Ailah's Submission

The long, cold stone hallway is lighted only with a sliver of moonlight. With only the soft scuffling sounds of his soft leather boots giving away his passage, the Lord approaches the door. He is surprised to hear a strange voice... who could be in the chambers of his most precious slave? Pausing for a moment to listen, the voices are urgent, the unknown one is a female... and her voice is awash in fear and concern. Should he listen to discover what it is they discuss? There is barely a moment to contemplate when he senses a rush of evil... not far... in the room! Why did he not sense it before??? He moves to open the door and finds it locked... for a brief moment he in angered... the slave shall suffer for this outrage... but only for a moment can he contemplate the delicious torture he will give her... for her screams hasten his actions. Quickly, he casts a spell to unlock the door... yes.. he is well versed in the magical arts... although he finds other methods often more satisfying.

Throwing the door open he stops and surveys the scene.. His heart stops... his precious one lies on the floor... and the stranger stands over her... wielding a beautifully handled knife... she is peering into the dark corner of the room, farthest from the fire... shadow creatures! He hastens to the stranger's side... only four of them... he trips over her discarded pack and brushes against her briefly... for a moment... he thought he may have seen her shudder.. from his touch? No time to consider...the creatures are slowly emerging... the strongest leading. "I can take them" the stranger mutters in a cold, husky voice. He grumbles to himself.. he doubts this bold young woman would survive and prepares his own attack. Before he is finished casting the first flame spell, the leader has charged the stranger, and with lightning fast attacks, dagger flashing, she slashes it and in moments it lays at her feet. Impressive... but he notices she is breathing hard... mentally he probes her ... no... she is not injured.... no time to puzzle over it though, as the remaining three charge... although without the power of the first, and without organization they are quickly dispatched by a combination of the Lord's powerful war spells and the stranger's sharp blade.

The Lord drops to his slave's side, surveys her condition. The stranger whispers desperately, "do you know the healing arts?" as she pulls a potion from her fallen backpack. No time to answer, he is already casting the first healing spell. The stranger watches from a short distance, quietly replacing her supplies. She moves away and stands by the fire, watching as the Lord lifts the unconscious woman to the soft bed, a spell of sleepfulness cast to hasten her recovery. He hovers for a moment, his hands moving over her, probing for unnoticed injury. Finding none, he moves determinedly to join the stranger by the fire. Now, he will have answers.

"Who are you?" The voice holds a command.. yet is spoken such that the stranger can barely hear.

Unexpectantly, she stumbles in her answer. "I .. I am... Akilah... her.. her sister."

Akilah? His mind races... no... it can't be *that* Akilah... he shakes his head... he had not known his precious one even had a sister... but this... it couldn't possibly be.... but he will save those questions for later. The Lord notices that she does not meet his eyes as she answers. Can this be the same woman who just stood so boldly before those enemies... and then expertly killed them with astounding quickness? Certainly with her talents, she could be the same one.... no... later.... He tries to look at her face, the flickering light of the fire is ample to see her features, but she has turned slightly away, peering into the fire. There are beads of sweat running down her body... even in armor, the Lord can see that her curves are beautiful. He edges closer... touching her hand... taking it into his two strong hands. "thank you... for saving her." The words are soft, loving. Akilah is surprised at that. Now there is no denying though, this beautiful and deadly dagger fighter shudders at the Lord's touch.. her strong hand seems to melt into his two larger ones. Blushing and turning away, Akilah has forgotten her hand is captive... and must stop in an awkward half turn.

"Why did the creatures come, Akilah." the Lord demands in that same commanding yet barely audible voice.

"It is my fault" she says simply, and drops her head into her free hand, sobbing. The Lord listens to this confession and reconsiders... perhaps it is "her." Interesting. Yet she seems so fragile.... It cannot possibly be. He draws her to him with her captive hand... for a moment she resists... then feels his arms around her. Her feels her body tense in panic... obviously she did not expect this... and her breathing quickens. But the strong arms of the Lord hold her, and she feels, no matter how much she silently fights it within, her body mold to his, and almost begin to relax. It is a brief comfort, as the sleeping woman moans, and the two are quickly at her side. As the Lord tends to her, Akilah edges away, picking up her pack in one smooth, quick, quiet motion. The Lord senses Akilah's panicked movement, but is preoccupied for a moment. Before she reaches the door, the Lord speaks. "Stop." Insistent, commanding, expected to be followed.

Freezing in place near the door, her body obviously tense... moreso than necessary... Akilah looks up, fear on her face. "But.. please... I must go."

As the slave sleeps again, the Lord approaches the door. "You brought ... this... to my house... now, you will be mine." Not a command, not spoken loudly. A simple statement. The Lord knows he could use his magic to make her stay, but he despises that use of it... so much more simple since it is obvious that this woman will make a perfect slave. Too bad she doesn't know it yet.. he muses to himself.

"You will remain under my roof. You will only do as I allow. This is your punishment for bringing these creatures to my house."

"But... but... sir... my Lord... more will come..." her voice fades... confusion fills her face.

"I know. You and I will deal with them. And. You will be mine." In the back of his mind, the Lord notes what she says, and concludes that this could be the one. It inspires him to have her... but that must wait.

He notes her breathing quicken... but she does not protest... at least not out loud. He beckons to her to follow him out the door, and he leads Akilah down the hall. She does follows without protest ... ahhh he was right... such a good start. He leads her to the end of the hallway to a room with a barred door.

"This shall be your room, our room." he states as he opens the door. Inside... there is only darkness... Akilah stands just within... waiting for her eyes to see even one feature within... but .. nothing.

"You do not need to see. I will be your eyes. You do not need to hear. I will be your ears. When the dark ones return, you will know, and you shall be able to leave this room to deal with them. Until then... " his hand reaches for her, and somehow... all her armor falls to the floor. Her silk underclothes are also deftly removed. In less than a minute, she is standing naked before him. The room is dark, but Akilah notices there is light.. surrounding the Lord. She scowls at him, her body and face stiffen.. how dare he think... his voice... again... barely audible yet one of absolute authority, interrupts her thoughts. "You are mine." Her chin rises, she appears regal despite that she is standing before him naked and and vulnerable. She does not however voice her protests. With a look of self satisfaction, he moves to the door, leaving her standing alone in the darkness.

"I must consult my advisors, warn of the threat upon us. I will return. I recommend you rest. You will know if the threat returns... if you sense it within these walls, you are to come immediately. I trust you to do so." The last was a small confession, obviously the woman had the sense.. but then.. one who may have been responsible for vanquishing the dark creatures' leader would have gained that sense... he must determine if she was that one or not. It seemed possible, yet he could not yet believe.

"but... you leave me.. with all my ... belongings?" Akilah's quiet inquiry interrupts the Lord's thoughts, her eyes glancing at her dagger... only inches from her armor which lay at her feet.

Shaking his head, he manages a small smile at her confusion. "Yes of course, without them you cannot fight the creatures, as a babe cannot fight a tiger." Soon she will understand the power he already has over her. Not complete, that will take a little time. Soon, very soon. He looks forward to her surrender, moreso if she is who he suspects her to be. Quietly he opens the door, savors one last look at her beautiful body, her confused, almost angry, pouting face... ah there is work to do, no time for dawdling. He closes the door but does not bar it.... he knows she will remain.

Akilah stands naked in the darkness for what seems like hours, waiting for her eyes to find some features of the room, though it remains pitch black. It is not uncomfortable, as the room is warm and there are no drafts. Strange for a castle as old as this, she puts her mind to contemplating the whole of her surroundings. As she can see nothing, she must explore. She begins by moving towards the door... she had been facing it, it seems a good place to start. Feeling the smooth hard coldness of the wood, she decides to go left. After only a few feet, she lets out a small laugh at herself... she didn't even try the door! Moving back to the right in a moment she is back at the door. Her hands are on it. She finds she has no desire to leave the room. How can that be? Is she not a prisoner? She leans against the door, feeling it's smoothless along her body... knowing freedom lies on the other side. What freedom though? No, she cannot go over that train of thought again.

Suddenly, she remember's the Lord's words... it is her room, "their" room. A puzzle for certain... what can the latter mean? She must explore... find the secrets hidden in the darkness of the room. Drawn from the door, she slowly slides to her left, bare feet sliding on the smooth floor. The walls are also cold and smooth under her fingertips. She reaches a corner finding nothing, then pauses and continues. Not far from the corner she feels the coldness of metal brush against her ankles. Reaching down, her hands run over the large round metal protrusions.. there are two, a few feet apart. As she stands again, she runs her hands up the wall, and finds 2 more similar. Each has a hole making it large enough for her to hold onto. She reaches higher but finds nothing, so moves on again, but soon finds herself brushing against a mass of hanging chains and thick rope.

In that instant, she is afraid... more afraid than she has ever been. How can that be... she stood before the dark one's great leader not long ago and *laughed*... of course at that moment it was laugh or die. At that moment Akilah had known she was facing her death if she did not succeed. This was ... different.... Why had she come here anyway? Yes, she felt the pull of her sister. Silly of her not to realized the minions of the great one would be hunting her, and the guilt of bringing that danger to her sister plagued Akilah's heart. When she had first seen her sister, she wanted to remove her from this desolate place... yet for some reason Akilah did not understand, her sister was happy here.

In the darkness, she thought of the Lord. Eyes closing, she remembers that first touch. Why did she react so strongly? The strength of his hands, his arms around her... no, that was not enough. She felt as if his mind was within her, seeing her soul.. her wants.. .her desires. She knew from her sister's letters that he practiced the magical arts, but did know believe he ventured to the darker uses of such. Shaking her head, eyes still closed, she thinks on that first moment she stood before him naked. She wanted to please him, wondered if her killing displeased him, and if her naked body, completely at his disposal... no... what was she thinking? Eyes flying open, still unable to see, Akilah panics and realizes she has left her clothing and weapon behind. Silly... is she now as a schoolgirl? Forgetful, thoughts only of the boys at the dances... prowling for a stolen kiss from a young maiden or even more? But the helplessness overwhelms her, she collapses to the floor and sobs. Where is that brave warrior now, she mocks herself. Leaning against the wall, it's coolness gradually warming from her body, she holds her head in her hands and cries.

A warm wetness on her arms awoke her. Startled, she moved to stand. How has she slept? For how long? In front of her was the Lord, again he was surrounded by light, in his hand a washcloth.

"I thought you might need this... " and he continued to run the cloth over her body. Speechless, puzzled, she nods, it did feel good. "Please stand" he asks softly. Without thinking, she complies. Behind her she hears the Lord dipping the cloth in a basin, the sound of the water dripping back as he wringes out the excess, then the warmth on her back, starting at the top, slowly moving down and over the curve of her buttocks. Involuntarily her eyes close, and her breath quickens. In a moment she realizes he has stopped; her eyes fly open. The Lord stands before her, his eyes meeting hers, probing... she feels as if he is reaching for her soul. As her breasts rise and fall with her hastening breath, she meets his gaze, her lips part... but the fingers of his left hand are at her mouth... running over her soft lips... she remains silent. With his other hand, he begins to run the cloth over her shoulders, first one, then the other... then down onto her chest. The cloth is soft, his touch softer, and as he gently washes her breasts, her nipples harden. Blushing her eyes close again... she had been watching his movements but these reactions of her body were giving away her basest desires.

The Lord hides his smile. Who would believe he had the vanquisher of the dark creature's leader before him, naked, helpless, wanting, with only his word holding her here. He knew that Akilah was his, but she did not yet know. Today (for a new day had come) he would change that.

Continuing wordlessly, he continues down to her stomach. With even more gentleness, he washes an injury not yet healed. Holding her breath, face filled with pain, he withdraws for a moment. A tear runs down her face, and her eyes open. "It will not heal" she whispers to him. Placing the cloth back in the basin, he then takes an orb from within his robe. After a moment in his hand, it begins to glow. Holding it close to the wound, he senses the darkness within the tissue... no wonder it would not heal.. there was evil there. Speaking words Akilah did not understand, he murmurs and the orb's glow brightens. Slowly, Akilah feels the wound get warmer, and warmer... until it is like a hot iron in her side. Leaning back against the wall, she moans, but the pain increases, until it as if her entire body is on fire. Gasping for breath, clutching at the wall, knees weakening, suddenly the Lord speaks in an insistent voice.

"You must stand. If you fall, succumb to it's struggle, you will die."

No, she could not, it was too much. Writhing against the wall, just when she thought the pain could not get worse, it did. Screaming in between ragged breaths, she begged for it to stop. The room began to spin, everything looked blurry or distorted. She lost track of time, of up and down, of herself. The only anchor was the Lord's commanding voice.

"Akilah."

A pause. Her eyes open, trying to focus on the voice.

"You are mine."

Suddenly, the pain begins to recede. First from her extremeties, as if withdrawing from her body back to the wound. When all that remained was a minor pain in her wound, a small flare and it was gone. Gone! Eyes flying open, still standing, body covered in sweat, she looked around, as if seeing the room for the first time. And she was, as now the room was filled with light. But she did not have time to look around, the Lord stood before and gazed into her eyes once more, and she could do nothing but gaze back.

"The darkness is gone. You are mine." This time the Lord's voice was a whisper. She continued to meet his gaze, her breathing gradually slowing. Reaching up with one hand (where had the orb gone, she wondered?) he led her to a small side room. On the way she kept her eyes forward, afraid to look around, remembering what she encounted the evening before. She did not want to see any such things in the light of day. The small room held a large tub, filled with water. The Lord murmured a few words, and suddenly the water was steaming slightly, and it's warmth radiated to fill the room.

"I think a bath would be more appropriate, as dinner approaches," the Lord says, encouraging her, helping her into the deep warm water. Slowly immersing herself, eyes closing, body finally relaxing, she feels the Lord's hands on her shoulders, holding her. She looks up at him quizzically. "Dinner?" she asks. "Yes, dinner. You struggled long against that darkness. I did not know if you would survive." Leaving the tub he walks to a small closet in the corner, and opens it. "Here, please wear this. And here are towels." Akilah watches with amazement as the Lord brings them to a chair at the side of the tub. "When you are ready, please come to dinner. Please come soon. I will be waiting." In an instant he was gone, and she was left feeling silly, her mouth hanging open.

"Ah well, might as well enjoy, hmmmm." Akilah immerses herself, then reaches for the large bar of soap in a tray at the side of the tub. As she rubs it all over her body, she discovers she is quite aroused, full of energy, aching for... no.. what is she thinking? She is supposed to be hurrying to meet he Lord for dinner. Oh but the soap feels so good, her hands slide across her breasts, smiling at the hardness of her nipples, moaning as they passed between her legs.... suddenly feeling a presence, she stops and sits abruptly upright. Looking guiltily around, she sees no one. Laughing at her imagination, but reminded of what was requested of her, she quickly rinses and hops out of the tub. The tiles are warm under her feet; she wondered how that could be. Walking to the closet, pulling out the dress that hung there, she laughed. How long had it been since she wore a dress??? Pulling it on awkwardly, as there were no underclothes, she looked over at herself in the mirror standing in the corner.

The cut was equisite, the fabric clinging to her shoulders, following a line low to reveal her ample cleavage, tight along her body and flowing in ample waves of fabric from her hips to the floor. It took her quite a few minutes to button the seemingly endless line of tiny buttons that ran from her waist to her bust. She was tempted to stop buttoning before she reached the top, but that made the dress much too revealing, so she persevered. "Not bad," she thought, "although I shall trip over my own feet in this!" Slipping on the soft shoes, marveling at their perfect fit, she took a deep breath. Dinner. Thinking about it, she realized she was very hungry. Time to find the Lord and dinner.

Walking quickly to the main room and the door, thinking only of how she will find her way to the dining room, she fails to notice the chains and ropes on the far wall have been rearranged, and now there is an array of items hanging on the wall next to the metal eye bolts.. for that is what they were....

Somehow, perhaps it was the food calling to her stomach (she chuckled as she thought that to herself), Akilah found her way to the dining hall. Pausing in the doorway, she surveyed the room. It was not large, however there were several tables filled with folk of various stations. Some were obviously traders, their flashy garb and colorful stories entertaining those around them. Some were travelers, sharing news from whence they came. Others were perhaps from the Lord's staff... plainly dressed but fitting in well with the others. It seems that this it status quo for meals here. Still in the doorway, an old man approached her, short of stature, exquisitely dressed, he took her hand and kissed it. Standing in shock, she nodded to him. No one had ever kissed her hand before! She was not a lady, she was a warrior. Apparently these people didn't know that. Her hand still in his, he guided her to an empty seat and sat beside her. Beckoning to one of the bustling folk carrying trays of food about the hall, he whispered to the young serving man and then grinned at her. She noticed that many were staring at her, and the hall had become much quieter.