Her attention turned back to Harper street with a mechanical movement. It was certainly clear; as clear as a well poisoned drink of cool water. She checked the skies as she began to climb onto the rooftops and dropped down to the ledging that would let her climb into the alleyway that bisected the busy street. The clouds were deceptively calm, but after the night where everything had gone so wrong, she knew better than to trust something as simple as a fluff of white in the sky.

[Skie and Avery]

--One Year Previously--

Concordia had been alive with a summer breeze when she'd finally returned home after the Adventurer's Crown. Time spent among the undead in Raiaera had taken it's toll on her, but the victory in the end seemed to wake up something sleeping inside. Tired but happy, Skie had been almost dissappointed to see the shores of the elven nation slip away on the horizon. It had, however, been too long since she'd seen her brother, and she could feel on their inner connection that he worried for her. She'd let the tournament bring her back to Corone, to Radasanth, and from there had traveled on foot to Concordia.

Her journey had given her plenty of time to think about what she'd seen, and re-evaluate how she felt about her homeland now. After being in the presence of the elves, and especially their General Kaosi, Radasanth didn't hold the same glow for her that it once had. She'd become enamoured with the northern country, and before she'd even left Corone's capitol, she knew she'd be back at the docks soon, booking passage again for Raiaera. With every step towards Concordia, it felt more and more as if she were on her way to say goodbye to her brother and the rest of her people, more and more as if she wouldn't be seeing them again. She felt silly for it, and chided herself that the hidden city was a place where she could always find to return, but there was still that lingering taste. It was hard sometimes, she felt, to juggle the feelings she had from her parents and somehow she felt as though this newfound captivation was from her father's blood. Devon dan Sabriel had been closely entwined with Raiaera and Findelfin, she knew. Perhaps, she found herself wondering, there was more that could be passed along besides the color of the eyes and a curse.

It was that feeling that came over her when she finally sat before her brother by a Moontae fire. She rode it, using it as a foundation to keep her strong beyond his pleading eyes and worried tone of voice.

"Destiny is waiting in Raiaera, Avery. I know it." she said, her voice soft but unyielding as she placed her hand on her twin's knee. Though the man's face had developed an angular feature to it over the years, the firelight softened it and she felt as if she were looking at a child. The green of his eyes would always remind her of Concordian canopies, so lush and verdant, but now clouds obscured it and a rain threatened to fall.

"You just came back..." he said, finally, tossing some dry and crumbling leaves into the fire. As they caught, the flames danced high for a moment, washing a hot breeze over them. "I know you. You want to go and see these things, but can't you just stay for a little while?" There was a whine to his voice that made her laugh, though she hugged him close in kindness rather than mocking.

"You sound as if you need me, brother. There is peace here, and a couple of years to let me learn is nothing! I'll be back before you know it."

A figure at the other end of the camp caught their eyes and the twins looked up to watch as a shadow moved and drew into the light of the fire. It was a woman, pale with dark features. She had a friendly, if uncertain, look on her face. She flashed an embarrassed grin before waving to Skie and catching Avery's gaze for a moment. Unspoken messages passed between the two and then the woman was gone. Skie stared at her brother, puzzled, waiting for him to regain his grip on reality enough to explain why the woman had not joined them.

"I asked Elena to let me speak with you alone tonight," Avery said, his voice dropping lower as he ducked his head closer to his sister. His wife was half vampire, and while she was certainly polite enough not to eavesdrop on them, Skie knew that Avery still took measured steps not to get on his mate's bad side. "She's been acting very strange lately. The other women here have commented on it more often than usual lately."

Skie waved the observation off. "The Moontae don't understand her, brother. She is too human for them, and her other half is vampire. Old racisms die hard when people are so isolated and so stubborn."

"No..." Avery started again, more slowly so that he could better compose his thoughts. "That's not what I meant. Her behaviour is just part of it. She's not herself. She even smells different. I think she might be pregnant." For a moment, Skie stared at her brother, dumbfounded. After a long moment in which neither of them breathed or blinked, time seemed to stand still until a slow grin crawled across Skie's face.

"I'm going to be an auntie?" she asked, incredulous. "That's wonderful!" She leaned over, placing an arm around his shoulders before asking, in all seriousness. "Remember all the hell we put Momma through? Ha! Here comes her revenge."

"We don't know for sure yet," Avery said, putting up his hands, "and even if she is for sure, we have to be careful. The undead in her might... reject... the baby. Just don't say anything to her, okay? I'm sure that if she was pregnant, she'd know, but she hasn't said anything to me about it yet, okay?"

Skie leaned back against a log, nodding as she looked up at the stars above. For a moment, hearing the concern in her brother's voice for his mate, she was jealous. Dark thoughts flitted on the edge of her mind, horrible ideas that she wouldn't allow herself to admit to. Forcing a smile, she nodded and continued to watch the fire with her brother in silence. He began to fidget with the leaves again, and she knew he'd make an excuse to leave soon, so she took a breath and stated what had been on her mind for the past few moments.

"I'm still going." she said, quietly. She thought, if she listened hard enough, she could hear her brother sigh in defeat. "I'm not going to apologize for it, Avery. I'm going, but I will return when your baby is born."

"Is that a promise?" he asked, standing and shaking the dirt from the back of his bare thighs.

"I swear," Skie answered, standing as well, "on our mother's grave. I swear on my life and I swear on this city." She stuck her right hand out, standing just a bit straighter. It was an oath she hadn't made since she was but a child, crafting schemes with Avery, and swearing to each other to always be brave and to never betray. But her stance wavered when after too long a pause her brother didn't take her hand in his.

"No..." he said, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to leave the campsite. "Old oaths lose their potency as people change, Skie."

"What do I have to do to make you believe in me?" she asked bitterly, kicking aside stones. "No matter what you think, I'm not trying to leave you. I just need to go. I don't know why. I just need this so bad." She walked behind him but didn't reach out. "I don't know what promise to make that will let you believe me when I say I will be back to bless your child." As he turned to her, she couldn't help but feel chilled by the icy quality of his eyes.

"Swear to me on your sword, Skie. And I'll fetch the dagger and you can swear on that too. Put your words on the steel of our father and I'll know you think it's worth something."

"That hurts, Avery. It's not fair that you think that of me." she said evenly. The twins stared each other down until finally Avery turned and walked towards the city, leaving Skie to wonder just when the turning point had come. Soon, there was nothing around her but the sounds of the Concordian summer and the low whistles of the gate guards signalling to each other in the night. She had intended on staying for longer than the few meager weeks she'd been here, but now she couldn't stand within the gates of the city without feeling like a stranger. She had all she needed on her person - her clothes, sword and small amount of gold she kept - there was no need to stay the night.

She took her time as she walked from the altar square where the bonfire was kept lit, to the gates that connected the world of the Moontae with Concordia. She felt like she'd never be able to memorize all the little details she passed, no matter how hard she wanted to. No matter how Radasanthian she became, she found, there was no escaping this place. She wondered if it was the same for everyone, and if her mother had ever felt the call of her homeland as she wandered. When at last Skie came to the gates, she paused, staring at the post where the fencing started. A small steel dagger was imbedded in the wood as if it had been stabbed into it, rather than thrown. She grasped the handle and pulled hard, taking a good look at it. It was simple, lacking any of the decorum that was seen so often on daggers these days. In it's simplicity, it matched another weapon she'd seen. A weapon she owned. The lines were almost a memory of the longsword that she kept at her hip, and she knew that both weapons had belonged to the same man.

Skie turned, to see a shadow slip away from her gaze. She raised the dagger as she drew her sword, shaking both at the fleeting image through the trees.

"Our father's steel! I swear on our father's steel, Avery, that your child will bring me back here!" Rage boiled in her veins as she shouted the oath into the warm night. The heavy scent of Samoa blossoms hung in the air, perfuming the memory of her. For a moment, her voice silenced the nearby birds and bugs so that she stood in solitude, shouting a promise that sounded more like a curse.

[Skie and Avery]

Summer was at it’s hottest when Skie arrived in Radasanth. The breeze that came in from the docks was a help in the humid conditions, but Skie still found herself waking in the early morning, leaning out the window of the room she had rented. The early hours before daybreak were the kindest, and she gulped in the sweet air, listening as the night life was winding down, stumbling back to their daylight retreats, while the early risers of the morning were getting started. Between the garbled prophesies of the drunk and the crisp preparations of bakers and smiths, it was a symphony of life that she had once been so accustomed to, and now seemed to lack it’s old novelty. She’d grown into Radasanthia quickly, wrapping it around her like a light blanket, but now that she’d experienced a real chill, she longed for the heavy, cultured warmth of Raiaera. Sighing, she pulled back into the room and closed the shutters, packing the last of her things into a small moleskin bag. She never needed much to travel with, and she was grateful for it now. Her passage on the northbound ship was cheap, but half of that was because she’d be forced to bunk with other passengers. Solo rooms cost an arm and a leg these days, with Corone’s finest going to investigate the now far safer Raiaera, and heavy luggage was extra. Leaving a few coins on the bedside table for the housekeeper, she made her way downstairs and through the side door that lay between the kitchens and the lobby.

“Leaving so soon?” a groom asked as she passed by the stables. With a smile and a nod, she stopped to watch the small boy for a moment. While he returned her smile, he continued his steady brushing of a patron’s horse with the wisdom of one who knows that a job well done is never rushed. “Well,” he said, “You’ll be back again soon.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked, suppressing her amusement at his matter-of-fact nature.

“My Mam says that you can tell how long a person will be gone by how long the goodbye is. So, I guess I’ll see you soon.” She must have stared longer than she thought, because he suddenly laughed and shooed her away with the brush. “I said ‘soon’, so you need to stop gawking and get on your way.”

Leaving the seven year old sage, she turned and headed down the alley that ran between the stables. A breeze caught her, stronger in the makeshift wind-tunnel, and she smelled salt and fish on it. The steady sound of the waves had lulled her to sleep that night, but now couldn’t be heard over the shouting of the sailors and the groaning of the ships as they strained against the tethers and more parcels and cargo were piled inside the hulls. The cobbles flattened out as she came to the end of the alley, the traffic of immigrants and sailors having pounded them down smooth. In the evening, when the cool mists came from the ocean, they became dangerous, unwary travelers slipping along them as they moved across between the fisher’s icehouses and the more seedy of Radasanth’s inns. Snuggled inside one of the western docks, she could see the ship she’d booked passage on. The cargo had already been loaded, and now the activity seemed to be largely the boarding of passengers. Skie fell into the queue behind a group of elves, and couldn’t help but notice that they kept looking behind her and whispering between each other in their language.

Turning her head to peek over her shoulder, Skie’s confusion reigned for a moment more - but only a moment. Several spaces down in the lane, a large figure loomed. While the creature had chosen to shroud itself, it had chosen a sheer cloth, and the entire skein judging from the ragged edges. Underneath the charcoal mist of his cloak, she could see the lines of tough skin drawn over muscles, softened through the veil. A mop of shaggy dark hair was all she could see of the head, turned away from her and perusing the crowd for now but the height of the thing could not be denied. It certainly wasn’t human standing there. She turned back to the elves, catching the gaze of one of them. He stared at her, refusing to break their gaze so she felt she could ask him about her suspicions.

“Troll?” she asked quietly, not wanting to offend the giant should he overhear her.

“If only it were that simple,” the elf spat, his scowl deepening. “It’s an orc.”

[Rani]

It is my regret to inform you that your father has died during the siege on Irrakam. A missile aimed for the Keep unfortunately went astray and instead made a target of your home, wherein it killed your father. His death was quick and painless. Your home no longer stands. As executor of your father's estate, I will be taking care of his finances until you are married at which time your husband will take over said finances. You are to continue your schooling until it is through. Please take my condolences.

Sincerely,
Mabruk Kynes
Barrister

Rani stared unbelieving at the letter which had been placed in her hand almost as soon as her feet had touched land. The journey by sea from Irrakam to Radasanth always took a week, and had taken closer to two in this case. They had left with an army on their heels, her father barely staying to wave her off before he was forced to run for shelter as harpies began dropping firebombs on the city.

Now she stood here, moments from boarding the ship which would take her to Raiaera and held the letter which told her that her father was deceased. Eighteen was much too young to be an orphan.

"This must be a mistake," she said in a breathless voice, shaking her head, "He wouldn't be dead. I don't even know Mabruk Kynes. It must be a trick. I will continue on to school and then write to my father from there."

Rani wasn't certain if the withering heat of the late summer sun caused her faintness or if it was this letter, but she crumpled it and nearly threw it away before she thought better and shoved it angrily into her bag. Sweat trickled between her shoulder blades, echoing the fear that squirmed its way around her spine. One left a stain on the mauve silk of her tunica, the other left a stain on her heart that made her shudder.

"I don't know miss, I was only told to deliver this to you as soon as you arrived," the courier told her with a curious glance at her bag where the balled note hid. He had a kind face, and obviously had not meant to cause her pain. She managed a charming smile, and he returned it, bobbing his head respectfully at her before turning and darting off into the crowd which ebbed and swayed among the piers.

There was nothing to be done, she reminded herself, smoothing her dress and checking her hair, settling the brilliant jewels more carefully among her ebony tresses. It was probably all a mistake, after all her father would never ever leave her alone in this world. He'd bargain with the Sun God himself before he'd let that happen. Surely Suravani had blessed the Kehyaka family more than that.

The ship would leave any time now, and Rani knew she couldn't afford to miss it. That captain would probably give away her room if she got there too late, as if he would have the nerve. Dammit, there was a line now. If she hadn't been distracted by the note from that trickster Mabruk, then she'd already be on board in the comfort of her cabin. Now she had to stand in the hot sun and wait.

The sun here was different from the sun in Fallien. Desert sunlight was dry, and unrelenting, but it didn't set things to withering with its damp heat that pervaded every crevice. Rubbing a bejeweled hand across her face, Rani looked around the massive creature that stood before her and hoped they would be finished boarding in a reasonable amount of time.

[Skie and Avery]

When they finally reached the front of the line, Skie couldn’t help but notice that the elves were escorted to a private room. She stepped forward and presented one of the crew with her ticket as she watched them a little enviously being escorted to one of the upper decks. She was given directions to her own room, and made her way across the deck to the starboard side and down a short flight of stairs. The room was simple, with three small beds spaced evenly apart, a bedstead nailed to the floor between each one. The ceiling was just high enough for the half-demoness to stand up in, and she was careful to duck under the room’s few crossbeams. Skie put her bag on one of the beds and laid down, using it as a pillow as she closed her eyes. Footsteps echoed faintly above her, and down the stairs as more passengers were making their way across the decks and into their rooms. A pair of slow, heavy footsteps paused outside her door, and when the door opened she managed to keep relaxed, though her hand did twitch slightly towards the sword she wore at her side.

The footsteps seemed to putter around one of the beds for a moment, and something hard hit the crossbeam. It was then that Skie decided to take a look. She didn’t want to be rude, but at the same time, if this woman was clumsy enough to be making that much noise, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye out for a rogue flying suitcase. Her eyes opened to behold her bunkmate before her. The orc. He was stooped down, shoving a large bag under the bed and having some difficulty getting it to fit. From this angle, Skie could see the sheer swaddling that she once thought was a cloak was actually in the cut of a dress. It was now gaping open in the front, letting her see a muscled chest leading down to a waist that was thankfully wrapped well with dark opaque material.

“The men’s quarters are on the other side of the hall,” Skie said quietly, as the orc looked up at her. He had a broad face, features that looked like he’d taken one too many clubs in the face and intense black eyes. He opened up his mouth to speak once, and then shut it again, but not before Skie saw the rows of broken, sickly yellow teeth. The orc seemed to think something over and then ducked his head again to finally shove his things under the bed.

“Marlag woman.” the orc said. His voice was quieter than she expected, but just as deep and rough as any man’s she’d ever heard. She heard him sniff a little in disdain before he straightened up, banging his head on the ceiling. With a curse and a duck of his head, he glared at Skie, and sat rather daintily on the edge of his bed. “Marlag respectabled lady and Marlag ain’t goin listen to propegander from little squishy girl with a wing. A wing not two.” Marlag laid back, the bed groaning under her as she shifted her weight around.

“Okay…” Skie said when she managed to remember herself and pick her jaw off the ground. She laid back and closed her eyes again, grateful for the bed that separated her from the orc. Either Marlag was the first cross-dressing orc that she’d ever heard of, or there was pure physical reasons to the question of the rarity of the Orcish race. She was dying to ask why she was heading for Raiaera, but decided that one insult a day was just fine.

As the ship readied to set sail, Skie drifted off to sleep.

[Rani]

"There should be a private cabin assigned to me," Rani told the crewman who checked the list for her name, her voice as close to imperious as it could get without being condescending, "It may be under Saravant Kehyaka instead of Rani Kehyaka."

"Might have been one, but there isn't now," the sailor replied, eyeing her suspiciously, "It's been given to the elvish envoy."

"That is impossible, my father paid full price for a private cabin for me, and I'll not see his gold wasted," she argued forcibly, yet never letting fall the air of courtesy and pride that had been ingrained in her since birth, "I demand to speak with your captain."

"I am the captain," he growled, lowering the list and glancing over her shoulder at the growing line behind her, "And you, little miss, are wasting my time. If you want to know the truth, we don't care how much your father paid for any cabin, private or otherwise. He's dead now, and can't come hunt us down to make us give him his money back. So I suggest you follow George there to your new cabin, before there's no place empty there for you to sleep either, and you have to sleep below decks with the crew. Do you get my drift?"

"My father is not dead," she whispered, her blue eyes staring at him angrily until he pushed her toward George, whom she followed in stoic silence.

"Here's your cabin," George directed her to a tiny cabin with three bunks in it, two of which were already taken.

"Alright, where is my luggage, and where in this tiny cabin am I supposed to store it?" Rani asked in an exasperated tone as she stepped into the crowded room and glanced from the girl to the orc and then back at George.

"Your luggage ain't gonna fit in here, ma'am. It will be below decks in the hold, if you need anything out of it, then you'll have to get it tomorrow afternoon when we're on open sea."

He nodded respectfully to Rani, and then to the other two passengers, and then turned on his heel and left them to their own introductions. Rani glanced discerningly at the girl, smiled warmly and extended her hand.

"I'm Rani," she introduced herself, "Sorry to make a cramped space even smaller."

Then she turned to the larger passenger who lurked by one of the other two bunks. She had to pause for a long moment to regain her composure as she stared at the massive orc dressed in women's clothing. After she'd steadied herself though, and masked any dread or disbelief that might have shown on her face, she went through the same introductions with the orc, who introduced him...herself as Marlag.

Sitting down on the last of the bunks, Rani smoothed the silk of her tunica, twisted her earrings nervously in her ears, and then lay down and closed her eyes, wishing for all of this to soon be over with. Surely once she was back at school, these foolish rumors of her father's death would be proven false, and everything could return to normal.

The ship jolted and swayed as the crew shouted back and forth above, and before long they were gliding away from the dock and out to sea.

[Skie and Avery]

Skie allowed one eye to open when the door banged open again. At this rate, she growled to herself, she was never going to get any sleep. This girl was at least normal she thought as she took the offered hand and shook it. A light "Pleasure. Name's Skie," was offered for an introduction and while her eye halfway closed again, she watched the girl as she sat on the bed. The lack of baggage was strange, especially considering the fancy clothing. Althanas was a world full of people who were running away all the time, though. It wasn't her business, so Skie finally closed her eyes and let her body relax. The rocking of the ship as the waves and wind carried it farther and farther from the shores of Corone soothed her, and she fell into a light sleep, hopeful that when she awoke they wouldn't be far from Raiaera.

After the boat had been at sea for a couple of hours, the room tipped sideways. The furniture was nailed to the ground, but Marlag's cases and Skie's small bag went sliding across the floor. Skie was dumped rather violently from her bed, standing at attention so quickly she nearly knocked her head against one of the ceiling crossbars.

"What that?" Marlag shrieked, the gutteral voice sounding out against the sudden roaring that was coming in, muffled, from the outside world. Skie walked to the door, stopping short as she stared down at a trickle of water that was slowly making it's way into the room, faster and faster. The far wall started to creak and Skie had just enough time to turn to the other two and whisper, "I think we're about to die..." when the wall burst open, expelling three black figures into the room, as well as the ocean. The wave hit Skie, slamming her against the door with it's force and as she gasped for breath, her lungs filling with water, one of the figures darted before her eyes, pressing a rough hand to her mouth. She could make out a pair of eyes bluer than the water she thought they'd be safe on, and then her world began to fade.

When the water hit, Marlag braced herself and watched with wonder as the three figures that had come in with the wave maneuvered through the currents with ease. Even her large frame was having trouble keeping from being whipped about, and she shoved away from one of the strangers as they approached her. The other girls were in trouble. She didn't care much for the girl with the one wing, but the second had been nice, and she didn't want to see her hurt. Fighting the current, she began her search for Rani as the ship was pulled into the depths of the ocean.

~~~~

When Skie awoke, she saw nothing but rock. A chill hung in the air, and her soaking clothes threatened to freeze to her skin. She sat up, shaking, watching her breath crystallize before her, and looked around the dim room. It was full of people. She looked around the room for both Rani and Marlag, but she couldn't see either of them. She assumed Rani was hidden from view by the other bodies, but the absense of the orc bothered her. Most of the people she recognized from the ship, though the elven envoy seemed to be missing. All the men were. Sitting in a cave with dozens of other women, she did all she could - she sat, and she waited.

After a while, she began to count the sounds of water dripping as it drizzled from the cave top. They were plinkings of hope, as far as the Moontae princess was concerned. Where there was water coming in, there was an opening to the outside world where it could come in at. With luck, they were on the shore of Corone, where she would be able to easily find help. All she needed to do now was find the place where the water came in at. Standing, she growled as she realized that both her sword and her dagger was gone.

Carefully stepping over sobbing or unconscious bodies, avoiding hands and hair, she made her way carefully towards an entrance that she saw. She had gotten to the middle of the antechamber when from the complete darkness of the entrance, three figures emerged. The two that came before were both wearing dark blue robes, though their faces were easily seen. A reptilian visage greeted hers, golden eyes that seemed to glow staring with an evil expression. A forked tongue slithered out before he grinned at her, showcasing a row of dagger-like teeth. His companion looked like a normal woman, with brown hair and a grim face. She was average looking, except for impossibly violet eyes.

Thoughts of her mother assaulted her. Natamrael had been one to "collect" exotic-looking lovers like children collected pretty stones, and the two greeters that came from the cave were no different. They would have sparked the fallen Moontae Queen's interest faster than lightning sparked dry hay. The third figure, however, soon removed the other two from Skie's mind.

She was a lovely woman, tall and spindly. She wore a dress of ice blue that hugged her pale skin in all the right places. Waves of platinum hair cascaded around her young face and body, and in her hand she held a large staff. The top was crowned in a crystal of ice, and patterns of frost and snowflakes wound their way down the sides of the dark wood in silver. Even Skie, far from a magician, could feel the power that radiated from the woman. It was like a light of it's own, and for a moment, she didn't even comprehend that the woman had spoken to her.

"Was it me that you were looking for, Moontae?" the woman had said. Skie righted herself and lifted her chin as she spoke clearly, her voice ringing and echoing in the still cavern.

"Why have you taken us? I demand to know where my weapons and the rest of our party are."

She was answered only with laughter.

[Rani]

Rani whispered quietly to herself, her eyes closed in meditation as she chanted her prayers to Suravani for safe passage, as well as the safety of her home and her father. Her legs were crossed in front of her, her ankles lifted and rested on her thighs. She held her hands, palms together, before her heart, her face downward and breathing measured and calm. Try as she might though, images of her home burning down and her father crying out for her as he died haunted her thoughts. The memory of the hundreds of river barges floating up the river as they escaped northward ahead of the army, with harpies screeching and wheeling overhead was menacing, and Rani tried to clear it from her mind, forcing herself into the sanctuary she'd created for herself in her own mind.

Moments before the ship began to tip, her eyes snapped open wide, searching the room for something wrong, only to realize that the ship was slowly leaning, and then suddenly jolting them all 90 degrees, almost sending Rani flying from her bunk. She clung instead to the bedpost, fighting off panic as she stared with Skie at the water that crept into their room ever faster.

As the door burst open and the wave overtook them, Rani gasped, the air filling her lungs and setting her flailing and inhaling even more of the searing saltwater. She gazed about for any help, but only saw three figures that didn't belong to her cabinmates swimming toward her as darkness overtook her and she faded into sleep.

__________________________________________________ _______

She had awoken at first in a dark cave, and seen Skie beside her still unconscious. Rani had quickly lapsed back into the darkness though.

The next time she opened her eyes it was as she was being carried from the dark cave through a passage and into a brightness that made her close her eyes once more. Her lungs burned, and her throat ached, and Rani wondered how she hadn't drowned.

"Wake little one," an unfamiliar voice purred at her, "We want to see your eyes."

Rani opened one eye, and then the other as hands helped her to sitting. The girl looked around in wonder, the brightness of the crystal cavern stunning her, the lush furniture and strange people confusing her more than she already was. What a strange place this was. The light reflected around the chamber in blue shimmers, as though underwater. It was a strange thought, but it was the only explanation for the oddness of the light. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat convulsed and she began coughing spasmodically.

"Yes, she'll do nicely," the voice continued, and Rani looked around still puzzled for its source, "We'll just have to take care of that throat. Wine, please!"

Fingers snapped, and Rani accepted a metal cup containing watered wine. She attempted to drink it, but instead sputtered and dropped the cup as she fought to breathe. Her lungs still fought against the liquid torture they'd been forced to endure, and as her throat closed off again, she found herself losing consciousness once more.

It didn't seem worth it at the moment to try to fight it off.

[Skie and Avery]

The tall woman stepped toward Skie, her grin deepening. Skie found her eyes drawn to those soft locks that cascaded around her. They shimmered, seeming more made from molten silver than the greying strands of an elder.

"You need no weapons here," the woman said, her voice like honey. "You will come to no harm tonight."

"I will not stand by while my father's weapons are taken from me. I demand that they are returned." Skie said evenly, crossing her arms over her chest, hoping that her voice sounded as solid as she wanted it to. She tried to hold her shaking to a minimum, but the cold air was the victor there. There was nothing to be done except for wait for the woman's reaction, though for the moment Skie was being ignored. The woman swept her gaze, both benevolent and condescending, over the rest of the women. She turned back to the two figures who seemed to be her lieutenants and nodded to them.

"Summon Griff," she said. "Something tells me that he'll be very interested in this month's catch." With light laughter, she retreated back into the entrance. The reptilian waited until this strange queen had gone, taking the ethereal brilliance with her until he turned to the woman.

"Griff took his pet when we first hauled these things in. He doesn't need to be here. " The violet eyed woman nodded and looked at Skie.

"I want her," she said, her voice the sound of gravel and fire instead of the sweetness that was expected. The reptilian shrugged, and began to move through the crowd, his eyes searching. Skie looked at the both of them in disgust, but her fear exploded as the woman began to stalk towards her, an evil delight in those gorgeous eyes.

"Come here, my pet." the voice said quietly and menacing. "I promise I won't hurt you just yet."

~~~~

As Rani lay on the cushion in the chamber, two figures stood over her. The first was a child, blond curls framing a heart-shaped face. Curious green eyes sparkled, and she stroked the side of the Fallien girl's face.

"Daddy, why does she sleep so much?" Bethesda asked in her honeysuckle lilt, and the second figure crouched down beside her. He was a man in his mid-thirties, a handsome charm to his rugged features. A rough beard grew along his strong jaw, as onyx black as the strands of hair that fell unkempt around his face. His eyes were the same startling green of his daughter's but his face lacked the kindness that was inherent in the child's.

"She'll wake soon, baby." he said, moving a few stray dark strands from the desert princess' face. "I think it'll be good for your mother to have another woman around, as a friend."

"Yeah," said the girl, looking over her shoulder where a woman with a tumble of blonde curls sat in a chair. She stared at the wall, her hands folded in her lap. Blue bands glowed around her wrists and neck, and the glow intensified with every breath she took. The girl turned her attention back to Rani and petted the side of her face again.

"Wake up," she whispered into Rani's ear as the man stood and left the room silently. "Wake up, I wanna play!"

[Rani]

Searing spasms rocked Rani to wakefullness, sending the tiny girl who'd been urging her to wake up scurrying away. Several minutes later she finally convinced her lungs that all the water had been expelled - at least for the moment, and she lay gasping on the chaise, eyes looking around pleadingly for an explanation.

A little girl seemed to be happy to try to answer the questions, and her chubby cheeks dimpled as she smiled reassuringly at Rani. Rani pushed herself up again and stared wordlessly at the child for a while, receiving the same as a response.

"Where am I?" she asked finally, her voice hoarse and only a shrill whisper, "Where did the people sharing my cabin go?"

"You're at my house," the little girl laughed as though that explained everything, pushing Rani over as she climbed up onto the chair beside her, "We're under the sea. You're other people are in the cave still maybe?"

Rani frowned, shaking her head, expecting to hear sloshing from within her skull. Under the sea. So the ship did sink, and the shimmering shadows that undulated around her were from water. The cave was a vague memory that if she forced it she could summon, and the idea that the one-winged woman and that poor transgendered orc were still out there in that cold dark cavern sent shivers through her.

"Bethesda, are you disturbing my guest?" Rani jumped as she heard a deeply masculine voice echo from behind her, and spun around at the same moment as the child beside her. The child's joyful expression did not mirror Rani's fearful demeanor though.

"No daddy," Bethesda reassured him calmly, hopping down from the chair to run and be scooped up into his arms, "She was coughing. I told her she was at our house."

Rani's face was contorted with fear, her lungs threatening to betray her again, although she managed to delay the spasms for a while at least. Her captor walked slowly toward her, setting down the girl before reached her. Kneeling before her, he extended a hand to brush her dark curls, his mouth curving into an amused smile as she jerked away from him, her nose twitching with disgust.

"Where are the others?" Rani demanded, her voice husky as she fought to make it sound more powerful than she really felt, "Am I your only hostage or are the others held as well? What do you think you'll get by holding us? If it is money you seek I am sure something can be arranged."

"Slow down, my pretty," the man warned her smoothly, running a hand down the side of her face and resting it on her shoulder, which she cringed away from, "All will be revealed shortly."

[Skie and Avery]

"Money," the man said, his voice a feral visage of delight. "was never a suitable prize for me."

He turned and walked to the woman who sat so silently in the chair by the wall. The ripples of blue light from the cavern danced over her too pale features, giving her face a ghostly glow. The highlights of her face were set in relief from the undulating glow of the bands. The man held his hand, open palmed, above her head and began to let his hand move, mimicking waves on the water. The woman's breathing matched the motions and when he quickened his motions, she began to breath shallow and fast, her eyes widening for the barest of moments. They were a violet so soft, they could almost have been mistaken for gray, and devoid of any emotion. Griffin dropped his hand, the bands again returning to their normal steady beat of light and dark, the woman's breath slowing back to where it had been.

It was then that the Bethesda turned back to Rani, her smile hovering somewhere between love and amusement.

"Daddy just does that to Mother to show off." The child reached out, revealing her own azure wrist bands, and pet Rani gently on the knee. "Don't be afraid of him, he won't hurt you. Mother doesn't even notice it because she died a long time ago, and without another woman around, the little leeches in her ear don't work right."

"Bethesda." the voice said, quietly. "You will scare her if you continue to ramble about things she doesn't understand just yet."

"Yes, daddy," the girl said, her voice sullen as she pulled back from the woman. After a moments thought, she turned back to her father. "Can I tell her?" she asked.

"No, I have something important for you." The man came down and sat beside the white dress-clad imp, pulling her into his lap. He laid a kiss on the top of her golden locks, before turning her to face a portion of the wall near to where the braceleted woman sat. "I need you to run down the hall and get the new locks for our new pet, okay? Tell Zizi that I want a full set this time, okay?"

Obediently, the child stood and skipped over to the wall, slapping her small hand against the rough hewn stone. For a moment, a square far taller and wider than she was lit up and the stone somehow became transparent. The girl skipped through it, and after Griff watched his daughter disappear around the corner, he turned back to the Fallien woman who lay before him.

"I believe you have questions, pretty one?"


~~~


Sweet violet depths turned quickly to a shade so dark that it was nearly black. Skie did not break the gaze as it changed, though she could not cover the goose flesh that moved down her skin. Even the freezing air in the cavern couldn't affect her, but the idea that the woman who was walking towards her would do far more terrible things than kill her was keeping Skie on an edge of panic that she had never before been privy to. Her hands shook as she balled them into fists, remembering her last encounter with a fist fighter. Victor Callahan had taken her to task within minutes, and he had lacked the sheer depravity that sung so loud in this woman's eyes. Even on a face so plain, they were bewitching, like looking into a horrible accident.

As the woman advanced on the demoness, blue robes billowing behind her with movement, Skie pulled her fist back and launched her own attack. She would not be taken easily. The tension in the woman's fist promised to make it a hard lesson learned indeed.

[Rani]

As her captor's hand wavered over the blonde hair of his child's mother, Rani watched in speechless fear. Somehow the glowing rings at her slender throat and wrists were under his control and could affect the woman's very breath and thought. And Rani was his now as well. He wasn't even interested in ransom - she obviously was something besides his hostage. The idea left her nearly paralyzed with fear.

Of course, what the little girl had said didn't help - although Rani was sure Bethesda was trying to reassure her. Her eyes widened even more, her face blanching and twisting into an expression somewhere between horror and disgust. Leeches? Dead? It was all too much and Rani wanted to faint dead away - but she found she was too scared even for that. Even the child was bound with miniature versions of the glowing shackles on her tiny wrists.

Rani sat stock still trying so hard to process everything she had heard, trying to convince herself to wake up from this nightmare and be back on the ship on her way to school - or better back on the docks before she'd gotten the letter that her father was dead. Then it occured to her what she'd just heard last. She tried to twist the words around so they didn't mean what she thought they did, but as she watched the precocious child scamper away, her shackles glowing balefully, Rani knew exactly what was in store for her.

"Please," she finally begged, sinking to a level that she had always somehow thought was below her, "Please, I'll do anything, just let me go home. There must be something, but ... just don't do... that... to me..."

She found that she was shaking uncontrollably, even her teeth chattering together, as though she were stranded in the wilds of Salvar in little more than a linen shift. Her fingers were clutching the damp silken folds of her tunica, her nails digging into her palms and leaving little crescent shaped holes in the tender skin there. The man did not do much but smile as though her fear and desperation were sweet music floating to him on a summer breeze.

"Please..." she whispered again trying hard not to cry.

[Skie and Avery]

Griffin had one of those laughs that would have been infectious had it not been for the fact that it held absolutely no mirth. His eyes glittered dangerously as he watched Rani plead for her life. While he hadn't threatened to kill her, it was indeed her life that he held in his hands. Her very freedom was at stake, though he didn't quite see it that way. If anyone would have asked him, he would have claimed that he gave her the choice to either make this very easy on herself or very difficult.

"You don't understand, my dear," he said as kindly as he knew how. "There is nothing that you can do, except for this. And it's so easy. As easy, even, as wearing jewelry." His eyes flicked to her jewels, and he gave another strange grin. "You should have no problems."

The door appeared, again, shimmering and then translucent. Instead, however, of the child, there appeared a man. He was garbed in blue, the same robe that the officers of this place wore as a uniform. His face was shadowed, but there was still something in the air that seemed to scream his presence. He was the kind of man who wasn't missed easily, even when his entire appearance was nothing more than a blue robe with broad shoulders.

"Griffin," his voice came, steady and velvet. "I believe you may want to return to the welcoming chamber. There is something that you should not miss."

"What?" Griff said, waving his hand at the intruder, not bothering to turn away from his little prize. "I don't want to be bothered right now for something silly."

"I seriously doubt that this is silly," said the man, with more force now. "Unless you're in the habit of calling the Beauty silly."

Suddenly, Griffin's entire demeanor changed. His annoyed, chilly green eyes transformed into sparks of verdant hope, his sneer twisted into a grin. His visage was childlike, his movements fueled with delight as he stood, and nearly skipped out the door, letting the ghostly portal materialize behind him, leaving Rani trapped within the room. The minutes began to tick past, sliding into hours, and finally after three of those horrible expanses of time had turned, the door came again. First, Bethesda skipped in, running to Rani's side. She sat down on the floor, her lap laden with her treasures. Five rings of differing sizes lay piled in them, and she crossed her arms over them protectively. Her mischievous green eyes watched the door, her face full of the knowledge that she was be rewarded generously for the good deeds she had done.

After only several moments, the robed figure once again entered, dumping a bruised and bleeding body before the Fallien girl. He turned without so much as saying a word, his cowl revealing nothing of his face, even so close. The door remained open behind him, but Griff could not be seen. From the floor, the figure of the girl groaned, trying desperately to sit up. She wore nothing but a strange red band around one wrist, and it pulsed with light, much as the blue ones pulsed around the Griffin women. However, with each red spark, another bruise began to darken somewhere on the woman's body. She cried out in pain, curling up.

A single dark wing tried to wrap itself around her, as if she could cradle herself with her abnormality.

[Rani]

Griff did not seem to notice the sarcastic expression Rani cast at him in reaction to his comment pertaining to jewelry. Yes, indeed, she did wear jewelry, but most of it was made of the sacred kirramaini glass from her homeland and had been given to her each as seperate blessings and wardings from her father and mother. She wore them to honor their love for her, in addition to their beauty. On ceremonial days, she almost felt overwhelmed by the amount of jewelry and cloth she must wear. It drew her down with the weight of pomp and circumstance, reminding her of her station and the things expected of her.

Of course he didn't care, and in fact was quickly called away, leaving Rani alone in the dizzying underwater chamber with only the silent beauty for a companion. Something kept her from attempting to initiate a conversation with the woman. Perhaps it was the dull emptiness in the pale amethyst eyes, the outward signs that the woman had forsaken all care to what was happening to her or her child.

Rani fidgeted and squirmed, standing once and attempting to find the door that the others had gone through, but with no luck whatsoever. Even when she was quite certain she was standing in the same place, touching the same area she had seen the child touch, nothing happened. She tried and tried until she thought might weep if it didn't open, and still nothing. Sullenly she returned to the settee and curled up on it in a fetal position.

Perhaps she dozed, or actually fell asleep, but some interminable while later she awoke as Bethesda came skipping into the room, the pattering of her feet startling Rani into wakefulness. With a shudder she looked down at the bands in the child's lap, trying not to dwell on the fact that she probably had very little choice as to whether they were placed on her or not.

She didn't get to think much about it though - somehow the girl from the ship was brought in and dumped unceremoniously before her, and Rani fell to her knees beside her only friend in this place. Blue eyes scanned over Skie's body, resting on the pulsing red band at her wrist and glancing up with a heated gaze to find the robed figure or her Griff. Neither could be seen - only the door stood open, beckoning her to escape.

It would be so easy to stand and run. The child would be little problem, she could easily charm her with a strand of beads most likely and coerce her into silence. But what of Skie, laying there gathering bruises like wheat in the field with each pulse of her glowing crimson shackle. She quickly tried to reason with herself that she should just run, and try to leave this horrid place.

She couldn't though.

Even if she made it through that door without the child or the woman screaming out in alarm, she knew of no way to get through the caves or back to the surface. And she could in no way justify leaving this one-winged woman behind in what was obviously agony. The only option was to try to remove the band and get Skie to flee with her. As a pair they might be able to fight their way out, or sneak out somehow.

With this plan decided on, she leaned closer to the scarlet glow at the woman's wrist. Rani glanced back over her shoulder at the child, but Bethesda was merrily distracted by the bands in her lap and played happily with them. At least that wouldn't be a problem for a bit as long as Griff stayed out of sight for the moment. Taking a breath, she set her hands upon the glowing bracelet, fingernails underneath it for leverage.

The pain was excruciating, and she gasped, instinctively jumping away from the object that caused the perceived injury. Her hands looked as though they were scalded. Rani hesitated, but her heart appealed to her. What if this was the kind of pain this girl was experiencing at this very moment? What was a little pain for Rani if it stopped the pain for Skie? Once more she tried to pull at the bands, and this time they gave, snapping loose and skittering across the floor, leaving Rani without pain finally.

She looked down at Skie to gauge whether the pain had stopped for her as well, but frowned. Something was very wrong. Leaning closer, she listened - Skie was not breathing. Her chest was deathly still, her face growing pale already. Rani's heart swelled up in her throat - what had she done?

"What have you done?" Griff echoed her thoughts from the doorway, an amused smirk curving his mirthless lips, "See, your meddling has stopped her pain, but now she's dead. You heartless ungrateful child, so full of vanity and selfishness. You probably thought she'd help you escape if you could free her didn't you?"

Rani averted her gaze, trying to hide the guilt in her expression.

[Skie and Avery]

Skie had tried to warn Rani of the danger that freedom presented, but every time she spoke, another shaft of blinding pain spiraled through her body. It was as if it knew specifically when she wanted to keep things calm, when it would be most beneficial to their situation for her to be able to voice the stipulations that came with the pain. There was a pleading grasp on her wrist, and then again, and suddenly, no pain. No feeling at all. Only blessed sleep, and the feeling like she was drowning again.

Griffin watched it all from the doorway, smiling absently to himself. Oh, he would not lose Skie dan Sabriel as a prize, be it to the woman in the other room or to Death himself. When he spoke, the way she jumped was nearly a prize in itself. He liked the way these two women feared him, the way he could smell the changes in their sweat. Their very chemistry was as readable as their faces, a book laid out for him to peruse at will. When he stepped into the chamber, the door behind him sealed, and he reached into his own blue robes. When he withdrew his hand, they held more bands of blue, glowing lightly under his touch.

"Luckily for you, Princess, I was here to save her from your ignorance."

He came to Skie, leaning down and slipping the bands over first her wrists, then ankles and finally clipped the final one around her neck. They differed from the sanguine bracelet that had been so easily broken in more than just the glow of color around them. These seemed to be made of cloth at first, woven to stretch and then conform around the skin, but with the first burst of light, they hardened to a strange metal. Griffin cast a slow grin to Rani before he snapped his fingers and Skie began to gasp for air selfishly. The color began to return to her cheeks, and she fought against the pain exploding in her chest to try and sit up. Griffin only placed a commanding hand gently on her back, and the bands around her extremities began to glow, and she laid down again. Her cobalt eyes glared at him for the merest of moments before they grew too heavy to hold open on her own.

"Rest," he cooed as she fell into unconsciousness. "You will need it soon."

Now, he turned his attention to Rani. He held out his hand to his daughter, Bethesda rising obediently and placing the five bands in his waiting palm. He did not move towards her, but rather sat back on his heels and smiled with the confidence of a man who knows that he does not have long to wait for his prize. He held out his hand, a brow raising slightly in amusement and patience.

"Come here, little kitten. This is quite unlike our good Lamia's band of beads. These won't hurt at all." He leaned forward, winking conspiratorially without ever glancing back at his still forward-staring wife.

"In fact, if you don't make this difficult, I can promise you that it might even be the best you've ever had."

[Rani]

Rani watched him out of the corner of her eye, angry at him for making her scared, for making her feel guilty, for knowing all along that he could save the girl. He placed the azure bands on the winged woman and she began to breathe again, struggling to sit up until, with a murmur to rest and a hand on her back which set the bands to glowing strangely, she did as he bid her. Rani was starting to put two and two together, and she didn't like the answer she came up with.

Finally, she was forced to turn her eyes upon him. He was handsome, almost too good looking, albeit in a rather roughhewn way. And his eyes were the greenest she'd ever seen in her life. They would have been beautiful, mesmerizing even, if only she couldn't see the odd sense of sadism within them. And now he expected her to let him bind her the way he had Skie. Her life had never been her own to live as she pleased, but this was really too much. To just lay down and let someone control even her very breath and heart beat was not something she could easily allow.

"The best what I've ever had?" Rani's pride washed over her like a storm surge, straightening her shoulders but leaving her almost gasping for breath as it slammed into her, "The best imprisonment? Kidnapping? I can't imagine what gives you the impression that I've ever experienced those things before."

She looked him over, chin held high, eyebrows raised defensively, her hands held behind her back as though to hide them from what he wished to do. He raised an eyebrow and smiled pleasantly, flashing straight white teeth at her. Had he not been holding her hostage, and threatening to make her his pet, that smile might have made her weak in the knees. As it was, it only made her sick to her stomach.

"And what if I do make this difficult?" Rani asked finally, glancing down at Skie who rested peacefully beside her, "Will you kill me? Because I think I might rather that, than to be your slave."

It was a bold statement and she hoped to Suravani that he wouldn't take her up on it. Her fingers turned a strand of amber beads around her wrist, rubbing them as she prayed silently. What had she possibly done to deserve a karma like this? First her father dying, then the shipwreck, and now she was faced with death or slavery? Griff simply watched her for a moment, as if gauging her fear, deciding just how he should toy with her this time.

[Skie and Avery]

In the end, Griffin decided to hold with the truth. He wasn't sure if it was going to end up being just another cruelty he placed upon Saravant Kehyaka, or perhaps the kindest thing he could do at the time. Either way, he shrugged, standing and motioned Bethesda away. The child was sitting too close for his comfort to the girl, and he wasn't sure what she would do once he told her exactly how her struggle would end. The girl, confusion and tension crossing her face momentarily, stood and walked to her mother, crawling in the woman's lap. The chair creaked under the extra weight, as if it were unused to the child being held by it's mother.

"Even if I were to kill you, you would still be my slave." He said. He motioned to the woman, his smile never wavering. "This is Meryl, my wife. She died when Bethesda was born, but as you can see, she is quite alive today. If you do force my hand to kill you this day, you will still breath and walk as I want you to."

Again he held out band, and another hand, open and waiting.

"I am at least giving you the option of some free will. Don't be a fool, girl. There are worse fates than me."

And with those words, the door opened again, and a violet eyed monster stalked into the room.

[Rani]

Slavery in life or slavery in death. Rani stared at Meryl, the woman unmoving as her own flesh and blood climbed into her lap. She didn't even react as Bethesda wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and brushed her blonde curls from her face. The idea of it was horrifying.

Her eyes moved to Skie who rested easily on the floor. Griff had been merciful enough at least to ease the girl's pain, replacing the red cuff with blue bands that although they gave him control over her, didn't seem to cause her pain. As appalling as slavery was, if one had a choice between masters, this man was obviously better than whoever had claimed Skie.

"Either way you own me," she whispered finally, her pride falling away again like the tide going out, "Either way, you control my every breath and movement. I would rather you just let me go home."

But she knew he wouldn't. They exchanged stares, Rani's blue eyes fearful and hesitant, Griff's emerald ones sparkling with amusement and the knowledge that he would win. It seemed hopeless. But it seemed like a waste if she didn't put up a fight.

He offered her a shred of free will. But if one's own breath was controlled by another, what free will could one really have. When to sleep, when to eat, when to breath, even one's heart beating was under the control of another, and it left no room for choice. He was right though, there could be worse fates than him - he hadn't raped or beaten her. There had been no harm done to her at any time since she arrived - even at her most sarcastic and insolent he had never shown any desire to hit her. He was a striking man who obviously loved his child even if he seemed to have no regard for his wife. Her decision had already been made for her. Even before she was bound it seemed, he had taken any choice from her.

Rani didn't have any chance to speak her mind though, or even to accept his binding. She jumped as a brown haired woman came into the room, the air almost crackling with her anger, her amethyst eyes flashing with rage. Involuntarily she stepped backwards, putting Griff between herself and this fury.

[Skie and Avery]

Griffin had happily stepped between his charges and Lamia. The purple eyed woman was angrier than he'd ever seen, an electric charge in her hair. The earthen strands were flowing as if she were caught in a wind in the room that only she could feel. She shed her robe, revealing a naked body beneath it, though it was twisted from what it should look like. Instead of the supple curves of a woman that should be there, her entire body was clad in plates that pressed down her skin, making her figure blocky and wrong. From the joints, there were large spikes welded to the plates, each tipped in some sort of gel that glowed orange, even in the blue light cast by the water.

"You don't want to do this, Lamia." Griffin said, his voice nothing but confidence. It, however, didn't seem to phase the woman, whose eyes fell on Skie as she sneered and stepped forward again.

"I claimed her first. She is mine, and you took her! Release her to me at once!" her voice was terrible, a storm that was crackling and rising in the small room. It was with that little push of temper that her true self was revealed. Her skin seemed to melt into transparency, each ripple of water-light that danced along the skin catching and holding. She was a being of light, of the storm that danced above an endless sea. Electricity pulsed in her hair, moving down her watery visage to the plates of armor. Sparks jumped and danced from spike to spike, the gel glowing all the brighter, and still Griffin stood strong, his smirk never fading.

It was then that Lamia struck out. She flung her arm forward, and rivulets of gel rushed forwards to the fingers. From within her skin, that dancing light was flung out, following the path of the gel. It arced, a long bolt of electricity that jumped for Rani in the blink of an eye. The look frozen on Lamia's face as the vibrant light highlighted all the wrong angles told Griffin that for taking her pet, she intended on taking his. With all the flashing light distorting things, it was unclear just what Griffin did with is fingers, but in a flash of dark light, it was over.

Lamia stood at the doorway, just as terrifying as she had been a moment before, only now her body was lightless, as well as without motion. In the barest moment, she'd been turned to stone, a look between rage and surprise permanently stuck on her face. When Griff turned to face the Fallien girl, a smug look of triumph gathered on his features, but under them there lay something more. Exhaustion.

"Our dear Lamia tends to forget her place. Now where were we?" He sat down on the edge of the divan, and held out his hand to her, the bands still gripped in the other. "I told you that there are fates worse than me. I can protect you from them, willingly or unwillingly. I would, however, prefer it to be your choice." His look spoke of the gravity of the situation, and he took a breath before he laid down his last ultimatum.

"I will give you one more chance to be mine of your own free will, and I will grant you certain freedoms that would not be offered you otherwise. If you refuse this time, I will be forced to get rather cruel."

[Rani]

In disbelief Rani stared at the impossible battle taking place before her. And all over the beautiful woman who slept soundly on the floor nearby despite the chaos taking place around her. It was, therefore, surprising to the Fallien socialite when Lamia turned that eerie violet gaze on her and sent a crackling stream of pure electricity arcing toward Rani. The girl closed her eyes tightly, having heard the horror stories of the deadly lightning storms that coincided with sand storms in the desert. It seemed that she wouldn't have to make any choice after all. She just hoped being electrocuted didn't hurt as bad as she imagined it would.

But after moments of waiting, she opened her eyes to find that the lightning had never struck her. In fact, the strange monster who had cast it at her in a fury, was now a frozen monument to that deadliest of sins - wrath. Rani met Griff's gaze, realizing that he'd just risked his life to protect her. Granted, he probably considered her an investment, but it still was one more thing that made it easier for her to make an inevitable choice.

Easier did not mean easy though.

Rani sat down on the chaise, trying not to shake, her mind rushing over the hills and valleys of her past and future. Her present was a bleak plain with nothing to offer hope. Her father was dead. Her mother had passed away years ago, and with her death she'd taken any shred of freedom her daughter might have had with her. Rani knew that the beads she wore were symbolic of her loyalty to her gods, her country, and her family. She also knew that loyalty meant that she went to the Jya and allowed her to choose a suitable husband for her in an effort to produce a child that might one day be a priestess. If she ever made it home, Rani knew she would never be allowed to fall in love or build a business or travel the world. As a citizen of Fallien, she would remain in her country, with her husband, bearing healthy daughters to carry on the tribal name of Kehyaka. Was this not a slavery in itself?

After several moments, during which Griff seemed quite aware that she was mulling over what she should do and how she could possibly benefit in any way besides surviving, Rani lifted her wrists toward him, palms up but fingers relaxed into her hands. She did not meet his eyes, but remained submissive and downcast.

It was the same ritual as when her father laid the sacred glass across her wrists on her last birthday.

[Skie and Avery]

It didn't take two strides for Griffin to close the distance between the two. He took her hands, slowly and gently so that he would not startle her. His grip, however, was as firm and demanding as anything that he had to ask of her tonight. The wrist bands went on, moving from cloth-like warmth to glassy smoothness as they conformed and turned metallic. When they began to pulse in time with her heartbeat, he smiled. She was his. He used his forefinger to tilt her chin upwards, his face a mask of seriousness as he moved the strands of her hair that had fallen around her face. Another band, this one hinged, was slipped around her neck, but when it clasped, it fit perfectly around it, the hinges and opening melting away into smoothness.

"In time," he said, "You will not regret this decision."

He stood, reaching deep within the robe he wore and took a small box. Without paying Rani any more attention, he turned and moved towards Meryl, motioning the child off her mother's lap. Beth slid from the seat, crouching low and moved to Rani, burying her face in the woman's lap.

"I don't like this part," the child whispered.

The box opened, like Pandora's so long before, but instead of evil, out came a sluggish thing. It looked like a small, writhing black tube, barely longer than Griffin's fingernail. He held it up to Meryl's ear and watched as the beast slipped inside. A small, soft whimper issued from the woman's lips, and she began to blink fast. It was now that Griffin looked to Rani, in his smile more sympathy than he had cared to show thus far.

"These are rather extraordinary animals, one that another of the traders here bred for me. They're parasites to major arteries in the brain, feeding off small amounts of blood. These have been imbued by a great sage to do a little extra as well, at my request." He looked rather proud of himself at having enough sway to have commissioned such a request, and went on. "It can sense the personalities and thoughts of like-gendered people in the same radius, and imbue that into the host's mind."

His smile now was jubilant, as he watched the woman stand for the first time. She was tall, willowy with supple curves beneath her light dress. The tone of her body had slackened, but there was no question that at one point in her life she had been a deft fighter. She turned to her husband, her eyes focusing and unfocusing for a moment before recognition sprung to them. Griffin's smile softened, his arms reached out to hold her. As his mouth moved towards her ear, uttering things in a language long gone unheard, Meryl pulled back. Griff's face had barely the time to go from a joyous expression of love to shock when her hand cracked across his cheek. His hands dropped to his sides, and Meryl backed away.

"I hate you." she said, in a voice that cracked and groaned with disuse. The band around her neck glowed with a ghostly flare, and she stopped, wide eyed. Her face reddened, her hands clutching at her neck as she gasped, struggling to breathe.

"No, daddy!" Bethesda sobbed from where she'd been peeking over the top of Rani's knees. Tears were running down the girl's eyes in currents now, and When Griff saw her, immediately Meryl began to take in deep, dragging breaths. Griffin covered his face in one hand, shaking his head to clear it of the rage, and finally spoke.

"Beth, take your mother away. I will call when you two are to return."

As the child stood and took her mother's hand, dragging her out the appearing door, Griffin dragged the chair from by the wall and let himself slump into it, facing Rani. For a moment, his mind was miles away, and he began to speak to Rani as if she were a diary of sorts, and not truly someone he had just made into his slave.

"When I met her, she was like a princess. Two princesses, I thought, and maybe she could find enough within the two of you to be like she was. Instead, she only found your rebellious natures." He shook his head again, this time a small gesture, and then gestured to the girls. His thoughts seemed to take another turn, a wicked turn, and he grinned maliciously at Rani. The bands around her wrists and neck glowed a true blue, and he sat back, relaxing into the chair as his fingers tucked themselves into the waistband of the trousers beneath his robe.

"Pretty, pretty. You must be freezing in those wet clothes. Take them off."

His grin faded into a smile that spoke not of love, but of pain and promised humiliation. "Slowly."

[Rani]

The soft click of the shackles around her wrists and throat was not so final of a sound as Rani had expected. It was done and over with, and she belonged to Griff. Her heart paused a moment as if to reflect on its new rhythm and then continued on its way, her breath doing the same, but otherwise nothing changed. Rani finally met Griff's gaze as he stood from binding her to him, only acknowledging his reassuring promise with a slight nod.

What was much more final, and much more frightening was the scene that followed, which she watched in horror. The child was right, this part was not so enjoyable to watch. But the creature that slid from Griff's hand into his wife's ear did not seem to cause her pain, or as much comfort as a leech might be expected to illicit. And as Griff explained the duties of the slimy little creature, his face changing into a hopeful expression, Rani wondered if perhaps what he did might even be some sort of mercy to his wife, rather than a selfish notion to keep what was no longer his.

Apparently, his wife thought the latter of the gift Griff had given her, and Rani flinched at the sound of her hand striking his cheek violently. The mercurial man changed once more from loving husband into an angry monster, his child begging his mercy on her mother's behalf, Rani gripping Bethesda's shoulders tightly to keep the girl from placing herself in the way of this man's rage.

Instead he sent her and his wife from the room and once more shifted in expression and demeanor. It was not his rage, or the fact that he could kill her with the flick of his hand, but the unpredictable swing in his emotions that frightened the Fallien girl so. She watched him warily as he sagged into the chair, as if gravity had suddenly become more weight than he could bear, her pale blue eyes trying to read his face for yet another sudden change.

And of course it came. He told her about his wife, and what he had expected, what he had hoped. And then, she supposed because his expectations had not been met, he flicked his wrist and Rani gasped as she realized that she now had no control over her own actions. Griff's face took on a mask of almost sadistic delight, his lips curved dangerously into something malicious.

There was no fighting him though, and she looked down at Skie, who's bands also glowed brightly. Even as the jeweled tunica fell to the floor, stained with saltwater and still slightly damp, she wondered to herself just what it was he had in mind. As she removed her undergarments to reveal her judiciously curved body, the realization crossed her mind, and she managed to buck his will just enough to shake her head, her eyes pleading silently that he not do what she knew he must intend to.

[Skie and Avery]

It was, perhaps, because of her fear that Griffin pointed to Skie, forcing his will through the connection he had with the strange blue rings. They glowed on the half succubus, her eyes fluttering open, her breaths deeper as they brought oxygen to her mind to refresh her. Confusion was apparent on Skie's face as she stood unsteadily on her feet, her body hunching over a few of the larger bruises that her torture by her previous captor had inflicted. She slowly straightened though, her eyes falling on Griffin as his fingers stretched out to her and glared. Her lips curled into a sneer, and she opened her mouth to curse at the man but with a mere flicker of intent in his eyes, her voice was taken from her. Hot, bitter tears were falling now, and as her feet took a few jerky steps, she looked over to Rani.

Skie was no fool. The moment the rings had been slipped on her wrists in the larger chamber, she knew what this was. Slavery was something she'd never thought she'd fall victim to, and while her upbringing had been anything but sheltered, she was ashamed to admit that she really didn't think this kind of thing happened. She certainly never imagined that there were slavers out there who could control your very steps, the way your body reacted. As she found herself walking towards Rani, it was as if unseen hands were stroking all the right places on her body, readying her libido for the task at hand. The man who'd come to save her from the violet eyed monster was smiling wickedly now, something that had less passion and more violence in it than any Moontae could ever pull off.

She did the same as Rani had just moments before, peeling her wet clothes off her skin. The freezing water had left it's mark, her chilled skin a shade paler than it normally would have been. There was a blue wash across her lips, around her eyes and at the tips of her fingers but as her body began to heat with the desire she didn't really want to feel, they were slowly being replaced with far more rosy tones. Her steps towards Rani were quick, but she hesitated for only a moment when she at last stood before the girl. It was as if Griffin himself were hesitating in what should happen next, and Skie was merely the puppet stilled before the next movement of the play. When she did move, it was like lightning.

Her hand moved into Rani's hair, the fingers curling themselves around the wet strands of silken onyx before she pulled the girl's face towards her. There was something of an apology, a sorrow for what was being done in her eyes even as she lowered her head to the crook of the girl's neck, pressing her cool mouth against it. While her skin was still cold to the touch, her mouth and breasts icy in their little brushes against the naked Fallien girl's form, when Skie opened her mouth, the heat came. Hot kisses and long licks along Rani's salt-water soaked skin moved from her neck and up her jaw towards her mouth. In her mind, she'd been trying to fight but found it futile. As her lips closed over Rani's her free hand moving forward to cup the girl's own breast, her eyelids lowered to the sultry bedroom look that came almost natural to the Moontae.

As her fingertips trailed from the nape of Rani's neck, to dance down her back, Skie gave up, and gave in.

[Rani]

He did not intend to rape her himself. Instead, Griffin would use the hands and mouth of this other woman to have his way with the both of them. And neither was strong enough to take back their own will. Rani shivered as she watched Skie cross to her, the Fallien girl's back arching, her head tilting back as the Moontae's chilled lips teased her dark skin. It was involuntary, but it still set her skin to blushing, blood rushing to each place Skie caressed or kissed, Rani's eyes closing in unwanted ecstasy.

In Fallien, a woman's sexuality was her own to do with as she pleased, her virginity sacred only if she wished to be a priestes - or to bear one. Rani had always thought that she would have a daughter, and that daughter would become a Priestess of Suravani, maybe even one day become Jya of Fallien, the incarnation of Suravani on Althanas. Therefore Rani had never allowed herself to crave the touch of a man, never given in to the hormone-ridden desires that plagued her as she became a woman.

All that was gone now though. And even if she could somehow fight the warmth in her belly, or the rise of her lips to the soft flesh behind Skie's ear and the nape of her neck, she would never return to Fallien and be married and have a daughter who could be a priestess. That was gone now. All she had that was hers was this unfamiliar urge for another woman. Rani wasn't really even certain that was hers, but as she ran a curious hand down the rise and fall of Skie's waist and hips, she claimed it as her own - regardless of who gave it to her or how.

It was as if that decision gave her courage. She had nothing left, and therefore nothing left to lose or to be afraid of. And the woman whose lips and hands now wandered over her curves was beyond desirable, she somehow was exactly what Rani wanted. Their sighs and the arching of their bodies one toward the other, it was like some sort of strange dance.

She did not forget though, that Griffin was the choreographer.

[Skie and Avery]

Under the direction of the man who sat with such cold confidence, Skie bore Rani down to the lounge where she had been laid in this place of dancing light. The girl sitting before her, Skie leaned in, where drops of water had begun their fall down the smooth expanse of satin skin. The crystalline drops were taunting her. Seawater was all around them, and yet these seemed to be different, somehow little treats instead of the poison they could be in large doses. The skin was weeping off that scent, the salt and the waves. It was almost too much.

Until, of course, she let her tongue flick out along that collarbone and it did indeed become too much. Her mouth followed, nibbling and licking the skin as if it were the only food she'd had in months and she'd die unless she had it now. Her hands roamed along Rani's breasts, her fingers flicking and pinching at her nipples, cupping her breasts before she let her mouth roam downwards to the taut nubs. As her mouth came to take the place where her fingers had been, she let them move down cold skin until she came to a place where heat seemed to truly come from.

Liquor had long been called firewater, but as Skie continued to taste the trails where her fingers had been, she was drunk on a new taste entirely. Like a child, constantly hungry for more, she pushed Rani back so that she could let her tongue and lips dip down where the cookie jar was, by Griffin's sheer willpower, forced open and beckoning. She let her tongue flick, lazily at first, across a tight button of flesh concealed within the folds. She had found the Pearl of Rani's pleasure, but unlike with a man, this was not wasted on mere swine. As her fingers delved deep, undulating like ignorant penises were wont to do, he continued to work her jaw, seeking only a pleasured sigh from the girl.

From his throne, Griffin let his hands slip into his pants, watching the show with a predator's eyes. At a mere thought, Skie found her free hand, once used to hold her balance along the divan, grasping at her own breasts, slipping down her own wet, nude form to where her thighs met her hips. She sighed in the pleasure her own touch brought, reveled in the feeling. Her anger was simmering, quietly for now, her body and mind at discord.

While her limbs and tongue worked to bring Rani to the point where her body could take no more, her mind sought to bring an end to the tyrant who deemed them his personal marionettes.

[Rani]

Each touch was a piece of kindling added to a smoldering fire, each nip of her flushed skin between Skie’s teeth a breath of wind causing it to flare to life, each slide of the girl’s tongue over a taut nipple just another few degrees the fire burned hotter. The golden of Rani’s desert bronzed skin was now edged with the rose of the desert sunset, heated to a fever that echoed the blaze growing slowly out of control between her thighs.

With a sigh she allowed herself to be lowered to the chaise, and as Skie’s fingers and tongue found their way to where the fire itself seemed to originate, she gasped, Rani’s breath hissing between her teeth like steam from a geyser as she tried to keep her hips from leaping toward the girl who sought to send her over the edge.

As she stared across Skie’s head to where Griffin watched with a languid gaze, she tried to fight the waves of heat that would soon overtake her sanity. Her body now moved of its own volition in rhythm with Skie’s ministrations, and she found her eyes locked with Griffin’s verdant stare, almost as if he were the one driving her toward pleasure. With a shudder – both of pleasure and revulsion at once – she closed her eyes, her head dipping back and a surprised moan ripping huskily from her throat as the succubus found a way to throw a keg of gunpowder into the already raging wildfire. It was only moments before that fuel exploded, sending Rani gasping against the tremors quaking her entire body.

The jewels holding her hair fell, along with any barriers the Fallien princess may have held on to so far, both crashing to the marble floor with the melodious tinkle of shattered glass. It didn’t matter who led this dance any longer, so long as it did not end. Her legs trembled as she slowly lowered herself to the floor before the one winged angel that had been her destruction. It was not a conscious thought that sent her face to face with the beautiful creature, and with a brief glance at Griff she realized she was as ever his puppet. Now though, she was almost glad of it – her lack of experience would most certainly be made up for in his depredation. With a cryptic smile toward their captor, Rani turned her attentions to Skie, her lips almost aching for the Moontae, her tongue begging for her taste. She wondered somewhere in the back of her mind as their lips collided, whether sparks were visible between them just now.

[Skie and Avery]

--One Year Later, the present --

Skie sat before Griffin, her hand on Rani's as they waited for their orders. These girls would be stopped, their plan thwarted. The plan, as it went, was mostly unknown to the two slaves. Griffin and his mistress were the grand composers of it. They were nothing more than dogs, and while it hurt her pride to admit it, the glowing rings that bound them left little room for choice.

"Two paths will be needed here." Griffin finally said as he stroked the hair of his sleeping daughter, curled up in his lap. There had been more than one point where Skie had bitterly conceded that the child knew more of what was going on than Skie herself.

"Rani," he told the darker skinned girl. "It would appear that you will get to go home." he said with a smile. After a pause, he lifted a hand. "By my side, of course, and in my complete supervision." They sat in silence for a few moments until Skie finally cleared her throat. The unknown bothered her, being a woman who wanted to be prepared for the worst. Her heart went out to her friend. What could be worse than having to do evil deeds in your homeland at the side of a tyrant?

"Skie, you too will be on familiar territory." Skie paused. Had her own thoughts brought her bad luck? "I've heard that your brother and his wife have at last born the heir to the Moontae throne. I want it."

As her heart dropped in the little room of dancing aqua lights, the air was too dry to fully breath. In a place like this, it never rained. It poured down saltwater that was undrinkable. It poured down poison.

[Christoph]

I apologize for the wait; I didn’t mean to put it off so long. I’ll throw some extra gold your way for the delay. And now to the rubric.


Continuity: 6
Skie, you said it yourself in the request. It was quite confusing. There were a lot of factors in the story that I didn’t feel were explained well, and it made it difficult to truly relate what was going on to any overall story. Rani, I think you did better here, but maybe because less of the overlapping story fell upon you. I liked how you began with her father’s death. It played off very realistically (more on that later). On the whole, I gave a six because not all of the confusion was bad. There was a certain aura of mystery that I liked. Some clearer descriptions regarding the background would have given it more meaning, though.

Setting: 7
Pretty good. Not amazing, but a little above average. I’m glad that the two of you just didn’t have your characters get sopping wet and then walk around like it was on a sunny beach. Your characters reacted with the setting well, I thought. All I can say here is that I would have liked some more vivid descriptions more often, but it was still pretty good.

Pacing: 7.5
This was one of the first threads in a while that really kept me hooked, despite the continuity-based confusion. It dragged a little in the middle, but that’s common. On the whole, the story didn’t stagnate much. Good job.


Dialogue: 6
Skie: At times, I found your dialogue to be a bit clunky and unrealistic, particularly in your earlier posts. It smoothed out later on, though. Rani: Your dialogue was pretty solid. It could have been better, but it wasn’t bad.

Action: 8
Note that I am not giving you an eight here just because there was hot lesbian action. I’ve read sex scenes before, and there are many, many ways to do them badly. This was written surprisingly well, though. I found the rest of the action in the thread to be pretty decent as well. There were spots here and there when it was a little vague, but it was typically quite clear and believable.

Persona: 8
Both of you did well here, but I actually thought that Rani really shined in this category. The denial of her father’s death, and just her overall character came off strong and was very believable. She was an easy character to sympathize with.


Technique: 7
Pretty good. I saw some nice literary techniques from both of you, though probably a little more from Skie, but that’s fine. It made the thread enjoyable to read. I also gave you two an extra point because I did like the mysterious edge to the story.

Mechanics: 8.5
Nice, I can tell that both of you (probably) proofread your posts, which makes me happy. It wasn’t perfect, but it was still very good.

Clarity: 7
You probably knew this was coming, but I was confused more than once during this quest. I didn’t penalize too heavily here, though, since I already docked points in continuity, because other than the story confusion, the writing itself was typically clear.


Wild Card: 8
It was a nice read with some hot lesbians. Need I say more?


Final Score: 73!

Nice work!


Skie and Avery receives 3432 EXP and 350 GP.
Rani receives 1156 EXP and 275 GP.