Exiled Read online

  Llewelyn’s dark eyes flashed but he only nodded impassively. “Yes, my lady.”

  “Very good.” Ambassador Sha’rak cleared her throat and looked at Lissa. “Now where were we? Ah yes—I was asking where you were staying.”

  “Just at a lodging house—if you’d be so kind as to recommend one?” Lissa said hesitantly.

  “Nonsense, my dear.” The ambassador laughed. “I can’t let you stay in some pokey little dump when you might be a distant relation! Besides, I can see how innocent you are, especially when it comes to our ways here on Yonnie Six. You must stay here with me.”

  “Oh, you’re too kind!” Lissa exclaimed with real enthusiasm. “I accept your offer with all my heart, Lady Sha’rak.” She could scarcely contain her excitement. Staying here with the ambassador would enable them to search her house—or floor—much more easily. And Lissa was sure that with such a distinguished person as their host, she and Saber would be invited to all the best parties. An introduction to the other collectors on her list was practically assured, and all because the ambassador liked her!

  This is too easy, she thought exultantly. Why, we’ll find the scrolls and be back home before the solar week is out!

  But Ambassador Sha’rak’s next words brought her crashing abruptly back down to reality.

  “I’m so glad you’ve accepted,” she said, smiling fondly at Lissa. “Because I really want to take you under my wing, so to speak. It’s clear you don’t know the first thing about disciplining a body-slave and I am the one to teach you.”

  “Oh, er, well…” Lissa swallowed hard, trying to think of a way to refuse without hurting her new hostess’s feelings. “Actually, since I’ve had Saber for so long he’s, uh, he’s really no trouble at all,” she said. “I mean, he’s always so good and obedient I never have to do a thing to…to make him mind.”

  “Is that so?” Lady Sha’rak’s elegant blue eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What about the way he refused to put you down earlier, as soon as you commanded him to? A slave should obey his mistress’s every order at once. Also, when he finally did comply with your order, he just stood there. Not once did he bend to kiss your foot.”

  “Well, my feet are dirty right now from going barefoot,” Lissa faltered. “And we don’t really…do that so much on Zetta Prime anymore.”

  “Oh? You don’t require your body-slaves to make a proper obeisance? How strange.” Lady Sha’rak frowned. “Well, what about the way he stood there and met my eyes so boldly when you were first introduced? A proper body-slave doesn’t make eye contact with a female—especially a high ranking one his mistress is meeting for the first time.”

  “Oh, I…” Lissa wasn’t sure what to say. “I had no idea he was, uh, looking at you,” she said, though she couldn’t help feeling like the Yonnite ambassador was nit-picking. “Forgive me, my lady.”

  “I will forgive you with all my heart,” Lady Sha’rak said magnanimously. “As long as you promise to let me guide you and teach you the proper way to train a male. After all, you can hardly go out in polite society until you’ve learned, and being the ambassador I have to attend lots of parties. I want to be able to take you with me.”

  “I see.” It was exactly what Lissa had been hoping for—the party part where she got to meet lots of influential Yonnites who might have the missing scrolls, that was. The part where she had to pretend to let Ambassador Sha’rak teach her to train Saber wasn’t so good. But she didn’t know what else to do.

  Forgive me, Saber, she thought, risking a glance behind her at her kinsman. He looked back at her, his face as impassive as Llewelyn’s had been while receiving his punishment. But Lissa thought she saw a spark somewhere deep down in those green and gold flecked eyes. Feeling a deep sense of misgiving, she turned to the ambassador and tried to smile.

  “I’d be honored to take instruction from you, my lady.”

  “Excellent!” The ambassador smiled. “Well then, first things first. I saw how confused my display of the pain-taste and the sweet-taste made you. Have you never seen such before?”

  “No, never,” Lissa answered truthfully. “It, uh, is not the fashion on Zetta Prime at the moment.”

  “So strange.” The ambassador frowned. “They usually follow us so closely. But then, I suppose you have other things to keep you occupied.” She smiled at Lissa. “Here, let me get you a starter kit.”

  As if on cue, Llewelyn held out a little brown leather case worked all over with golden embroidery. Lissa took it and looked at it uncertainly.

  “Well, go on—open it!” Lady Sha’rak sounded excited, as though she’d just given Lissa a particularly nice present.

  “All right.” Lissa opened the case. Inside was a tiny red bottle, a tiny blue bottle, and a small pot of what appeared to be some kind of salve.

  “Do be careful with that,” the ambassador said anxiously when Lissa pulled out the red bottle to look at it. “It’s extracted from the burning blossom—one of the hottest substances in the known universe. You put it on your right nipple—only and always your right, you know for that is the custom—and make your slave suck it off, as I did to Llewelyn, if he displeases you.”

  “And this one?” Lissa lifted the blue bottle.

  “The antidote to the burning blossom extract, of course. It has numbing and cooling agents as well as a very pleasant, sweet taste. It can be used to cool your slave’s mouth after a punishment, or as a reward for when he pleases you.” Lady Sha’rak smiled. “I don’t give rewards very often though—pain is a much more effective motivator, you know.”

  “Of course,” Lissa said faintly. “But…” She looked apprehensively at the red bottle again. “If this is one of the hottest things in the universe and you expect me to put it on my…” She cleared her throat. “In such a sensitive area. I don’t see…”

  “Oh, that’s what the pot of soothing salve is for.” The ambassador nodded to the little pot. “You must coat your nipples with it thoroughly first and only then can you apply the two elixirs. Both of them must be licked directly off the skin to be effective. Be very careful when you’re putting on the burning blossom extract though—if it gets on your bare skin it burns like fire and even the antidote won’t help. It can only be dissolved by saliva.”

  “I see…” Lissa nodded. Inside she was thinking there was no way she was ever going to wear this stuff. Or even if she did, there was no possible way she’d use it. Just the idea of letting Saber suck the various “elixirs” from such an intimate part of her body made her feel like sinking through the floor in embarrassment.

  “I’m glad you get the idea.” Lady Sha’rak smiled. “And don’t forget that you must wear it every day. You must not leave your rooms without a prompt and effective way to discipline your slave.”

  Lissa had a disturbing thought. “But what about when I retire to my rooms and I want to take it off? If it can only be dissolved by, uh, saliva…”

  “Oh, that’s only if it gets on your bare skin. I’ll send a bottle of the solvent to your rooms so you can remove the extracts at the end of the night. Provided you put the soothing salve on first, you should have no trouble.” The ambassador smiled and patted her shoulder. “Of course, that’s assuming you haven’t already had them removed by your slave. And we know how very unlikely that is. Males need constant discipline.” She gave a light laugh as though correcting a slave through the use of painful chemical agents licked off an intimate part of one’s anatomy was entirely normal.

  Which it probably is here on Yonnie Six, Lissa thought unhappily. Aloud she only said, “Thank you, my Lady.”

  The ambassador nodded. “You’re very welcome. Now then, it’s almost time for dinner so I’ll send you to your rooms to get ready.”

  “Oh…dinner?” Lissa had never felt less hungry in her life. She wondered if there was any way she could beg off and get their host to excuse them. But Lady Sha’rak’s next words crushed her hopes.

  “It’s just a small gathering tonight, myself an