"I know what a Concubine collar is, son, and that is most definitely not one!"
"Father, let's speak in Private, she can wait outside," I replied as calmly as I could while frantically worrying about Scarlett.
"You have no idea what that is do you?" my father stated before he turned to address Scarlett, "Slave come here," he ordered.
Scarlett hesitated searching me out with a terrified look on her face.
"That was an order, when I tell you to come here you do so immediately," he continued coldly as a burst of air made Scarlett stumble forwards.
My worry overcame my own fear as I jumped between my father and Scarlett.
"Please don't hurt her father, she hasn't done anything wrong!" I implored desperately.
"That is yet to be ascertained, now be silent," he continued unphased as he stood menacingly looking past me at Scarlett, "I won't ask again, Slave, come here and present!" my father said in a tone that brooked no argument.
My next plea was immediately cut off by my father with an intimidating look, "Don't make me take your inability to follow simple instructions out on your little slave."
I felt my anger growing but it was countered by Scarlett's calming touch through the bond as she swept past running her hand along my side before flowing lithely into a kneeling position with her head bowed in a supplicatory position.
"She really is quite stunning, although her breasts are a bit on the small side for my liking," my father began while leering down at Scarlett, "and to think she is still meant to be quelled, what a waste that would be."
Scarlett flinched as he drew her hair back and I sprang forwards only to be halted by a wall of air. I tried drawing on my fire core to push through but I could only draw a pittance compared to my father's font driven power. My heart lurched as he grabbed a handful of her hair pulling her head to one side as she let out a squeak of pain. Having exposed her neck, he then ran his finger along the metal fused to her skin before spinning her to inspect her wrists as she stared back at him defiantly.
"As far as I was aware there were only a few of these in the whole kingdom," my father began looking up at me as if it were normal that he had a slave in his grip.
"What do you mean?" I asked gritting my teeth.
"If these are what I think they are then this set is extremely rare. There are only meant to be three and they are all in use," he said as he finally released Scarlett's hair and walked over to me as if Scarlett wasn't even there.
I was happy to keep his attention away from her, "So if it is not a Concubine collar, what is it?"
"Well, it looks older than those I've seen but I'd wager that these are Sorceress Manacles." He replied as I felt shock run down the bond from Scarlett as she gasped out loud.
I looked up sheepishly without any understanding of what that meant as my father turned his attention to Scarlett.
"Do you mean after the fortune I've spent on tutors your uneducated slaved knows more about Sorceress Manacles than you?" he asked with a wry smile, "Join us then slave," he ordered Scarlett while he gestured to a set of four armchairs facing each other to the side of the main table. I took a seat next to my father as Scarlett tentatively stood and moved over to my side reaching for another chair until her eyes met the severe stare of my father and she instead lowered herself to kneel at my side with her shoulder against my leg, head lowered, and arms held behind her.
He then turned his gaze down and leant forwards to address her directly, "Tell me everything you know Slave?"
Scarlett looked up clearly surprised at being spoken to and by his proximity, "Your Grace, I don't know all that much but I was taught that they were an important part of the Magus Wars. I think they were the precursor to the Soul Stone collars used to create Fonts."
"You are better educated than I expected, they were used to protect the Kingdom from Sorceresses, or at least until the Font collars were invented," he explained before he reached out and suddenly pulled her forward by the d-ring of her collar and asked in a dangerous tone, "Which is why I'd like to understand why you have a set bound to you?"
"Your Grace, I don't understand? I'm not gifted, if they were real, they would surely only work on an actual Sorceress?" she asked desperately with a fearful look as she strained against his grip.
"That is exactly what I am wondering, I'm struggling to believe that your being with my son is a mere coincidence," he replied coldly as I felt him extend an aura of intimidation over Scarlett who wilted under it.
"You can't seriously believe that she is a Sorceress Father," I said while placing my hand against the wrist holding Scarlett as I urgently wanted to protect her, "they test for gifted magic and slaves are no exception."
"Your Grace, I was tested a couple of years ago when I turned eighteen, it was negative," Scarlett burst out in a panic as I managed to keep my father's aura from affecting me too much.
"How old are you?" he asked forcefully finally releasing her as she fell back onto her haunches at my feet.
"Twenty, Your Grace," Scarlett replied as she tried to get back into position.
"Father, can you not just check if she is gifted yourself?"
He scoffed at my question, "You should know that only a Sorcerer with a Diviner core can ascertain if someone is gifted before they come into their power. If she is telling the truth then she is too young to have come into her magic," he replied with a patronising tone.
"But can the manacles be used on someone who isn't gifted?" I asked.
My father paused to think over the question before answering, "In theory they could be but to the best of my knowledge they have only ever been used on Sorceresses." He answered as his fervor faded with his response.
My father then stood glaring down at a still bewildered looking Scarlett, "Leave the room and wait for us to call you back in," he ordered as Scarlet scurried out after giving me another panicked look.
"Where in the world did you get the manacles from?" he asked me seriously as the door closed.
"They were a gift, but do you genuinely think she could be gifted?" I asked still shocked.
"Either you are ridiculously lucky and have found yourself a Sorceress or you've wasted one of the rarest artifacts in the kingdom on a pleasure slave," he continued, "I doubt they would work without her being gifted but I honestly don't know for certain. Now tell me, who gifted them to you?"
I was hesitant to say but I'd rarely ever seen my father being this serious, "I think it was Mother who sent them to me," I answered.
My father harumphed as he sat back down, "this does have all the hallmarks of her meddling. How she was able to find another set is beyond me. They should have been used for your bride to be."
