Chapter 35
Laying Traps
**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.
Even three days later, it still hurt to deeply breath. While the alchemical arts of the Order of Hermadyne bordered on the miraculous for how well and how quickly they could heal an injury, there were still some things that had to heal on their own and at their own pace. Leita's ribs had taken a serious beating, with almost a third of them being fractured. Healer Einrich had been able to greatly accelerate the process of their repair, but had cited that it would take a week before they fully stopped hurting.
That aside, it was remarkable just how well her other injuries had already faded. Her wrist had been swollen up to nearly twice its size by the time she'd gotten back to the House and the slice out of her shoulder had become enflamed and ugly. Now both injuries were nearly erased from her body. Only a faint blemish of the skin marked where the hunk of flesh had been shorn away and a slight stiffness to the wrist.
Her face too was practically back to normal, though the bridge of her nose was still tender when probed. Hulvuc's kick had cracked the bone there, and like her ribs, bone took much longer to heal, even with infused elixirs and alchemical poultices. She'd also suffered a mild concussion, again, and that was something else that Einrich didn't have near as much influence over.
His nostrums and creams could regrow skin in a day and cut bone regeneration down to a fraction, but the brain had to recover on its own. He'd advised the Mistress that Leita needed at least a week of recovery time for that and her brutalized rib cage to properly finish healing. However, fate had apparently decided to disrupt that schedule. She'd still been in a cot in the clinic when Sabrina had come to explain a plan that had been brought to her by Master Crahka. A plan aimed at Master Venge. Leita was at the center of that plan, as bait, and that trap had a swift timetable.
The plan put her at some risk, though precautions would be in place to heavily mitigate any actual danger to her. Still, her injuries and the nostrums she was already taking to heal them complicated things. Poison was at the center of the trap and Leita was very likely to be receiving it. She would, of course, have already been treated with an antidote, but the healer's medications could potentially interfere with the antitoxin's potency. Even if they didn't, she would still feel some degree of effect from the poison and her compromised health made that dangerous.
However, she'd agreed to all of it before Sabrina had even needed to command her to accept such risks. She could weather a little poison, if it meant finally giving a little retribution back to the Baroness' cohort. Of course, she was also likely to suffer a little more than just being poisoned and not just from the Master of House Victorious.
As she understood it, the stage for the trap was a large social event in the aristocratic quarter. Part of the event was a kind of 'display' of slaves owned by attendees. Gladiators were often a highlight to this, being a form of celebrity, but most were particularly beautiful pleasure slaves or highly exotic slaves that represented a feather in their owner's cap. Leita would be offered as a show piece, her recent wins against both Trinka and Hulvoc cementing the legitimacy of her inclusion.
The displayed slaves could be briefly 'rented' during the party by guests who wanted a chance to have some liberties with the beautiful or the unusual, netting the owners a nice bit of coin on the side. This was part of why most of the slaves tended to already be pleasure slaves, but gladiators often turned a tidy profit as well, as it was considered a delicious decadence to make someone who seemed so powerful bow to one's lustful whims.
Of course, there were several rules that had to be followed by renters, with severe repercussions if they were violated. Damaging one of the displayed slaves, even by accident, resulted in financial restitutions being required and, if done with intent and purpose, could do a bit of damage to one's reputation. The showcase was meant as a display of good faith that one's property would be safe, if a bit soiled.
That didn't stop some slaves being very roughly handled during these exchanges and Leita's injuries could be seriously complicated if a renter became too 'enthusiastic' about getting to be pleasured by a rising star of the arena. She would be restrained during these encounters, as well, so there would be little she could do to reduce any potential damage to her already weakened body. Not to mention the indignities of the whole situation, in general.
Regardless, this too she accepted. It would be far from the first time she'd had liberties taken with her, as a slave, and she doubted any pampered noble, no matter how depraved they might be, could possibly produce even a fraction as much pain as what she'd already endured from the oruhk chief she'd faced.
In the end, all she had to do was endure a little humiliation and rough hands. Aside from being very likely poisoned, at least. In the end, she was little more than the bait for the whole trap, required to do nothing more than just be there. The real trick would be carried out by agents of the Master of House Blackorchid.
Master Orchidbryar had infiltrated secret agents into House Victorious, ones close enough to both plant ideas into Venge's head and direct him towards resources to carry forth those plans. Through their manipulations, he'd already learned of her being a featured slave at the gala and had the idea planted of secretly dosing her with a poison that would mimic a death from natural causes. A toxin he could inflict her with while getting to debauch his target before killing her.
The twist was that this same poison would be discovered in the food of a guest. The people who organized the bash were very influential and the event always attracted a number of very high-profile aristocrats and men of political power. Should one of them discover what appeared to be an assassination attempt upon them, anyone in possession of that poison, such as Master Venge, would find themselves in a very socially devastating position, if not outright arrested.
Even if Master Venge managed to convince authorities of his innocence, his social reputation would suffer dramatically, likely losing much of the strong favor he currently enjoyed. The implications alone would destroy his image and name. It might even be the end of his influence and presence within the Grand Arena itself.
Of course, despite Master Orchidbryar's firm belief that his agents had managed to convince Master Venge to attempt the plan, he might still decide not to risk things. Setting up Leita to get killed in the arena was something he could do without any real chance of repercussion. It would be easier to taint the blade of one of her opponents on the sands than risk being caught with a vial of poison at a social party where people were already cautious of potential assassins.
At worst, he might simply opt to rent Leita and just relish getting to use her within his rights, but do nothing that would harm his reputation. Given his previous attempt at debauching her, he would be very motivated to ensure she regretted the embarrassment she'd given him. And with her being in such a compromised physical state, he could easily claim any injuries he inflicted as being an accident, unaware that she wasn't in prime condition.
Sabrina had mirrored her thoughts, agreeing that it was very possible that he wouldn't make a move no matter what was dangled in front of him. However, she could still stand to profit from being included in the gala itself. For her, getting to attend was worth agreeing to the plan at all. She'd not previously ever been granted access to the function, as the organizers were very selective about who got invited. Her own standing in the aristocracy would rise purely by being seen at it.
And if he did make the mistake of trying to 'accidently' injure Leita while taking his pleasure, he would pay exorbitantly for it. She intended to make sure that the organizers were made aware of Leita's delicate disposition and ensure a rather hefty additional fee be added for any injuries to a rising champion. Assuming she was given the ability to, at least.
As it turned out, she was only allowed to attend as Master Crahka's guest. Apparently, Orchidbryar either couldn't convince the organizers to invite her directly or it was too late for her to be added to the official invitation listing. They would also be traveling together via a large carriage that was being furnished for them. Normally, Leita would be placed in a separate wagon, transported more like cargo, but it had been arranged for her to be in the same carriage.
To that end, Sabrina had decided that Leita should be 'cleaned up' for the occasion. Thus, she now found herself being once again placed into the care of her Mistress' concubine to prepare for the occasion. This time, however, the experience was a far more pleasant one. Sasiniel was a friend and seemed grateful for the opportunity to finally get to spend some time with Leita again.
"I have seen cheap rope that is silkier than your poor hair, Leita." Sasinel mused as she struggled to get a brush through the tangled dirty blonde locks. She gave a soft laugh. "Is there any part of you that is not toughened to leather, hei?"
Leita started to chuckle, but it was instantly truncated to a hiss of pain as the sidil hit a particularly gnarly snarl of hair. "My scalp, it would seem." She offered with a grin.
"My, my, a weakness is finally found." Sasinel purred, her accent making the words sound almost melodic. Leita had loved the fluid sound of her voice from the first time she'd ever heard it. Sasinel spoke in a kind of gilded tone, making everything she said sound cultured. Though she was completely fluent in the local language of Karackas, the language of her people had permanently seasoned how she spoke.
Not just in how she pronounced some words, but the way she habitually ended every question with 'hei'. In her native tongue, it was a part of the punctuation, to help signify that a question was being asked. It sounded so natural to Leita's ear by now that she barely even noticed it anymore. However, everything else she ever said came out so beautifully that it made her want to just sit and listen to the sidil talk about anything.
"Do you miss it?" She asked the pale concubine after another knot of hair was practically torn out by the brush. "Being on the sands?"
