.

[Vagrant]

Of course he made sense. He was a Noble, and when he wanted to he could make quite a lot of sense. The trick was to say what the person listen would believe. He was already thinking about ways to get her into the correct frame of mind for what he wanted of her.

The first step, he knew was to detach her from reality, make him her only anchor to what was real, and guide her into what he desired of her. And for that, he needed something special.

Under the guise of punishing one of his own men, he found a herbalist that had survived the fighting. He requested the man provide him with herbs and other ingredients that could be added to food that would cause a mild, long lasting psychotropic effect. He tested this out on one of his men, with the herbalist watching to confirm both that the herbs worked, and so that he could attest to the fact he was using them as he said he was.

Of course, that was the only time his man was subjected to the herbs. Moira on the other hand was fed a steady diet of them in her food. The amounts were measured carefully so that as the effect was wearing off, the dose from the next meal was just taking effect.

Everything would take on something of a dreamlike quality, but would not seem incredibly outrageous. There wouldn't be enough herb to cause massive hallucinations, or anything along those lines.

 

[Vagrant]

As it happened, Eric couldn't hear her. About 2 hours after she started to vomit, he did come down to see her however. More to see how she was reacting to the food than any concern. When one of the guards explained the situation before he got to her cell he cursed under his breath. The failure irked him. Not only was he not able to capitalize on her drugged state, she now suspected something, if her cursing his name once again was any sign.

As he approached her cell he looked at her. The guards had given her a bucket at some point, to help contain what she was expelling. "I see something doesn't agree with you. How are you feeling?"

 

[Vagrant]

"Well, I must say that I am sorry to see you so ill, Moira. That was, unfortunately, not my intention. You are a very willful young woman and for what I desire of you, something more pliable is required. I had hoped to achieve that through less obtrusive means, but I guess that isn't to be the case."

He wasn't phased at all by her words, and simply stood there watching her as he delivers his little speech. Sure, he's admitting to trying to drug her, but there is little she can do about it. And he was intrigued by her fiery temper. Already his mind was working on a new possible course of action.

 

[Vagrant]

"Well, if you weren't so weak and behind the bars of your cell. And I have no doubt that your feelings for me have never wavered in their hatred. But, I DO have the antidote for those particular herbs you've eaten. I assure you you won't die, but the next day or two will be entirely unpleasant."

He smiled at her.

"Oh, and since this avenue seems to be blocked to me, I will have to find more... barbaric means to bend you to my desire. Some of it you may not find pleasant. So, should I give you the antidote? Doing so will of course put you in my debt. Something I would collect when I chose."

He stood and waited for her response.

 

[Vagrant]

He laughed at that. "Barbarians. I come here with a well trained, well equipped army at my command, facing a ragtag bunch of peasants, and you call ME a barbarian. That is too funny."

It took him several moments to compose himself. "Since you didn't answer my question, I suppose you feel it was not worth an answer, and as such you do not want the antidote. Very well then. But I must say, your vomit has quite the smell to it. Rather offensive I must say."

He looked at his men. "You two, get her up, and bring her to that room over there. And once she's restrained, find someone to clean this mess up."

The men nodded and opened the cell, eah of them grabbing her by the shoulder and carrying her out of the cell and down the hall towards another room. Once inside she was manacled, her feet chained to the floor and her hands above her head.

Eric came in once she was completely restrained, and one of the guards left.

"You need a bath." He nodded to the remaining guard and he threw a bucket of very cold water on her. Thoroughly soaking her.

 

[Vagrant]

"Hmmm, you'd think by now you would have nothing left in there... Just think. If it wasn't for your father, you wouldn't be in this position. You would be up in your rooms, enjoying the day, spending it with your friends, and your dog. Instead, you are down here."

He watched her look at him with hatred in her eyes. She had been looking at him before with something akin to acceptance, if grudgingly, but this was much more interesting. Sure he probably could have seduced her, made her love him... but that wasn't what he wanted. At least not totally, and to start with that and then try to get the rest of it, he would have had to go through all this anyway... because love just doesn't survive when someone is trying to make you into a glorified sex slave.

"Your heart my rail against that. Not wanting to even consider this is all your father's fault, but your head knows better. It knows that this never should have happened. It knows your father was a fool to fight back. That he brought ruin to your people. Even if you won't admit it."

 

[Vagrant]

With a nod from Eric, she was doused with another bucket of water.

"Your father did not consider the cost of failure. He did not consider what might happen to his family. All he cared about was the fact he was not going ot be in control anymore. If he DID care about you and your people, he would not have lead them to oblivion like he did. You said yourself, he was a fool. He stole your life. And I want to give you a new life. Which of us is more deserving of your hatred, Moira?"

 

[Vagrant]

"Yes, I am punishing you right now. But only because you insist on resisting me. Did your father not punish you for misbehaving when you were young? How can you judge the life I offer you if all you have seen is what comes from misbehaving? Certainly if all you knew of your father was the punishments he inflicted upon you, you would certainly not think of him so fondly."

Eric waved the guard over and he brought another brazier with him, placing it near Moira so she could feel it's warmth. It was an example of a reward for the time being, though he didn't tell her that. "Here, you are shivering. This should help."

"Tell me, Moira. Did you father make any effort to keep you and the rest of your family safe should things go wrong? Because my men found you alone, hiding under a table. I still do not know what became of your mother. Certainly a leader concerned with his people rather than his station would have done everything possible to preserve the lives of those who survived. But not your father... Your people were still huddled in their homes, and running through the streets. He didn't even try to surrender and bargain for your safety. He simply didn't care."

 

[Vagrant]

And with that, the brazier was taken away. It wouldn't be returned until she was more cooperative. "Scared of you? Hardly. Though your taunts are rather amusing. If you want to get the Brazier back, you'll have to do better than that though."

"So, tell me why your father is such a paragon of goodness. Explain to me why he deserves such loyalty."

 

[Vagrant]

"So then do your daughterly duty and defend the good name of your father. Tell me that I am wrong about him. Tell me that everything I have said about him is wholly untrue. That he had a plan for your survival, that he didn't rush headlong into a battle without a fallback plan. That he DID care about your people and not simply his position as their Lord. Tell me all that Moira. Convince me of that, if you truly believe it. Because if you truly believe it, you will convince me."

He crossed his arms and waited for her response.

 

[Vagrant]

He shook his head. "The most obvious way that you would have known would if you were told where to go should anything bad happen. And don't give me that excuse that you were just a girl. The way you handle a sword proves your father showed you quite a lot of attention, and trusted you enough to teach you to fight. But you say he WOULDN'T have let you know any plans of escape that YOU would have to follow if things went awry? That is weak. You can't honestly believe what you are saying, can you?"

 

[Vagrant]

The guard silently moved the Brazier closer.

"Do you want the antidote to settle your stomache, Moira? I think you have suffered enough."

He took a small bottle from his pocket and held it in his hand. "Lying to me and yourself is not going to make me stop. I'll stop much sooner if you simply tell me the truth. Telling me the truth harms nobody, while lying prolongs your own discomfort. So, why lie? Why do this to yourself. Simply to avoid admitting the truth about the real reason you are here? Simply to avoid the fact that your father betrayed you and left you with nothing?"

 

[Vagrant]

After she passed out, she was unchained and once this time, warm water was used to wash away any vomit she may have gotten on her. The antidote was administered slowly, letting her reflexively swallow it.

When she awoke, she would be back in her own room, not the cell. Though there would be bars on the windows preventing her from jumping, any weapons in the room had been removed, and while any secret passageways had been left accessible, the exits were sealed.

She was left with plenty to do, all of her hobbies that did not require outdoors, or weapons, had been kept in the room. Though her collection of books was replaced with various volumes of erotica, and manuals on that act of intercourse.

The fact that she was there at all was another one of Eric's sudden changes of direction. He wanted to keep her off balance. Not knowing what to expect.

 

[Vagrant]

Her clothes were there, for the most part. There were some missing, and in their place there were some more revealing outfits. Nothing major, some cleavage, maybe a bare midriff, nothing overtly whorish, or indecent.

When the sun was high overhead, Eric himself brought her lunch. He figured she would accuse him of trying to poison her. He of course would not. The meal was not all that extravagent, but he did bring her some wine to drink it with. The wine was the only drink, however.

"I see you are awake. How did you sleep?"

 

[Vagrant]

He set the tray infront of her, as well as the bottle of wine. "I'm glad to hear it." He ignored the icy undertones. "I hope your rooms are comfortable. I had to make some changes. The bars, and the lack of your weaponry, for example. It's a trust issue."

"Is there anything you would like to talk about? Break up the monotony of your day perhaps?" He looked at her while she ate.

 

[Vagrant]

He smiled at her question. "I would be happy to explain anything you don't understand, my dear. Stand up."

He stood and waited for her to to the same. Once she did, he started to point things out to her. "Errogenous zones are areas of the body, like your breasts, that make you feel aroused if they are stimulated. The clitoris, is a small nub...right.... here."

As he was explaining the clitoris, he reached under her gown and caressed her between the legs, finding her clit and giving it a gentle rub.

 

[Vagrant]

He caressed her for several more moments, waiting to see if she would pull away, but when she didn't, he stopped and withdrew his hand. "Innappropriate? Hardly. If you haven't figured it out yet, I intend on taking you as a concubine. Such contact is hardly innappriate in that regard."

He smiled at her, sure there would be another fire storm of her rage.

 

[Vagrant]

He smiled at her reaction. Already she was learning. It would only be a matter of time now. "Very well. I will be in again tommorow at lunch, one of the guards will bring your breakfast and dinner."

He strode towards the door, but before he left, he turned to her once again. "Make no mistake, this will come to pass. I think you'll find it isn't nearly so horrible as you imagine. I expect you to read every day. I'm not going to make some idiotic demand that you must read a book a day, but I will expect you to read a large amount, each day. I'll see you tommorow." And with that, he left.

 

[Vagrant]

He smiled as he heard her scream at him after the door was closed. He decided he would forget about that little outburst for the time being. After all, it wouldn't do very good if she never got to spend any time in her rather luxurious suroundings before he hauled her out for more punishment. And he simply didn't want to extinguish that fire in her completely. That was one of the things that attracted him to her in the first place.

True to his word, the next day, he brought her lunch. And would continue to do so each and every day afterwards. He would insist that she eat and drink everything he brought her, and her drinks would always be alcohol of some sort, except for in the morning, that's just not a good diet otherwise.

She may notice something amiss with her clothing, but it would be very subtle, so she may not. Whenever a gown or some other article of clothing was sent to be laundered, it would return altered as well. More revealing, more form fitting. Eric said nothing about the changes, however.

 

[Vagrant]

He frowned at her untouched breakfast, and her refusal to eat lunch. "You are not getting fat. If you ARE putting on weight, it is simply making you more voluptuous, which is not a bad thing. Now, eat your lunch."

One thing he had to admit, his seamstresses were quite skilled. The gown she was currently wearing was quite fetching on her.

"As for your books, I'm afraid that's not something I am willing to do. You need to be educated in these subjects. You are still far to innocent."

 

[Vagrant]

"Oh you do. And how can you enjoy being innocent if you have never experienced what you are innocent of? Tell me, can you truly appreciate the sun if you have never seen night? And if you simply barr yourself from what night can bring, how do you know you do not enjoy the moon?" He smiled at her, still being patient, though his patience was running thin.

"So, to say you enjoy being pure and innocent is something of a fallacy, because you have no experience with the alternative... aside from our brief contact several days ago. Which, I assume you found disgusting and vulgar... But that wasn't what I saw in you, becoming flushed and moaning as I stroked you."

 

[Vagrant]

"You are walking very close to the edge of my patience, Moira. While I do not want you to simply be a mindless follower, I do expect obedience from you. So far, you have failed to eat, which is simply a request for your health's sake, and I sincerely doubt you have been doing your reading. Now, you are once again slinging insults. I honestly thought we were past this. I guess this means another punishment is in order."

He stood up. "Guards!" As he shouted for his men the door opened and the same 2 guards as last time walked in. "Take the lady down to the dungeon. You know where I want her." The men nodded and moved to grab her.

 

[Vagrant]

He shook his head sadly, as if it pained him to have to do this to her. "Regretably, it is far too late for that... Perhaps next time you will put that fire in you to better uses that to try and sling verbal barbs at me..."

The guards cornered her and seized her, bringing her once again back down to the dungeons. This time she was not suspended like she was before, instead she was restrained to a table, with straps going around her wrists, under each arm and over the shoulder, over her hips, and on her ankles.

Since Eric was still not present, she was left alone to think about her situation.

 

[Vagrant]

Eric came in after about an hour of alone time for Moira. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, my dear. An urgent matter demanded my attention. And before you ask, no, it wasn't all out war, or your people rising up to overthrow me, or anything so grand. It was a dispute between two merchants... your people, actually. For the most part, their lives have returned to normal."

He walked around the table she was strapped to. "Now, since you DID express remorse for what you did, I have decided to be lenient. Rather than the full punishment I had in store for you, I will only go half way. And if you are wondering what this punishment will be... It's simple. I will be piercing your nipple, and giving you a lovely silver ring. Since you value your purity so much, I decided on silver rather than simply iron."

He smiled at her.

 

[Vagrant]

He had every intention of going through with his plans, but he was curious now. "And what would you offer in return, Moira? Certainly you must be willing to offer something quite valuable to dissuade me. So tell me, what is it you offer?"