Tannik Veko and Yana

The rain fell in a steady heavy downpour across the countryside as Tannik Veko watched the Elvengreens walking into the glen for secret religious worship. They were worshiping against the law and his will but his reasons for watching them weren't to entrap these few dissidents.

The Emperor watched as Yana entered the glade. Looking all around her to ensure she wasn't being watched and followed, Yana continued her walk through the trees to meet with the rest of the people for their underground religious meeting. She failed to notice him in the hollow of the tree as she passed by; her scent gently floating on the air, assailing his senses.

He didn't remember her from the slave ships he had loaded with her people in the lands he conquered. Tannik Veko still shook his head when he thought of how he missed such a beautiful woman among the throngs of slaves he brought back to his empire.

'Everything must happen for a reason' he thought to himself.

If he had seen her during the loading of slaves, he might have just taken her in his lust like he did so many other women in Nihma. Instead of getting the chance to know her as he did, Tannik Veko might have just thrown her to one of his guards as a plaything until she cracked or died from their attention. He listened as she playfully chided the stragglers of the group to hurry to what they thought was a secret worship area away from prying eyes and soldiers swords.

The beautiful green dress she wore took his breath away as he watched it catch the wind and curve around her shapely legs. A sudden breeze blew it up enough for him to catch sight of the legs he felt around his waist every night they made love. He watched as she tried to force her dress down against the air currents, laughing out loud at the force of the elements.

Tannik Veko watched her movements with an eager eye. He wanted to run to her at that moment to wrap his arms around her waist as he always did before carrying her back to their bedroom to remind her again of their first time together. Picturing the smile on her face after each bout of sexual pleasure, he eagerly anticipated their meeting tonight.

He would even confront her about her 'underground' religious practices, but not before they made love a few times. Not before she was too exhausted from his exertions to run from him in fear. He would give her a good scare before sanctioning her group. Yana should know better than to try keeping secrets from him. Tannik Veko smiled as he thought about the coming night and quickly seized his attention back to her and the groups' religious circle.

All the people in the group joined in a circle and held hands as they prayed for the prosperity of the land; it's people and its ruler. He saw Yana's lips curl into a brief smile at the mention of his name and knew what thoughts were passing through her mind.

Tannik Veko listened to the meeting with half an ear. Finding it harmless to his rule, he went back to his thoughts of their past. He had been infatuated by her ever since he saw her for the first time. It was a year to the day when he was walking with his royal guard to the Judiciary house when the small slave woman inadvertently ran across his path in a hurry to catch the young noble boy she was caretaker for.

"Malkek, slow down!" She yelled out before his guard seized her for her unintended violation of the law.

No one was allowed to pass his path when he walked the streets. To do so was punishable by death unless he spared the offender.

At first, he was going to order her death but thought twice when he saw the fire of defiance burning brightly in her eyes. She kicked at her captor without looking to see whom it was holding her. Tannik Veko was awed when she was brought before him for his decision on whether she would lose her life.

"My lord, please don't kill my caretaker." Malkek sobbed on seeing what his playful chase had caused. "She's newly arrived from the slave market; she doesn't know much about our laws yet sir. It was my fault for her crossing your holy path, please spare her!"

The emperor looked down to see the young boy at his feet, tears streaming from his eyes as he begged for the life of the slave woman. Tannik Veko saw no reason to disappoint the child. He did want to know the name of this vibrant creature trying to bite the guard that held her.

"Malkek is your name, right? What is the name of your slave?" He asked as he took his appraisal of the woman.

His approval of this woman's physical appearance rose more and more as he looked at her. He did his best to fight his growing arousal as he noticed how tightly her clothes fit her. The style of her clothing told that she was from the Nihma lands, his most recently conquered empire and she was every bit the beauty of the lands she came from.

Her short dark hair denoted that she was of the warrior clan. He marveled at how beautifully her dark brown skin contrasted with the almost blinding white of her teeth and eyes. Her body was trim but ample even for her small stature, there was no mistaking her for anything but the woman she obviously was.

"The name we gave her is Jalwa but she refuses to answer to it, sir," he replied.

At the sound of the offensive name, the woman growled and glared slightly at the boy, causing him to jump in fright.

"She does answer to her own name though sir. So for right now, my family is calling her by that name." He added with a bit of a tremor in his voice.

Whatever the official relationship between the two as Master and Slave, Tannik Veko saw that it went out the window when it came to this woman. She didn't appear to take any misbehaving from the child as opposed to most slaves from other lands who let the children of Freeborn houses walk all over them.

"Well-?" The emperor started impatiently.

The boy looked at him with a blank look on his face, not realizing that the emperor still wanted to know her name.

"Oh right, I apologize sir. Her name before we bought her was Yana." Said Malkek dutifully.

Tannik Veko watched as the woman smiled a bit at the sound of her name. He knew he wanted her as a slave for himself but needed to make it look like a fair deal with the boys' parents.

"Malkek, where do you live? I'd like to speak to your parents about this slave." He smiled as the young boy began enthusiastically leading Tannik Veko and the coterie of guards to his residence.

The envoy stopped at a medium sized house a few blocks from the market square. The double helix snake sign on the door denoted that the boys' parent was a Doctor of medicine. A slave opened the door and bowed fearfully as he saw who followed the boy into the residence.

"Shanyu, go fetch my parents and slaves to tend to my lord," Malkek ordered the much larger man.

Tannik Veko watched as Shanyu shot off like an arrow from a bow, quickly returning with the boy's father, mother, and slaves to lead them all into the comfort room.

Once the group was comfortably seated, the Emperor leaned forward and explained that he would like to buy the woman from them. He would be perfectly willing to trade her for more compliant slaves or for gold if it was their fancy. He saw the wife of the doctor cringe as if understanding what he wanted her for; she looked sympathetically at Yana.

Unlike Yana, she had the look of one bought from a defeated land for the purpose of serving as a wife or concubine, depending on who paid for her. Tannik Veko noted her hands slight trembling as the thought of Yana being resold ran through her mind.

If the woman's reaction was one of compassion and pity, the husband's was exactly the opposite. His eyes glittered at the mere thought of getting gold for what to him had been one of the most troublesome and unbreakable slaves he had ever purchased. The scars and bruises on his face showed that Yana didn't see eye to eye with him on some of his methods of subjugation.

The fresh bruise under his right eye was fresh from this morning or last night at the earliest. Tannik Veko offered either four slaves or eight hundred gold coins in exchange for Yana. The man barely thought it over as he took the latter offer and smiled as he was handed the bags of gold by one of the guards.

Tannik Veko motioned for Yana to follow him and his guards. When she refused, he had one of his guards physically pick the woman up and carry her, kicking and screaming, out of the residence much to the glee of the doctor and the trepidation of everyone else in the family. Tannik Veko thanked the family for their time and business as he, and his guards, walked out into the bright morning sunshine. Even before the door closed, Tannik Veko could hear the man counting out the gold coins greedily.

Tannik Veko gave instructions for his guard to carry the woman back to his palace and place her in the cage in his room. The guard nodded before carrying the still struggling Yana back to the palace. Opening the cage in the emperors living quarters, he threw Yana in before locking the door and taking the key with him to give to the emperor. He ran back and met with the emperor just as Tannik Veko was about to enter the building.

After receiving the key, Tannik Veko gave the guard orders to wait outside the building with the other two guards while the emperor entered with his two bodyguards.

Looking up to the top of the Judiciary Body seats, Tannik Veko saw his whole row of plants. This meeting would be quite beneficial to his political career, he thought to himself as he began to address the Judiciary Body. As he began talking, his plants stealthily descended on the top row of Lawmakers. Slitting their throats, they quickly moved down to the next row until there were but thirteen lawmakers left.

Smiling slowly, he watched as the lawmakers only just then noticed the sudden calm that veiled the normally boisterous Judiciary house. Looking behind them, they were met with the carnage of their fellow compatriots dead on the hall floor, blood seeping from their slit throats.

"My fellow citizens and lawmakers. For some time now, I have been interested in ruling our land in the spirit of my ideas. Yet for some reason, when my ideas for ruling these fair lands come up for hearings, you object me. You are alive for a reason. I know that the people will never accept my law and my rule unless I have your backing. Seeing as I only need the thirteen of you to sign my complete law into fruition, you are alive right now. I would like to offer a proposal to you good ladies and gentlemen of the Judiciary. Sign my doctrine into law or meet the fate of your compatriots." Tannik Veko smiled evilly as he watched the faces of the remaining lawmakers pale at his wolfish smile.

The eldest member of the Judiciary stood shakily as he spoke. "My lord, I think we're all in agreement that your law is not to be the law of the land. The people elected us to our positions for the defense of the law and the people who are its subjects, including you. We will see to it that you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the lawlessness you have perpetrated today-" He trailed off as Tannik Veko drew his sword and held it against the frail man's throat.

"Maybe my words aren't convincing enough for you Maja. Perhaps you need something to jog your patriotic spirit?" Tannik Veko said as he motioned for one of his plants to bring the families of the remaining men and women into the Judiciary hall. Grabbing the youngest son of Maja, the Emperor put his sword's blade against the young child's throat.

"No please! He's only seven, my lord, he's just a child! Please don't kill him!" The old lawmaker sobbed as Tannik Veko edged his sword closer to the frightened boy's throat.

"Do I have your consensus, ladies, and gentlemen of the Judiciary?" Tannik Veko asked coldly. He smiled anew as all nodded their agreement. One by one they signed the ratification and went to comfort their families. When he had the documentation in hand, he had the announcement made that he was now the single ruler by consensus of the Judiciary leaders.

The people of the land were shown the mock show of the Judiciary leaders walking to the palace to show the public they were in agreement with everything Tannik Veko said. Unbeknownst to the people of the land, Tannik Veko had the lawmakers' families held hostage as collateral until the public accepted him as their one ruler. The people cheered his coronation, thinking he was being crowned to the joy of the elected leaders.

Once the coronation was over, Tannik Veko called a meeting of the Judiciary Body. He asked how many of them wanted to leave the land and all but one raised their hand. The emperor bade them leave, all except the one man.

Janek Vereko was considered the shiftiest member of the Judiciary. Even the other elected leaders stayed away from this man and his plans. No one knew his motives and no one wanted to know them judging by the rumors and stories that followed this man from his region in the land. Looking down at the man seated in front of him, he didn't hesitate as he swung his sword down to cut the wayward lawmaker's head off. If he could betray his fellow lawmakers, he could betray Tannik Veko.

Yana gazed out from the cage at the quiet stillness of the room. Utilitarian and without frills, it was a room that she, as a warrior, could respect. She watched as a bird flew by the window and smiled when the small creature landed on the balcony to stare at her. For three hours the bird would fly away only to circle back and land on the balcony to stare at her for a few minutes as though trying to figure her out.

At the start of the fourth hour, the bird flew off suddenly at the same time Yana heard the stealthy footsteps creeping up to the locked entrance of the cave. She turned on her stalker to meet the blue-eyed gaze of the emperor. Yana wasn't sure how to react to Tannik Veko. She knew or guessed what he bought her for but he made no immediate attempt to subjugate her like the doctor he paid for her.

"Hello Yana, how are you feeling?" Tannik Veko asked the caged woman.

He began making mental notes of her condition even as he tried to gain her trust. She had a cut above her right eye, most likely from the struggle she put up when her guard escorted her to the cell. The blood running from it was still fresh but the cut appeared to be healing. Her clothing, while not new to begin with was disheveled and dirty. Tannik Veko made a mental note to get fresh clothes for her when she was due for her next meal. For her part, Yana stared at him without emotion. She was studying his weaknesses and strengths as he sat in the chair by her cage.

"Don't feel like answering me today huh?" he asked. "Well, you've got plenty of time to learn to speak with me."

She smiled suddenly, her face radiating special warmth that drew Tannik Veko in. He watched as she began acting shy at his almost constant stare, looking down as though she were a bit unnerved by his attention. Yana turned beet red beneath her chocolate hue as he smiled in response to her behavior before bursting out in nervous giggles. She quickly tried to suppress them when she saw how they affected him but something in her didn't agree with her plans and they kept sneaking out much to the Emperors' amusement.

"Yana, come here," he said softly. "Come to the bars of the cage."

He watched as she smiled and took a halting step forward without advancing too close to the bars of the cage. Looking down, she smiled and blushed hard at the mere thought of coming close to him. Tannik Veko knew he would have to be more forceful in asking her to come to him.

"Yana, come here now." He said in a more stern manner.

Yana jumped at the harsh sound of his voice. Trembling, she quickly ran to the bars. He smiled as he watched her waiting for his next command. Standing up, he saw her shrink back from the bars slightly as if afraid of him. Tannik Veko glared as she made a motion to step back from his advance on the cage. He smiled again to show he meant no harm before walking over to face her. Reaching through the bars, he stroked her face and marveled at its softness. He watched, as Yana relaxed to his presence and smile a bit from his touch.

Feeling bold from her reaction, Tannik Veko began to move his exploring hand further down her face until it reached her neck. His intent was to follow the curves of her body as far as he could through the cage but at the last minute, he changed his mind and began to move towards her lips.

Pointing one finger, he gently pried her lips open with the intent of seeing how well she could suck. Yana smiled and gently parted her lips allowing him to enter her warm mouth. He stroked her tongue and asked her to suck on his finger a bit. He smiled and closed his eyes before lurching back in pain.

Staring with a mixture of anger and lust, he watched as Yana glowered at him, blood dripping from her sultry lips. He looked down to see that he pulled his finger away just in time. If he left it in her mouth a second longer, he knew he would have lost it. His arousal over her grew the more he focused on the blood at the corner of her lips. He watched, tantalized, as she gently licked at it as though it were berry juice. She smiled as she saw the damage done to him.

"How is your finger?" Yana asked in her own language thinking he wouldn't know what she said.

"I'll heal Yana, but wait and see what I have in store for you as payback for trying to hurt me." He said in Nihman with a menacing smile painted across his face. He was satisfied when he saw her tremble almost imperceptibly.

"I will have food sent in for you. Try not to bite the hands feeding you like you have mine?" He said before walking off to treat his now swollen finger.

Tannik Veko wrapped his hand as he walked to his bedchambers. Throwing himself onto his bed, he kept thinking of her as he tried to sleep. Visions of her kept spinning wildly in his mind as the two of them made love wildly in different parts of the castle and in different positions.

Various sexual scenarios involving her and him danced around like the light of the stars in the sky. He tried to shake her from his thought but every thought he blocked was replaced by ten more. Sighing in frustration, he called for a slave woman from the Nihma lands and was delighted to see that they shared a lot of physical characteristics.

This woman was small much like his precious Yana but not nearly as muscular. Something was lost in that one characteristic. The woman was a bit older than Yana as well, looking to be near thirty and her hair was noticeably longer when compared to the militaristic short hair of the slave woman in his cage.

Their differences aside, the woman was enough for Tannik Veko, at least until he could get Yana to his bed. He beckoned for the woman to come closer. When she was close enough for him to see her clearly, he grabbed out, pulled her to the bed and pinned her under his weight.

Despite her screams, he began to rip her clothes off and smiled as she reverted back to her own language in begging to be released. The differences between her and Yana were like night and day. Yana was filled with fire whereas this woman was petrified by even being in his presence. He watched as tears streamed down her face and laughed at her crying. He tried to imagine Yana's face covered in tears like this woman.

That's when something inside him froze. The mere thought of hurting Yana made him ill. Tannik Veko looked down at the trembling, shaking, frightened young woman beneath him and saw Yana's face again. She was in complete fear of him and petrified as he moved over her. He didn't want this for Yana. He wanted her trust, not her fear. Something in him felt wrong about hurting Yana but he couldn't figure out what it was.