Sufferance Ch. 04

He'd given me everything I needed to find him again, and it was not time-dependent. The way he spoke, his lips would have been very difficult to read as well. Bravo, young mage. I wanted to smile widely at him but refrained.

I nodded once. "Return to your duties."

He nodded, bowed slightly and obeyed, stepping away as I began my rounds again.

Two marks on a candle passed and nothing else of interest happened until the Priestesses finally entered. They announced at last the most anticipated part of the ball: the demonstration and awarding of the Bred Consorts.

The Valsharess stood slowly then, raising both hands slowly into the air, the shimmering purple and gold fabric of her gown set off well even across the hall from me.

"Let the Consorts return to Me."

I witnessed an ever-so-brief moment of separation anxiety as fifteen beautiful male Drow tentatively took their first step away from their Matron and toward their Queen.

The anxiety wasn't only on the young breeders' side, either. I chuckled softly at some of the Matron's expressions; so determined were they to get him—or if not him, then another—back by the end of the night.

Being able to see all of them all at once was a rare treat, and I had a harder time keeping my vigilance on the Grand Hall rather than simply gazing contentedly at such a display for as long as I could.

Even standing halfway down the Hall, I could see rare features; several pairs of blue eyes like mine, but also green and purple and even pink. One had birth-given golden hair—and he was far too young to have earned it with age—and another had bluish-white hair like some of the cave luminescence I'd seen in the wilderness. There were several unusual but always graceful shapes for their eyes, nose, lips, and ears; and one could see most of those traits shared among the Noble Houses. My own eyes were from a couple generations back, when Thalluen had had a Consort for a time.

The Consorts were mostly of the same height; their heads reaching no higher than an average Matron's ear. All of them had healthy and trim bodies, and their endowments could be nothing less than satisfying. I could make the very educated guess that they were bred to be somewhat larger in girth or length beneath their small clothes than their overall size would indicate.

As the Consorts all returned to the platform with the Valsharess, I picked out the one I almost thought of as "mine," but more accurately the one that I had poached for a very brief moment. I was plainly curious to whom he would go next. He actually did not have any of the exotic colors to his hair or eyes, but his features were perfectly balanced and he moved with grace. Perhaps if he'd had some odd coloring to him I might've known to stay away from him...

...but probably not.

The decisions on who would be favored was already decided as far as I knew; what happened here tonight were the "signs" from Lolth saying which Consort to gift the deserving. I'd always been so skeptical of this part; generally I thought the Priestesses just want to see the Nobles try to seduce a particular Consort in public.

Perhaps a step beyond that was also give the poor, religious slave a last-minute possibility to avoid serving a particular Mistress. All he had to do was make his dick go limp when she touched him. A clear Sign from Lolth that the pairing would not be a fertile one, yes?

I pulled my eyes from the spectacle to again sweep and move through the crowds, who now did not notice me quite as much. It would be a repetitive but titillating ritual and I was sorry I couldn't watch the whole thing. Such fond memories of the previous two.

Each Consort would be presented to at least three members from three different Houses. The Nobles would touch him, maybe talk to him, and wait for the sign which of them was chosen by Lolth to claim him—then the chosen one would mount him right there so we could all see he still had value as a Consort. The ritual required a seeded sex to be presented afterward, one of the few times Nobles showed their privileged twats to public eyes in something less than a perfect state of grooming.

It reminded me of a story somehow. All it lacked was a small trophy and three jealous and vain Gods.

It was possible for me to become bored keeping guard while everyone placed their plots on hold until after the show. I could smell the rise in excitement and heat around me. Alas, my cunt may be aching for want of cock much worse after this, worse than I had been after I'd finished claiming Gaelan's bound body—

Speaking of whom...

Gaelan appeared in my line of sight; she was standing just behind a purple banner that nearly touched the floor, and gestured so briefly that I almost missed it:

*Out of sight here.*

Hm? Oh yes, I'd forgotten...

I slipped past the distracted clusters of Drow, climbed a few polished steps and slipped behind the banner as well to meet my Sister. We were farther back and deeper in shadow now, out of the chandelier light and in the outer walkway that ringed the Grand Hall.

Gaelan didn't speak but continued with the more common Drow sign language. There existed gestures unique in meaning to the Red Sisters but I was still learning them so she slowed down a bit.

*Prowling is discouraged here. Priestesses say it interrupts magic flow.*

I nodded and signed back, *Yes, the Elder said. I forgot.*

Gaelan smirked. *Distracted by the wizard or the Consort?*

I smiled fully and answered without shame: *The Consort.*

If they were going to tease me about it regularly, I could always think they were just a little jealous that I'd touched one very intimately, everywhere, and that I'd even had one of those prizes up inside me for a few seconds.

Gaelan's stomach moved in silent laughter before she leaned by the banner to look out again. She was still for a time and then gestured, *There. I recognize him.*

A pause.

*Still beautiful.*

I heartily agreed.

He was the third to be brought up on the altar, and my Sister and I watched both the crowd and the altar from where we stood. Breathing all around was heavy and the air very warm; a few subtle couplings were already going on. By the time the rituals ended, most would have found a way to release. Then they'd start over.

Most. Not the Red Sisters, I was guessing. Maybe only later, when the Feldeus came out. Although personally, I wished I could grab Callitro for just a little while before returning to the cloister... Or perhaps if someone did something stupid and was made a public example, I knew we would take out every stroke of their sexual frustration on the one being punished.

My Consort lay down obediently, his white, flowing hair draping off the altar rather like mine had done during my final trial. The Valsharess began at his toes and ankles like she did the two previous, testing his muscles and movement, aged fingers grazing over perfect skin. She cupped his "pouch and wand," massaged it, and moved further up until she'd touched arms to fingers to face, and combed her hands through his hair. Somehow he kept his expression quite impassive through it; I couldn't read anything, whether he enjoyed it, disliked it, or was sincerely neutral.

*Experienced, that one,* Gaelan commented. *Perfect control.*

I raised one brow at that. I clearly remembered him drawing a weapon on me, defying me, glaring at me, trying to explain the mistake I was about to make before I stuffed that turnip in his mouth. He would have kept fighting me...and yet his member became stiff for me when I penetrated him; I recalled his moan of both arousal and despair. He would have cum for me, too, given enough time. I doubted he'd been acting at any moment of our encounter.

He had genuine emotions and responses, but in thinking about it now, even Gaelan probably hadn't seen much of it. He showed only obedience and fear when she showed up in her red uniform. I'd had only said that I'd attacked him, forced him, had not been in my right mind. Few details were known about the words and looks exchanged between us, though.

How often did the elite females really get to see the Consorts' responses? Or did they even care? I myself didn't care for limp fishes, such as his uninteresting behavior now. As Gaelan had said, he was acting.

"Unsoiled perfection," the Valsharess announced, and another Priestess stepped up to take over.

I shouldn't have been surprised that it was Wilsirathon, and that she called forth Houses Walulis, Qevren, and... Itlaun. It also wasn't a good thing that I felt a hot dislike for Curgia all of a sudden, and hoped she wouldn't get "my" Consort...

I took a slow breath out. No. That feeling had to go away. It was the old me. It didn't matter except when D'Shea or Rausery or the Red Sister Prime said it did.

Still, I watched Curgia gesture to another who had to be her younger sister, whisper harshly and nudge her forward. The younger sister was prettier than Curgia, but clearly inexperienced in the ways of Court; she did not know exactly what to do. The last-minute switch on House Itlaun's part was apparent and more than one head tilted curiously.

I forgot to keep sweeping the crowds as I focused on Wilsirathon, Curgia's sister, and my Consort. I suppose I justified it in that D'Shea would want to know about this especially; it tied in directly to a recent report of Jaunda's, and she wasn't here to witness.

Wiilsirathon began to chant and invited the three Drow to touch the Consort; her smile when she looked at Curgia and back at the sister told me that Curgia's House would definitely get him. At least the suspense was over with that spoiler and I could observe the interaction itself.

The contrast among the invited was apparent; the other two Nobles touched with entitlement and less reverence, their exploration heavy-handed as if perhaps he was not their first choice anyway. My Consort apparently didn't like that. He subtly shrank from them, and his member did not grow for them. The younger Itlaun sister, however, was in plain awe, her mouth slightly open as she gazed on his face. As she barely touched his fine jaw and the edge of his ear with the soft tips of her fingers, I saw a small shift in his sex. He was half-erect within another few seconds.

Wilsirathon nodded once and gestured for the other two to step back. "Lolth has spoken!"

*My ass,* I thought. What, had she bribed the other two to act the boorish twits so the clueless, enamored one would be the obvious preference to pair with him for the public enjoyment?

"Tulia of House Itlaun, will you accept the care and devotion of this gifted Consort for one decade? Will you breed him with your family line in the name of our Valsharess and the beauty of our race?"

Curgia's sister dragged her gaze from my Consort and blinked at Wilsirathon before it dawned on her that she'd somehow been awarded his service. She glanced at Curgia once then nodded vigorously.

"Yes...yes, Priestess! We p-pledge to care and honor him while he is in our keeping for—for one decade from tonight, my Priestess!" She made a bow to her and to the Valsharess. "Our eternal thanks and gratitude, in the name of Lolth."

"Then let the Court witness the bonding of him with House Itlaun."

I looked at Curgia as my Consort took a deep breath and touched himself briefly. Her jaw was tight and she was probably gritting her teeth; she was trying not to look at Wilsirathon. At the same time, she nodded encouragement when Tulia hesitantly began to remove her dress in front of the crowd.

I reflected that I had not been particularly modest about being watched growing up; my childhood had made it pointless. Tulia, however, seemed to have been brought up another way, and perhaps even I would have quavered a little at an entire Hall, hundreds of eyes, all focused on me and waiting for me to mount a coveted cock.

I knew Curgia wished this was her, but she did a good job hiding it. It made two of us when Gaelan looked curiously over at me. I smiled, shrugged, and gestured, *Aren't they cute?*

Tulia had a lithe, dancer's form, and was probably barely old enough to be at Court. Side-by-side I could tell my Consort was a bit older than her, and clearly had the experience between them. He was already rigid for her as she climbed up onto the altar to straddle him; he waited until her hands smoothed over his shoulders before he reached to touch her haunches.

With his guidance, she slowly eased his pole into her; she was trying not to look at the audience. My Consort thrust up encouragingly, reaching one hand at a slightly awkward angle to massage her clitoris and nodding as if to say, "the sooner we cum, the sooner they'll stop looking at us."

Such a lucky Second-born...and she had no idea how this had happened, how this had been arranged... A clear pawn, but one that a lot of Drow would have gladly swapped places with right then, including me.

Tulia eventually got into it, closing her eyes and bouncing up and down on her blessed gift, grinding, squeezing her breasts with both hands and pinching the dark purple nipples. Her moans were breathy and it wasn't clear to me how close she was until she suddenly stopped and hunched over her partner, making such an amusing, grunting squawk that it had to be genuine. There were more than a few chuckles in the front rows.

My Consort smiled, however, and braced himself against the altar to thrust up harder as Tulia was coming down. The laughter in the crowd disappeared entirely when he orgasmed; they were captivated by the way he tensed and threw his head back, his hair waving, and by the raw, enchanting cry that escaped his lips as he gave Tulia his seed.

There was a quiet beat before most of the audience breathed out and I could immediately tell which couples had continued their standing fuck after the pause as several calls and encouraging hoots rose up.

"Show Us," the Valsharess commanded, her voice the perfect pitch of anticipation for the rest of us.

Tulia swallowed and made as if to climb off the altar, but Wilsirathon held up her hand immediately. "No. Present on the altar over him."

The young Itlaun nodded immediately, mumbling an apology as she recollected the next part of the ritual the crowd had seen twice before. She stood up with her ankles against his ribs and bent over at the waist, her hair falling to brush the Consort's face as her hands reached back to part the cheeks of her backside, presenting her soggy sex to the Priestess' and the Valsharess's full view.

I couldn't see detail from where I was, but I watched Wilsirathon reach to touch the wetness between Tulia's legs. The Nobles almost always flinched when that happened and she was no exception. The elder Drow ritually glided her finger across her tongue with a grand nod.

"May House Itlaun be fruitful with genuine, bred seed, as evidence of Lolth's favor. Know that if you spurn Her Graces or those of our Valsharess, this award may be retracted."

I didn't miss the glance the Priestess shared with Curgia when she said that, but it was her younger sister who responded with the next line of acceptance and promise.

"He is yours."

Tulia quickly donned her dress as her gift sat up and she took his hand, pulling him with her naked and to make room for the next. Her older sister breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded. They shared only a few words before retreating somewhere out of sight of me but no doubt still within the Grand Hall. It would be poor manners to leave before the end, and probably fairly stupid as well. There was so much more to see.

Yes. More to see, I reflected...such as which Houses were being favored by which Priestess, which ones the Valsharess seemed suspicious of, which Consorts betrayed any emotion whatsoever on the altar.

I became aware that, even though I was indeed aroused and still wished I could do something about it, watching the Nobles have sex with the Consorts now that "my" Consort had left just wasn't as.... potent now as it had been the first time I'd seen it. They were indeed repetitive and...mechanical? It did seem the average Noble lacked the imagination or even nearly the passion or appetite of a Red Sister. And the beautiful toys were mostly in full control of their emotions, their acting was perfect, which was somehow suddenly... frustrating, when I knew a much more real reaction could be forced from at least one of them.

To my surprise, I had to admit I was getting bored again as the seventh House sat her twat upon the seventh Consort. I started thinking about the wizards again.

My invisible wizard, specifically. One that the willing and eager Callitro possibly could help me to find. His rage and bitterness were real, unmasked and bold, not covered and suppressed like the Consort's. What would it be like to bed him, with myself as the top, whether he liked it or not? Preferably "not." What magic would he use in his defense, I wondered?

Ahhh—there was the spark, the surge of heat to my gut. The challenge, the intensity, the honest, raw emotion... That was how I wanted it. The Sisters had proved to me that I could take it as well as serve it, and where once I failed, I could always try again.

I simply waited for the worship ball to end at that point. Even the two new virgins being presented to Noble society, with their nervousness and wide-eyed gazes at the Valsharess were of no interest to me anymore.

******

Gaelan and I soon split up again to watch the outer area of the Grand Hall per our schedule. The outer halls were mostly empty, with a few trysts occurring in small side rooms nearer to the festivities. The orgy had commenced in large part on the main floor of the Hall and, interesting to me, my Sister seemed no more entranced by it than I was.

Besides, we still had our duty.

I'd reached the far end of my patrol and was about to turn back when a soft, directionless hiss caught my ear. I turned slowly around in place, eyes piercing the dark shadows until I spotted the faint, camouflaged outline within. The next moment the void filled with strong life energy and the large body was fully visible to me even without any light. I knew exactly who it was.

Kerse.

Would D'Shea be surprised to hear that the Draegloth possessed cloaking magic? Probably not. She had also instructed me to avoid him; following her orders now meant that I walk away right now without interacting with him.

But Wilsirathon was otherwise engaged, and her son was wandering around on his own? Was this normal? Except even if not, what would I do? And was this only a lucky coincidence? It was not a good thing that he may have sought me out. Without his Mother to control him, what—

In a flash I recalled Qivni giving him an order in the candlelit room where we'd fucked. He had obeyed at the time, if grudgingly. Perhaps she could send him on his way now, and I would not risk Wilsirathon's attention on me this soon.

I had to call my Collector. We'd see if she answered.

I reached for one of the message pellets in my third pouch, but at the movement Kerse crouched lower, his yellow eyes narrowing, and he opened his mouth wider in another hiss. He looked prepared to charge.

I held up my other hand straight out, palm forward. "Whoa. Stay."

"Nossspiderss," he demanded, muscles at his shoulders bunging in tension.

I was briefly confused but said, "No spiders, Kerse. Just this." I pulled out the pellet, holding it between my thumb and middle finger. "See? Harmless."

He sniffed in my direction suspiciously and barked shortly in alarm when I squeezed the pellet, breaking it and releasing a tiny spark of magic. At the same time, I whispered, "Qivni, aid me. Fourth side away from the altar."

The magic swallowed up the words and took them away to the chosen set of ears. Kerse wouldn't know what I'd said, if he knew I'd anything; certainly not with him barking like that.