Slave Unbound

Chapter 34

Best Made Plans

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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.

It had been her plan to drink herself into unawareness, but Sabrina had spent hours just staring blankly at the tumbler in her hand, pondering the amber fluid rather than drinking it. While part of her wanted to be drunk for hearing the news of Leita's death, another part seemed to be forcing her to remain sober so that she could simply process it and get on with things.

It was honestly ridiculous that she'd allowed herself to become so wrapped up in this stupid girl. She was just some slave, a piece of property that she owned. Property that was meant to be risked for money. Letting herself get so emotionally bound to a gladiator was as unprofessional as it got. Had she been a pleasure slave, exotically beautiful and trained to make people desire them, it might make sense. Leita, however, was just some threadbare scullery-girl that happened to have a talent for combat. There was no reason for her to be so drawn to her.

And yet, when one of the guards outside the door gave a knock to indicate that someone was entering, she was on her feet instantly. She was suddenly frantic to hear the Recorder's report. She managed to quickly catch herself, smooth her gown, compose her emotions, and set an iron mask of indifference in place before the door opened. It was bad enough that she'd begun showing vulnerability to Leita, it was imperative that no others managed to see her that way.

The person who entered was not the Recorder, but one of the House slaves. She looked youthful, just into her womanhood, and skittish. Sabrina didn't recognize her, so she must be a new purchase, made by the House quartermaster. The girl slipped into the room, wide eyed and meek-looking, as though afraid to be there.

Sabrina scowled. "I do believe I left orders that I was not to be disturbed with anything until the House Recorder arrived to give his reports from the arena." She said sharply, her impatience to get news making her just as irritable as the general irritation that it meant so much to her.

"M-m-my ap-p-pologies." The slavegirl responded, face flushing pale in panic. "B-but HouseM-m-master Crahka is h-here, req-q-questing an audience." She was shaking like a leaf. "He ins-s-sisted."

Sabrina stared at her pointedly, making the girl quaver even more. After a moment, she finally spoke. "What is your name, slave?" She asked the girl.

"M-my n-name, Mistress?" Came the gratingly stuttered response.

"Yes. I assume you have one." Sabrina snipped back. "What is it?"

"I am... m-my name is...D-d-darsa, Mistress." She finally managed.

"Were you born a slave, Duh-duh-darsa?" Sabrina asked, making the question sound almost casual, despite the mocking.

"N-no, Mistress." Darsa answered. "I was c-claimed by the m-markets to p-pay off family d-debts."

"Recently?"

"About a w-week ago?" She responded back, looking worried by this line of questioning. "I w-was b-bought by the House t-two d-days ago." She flinched and quickly added. "M-mistress."

"In that brief time in the collar, have you experienced what it is like to be whipped?" Sabrina asked, making the words sound almost sweet, as though describing some kind special treat. "Because if you continue to stutter like that, I'll be happy to introduce you to my disciplinarian. I'm sure he and his collection of whips can find a cure for it."

"I'm s-sorry!" Darsa quickly blurted out, nearly crumpling into a ball in the doorway. After a second she quickly peered up to add. "M-mistress."

Sabrina started to say something nasty at the girl's aggravating demeanor, but caught herself. "Come here." She said to the girl, making her body calm.

Darsa looked terrified to get any closer, but seemed more afraid not to comply. She approached obediently, looking like a frightened mouse. When she was within arm's reach, Sabrina picked up her tumbler of whiskey and handed it to the girl.

"Drink it." Sabrina instructed her. "The whole thing."

The slavegirl did as she was instructed, swallowing the whole glass in one gulp before grimacing at the burn. She looked back to her owner for what to do next.

Taking the tumbler gently from her and setting it aside, Sabrina turned back to the girl and smacked her upside the head. "The next time I hear you stutter, I'm going to have your lips sewn shut and you can deliver me messages on a little chalk slate, assuming you can write." She tapped the girl on the nose. "I despise hearing someone waffle whilst trying to inform me of something. About as much as I abhor being disturbed when I have given express instructions not to do so. I don't know who decided to assign you to this duty, but if it means hearing you whimper out every message, I'm going to lose my mind."

Darsa looked terrified, likely uncertain if she could actually manage to keep from letting her fear induce more stuttering. Sabrina smiled at her with a venomous reassurance. "Now, since you've delivered your unwanted message anyway, please go see that Verdant is escorted to the lounge and made comfortable." She took the girl by the chin and tilted her head left and right, inspecting it.

"You're actually quite pretty." She mused. "You should be grateful you didn't wind up in the brothels. Of course, that can still be corrected."

The girl's eyes swam with frightened tears, obviously more scared of this outcome than facing a whip. She doubted the girl would last very long as a page of the House, probably needed to be put somewhere out of the way, like the kitchens, but she intended to have a bit more fun with this scared little kitten first. It would help her get back into her usual rhythm to have someone to bully for a bit.

"When you've finished seeing to Verdant Crahka's needs, go see the House scheduler and let him know that you are to be the only slave who brings me messages for the next week. If anyone, other than you, brings me a message, I will have you whipped." She gave the girl a very wicked grin. "We'll see how long that little speech impediment lasts."

As the slavegirl nearly ran from the room, Sabrina sighed contentedly. She'd needed that. Nothing made her feel more in control than putting a new slave in their place and scaring the wits out of them. Honestly, it would make for a nice distraction from any lingering longings Leita left behind. Darsa was actually rather attractive, maybe she'd have some fun debauching the girl as well.

Pushing those ideas away, she took a moment to consider her guest's arrival. Verdant would likely have been in attendance of the arena and, most likely, was here because of what happened to Leita. There was little question that he'd quite liked Leita when he'd met her and, as much of a bleeding heart as he was, he was probably here to complain about her being sent to her death. In the end, she'd still be getting the information she was waiting for, it would just come in a whinier version.

She summoned in a pair of houseslaves to help her change into something more appropriate for meeting with company, which happened to be a semi-sheer black dress that was completely inappropriate for her to be seen in by anybody. Teasing prudish Verdant was another enjoyable pastime that would help distract her from dealing with any remaining attachments to the blonde, dead, gladiator.

She decided she would invite him to stay a while, maybe have a drink and honestly try to convince him to indulge in a nice hot fuck. She decided having a man in her tonight would be a nice change of pace. For all his misguided idealism, Verdant was actually quite handsome and his typical resistance to her seductions made for a fun challenge to try and finally overcome. She'd, of course, insist that his mousey little assistant watch them, just to enjoy rubbing it in the obviously smitten slave's face.

She had her entire plan of attack worked out by the time she entered the lounge where Sasiniel was currently dancing for the HouseMaster's entertainment. While he was giving her polite audience, she noted that he was going to great lengths to show that he was not leering at the pale sidil's mostly exposed body. Always the idiotic gentleman and fool.

"Such a pleasant surprise, my darling." She cooed as he quickly stood in greeting to her. As expected, his mousey slave and lanky bodyguard were with him, the former looking a bit dismayed by their hostess's revealing attire. "I had actually been thinking about inviting you for dinner some night recently." She lied. "Hopefully, I can convince you to remain tonight, since it is already late in the day."

Verdant gave a gracious bow to the offer. "I would be honored to do so, my lady." He replied with a tense smile. "If fact, it would be very appreciated. There are a few 'professional' matters I have been wanting to visit you in order to discuss. Talking over a good meal might make some of them more...digestible." He gave a faux-playful grin that didn't suit the strain in his eyes.

"Intriguing, Verdant." She said, gesturing for him to return to his seat and taking one herself. His stress was obviously at having watched Leita being butchered and wanting to know why, but also not wanting to seem rude about it. She decided it best to just grace him with a good opening, since she was wanting to know about it anyway. "I'll be happy to listen to whatever propositions you might have over dinner, darling. In the meantime, I assume you were in attendance of the arena today. Might I convince you to regale me with some highlights?"

Verdant gave a nod as he returned back to the chair he'd been in. "Most certainly, Sabrina. In fact, that was part of what convinced me to drop by. I had tried to speak with you at the arena, but was a bit surprised to learn that you had not been in attendance. I figured you would have wanted to be there to see your star gladiator fight."

Sabrina gave a flighty little laugh. "Oh, I'm not sure if Leita was truly one of my 'stars' yet." She said dismissively.

"Well, I would imagine she will be after today." Verdant responded with the first hint of genuine smile peeking through his expression. "Which, I am hoping, was the point?"

Sabrina didn't immediately respond, as it was taking all her willpower and poise to keep her face and body from reacting. If she was taking his remark correctly, that meant Leita, that damned, beautiful, bitch had survived. Won even! Her mind was a teeming ocean of clashing sentiments and feelings. Shocked and dismayed that this tick of a girl hadn't finally died. Jubilant that she would actually see her again in one piece.

Parts of her wanted to cry both in joy and in frustration. Parts of her wanted to bolt from the room, either back to her room to throw an unseen tantrum or out into the carriage way to meet the wagons as they arrived and see Leita actually alive. Maybe kiss her and tell her how afraid she'd been that she would never see her again.

However, she managed to swallow all of it down after a few frozen moments that were covered by a coyly 'caught me' look. "Well, as they say, one must sometimes take a high gamble to gain the best rewards, my dear." She gave a laugh meant to sound like she'd always had the utmost confidence in her gladiator. "I thought something dramatic might do well to emphasize just how talented a fighter my dear Leita really is."

Verdant seemed to be uncertain, his expression still strained, though a good show of diplomatic politeness. "Well, there were more than a few times that you almost lost that gamble, Sabrina." He said slowly. "She took a pretty severe beating from that...that horror of a beastman. Enough that one might think she hadn't been meant to survive."

Sabrina feigned a note of surprise, as though she had never expected Leita to be anything but victorious. "I considered her to be quite capable enough to handle an overgrown savage. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that she has always shown excellent skill of arms. With her win against House Warforger's gladiator, I assumed this monster would be simple work for her."

Verdant's return expression was equal parts dubious and aghast. "Surely you realized just how fearsome that thing was." He breathed, sounding almost awed by his own memory of it. "You are who put that creature into the arena in the first place and I feel quite certain that you were more than aware that it was a brutal engine of death, given what use you put it to."

Sabrina gave a flippant gesture. "If you mean Cookie, Verdant, I hardly needed an opponent of great ability to be too much for her. I won't deny that it was meant to kill her and in a horrific fashion, but I still considered it to be little more than just some wild animal." It was a complete lie, of course. She was more than well aware of just how brutal and ruthless the beastman was when she arranged for her ex-concubine to face it. She hadn't wanted there to be any chance that Cookie survived and managed to reveal anything she knew to Leita.

Anyone who had seen it tear apart several other, quite talented and established, gladiators would also easily see it was far more than just some beast, even if it was ruled by nothing but the basest of impulses. She knew Verdant was both capable of making this distinction himself and smart enough to know she was too, but she was simply not willing to admit that she had fully expected Leita to die.

Verdant's eyes narrowed, but heaved a deep and steading sigh. As much as he might suspect things, he was not brash enough to really attempt calling her on them. Always the polite and passive fool. "Well, my good lady, your new star was absolutely fearless in the face of that 'wild animal'. I'm not sure if there was ever a single moment that she was not focused entirely to the task of killing the creature." Verdant eased back into the cushion of his seat, a kind of horribly entranced look coming to his eyes, as if recalling something terrible, but captivating. "She was the real wild animal and one in rampage."

Sabrina leaned back as well, prodding Verdant for a more detailed description of the battle. As he recounted, she realized that her sense of security with Leita had always been rooted in the belief that she was, ultimately, without a real 'killer instinct'. Talented, without question, but her tendency to show so much sympathy and be so passive had always lead Sabrina to see her as, effectively, toothless. Even witnessing her kill Donovan's assassin without any hesitance, she had bought partially into the same belief everyone else seemed to have about the girl. That she was, ultimately, a weak and timid creature.

By Verdant's summary, the girl most certainly had teeth. Big and sharp ones. And the more she listened to him relate the finer details, describing her furious work with her knife, her tenacious refusal to relent despite inhuman levels of punishment, her devastating use of her own bare hands and feet to brutalize a foe thrice bigger than her, the more she realized that she'd been sleeping with someone who could have killed her in a heartbeat. How many times had she been alone with this girl, completely unguarded and vulnerable?

It made her so horny that she momentarily considered excusing herself for a few minutes with her concubine to relieve her need.

"Well, it certainly seems I chose well with deciding to substitute my 'new star' for the poor lack-wit I was going to feed to that beast." Sabrina said, trying her best to ignore that she was currently so aroused she was leaving a puddle in her seat. "It would seem she has surpassed all my hopes, even if her victory wasn't particularly...clean."

Verdant shook his head and released a sigh. "Sabrina, when I first saw her exit that gate today, I felt sure you had sent her in there to die for some reason. Of course, while it sets me to ease hearing that wasn't the intention, I will say that she did come quite close." He seemed to droop a little. "As I'm sure you realize, she caught my attention the first time I met her and have even considered approaching you about a serious offer to buy her."

"I could never part with my dear Leita, Verdant." She cooed, fixing him with a chiding look. "Even if she wasn't a potential champion of the House, she is very dear to me. The idea of selling her away would be unthinkable."

Ironically, a day ago, she might have entertained such an offer, if only to be rid of the girl and her influence over her. Now, however, she was already making fresh decisions for the future and just how she planned to market the celebrity this win would grant. She might even enter Leita into the InterHouse Grand Melee. If she was stuck with this girl, she might as well make the most of it.

Verdant gave a polite gesture of concession, meant to express his disappointment. However, there was also something about his expression that made her think that he was no longer entirely sure how disappointed he actually was. Likely, he too suffered under the same misconception of Leita as some innocent victim, only to realize that she was a fierce lion that could devour the careless owner.

"I assumed as much, Sabrina." He replied politely. "However, there was also an additional reason for apprehension in me at the idea that your intent was to sacrifice her to improve the purse. She also factors into the other subject for which I have been meaning to come see you." His expression seemed somewhat pinched now, as though whatever he was speaking of was something that brought him great anxiety all on its own.

"Oh?" She asked, curious now. "Have you been making some kind of designs on my property?"

He breathed about another deep sigh, seeming uncertain how to begin his explanation. Before he could begin, however, she became aware that someone was standing next to her chair, waiting to address her. Turning her attention to the person, she frowned. It was Darsa again. "Are you here to relay that the House Recorder is ready to give his report of the day?" She asked before the jittery girl, who was already shivering anxiously, could attempt to speak. If she had to hear the girl stammer out something right now, she didn't think she could keep from slapping her into the floor.

Darsa wisely just nodded instead of verbalizing.

"Return to the Recorder and let him know that his report is no longer needed, but that I give him my thanks anyways and I will have the Treasurer add a couple crescents to his wages this month for his efforts." She instructed. "Afterwards, you will go to the House Healer and personally get a detailed, VERY detailed, reporting of the state of health of the gladiators who were sent to the arena today. Do not leave the clinic until you can fully recite the full diagnosis and recommendations of each one. Without stuttering."

She eyed the girl sharply. "I will expect a full recitation of this after dinner. You will wait outside my room with it until I return there to hear it. Understand?"

Darsa nodded quickly, seeming relieved to not have to speak, but also alarmed that she would soon have to give an entire speech. She started to quickly scurry away, but Sabrina make a distinct noise to indicate that she wasn't finished.

"You do not leave until I tell you to." She admonished the girl sharply. "You will learn proper protocols or I will have them branded on your arms as a reminder."

Darsa blanched, but nodded obediently, waiting this time to be actually dismissed. For a moment, Sabrina considered torturing the girl by just turning back to Verdant and striking up a fresh conversation. However, she could see he was already in a less than amused note and still pent up over whatever this business was that involved Leita.