Slave Unbound

Chapter 15

Consequences of Failure

**Characters and text are protected under copyright law

Disclaimer: This story is not meant as 'erotica', but dark adventure-fantasy. It may contain material that sensitive readers might find uncomfortable. Please be advised.

Cornelius Venge stormed down the hallway; his pace so quick that his bodyguards were having to hustle to keep up. The rapid click of his heels upon the marble was still nothing compared to the frenzied flutter of his heart, however. He dabbed roughly at his face with a handkerchief for a moment, taking a little extra effort to vigorously wipe his mouth with a slightly trembling hand.

His mind reeled, trying to organize itself. How had that little bitch managed to get control of the situation like that? How had he let her rattle him so profusely? She'd been described to him as a mousey little slip of a thing, timid and frail. Obviously, that description wasn't completely accurate, given her performances in the Arena. Still, there should have been some measure of the same girl that the Baroness Wilholme knew.

He considered that her little charade might have been meant to fluster him. Intentionally trying to throw him off step. A bluff! That made much more sense. Her success in combat must have given her enough courage to take the chance, hoping it would disorient him. Hoping a pretend show of eager desire would make him be gentle with her.

Had he kept his poise, he would have immediately seen through the thin veneer of her crazed and desperate antics. The more he considered her, the more he could see how clumsy her attempt had actually been, how much fear had been behind her thin mask. He should have called her bluff and relished in watching her last hopes of evading his violations wither away. Instead, he'd run like...like some bullied child!

The thought made him stop dead, furious at...at...her? Himself? No. Sabrina.

It suddenly made far too much sense. Sabrina had been much too easily convinced to allow him his request, had even seemed happy to oblige. The girl couldn't possibly have been savvy enough to realize what the full implications of his request were. Sabrina, however, was more than clever enough to recognize his real intentions of trying to damage her expensive little mistake. So, she must have arranged for the girl to make a fool of him. She'd likely coached her-- No. She'd had her poisonous concubine coach her.

Now things were starting to make far more sense. It was obvious now. How else could she have known who he was? Perhaps she might have recognized him from the auction yard, but that wouldn't have given her his name or what House he owned. She had to have been prepared! Instructed to attempt her insane parody of seduction.

Just as possibly, it might not have even been her! Sabrina might have found some brothel slave who resembled her. She had looked rather different than he remembered. She could well of have been someone else; Sabrina was certainly crafty enough to try something that elaborate. Still, a professional pleasure slave would have been quite so blunt or clumsy with their attempt.

No, it had to have actually been the housemaid. Just prepared for him to--

"Cornelius?" The sound of his name being spoken so unexpectedly made him leap and emit a very unfortunately high-pitched sound that only made his anger with this whole fiasco escalate.

Whirling around, he saw Sabrina, her own bodyguards and a pair of attendants around her, coming towards him from a side hallway. She looked almost convincingly confused to see him. "Are you really done with my gladiator so quickly?" She asked, noting his thoroughly disarranged appearance. "I assumed you would last...*ahem* at least a little longer."

His eyes flashed at the obvious jab, but he knew that he needed to get his poise back if he was going to regain any measure of control. Forcing himself to calm, he smoothed out his clothes and gave an airy chuckle. "I did not, I fear, find her fully to my liking, Miss Marlowe." He drawled, then added pointedly, after a pause, his sarcastic smile dropping. "Which, I'm sure, was the idea."

Sabrina raised her head and fixed him with an uncomprehending look. "My apologies, Cornelius, but I have no idea what you are talking about. I assure you, I have acted in nothing but good faith with your request." She looked down the hall from which he had just come. "Was there a problem with my slave?" When she looked back, she seemed to notice his disheveled state more keenly. "Did she attempt to assault you?!" She looked sincerely scandalized.

Cornelius cleared his throat, searching her reaction and expression with his keenest eye for any signs of deception. Though he didn't find anything to suggest she was putting on a show, all this had only reminded him how dangerous it was to ever underestimate Sabrina Marlowe. "Let's simply say she was...rather eager to get on with things. However, I don't believe she was honestly meaning me harm." He again smoothed his clothes, this time with a bit more dignity, and his rather sudden shift in attitude caught her attention, seeming to confuse her all the more.

"No." He continued, already mentally backpedaling and reconsidering just what did happen, now with clearer eyes and calmer mind. "I simply mean that I had expected her to be more...prepared. I found her awkwardness and poor attempts at trying to be appealing to be just the opposite and was quite turned off." He was already starting to feel more in control, becoming increasingly certain that Sabrina had not, in fact, orchestrated this little debacle. There would be little point in trying to claim that she'd attacked him with an intent to harm him. Sabrina's own guards would inform her of what they witnessed, without question. However, he could still paint a more positive face upon it for himself and get a fresh chance to crack her pretty little prize.

Despite all his wild conjectures of a moment before, now that he had his wits settled, he was finally starting to better recognize what really had happened. It had been he who had been unprepared. He'd expected a cowering, innocent, girl who would shrink away from the idea of being forced to slack his lust. Her willingness to please had caught him off guard well enough, but her exaggerated attempt at it had confused him into alarm.

For a brief moment, his mind snagged on the moment when she'd caught his fall effortlessly, disarming him of his wine just as effortlessly, and barely managed to suppress a shiver he couldn't quite understand. Either to stay focused in the moment or simply to escape having to analyze the implications that moment had, he pushed it immediately out of his mind. He was finally regaining the upper hand here and he couldn't allow it to be lost.

"She was simply trying too hard for my tastes and I decided she was simply too beneath me." He ran a hand absently over his hair, hoping that it hadn't been too mussed to smooth back into place. "And I fear there is simply no making a sow's ear into any sort of a purse, no matter how much silk you wrap it in."

"I see." Sabrina replied, though she still appeared quite confused. "You have my dearest apologies, Cornelius. Sincerely. Would you like me to arrange for another of my slaves, one more adept at these things, to take her place? Or would you simply prefer a refund of your payment?"

She didn't seem happy with either of those choices for some reason, which now made Cornelius the curious one. "Neither." He said after a moment, already seeing how he might still salvage things and his original intentions. "I think that she simply needs a little more polishing and a bit of reminding of her place. Let us simply say that I still have her reserved for a later date. Until then, perhaps you can make sure she has been more properly trained on how to be appealing and...subordinate."

"Subordinate." Sabrina repeated, almost making it a question. "Very well, Cornelius, consider her still reserved for you. I will personally make sure she is disciplined better for next time." She put very particular emphasis on the word 'disciplined'.

"Excellent." Cornelius replied, feeling fully back in control again. "I'm sure that you can 'whip' her into some shape." He quipped, flashing a wry smile at her. Yes, this was most definitely going to turn out better than he thought. He felt quite certain now that Sabrina had not been behind this, so she was quite likely to punish the stupid ex-maid severely for this. Sabrina was very fond of whips.

He was now convinced that her ridiculous antics had been nothing more than just a desperate ploy to try and convince him to be gentle with her, playing the willing whore. When he returned, he'd be much better prepared for her little bluff and would call it. The next time, he would maintain the upper hand and she would be left a huddled mass in a corner.

Giving Sabrina a courtly bow, he gestured for his bodyguards to follow along and began making his way back to his carriage. Once he was back at his own estate, he would summon all of his pleasure slaves to him and have his way with them. They knew their places and how to actually seduce their Master. Passive and empty indeed! What did she really know?

Oh yes, next time she would be the passive and empty one. Even if he had too hollow her out himself with a spoon.

*********************************

By the time Sabrina managed to return to her personal offices, she was nearly quaking with the effort to maintain her composure. She'd gotten a full report of the whole episode from her guards, in fine detail. She'd almost lost her poise right then, having to quickly dismiss Leita before her emotions got the better of her. Just looking at the girl, knowing what she had done, was more she could handle without erupting.

However, now that she was safely back inside her offices, her thick chamber door closed, she was free to release her reaction. And erupt she certainly did. Into gales of thundering laughter. And once she started, she couldn't stop, laughing harder and harder the more she pictured Cornelius Venge being chased around the room like a shy milkmaid trying to escape a lecherous farm-hand.

When they told her, barely managing not to break down into giggles themselves, about her tackling him onto the bed and his squealing like a child, she was certain she would come undone right there. Luckily, it was obvious that Leita already viewed this as some kind of failure on her part, which would make punishing her for it that much easier. The girl's own obedient nature would be her biggest undoing, in the end.

Still, there was a small part of Sabrina that wanted to give the gladiator some kind of reward for managing to make such a fool of Venge. There was no doubt at all, given his vindictive nature, that he had made the request intending to brutally defile the girl. From the way he'd spoken of her during their negotiation of fee, it was obvious that he still believed her to be frail and meek, despite her victories over both his own seasoned warrior and Tylone's sorcerous scoundrel.

Most likely, he'd received much the same picture of Leita that she had from the Baroness Wilholme. That of a shy, quiet, girl who would quall with fear at any authority figure. Unlike Cornelius, Sabrina knew that Farah wasn't the most perceptive of people, prone to seeing more what she wanted than what actually was. And he lacked Sabrina's own experience with the girl, allowing her to see how much more spirited she could really be.

Regardless, she had been just as surprised by this turn of events as Cornelius had apparently been. Leita was certainly much stronger of will than others seemed to believe, but even she hadn't expected the girl to be so aggressive in acceptance of the task. In fact, the only reason she'd agreed to Cornelius's request was because she wanted to finally bring a little of the suffering she'd promised to dish out.

Leita, however, seemed to be able to sidestep every attempt to knock her down. Even worse, she seemed to only get stronger from each attempt. That took a lot of the funny out things.

Sabrina, sobered from her amusement, drifted onto a sofa. She was quickly coming to a place where she needed to make some decisions. The sole reason Leita had come into her possession was to make her suffer, to be torn down slowly and terribly, until she was ultimately destroyed in the arena. She had hoped that Farah would just trust that her 'friend' would take care of it and allow herself to be distracted by frivolous social events until she completely forgot that Leita ever existed.

However, she'd continued to send inquiries of how Leita had been suffering. She'd also not been happy to see Leita come away from her previous battle not only with just minor injuries, but glory and victory. There was no mistaking, Leita had the potential to be a great gladiator. Possibly even a minor star of the arena. She lacked the viciousness required to be a champion, but she was already gaining popularity from just the two victories she already had.

Though she'd once believed she could both make Leita suffer and garner some profit from her, Sabrina was quickly starting to think that she could not do both after all. Apparently, what she'd have to do to make this girl suffer would require lengths that ruin her ability on the sand. Her strength of will was too great for petty things to harm her, but that willfulness seemed to end at her desire to serve as a gladiator. Her unflagging acceptance of her place as a slave made attempts to put her in her in her place nearly useless.

Today's failure proved that. Even she had expected Leita to resist being handed out as a play toy to some stranger, but not only had she not resisted, she'd practically been the one doing the defiling. Again, the image of Cornelius getting chased around the room brought a smile to her lips, but this time it came with a bit of sourness.

When Cornelius returned, he would make sure that the girl paid for both his original ire and this new insult. Without question, he'd also make sure Sabrina herself suffered for the embarrassment too. Though he might seem a foolish fop at times, Cornelius Venge was never someone to take lightly or to cross carelessly. There was a reason his House was among the most powerful in the Arena, far above hers. Had he intended to let it go so easily, he would have just taken back the fee he paid for her.

A fee which would was but a pittance compared to the fortune that the Baroness would expect repaid to her if Sabrina did not begin making the girl truly suffer. She'd managed to forestall any real issues with concocted accounts of little injustices she'd supposedly performed already, but it wouldn't be long, at the rate things were going, before it was obvious the girl was thriving, not withering away from abuse.

So the real question came to whether Leita was worth the amount of money she'd lose if she didn't begin putting real effort into destroying her, bit by bit? Potential or not, the answer to that was obvious. Between both the money she'd lose and the greater damages both a high Baroness and a powerful House like Victorious could bring down upon her own House, which went far beyond money, was worth more than any gladiator. Not even Soliver's monster would be worth that.

And so, she had no other choice. It seemed a waste, but Leita had to be broken. And she needed to begin that process immediately. Ultimately, she could always just have Leita taken down to the lower levels and tortured. She need not have any reason for it beyond a desire to see her hurt. But such bluntness seemed boring and the fickleness it would suggest might damage the delicate balance required to keep a gladiatorial stable.

Common slaves rarely posed real threat, no matter how you might treat them, but gladiators had to be handled with a bit more caution. They were bred to fight to the death, trained to be masters of combat. A stable of even just a dozen such slaves could inflict extraordinary damage if they were pushed to revolt. Sabrina had three times that many.

If she'd made the decision to just haul Leita to the punishment chambers on her first day, none of her stable would have cared. Now that she'd managed to make an impression among them, even develop comradery... No, she had to make sure that Leita appeared to earn her torture now.

Which meant that where she needed to start was with her perceived failure with this task. It would be easy enough to turn this into an excuse to begin breaking her down. And the best way to begin would be with dear, demented, Cookie. Letting her have free reign to unleash her perverse energies upon Leita would be more than enough of a good beginning. Cookie would just need the proper motivation.

And motivating Cookie was always so easy.

********************************

Well before she was summoned to her Mistress, Cookie already knew about what had happened in the pleasure chambers with Master Venge. Guards seemed more prone to gossip than old washer-women, so most of the estate would likely know before sundown. She'd heard the story directly from one of the two that had been in the room. He'd laughed about it as he described Leita chasing the HouseMaster about the room, but Cookie found nothing about it funny.

The Master of any House, regardless of their status, was a dangerous enemy to make. Much of the city's politics were woven around the Grand Arena and the various Houses all had powerful ties in both the true government and the aristocracy that supported it. Add to that the business ties they kept and the very real threat of the trained killers in their service. The Arena Houses were the real power of Solace, if not the whole country of Karakas.

That was a large part of why she'd put so much time and effort into getting in so close with Sabrina, focused herself so completely on becoming her right hand. Someday, she planned be the Mistress of House Firebridge and she would have that kind of power. Bringing the wrath of a more powerful and influential House down on them was a direct threat to her plans.

If she knew her Mistress at all, Sabrina would be as livid about this as she was. House Firebridge was the only House lead by a woman, a detail that rankled more than a few of the typically chauvinistic HouseMasters. That meant that she had to be smarter and more cunning to maintain her place among them. She took all threats to her standing very seriously, often resolving them with brutal efficency.

The two guards at the office door stood still as statues as she came up, showing her no notice. Likely, they had been informed she was on her way, but their reactions would have been the same. She was allowed full access to Sabrina's office, the only person other than Sabrina herself. Despite this, she still paused to announce entrance with a light knock on the door before opening the door. She'd learned the hard way to always knock first, even if as only as a formality.

As she entered, she found Sabrina returning the cover to the large cage upon her desk, her expression as grim as expected. Though calm, there was a definite gravity to her demeanor that spoke volumes. Cookie politely gave a small bow to her Mistress before softly speaking. "You sent for me, Mistress." She made sure not to make it a question.

"I assume you've already heard." Sabrina said dryly as she glided from the desk to one of her plush sofas. "Gods know, the House guards enjoy to talk." She gave a gesture towards the door, as though indicating the ones standing outside, even though, as her personal guard, they were very different from the common rank and file of guards. If those guards ever shared anything they heard from within her offices, no matter how trivial, they wouldn't remain breathing for much after uttering the words.