Prince Sado woke up when the sun struck his closed eyes. The heavy lids parted and fluttered with the sudden pain of bright light striking down his slumber. He turned his head to one side, avoiding it like a physical blow, and found himself staring at the monstrous bodyguard that was almost always at his owner’s side. Solution was seated a few paces away at a table with a sumptuous meal in front of her. A small scrofa’s head coated in a thick brown sauce with bits of sliced mushrooms. The fur was removed, but the teeth and tusks of the young boar were left in place. The meat was lightly cooked so that it had only faint gold over the red, and blood dripped down onto the platter of silver on which it sat, waiting to be soaked up and consumed with the fresh long crackling bread Pas’en was famous for.

“You slept well, Prince of Chains.” Solution said while slicing off a piece of the cheek.

Sado groaned and reached to touch his head. “Is it really ‘sleep’ if you’re knocked out, Lady Solution?” He asked while he tried to sit up.

“Maybe or maybe not, but you weren’t knocked out.” She pointed the sharp knife at him, her usual smile became a smirk, “You passed out, Prince of Chains. You took down your last opponent, and ‘then’ went down. So you kept your end up, no adventurer of Pas’en, brought you down. It might not be what you intended… but it’s a win and you should take it. You don’t get many of those when you wear a collar.” She giggled before slicing off another piece of meat.

“Right… as you say, My Lady. How long was I out?” Sado asked, putting his back against the rough wooden wall. He felt the splinters against his back, scratching at his hardened flesh like tiny pinpricks.

“All night, the storm wasn’t letting up.” She chewed slowly, swallowed, and went on, “And no carriages were going out, so they put us up here.”

“My mistress doesn’t mind…?” Sado asked with some incredulity, his brow furrowed and he rubbed the button of his square jaw where she’d punched him before sending him out. “I would have thought for sure she’d have said something like, ‘make that one walk in the rain…’ at the very least.”

Solution preened like a mother hen, her chin lifted slightly then she reached for a silver cup, after she drank from it and sat it down, she started slicing another cut of meat. “Given the way she must have thrashed you, I can see why you might think that. But she has a sense of…” Solution looked up and away for a moment, “how do I say this… yes, ‘responsibility’ for lesser beings. And she thinks you’ll be useful to her, so I doubt she’d risk you dying in the dumbest way possible… drowning in a city street would be absurd.” Solution snorted derisively and shook her head before taking another bite.

“Lesser beings? She’s just an elf… powerful yes…” Sado rubbed his jaw again, “But she’s not some divine goddess…”

“She’s my student, Prince of Chains, that alone puts her above the rest of you. But more than that, if you ever say ‘just an elf’ around her, that’s a good way to find out how your intestines taste, because she’ll cut them out, feed them to you, and smile about it.” Solution tittered and took a sharp bite of her meat and laid her knife and fork down.

“I’ll keep that in mind… Lady Solution.” Sado said gingerly and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She pointed at the floor near him. “The other adventurers got that for you, they said you earned it.” He looked down, a wooden tray sat there with a wooden bowl, some bread and cheese that weren’t quite fresh. In the bowl was a simple thick brown stew with chunks of meat, tomatoes, and potato chunks. A wooden cup of clear water was at hand beside the bowl.

“Thank you… My Lady.” Sado said and, under her watchful eye, sat on the floor with his back on the wall, his legs stretched out, then he took the tray and set it on top of his thighs.

He ate in silence, mentally walking around the oddities of his present life. “She doesn’t like humans… does she? At least not human men.” He took a bite of the hardened cheese and chewed it slowly. It was rich stuff despite being a bit stale, but was still far from that of his memories.

Solution folded her hands over one another and stared down at the still bruised up fallen Prince. “Do you really want to know, Prince of Chains?”

He didn’t look over at her, he stared straight ahead in the little room they presently shared, seemingly very interested in the blank brown wooden wall twelve feet from where he sat. “I think I don’t, but I should know anyway. She doesn’t intend to kill me. For better or worse, I’ve got a future to plan for. I need to know her mind as best I can if I’m going to stay alive for whatever that future is.”

“You’re not as stupid as I thought, Prince of Chains.” Solution said with a syrupy voice, “You’re right, you saw how she treated the little human pet she’s got, and how she treats that demon-elf, she’s gentle with the former, business with the latter, and brutal to you. You’re a human male, and you’re not the first to come close to her, do you know what makes you different from those other ones?”

“No, My Lady.” Sado closed his mouth very slowly, dragging the words out as he tried to work out what was going to be said before it was.

“You’re still alive. You don’t much act like you want to stay that way so far, which means you’ve got that much in common with the dead. So if you want to join them, keep doing what you’re doing.” She laughed as a haunted expression, glazed eyes and slumped shoulders, came over him.

“What can I do? I can’t stop being human. I didn’t choose to be a Prince. I didn’t ask to lose a war… though Kaiji and Onimeus may disagree with me about that last one… at the end of it all… I don’t want to die.” Prince Sado spoke in a dead monotone and kept staring ahead at the empty wall.

While the prince idly chewed on the stale bread he’d softened by soaking it in stew, Solution replied to him by saying…

“That’s the first smart thing you’ve done, Prince of Chains. That’s the question of a man who wants to stay alive. The answer is simple. Learn her vision, and embrace it. Do that, and you might live a little bit longer. Anything less than that, and one day she’ll dispose of you over breakfast, without the flavor of the meal being even slightly tainted by grief.”

“I… I see. And what of what we came here for, I was to meet the instructors, wasn’t I?” The Prince asked, eager for a change of subject.

Solution’s answer was quick, “Done. They met you while you were sleeping, or maybe while you were fighting, depending on how you think of it. You made your mark on them, and they’re eager to get to work with you… standing up this time.” Her sarcastic smile spread across most of her face before she snatched up her cup, drained the contents, and rose to her feet.

“Now let’s get going, the rain has stopped and we’re going to the estate of your owner, where you can expect to live with the rest of your soldiers, there’s a lot to do today, and I don’t intend to waste a minute more.” She was already heading to the door even while she spoke, leaving only a moment for Sado to greedily scoop up the bowl and swipe whatever remained of his meal into his mouth as fast as he could.

His cheeks popped out like those of a chipmunk and his left hand swiftly snatched up the last bit of dried cheese when he pushed himself up off the wall and to his feet.

Sado couldn’t speak, full as his mouth was, but the more important conversation took place with himself in his own mind. ‘Learn her vision, and embrace it? What the hell is that even supposed to mean?’ For the ten thousandth time in his life, he felt like he was ‘just barely’ missing some important concept, like trying to grab smoke with his bare hands, he always ‘almost had it’ and then it drifted away.

He was still trying to riddle out the meaning of the mysterious bodyguard’s words when he got into the carriage and pulled it away, taking him back to uncertain ends.

“Please… don’t hurt me, master.” Priceless begged, she didn’t lift her head, doing so was a frightening thought almost as bad as the pain itself. She spat blood out of her mouth as she made her plea, and whimpered in misery when blood touched her beautiful clothing. Her body was a mass of soreness in the chair, the hand that was broken the previous evening had swollen up to two or three times it’s prior size. The wet and damp led to an ugly looking infection on the one wound she could see. “Please don’t.” It was all she said anymore.

Borku grabbed her hair and forced her head up, “You already told us plenty, why stop now?”

“You can answer that much, right?” The goblin she recognized as Grekin asked her.

She sniffled. “Because you lost, master. You didn’t snatch my Kaiji. She’s safe, with the Mistress back, she can’t be touched. You won’t do this to her, I’ll still die either way…” She halted as a hacking cough came over her, her throat was sore, ‘I’m sick, the wet, the damp, the hitting… without a healer, I’ll be unconscious again soon. I’m scared… please… get me out of this…’ she thought until the cough ended, “but I had to talk t-to help her. Now I don’t... master.” She fell to whimpering, her throat was cracked, even that hurt now. Begging did no good, but it was all she knew to do. So she begged through the pain, “Please… no.” for no more pain to come.

The orc brought his hand up again, her eye on that side was already shut, but she’d seen it go up when it was down at his side, so she knew what was coming.

“Is she working with anyone else outside of the city? Where does she keep her coins?” The goblin asked her again.

“I...ah… ah… don’t know… sir. Please… no more… please no more… I don’t know anything, I’m just a run of the mill slave… why would I know where the mistress keeps her wealth, or anything else?” Priceless’s answers were partially true at least, but as if they could see through the lie like an open window the heavy hand came down, and she felt her head snap to the side, dislocating her jaw, and sending another tooth to clatter to the stone floor, where it skittered along until it stopped at a puddle, casting ripples from where it struck.

“If she’s going to kill you anyway for betraying her, why not go the rest of the way, after all, the offer still stands, I’m sure that when… wait… what was his name? I mean, the boss, when the boss gets back, he’ll be happy to have you healed, hand you a sack of coins, and take you anywhere you want.” The goblin asked another question that, to Priceless’s relief, she could answer.

“She… she was nice to me. Never had a nice name. Always just numbers, or ‘gash’ or ‘girl’ or named for whatever tool I used like ‘hoe’ or ‘rake’ or ‘hammer’ or ‘ink’... lots…” She spat again and wept through her one good eye, trying desperately and mostly failing she managed to raise her head a little at least to say to the goblin, “she gave me a pretty name. Best name.” Drool cut off her words for a bit until the rough hand of the orc wiped it away with painful pressure. Everything started to blur, like looking through cloudy water. ‘Can’t see them… best that way. I don’t like being afraid… I hate this. I want… I want to go home.’ She begged the uncaring stars for mercy they had never given before, and tried to think of where she wanted to be, striving and failing to pretend she was there.

“Gave me Kaiji… let us sleep together. Didn’t… didn’t make our love a plaything… no… was not… not for herself. Didn’t use us against each other for control… scared of mistress… going to… going to die… going to be killed… traitor…” she felt her mind drifting into unconsciousness, “but loyal… love her… for letting… letting me love before… before I die… before… before die… scared… mistress… mis-tress...” She managed a fragile smile through busted, broken, bloody lips, and then her whole body went entirely limp as consciousness fled when pain was no longer enough to keep her awake.

“Damn it! Where the hell is the boss?” Grekin grumbled and scratched his head unhappily.

Borku dropped the limp head of the broken slave to lay unmoving against her chest, and shrugged with a grunt of annoyance.

Kaiji walked three paces behind her mistress on the way back to the room, her head down and hands folded before her, she wasn’t sure if anyone saw, but ‘if’ they did, ‘Then they see only my perfection.’ She recalled the way her own slaves had been trained before, and did her best to imitate it, until she realized she could do better. She walked with the grace of a dancer, a noble lady at a ball, even if some noble did not recognize her for herself, they’d know the noble stride and recognize a fallen one that must have once been a peer.

When they reached their destination, Kara was standing outside of the room with a pair of iron collared brutish looking orcs in bright orange tunics. “A crew to move your things, my lady. They’re ready at your leisure.”

“Only two?” Kaiji spoke up instantly, “What of the mistress’s armor for her soldiers, and the horses are to be delivered, and the weapons of her soldiers, and their equipment, and the slaves themselves…?” Kaiji’s voice became imperious, her chin came up ensuring the purple tag was bared. Nua saw the reflection of the devoted slave in the shining polished wall, and it was so very, very easy to see who she was. ‘Every inch the regal lady. Like she was born standing beside a throne.’ Her feet rested so delicately on the ground it was as though she were going to float away at any moment, her shoulders squared and the extended hand with palm upturned fairly invited even the free human in front of her, to bend and kiss the palm as if the slave were in fact a mistress.

“The rest are outside, the slave ‘Onimeus’ took charge of it, the soldiers should be doing a final inventory by now, and loading everything into wagons. We brought a few wagons for your living bodies as well, and some overseers in case any should be rebellious.” Kara explained, only to take a step back when the mistress Aiwenor stepped toward her by a pace.

Nua spoke with a hiss through her teeth. “Send the overseers away immediately. None of my slaves will rebel. Get out of my sight and do not return until they have gone. And make it known that the order to be rid of them, came from me.”

“Ah, yes, at once, My Lady.” Kara stammered out, and scurried to escape the wrath, and the chill of cold in the air that seemed to come out of nowhere. The brutish orcs shuffled their feet like they were the siblings to the one of their kin in trouble, worried about sharing blame by proximity alone.

“Wait here.” Kaiji ordered them calmly, “I will admit you when the lady Aiwenor is dressed.”

She opened the door and held it for Nua to pass through first, then shut it tight behind her.

She waited until her mistress passed through the short hall and into the main room, out of the corner of her eye she saw the whip her owner had cast aside the previous night. It loomed large and terrifying still, a tingle went up and down her spine, ‘Those hours prostrate and waiting, they were more terrifying than when I was in a Lur’gin company cage in that warehouse…’ The shiver died when the robe of her mistress was cast off and the flesh of her goddess was bared.

Kaiji’s red eyes shimmered brightly while she opened up the wardrobe and drew out an expensive outfit. She held it up, “Mistress, as you will be seeing to the recovery of your lost property today, and there may be extensive travel about the city, including to the Prince’s presence, I thought this might suit your intent.

Nua gave it a look up and down, it was bright leaf green, and the fabric cut to the shape of overlapping leaves. The fabric imitation leaves wrapped around at the upper arms and thighs, but below it had a wood brown like the branches or trunk of a hardy tree. The rest of the torso was the same, with leaf like shapes cupping around her breasts, leaving only the neckline exposed. It blended Pasenian brightness with the practical function of easy motion, from pants to shirt, it was made for her.

Kaiji’s eyes were wide with enthusiasm and a genuine bright smile lit up her dark purple skin, she fairly glowed as she held it up at eye level from the top of the smooth wooden hanger. “Athein delivered this only a day before you returned… before Priceless… before someone stole from you.” Kaiji swallowed and turned her head briefly to where the whip lay.

“I’ll wear it.” Nua said, and held her arms out.

“I made… I mean… I had this made… when all I felt was fear and reverence… I dress you in it now, with devotion and love, my mistress… my goddess.” Kaiji whispered reverentially, and she took the shirt and slid the sleeve over Nua’s arm, one, then the other, and then her fingers flew as fast as they could to lace the shirt up the center.

The pants followed, and then she was to her knees, assisting Nua with her high boots. The feel of the material was unfamiliar, but whatever it was, the word ‘expensive’ came readily to mind. She put the matter out of her mind despite her academic mind demanding she ask questions, and laced them at the back. Finally she secured the buckle of the belt she’d had made, and stepped back. She knelt in deference, “It is done, there is only one more thing, my goddess.” Kaiji said and looked to the upper shelf of the wardrobe.

Nua’s eyes followed the look, then reached up to the glint up above.

It was a bronze collar, clearly enchanted from the faint hue of glowing gold that came off the latch. It was identical to the make of the one Kaiji currently wore except for that brighter hue where the tag would be. “Kaiji, what is this?” Nua held it out in one hand, and Kaiji’s look went from the collar, to the goddess who held it.

“Mistress, that is… it is a joint gift from the mages and the smithing guilds. A sign of their gratitude for your expensive patronage.” Kaiji explained patiently, but even at a glance, Nua could see she was holding back.

“It is very nice, but you already have one, and I have not chosen to bestow the bronze on any other.” Nua furrowed her golden brow, “There is something more, isn’t there?”

Kaiji prostrated herself at the boots before her, palms on the floor. They had faint tremors to them that no effort of hers could stop as she explained herself, “I did not ask for this, this was their doing, mistress. I would never presume this of you. But this…” She touched the collar around her throat, “suppresses my magic… so I… so I… so I can never resist, never fight back, so my magic can never be used against you. My magic is… like an amputated limb. Worthless or nearly without severely torturing myself to use anything at all. It keeps me helpless.”

“And this?” Nua asked, holding the collar in her hand up a little higher.

“It enhances my magic. Makes it stronger, my mana more enduring. It means… it means I could fight again. If that is the will of my goddess.” She swallowed hard as she tried to fight the lump in her throat, and waited for her goddess to decide what to do with the power in her hands.