"This is a remarkable place you have here," I said to Matriarch Hun'neld. She was leading me through the bathhouse. I was telling the truth; drow architecture is gorgeous, and this was carved largely out of the rock itself. It looked especially eerie through my glasses of low-light vision; there were specially carved waterfalls pounding purple-looking water down into the rectangular pools. It was gorgeous.
"It took many slaves many years to carve this out," said Matriarch Hun'neld. She smiled at me. She was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen in my life. Like all drow, her skin was nearly jet black and her hair pure white. She wore a long, dark purple dress with black lining that crossed over her heart. Her body moved with control and elegance I'd never seen in anyone, not even the toughest warrior, and her eyes terrified me. I tried not to look into them too often. "An appropriate topic, Mr Ambassador, as we are about to pass a slave corridor on our way to the reading room.
"A slave corridor?" It filled me with equal parts dread and intrigue.
She led me through. I gasped. It was indeed a small corridor that I could see led to a library. Lined along each wall were naked human women, chained carefully to the wall. They were held in a starfish position - legs spread apart and chained to the wall by the ankle, arms above their heads and spread apart with their wrists chained to the wall. There was a light attached to the ceiling from which a very low-level light emanated.
They were beautiful. Their skin was pale; their expressions morose. They had all different hair colours, though the Matriarch seemed to prefer black. Some of them had elaborate, gorgeous tattoos along their bodies, and I was curious what they signified. They all looked down when the Matriarch and I entered.
"This is where I keep some slaves for easy access," said the Matriarch, gesturing grandly to the naked women. "There are times I come into the library or pools and I'm struck by a desire to play with one of my toys. I detest interrupting a slave already working."
"I see, I see," I said, my eyes wandering over the naked flesh. Her taste was exquisite; their bodies were agonisingly pretty. Their breasts were all different sizes; some were nearly flat, some were overflowing. Some had wide hips, some were more flat. What she definitely enjoyed was sensuous skin - all of them looked like they'd been bathed in milk and honey. "They all seem very pliant."
"Oh yes," she said airily. "Our slaves a very well trained. You see this one?" She pointed to the woman second from our left. She was a woman with short dark hair, slightly more plump than the others, with a thick black bush between her legs. The woman's eyes opened a fraction of a fraction. She was terrified but didn't want to show it. "This is Plaything. It used to be a princess. Stay still, Plaything." The Matriarch unchained the slave's ankles, and the slave kept her legs where they were, absolutely still.
"A princess of where?" I asked.
"The Ovetish kingdom," she said as she unchained 'Plaything's' wrists. "Are you familiar with it?"
"Vaguely," I said. "I met warriors who had been there. They reported it as a cruel place."
"It was," she smiled as she held the wrists of 'Plaything' behind her back. "Plaything was, in its past life, a cruel and vindictive leader." She took a rope out of her side pocket and lashed the slave's wrists together. She was looking down at the ground. "It taxed the poor and jailed those who couldn't pay. It ate cake while its people starved. It sent its warriors off to pointless wars." When she finished, the Matriarch held the slave by the shoulders, smiling sweetly, her eyes still terrifying. "I think it's new life is much better for this world. Turn around, Plaything, and show her what I gave you when I took you."
