The Island Ch. 02

Wow, well, thank you to anyone who has managed to bear with me for such a ridiculously long time. Here is the second installment, and apologies both for its lateness and for the lack of erotic fun in this one – its more of a plot chapter, but hopefully if you've read the 1st part you'll understand that I like a good story!! Anyway, it will all hot up soon I promise – as always don't forget to vote and let me know your thoughts, they really do make me write faster!!!

Roses x

***

2.

Lux scrutinized her 'cell' with interest.

The room was not very large, but was by far the most comfortable accommodation she had experienced in a very long time. In a moment of glee she flung herself at the bed; a large heavily cushioned affair with heavy cotton claret covers. A bed! She had not slept in a real bed for years...

Some prisons the Panthera had!

She had been led here by a girl, presumably another Panthera maid, when they had released her from that hideous room. She had no concept of how much time had passed since her capture, or since the attack in that room, but she was no longer bound or blindfolded – and this room looked more than comfortable.

Of course, the door to this room was still locked. No surprise there. Lux was well aware that even without that barrier she'd have no idea or hope of escape...If she could remember her way through the labyrinth of twists and turns and find her way past inevitable guards outside, she would still be on a potentially very large island. She doubted the Panthera left valuable and rare boats lying around the water's edge either...Nope, she was in this for the long run.

Her musing was interrupted by the beeping of the keypad to her door.

It swung open, and a woman walked in.

This one was more impressive than the mousey looking maid. Lux eyed her suspiciously.

She strode purposely across the room as the door swished closed behind her, barely casting a glance at Lux. Depositing a tray on the table in the corner, the woman poured a glass of liquid from a jug, and turned towards Lux to hand it to her.

'If this is drugged, so be it..' Lux thought, before gratefully grabbing the glass and downing its contents.

This time, it was the woman's turn to analyze Lux.

Lowering the glass, Lux looked right back. It reminded her of two wild animals squaring up against each other for the first time in the forest.

The woman was tall, with a strong but curvaceous figure. Her ebony skin gleamed. She wore a black shift which covered one shoulder, clung to her curves and ended in a slanted hem that started dangerously high on her right thigh and ended by her left knee. Having appraised Lux, she let out a slight snort.

"So, you're what all the fuss is about.....Makes sense." Her voice was deep and smooth. She cocked an eyebrow.

Lux had been taking a moment to consult her gut, which was usually reliable, and decided that although clearly a force to be reckoned with, this woman did not seem hostile.

"From where I'm sitting, not a lot makes much sense, actually," she retorted wearily. "For instance, are all Panthera prison cells this lush?"

The woman looked surprised for a second, before letting out a startlingly rich laugh.

"Honey, if you were in prison here, you'd really know about it. This is...well, we don't use these rooms often. I've a feeling they aren't quite sure what to do with you..." She grinned at Lux and pulled up a chair, straddling it backwards and crossing her arms over the back, all the time surveying her with apparent amusement.

Lux gave up trying to decode her situation and sighed. She clearly wasn't about to be assaulted at this very moment, and hell was she tired.

The strange woman's gaze softened slightly.

"Look, you must be ravenous. Eat."

She reached out and passed Lux a bowl full of something liquid and steaming. A savoury, appetising smell bombarded her and it was all Lux could do not to throw it down her throat. When the bread followed, she tore great chunks off it and immersed them before wolfing them down. She wasn't about to re-train herself to use a spoon right now.

The woman observed Lux's enthusiastic progress with mild amusement as she began to talk.

"They don't get beautiful women trying to attack them very often you see... The Panthera scouts...So now you're here, and they don't know whether to initiate you with the consorts or imprison you!" She chuckled quietly.

That made Lux pause, broth or no broth.

"Hey, I did NOT attack them. They chased after me. I was running AWAY. I only fought back when they caught up with me. Bastards can't even fight fair..." Lux's eyes shone angrily.

The woman's face sobered rapidly and a wave of emotions crossed over it faster than Lux could interpret them. Two she recognised easily though, as they played across the stranger's face. One was anger, and another she could have sworn was fear.

"You dress like a rebel, a hunter." The woman stated.

Lux knew better than to pursue the topic of her capture. She also knew better than to talk too much.

"I am no hunter." She replied, spitting the word out. She lowered the near empty bowl, and met the woman's frank gaze.

"Look; I don't know what they think, hell, I don't even know who 'they' are, but I'm not going to cause trouble. I have spent a very long time simply surviving. I am not an idiot." The part about trouble was not strictly untrue, at present, anyway. Lux had no desire to find out what 'real' Panthera prison was like. She was smart enough to know when playing nice was needed.

The woman seemed to believe her, at least. She nodded curtly.

"Well, I'm Luca."

"Lux," She replied. She had a feeling some important boundary had just been crossed.

Luca smiled.

"Well, Lux, I suppose you have lots of questions. But I'm not technically the one who should be answering them. It is not up to me to decide where you belong, but no doubt my warder will be paying you a visit later."

"Warder?" Lux queried.

"Do you know the structure of Pantheon at all? How we work here? You know our name...."

Crap. Lux hadn't even meant to let that slip...that was careless. Still, she could do her usual trick and simply tell the truth – to a certain extent.

It was both a curse and a blessing that Lux was a terrible liar. On one hand, it should make life and times like this harder, but in reality, she found the selective truth was both easier to stick to and more easily believed. She had become quite the expert at giving selectively edited information....

"I know of the Panthera," She replied smoothly, "I've heard that you're one of the biggest tribes around. But I've never met one of your people..."

'...At least not to talk to..,' she thought.

Lux decided she might as well go the whole way with this discussion.

"I have heard that the Panthera keep women as sex slaves...."

Luca snorted slightly.

"...And that they are ruthless. It was evident from the way your scouts fought that they must be of a large, organised tribe – they clearly weren't rogue hunters. As far as I'm aware, the Panthera are the only large tribe around."

"You are not of a tribe yourself?" Luca asked. The question sounded idle, but her sharp gaze betrayed it. Lux suspected little could escape this woman.

"No." Lux replied

No, she wasn't now.

"I travel and manage alone."

This seemed to satisfy Luca. Her shoulders relaxed as she began to talk.

"Well, you got some things right. The Panthera, we, are big. We are organised. And we have a system, and the women's role here in the city of Pantheon is to see to the needs of our men."

'Well, that is a nice way to phrase it...'Lux thought.

Luca continued. "But we are not forced. There is no slavery here. The women nearly always come to the city of their own free will, many beg to be brought here."

Lux couldn't help but raise a sceptical eyebrow.

"Have you ever heard of the mainland? Have you been there?" Luca asked, noting Lux's cynicism.

"I know of it, but have not been." Lux replied.

Lux's father had mentioned the mainland when she was young, but very little. He had grown up on the Islands too, had never seen it, but he took great care to pass on what history he knew of those days and people before him. If the stories were to be believed, she knew that by comparison to the mainland the Islands looked safe.

"Well, with the exception of those born here, most of the women here come from the mainland. If you had lived some of their lives, you would know why Pantheon is paradise to them."Luca's lips tightened, and her gaze distanced.

Lux knew better than to pursue this topic further.

"You mentioned a man was your...warder? What is that?"

"It means he has chosen me as his sole consort." Luca paused, searched for the right place to start explaining;

"Here, we have tiers. Tiers of men, and of women to serve each level. At the very top of the men, there is of course the King and Prince; royalty. The women that serve them form the Higher Tier."

"Next, there are those men that directly serve royalty; his advisors and those with the highest positions - generals of the scouts, their immediate guards, and etcetera. They are served by the women of the Second Tier. Then comes the next level down – general guards, overseers – they have the Third Tier of women. Last is the general population, the men who work in the industries, and the Fourth Tier of women."

Lux's mind raced, which took a lot.

"How...how big is the city?" She asked in disbelief.

"Pantheron has around two thousand."

Lux's mind was boggling. Two thousand? She had never heard of so many people together, and of so many women...She could barely get her head round it.

Oblivious to her shock, Luca continued.

"So the men are served by the women of their Tier, and they may chose who they wish to be with, when they wish. It keeps the men - society, even – peaceful. Ours is a culture of love not hatred, and of shared love. But, if he wishes, a man may chose one woman from his Tier as his sole consort. It does not happen very often."

"Why? What does that mean?" Lux composed herself and focused on Luca's explanation.

"It usually happens when a man develops a very close attachment or preference to one of the consorts. He may name her as his chosen 'sole consort'. This means that she may only serve him, and no other, unless someone should ask permission and he allows it. However, once a man chooses a sole consort, and becomes her 'warder' he loses his right to the other consorts in the Tier. So you see, it is a big commitment and sacrifice on the man's part...."

Lux thought she understood. Just about.

"The law of warders was introduced early in Pantheon's existence, after a fight between two men. One had become attached to a consort and became so jealous when his friend chose her to pleasure him one night that he tried to kill him...afterwards it was decided that those who would give up all other women for one consort may have sole rights to her."

Lux shook her head in bafflement. When you put it like this, it all almost sounded reasonable...This Panthera law stuff was some twisted shit. She refused to be brainwashed.

"Sooooo....what Tier are you in?" Lux hoped this wasn't some invasive personal question.

Luca smiled. "I'm in the second Tier. My warder, Ethen, is personal advisor to Prince Felis. You can tell by a woman's dress and mark what tier she is in, and whether she has a warder."

Luca gestured to the intricate tattoo on her left upper arm. The band around the arm was a complex woven design that split and formed a ring in the centre, in which lay a symbol like a double loop. The whole design was tattooed in black, save for a red ring around the double loop.

Hell, Lux thought, they even branded their women here.

"Higher Tier women wear dark red silk shifts. Second tier wear black. Third wear grey, and fourth simple white." Luca finished.

Lux was exhausted. She felt simply overawed by the whole concept. There was one last question that needed to be asked though.

"So," she ventured, "How and who decides what tier a woman belongs to?"

"Well," Luca replied, matter of factly, "Several trusted men are nominated by the King to oversee the selection process; one for each tier. First, the woman is assessed according to her beauty. Then, she must prove her ability with regards to satisfying men. The higher the tier, the more beautiful and adept a lover a woman is."

***

Lux spent a good deal of time after Luca had left just absorbing everything the woman had told her. She had known that the Panthera were advanced and large, but it alarmed her to comprehend just how large. How they had rested so close for so very long without her knowing.

It took a great deal to alarm Lux.

She was in the same room, she was not permitted to leave. Meeting Luca may have enlightened her slightly as to her situation, but her uncertain fate was not unchanged. So frustrating, to sit and wait to be told what others held in store for you. So against everything she had fought for through her life.

Lux was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to sink into the bed and sleep, but she sat up suddenly. This was not the time. There was something to be done first, that she had put off far too long.

She reached up and unzipped the front of her leather suit a few inches. Sliding her hand along the underside of the fabric, she found the small pocket hidden close to her skin inside the suit. She reached inside and carefully extracted a small square object wrapped in fabric.

Laying it on the bed in front of her, she unwound the strip of cloth to reveal the small rectangular razor blade. It had been in the pocket a long, long time. She picked it up and bounced the light of its tarnished surface; it was never new, and was inevitably not as sharp as it should be, but that was probably best for its purpose.

Lux lay the blade down beside her on the bed, and drew her knees up the bed to reach down to her right ankle. She prized the leather leg of her suit up and paused a moment.

There it was, black against her pale skin, just above the ankle bone. Small enough to be inconspicuous, especially these days, at a time when no one thought to look for it. But she cursed herself. It was her ridiculous nostalgia than prevented her from doing this years ago, when she had been given the razor and advised to. She had known it was good advise, but she was reluctant to lose it, this mark of what once was, her old ties....so she had tucked away the blade until such a time as it was essential, ignoring the risk that there may be no warning.

She thanked whatever luck it was that the tattoo had remained unnoticed; that so far she had been left in the leather suit. Even with the opportunity now, removing it was risky. Someone might catch her out, or get suspicious....and she could only heal so fast....

...but those were risks she just had to accept. She picked up the razor and carefully pierced the leather of the suit leg, just above the tattoo, before using her fingers to tear a jagged flap loose. No use trying to claim she had cut herself during her capture struggle if her suit was intact.

Next, she lined up the cloth, ready to tie her ankle tight and stem the bleeding.

Gritting her teeth, she lowered the blade to her flesh.

***

Ethan knocked on the heavy mahogany door and waited for a response. The corridor was quiet, as usual. The prince's quarters always seemed to be quiet, these days.... 'all work and no play' he mused.

"Come in." The voice sounded weary even through the door.

Ethan slid through into the study beyond. There was an open fire in the polished granite fireplace, otherwise the only light came from the desk lamp. Shadows bounced off the rows of books on the walls. It was ordered but cosy, a sharp contrast from its twin room, the king's study. The king preferred glass and steel, a minimalist collection of the most expensive materials on trade. The King and the Princes quarters were mirror images of each other, standing side by side with the joint lounges between, but they couldn't be further from each other in atmosphere.

Behind the desk, a figure was bowed over a book, writing. His hair was a mass of tousled wavy brown, a shade not dissimilar to the mahogany desk, curling round his ears and sweeping across his forehead. The man drew his hand through his hair, falling back into the chair with a tired sigh. His startling amber eyes met Ethan's.

"Your Highness," Ethan bowed slightly.

"Ethan, how are you?" Prince Felis smiled at his oldest friend.

"Well, thank you ..... you however, look knackered...." Ethan grinned. They never kept formalities up for long when alone.

Felis rolled his eyes. "Sit down Ethan...and help yourself to the decanter," he gestured to a crystal decanter of wine and two untouched glasses on the sideboard.

Ethan shook his head but pulled a chair up closer to the fire, across from the Prince. His face turned serious.

"Really though, Felis, you are working too hard. You need a break...." He began, knowing full well it was fruitless having this discussion. Prince Felis was nothing if not stubborn.

"You know with my Father away, there is a great deal to do, Ethan – He is doing a good job out there. He expects the same of me."

"You know you do a good job, Felis. You are your hardest critic. Your Father , the King, would be lost without you – Pantheon would be chaos."

Felis gave him a stern look. "The King and I may disagree on...well, many things, but there's no denying he is an amazing business man Ethan. Without the mainland trading we would have serious trouble also..."

Ethan nodded and rolled his eyes. The King had a hard head for resource trading, but with that came some questionable morals. "At least your father knows how to play hard too, Felis.....when was the last time you relaxed? At least when the King is home you are forced to retire to the lounge after dinner, no sneaking off to the study....I'm sure the Higher Circle are killing each other in frustration!" Ethan laughed.

Prince Felis scowled at him. "Was there a point to your gracious visit, Ethan?" He drawled sarcastically, "Or do I have to order you to go guard something?" He grinned. If in doubt, pull rank.

Ethan raised his hands in mock defeat. "Ok, ok! I'll quit the nagging... Actually, there was a point."

Felis cocked an eyebrow in query.

"The new girl, the one they checked in yesterday. From North Island."

"Rare that we get one from the Islands...was she a hunter captive?" Felis asked. He'd heard a new girl had arrived, but he hadn't paid the news much attention.

"Apparently, she was found alone. Also, it would appear, she didn't exactly volunteer to come here..."

Ethan paused and tried to find the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. Felis gave him a heated look. "Spit it out, Ethan. What have the scouts been doing."

"Apparently, she fought like a hellcat. They decided she might be a threat, so they sedated her and brought her in captive. ..Coincidentally, she's also rather beautiful." Ethan added the last part with a hint of sarcasm.

" So to put it bluntly, they saw something they wanted, got more than they bargained for, and now no one knows what to do about it." Felis replied, his voice laced with anger. "They know the law. Did she attack them first?"

"They say so, but Luca has spoken with her. The girl stated very firmly the contrary – and Luca was inclined to believe her."

"Your Luca is usually rather good at work the truth out of people." Felis sighed in exasperation. "Did they touch her? God, this is getting out of control." Felis stood up suddenly and began to pace. His eyes were flaming.

Ethan reached out and touched his arm reassuringly. "I don't think they would have, Felis. They aren't utterly stupid, and if she behaves, she's possibly Higher Circle material. The boys know that's a bad idea. Though ideally, it should never happen..." he tailed off. It was no good stating the obvious yet again, that the King didn't care how lapse the scouts were getting with the law, and that crime in Pantheon was on the up.