A War Dawning Ch. 06

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House Jaye races to save the world from the tyrant Mareth.
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Part 8 of the 9 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 05/16/2017
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When Ariz heard from Dennet, it was a most pleasant surprise. He'd made use of the merchant's services often over the past decade and he'd always come through in spectacular fashion, providing anything from rare wines to finely crafted jewelry, and anything in between. Dennet had an uncanny ability to anticipate the man's needs. There would occasionally be the pleasant surprise of a rare wine or a particular piece of art or jewelry delivered to him that he didn't know he wanted until he saw them. Some of them even came as gifts. Dennet said he liked to show appreciation to his customers, but Ariz also knew that such gifts served to advertise what he could acquire for them and encouraged a deeper relationship.

He was an excellent source of information as well. Ariz could take whispers to the merchant and have them verified or not in very short order, which made him a substantial fortune and solidified his position to the extent that he could be as much a part of the city as he wanted to be, which was not much. He would rather be home immersing himself in his various interests, and he could hardly study the things that truly moved him if he were hosting dinner parties weekly.

Even if there were people in Court that shared them, they likely knew nothing by comparison and they'd bore him more than anything else. He'd studied things the world told him were forbidden almost since he could read and he knew he had few matches in the world. All the hobbyists could do is make him feel superior and, since he already knew he was, there was no point.

As a red-blooded male he had needs, but even those needs couldn't be satisfied by the mundane. Any man could just roll onto a woman, rut, then roll away. That physical act was the barest hint of what it could be. There were layers upon layers of dominance and submission in each moment. It could be a battle that took the form of a hungry kiss, to a bite to mark your lover, to simply finding oneself on top.

A touch? A tongue? A cock? A pussy? Of course they gave pleasure, but they all did so in ways the body anticipated. It was in all the ways that a body could find pleasure that it didn't anticipate that Ariz found his own pleasure. To mix pleasure and pain was a heady mix indeed and beyond most to truly grasp much less enjoy. To hear that shock on her voice as her body touched something it never thought possible was as much thrill for him as her. It was almost better than burying himself into to the hilt.

Almost.

But when she was so high from the mix that she could barely speak to do anything more than accept that he controlled her body and mind in ways no one ever had before. When she admitted she was his before that surrender turned her into little more than an animal, that made it perfect. Dennet helped him find the type of women he sought for his pleasures.

Dennet didn't traffic in slaves and Ariz wouldn't have wanted them anyway. They were ruined people and it wasn't about ruining them; it was about opening their eyes and proving he could. It was in that way he proved his control. That wasn't to say that he didn't have particular desires when it came to his women. He liked them beautiful when he could find them so, but that wasn't nearly so important as coming to him needy and already in a submissive position. He liked them coming to him reluctantly, or even with shame. They gave in, submitted their bodies to him, and he took control. And once he awakened them, some came back for more and more and more.

But he always sought out fresh blood. So when Dennet sent a message that afternoon that he found a lovely someone in need that might suit his, he thrilled at the chance to meet her. Making his way to a small tavern near the center of town he entered to find it clean and tidy of course. There were few places in Idros that fit what the rest of the world saw as a bar. The décor was modern, the floor a light wood with the bar dark and lacquered so that it matched the chairs, with the tables alternating between matching the light of the floor and dark of the bar.

It was sparsely populated, but, judging by the description Dennet gave he could have picked her from a crowded room. In one of the far booths finishing her drink was a young woman with hair the color of fresh snow. As he maneuvered the tables and closed in, he appraised her more fully. In her military leathers and the way they hugged her waist, her figure was even more alluring, and the thigh displayed from uniform to boot invited the eye to roam.

He stood before the table and smiled charmingly at the waif before him. Those eyes. That skin. She looked ethereal. And the fact that a creature like this could be so in need as to be willing to surrender himself set his blood rushing through his veins. "You must be Elan."

She looked up at him. His height towered above her, but his frame was slight with a thin goatee and mustache as dark as his hair "I must be," she said nervously before realizing how her tone might have presented itself. "I am. You're Mister Ariz?"

"Antin Ariz, yes. May I join you?"

She gestured to the other side of the table. "Please."

He slid in and looked to her now empty glass. "Would you like another?"

"No, thank you." She looked at the empty glass and pushed it to the side slightly. "I don't drink, really. I'm not sure why I started now."

He looked to the empty glass with a smile at the memories. "I think we've all used alcohol to deaden nerves now and then." He opted to change topics, "Is this your first time in Idros?"

"I've passed through now and again as part of my service."

"I hope it's always been a pleasant experience."

She pondered it. "I would say so."

"Good," he said honestly, "I know that the city is not for everyone." He just watched for a moment the way the candlelight from the center of the table danced in her eyes. "It seems we have a mutual friend in Dennet."

She gave a quick nod before studying her hands at her lap intently. Her mind there, open, bereft of anything but the ability to follow the commands of she who was now its puppet master in a literal sense. "We do. He said that you have been known to...help people in need?"

She shied away, sliding slightly further down her seat and closer to the wall as the barmaid appeared. He didn't seem annoyed by the interruption, telling her that he would let her know if they needed anything. After she had gone he picked up where they had left off, "I've been known to help women who find themselves in financial straits. What puts a young woman like you in such need?"

Elan closed her eyes, "Not me specifically." She forced the next words out. "My mother. She...likes...liked to gamble." She looked back at him, seeming to look for strength. The words flew from her lips in an attempt to save the image of a vice-ridden mother that only existed as vice-ridden woman because Ariz needed her to. Elan's empty mind took those seeds and created an entire history around them. If he tried to touch her mind, he would find the truth of it because that is all that would be there.

"She liked to gamble. It started out so..nothing at first. In a few years she was selling our belongings...heirlooms that had been in the family for generations. We were finally able to stop her, or at least convince her to stop herself. It took a lot of what we had left to us to pay the debts and we did."

He seemed sincere in his sympathy. "I can imagine. It's not an uncommon theme." Indeed many women had grovelled before him in submission to cover debts, though they were usually of their own making.

"A...umm...creditor has appeared and demands payment. He's willing to settle for less provided he can be paid quickly, but she...we can't otherwise pay quickly, so..."

Her squirming and her weakness aroused his hunger to use her, even if he did respect the why of her presence. Outwardly though, he simply finished her thoughts with understanding. "So you are willing to help her. You are either very dutiful to your family or you love her very much."

"I love her," Elan answered, clearing her throat to push back tears. "She has rebuilt her life and reclaimed her honor. She doesn't deserve this now. If I can help her, I must."

Ariz was left feeling slightly intoxicated. "I can certainly help. How much did our friend explain to you?"

"Just what you'd pay and while your tastes might be...eccentric, I don't have anything to fear from you."

He reached his hand across the table and she gave hers back. He liked the strength in it. He would enjoy using it...taming it. "You don't. Eccentric is a fair enough word. Our time together might leave you with a blemish or two, but nothing that will not fade and, by morning, you will have the money your mother needs. Do you agree?"

She nodded quickly.

His voice took on a tone that commanded even though it did not carry. "You will obey me tonight as if I were your king."

"I will obey you."

That it came unbidden even though with reluctance hardened him. "Tonight you surrender to me and I will use you any way I please. Answer your master."

Her pale skin seemed to grow even more so. She struggled with the words and the shame that went with them. "Yes, Master." She looked around the tavern fearful that others had heard.

Such a skittish little thing. She will be a joy. After you answer me now, you will gather your cloak and come with me to my home, not speaking again until I ask something of you. Is that understood, soldier of Erette?"

"Yes, Master."

"I will settle the bill. Follow me."

He stood, she did as he had commanded, and out of the tavern they went.

***

She said nothing as she settled into the plush seat of the carriage and he told her, "Lean forward," as they were underway. She said nothing as she obeyed before the leather of the collar was wrapped around her neck. It was smooth and just tight enough to dimple the skin. It felt like being caught in the talon of some creature looking to toy with its prey, which was not entirely inaccurate Elan's mind supposed. It was surreal to see herself as merely a passenger in her own body as though it were literally another person. Even physical feeling had a distance to it as though sensation had to take time to reach her.

She said nothing as the leash clipped the loop and he wrapped that supple leather around his hands twice and eyed her. She tapped her fingers quietly on her knee to dispel nervous energy as they left the city, but was otherwise calm, which he enjoyed. She was more open than many. "I believe that you will enjoy yourself." She looked at him, but did not respond, which pleased him. It was an honest statement, but also a bit of a trick. He should have known better though, he chided himself with some amusement. None of the soldiers he'd ever played with this way ever fell for it. He instead chose another path to arouse himself. "How did you come to know of your latest family difficulty? Did your mother come to you in shame?"

Elan's mind picked up on the subtle cue of excitement in his voice at the last. Using those new seeds, her mind nourished them. She nodded, her eyes distant and the tapping on her knee turning into a clenched fist. "She didn't want me to know and I wouldn't had I not seen the man leave our home. He just, looked like the type, you know? She was still shaken and it didn't take much pushing to get her to tell me. Not even father knows. No one will know."

"Does she know?"

Elan shook her head, that white hair moving gently with her. "I will lie to her and tell her that I arranged loans through friends and can pay them back as I am able. She will never know what," she choked on the next words, "how I will have debased myself for her sake."

Oh my, yes. he imagined her mother's fear and shame and the desperation that drove her to Dennet, willing to submit to anything to help her family. Outwardly, he gave the leash a small tug to vent his own nervous energy, "I suspect we will both enjoy ourselves and perhaps that troubles you most." When she looked at him puzzled, he continued. "To do things you find shameful is one thing, to do things you find shameful only to have them drive you to new heights of ecstasy is another. That is but another level of defilement. Spread your legs."

As that which was her floated in ether she sent commands and her body obeyed. Her knees went wide as her head went down to watch his deft fingers slide between her legs and under the leather crotch to the tailored linen beneath. He liked the trepidation in her eyes when he realized it was as he suspected. "You are damp, Elan." He made her watch him put the scent to his tongue to savor. "Yes, we will enjoy ourselves tonight. Stay in that wide stance the rest of the way. I like that."

He didn't speak to her the rest of the way home, so she stayed silent the rest of the way to his estate. His was expansive and, like the rest of the city proper, favored that expanse over height. The walks were as clean as they could be, as though the groundskeepers job was to the snow plum to the walk. The cold registered, but didn't bother Elan as she was led by the leash into the home.

Unlike the meeting Dennet, the servants here looked her over. Him bringing such women was not new and some of them appraised her. Ariz told her, perhaps with the intent to shock her, "If the guest is particularly responsive, I invite the staff to...partake."

He was ahead of her so he did not see her blush at the floor as a male servant threw the bolts to the heavy door ahead of them and opened it as he waited for them to approach. "Your guest this evening is quite lovely, if I may say, Lord."

The response was prideful. "She is at that."

"I assume she will be staying the full night?"

"She will," he said, looking over her shoulder, "won't you?"

Elan knew there was only one response. "Yes, Master."

"I suspect we'll need a hearty breakfast in the morning, and perhaps a poultice or two as I also suspect skin so fair bruises easily."

"Of course, Lord. Do enjoy your evening."

The two made their way down the steps carved from stone into the well-lit room below. By the time they made it halfway, the door had closed with a weight that made the stone quiver and a pulse of air hit her in the back.

Judging by the upper floor, the size of this room doubled that of the living room and then some and looked like an Inquisitor's chamber of old, though this one was well lit with lamps bolted to the stone on all sides and chandeliers made of steel hung in a diamond pattern. Heavy metal chains dangled from the ceiling at various heights suggesting mechanisms to bring them up and down and they were spaced closely enough together that two or more people could be placed almost back to back.

Farther out from that center were a rack, a cross with cherry finish, a restraint chair and a host of other larger devices that all looked well-maintained. Against the walls and between the lamps were cabinets, some opened to display a wide variety of whips, floggers and other tools, all neatly in their place. Some of the cabinets sported drawers which, no doubt held the smaller tools of Ariz' hobby. After leading her to the center of the room, he took the leash from the collar, and, tossing it to the restraint chair, gave his voice the commanding tone of any officer on the field that knew they had absolute authority of those that they surveyed. "Do you have any questions? Now will be the only time you will be allowed to ask."

Elan responded just as crisply as that part of the routine of life was imprinted upon her soul, "No, Master."

"Good. For this night, you are mine and I am paying well for that privilege. As such, I, and only I decide when and if you you have reached your absolute limits. I do not care if you scream or beg. Indeed, I shall not gag you because I quite like the sounds. Attempt to fake them as some sort of theater for my benefit and rest assured I will know and punish you harder for it. You are not my first guest."

His tone came closer to the friendly one he carried in the tavern. "You may also rest assured that I know my responsibility to you. You are not my first guest and I am not a beast. No one has ever left this place dead or maimed and they never will. I will know your limits when I see them and, while I may push them and while I may indeed break you in the sense of what you believe about yourself and what you are capable of enduring, you will leave my care in much the same way you came to it. Do you understand?"

"I do, Master."

"Excellent." He took one step back, his air of command back in full force. "Tell me why you elected to meet me in your lightest armor?"

"Master, Dennet said it would appeal. He said it would advertise my station and that..."

"Yes? You must answer fully and completely in all things."

"He said that you would enjoy the tease."

His face betrayed little, but there was mirth in his eyes. "Perhaps our friend knows me too well. Strip. Pieces in the chair with the leash."

This was also rote and imprinted. Fist she unbuckled the bracers and then the shin guards, tossing them to the chair. Next came the buckles for the tassets, shoulder plates and chest plate. Stripped to her black linens it was a matter of nothing more than pulling the bow free from her upper back and again from her waist. Each piece tossed aside revealed more of his prize, and the more that was revealed, the more he wanted. The armor hid the tone of her muscles and suppleness of her skin. "Legs wide, but otherwise at attention for inspection."

The left and last boot joined it's mate next to the chair with metal cuffs for the wrists and ankles and the soles of her feet touched the cool, smoothed stone. She placed her hands behind her back, fixed her gaze to the wall before her, exploring how the shadows played as Elan waited.

His eyes lingered for a time. Loving the fact that the trimmed mound between her legs was the same white as her hair. Ariz went to one of the cabinets to the left of her and touched a finger to one of the heavier floggers in his possession. The straps were thick and the weight was reassuring. He held it, straps facing downward and fanned out the straps just to hear the little clicks they made when they touched. Each tool here had its effect and its place and its individual charm. This one she would feel through her body and prepare her for the next steps.

He turned quickly to perhaps catch her trying to peek in on his doings even as he put it atop the cabinet. On the one hand he was gratified that she had not moved and that those legs and that heart-shaped ass were exactly where he remembered them, he almost wish they had so he would have had more reason to punish her. Not that he needed any.

Ariz always allowed himself a bit of swagger just now as this was his domain and she had placed herself at his mercies. He eyed her, making careful note of her battle scars; bot their positions and types. There were not many, and they did nothing to mar her beauty. Indeed, like most of the men in Erette, he found them a testament to her endurance. He touched a thin line in the middle of her back. "I would guess that this one is a dagger or some other short blade?"

"Yes, Master. Archers are required to be as skilled with the dagger as the bow."

"Of course. One doesn't have the luxury of killing every enemy from a hundred yards away." As he came around to the front, he saw a jagged one that went several inches from the slope of her right hip towards her belly. He touched it as well. "An animal claw?"

In the seclusion of the crystal she recalled the mass of perverted flesh filling the caves when she believed it would be the last thing she ever saw, but, if her last breath protected her true Master, the price would have been worth it. "From some years ago, Master. The rest of it just missed, but the dewclaw did not."