Nua swore a little as she made her way to the baths, ‘So much for privacy.’ She groused and unconsciously reached behind her to touch her back, then moved to tighten her already painfully tight robe, only to find it couldn’t tighten further.

She looked over her shoulder, back to her room where Teacher was. ‘She tightened my robe, nobody will see. Still, she did that on purpose, kept me there knowing I wanted to bathe alone. Well I did grab that giant boob of hers… but I was asleep! Yeah, she’d still hold that against me… oh god, I’m glad I didn’t put it that way out loud where she could hear it!’ Nua laughed at herself and despite the iron resolve settling into the core of her being, she felt a warm sense of good humor as she laughed at herself and her most unusual circumstances.

She got to the bath feeling deeply at ease, and within she found what she expected. Male and female, elf and human, half elf and demon-elf and more besides. Every conceivable coupling and mating on the benches and alcoves, with only steam and the waving water to hide every intimate act. The steam had become thick in the air as she tried to ignore it all and find a space to simply ‘wash’. She caught sight of a bronze collar in the corner of her eye, and felt her left hand tense.

Winding her way through the flesh of licentious elites proved simple, her robe still being on told them she wanted only to be clean before she began whatever would take up her day. More than one familiar face, male and female alike, waved to her or invited her to join them, but she wore only a pleasant and encouraging smile as she lowered herself into an isolated and empty small round pool off in a corner. ‘Definitely takes some getting used to.’ She thought as she removed her hidden left hand from the pocket of her robe when at last beneath the waters. The water was warm and the steam was welcome, but the smell of sex and lust and the sound of moans, cries, and flesh on flesh forced her to close her eyes in spite of her cover.

‘Get over it you stupid girl. This isn’t like back there… it’s no big deal, nobody in high society here thinks anything of these kinds of orgies… odds are that even the property revel in it because they live on the edge of death.’ She repeated to herself again and again as she tried to tell herself why she shouldn’t interfere.

It was at least enough to make her hurry, her right hand worked quickly, snatching up a scrubbing brush and wiping away any hint of sweat or stink or filth from her flesh, and somehow… ‘I just don’t feel clean. I swear, after I take power, I’m having a private bath built for my use and mine alone!’ She managed to mock her own western prudery enough to taunt herself through the rest of the ritual, then got out as quickly as she could, moving with purpose toward the exit and hurrying back to her room.

She entered quickly and put her back to the wall as soon as she entered, she threw off her robe.

Solution had already laid out the clothing for the day, which included her armor and her knife. She cradled the blade lovingly and looked daggers at Solution. “You made me late on purpose.”

The demon laughed, “Yes, yes I did.”

“You know what that… does to me.” Nua whispered with wide eyes, “There were… collared ones in there… and they were…”

Solution took her by the wrist, “You have collars up here.” She growled out, “You’d better get used to that, you’re a mistress now, just by the handful you spent, you own as many slaves as the average noble. I’m not telling you to use them the same way, but the ones you saw have a better life than the ones in the mines. Don’t let that get the better of you. Now stay still, student, I was going to dress you myself, but I think I’d better remind you what you are here.”

Solution went over to the cages after snatching up the key she needed, then standing between the two cages, she shook them violently hard, tossing the two within, back and forth against the bars. “Wake up slaves!” Solution snapped. “You’ve slept past your mistress’s waking time, she had time to take a bath and come back up here to be dressed, and here you are snoring! She’s angry at you, go ask her forgiveness!”

The alarmed and terrified looks on their faces as they spun around to face the exit while Solution undid the locks, tugged at Nua’s heart, yet she crushed it and wore the mask of wrath. She put her hands on her hips as the terrified women rushed to put themselves beneath ice blue eyes and at her feet.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Kaiji pleaded and raised and lowered her head to the floor at her feet, her heart pounded like it was trying to run away from her body as the terrible stories Solution told came back to mind, and the face of wrath had banished the kindly touch from the previous evening.

Priceless couldn’t even speak, all she could do was weep into the floor and shake.

Trapped by Solution’s insistence on her wrath, unable to contradict her, all Nua could do was glare while the begging for forgiveness went on. ‘How long can I keep this up?’ Nua wondered as her teacher glared at her, and she glared back.

Kaiji thought back to the last time she’d held a whip herself, a sloppy, lazy slave had stolen wine and been caught passed out drunk. ‘I’m sorry mistress, I’m sorry… I’m sorry I just couldn’t help myself…’ He’d cried out as two of her servants had dragged him to the straps and secured him to the wall. His pleading had moved her heart to pity, ‘Five strokes and leave the flesh on the bone. Next time to the block.’ She’d ordered her overseer.

But as she looked up into the eyes of her own owner, she saw no mercy. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shivering Priceless whose courage had entirely fled so that she could do nothing more than cry. ‘His screams will be my screams.’ She bit her lip.

She could hear her mistress taking a deep breath, ‘It doesn’t have to be both of us.’

Kaiji spoke loudly, “It’s my fault, mistress Nua!”

“What?” Nua looked down at her, holding out the left hand that both fascinated and frightened Kaiji awake and in dreams.

“It’s my fault! I pushed Priceless too hard, she couldn’t take it but I made her stay awake and wouldn’t let her ask your bodyguard for a rest. She overslept because of me… let me bear her punishment as well as my own!”

Nua closed her magicine hand into a fist, and Kaiji closed her eyes and waited for her owner to hit her with it.

The hand opened a few inches away from Kaiji’s chin, the fingers caressed her briefly, and Nua felt her heart race as she tried to think of some way out of this… and then it hit her.

She gave an arrogant smirk to her teacher, and Solution’s brow furrowed.

“That is brave… I respect courage, very well, I will let you take her punishment for oversleeping.” Nua said, and lowered her left palm so that it was within her line of sight under lowered eyes.

“Kiss the hand of discipline, the hand you fear.” Nua ordered imperiously, Priceless had frozen and looked, transfixed as a quivering Kaiji cradled the hand, and kissed the black gem.

“Hold your lips to it, while I drain two years from your life.” Nua said with a dark, grim tone emerging from pursed lips.

Kaiji’s eyes flew open, the warmth of the stone, ‘She can’t… really, how? HOW?!’ She almost pulled away, but when her eyes caught the blue death in Nua’s gaze, she kept her lips where she was told, and wept into it with her lips worshiping that which was taking away years from the only thing she had.

“Enough.” Nua said soundly, and pulled her hand away. “That is what this hand does. I was going to take three years from each of you, but… out of respect for your courage, I have taken only two years from you alone. Do not fail to wake before me again.”

Priceless looked over to Kaiji with absolute horror as the demon-elf traded away a part of her life, and then prostrated herself again.

‘OK that was probably the most creative lie I’ve ever told in my life… maybe it scares the piss out of them but… I can admit the lie later, and I don’t have to ‘actually’ do anything to them now. And I can get out of ever having to beat them or hurt them and can still maintain my facade.’ She smirked at Solution, who only grinned down at the shaking slaves.

“You’ve had your punishment, now get up and get me dressed.” Nua snapped, and let them see to it, which they did with record speed, leaving the left glove for last.

‘OK I beat Solution’s trap, and… when they start going out and speaking with other servants, let the rumor spread that I can take life with a touch. Still…’ She thought when the glove was tugged on by a Kaiji who stood as far away as she could, and had to stretch out her arm to reach the base of the left glove and pull it down tight, ‘I’ll have a lot to make up for.’ Nua pursed her lips and looked herself over, “Good, now go to your corner and help Priceless study, use whatever books you need, I have somewhere to be.”

Nua spat out her orders, disgusted with the role she played and headed straight for the door before Solution could torment the lot of them further. When she’d shut it on the other side, she leaned against the door and rubbed her forehead.

“This is harder than I thought it would be.” Nua muttered and then pushed off the door and headed out.

Getting a horse proved easy, she slid a silver coin to the desk clerk, ordered that a horse be brought, and a few minutes later, she was mounted and riding through Pas’en. She looked around as she rode, the cobblestone roads were still wet, but the pushers responsible for keeping the upper district clear of water were gone.

The palace was clearly visible even from a distance, though precise directions were not quite clear, she nevertheless made her way there by simply keeping it as close to being in front of her as she could. Her eyes didn’t fail her, and due to the ease, she took her time about watching how the city functioned.

“Whatta you mean you want ten silver for that?! It’s not even worth three!” A burly man with a thick beard shouted at an orc.

“How can you sell bread at five coppers a loaf?! That’s robbery!” A plump woman shouted at a baker with her hands waving in the air.

“I tell you my master will have your head if you try to charge a whole gold coin to fix his cart!” Nua snapped her head around to see a woman in bright green clothing that was slit at the thighs, green sleeves, and an ornate bronze collar around her neck with a purple tag hanging from it. She waved her arms wildly… like most of the others as she shouted at the free person over the price.

Nua paused her cantering horse to watch with fascination.

“Listen’ere you big boobed bimbo! I don’t care’who your master is! Ah ain’t fix’n his damned cart ‘till I get at least nine tenths a gold coin!” The laborer doing the yelling was an elf like Nua herself, though far more slight of build compared to many of those in her homeland.

Curiously, the elf in green who was clearly a slave, didn’t seem to flinch, “How can you ask for six tenths a gold coin when it doesn’t even cost two to fix, you thieving tinkerer!” She shrieked at him

“You think it’s only worth seven tenths! Fine, I’ll take seven, but no lower! And it’ll have to wait till tomorrow!” The elf tinkerer shouted at the elf slave, and a moment later she took out coins from a pouch and handed them over to the tinker.

‘The slaves here are… very different, some of them at least… must be the tags, lets see… purple was the royal color here, she must belong to someone connected to the Prince, or the Prince himself. Well, judging by the smug look on her face, she’s not unhappy about how she lives… at least away from her owner. But from the reactions of some of the others, that’s clearly not true for all.’ She stroked her chin as she cantered along and thought the matter over.

“They’re so… loud.” She muttered, and barely heard her own muttering as people yelled at merchants and merchants yelled back, wild gestures were abound, but the rich smell of some of the most remarkable food reached her nose, and Nua couldn’t help but close her eyes to inhale.

“I curse that I have to work right now…” She all but whined as she saw a curiously stringy substance being dropped into a bowl and covered with a rich, thick red sauce on top of which, balls of meat and thick green leaves were placed with a steady hand.

In this wealthy part of the city, the people were robust, vigorous, even the slaves she saw, walked with eyes forward, though those were ones wearing tags on their collars in various colors that identified who owned them, curiously, nobody she saw, attempted to touch one of the men or women who walked with tags, if anything, they were given ample space to conduct business and go about their errands.

What struck her more however, were the many vibrant styles and colors, elves, orcs, humans, and others, all wore wild, bright patterns, some matched, some clashed. But none were possible to overlook. As she drew closer to the palace, this didn’t change much, but… she began to see something else.

Men in black robes wearing hoods and black veils through which they could see, but not be seen, they walked always in pairs, with slow and steady steps. Wherever they moved, people moved aside for them, many paused to bow, they held their hands together one folded as a fist into an open palm, and did not stop to speak, not the first dozen pairs.

It was some time before Nua saw any differently. They stopped in front of a shop and spoke to the man outside of it. Over the noise, Nua could not make out the words, but he started screaming and wailing. He was a ‘round’ man, to put it mildly, and backed himself against the wall shaking his head.

A portly middle aged woman with dirt brown hair came rushing out screaming denials and obscenities, she was even louder than the man himself. She, as Nua drew a little closer, could be understood. “You won’t take him! You can’t! I need him! He’s my husband!”

“The levy is absolute… we require either your husband, or four hundred pounds of equivalent live meat.” The two black clad men replied in perfect sync.

Nua watched with a furrowed brow as the woman shouted at them, “Wait here!”

A few moments later, she came rushing out with three collared men. “Here! They weigh a little bit over that! I hope the Tlalmok choke on them!” She shrieked, and grabbing her husband’s hand, she tugged him inside and shut the door.

What happened next, Nua knew could ‘only’ be the result of long practice, before the slaves could properly understand what was taking place, the two men produced small pouches and yanking the men so that they bent at the waist, each pouch was used to strike the slaves in the backs of their heads, sending them thudding to the stone unconscious. The three slaves fell in a heap before their confusion could be resolved, but to Nua… ‘Oh my god… the tribute, they’re collecting Tlalmok tributes, that’s right, they have a lottery here from each district… but… the rich can donate a slave in their place. The Komestrans… poor bastards…’ Nua clenched the reins of her horse and gritted her teeth.

“When my god comes for the Triumvirate, he will erase them from this world, and the east will embrace and worship him as their deliverer.” She uttered as she looked at the sky, unable to bear watching as the priests of the tribute took a wagon and after binding the three slaves hand and foot, tossed them into it and went on their way.

Nua put the unfortunate incident from her mind after one final thought, ‘If it were the dark savior, she’d use her power to tear down the authorities, reshape everything, burn or flood everything in her way, and launch a crusade from here to the Tlalmok capital. But then, she does have quite the temper. As I can’t do that, I must be… pragmatic. Besides, it’s not like I can’t make changes when I’m in charge. Well, one thing at a time.’ Nua thought as she came close to the gate.

The gate was anything but defensive, it was quite ornamental, wide enough for two carriages to pass abreast, and made of iron… but with large gaps through which a small person could have slipped. The palace beyond was really more like a very large residence, reminding her of the large, rich home of Cardinal Raymond. Intricate stonework, clearly gardens and fountains beyond the iron wrought bars, and a great purple banner hanging horizontally over the large oak double door entrance.

She dismounted from her horse when she reached the gate and the guard, a steel clad man in full plate bearing a large halberd stood in her way.

“Captain Nua Calen Aiwenor, here to see Prince Rasgen, he’s expecting me.” Nua said abruptly as she strode to him confidently with her shoulders back, he didn’t keep her waiting. He snatched the reins of her horse and yelled over his shoulder to get the gate and an escort.

Nua ignored his bow, “Enter and be welcome, Captain Aiwenor.” he said as he backed away at an angle without breaking the bow.

The gate parted with a slow groan of metal on metal, and an escort appeared from the other side of the wall in the form of two strong looking men, each of whom was twice as wide as herself.

The stone steps of the city were well worn, despite the edges being clearly rough cut, and Nua did her best to focus on that instead of the escorts themselves. She clenched her left hand as she went higher up the steps and focused on the hall in front when the doors opened wide enough for the three to pass abreast.

These men too, carried halberds of steel, and marched like they were well used to the weight of their armor, more impressively still, they remained in lockstep with her and looked straight ahead, all the way to the interior. The floor had a long purple rug that covered the center stones, and led all the way to a large single door far within the manor.

The art on the walls spoke of great success for the city, with fine paintings and delicate looking glass vases with bright flowers springing out beside every painting.

The door opened, and Nua found herself in the hall of the Prince, as she expected, there were courtiers aplenty in very ‘loud’ clothing, and the conversations were as plentiful as the cups of wine that were being carried around by servants wearing purple tags on their bronze collars.

She looked the slaves up and down, ‘They are clearly well taken care of, well fed, I don’t see anxiety or fear, maybe… no, I need to know more before I assume I can modify my ‘character’ without damaging my reputation before I can make a name for myself in other ways.’

Nua wasted no time, the escorts fell a step behind her and she heard the sound of halberds lowering to her back, and almost laughed at the notion of them piercing her armor.

She smiled warmly as she saw Prince Rasgen’s face display recognition, at his left hand, sat Sobella. The pair smiled warmly from richly decorated wooden thrones with intricate flowering patterns all over them, and purple cushions on which the pair sat.

“Are you waiting for permission to kneel?” Prince Rasgen asked with a pleasant smile.

Nua smiled warmly as she gave him a half bow. “Regrettably, oh Prince of Pas’en, there are only two in this world that I would ever go to my knees for, my god or a lover, and you are neither.”

And then, silence fell over the hall.