Rise of House Blothudry Ch. 03

Author's Note: So, I uh, had this finished a month ago. And promptly forgot that I had it done. So here it is, later than intended, but at least it's here? Working on RoHB 4, at 9 pages currently, Blessed 5 is at 6 pages, and I've been messing around with Orc Age 2, though that's only at 4 pages. Put in some applications, so hopefully I'll have a steadier job that lets me write a bit more consistently within a few weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Tags up front: elf, non-human, slavery, blowjob, torture, punishment, magic

Kaio all but shuffled along after Irelk, her Master. Her heart raced with fear and anxiety, both borne of her lack of understanding of Zathauin; Irelk had clearly said some kind of instruction to Nyyra, and the high elf had replied, but Kaio couldn't understand any of it.

She felt as though she was on a rickety bridge over a vast abyss; Nyyra, the generally nice Aulithir woman, was the bridge, due to being a loyal slave of House Blothudry, and effectively the Vaulari's keeper, making her a biased 'friend,' if she could be counted as such. Then there was the enigmatic Irelk, who Kaio knew so little about, but seemed at least marginally better than the other Zathauin she'd encountered. He was the abyss, unknowable and likely dangerous.

And he was someone who kept slaves, as evidenced by the collar around Kaio's neck, and the matching one about the neck of the human girl, Jeanna.

Jeanna, who Kaio kept as close as she could to. The human was another odd one: she seemed relatively at ease with the situation, yet nearly as anxious as Kaio felt at times. She seemed to cooperate willingly with their captors, yet occasionally, Kaio felt as though there was a spark of disgust, of anger, resentment, that burned just below the surface.

The human had also stared at her after the bath, which had felt... Kaio wasn't sure. Nice? Weird? Embarrassing? Exciting?

The Vaulari shivered, partly from the anxiety, and partly to try and shake the unfamiliar feelings off. Then she jumped as a hand brushed hers, taking gentle hold of her fingers. She looked up and saw Jeanna giving her a small smile. "They're going to give us piercings and a tattoo like Nyyra's," she whispered.

Kaio's heart seemed to stop for a moment. Noticing the panic, Jeanna hurried to reassure the elf. "If it's anything like what House Nokhes did to me, it won't hurt too much - the piercings I got were like sharp pinches, then they were gone with the healing magic." She glanced behind the two towards Nyyra, and the Aulithir's tattoo. "Though I'm not certain about the tattoo."

At the mention of the human girl's previous piercings, Kaio looked down towards Jeanna's petite chest, and the golden rings that pierced them. Another chorus of mixed feelings went through the Vaulari. Trepidation. Sympathy. Anxiety. A... thrill? Traitorous thoughts, wondering how it would feel, having such weight in her nipples - Kaio blushed as she briefly remembered multiple sessions of masturbating while stimulating her own nipples, pinching and twisting and rolling them, and the pleasure it gave herself.

Another, even stranger feeling, a weirder thought. Her breasts are rather... cute.

Kaio flushed as she realized what she had just thought to herself. She didn't understand why she'd think that, why she'd look at Jeanna's pierced nipples and wonder what it would be like to play with them, to gently tug at the metal... or to tug less gently. What it would be like to have her nipples pierced and played with in like fashion.

A brief, terrifying thought, as she remembered that Nyyra had another piercing, one much lower. And that Jeanna had said that both of the new slaves would be getting pierced. Another shot of fear. Another thrill of debauched, terrifying excitement as the wondering began anew.

"Are you okay?"

Kaio jumped at the question, asked softly by Jeanna. A hot flush coursed across the Vaulari's face, down her heck, and over her chest, and she felt her ears begin to burn. "Y-Yes!" she stammered back, her voice catching with her embarrassment. The wood elf resolutely kept her gaze away from the human girl, and it landed on Irelk...

Irelk, who she caught turning to look forward from looking towards her... with a ghost of a smile on his lips? Kaio's breath caught. Irelk, her Master, had been looking at her... was that a good thing? A bad thing? That smile, was it just amusement? Sadistic glee? Was he eager to see her suffer during the piercings and tattooing?

The Vaulari didn't have time to wonder for very long, as the group came to a pause outside a small, nondescript door. With a wave of his hand and flick of his index finger, Irelk opened the door and led the way into the room. Within was a room only a little larger than Zehara's study, and had a trio of marble slabs set up as tables; beside each was a smaller table with an assortment of tools. Each of the larger tables had a magic circle engraved on its face, and one end of the room housed a large, darkwood cabinet.

Ushered inside by Nyyra, the Fhardian and Vaulari were directed to sit, then lie down, on one of the tables each. Irelk and Nyyra had a brief exchange, and then the Zathauin noble was standing over Kaio.

The young elf felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest as the man loomed over her; she fought to keep her breathing steady, but each breath shook. Suddenly, Irelk was staring into her eyes. Kaio froze, her eyes going wide. She felt as though he was staring into her soul, like he was searching the very depths of her being for... something.

Then he turned his attention away, towards the table of tools, and the Vaulari softly gasped for a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to recall what expression - if any - had been on her Master's face. Anticipation? Regret? Concern? Excitement?

Did it matter?

There was more talking, and Kaio opened her eyes to watch. Irelk was looking over at Jeanna and Nyyra, and he was talking to the high elven woman. A pause in the conversation as he considered, glancing down at Kaio thoughtfully. Then he shook his head, and more of the harshly beautiful Zathauin language.

The Vaulari jumped as his warm, firm hand suddenly touched her chest. She looked up, wide-eyed at the man, but any further reaction was instantly quelled by the look on his face. It wasn't anything she could name, not specifically; she just knew that it was in her best interest to cooperate. It was as though his gaze was telling her, 'Relax. Don't fight. It'll be fine.'

Kaio took a deep, shaky breath, then squeezed her eyes closed again. Irelk's hand moved, cupping her breast, isolating her nipple. The touch of something small, sharp, cold, and...

Pain. The Vaulari squealed, her body bucking, though she didn't go anywhere with Irelk's hand holding her chest down. It was a piercing, pinching pain through her nipple, hot and cold at the same time...

And then it was gone. Kaio's eyes popped open and she looked down, startled, her eyes focusing briefly on the new golden ring decorating her body, then up as Irelk chuckled softly. He said something aloud, and the Vaulari heard Nyyra giggle from across the room. He looked down at Kaio, an amused smirk on his lips.

He's actually pretty handsome... Kaio thought as he changed his positioning, cupping her other breast. She watched as he maneuvered the needle, and held her breath as he pierced it.

Pain, again, but somehow less than the first, drawing only a high-pitched whine from the wood elf. A second later, a matching golden ring was there.

Suddenly, a loud yelp from Jeanna. Kaio looked over, and saw Nyyra's hands between the human girl's legs. Her eyes went wide as she realized where the Fhardian had just been pierced, then whimpered, looking back towards Irelk, as his hands moved towards the apex of her thighs.

He looked up at her for a moment, his gaze steady, preventing the Vaulari from doing much more than shiver in anxiety. As the Xathauin brought the needle close, Kaio's legs started to close on their own. Irelk paused, giving her a sharp look, almost a glare. Kaio whimpered again, forcing her legs to stay apart as she watched with morbid fascination as her Master prepared to pierce her clit.

Pain, so much pain. Much more than her nipples. Kaio tried to buck, to squirm away, but Irelk held her still, his grip even stronger than before. A moment later, the pain swiftly faded, leaving nothing more than a phantom behind. Irelk's grip loosened, though his hand still rested warmly on her waist. The Vaulari shivered when her Master's fingers gently caressed her, just an inch above her new piercing.

His touch, so intimate, felt... good? The Zathauin and Nyyra had another exchange, a hint of humor in their voices towards the end. Kaio watched in trepidation as Irelk picked up a small pot, stirred its contents with something, then revealed it to be some kind of paint or paste, which he was stirring with a thin brush.

She shivered as Irelk gently, carefully applied the paint over her womb, his attention keen as he made only six lines on her belly over the course of nearly two minutes. A tingling sensation trailed after the brush, or was it a prickle?

Kaio was surprised when, once he finished with the brush, Irelk set aside the pot and took out another small needle, which he used to prick his own finger. He then squeezed out a drop of blood, and let it drip onto the still-wet paint.

Something indescribable burst across the Vaulari's consciousness. It was pain, but pleasure. Hot, but cold. Gentle, but harsh. It was every color imaginable, but no color. Every sound, but silent.

The return to normal was jarring, and even more so when Kaio realized that her Master wasn't standing over her again. And, oddly, the paint had dried. Looking around, she saw him by Jeanna, squeezing another drop of blood out and onto the human girl's new marking. The other slave tensed, a small sound escaping her throat before the muscles of her voice seized up. And then, only a second later, the human went limp.

Irelk glanced between the two slaves, then spoke a single word, "She'ah." A burning sensation bloomed on Kaio's belly, not quite pain, but growing. She nearly panicked before realizing that Jeanna had gotten up from her table, and was kneeling on the floor at Irelk's feet, her knees wide apart and her arms clasped behind her arched back, chin up and eyes down. Irelk was looking towards Kaio, and the Vaulari slave quickly realized what the word meant.

Scrambling, she got off her table and quickly joined Jeanna on the floor before Irelk, not even pausing when she felt the weight of something swinging from her clit piercing. She knelt before her Master. The Vaulari knew she didn't have it right, not quite, but she quickly realized that her Master didn't seem to mind too much, when he said, "Ven."

Twin aroused, pleasured moans burst from Jeanna and Kaio's mouths as their 'tattoos' flared, a faint, violet glow reaching their peripheral vision as pleasure coursed through their bodies. Then, not even a second later, it was gone. "Kos," Irelk said, and Kaio followed Jeanna up to stand, though her tattoo didn't burn. "She'ah." The two slaves knelt together, and were rewarded with, "Ven."

"Kos." They stood. "Ad'ge." Irelk turned and strode from the room, and the two slaves followed him out, Nyyra once again bringing up the rear.

They trekked through the mansion for several minutes on their way to whatever their destination was. The only noteworthy occurrence during the trip was when their little group passed a pair of Zathauin girls in odd clothes - at least, odd to Kaio's eyes. Cloth covered most of the girls' bodies, leaving only their heads, hands, and feet uncovered. But aside from a tight, vest-like piece covering their breasts and two wide panels that hung to mid-calf at the front and back of their waists, the rest of the cloth was sheer, revealing more skin than was hidden from sight. Their outfits were nice, not as elegant - or revealing - as Zehara's, but not the scant, erotic costumes that Kaio recalled many of the slaves at the party from earlier had been wearing. Aside from the vest and panels, their clothes were made of loose, baggy cloth, usually in two or three overlapping layers of dark blue or purple.

As the six met, Irelk paused, speaking with the two, who bowed and gazed at the floor deferentially. Kaio's Master seemed annoyed, nearly angry with the two, and one of the girls spoke up quickly, a hint of panic in her voice. After a long, tense moment of Irelk staring down the other girl, he scoffed, then stepped aside somewhat. He spoke a quick string of terse Zathauin to Nyyra, then stalked off, leaving the five women alone.

Kaio looked up at the Aulithir, hoping for an explanation. "Follow," the high elf said, "Seigycha and Aenyois will take you to fed, then to..." she thought for a moment, then sighed in annoyance, muttering something in Zathauin. "...to sleep room. After, we go serve Master."

One of the Zathauin girls - who had been speaking to Irelk, a pale, blue-haired and grey-eyed girl, with a very slender build, even for a Zathauin - looked up at Nyyra, and spoke briefly. The Aulithir smiled, then nodded as she replied. Then the girl looked at Kaio and Jeanna and spoke in Fhardian that was only somewhat accented by her dark elven tongue, "Miss Nyyra has given me leave to translate between the two of you and her. I am Aenyois, a serf of Lord Irelk. This is Seigycha, also a serf of My Lord. As Miss Nyyra said, we shall take you to be fed, show you where you shall be quartered when not serving Lord Irelk, and afterwards, Miss Nyyra shall take you to serve him." She glanced at Nyyra, then back to the other two slaves and asked, "Any questions?"

"Um," Kaio hesitated. "Why... Master Irelk seemed... upset?"

Aenyois opened her mouth to reply, then paused, and looked at Seigycha out of the corner of her eye. The other serf glared off to the side, giving a, "Hmph!" of annoyance. And possibly arrogance. Aenyois turned back towards Kaio and Jeanna. "We were to see you fed - and assist in bathing you - before you were presented to Lord Irelk and his Lady Zehara. Obviously, that didn't happen." She looked at Seigycha again, this time with a small glare.

After a moment, Nyyra spoke softly in Zathauin, and Aenyois schooled her expression, nodded, and beckoned to the slaves. "Come. Food is waiting for you." The pale-skinned elf turned and began to walk down the hall, while Seigycha - who was grey-skinned with black hair and red eyes - stood to the side, and met Kaio's gaze with a hate-filled glare as the Vaulari passed by, following Aenyois. Jeanna walked alongside her fellow slave, and Nyyra trailed behind, Seigycha walking just behind the Aulithir Handmaiden.

The room they eventually came to wasn't much larger than the preparation room, but it was obviously a kitchen - or rather a kitchenette. There were no fancy dishes and nowhere to sit, and the food available was extremely basic - mostly bread, simple fruits and vegetables, and some meat. The two serfs quickly set to work, preparing a small, simple meal of a biscuit, some fist-sized fruit neither slaves were familiar with, and a small chunk of some tough jerky.

Kaio expected the food to be stale, rotten, and unpalatable. And while the biscuit was a little tough, the fruit slightly overripe, and the jerky just too salty, none of it was disgusting to the point of nausea.

"Sweet Aulir!" Jeanna blurted through a mouthful. "So much better than the gruel at House Nokhes!"

Kaio looked over at the human, taking smaller, tentative bites of her meal. Jeanna's eyes were wide with glee, and she was trying to grin while chewing far too much food at once. "Whatever they gave us, I'm pretty sure it was some kind of paste made from nuts and bugs or something."

The Vaulari wrinkled her nose. A soft snort behind the two slaves caused them to turn and see that Seigycha was covering a giggle while Aenyois glared at her. Nyyra wore a neutral expression, though her eyes flashed with dislike and confusion as she looked at the giggling Zathauin.

"Bugs, yes, but slave gruel is made of far worse than nuts," Seigycha said in heavily-accented Fhardian while grinning at the two slaves with condescension. "Skaath balls are a prime ingredient, as are the remains of slaughtered slaves who wore out their use to their owners!"

Kaio blanched, and after a moment of horror, Jeanna gagged, then bent over a rubbish basket and retched. Aenyois snarled at her fellow serf, while Nyyra barked something in Zathauin, cowing Seigycha's glee and making the girl flinch away, her head bowed.

While the Handmaiden rebuked Seigycha, Aenyois looking on, Kaio went over to Jeanna and gently rubbed her bare back, her other hand resting supportively on the human's shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked in soft Fhardian.

Jeanna seemed to shake her head, but the nauseated shivering of her body made it hard to tell. "Please, Aulir," she whispered, "Please tell me I didn't... there couldn't have been..." She gagged again, a whimper in her throat.

After a moment, Kaio gently embraced her fellow slave. "It's okay," she whispered. "It'll be okay. Maybe she's lying, but even if she's telling the truth, it's not your fault. You didn't know."

The human whimpered again. "I hope you're right. Please Aulir, let her be lying."

*****

Irelk sat in his study - which was a downsized replica of his mother's - looking over several stacks of reports, histories, and other documents pertaining to Kly Nocc. Documents his mother - for reasons unknown - had requested he review, with not a word as to what he was supposed to be reviewing them for.

What, in Zathau's own Hell, am I supposed to be doing with these? he wondered. The countless pages he had before him seemed united only by the fact that they related to Kly Nocc, and nothing else. And, given that they stretched back across several centuries, there was far too much for him to even begin to make sense of after the few mere minutes he'd begun to skim through them. At least they're chronologically organized, the Zathauin sighed silently to himself.

A knock at the door drew his attention away from the pages laid on his desk. "Enter," he called. Nyyra opened the door, and ushered in Kaio, Jeanna, Aenyois, and Seigycha. The presence of his two serfs caused Irelk's eyebrow to rise. "I thought I instructed you two to return to your regular duties," he said curtly. Then he noticed the ashen, ill appearance of Jeanna, and the almost haggard expression on Kaio's face. His attention shifted to Nyyra. "What happened?" he asked in a terse, cold voice.

His mother's Handmaiden bowed her head, a strained look on her face. "Seigycha revealed that some of your fellow nobles use the remains of slaves in the gruel for their slaves while these two," she gestured towards Kaio and Jeanna, "were eating."

Irelk's brain took a moment to process what Nyyra said. Then, his gaze slowly shifted to the troublesome serf. "And why," he asked through clenched teeth, "did you decide to do this... and so soon after you failed to follow my instructions not an hour ago?"

Seigycha's face quickly paled to rival Jeanna's. "I...! They...! I didn't..."

"Be silent!" Irelk snapped, only just keeping from shouting, causing his serf to quail away. After a long, tense moment, he forced himself to sit back in his chair, steepling his fingers together. He looked at his other serf with only his eyes. "Return to your duties, Aenyois. And don't lie for Seigycha again - she doesn't deserve your help."

The pale-skinned Zathauin bowed, glancing towards her fellow serf for a moment, before backing out and exiting the room. Irelk then settled his attention back onto Seigycha, his mind turning over how to deal with her latest instance of acting-out. The silence stretched out long enough for the girl to begin shaking as her own mind no doubt ran through all the various punishments he could dole out to her.