The Concept of Freedom

[Otto26]

Portia

Portia watched as Geraldus continued to work at Jessiwe's pleasure. His finger seemed to have found a place and a rythym that she enjoyed and he visibly calmed as she let him know that he was no longer hurting her. She suspected he was no longer hurting her as much, but pain and pleasure could so easily blur and shift.

Geraldus nuzzled at the back of Jessiwe's neck, lips, tongue and teeth softly playing with her flesh. She heard him whisper a thanks to Jessiwe as his fingers played upon her tender flesh.

A good pairing. A pity I had him sterilized, perhaps. They might have produced some useful children. But what's done is done. He seems to work very hard at her pleasure... Because he wants the pleasure she can give him? Likely. I'll have to arrange to be the agent who makes that possible and gain a measure of his gratitude, she thought to herself.

Aloud she said, "Better, Geraldus." Jessiwe looked as though the pleasure had over-ridden the pain and Portia thought she might be close.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe trembled on her hands and knees as she felt wave after wave of pleasure eminating from the places where Geraldus gently played with her. It was indeed getting much better, so much so that she was shivering in anticipation of a very large orgasm. She could feel it's rise and as the pressure built she began to wonder exactly when it would boil over. She hadn'tlong to wait as soon she was grunting and bucking against Geraldus and his hand, with her body all trembles she screamed and felt a rush of warmth leave her, washing over Geraldus's monster member and drip down her thighs. Jessiwe was dizzy and out of breath. She almost collapsed upon the bed but Geraldus's strong hands held her up. She had never experienced such a dramatic climax before. She needed a moment to recover.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

Geraldus felt Jessiwe's body starting to slump and he quickly repositioned his arm beneath her chest, lending his strength to her support. "I've got you... sister," he said. The last word stuck on his tongue. He didn't particularly like any of the other bed-slaves in Portia's house, but 'brother' and 'sister' were the terms they were commanded to use for each other. In Imperial Law slaves were, indeed, considered to be part of the family that owned them.

"Again," the Lady commanded.

"May we switch positions, my Lady?" Geraldus asked. If Jessiwe could sit upon him she might be able to lean forward and alleviate the tension on her ring. "If Jessiwe sits upon me she will be better displayed to you."

"However you wish, but continue and do not stop," Portia answered.

Geraldus carefully shifted, bringing first one leg and then another forward until he was lying on his back and Jessiwe was astride him and facing towards Portia. He tensed his stomach muscles and raised himself up a little so that his fingers could again reach between Jessiwe's thighs. He tapped softly, searching for the spot Jessiwe had so enjoyed moments earlier.

"Tell me where, sister," he said quietly.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe bit her lip as her waves of residual joy were dampened by the sharp pain of Geraldus fumbling around again in search of the place he had pleased her with earlier. She moved his finger gently to the very same spot, still quite sensitive after her recent release. "There." she breathed. She took a deep breath and almost smiled as he began his motions again.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

Geraldus lightly drummed at Jessiwe's flesh with his fingertip, attempting to match his rythym with her breathing. His other hand slid along her ass, around and up her belly to her breast. He explored slowly, knowing that she would still be sore, enjoying the weight of her and carefully feeling the ring the pierced her flesh.

He tensed his belly, trying to make his cock move inside her without causing her pain.

Portia looked as though she was falling asleep, her eyes becoming unfocused as she watched them. She's going to leave us like this all night, he thought bitterly.

 

[slippedhalo]

The tiny shifts in Geraldus's weight were enough to make the massive hunk of his manhood move inside her in a way that helped add to the pleasurable sensations he was creating with his fingers but not enough to strain their interconnection by way of the chain link. It was good...very good and Jessiwe came again much easier than the last time, but also not as intensely.
She relaxed for a moment aware of Portia's eyes upon them as she applauded in an almost sarcastic fashion.

"Very good, much quicker this time, Geraldus. I believe you may actually be learning something from your mistakes." remarked Lady Portia. "Now, do it again." she ordered.

Jessiwe sighed but tried not to make it too loud in case it was taken as a form of complaint. It's just, this was all making her so tired she could barely hold herself up anymore. On one hand it was vary nice, but the strain of performing for someone else's amusement, and of being so careful not to get hurt...it was all exhausting work. She waited, feeling Geraldus's eyes upon her back as it was exposed to him and a small self-conscious part of her wondered if he was counting her many scars there. She felt so ugly when viewed from behind. It all made her blush.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

His cock was as hard as it was at the beginning of the evening. But while his cock had been desensitized, his brain had not and his libido was no different from any other young man. His balls ached! He was having sex with a very beautiful woman and had had sex with another before that and his body craved the sensations his mind thought it should be feeling.

He barely restrained a frustrated groan and began working again at Jessiwe's pleasure. She seemed tired, certainly less animated than she had been earlier, and he wondered if she was in pain or, worse, bored. His stomach was sore from contracting to drive his cock into her, but he kept at it even as he tried using two fingers to tap in time with her heart-beat.

"I see your heart-beat, sister. I feel your honey coating my thighs. I hear your breath. Give me your pleasure again," he coaxed softly. "Surrender yourself; our Lady desires your climax and I want to give it to you."

He wanted to let her rest. He wanted to have her use her magic mouth to suck the ache out of his loins. But he pushed her towards another orgasm because he had been ordered to do so; he was a slave.

 

[slippedhalo]

"I see your heart-beat, sister. I feel your honey coating my thighs. I hear your breath. Give me your pleasure again," he coaxed softly. "Surrender yourself; our Lady desires your climax and I want to give it to you."

The soft tones of Geraldus's voice added to Jessiwe's growing pleasure and gave her a bit more renewed energy to press on. They were more than halfway through this. She just had to relax and let him make her feel good, why was this so hard? She mused at herself, her own stubbornness and then inwardly laughed at her foolishness deciding that for the rest of it she would put on a show for their audience.

Still mindful not to move too suddenly, lest she strain their bonds, Jessiwe wriggled and writhed a little, letting herself moan and sigh softly to let Geraldus and Lady Portia both know very clearly what she did enjoy from his ministrations. The more she pepped up the show the more excited she actually did become and it was much easier for her to feel the renewed pressure building in her center, the heat threatening yet another explosion very soon.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

When Jessiwe began to carefully writhe upon him Geraldus groaned. It was like the times that Gaiana or Demiessa teased him by dancing, knowing they could inflame his passions and he had no way to relieve them. He swallowed his bitterness and concentrated on Jessiwe, trying to let his lust for her ground itself through his fingers. They double-tapped in time to her heart, accelarating with her. His hand prowled her flat belly, gliding across her sweat-slicked skin.

She came loudly, even more so than the first time, and he realized she was putting on a show. The thought filled him with admiration and bitterness. Clever girl, give the Lady what she wants. But that's who it's for.

Ironically, the Lady seemed to have fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed and she was already beginning to faintly snore. Geraldus sighed and continued tapping slowly, trying to extend Jessiwe's orgasm a little.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe shivered, riding her orgasm down carefully and sighing and cooing more privately for herself and Geraldus's sake. Lady Portia was more in dreamland than with them for the moment.

Afterward she shifted around so she could face Geraldus, a little sad that they were still connected in such a way that left them little room to truly enjoy each other as they might have wished. But, she made the best of the situation, thanking him by lying on her stomach atop him, her legs astride his hips and his arms wrapped protectively around her body. She rested against his chest, listening to his own quickened heart slow to a peaceful rhythm as they breathed deeply in time with one another. "Thank you." she whispered softly before nuzzling her head just under his chin. "I think I owe you release sometime when we are again allowed the freedom of it." she concluded sleepily.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

Jessiwe slept, Geraldus... ached. The lust coursing through him, denied any sort of escape and inflamed by the lovely woman atop him, kept him rigid and fueled the pain in his balls. His fingers twitched for a time as his desire sought to ground itself, but Jessiwe only frowned and retreated into deeper sleep. A whisper of sound caught his attention and he turned his head to see Demiessa slipping into the room.

Dorothea sent her to tidy, he realized.

The slave picked up Lady Portia's garment and quietly cleaned up the room, to include draping the blanket over Portia's sleeping form. But not Geraldus and Jessiwe. Geraldus could reach the blanket, but he was likely to pull it off of Portia.

"Bitch," he mouthed at Demiessa.

She smiled and faced him, spreading her legs. Her hands slid down her belly and began to play at her sex, tracing broad circles. She began to slowly writhe in place, a sinuous dance paced to the beating of her heart. After several minutes she lifted her hands to display the moisture that coated the fingertips and tentatively licked them clean; all but one which she rubbed upon his upper lip.

He grabbed her wrist and glared at her. She raised her eyebrows and looked significantly at the slumbering Portia. The threat was clear, so he threw her wrist from him. She smiled wickedly and left the room, hips swaying from side to side in exaggerated motion as she left him to his frustration.

Geraldus closed his eyes and tried to think of anything but sex.

 

[Otto26]

Portia

She woke slowly and stretched before rising to take her morning toilet. When she returned to the bed she saw Jessiwe wrapped in Geraldus' arms.

How very sweet, she thought. The poor boy's still stiff and stuck. That's impressive. I think I'll cement his loyalty a little now.

She reached between the two of them to unclip the rings binding them together. The motion woke them both and Jessiwe looked up at her questioningly.

"Your brother's turn, pet. Suck the pain out of him," she ordered.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe nodded sleepily, yawned and stretched as she climbed down Geraldus's body, only looking up at him once to see if he was also awake. She wrapped her plump lips around the head of his shaft, tasting her own moisture still pungeant there after so many hours trapped inside her. With a pleasant smile, happy to repay his kindness, she licked and sucked as she had never done before, fully rested, her energy was at it's best and soon she had him writhing and groaning beneath her. So, to reward him further she gently scratched his balls with her fingernails, so lightly it was a teasing more than anything else, occasionally running her fingertip lightly over the soft patch of skin behind his balls as she stroked his shaft with her other hand and sucked his manhood deep as possible with her mouth and throat.

 

[Otto26]

Portia

Jessiwe, it seemed, had a mouth that was as talented with men as it was with women.

How very useful, Portia thought. I can think of several visitors who would be more amenable to suggestion in a satiated state. Little Geraldus looks as if his heart is about to burst...

She leaned forward and kissed him, sucking the breath from his body even as Jessiwe sucked his seed. He didn't fight either of them, though his body thrashed.

She smiled wickedly as she broke of her kiss and he gasped for air. Jessiwe seemed determined to extract every last drop of his pleasure.

Returning his favor? Or is she attracted to him? That would be helpful. She'd make a useful tool to help control him. Ugh. How can she stand the taste of him?

Musa was the only slave she ever fellated, and he was not allowed milk or meat for that reason; she had never particularly enjoyed the taste of a man's cum.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe felt a muscle flex in Geraldus hat told her he was close to his edge. She ventured a lok up at him and his eyes were closed in bliss but he seemed to sense she was looking up at him as she worked his manhood with her able mouth and he looked down at her, their eyes locking at just the right moment and a seductive stare from her sent him completely over the edge. He shook violently and moaned deep as he had his orgasm, and Jessiwe struggled to take it all in her throat but it was such a powerful amount that she felt she'd drown at one point and finally had to pull away, satisfying her need to please by instead licking the remainder from his shaft and balls as he lay relaxed and panting beneath her.

 

[Otto26]

Geraldus

He was both intolerably excited and deeply relaxed. He felt as though every ache in his body had poured out into Jessiwe's mouth and his body was now slipping ever deeper into a pool of warmth. She continued to lap at him, momentarily raising his body to a peak of pleasure and then letting him slide back down into the relaxation. His cock slowly sagged.

"Thank you, my Lady. Thank you, sister," he panted.

"You're not going to bait Musa any more are you, Geraldus?" Portia asked as she watched Jessiwe.

It took him a moment to understand, but he shook his head. "No, my Lady."

She looked at him and nodded, apparently seeing that he understood her. "Good. You and Jessiwe are excused from chores today. Teach her."

"Yes, my lady," he responded as she rose from the bed and rang a bell. Several of the bed slaves entered the room, Dorothea in the lead, and hurried to attend to the Lady. Geraldus looked down at Jessiwe and motioned with his head towards the door.

"We'll leave now, sister. The food will be gone if we delay too long."

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe followed Geraldus obediently. "What happens now?" she asked, as they entered the slaves quarters again and saw the mad rush that was apparently meal time. She felt a rumbling in her stomach and suddenly could not remember the last time she ate. Following the line of baskets with bread and fruit and a bowl of some sort of stew with darting eyes. "She murmured so that only Geraldus could hear, "They look like a pack of wild animals. Is there no order? How do I get something to eat without fighting the mob?"

 

[Otto26]

"It just looks bad," he replied. He spotted a gap and stepped into in. "Musa's the only one that will actually do anymore than bump into you, and he's probably still too weak to get up," he explained as he pulled out a couple of loaves of bread and tossed them towards Jessiwe. "Besides, he's only allowed the fruit and bread. No meat for Musa; it makes his seed taste bad and the Lady doesn't like that."

He tossed an apple over to her and held another in his mouth as he scooped up two bowls of the soup and stepped out of the throng. Gesturing for her to follow, he walked over to a screened window that looked out into the street. He set the bowls down and took a bite of his apple.

"The first and great rule," he pronounced, "is obey. Do that and you'll stay alive. If you want to prosper... that's harder. Best is to work at making the Lady happy. But you won't get far if the other slaves are mad at you. They'll drag you down in little ways."

He tore chunks of bread from the loaf and ate them quickly, sopping up soup with each bite.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe nodded and began to eat her portion. "Oh, thank you for the help. I might have stood there looking dismayed for some time before taking action without your encouragement and surely by then I would have not gotten enough of...is this lunch? I completely lost track of time. No wonder I'm hungry. We missed an evening and a morning meal." she realized as she thought aloud. "Why are you being so much nicer to me now than before?" she asked quietly so as not to embarrass him before any slaves who might be within earshot in case these things did make him self conscious.

 

[Otto26]

"Because you can suck the pain out of me," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "No one else can. Nyssa knows how to stick her finger up my ass and move it around," he gestured, "until I come. But she doesn't like to do it and her mouth is too small for me. I don't get to come very often; hard all the time and no relief. And the Lady wants me to teach you. Do you understand that?"

He looked at her for a moment before continuing. "You do poorly, I get punished. On the other hand, if I misbehave, you get punished. If I don't tell you everything, you might get a traditional welcome two or three nights a week until they get tired of you. So I'm nice to you, because I need you to listen and because I want you to suck me some more."

And because I like you, he thought, but did not say. Slaves could be friendly, but not friends. You'd have to choose between loyalties one day; as sure as the sun came up in the morning.

"This is lunch," he said. "We get up in the morning and we wash. Dorothea inspects us and assigns us tasks. Sometimes we clean the Lady's room. Sometimes we help get the apartment ready for a dinner. Exercise if we don't have anything else to do. Lunch. Wash again. Afternoons are mostly free. You can learn to dance. Learn to read if you want. Dinner and then bed if the Lady doesn't need us. It's not hard. Mostly better than being a house-slave. Lots better than being a field slave."

He gulped down the last of his soup and bit into his apple, savoring the sweet and slightly tart taste of it.

"Finish your food," he directed. "I'll show you how to bow, what to say, the basics. You want more than that... well I want something too."

 

[slippedhalo]

Jessiwe found herself chuckling at Geraldus's candor. She really didn't mind sucking him off and thought after her little experience with him inside her that she'd enjoy sex with him as well if they were allowed to do in withut their piercings connected. But, if he thought that she wouldn't without him helping her out, which she did need, she didn't mind letting him keep thinking that. "Ok. Please teach me all you can, Geraldus....and I'll help you all I can." she promised with a shy smile.

 

[slippedhalo]

Back at Castor's Estate

Aaja watched as Shiro and the other working men prepared horses for their trip. She had packed Castor's Eloriel's and her things and now she and her companion cuddled with one another as they waited for Castor and guest to join them and set off.

 

[Otto26]

Castor rubbed his eyes as he leaned back against a wall. Oh, but he was tired. He'd overseen the packing of the library, sent the books off to the country home of one of his minor clients. He'd had to argue with Mistress Fortunata to convince her to accompany them North. 'I should bring that tart-tongued harridan to the Council and turn her loose on my opponents. Would, too, if she wasn't just as likely to bite the hand that feeds her,' he thought ruefully. Mistress Gemina had been easier to deal with, if somewhat more expensive. On top of that he'd had messengers running in and out to deliver missives to and from clients as he ensured that he would remain in communication during his absence from the capitol.

'And Lady Miren...' he sighed. Oh, she was polite; excruciatingly polite in all circumstances. Distant, haughty, and superior in a quiet way that felt like an itch which couldn't be scratched. 'I swear she expects us to forget ourselves and start grunting and throwing shit,' he thought ruefully. 'I should check on her horse. I should check on all our horses. I should get laid and get some sleep. But that last is going to have to wait until we're out of the city.' He stood upright and walked past the kitchen to the stables.

His eye was drawn to Aaja and Eloriel as they stood when he entered. The sight drew a smile from him. They hadn't had any clothing at all and walking North wearing nothing but their jewelry was simply not an option. Their new clothing appeared somewhat respectable, though it was sheer in places to better display them and... He walked over and took a kiss from Aaja and slipped his hand up between her thighs. 'Yes,' he thought, as his hand slipped between the two pieces of fabric that formed the legs of her clothing and found her soft sex, 'if you know the secrets, then their clothing is really very exciting.'

He broke off his kiss to give Eloriel, silently clamoring for his attention, one of her own. He reflected, again, on the change in Aaja's companion. He was certain she found greater pleasure in Aaja's arms, but since he had embraced Aaja's pregnancy she had become... enthusiastic? 'No, not quite the right word, though she certainly is. I think I may be attributing sexual significance to her emotional behavior. Gemina said that women in Aaja's culture use sexual behavior as a way of reinforcing intimacy. Perhaps that's how Eloriel views this situation? She sees this as her family so when I'm fondly Aaja she sees intimacy and wants to contribute and receive?' It was something to think about.

Aaja was squirming a little and he wondered if that was excitement at his touch or nervousness about other men, particularly her brother, working immediately behind him. He withdrew his hand with a smile that promised more attention at a later time and placed it gently on her belly.

"A long walk will do the baby good," he promised.

 

[slippedhalo]

Aaja nodded, smiling up at Castor. "It already makes demands,Lord. This morning I awoke at once sickened to my stomach and voraciously hungry for an apple all at the same time. When I ventured to ask for an apple in the kitchens I was offered a dozen. She laughed lightly, "I only ate one. That's all I needed."

Eloriel put her arm around Aaja's shoulders protectively saying, "If the baby makes any more demands, love, please let me know and I can serve both your needs."

 

[Otto26]

Castor chuckled. "You do that, Eloriel. Take care of our Aaja and child."

A discreet cough from behind him attracted his attention and he turned. "Yes, Maurice?"

"We're ready, Lord. Best we be off and let our escorts catch up with us."

Castor nodded. "Everything on mules?"

"Regular as a supply train, Lord. The old lads feel right at home and the new lads'll shape nicely for this little pleasure jaunt. Two, three days out the infantry will be complaining that we move as fast as old ladies on a sunday stroll."

"Enough to mount everyone?"

Maurice nodded.

"Good. The messengers are all away?"

"Yes, Lord. We'll have accomodations and local scouts until we reach the Free Towns."

And so it proved. They broke camp each morning at sunrise and were back on the Shah's road when the sun was no more than two fingers high. As Maurice had predicted, their infantry escort caught up with them on the second day, complaining about having to move so fast to catch up and on the third day complained about having to move so slowly. They took their lunch on the move and stopped at mid-afternoon to set up camp for the evening. This usually meant moving into shelters already erected by Castor's clients and then posting guards.

The evenings were spent dining and drinking with the local clients, all of whom, took the opportunity to refresh their aquaintance with their lord and, more often than not, present a petition for redress of some minor grievance. The clients, also inevitably, brought their older sons. These young men became the local guides, accompanying them on the day's journey. Not a few of them were old enough to have seen some military service, and Castor took the opportunity to recruit more than a few of these, so by the time they were nearing the Northern border he had more men under arms than his official escort.

Scheming aside, Castor found the trip pleasant. The pace was slow, in comparison to military movement, and the road and the weather were good. Too, he got to show off Aaja and Eloriel every evening and bask in the congratulations and compliments of his clients. Maurice had, again, correctly assessed the situation. Rough countrymen cared little for the distinctions of class, many enough had slaves that were family members in all but name and more than a few had ancestors, sometimes parents, who had been unfree. They saw beautiful young women and a child that offered the hope of stability to their own children when it came time for Castor to pass from this life.

This obvious affection had a calming effect on Shiro, who seemed to be better able to accept the jibes his peers directed at him regarding his sister. There were fewer jibes, though. From the second day, when Shiro had demonstrated his ability with horses, he had been assigned to the mounted scouts who kept watch over the convoy by ranging far and wide across the countryside. Too, Castor had asked Maurice to give the lad some special attention and he had heard that Aaja had given him a talking to.

When the clients could be shooed away early enough Castor spent his nights in the arms, more accurately between the thighs, of Aaja and Eloriel. Eloriel, it seemed to him, had taken it into her head that part of her job was to protect Aaja from Castor's excessive lusts. She did this by offering herself up in Aaja's place. Aaja, on the other hand, seemed cheerfully insatiable and sought him out whenever they had some privacy and time. The end result being that Castor often slept-walked through the day, sometimes he even failed to rise to Lady Miren's needling.

The first substantial Free Town was Brundusi and it set the tone for subsequent ecounters. First the scouts would encounter a village and let them know that an Imperial delegation was approaching. This would empty the countryside as the villagers fled for the protection of the nearest town. Then they would reach the town and have to assure the notables that they had arrived in peace. After they negotiated an entry into the town, they would would have to deal with the claims of damages brought against them for frightening the local populace into abandoing their property. On one occasion negotiations reached the point that Castor's men were minutes away from assaulting the town before the town elders backed down on their demands. Investigating the activities of imperial slavers always took several days and involved listening to lengthy recitations of damages done and, more often than not, the delivery of claims for those damages.

Of course, this was when things went well. If the next town to be visited was on unfavorable terms with the current town, then negotiations for passing unmolested through the countryside could take days. Castor whiled away the time by scheming. In each town he found farmers who were down on their luck and purchased an interest in their property. In the towns themselves he bought distressed properties and turned them into trading posts, manned by several of his clients. He was halfway through the towns before the merchants realized the safe-passages he had negotiated extended to his agents who showed every sign of settling in on a permanent basis. A safe-trade network backed by Imperial might suddenly seemed like a recipe for economic disaster for those small merchants. Castor defused that crisis by offering to carry their goods in the protected convoys for a very small price, or to make them partners included under the terms of the safe-passages. It made the negotiations and investigations almost a bearable tedium.

But Timasius had been increasingly insistent that they come North, so Castor, taking only his personal guards and household, left the official escort behind in one of the towns and rode North into the Barrens. They found the trading post Timasius had established sitting on a ridgeline between two valleys.

"It's a border between two ranges, Lord," Timasius explained. "As close to neutral territory as can be found. And both of the groups considered it wasted land; too steep to build on or graze horses. I'm fairly certain they were laughing at us behind our backs. They don't laugh much anymore."

Castor could see why. Timasius had built stone terraces to create flat spaces to put his buildings on. These terraces connected to each other by covered staircases. What had emerged, in the end, was a considerable fortress; not up to Imperial standards for a permanent fortification, of course, but more than adequate to withstand an assault by light horsemen. It was also more than enough to impress semi-nomadic horsemen who rarely saw anything resembling permanent architecture.

Another surprise was the staff.

"What else was I going to do with them, Lord? The Lomnaajii think they're unclean and won't take them back. I could have sent them South but that would have just shifted the problem to you. They know Lomnaajii customs and don't have anymore formal attachment to them, putting them to work seemed like a good idea."

The staff were mostly Lomnaajii who had been enslaved. Timasius had taken his instructions broadly and had bought up every Lomnaajii slave he could find in the Free Towns. A smattering of the mountain folk rounded out the staff.

Castor pointed at one of the females, who was almost as pregnant as Aaja, and raised his eyebrows in question.

Timasius looked a little embarassed. "Xeema, Lord. The child is mine. I had hoped to find a few moments of your time to discuss purchasing her from you."

"She's yours, Timasius; I give her to you. You've done very well here and I'm pleased. I'm also tired. So if you'll be kind enough to show us to our room I'll thank you again."

Timasius laughed. "This way, Lord."

The room was in one of the highest buildings. It had a magnificent view of the surrounding terrain if you were willing to leave the oilskin windows open. The bed was substantial and covered in furs. Timasius apologized for the small size and lack of heating.

"They mine coal in the Towns and I've ordered some, but the Lomnaajii won't sell us any horse dung because they need it for themselves. There's precious little wood on these moors and they don't hold with burning any of it."

"It's fine, Timasisus. I brought my own warmers with me," he joked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Eloriel and Aaja. "Go talk to Xeema and I'll get unpacked."

The man left, in something of a hurry, and Castor looked at his slaves. "Make it homelike," he ordered.