Deceptive Lord (Lords of Bondage) (24 page)

She took a few steps forward and halted a half foot in front of Taran.
Despite her long tunic, which concealed most of her skin, she felt self-conscious.
She didn’t like being put on display.

“I want to see all of her,” Taran said.
“Let us see what is beneath that tunic.”

“That’s not necessary.
I’ve already performed a complete examination.
You will find her to be pleasing,” Ninian said.

Taran patted the extra space on his chair.
“
Come
closer, captive.
Sit on my lap.”

She backed away from him instead and shook her head.
Taran stared at her intently and his eyes flashed red sparks.
When he repeated his request, she found she could not stop her legs from carrying her over to his chair.
She felt his arms capture her waist and he pulled her across his lap.

“Practice attending to me.
I find a have a pressing ache that requires your aid
.
” Taran tried to
gage
her shape with his h
ands while he waited for her to respond.
She sat across his lap like a lifeless rag doll.
“Will you not attend me, pretty lady?”
When she failed to provide a verbal response after several attempts, he looked into her eyes to discern any signs of awareness.
She was functioning like a vegetable and was nearly catatonic.
“What’s wrong with her?
It’s freaking me out.”

“You put her under too deeply.
Try the entrancement again,” Ninian said.

Taran broke the entrancement and tried again, but the results were
the same.
Ciaran’s efforts to entrance her were
equally ineffective, as were Ninian’s.
Every time, she was put into a state that caused her to be virtually useless.
“Something’s wrong and I’m not sure why it’s not working.
She obviously can’t perform any tasks when entranced, which will make it nearly impossible to utilize her
properly
,” Ninian said.

“Maybe it’ll be enough; she only needs to lie flat and I can do the rest,” Taran said.

“
She’s way too
incapacitated
,” Ciaran said.
“The entrancement is supposed to make her highly suggestible to commands so that she can be impelled to obey.
Deeper levels of entrancement should make
her susceptible to being compelled to do things she may not wish to do.
She should still have some awareness of what she is doing and she should be able to communicate.
She cannot do much of anything like this.
The only other option would be to have her enthralled, which would be longer lasting.”

***

As Drest walked into the room, he immediately noted the presence of the druids.
Ninian had failed to tell him that the Bloodletter had an interest in his prisoner.
He had to wonder about the purpose.
He tensed as he
saw Eden sitting across Taran’s lap
.
When he gazed into her vacant eyes, he quickly realized that she had been
entranced
.
He was not too surprised that the druids found her to be disobliging; she seemed to
display an aversive response to mental manipulation
.
“She could end up like this permanently if enthralled.”
He collected Eden from Taran’s lap and led her to the sofa.
He sat down beside her and looked at Taran.
“What do you want with her?”

Taran didn’t try to hide the massive erection that was evident beneath his robe.
“I need an attendant to see to my needs.”

Drest had reservations concerning the nature of his interest.
“
I thought the druids needed an assistant.
This is something else
entirely.
Since when have the druids needed bed slaves?”

“In this case, it is needed for the new ritual,” Ciaran said.
“You could even say that it is needed for the aftermath of the ritual.”

“She can’t participate in any rituals.
Surely you can see that now.”
Drest was caught off guard when he felt Eden’s hands tugging at
the front of
his trousers.
He glanced down and noticed that she was still entranced, although
her hands seemed to have a mind of their own
.
He felt himself grow uncomfortably hard.
He pushed her hands away and resumed his conversation with Ciaran, but moments later, she somehow managed to slide her hand down his
pants.
As she gripped his
swollen flesh
, he compl
etely lost his train of thought.
When he tried to remove her hand, she tightened her grip and
rubbed with an exquisite motion.

“She’s a bit more animated now,” Taran said.

“She has no awareness of what she’s doing.”
Drest looked at Eden and tried again to dislodge her, but the
gratifying
motion of her hand was
weakening his resistance
.
“You had better stop that.”
She
continued to touch him, disregarding
his plea.
He pulled her hand away and held both of her arms
by her sides, restraining her.

“Perhaps the entrancement is working now.
I did instruct her to attend me earlier,” Taran said.

“It’s not working,” Drest said.

Ninian walked to the sofa.
“We need to determine whether she is responsive at all to the entrancement.
Let me take her.”
When Drest released her, Ninian led her to Taran and pushed her onto his lap.
“Attend to Taran now.”

“Ninian,” Drest said.
“She can’t.”

Ninian gave him a warning look.
“Let us see.”
They watched for several minutes, but the female remained unresponsive and unmoving.

Taran placed his arm around her stomach and whispered in her ear.
“Attend to me
, human.”
Several minutes later, he gave a frustrated
sigh.
“Do you hear me, female?
Answer me.”

“Maybe she just doesn’t like you.”
Ciaran pulled her off Taran’s lap and forced her to look into his eyes.
“Will you obey me?”
When she made no response, he stared intently into her eyes to compel her to action.
“I want you to touch me.”
Still, she made no response.
He took her arm and led her to the
middle of the
sofa.
He pushed her
down beside Drest and he sat on her other side.
“Attend me.”
He placed her hand on his knee and waited for her to react to his
request
.

Drest felt uncomfortable with the idea of entrancement.
He didn’t like the vacant look in her eyes; it was like nobody was at home.
“I told you that
it wasn’t going to work.
She doesn’t respond at all to suggestions
; entrancement is useless at best
.
She’s
not able to perform the duties you require.
You’ll
need to find another female to help you.”
He looked at Eden
, wishing he could yank her hand from Ciaran’s knee without making a scene.
He didn’t want the druids to think he was
becoming too friendly toward their
Flourdan
captive
.
He watched as s
he removed her hand from Ciaran’s knee
.
She looked at
Drest
with eyes that held a glimmer of awareness.
She sidled toward him, and then w
ithout warning, she climbed on top of
him.
She closed her eyes and wriggled her hips
, rubbing herself against his hard length
.

“Are you controlling her somehow?” Taran asked.

Drest tried to still her movements
; he tried even harder to focus his mind on something other than the need to be inside her
.
“None of us have control of her.
She does what she wants.”

“This will be a major probl
em.
The nobles
require fu
ll control of their
slaves
.
Ones who prove too difficult are usually put to death.
Since she is so comely, they wouldn’t order her execution, but they would surely beat her to make her submit.
She may not survive such harsh treatment,” Ninian said.

“I’m well aware of that, which is why she cannot be given to the
King
or his family.
She’s not going
to be able to assist the druids either,
” Drest said.

“I’d accept her as she is,” Taran said.
“
I could keep her for personal use
.”

“
You couldn’t guarantee her willingness, and she’d likely not remain with you willingly.
You’d have to post guards on her constantly to ensure she doesn’t escape.
She could still be a spy; that has not been ruled out.
Entrancement doesn’t seem to be an option for her; it makes her f
eeble-minded.
Without the entrancement, she will be
too problematic and risky to keep in the druid fortress.
You do not have lodgings of your own,
”
Ciaran
said.

“
She cannot be allowed to be present during any rituals if she has full awareness and self-control
,” Ninian said.
“
At some point,
one of us
will
need
to take possession of the prisoner and accept her as a
house slave
, but she will have to be trained
.
I’m not turning her over to the
King
’
s family.
None of them have the patience to deal with a female incapable of entrancement and their brutality would kill her
.
”

Taran watched the female squirming on Drest’s lap and his glowing hybrid eyes reflected lustful interest.
“I want to keep her.”

A house slave was not much different than a bed slave, as she would be expected to mate with her
master.
If the union bore fruit, she was usually gifted the status of freewoman and was no longer a slave.
The child was considered the property of the father
and was granted full citizenship, and when given their freedom, most mothers would choose to remain with their children in Asstrumnia.
The child would help bind her to the hybrids, and due to this connection, she could be more easily assimilated into their society.
Likewise, if the enslaved female was marked by a male, she was often granted her freedom due to the promise of fertility
, which would ultimately result in progeny.
Due to the declining fertility rates and the scarcity of females in the general population, few slaves could
successfully attain their freedom that way.
Drest knew that it was inevitable that Eden would be given to a male.
There were few females, especially in Asstrumnia, and female captives were considered bounty to be rewarded
to those who had served their nation valiantly.
It crossed his mind that he could claim her for himself.
He pushed the idea out of his head; he had vowed to himself years ago never to keep a slave.
He had always been one to speak out against slavery and he would make himself a hypocrite if he took one for himself.
“Is a house slave the only option?
Surely, she could be utilized in some other way.”

“Not really, and even if we thought of another way, it wouldn’t work out.
There are far too few
females and most of our kind cannot live as monks.
Y
ou need to prepare her for this.
Initiate her
gently
to the duties of servitude.
In two days, we will meet again and determine who will be her master.”
Ninian handed Drest a slave collar.
“It is your duty to place this around her neck.
She will remain in your custody until her fate is decided.
You must teach her the duties of a house slave and stress to her the importance of obedience.”

“How should I do this?
I know little of keeping slaves.”