Exiled Read online

  “Come on, Mistress,” he said gently. “Let’s get changed for dinner.” He looked at her soaked and bedraggled outfit. “I’m afraid you need a new dress. Yours is a little, ah, damp.”

  Lissa made a choked sound which was half laugh/half sob. “Yes, I think you’re right. All right, let’s get changed.”

  * * * * *

  Lissa sat numbly at the dinner table—which was a low platform near to the ground. It was in the center of a plush dining room bigger than most normal people’s houses and was surrounded by plump, supportive white pillows decorated in gold and silver needlework. The idea appeared to be to recline against the pillows in a half sitting—half lying position Lissa found very strange and uncomfortable. Of course, it wasn’t the only thing about Yonnie Six that was making her uneasy—nearly every single custom here seemed to be well outside her comfort zone.

  Not that she could show it.

  I have to act the part, have to treat Saber like my slave and let him treat me like his mistress. As a matter of fact, they had already started their new roles, even before they got into the opulent gold and white dining room.

  Lissa looked down at herself. She was wearing the very same stiff purple and lace gown that had caused her so much embarrassment and consternation during her final fitting with Kat. But it wasn’t the dress she was staring at—it was her red and blue painted nipples which peeked out from behind the little golden lace fans.

  Lissa had not been the one who applied the elixirs.

  Oh, she had tried to, but after the horrible experience with the single burning droplet between her breasts, her hands shook when she picked up the little red vial. Even though she had applied the soothing salve generously over her tender pink buds, she still couldn’t bring herself to paint the horrid, burning stuff onto such a sensitive area of her anatomy.

  Finally Saber, who had been standing there watching her because he insisted on helping her get dressed, stepped forward. Sinking to his knees before her, he took the red bottle gently from her trembling hands.

  “Let me,” he said in a low voice, looking into Lissa’s eyes.

  “I don’t know if you should,” Lissa whispered, her insides twisting with conflicting emotions. Doubt, fear, guilt, desire… To have him so close to her, looking at her while she was sitting there, her breasts completely bare…It was so wrong. And yet she couldn’t help the way her body reacted. The way she felt drawn to him…

  “Well, I don’t think you can—not with your hands shaking like that,” he said firmly. His voice dropped to a softer tone. “I’ll be careful, Lissa, I swear. If it starts to burn even a little bit just tell me and I’ll take care of it right away.”

  “You mean…” Lissa swallowed hard. “By sucking it off.”

  “Yes.” Saber looked her in the eyes. “It’s the only way. And I might have to do it before the night is out anyway.”

  “No, you won’t,” Lissa said quickly. “I swear I won’t do that to you, Saber!”

  “Don’t make promises you might have to break,” he said soberly. “And don’t hesitate to do whatever you have to in order to make this look real.” He nodded at her bare breasts. “Now hold still—I don’t want to make a mess of this.”

  Lissa didn’t want him to either so she sat perfectly still, her entire body tense as he painted her right nipple bright red with the burning blossom elixir. Saber went slowly, checking with her often to make certain she was feeling no pain. In fact, he was so gentle and soft-spoken that Lissa was almost able to forget the illicit nature of the act he was performing.

  This is how he would make love to me, she couldn’t help thinking and then blushed at the thought. She tried to push it away but the mental image persisted. She could just imagine Saber kneeling between her thighs, guiding himself inside her slowly and carefully, checking every moment to be certain she was feeling no pain, that she was able to take him…

  Stop it, I have to stop thinking like this!

  But despite her inner recrimination, the forbidden thoughts and images had continued and were still continuing now, as she reclined on her gold and silver embroidered pillow and waited for dinner to be served.

  Across from her sat Ambassador Sha’rak with Llewelyn behind her, waiting attendance. To Lissa’s right, was Lady Pope’nose, a tall, imposing woman about the same age as the ambassador. She had sharp, aquiline features and jet black hair with golden streaks, which was piled on top of her head. Behind her sat a body-slave who looked to be only a little older than Lissa.

  Instead of a plain black leather collar and leash, Lady Pope’nose’s slave had on a strange silver and black necklace with purple lights that blinked periodically. He had an air of frightened inexperience that made Lissa nervous just watching him. Lady Pope’nose had already explained that he was new and she was still “breaking him in”, which Lissa supposed accounted for his almost palpable anxiety. She did wish, though, that the poor thing wouldn’t jump every time his mistress so much as shifted her position. What was he so afraid of? Well, aside from the burning blossom elixir, which he might be forced to ingest at any moment. On second thought, Lissa didn’t blame him for being so jumpy.

  Saber, who was sitting just behind her own cushion, was the exact opposite of Lady Pope’nose’s nervous slave. His presence at her back was like a rock—solid and comforting. Lissa felt stronger just having him near, even if her thoughts did keep returning to forbidden territory when she felt the heat of his big body behind her and caught a whiff of his warm, masculine scent.

  “Oh, at last!” Lady Sha’rak said, breaking Lissa’s train of thought. “Dinner is finally served. I’m so sorry it took so long, my dears,” she continued, nodding at Lissa and Lady Pope’nose. “I’ll have the cooks flogged the minute I get the chance.”

  “Oh, don’t do that,” Lissa said without thinking.

  Lady Pope’nose stared at her in surprise. “Why ever not, my dear? We’ve been sitting here waiting for ages. Clearly the cooks need a little motivation to get dinner out on time. And what could be more motivating than a nice flogging?”

  “I’m afraid Lady R’awr is rather too softhearted when it comes to slaves.” Lady Sha’rak gave her a disapproving look as the male servers placed dishes and bowls of steaming food on the table. “I’ve been trying to give her some pointers but so far we aren’t making much progress.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Lissa protested. “I just meant…I meant…”

  “Yes, dear?” Lady Sha’rak looked at her with raised eyebrows.

  Lissa tried to get into her role. Be tough. Act like Minverna would have acted! “I meant that flogging is too good for them,” she said. “We have much stricter punishments when it comes to tardiness on Zetta Prime.”

  “Oh?” The ambassador looked surprised. “Do tell, my dear. Is it a collar offense on Zetta?”

  “A collar offense indeed,” Lady Pope’nose interjected. “If it’s not, it should be! I keep telling you, Manda,” she continued, addressing Lady Sha’rak. “That you need to get all your slaves fitted with collars. It really does do wonders for their attitude. Take Tobias here.” She nodded at the nervous slave hovering just over her left shoulder. “He was positively intractable at first. But now that I’ve got the latest collar on him I have no problems at all.”

  “The latest, did you say?” Lady Sha’rak studied the silver and black necklace with its blinking purple lights around Tobias’s neck with some interest. “What exactly does it do?”

  “It feeds directly into the pain centers of the brain.” Lady Pope’nose sounded proud, as though she’d invented the horrible contraption herself. “The moment I say the pain word, he’s in instant agony—like every nerve in his body is burning.”

  “A pain word, you say? So it’s voice activated?” Lady Sha’rak continued to stare at the collar avidly.

  “Yes—no more irritating remotes. I was always losing mine.” Lady Pope’nose fluttered her long white hands in a helpless gesture. “Now all I have to do