by Tori Minard
She scanned the big, open room. Rows of simple wooden beds filled the space, each with a tiny chest near its head. Except for one, which had no chest and the shabbiest blankets she’d ever seen. Miri sat there.
Tariza walked over to her. The black-haired slave sat in a little huddle, her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair looked dull and tangled. She was naked, and cold judging by the goosebumps all over her arms.
“Hello, Miri,” Tariza said. “May I sit here?”
Miri shrugged, so she sat down on the bed.
“Are you all right?”
“What do you want?” The other Concordian spoke in a rusty voice.
“No-one will talk to me here.”
“You’re like me, then.”
“No-one talks to you?”
“Not really. Unless they’re yelling at me. I get in trouble a lot.”
“I’m sorry.” Tariza reached out to lay a compassionate hand on the other woman’s shoulder, but the slave flinched away as if afraid of being struck. Tariza dropped her hand.
“You’re a Concordian, like me.”
“Yes,” Miri said. “I guess everyone knows about me.”
“You were there the night I met King Grasos. Don’t you remember?”
Miri stared at her with a frown. “Not really.”
Goddess. Had she been drugged that night, or was her mind destroyed by the Saturnian’s brutal treatment?
“What do you think of your new master?” she said.
Miri shrugged again. “He’s another master. They’re all the same.”
“Dario is nothing like the king.”
Miri gave her a skeptical look.
“Really. He doesn’t beat me. Or starve me.”
“The new master is a Demon Kin,” Miri said.
“I know. Did he let you touch his horns?”
The other slave shook her head, looking puzzled. “No. He didn’t touch me, and I didn’t touch him.”
Strange. She’d assumed ...
“Ooh, look who’s come to visit, girls. It’s the queen of slaves,” said a rude voice she recognized. Tariza looked up to see Lola standing over the two of them.
Lola sneered. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here because my master ordered me here.”
Lola snorted. “I guess you’re not his favorite anymore. Maybe the queen has been deposed.”
“He’s taking the Demon Kin on a tour of the city.”
Lola smirked. “Tell yourself whatever you like, if it makes you feel better.”
“What is the matter with you? You’ve been nasty to me ever since the encampment.”
“You’re a Concordian.”
“So? It’s petty to hold that against me.”
“Petty? Did you just call me petty?” Lola sounded outraged.
Tariza laughed. “I’d think you would consider that a compliment. You work so hard at it.”
The other blonde’s eyes narrowed in a most unattractive way. “You bitch.”
Tariza shrugged. “Call me whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“You will.”
“Lola, grow up. I have better things to do than listen to your sniping and I don’t care what you think of me.”
“You can’t talk to me that way.”
“Yes, I can.” Tariza sighed. “And I’m not going to fight you again. You’re not worth it.”
Lola stood there fuming, her nostrils flaring. With an inarticulate sound, she turned on her heel and flounced off, her long hair swinging to and fro against her back.
“You shouldn’t make her angry,” Miri said. “She’s mean.”
“I know. But I think she was born angry.”
Miri smiled, an expression so tenuous and unexpected that Tariza stared at her. “If what you say about Prince Dario is true, then you’re very lucky. You should be thankful you didn’t get the king.”
“I am.”
They sat in silence. The sound of drums and a flute came from an adjacent room, where the women must be dancing or performing some other kind of exercise. If they didn’t hate her so much, she’d go in and join them. She longed to move her body, to stretch her muscles and feel the blood pounding through her veins. Sitting around wasn’t normal for her.
Miri shifted on the bed, drawing Tariza’s attention. The black-haired slave glanced at her and then looked down at her lap, twisting her hands together. She bit her lip.
“If you can get a knife, would you ...” Miri’s voice faded. She swallowed hard. “Would you kill me?”
Tariza’s mouth fell open. “What? Goddess, no. I don’t want to kill you.”
“Please.” Miri raised her head and looked at her. There were tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I tried ... I tried to do it myself, but I made a mistake. I didn’t bleed enough and they stopped me. They saved my life.” Her voice was bitter.
“Miri, you have a new master now. He’ll take better care of you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Don’t you want to give him a chance? He’s got to be better than you know who.”
“I don’t care. I just want to die. I can’t hold my head up before the Goddess anymore.”
Tariza didn’t know what to say. Her heart hurt for this lost young woman.
“She’s abandoned me,” Miri whispered. “She doesn’t love me anymore.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Tariza said, although she’d wondered the same thing about herself.
“Yes, it is. And I don’t blame Her. Who would want me? Who would love something like me?”
“I think you’re very brave to have survived everything they’ve done to you.”
Miri’s lips tightened. She looked like she didn’t believe a word Tariza said.
Goddess, what can I do for her? Tariza had no more power than Miri, except for the minor influence she had over Dario. Perhaps he could check on her, make sure Prince Shadow treated her decently.
She laid her hand on Miri’s arm. This time, the other slave didn’t flinch or pull away. “Hang on a little longer. Just try. If things don’t get better, then maybe I’ll ... Maybe I’ll help you.”
“You promise?”
Goddess, help me. “Yes. I promise.”
“Thank you, Princess Tariza. Thank you.” Miri suddenly threw her arms around Tariza. “I’m honored you would even consider helping a worm like me.”
“Listen to me. You’re not a worm. You’re not a coward. You’re a brave soldier trapped in enemy territory. Do you understand me?”
A tiny light seemed to come on in Miri’s eyes. “Yes.”
“We’ll get through this somehow. Things will get better. I swear it.”
How she was to keep that promise, she had no idea.
***
In a second-floor feasting hall, Tariza sat on a plush carpet with the other slaves, her knees folded demurely – docilely – beneath her, head bowed, hands folded in her lap. They couldn’t criticize her, couldn’t possibly find anything wrong with her form. She’d perfected it through many hours of training with Dario. She was a slave.
Around them, the men lounged on chairs upholstered in red velvet, laughing, talking, drinking. Soon they’d begin choosing women, fondling them, fucking them. She’d seen it before at gatherings like this, although she’d never participated. Since Dario wasn’t here, she wouldn’t participate tonight, either. No-one would choose her. They didn’t dare offend Dario by taking his woman.
His voice came to her. He was here! Her head jerked infinitesimally in reaction to the sound of him talking. Her hands tightened in her lap. Yet she didn’t turn her head to look at him. She did nothing to spoil her perfect slave posture.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lola glaring at her. What was the matter with that woman? They were both slaves; they should be on the same side.
Tariza’s heart tripped as the sound of Dario’s voice moved more deeply into the room. Was he coming to her? No. He spoke to a
second man and then a third, wandered over to the drinks, then paused, laughing at something one of his friends said.
Perhaps he wouldn’t come at all. Maybe he was tired of her. Or maybe he was testing her, seeing how well she could hold her form and mind her training.
Or maybe he just didn’t care.
Enough fretting.
She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out with careful slowness, so it wouldn’t show or be heard. Another. Her body relaxed just a little.
Booted male feet arrived in her line of vision. “Tariza,” Dario said, his voice warm.
She began to tremble. Her head wanted to lift, her gaze to rise so she could look at him. But in public it was forbidden unless he gave permission.
He extended a hand. “Come.”
She placed her hand in his, the warmth of his skin sending a jolt of lust through her, and rose to her feet – carefully so as not to reveal her trembling. Still, she didn’t look at him.
“You look entirely fuckable,” he murmured.
She blushed all over her body as her pussy throbbed in pure want.
Dario’s long fingers curled around hers. He tugged on her hand. She followed him, obediently, feeling the furtive glances of the other slaves on her as she left their little group.
He led her to an overstuffed armchair on the side of the room and sat down in it, still holding her hand. Tariza waited for orders. Her body burned all over with the fierce blush of knowing he wanted her.
Behind her came the sounds of breathy moans and soft giggles. The men had begun choosing women. But she’d been first. Dario had come to her and claimed her before any of the other women had been chosen. She fought down a smile.
He tugged her hand again. “Sit.”
She began to drop to her knees.
“With me, sweetheart.”
Tariza paused and glanced warily at him. He smiled and opened his arms to her. Her heart zoomed; her trembling worsened. She climbed onto his lap.
“That’s better.” He put an arm around her naked waist, settling her against him. “You’re shaking. Are you all right?”
I am now. “Yes,” she whispered.
He tipped up her chin and kissed her mouth. “I’m glad to see you.”
“I – I’m glad also.”
“You are, are you?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Show me, then, sweet. Show me how glad you are to see me.”
He gave her permission to touch him in public, to kiss him? Her breath stopped. She blushed again as she looped an arm around his neck.
Dario still had her other hand clasped in his. She lifted their hands together and kissed his knuckles. His gaze took on a glow both heated and tender. Tariza rubbed her cheek over the back of his hand. Her body relaxed into his embrace as she moved her attentions from his hand to the side of his neck.
His skin was warm and smooth beneath her lips. He smelled of cold winter air, and horse leather, and man. He smelled of Dario, her favorite scent in the world.
She kissed his neck above his collar, the roughness of his unshaved jaw, his lips. Dario turned his head to capture her mouth in an open kiss. He tasted like wine.
They both moaned at the same time. Dario released her hand to cup the side of her face as he devastated her mouth, his tongue plunging into her, taking her the same way his cock would later.
With his other hand, he stroked her back, her thighs, her bare ass. His fingers gripped her flesh, massaging. She rolled her hips against him.
Somewhere nearby, a woman cried out loudly and a man groaned. The sounds only served to excite Tariza more, to make her grip Dario’s hair and thrust her tongue against his and pant.
His fingers slipped between her thighs, teasing her dripping pussy. With a shudder of delight, she moaned into his kiss. Clever fingers explored her folds before sliding inside her. He crooked them and she gave a muffled cry.
All around them, people were coupling. She could smell the sex in the air. If she opened her eyes and turned her head, she’d see a room full of men sexually dominating women. The sound of an open palm slapping a bare buttock reminded her of what that meant.
And she didn’t care. What mattered now was that Dario was here, with his arms around her, his mouth on hers, his body preparing to take her.
“Ride me, Tariza,” Dario said in a husky voice.
She grasped his throbbing cock. He moaned. Tariza guided it to her cunt and sank down on him. His head fell back on another moan, his fingers digging into her hips.
“You feel so good,” he said, eyes half shuttered, thick black lashes stark against his pale skin.
You’re so beautiful. But she still didn’t say the words.
Dario flexed his hips, at the same time lifting her and then pushing her back down on him. She cried out.
“Tell me how it feels,” he said.
“Big.”
He laughed softly. “Hot. Tight. Wet. Like heaven.”
She rose and fell over him, taking him into her body and then slowly withdrawing. He groaned encouragement to her.
“Yes. Yes, Tariza. Like that. God, yes.”
She panted, riding him, the pleasure nearly blinding. The other people in the room faded from her consciousness. They were on their own tiny island of lust and delight. She loved it here, with him.
If only they could stay here, apart from the other Saturnians, she’d never want to leave. This was where she belonged, where she’d always belonged. She just hadn’t known it until now.
Dario swore as he picked up the pace. The spearing pleasure drew cry after cry from her throat. Her hair fell around them in a golden curtain. He stared up at her, his eyes so dark they looked black, his beautiful mouth open, gasping for breath.
Climax roared through her. Tariza shuddered and moaned as she fell apart, as Dario threw his head back and joined her in release. His come filled her, seared her. She quivered in his arms.
He pulled her tightly against him, their bodies still joined. “Tariza. My sweet Tariza.”
She could do nothing but pant and shiver in the aftermath of what they’d done. He was taming her and at the moment she couldn’t seem to care. The only thing that mattered was the way they made each other feel.
It seemed like a very long time later when Tariza’s mind returned to the room their bodies occupied. She glanced around looking for Miri and Shadow. They were nowhere to be seen. “Where is the Demon Kin prince?”
“He took Miri back to his chambers.”
Tariza frowned as her Concordian sensibilities reasserted themselves. “I hope she’s all right.”
“He’ll treat her well.”
They were speaking in low tones so as not to be overheard.
“Do you think so? She was afraid of him when I spoke to her.”
“He’s not like her other master. We had a talk about that today. I think Miri is very lucky.”
“I’m so glad.” She hoped it was true and that Miri would someday recover.
“Me too.”
She gave him a quizzical look. “You are?”
“Yes; I was worried about her. She didn’t deserve the treatment she got.”
He was so ... unexpected. Not the brutish, unfeeling pig of a Saturnian she’d believed him to be. She didn’t accept the notion of enslaved women; they would never agree on that point. But in his own way, he was a good man, an honorable man. She ... cared for him.
You lust for him. That’s all.
No, that wasn’t true. Yes, she desired him, more than she’d ever wanted any other. But it was more than lust. There was affection between them.
Why couldn’t she tell him?
He hasn’t said it to me. Perhaps he didn’t feel the same way. And why should he? He was the master. In Saturnios, affection and devotion seemed to go mostly one way – from the women toward the men. She didn’t see much of it returned, except in the case of Dario’s parents, and she had to take his word for that. But maybe she simply didn’t kno
w how to look.
We rarely had devotion in Concordia.
What a stupid world they’d made. Why shouldn’t there be devotion between men and women? Where had these ideas of slavery come from in the first place? She suddenly wished she could be free of all of it – Saturnios and Concordia too. Just walk away from it and live someplace where she could be free alongside free men. But that would never happen. She had to make the best of the world she’d been given.
“I’m going to bring Shadow and the ambassador to my country estate,” Dario said. “We’ll be leaving soon. I’m going to bring you too.”
“Really? We can leave the city?” She smiled.
“Yes. Don’t get any ideas about running away, though. You’d freeze to death before you got far.”
She hadn’t been thinking that at all. Her face must have shown her hurt, because he frowned a little and caressed the side of her cheek.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“I would never run from you.” She could no longer imagine living without him. Sad, that slavery sounded better than life without Dario, but there it was. She was addicted to him.
He studied her face, still caressing her. “Truly? You wouldn’t run?”
“No.” She shook her head for emphasis. “Not anymore.”
He folded her in his arms. “Sweet girl. I thought I’d never hear those words from you.”
Tariza buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. As long as she had him, life in Saturnios was bearable.
Chapter 15
Tariza’s body felt warm and tingly from the sex she and Dario had shared. If only she could continue sharing the aftermath with him, but he’d been required in a meeting with his uncle and brother, so she was on her own for a while.
She glanced around his quarters. How would she spend her time? She was unaccustomed to waiting for a man. Usually they waited for her.
The guitar he’d given her was propped against one of the chairs by the hearth. Tariza got out of bed and slipped into a loose robe before picking up the instrument and sitting down with it. Playing was always a good way to pass time while improving her skills. Besides, she’d promised Dario a new song.