It took two days before Kamea got around to setting up interviews to hire new servants. And they would be male. She savored that word. Male. Maybe she should do like her husband and take one as her lover. The duke was noticeably less impressed by the prospect of hiring new people to replace Joy and Hope. He was still smarting from their defiance as they had left, and disliked the idea that he would be replacing them with young males. Whilst his wife’s eye had never wandered yet, well, he was damned if he’d suffer the embarrassment of having her running off with a slave. Not that they would be true slaves, and that was another thing that hurt the Duke’s over inflated ego, he would be having to pay them a monthly wage, as small as it was.
Even as they walked towards the trade fair where prospective employees attempted to sell their services a grim scowl was embedded on the Duke’s face. Kamea ignored her husband's scowl. It was her turn to find some justice and maybe some satisfaction of her own. The crowd parted slightly at their approach, the looks directed at the Duke strained but the ones at Kamea were decidedly friendlier.
The Duke was not going to waste his time, his wife wanted to choose who she was hiring so she could choose. He cast an intimidating stare over everyone nearby as he stalked around menacingly, waiting until his wife had picked who she wanted. Then he would be forced to part with some of his money for the handling fee, and that would just be the start of the problems.
Kamea hid the amusement she was feeling at her husband's expense. She took her time looking over the pool of those who had come to be employed by any who would take them. Finally she spotted a trio of men, all of them very different. They wore slightly better clothes and seemed detached from those around them. Intrigued by their demeanor, Kamea walked toward them.
The Duke frowned, creasing his angry looking face yet further as he watched his wife walk towards the group of three young men. Surely she wouldn’t try and hire more than the two they required? But if she did, what could he do? She did, unfortunately, have authority in this matter. He’d given it to her, and should he choose to argue, well, he would see his power undermined in front of a large crowd of people and that could not happen. He would have to pay for the workers and attempt to deal with the problem later.
"You three. Yes, you three, come here." Kamea ordered. She was practically melting over them. All were muscular not to the point of being overly built but not puny either. Each of them had hair the shades of the like she had never seen. One red so dark it remind her of rubies. The taller one had hair that was black as night and the last one's pale blonde hair looked silver. She waited for them to come to her.
The Duke growled inwardly to himself, moving over to his wife’s side as the three finely formed young men came over. They look perhaps as fit as he had done fifteen years ago, but even though he kept himself in fine form he would not have been able to rival any of the three now in terms of physical strength and fitness. He knew his wife had picked them for their attractiveness and that grated against his pride hard. His mind as ever suspicious of his wife’s motives.
“What are your names?" Kamea demanded, her eyes roving over the three males’ bodies.
"I'm Keyvan," the black haired one responded first before pointing to the red haired male. "He is Nyston and the other one," he pointed to the last young man with the silver hair. "His name is Adim."
"Hmm interesting names. You are not from these parts. Why are you here?" Kamea asked.
The Duke eyed each of the men in turn. Foreigners, well that just made it worse for him. He was a racist on top of being a bigot. The look he was giving them was not left unnoticed by the men. Adim and Nyston stayed silent, letting Keyvan take the lead as he had already spoken. Keyvan had noted the Duke’s expression as well, but since it seemed the woman was in charge he decided to go ahead and reply.
“Work is not plentiful where we have come from, so we decided to move and seek out fortunes elsewhere.” Keyvan said confidently, though with enough reverence in his voice to compliment Kamea’s authority.
"You are no stranger to hard work then? And you are not above doing menial tasks such as washing clothes?" Kamea wanted to see how far these three men were willing to go in order to find work.
“No your ladyship, we are used to hard work and are willing to do any job that will earn us an honest wage,” Keyvan replied sincerely.
"Since you have been brave enough to come this far and to answer my questions honestly. You are hired. All three of you." Kamea smiled happily as she turned to Jedrek. "I will take these three."
The Duke nodded his grudging ascent, “I’ll go pay the handling fee,” he grunted then stepped forward into the crowd to find the man who ran the fair so he could be parted with his beloved money. Kamea smiled and licked her lips. Oh yes, things were indeed looking better already.
* * * * * * * *
Dinner that evening was met in almost silence. The Duke had spent the rest of the day sorting finances and making sure various money making schemes he was overseeing where on track. He wasn’t happy with it, but he had allowed Kamea to take the three new servants around the house, showing them their duties and where they would be staying. Now he sat opposite her, waiting for the cook to bring their food. “Happy with you acquisitions darling?” He asked rather woodenly.
"Yes. I will get a lot of the neglected house work done and the garden will finally be finished as well." Kamea smiled happily choosing to ignore Jedrek's dark looks.
“Excellent.” Jedrek said. He knew it was no small fault of his own that the girls hadn’t been able to spend much time on the garden and it had fallen into a state of partial disrepair. “Well, this day marks a new beginning then.”
"Yes to a new day," she replied while thinking, a new day and new adventures, especially for herself.
The food arrived, interrupting any attempt by Jedrek to speak. Though did he actually have anything to say? He wasn’t sure he did. He had lost the source of his depraved pleasure and his mind was awash with thoughts that his wife would be looking to imitate the acts of betrayal he had committed. To get her revenge on him using these new servants. And now she carried his child there wasn’t much he could do about it.
Kamea hungrily ate her meal, content to let the silence linger. She had stopped having things to say to Jedrek a long time ago. Jedrek’s mind was not one that stopped scheming and it soon drifted to the thought of the small glass vial he had in his pocket. Yes, he could use that. Use it to get his wife into a suitable mood to accept his attentions. “Please darling, wait for dessert,” Jedrek requested in a much more civil tone than he had been using earlier as he stood. “I will go and check to see if it is ready.”
He quickly covered the distance to the kitchen with his long strides, intercepting the cook just as she was about to enter the room. “Wait,” He ordered, stopping the cook from coming into Kamea’s line of sight as he pulled the glass vial from his pocket and placed a few drops on her dessert. “Enter a few seconds after I have sat down.” He ordered calmly, re-entering the dinning room and taking his place at the table once more.
“Dessert is on its way,” he said with a smile provoking absolutely no response from Kamea whatsoever. She waited, face blank as the cook brought the food to the table, bowed and then left. They ate, again, in complete silence, Jedrek working hard to hide his anticipation towards the potion’s effects. And yet they did not come, not in the space of a few minutes as they had done last time. He frowned slightly, considering giving his wife even more of the magical potion when his thoughts where interrupted by the entrance of one of the new servants who rushed over and bowed, waiting for permission to speak. Jedrek granted it with an irritated wave of his hand, “What?”
“Sir, you have to come quickly. They have just apprehended a man stealing from one of the local farmers, your presence is requested at the magistrate’s court.”
Jedrek swore under his breath. So typical that his position as one of the town’s law makers would get in his way at a time like this. “Fine,” He snapped back, standing from the table. “I will be back shortly,” He said to Kamea and strode from the room, servant in tow.
*********
Kamea felt strange, as if her head was full of too many thoughts and her skin was suddenly sensitive, even the feel of her clothing made her want to shed it and feel the cool breeze that would take the edge off the heat her body was producing. Stumbling along, she vaguely realized she was in the servants' quarters. She felt, restless in a very unfulfilled way. She needed...well she wasn't sure but she would know when she found it.
Keyvan returned to the servants' quarters and closed the door. He had finished some chores on one of the upper floors and had come back to cleanup and change for the next set of chores. He turned around and noticed Kamea standing in the hall in a daze. "Milady!" he said startled.
"Hello Keyvan, where are your brothers?" Kamea was looking at him and she felt her blood stirring.
Keyvan looked around. "Nyston is in the garden and Adim is in the cellar. They should be back soon. Is there anything....I can help you with?" Keyvan asked unsure.
"Yes, I want you and your two brothers to be in the room down the hall in fifteen minutes. I have a special welcome gift for you." Kamea said with a smile.
Keyvan nodded and opened the door for Kamea. "We shall be there, milady." he replied courteously.
"See that you do." Hurriedly she left him and taking one of the secret passages made it to her bedroom to change into something, more sensual. She made it back to the room and casually displayed herself in all her glory, hair unbound, eyes wide.
As Keyvan changed, Adim entered the quarters. Keyvan looked over at him and smiled. "Hurry up and get changed. Milady wants to see all three of us in fifteen minutes." No sooner than he had said that, Nyston entered the quarters. "You too. Hurry up and change. Milady wants to see all of us." All three changed and headed out of the quarters and towards the room down the hall.
Kamea could feel her nipples hardening as the sound of approaching footsteps came closer. Her body felt hot and she wanted that fire quenched. When the knock sounded she had to fight to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "Enter," she called out.
Keyvan turned the handle on the door and entered as Adim and Nyston followed. They were dressed in simple garb that distinguished their status as servants rather than aristocracy. "We are here milady. How may we serve you?" Keyvan asked as all three of them gave a slight bow.
