Maidens and Drakels Ch. 01

Before he could finish, May hocked a wad of saliva in her mouth, and spat it in his face. The man fell back with a shout, and scrambled a few paces away. For a moment, his eyes blazed with fury. May was sure that he was going to kill her. The abruptly, the passion faded, and he regained his cold, controlled demeanour. He calmly wiped the spit off his cheek, as he stared down at her. "That was disgusting." He said, standing up and dusting off his pants, "I see I have a lot of work to do with you."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Master. Please don't hurt me." May whined, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The man gad turned his back to her, and was reaching for something on the shelf. "Yes, quite a lot of work. First rule. Watch your mouth, or you'll lose your privilege to use it."

May snarled and fought him as he grabbed her by her hair, and forced her head back. He shoved a hard metal ball inside her mouth, and secured it behind her neck. Then with May unable the fight back, the man took a dark black leash from the wall, and waived it tauntingly in front of her face a few times. "Poor little slave. I wasn't going to use one of these, but you leave me no choice." With a grin, he attached the leash to the collar around her neck, and tugged it a few times, testing its strength.

"Ready to go?"

***

Conrad led his new slave into the Jubilee Auditorium's lobby, glancing back occasionally to make sure she was keeping up. It would have been a shame to accidentally hurt her pretty neck by yanking too hard. Her slender arms were tied behind her back, she had a ball gag in her mouth, there was a red collar attached to a leash around her neck, and her legs were chained together in such a way that she could walk, but not run or kick at him. She was too wild not to be restrained, and it was a very attractive sight. Conrad couldn't wait to get home and punish her for spitting on his face earlier.

In Arcadia, an auction was as much a social event as a commercial one. The lobby was the place where the guests at the slave auctioneer met up after the event to schmooze, compare their purchases, and say their farewells. Today there was a great deal of bitterness in the air. In the corner, Conrad could see Marisa Marlgrove shooting daggers with her eyes at Lauchlan Taglight, who was surrounded by a circle of admirers.

Turning to the left, Conrad caught sight of Stoker, who was leading a pretty little red-haired thing on a leash behind him, and looked just about ready to leave. When Stoker caught his friend's gaze, he smiled wide, and ambled over, tugging his slave behind him.

"This is Adriana Robbins." He proudly declared, a cheeky grin on his face, "Isn't she pretty? I bought her while you went to fetch that one," he said, nodding to May, who snarled at him from behind her gag, "I hope the wife'll like her. I we'll give her a new name together."

"I'm sure Maria will." Conrad replied. "If I remember right, she's always been a bit jealous of people with red hair." The girl on the end of the leash whimpered, her eyes big and terrified.

Stoker grinned. "I hope so!" He said, and glanced at the door, "Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving. Once you've grown bored of your new girl, we should go the auctions again some time."

As he left, Conrad glanced back to May, who he noticed was inspecting the end of her leash. "Don't even think about it. The leash is a clever object. There's no easy way to slip if off your neck." He warned her. In response, she only gave him a death glare, and looked away, her eyes sparkling with tears of frustration.

Though he disliked talking when it could be avoided, Conrad's curiosity got the better of him, and when Taglight detached himself from the crowd to refill his wine glass, Conrad pounced.

"Mr Taglight." Conrad said, approaching from the left and proffering his outstretched hand, "If I am not mistaken?" Taglight turned to look at him in surprise.

"Oh, uh," he flushed, momentarily losing his composure, "yes, yes, you're right." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, and then smiled amicably. "Forgive me, I am on little bit of an edge, so to speak." He shook Conrad's hand firmly, looking him straight in the eye. "And do I have the pleasure of speaking to Lord Conrad Faulkner?" He asked.

"You do." Conrad said, with a curt nod. Per tradition, he also motioned to the girl on the leash behind him, "and this is May Sinclair." He added, allowing Taglight a polite view, "my new slave."

Taglight gave May a dutifully admiring glance. She was standing still, and it appeared almost like the girl had given up fighting him, but Conrad suspected she was only biding her time. "Very nice." He praised, his voice warm and open. "A beauty fit for a man of your status!"

"Oh, hardly," Conrad said, brushing away the obligatory compliment with his hand, "She's very pretty. But compared to the girl you brought- well, I suppose she could compete, but she'd never win." He looked around blankly, as if noticing for the first time that Taglight did no have his new slave with him, "But where is your darling girl?" He inquired.

Taglight took another sip of the glass of red wine in his hand. "Sophia's waiting for me in the other room. I'm not sure I'm quite drunk enough to speak to her yet." He gave an awkward laugh.

"I must say, Taglight, I was rather surprised when I heard your bid." Conrad said carefully, trying to be tactful. Why in all the stormy skies would Taglight need to be drunk to speak with his slave?

Taglight smiled ruefully, "You and every man in this room."

That was no help at all. Conrad would need to be more direct. "What possessed you to trade away a Frigate for a slip of a girl like that? That's a hefty price for only a passing fancy." It was a huge understatement. Conrad's voice was slightly colder than before. Most sane men would have gone scurrying for cover by now, but Taglight didn't seem worried. He didn't answer the question right away, instead, turning to face the wall of the lobby decorated with the sigils of various Arcadian noble houses.

"Tell me Lord Faulkner, do you know my family words?" He asked.

It was clear he was making a point Playing along, Conrad shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't."

Taglight raised his arm, and pointed straight ahead of him. Conrad followed it to the Taglight sigil on the wall, a closed fist catching a lightning bolt. There were small words written in cursive underneath. "Never forgive a traitor. Never forget a friend." Taglight recited.

The pieces fell into place. "I see." Conrad said, with a meaningful nod, "and since both you and I well know that the Bishops were no traitors to Leyland, that can only-"

"- I consider that girl my friend, yes." Taglight said, cutting him off before he could finish. Arrogant bastard. One did not simply interrupt a member of the Faulkner family. "I know her from my childhood, and I would hate to see her end up like this one here." He said, nodding to May again.

Conrad decided that he didn't like Taglight one bit.

"Well, aren't you a good man?" He said, coldly. "Where were those heroic ideals of yours when Emperor Pentecost overthrew his sister? I seem to recall that your family rallied behind him rather quickly. Almost treasonably quickly, in fact. Have you forgiven yourselves yet?"

The younger man actually blushed. "I am not my father, Lord Faulkner. I will not condemn his decision, but neither will I condone it. But we have a new Emperor now, and what you speak is close to treason."

"Is it?" Conrad asked, with a thin smile. "Poor boy. When will you learn? The truth is always treason. Isn't that why you shut down that little printing press of your brother's last month?"

Taglight's eyes grew wide in surprise, and he opened his mouth blankly.

"Oh, I hope you don't think that anybody was fooled. Everybody of consequence hat 'terrible unfortunate chemical explosion' you told the journalists about was just a ruse to burn every last copy of that rebel book he was producing."

For a moment, Taglight was frozen. Then, he grinned uncomfortably. "And I here I thought that nobody was the wiser. Always the smartest man in the room, aren't you Faulkner?"

"Oh, you'll get there in a few years Taglight. Until then, you have a lot to learn"

The two men regarded each other in silence. It was Taglight again who broke the silence. "Very well then, Lord Faulkner. Let's speak no more of treason to one another, and be on our separate ways."

"Agreed." Conrad said, "Come along slave." He tugged May's leash. Then just as he realized with horror that while he had been talking with Taglight, she had circled around him and sat down on the floor, he found himself crashing face first into the ground as he slipped over her outstretched legs.

*

*Author's Note: This is my first submission on this website, and also my first foray into non-consensual erotic literature (although I've been an avid reader of both for years). I'm also not a big follower of Steampunk, but I figured I'd experiment with it. I know this story is nothing close to top-quality on the site, but if it generates enough interest, I'll definitely continue it until the end! If not, I'll throw it in the trash heap and start something fresh. I had a little bit of trouble deciding which section to put this in, but I ultimately settled on non-consent over BDSM or fantasy. Though BDSM is going to be prominent in the first few chapters, its presence will gradually wane over time, and I feel the non-consensual theme is going to be much stronger than the fantasy one. If this first chapter was a little boring in some places, please point out how and where so I can edit it! I try to do a good job of telling enough without giving it all away, but I'm not always very good at it. Likewise, if you like a particular bit, let me know what it was, so I can get a sense of how people reading my stories think.*