Déjà vu for a Drow

Chapter 1

So far everything had gone to plan for Liavondra. Despite being unwilling to leave her free and unplanned life, she had agreed to her friend Alcala’s request for help. As a Drow she was not trusted by many, as her kin were notorious for their treacherous, violent ways. Lia was different though, and had striven to be different from all other Drow for centuries. Thus, when an infiltrator was needed for the Drow, she was the first and only choice.

The mission had been simple enough; return to her home plane and infiltrate a Drow gathering of the various clans. The message to one of the more far-flung groups had been intercepted, and Lia would be the messenger. For an additional bit of stage management she would be sufficiently dirtied and roughed up to suggest that she was the lone survivor of an ambush.

And so far, it had been a stunning success. Although different in personality and morals, Lia had been born and bred as a true Drow princess. She looked the part, even after walking in alone and bloodied she had shown arrogance and disdain to her class inferiors, and subtle submission to her superiors.

After the first night’s feast – where Lia had reluctantly made a slave test her food first – Lia was back in her room. Her costume was a sublime pieces of work, for it covered far less than it should, and enticed far more than mere nudity would have done. Such was the rather slutty gown that Lia had been at first surprised by it. Later though she had seen that it was the common fashion almost the high caste noblewomen, and had moved with confidence and poise.

Her assumed role had also passed with little question. The Lady she was supposed to represent was a minor player, but still one who could not be ignored. Critically, Lia’s superior was a distant and hard to contact noble which ensured a free hand for the impostor.

And so, in the levels beneath a long abandoned High Elf fortress, the Drow had assembled. Lia had been assigned a small but well furnished room, complete with a large bed, bath and fire.

As Lia was reading a scroll in her room, there was a respectful knock at the door. Lia draw a sharp curved dagger from the sheaf at her waist and advanced towards the door. With Drow she knew she could not rely on anyone not to try and kill her. She was theoretically at a disadvantage, since she was sworn off killing, but she had been trained as an excellent fencer and knew how to strike to wound.

As she opened the door, however, she quickly stowed her weapon. It was one of the priestesses, Zarra, and she looked at Lia with a raised eyebrow.

“Expecting assassins, Lady Lia?” she asked.

“One cannot be too careful, Priestess,” Lia replied.

“Too true. It is a shame that you lost your guards, though if they died fighting mere orcs then they were clearly not worth the trouble. It is about that reason that I have come,” she said.

“Oh?” Lia asked. Her heart beat faster as she let the Priestess in with her two male guards.

“The Lady Haelra sends her compliments to you. Since you lost your possessions on the way, she is desirous that you be accommodated as suits your status.”

This meant, to Lia’s mind, that Haelra, an important – though not dominant – Lady, was giving her gifts in exchange for her implied support. Since this suited Lia well, she was only too happy to agree.

“My thanks to the Lady. What did she have in mind so that I might thank her appropriately?” Lia replied. The old ways were coming back – to the Drow there really was no such thing as a free lunch.

“She says that a Lady of your standing should have a retinue and some...entertainment,” Zarra said with a smirk.

A retinue was certainly a generous gift, and depending on how it was made up would determine the intent. It might be a method of introducing spies into her presence, or it might be a bribe, or it might even be a pre-emptive gift to stop her being lured by another Lady.

“Thank her for her gift, Priestess. Bring this retinue to me and I will examine them.”

“You will not be disappointed, Lady,” Zarra promised.

Lia waited, moving between curiosity and anxiety. She wasn’t sure just what she’d do if they did turn out to be spies or other sycophants.

There was a knock on the door, and she opened it carefully.

Zarra stood there again with the two guards behind her. This time though they were leading a beautiful pale elf. She was definitely a High Elf, as her luscious black hair and shining blue eyes were the opposite of everything that a Drow was. Those eyes were downcast obediently, and she was naked except for a light poncho like item that went over her head and covered everything above her knees. It was a sham though, for it did not hide the slave’s nubile body at all. The elf slave’s wrists were pulled behind her back and manacled, as were her ankles, so she clinked slightly as she walked.

“Lady Lia, Lady Haelra sends you this gift – this slave is to do with as you please. She belongs to you now. Also, these two guards are at your command, and will obey you fully.”

“Lady Haelra is extremely generous,” Lia said, looking over her new possession. “Please pass on my thanks, and ask if I might meet her tomorrow to discuss her gift.” This was, of course, code for Lia wishing to see what Haelra wanted so much from Lia that she would send such a gift. Lia had expected the guards, and even a slave, but not one so beautiful.

“I will see it done. I believe that the Lady Haelra thinks highly of you.”

“After this gift, my own opinion of her is increased as well, though it is clear that she was a great and noble Lady before this.”

The Priestess, still smirking, left.

Lia was left with the guards and the slave. In all honesty she had no idea what to do. The guards were almost certainly there to report on where she went, and also to terminate her if the Lady Haelra wished it. The slave though...she was beautiful, though not as lovely as some she’d seen, the slave awakened an urge in the Drow that centuries of pacifism had not tamed.

“Chain her to the bed and strip her, then retire outside the door,” Lia ordered. Her voice betrayed nothing of her mixed lust and anxiety.

The guards obeyed without a word, their armoured forms pulling the elf into the room. The slave was obedient, and Lia could see the faded scars on her back that showed how she had learned.

The slave was first divested of her poncho, then pushed onto the bed. Her leash was secured to a ring set into the wall, and then her wrists and ankles were secured to the four corners of the bed. The slave struggled briefly, but one of the guards whispered to her, and she instantly went limp and passive.

“Gag her,” Lia ordered. When this was done swiftly and expertly, the naked slave was left exposed and helpless. The gag even forced her mouth open so that she could be made to pleasure her owner with no chance of biting. “Now go, I will call for you if I need you” Lia ordered haughtily.

The two guards left, the door closed. Lia crossed the room and slid the locking bar into place. Now the door couldn’t be opened from outside except by breaking it down.

Now Lia was alone with her new possession. Taking her dagger she placed it by the bed, ready to hand if needed. Then, she stripped off her cumbersome and revealing clothes so that she too was naked. The fire in the hearth shone off her exquisite grey skin and brilliant white hair. Crossing to the bed she climbed on, and slid one leg across the stomach of the slave. As she had probably been taught to do, the slave moaned.

Lia trembled slightly. She wanted this girl, and the old thrill of power, of Drow heritage returned. She might play with Chesna at home, but here she had absolute power over this slave. She could break her and no one would care – though Haelra would likely be insulted at the lack of decorum.

Then Lia looked down at the captive and felt ashamed and sick. Her carefully averted eyes – for a slave should never look at her owner – showed fear. The slave expected to be raped and beaten at the least, and probably had been in the past. Though her body was smooth and scented, the slave was a possession and had no rights. Her only protection from the cruel whims of her owner was absolute obedience. Lia felt horrified at her impulse and her lust.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly so that only her captive could hear her.

The slave frowned slightly, but did not look at her or speak. If anything she looked more worried, and shifted against the tight ropes.

“For some reason I now seem to own you. I...I don’t know...I can’t....” Lia trailed off. “Look, I’m going to take the gag off. Don’t speak or say anything unless I tell you to, okay?” She received a vigorous nod, so unbuckled the cruel device and laid it aside. “Look, what’s your name?” Lia asked awkwardly. She was still laying across the bound woman, and was uncomfortably aware of how aroused she was at the feeling.

The slave looked uncertain, but obediently answered. “Aelina, Mistress,” she replied quietly.

“Good, Aelina.” Lia removed her leg from on top of her slave’s stomach and laid beside Aelina. “Look, I am sorry. I...I didn’t mean to end up owning you.”

This did not have the desired effect, as Aelina shook slightly. “Are you angry with me, Mistress?” she asked.

“No! No...not at all,” Lia said hastily. “It’s so hard to explain, but I disagree with slavery.”

Aelina almost looked at her in surprise before remembering herself. She said nothing, though it was clear that she thought her new owner was either playing a cruel joke, or was crazy.

“I just don’t make a very good Drow I guess!” Lia said, laughing.

Aelina again said nothing, but looked worried instead. She clearly didn’t know where she stood with this strange new owner.

“I have to say, you are very beautiful,” Lia said. Her hand caressed Aelina’s body, stroking one of her nipples.

Arching her back slightly, Aelina sighed, just as she had likely been taught.

“Look, Aelina, I need to make you understand. I...well I don’t know how to explain.”

“I am listening, Mistress,” Aelina said obediently.

Lia felt embarrassed by her nudity as she lay next to her slave, but she had nothing she could wear that would be comfortable. “Aelina...you have to understand that I am going to tell you something I probably shouldn’t. However, you should know that if you betray me the other Drow will not thank you. None of them want a blabbing slave. It’s in your interest to stay with me because I’m the only Mistress in this whole place who won’t use you like a possession.”

“I...yes, Mistress,” Aelina said, clearly disconcerted.

“I was originally a Drow of noble family, but I was sickened by the...the...evil of my kin. The slavery, the murder, the corruption. I barely escaped. But I am back in their circle now because I need to find things out, and I still hate the cruelty and malice of my people. Do you understand now, Aelina?”

The other woman finally looked at Lia, though only briefly, before turning aside. “You’re a spy, Mistress?” she asked.

“I suppose so. Whatever I am, it’s fortunate for you. Although I have to maintain the illusion of treating you like a piece of meat...I’ll try not to when we’re alone. But you will always call me ‘Mistress’, and you will always be bound.”

“Mistress...you are taking a risk telling me this. I am your slave – you can do anything to me, or nothing.”

“I’m going to keep you as my slave, Aelina...until such time as I leave here. If I can, I’ll get you out.”

Aelina seemed unsure whether to believe Lia’s tale, but nodded obediently. “Yes, Mistress.”

Lia seemed to sense the disbelief, for she suddenly sat up on one elbow. “Has anyone made love to you, Aelina?”

She blushed a little. “My Mistress...my last Mistress made me-“ she began.

“I meant, has anyone made love to you? Made you orgasm? Have you ever felt that joy?”

“No, Mistress. My owners...they only want me to pleasure them. When the guards once took me, I did not enjoy it, for they were rough and hurt me.”

“Then I will show you, Aelina. Now Drow would ever normally pleasure someone else, especially not a slave. But I’m going to gag you – I can’t have you making too much of a noise!”

Aelina obediently opened her mouth to accept the gag.

When Lia was sure that the gag was secure, she again touched Aelina, rubbing one hand on her nipples in turn until the slave was breathing deeply and arching her back. Then slowly, she let her hand slide over the pale skin of the stomach, and down to between Aelina’s legs. With long practice in making elves of all kinds aroused, she carefully stroked this delicate area until Aelina started thrusting herself against her bonds to reach the pleasure.

Lia leaned forward and applied her tongue to the most sensitive area around the clitoris, and moved her hand into Aelina’s pussy. That got a muffled moan of pleasure as Lia started to thrust in and out while still licking. She could feel that Aelina was close, and finally she shuddered and pulled vainly at her bonds as she finally relaxed after the orgasm had run its course.

With a grin, Lia slithered up her slave’s body and unbuckled the gag once more. It had been a fortunate addition, as Aelina had made quite a noise during her first cunnilingus experience. Lia wiped her slightly messy hand on the bed and looked down at Aelina.

“Fun?” The Drow’s nipples were just touching Aelina’s own.

“Mistress...that was incredible!” Aelina said.

“I’ve had a lot of experience making love to elves of all sort. I know how to make a woman moan,” she said immodestly.

“Mistress, thank you. No one has ever done that to me before.” She seemed much more on Lia’s side now, as the act of giving her pleasure had never been contemplated by her owners before.

Lia felt more comfortable touching her slave now, and cuddled up to her. “No thanks is necessary, Aelina. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through here. How long has it been?”

“I don’t know, Mistress. Years, I guess, but I never know when the days pass, and I never see the sun or the moon.”

“Have they hurt you much?”

“When I was first caught they would beat me if I made a mistake. My first owner made me learn how to pleasure her, and hit me when I couldn’t do it.” Aelina sighed. “I learned how to be obedient, and they stopped hurting me all the time.”

“Was your last owner angry with you?”

“No more so than normal, Mistress. I didn’t know I was being sold until she came in with the Priestess and took me away.”

“Does she have other slaves?” Lia asked.

“Yes, Mistress. There were four others like me who she kept to pleasure her, or to serve her around the house.”

“I wish I could free all of them, or even just you! You have to understand though that I might not be able to. I will do everything I can for you though.”

“Thank you, Mistress. I’m sure you’ll do your best,” Aelina said, rather downcast.

Lia leaned forward and kissed her. “It’s alright, dear. As long as you’re with me, you’re safe. Would you like some water?”

“Please, Mistress.” When Lia returned, Aelina awkwardly drunk from the glass, trying not to choke. Finally it was done, and she smiled. “Thank you, Mistress.”

“Are you used to laying like this? Does it hurt?”

“After a while, Mistress, but I am used to ignoring the pain. If I complained, Mistress got angry and threatened to hurt me more.”

Lia took a decision. “I’m going to tie you up in a better way. But for appearance and for my own sake I have to keep you so you can’t try and escape. That means securing you to the foot of the bed, or to this ring on the wall.”

“You don’t trust me, Mistress?” Aelina asked.

“No offence. I can’t rely on you not to try and escape, and that leads back to me. I lose face in that eventuality, and I need to stay in with as many as I can. Selfish, sure, but without me you’re going nowhere except back to your old owner.:

Aelina nodded acceptance. “As you say, Mistress.”

“Will you be good, or do I need to call the guards?”

“I’ll be good, Mistress.”

“You better be. If you try anything then the deal is off, and you can go back to your old Mistress.”

Lia felt wretched threatening a helpless slave, but she had to do it. Though now Aelina looked anxious and a little resentful, she offered no resistance to her owner.

First Lia undid the ropes holding her to the bed, but she also connected the leash to the wall ring as well. When this was done she let Aelina relax for a moment or two before turning her on her front. Gathering up the chains Aelina wore at the start, Lia shackled her wrists and ankles, and then connected the chain between them. Aelina could walk slowly like this, but was otherwise quite helpless and very noticeable. With this done Lia undid her leash and led her to the foot of the bed where another ring set into the floor secured Aelina.

“Are you alright?” Lia asked. She stroked her slave’s breast.

“I’m fine, Mistress,” Aelina said, now a little sullen.

“Look, this is for your own good. We’re in this together.”

“Yes, Mistress. Is there anything more?”

Lia looked down at her slave...her property...and knew there was something she wanted. Yet what she wanted was morally wrong. It’d be so easy to make Aelina willingly pleasure her. A more unscrupulous version of Lia might have demanded this as a condition of helping her. Lia conquered the impulse, and shook her head. “Go to sleep, Aelina.”

After both having some food, which Lia guiltily waited for her slave to eat first, they made use of the chamber pot, and then Aelina lay awkwardly on the stone floor.

Lia wanted to give the girl a blanket, or at least a pillow, and so she gave her both, though made a mental note to remove them before the morning.

When the warm blanket and soft pillow were given to her, Aelina looked startled, but accepted them gratefully. “Mistress...why are you keeping me chained hand and foot? Won’t the leash me enough to keep me here?”

Lia turned away. The real reason is that she found her slave was beautiful, and even more so when she lay helpless there. “I might not have enough time to do it if they come tomorrow,” she improvised. It was true enough, but it wasn’t the reason in her heart!

And so, with her slave dealt with, Lia pulled her remaining blanket over herself, put her dagger by her side, and waited for the new day.

Chapter 2

Lia’s eyes shot open at the sound of a knock on the door. Her hand found her knife, and she looked into the darkness. The bar was still in place sealing the door shut, and she relaxed slightly. Standing, she pulled on some of her costume, reminding herself that she needed some more formal clothes. Going to the end of the bed she snatched the blanket and pillow from her slave and threw it onto her bed.

Aelina jerked awake, and was pulled up by her leash. “Mistress?”

“Quiet, slave!” Lia said loudly while glaring at Aelina.

The elf got the message, and settled back down as much has her chains would let her.

Lia pulled open the door. Another Drow, this one a young merchant-caste girl, was standing there.

“My Lady Liavondra, Lady Haelra respectfully asks for your presence in one quarter hour.”

Lia noted that it might be a respectful invitation, but it had all the character of an order. “Thank your Lady for her invite and tell Lady Haelra that I will be with her in half an hour,” Lia replied coldly. The girl bowed and departed.

The guards were still there, though they might be different guards considering they wore masks and full helmets. “My Lady, is there anything I can get for you?” one asked, though didn’t sound happy about it.

“Yes there is. I want food for when I get back. I want more clothes – garments suitable to wear in the presence of Lady Haelra. I cannot wear this to such an event without causing embarrassment to myself and to her. See to it. Then, you may escort me to her presence.”

Lia slammed the door before they could argue, bolted it, and went to look for some water. Unfortunately, it was all gone, and she knew she’d need to either use Aelina as a maid, or get another slave. Although Lia would have done it herself, the business of heating water, setting the fire and cleaning the room was not something one of her station was supposed to do.

She went over and pulled Aelina up to her knees and knelt down so they were on the same level. “Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully,” Lia said distinctly. “I am going to have to slap you, and make a few bruises. The guards might already be suspicious by the lack of noise last night, so I need to make it seem like I used you like a piece of meat.”

“Yes...Mistress,” Aelina said, looking worried. Her chains clinked as she clasped her hands together behind her back.

“Look, I don’t like the idea of hitting you either, but I know how to do it to make a mark. Now, open your mouth and close your eyes. Relax.”

Aelina did so, and so didn’t see Lia’s hand slash out and catch her hard on the jaw. She cried aloud in pain and looked up at her Mistress, then down at the ground.

“That wasn’t too bad, now was it? Now, on your pale skin, that’ll mark.” Lia leaned forward and kissed Aelina on the forehead. “You’ll have to stay here during the day. I’ll try and make sure no one comes in here, and make sure you stay here. How long can you stay like that on the floor?”

“I’ve had to put up with it for days, Mistress. I’ll be fine.”

“Good, I’ll come and check on you later.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Aelina said. “Thank you for everything so far.”

“Don’t thank me yet, slave...thank me if I get you out of this castle alive.”

With that, Lia turned back to her own needs and left Aelina on the cold stone floor. Of course, the problem was that her slave was quite helpless there, and she could only hope that no one tried to take advantage of her while Lia was absent!

The guard returned soon after, and Lia took the ornate robes from him and dressed with the door locked. Then, strapping her dagger at her side, she stepped out of the room with the guards in front of her. This was the traditional position for the ever-paranoid Drow to go, as it meant the expendable guards would be the first to be attacked.

The underground fortress was huge, and many other rooms branched off from the main passages. Everywhere there were male guards, young female messengers and servants, and slaves of all types. Natural selection in the grim underground world ensured that only the best looking, most obedient and most useful slaves survived.

This ensured that as Lia walked, it looked something like a beauty pageant formed from various races, as humans, elves and even dwarves all went about their thankless tasks. It stuck in Lia’s craw that this was happening, but there was nothing she could do about it, and so she raised her head high, ignored the slaves and pressed on.

Eventually she came to a large and ornate door a level below her room. To Drow, the lower down you were, the more important, in an inversion of their High Elf cousins’ beliefs.

Formidable looking guards in black armour stood to attention and opened the doors. Inside was a long corridor which had once been a barracks in the High Elf days, but was now a sort of conference room for Lady Haelra and her followers.

The Lady herself, dressed in ornate black and red silk robes, sat on a throne of sorts with several beautiful slaves of both genders secured to her throne with chains. It was a display of power and wealth as much as the well equipped guards and her expensive jewellery.

“Welcome, Lady Liavondra. I trust my gift was to your liking?” Haelra asked as politely as a Drow could.

“Exceptionally so, Lady Haelra. She is at one time obedient, yet capable of her job. I barely had to beat her at all.”

“I am sure you will remedy this soon,” Haelra replied complacently. Just as casually she drew a long, thin black rod from beside her chair and casually slashed it down on one of her slaves, this one a tanned girl. “I told you to remain on your knees, slave. Disobey me again and I will give you to one of my pets.”

The slave trembled and resumed her kneeling, though it clearly pained her. Lia wondered how long the human had been forced to kneel in that position, chained and naked at the whim of a woman who could casually torture her to death without a flicker of compassion.

“Lady Haelra, I must thank you for your gifts, as well as these robes. You have done be a service – what would you ask of me in return?” After all, Drow never did anything from the kindness of their hearts.

“Direct to the point. I like that, Lady Liavondra,” she replied magnanimously. “Walk with me, Lady,” she ordered.

Lia obeyed, following the Drow Matriarch through a back door and into a private room where once the Captain of the Guard had lodged centuries before.

“Now we are alone, I have a proposition for you, Lady Liavondra,” Haelra said. “As you are aware, my family is one of the most important and notable of all the High Clans.”

“Yes, you do your family honour by your strength and wisdom,” Lia replied carefully. It was important to flatter, but not grovel. Drow despised weakness, and if she showed any, Haelra would drop her like a hot stone. Lia wished to avoid this for two reasons; for her mission she wished to become close to powerful families, and for Aelina’s sake she couldn’t let her be taken away again.

“Indeed,” Haelra purred. Her eyes glinted as she looked at Lia. “The time has come to elect a new Queen after Her Majesty died last year. Though I would not dream of putting myself forward, our input will be of vital importance to selecting the next Queen.”

To Lia this sounded sensible from her people’s point of view. No smart Drow wanted to be Queen – the powers of the monarch were limited by her over mighty subjects and priestesses. Far better to elect a puppet and then use them to gain ascendancy.

“You believe my voice would carry the weight those of the other Houses do?” Lia asked.

“Of course, but not as much as mine or others. However, every little helps, Lady Liavondra. You help me...and I’ll help you.” Drow were not good at a friendly smile, and when Haelra tried to give one it came out as a smirk.

“Did you have a contender in mind, Lady Haelra?” Lia asked casually.

“Why yes, I did actually. That Priestess you met yesterday...Zarra. A little young perhaps, but with some careful ‘guidance’, I think she could make an admirable Queen.”

An admirable puppet, Lia thought, but this was all to her advantage. Alcala and her friends wanted her to observe the Drow, discover their plans, and if she could help put a naïve priestess on the throne, all the better.

“She is clearly blessed by the Goddess,” Lia said seriously. “With the Goddess’ favour and careful...guidance...I quite agree with you.”

Haelra grinned in what she thought was a pleasant way. “This wisdom will not be forgotten, Lady Liavondra. Your arrival here was quite fortuitous I believe.”

“Thank you, Lady. Might I ask something of you in return?”

Haelra’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You may ask,” she said sternly.

“It is nothing major, and you must think me merely greedy, but I lost a slave during the ambush that I had just broken in. A darker skinned girl that I used as a maid. That one in the throne room who displeased you...might I have her for a suitable price?”

For a moment Lady Haelra just looked at Lia as though surprised. She had clearly expected a request for patronage, even money – things the Drow Lady valued. But a slave....

“No payment is necessary. She is yours. You now have two of my slaves, and you may keep them. Consider this human as a gift for your...agreement with me on the topic we mentioned.”

Lia nodded. “Thank you, Lady. If you will excuse me....”

“One question, Lady Liavondra,” Haelra asked. “Why did you ask me for so little? A human slave is worth little compared to what you have agreed with me to do. I hope that your agreement is an oath to which you will comply,” the Drow said suspiciously.

Lia knew the real reason would mean nothing to the Drow – that caring about the human’s life was something utterly alien to her kin.

“My word is my promise, Lady. As I said, you must think me vapid, but would not ask anything more from you, due to your gifts to me so far. I trust only in your continuing patronage, that is all.”

“Ah...now I see. Thank you, Lady Liavondra. If you will excuse me, I have others to see. You may take the slave with you. She is good at her job, but requires frequent beatings to remind her of her duty.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Lia replied gravely.

Out in the main throne room, her two guards were waiting attentively. Haelra entered behind Lia and nodded to her guards. “All is well,” she said.

Her guards relaxed slightly, and Lia knew that if she had refused the Lady’s offer she might have had an ‘accident’.

“Give the brown slave to the Lady Liavondra. It is my gift to her. Thank you again, Lady,” she said to Lia.

“And to you, Lady Haelra.”

Haelra said her final farewells, and soon Lia was leaving the chamber with her two guards and her new slave in tow. Passing back through the corridors it felt a shorter journey back to her room. Perhaps she was less expectant and anxious of what she would find, but whatever the case, in what seemed like only a moment she was back inside.

“Chain her to the floor, and then you may go,” Lia ordered the guards. “Oh, and fetch some chains for my new slave...like the other one has.”

The slave did not resist much, and could not in any case, as her wrists were tightly bound with rope. The human soon had her leash locked to a second ring on the floor just across from Aelina. The High Elf looked surprised, even nervous, but was wise enough not to say anything.

Soon the guards were gone, and Lia was left alone with her two pets. The contrast between the two was extraordinary. The High Elf was of average height, with pale skin, blue eyes and a meek disposition. In contrast, the human had a pleasing olive skin, dark brown eyes and a much more defiant cast of manner.

“What is your name?” Lia asked the human.

At first it seemed as though her new slave would not answer, but finally she spoke. “Imelda.”

“Good. You will call me Mistress, and this is the best day of your life.”

“Is that so, Mistress?” Imelda asked, with a hint of defiance.

“It is. Because you now belong to the only Drow in this place who has a speck of morality.” Lia sensed that this girl was not like Aelina at all – she was stubborn, and probably not as trustworthy.

“As you say...Mistress,” Imelda said.

Lia knelt down in front of the naked human. “Listen to me very carefully. I am not like the other Drow, but if you cross me, then I will make you wish you were back with the other sort. I don’t want much from you; just say the right things when I tell you too, and I’ll protect you.”

Imelda looked a little puzzled. “Yes, Mistress. I am yours to command,” she said woodenly.

Lia felt a sudden stab of anger looking down at the girl, but controlled it. “Your job is to clean this room and to fetch me things as needed. Don’t do anything out there that makes me have to deal with you in public.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Imelda said.

There was a knock at the door, and Lia opened it, and let her guards chain Imelda in the same way as Aelina. They did it efficiently and the human did not struggle or resist much. When she was done she turned over and wrestled with her bondage futilely for a moment before resting her head back against the bed.

Lia stared at her two slaves, both chained and bound helplessly. Again the urge to force them rose in her, and she only controlled the urge by stamping across the stone floor and looking down at the two girls.

“Human, I am going to unlock you from the floor, and you’re going to clean this room.”

“How, Mistress?” Imelda asked, jingling her chains pointedly. With her arms behind her back there was exactly zero chance of her cleaning anything unless she held a duster in her mouth.

“Then give me your wrists, but if you try anything....”

“Mistress, I can help-“ Aelina started.

“Quiet!” Lia snapped. Then she sighed. “No, Aelina...thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry for that...this place is getting to me.”

Lia unlocked Imelda’s wrists and then re-cuffed them in front of her so that the human could use them to some degree. She also disconnected the chain linking her wrists to her ankles and put that aside, so that Imelda could actually move her hands above her waist.

“Now, clean this place up, then go get me some food and water,” Lia ordered.

Imelda sullenly obeyed, and started her task. She was still naked, and her chains clinked as she worked.

Lia felt a little guilty at the sight, and was also sure that in the privacy of her room that she need not do this. Making the slaves do work was surely against everything she believed in, since in a small way it meant that she agreed with it. It was certainly an unhappy thought.

As she stood in thought, Lia was aware of Aelina looking up at her. When the Drow matched her gaze the High Elf looked away sheepishly and lay back on the ground.

“What is it, Aelina?” Lia asked.

“Nothing, Mistress. I’m sorry I looked at you,” she said.

“It’s nothing,” Lia replied. Reaching down she caressed one of Aelina’s pointed ears. “You know...you remind me of someone.”

“Mistress?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Long time ago.”

Before Lia could reminisce any more, there was a knock at the door. Cursing about these continual interruptions, she went to the door, weapon at the ready.

Standing there was an even more imposing figure then Lady Haelra. This Drow wore even less than Lia or the other Drow Matriarch, and yet seemed all the more threatening. Over her entire body she wore only a transparent robe, a black belt holding a sword, and three spots over her nipples and pussy. She was also carrying a staff, and her general bearing indicated that this was a powerful Priestess.

“Lady Liavondra,” she said in a regal tone.

Lia noticed for the first time that she had an escort of four other Drow dressed in similar style to her and carrying staffs.

“Yes?” Lia asked cautiously, though without a tremor.

“I would like to discuss certain matters with you. You will walk with me,” she stated. It wasn’t even an order – it was stated like a fact.

Lia quickly fought to find this woman’s name. She was powerful, and getting the name wrong would be a very bad move.

“I would be honoured, Priestess Valriya,” Lia said, making her reply not a question only with considerable willpower. “However, I must see that my slave is properly restrained.”

“Very well.” Valriya’s attitude clearly spoke of her unwillingness to wait.

Lia hurried inside and pulled Imelda bodily over to the foot of the bed pushed her to the floor.

“Don’t struggle, and stay quiet,” Lia hissed in her ear.

Imelda seemed to understand, and relaxed so that Lia could do her job. With that done, the Drow turned and walked back to the doorway where Valriya was waiting.

“We go now,” the Priestess stated.

And so Lia followed her out and shut the door behind her, leaving her two slaves alone.

Chapter 3

If Lia was apprehensive of being led away by a powerful priestess and her group, she did not show it. Hiding emotions was the first thing a Drow learned, especially ones such as fear, pain or compassion.

Perhaps showing their respective strengths, Lia was led down two flights of stairs to the level below where she had met Haelra. There, a makeshift temple and alter had been set up to the Drow Goddess. There were also other priestesses, some male mages and warriors, and of course, slaves.

“It is not normal to invite mere nobles down to this hallowed area, but I have made an exception.”

Lia said nothing, merely looking around at the scene. This temple seemed oddly to be doubling as a Drow equivalent of a tavern. Drow sat at tables while semi and fully naked slaves brought them drinks.

“This way,” Valriya ordered, leading Lia through the throng and into a back room. The chamber beyond was dark and as large as the preceding room, except that it was almost entirely deserted. A throne sat at the far end, and hanging from a ring  on the wall by her wrists was another elf. This one, to Lia’s surprise, was actually a Drow, which was very unusual indeed. The other thing Lia could tell, was that the Drow was in agony; her feet were not touching the ground, and her wrists were bloody and chafed. Red marks crossed her body from a whip of some sort.

“Do you think she is sorry enough yet?” Valriya asked callously.

“Priestess, I could not say.” A male Drow, naked to the waist and carrying a whip stepped from the shadows.

“Well, Daeyr?” Valriya asked the captive. “Are you sorry yet?”

“Yes, mother! Please forgive me!” Daeyr cried out.

“Your weakness sickens me, daughter.” The priestess turned to the male Drow. “Beat her until she grows a spine.”

Lia just stared at the scene in horror. Every reason for her abandoning her cursed and evil kin was now brought into sharp focus. The casual cruelty, the lack of any compassion or morality, the self-promoting arrogance. She forced her gaze away – Lia had to stay focussed or she could end up in a far worse position than the hapless Daeyr.

Valriya had perhaps noticed her gaze. “My daughter needs to learn her lesson. And that lesson is to grow some backbone, accept her punishment, and move on. She killed one of my slaves, a valuable one. She will not do it again, I’m sure.”

There was a scream as the whip slashed home again and the sound of the captive sobbing.

“I’ve heard humans with more stomach. Again, Garsh,” she ordered the male. As the whip bit into her daughter’s helpless body again, Valriya turned unconcernedly back to Lia. “Lady Liavondra, I believe you met with Lady Haelra before.”

“I did, Priestess,” Lia replied. She knew what was coming, and she needed tact and cunning of her own to wriggle free of the Byzantine politics of the Drow.

“Might I know the nature of your discussions? Lady Haelra has been lacking in proper devotion to the Goddess recently. I would not like to think that you shared her views.”

“My devotion to my Goddess is absolute,” Lia said fervently. It wasn’t the Drow Goddess – but Valriya didn’t need to know that! “She called me to her to discuss the selection of a new queen,” Lia said. It was very hard to think with the sobbing Drow hanging in her chains not ten feet away.

Valriya noted her sideways looks and sighed. “Garsh, take my daughter to her room and bind her injuries. Then stand guard and make sure she does not leave. I will deal with her later.” She turned back to Lia. “Very good, Lady Liavondra. You didn’t lie.”

“A Priestess of your ability surely knows what is going on everywhere in this fortress,” Lia replied.

“You flatter me – do not think I do not see that. However, you are correct. And so, what did you decide on with Lady Haelra?”

Lia did some quick calculations of relative powerbases. Her powerbase consisted of her, and even had she not been an impostor, her view would have carried little weight in any case. That made her a perfect trifle for various Drow ladies to claim, use and discard if needed.

“She wishes to appoint the Priestess Zarra to be Queen,” Lia said.

Valriya stared into Lia’s eyes for a moment, and then leaned back on her throne. “I see. Zarra...the young one. A foolish choice. And you promised to support Haelra?”

“I did. Though if you know a better candidate....”

“You do not feel obliged to remain true to your commitment?” Valriya asked idly.

“Priestess, you command great respect and wisdom. I am a simple newcomer to these proceedings. I would like to have all the options.”

“A wise policy,” Valriya said. “I nominate my daughter Daeyr for the position.”

Lia had a vision of the pleading Drow girl hanging from the wall.

“You do not think she is appropriate?” Valriya asked coldly, noting the glance to the now empty manacles.

Lia had excellent peripheral vision, and she could see the four priestesses, as well as several guards move forward slightly.

“I think that with firm guidance and leadership she would make a good choice,” Lia said.

“I’m glad you agree. Traditionally the vote is open to all Ladies and Matriarchs. As a Priestess I have foresworn my right to vote. I hope I can trust you to do it for me?” The threat was not very disguised.

“I believe it will be a close vote,” Lia said, though she wasn’t sure.

“Very close, Lady Liavondra. Of course, for your wisdom I will ensure you are rewarded. What do you desire?”

Lia was taken aback by the question. She had nothing that she wanted, per se, and couldn’t think of anything her imaginary patron wanted either.

“Well?” Valriya demanded. “I notice you already have two slaves. Would you like another?” The Priestess leered at Lia in a conspiratorial way. “I have some new acquisitions from the surface you might appreciate.”

“Very well, Priestess.” Lia wasn’t sure she wanted a third slave, as it was morally distressing enough to be saddled with two – no matter her intentions. “Also, my guards were provided by Lady Haelra, yet I am not sure she will be pleased once she hears of my change of heart.”

“Then you must not tell her. Tell them and Haelra that you rejected my terms. My courtiers and priestesses are loyal to me and will not betray you.”

“And me bringing back another slave?”

“Explain it how you wish,” Valriya snapped and turned away. The meeting was over.

Lia was not especially reassured, but had no choice but to obey.

The trip down to the old dungeons of the High Elf fortress was one of the most distressing events Lia could remember. An almost palpable aura of misery came from the cellar as Lia entered it with one of the priestesses.

“You may choose from any of the slaves the Priestess owns, save for the one at the end.”

Lia walked along the row of cages, each holding a bound captive. The cages stank, and the slaves looked down at the ground rather than see the Drow walking past. Male and female, elf, human, halfling and other more exotic races were represented.

Near the end, Lia turned around, but she saw the last slave, the one she was not allowed to choose, and she could see why. It was a beautiful, golden skinned female surrounded by an inscribed magical circle, and bound with rune encrusted chains. Oddly, she was the only slave who was wearing proper clothes. When she looked up at Lia there was no fear in her golden eyes, just acceptance. However, as she stared at Lia her eyes widened slightly, and she looked confused for a second before turning away.

“A celestial?” Lia asked.

“Yes, Lady. The priestess is saving it for a special occasion.”

Lia shuddered at that thought, but then walked back down along the line. Guiltily she found herself examining each of the women. Finally, she stopped in front of a cell. There was another High Elf, one with black hair and blue eyes, very similar to Aelina. In fact, she looked exactly like Aelina.

“Her. I want this one,” Lia said calmly.

“Very well. Guards,” the Priestess ordered.

The elf was dragged from her cage and made to stand before Lia. Feeling sick at herself, Lia inspected the elf’s beautiful body, and then nodded. “Chain her,” she ordered. When this was done, and the elf was ready, Lia pulled her by the leash out of the cellar.

Meeting up with her guards, Lia gave them the new elf to take along, and she led them briskly back to her room.

The problem that had been nagging Lia suddenly reached fever pitch. She realised that the new elf and Aelina looked exactly the same. They could only be related, and it would be a traumatic sight at the best of times. Thinking quickly, Lia stopped the guards and took the leash from them. “I want food, and something for my slaves too,” she ordered.

With them reluctantly out of the way, Lia turned back to the door. Her new captive shifted slightly, and Lia felt her stomach twist. It felt wrong...but she had to do something, surely!

After standing for a full minute by the door, and aware of the odd look her new slave was giving her back, she pushed open the door, closed, locked and bolted it too.

The reaction was all that she had feared. The two elves saw each other at the same time, and a mutual gasp filled the room. Suddenly, the new slave rushed forward heedlessly and fell to her knees by Aelina.

“Ailis!” Aelina exclaimed. “What...how?” she asked, trying to sit up.

Ailis turned angrily on Lia and forced herself up to her feet. She was trembling with anger, despite being both naked, and chained hand and foot. “You! How could you enslave my sister you monster!”

Lia was taken aback by the words. “Me? I didn’t, I’m just helping her-“ she begun.

“Helping?! Keeping her chained to your bed is helping? I know just what sort of help your kind consider.”

“Ailis, please,” Aelina said.

“No!” Ailis struggled briefly with her chains, and it seemed to slowly dawn on her that she had not only broken every rule in the book, but that she was quite helpless. “Do what you want to me, monster, but leave my sister alone!” she said bravely.

“Look, are you going to let me speak for a moment?” Lia snapped irritably. “I only chose you because I saw you were very similar to Aelina and-“ she started.

“You are sick! I see what you want to do!” Ailis said. She seemed to believe that she might as well go all out now that her bridges were burnt.

Lia stepped forward and shook Ailis. “Will you listen to me?” she shouted in exasperation. When the High Elf had subsided, Lia took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t want to gag you, but I will if you keep shouting. Now listen! Your sister was given to me as a gift, bribe, whatever. I detest slavery, and I detest my kind’s beliefs. I am not doing this for some sort of horrible reason. I am doing this because I am the only Drow in this place who will not cut out your tongue for that tirade. In case you haven’t noticed, you are my slave – but fortunately for you, I don’t want a slave – but you’re stuck with me for now.”

Lia sighed and stepped back, and Ailis looked down at her sister.

“It’s true, Ailis. This Drow is not like the others. She has been kind to me, and has not forced me to do anything.”

“I...see. I’m sorry,” Ailis said, blushing.

“I forgive you. But you will call me Mistress, and you will do as you are told. It’s for your own good.” Lia looked at Imelda. “What are you sniggering about?”

“Nothing, Mistress,” Imelda said innocently.

“Look, I have three of you now. I’ll put Aelina and Ailis at the foot of the bed, and you can be chained to the wall, human,” she told Imelda.

“Why do we need to be chained up at all if you don’t want us to be slaves?” Imelda asked sulkily.

Lia sighed. “Because I don’t trust any of you not to try something stupid. But mainly, it’s for appearance. I am not here to rescue random slaves after all,” she said pompously. Then, seeing the look Aelina was giving her, Lia subsided. “But I will do my best for you three anyway.”

“For nothing in return?” Imelda asked snidely.

Lia slapped the human hard across the cheek. “You call me ‘Mistress’, and you treat me properly. I might not want slaves, and I might not be willing to beat you, but I am not getting myself betrayed because you want to get smart with me.”

“Yes...Mistress,” Imelda said sulkily.

Lia knelt down and undid Imelda’s leash from the ring on the floor. “Now get out there and find those guards of mine and bring back to food.“

With her hands bound in front of her, and her legs chained, Imelda left the room.

When she was gone, Lia took the end of Ailis’ leash and pulled her across the floor.

“Mistress...can’t you get us some clothes even?” Ailis asked. “Even just for my sister!”

“I can give you a blanket each night, but nothing more.” Lia locked Ailis’ leash to the floor ring where Imelda had been. Now the two sisters were close enough that they could touch if they pulled at their collars.

“Thank you for finding my sister, Mistress,” Aelina said with a warm smile.

“Yes. I’m sorry I yelled at you. It was silly...I didn’t even know my sister had been captured, and to see her here....” Ailis trailed off.

“At least someone is thankful,” she snapped. Then Lia sighed and massaged her temples. “It’s alright, I forgive you both. I’m not like the other Drow, really!” She only wished that her mind didn’t keep suggesting images of what she could do with two beautiful female High Elves. It would be easy to make them do whatever she liked under pretext of protecting them, but Lia wouldn’t let herself do that.

Lia sat on the bed between the two of them and looked moodily at the ground. With another sigh she reached down and ran a hand through both the twin’s hair.

“Come on. I’m going to give you two a bath. Can I trust you not to try and run away? Trust me, there is no escape that way. Only through me do you have a chance of seeing the sun again as free women.”

“We promise, Mistress,” Ailis replied.

Lia looked into the elf’s eyes, and then nodded. They seemed to understand, and that made Lia kneel down and unlock their chains. The collars were sealed with some method that Lia could not fathom – they were entirely smooth with only the ring at the front for the leash, and there was nowhere to enter a key.

While Lia got the twins to boil water on the fire, she went to the tin bath and rummaged around. There were some oils and some soap there, and that would do to start with.

“Water’s ready, Mistress,” Aelina called.

“Bring it over.” Lia ladled the boiling water into the tin bath, then added cold water to create a warm, but not scalding mix. Then the Drow got into the bath. She was the Mistress after all, and she deserved to use the water while it was the warmest.

“Do you want us to...wash you, Mistress?” Aelina asked.

Lia considered. Was it exploitation to do that? Most likely, but it had been volunteered, and besides, Lia thought she was owed some reward for her forbearance so far. “Yes, please. But don’t touch anywhere you don’t want to,” she added as a concession to good karma.

Lia stripped off her robe, and after admiring herself in the polished brass mirror, she climbed into the bath, and let her slaves do their work.

It seemed that Aelina had done this before, perhaps for Haelra, or another owner. Either way, she seemed to know how to arose by rubbing the oil and using the soft cloth to wash her Mistress’ dark skin. Ailis seemed entirely less happy with the arrangement, and rubbed Lia like she was a horse after a stiff ride. However, the Drow appreciated this because it distracted her from the arousal she felt from Aelina’s treatment.

Finally, with her body excepting her nether regions washed, she rose and let her slaves dry her off. As Aelina knelt down to dry Lia’s legs, the Drow felt a tingling in her, and the urge to force herself on this elf. But, with an effort, she resisted.

The two elves bathed alone, and by Aelina’s turn the water was almost cold. Still, with a little help from Lia, they were quickly washed. Lia guiltily admitted to herself to a little more caressing of the High Elves’ ears and breasts than was strictly necessary.

By the time, half an hour later, when Imelda returned with a platter of food, Ailis and Aelina was back in their positions on the floor.

“What took you so long?” Lia demanded. She’d only put on a light robe over her body, and her damp skin made her nipples peek through the material.

“Priestess Variya was there first,” Imedla said sulkily.

“Fine. Put it on the table.” Lia did not trust Imelda at all, unlike the two sisters. The twins had no reason to betray her, since she had told them the most of her plans, and they would not risk their sibling now. Imelda though looked the kind who thought she could take advantage of Lia’s unexpected morality.

Going over to the table, Lia looked down at it. A large, silver dish had been prepared for her, with quality foods assembled. In three wooden bowls some harsh dark bread, gristle and mushrooms had been prepared for her slaves.

Lia, while certain that she was a much better person than any of the Drow in the fortress, was not that noble. While an angelic person would take the slave’s food and alleviate their suffering by giving them hers, her stomach was turned by the sight of the slave’s food. So, she compromised, but giving each of the three of them some of hers, and keeping the rest for herself.

However, first of all she grabbed Imelda and dragged her over. “You’re going to eat it first though,” she stated.

“You think I poisoned it...Mistress?” she asked belligerently.

“I don’t know. Did you? Someone else might have. I am still a Drow, and we have a suspicious streak a mile wide. Now eat it!”

Lia carefully watched the human, but Imelda showed no concern as she ate something from everything and didn’t keel over from poison.

“Good. Now get back to your corner,” Lia ordered, pushing her back, and securing her to a ring on the wall. A resentful look was all she got in return. “Do you want to go back to Lady Haelra for a whipping?”

Imelda gave her a look which suggested that she didn’t think the Drow had the guts. “Of course not, Mistress, I am your obedient slave.”

Lia snorted at that, but then divided the food out. She gave Imelda the least amount of the good meal, and got another even more resentful look.

Finally, the four women were finished, and Lia piled the dishes up by the door, checked that the bolts were secured, and then went over to her bed. Pulling off one of her blankets, she gave it to the twins, and they were able to share some of it, provided they stayed near full stretch.

“I’ve only got one spare pillow,” Lia said.

“Give it to Aelina. I don’t mind,” Ailis said.

“Thank you. I love you, sis.” They kissed briefly before settling back.

Imelda got nothing to make her night more comfortable, and visibly brooded in the corner.

Chapter 4

Determining time a hundred feet below the ground was never easy. However, Drow were capable at telling time, and captured artisans from other races had been persuaded to give up their secrets in creating clocks. While by no means popular among the conservative, clocks had definite uses when compared to hourglasses, candles or water clocks.

So it was that when Lia awoke she knew that she had slept for nearly seven hours. After stretching, she stood and walked to the foot of the bed. The twins were obviously accustomed to sleeping for long periods in their chains, for they looked relatively comfortable. Lia interrupted this by pulling off the blanket and stealing the pillow.

“Right, up,” she said, prodding them both with her foot.

“Mistress?” Aelina asked blearily.

“Me. You too, human!” she called to Imelda.

Grouchily, the human too woke up, her chains jingling as she sat naked on the floor. As if to taunt or annoy her owner, she spread her legs invitingly.

Lia turned away in annoyance. She really wanted to give the human a thrashing, and then put that mouth to better use. Alas, it seemed morality was a double edged sword.

No interruptions filled the morning, and Lia did not stir beyond her room, being content lie on her bed and brood. Imelda went out with the dishes, and did not return even after half an hour. Lia couldn’t care less. Her motives for taking the human in had been to protect her, but if the slave wanted to wander off on her own, that was her problem.

The twins though...they were different. It was difficult to tell them apart by appearance alone, though Ailis was slightly taller, and had a scar under one arm that her sister did not.

Lia found herself looking down at the two High Elves, and staring into their eyes. There was definitely something familiar there.

“I’ve got it!” she exclaimed.

Aelina jumped slightly, almost falling as her leash pulled taut. “Mistress?”

“You remind me of my first slave. Well, not that I wanted one. See, when I was growing up, I was always a bit weird. My mother, you see, was a Matriarch, and she expected all her daughters to be as venal, evil and callous as she was. The other Drow saw it too, and tried to bully me. Well, that is until I broke the arm of a girl who was annoying me. See, I was not a coward, and I wasn’t weak. I just had the novel idea of not beating slaves for my sick pleasure.”

“I’m glad you still have that idea, Mistress,” Aelina said with feeling.

Lia didn’t seem to be listening. “So my mother bought me an elf. Some parents in less psychotic races buy their children puppies and kittens. I got given a slave who it was my job to train and do what I wanted to with her. I don’t think it ever occurred to my mother that this might encourage my errant behaviour. She figured that owning a pretty girl would make me a proper Drow. Well, I was young at the time, and I thought it might be fun to play with my new toy. Not hurt her much...just have some fun with. But then I met her, and I looked into her eyes. I couldn’t do it, girls. Actually, it reminds me of what happened here, because like with Aelina I had her at my mercy, and I think it surprised her more even then me that I talked to her.”

Lia sighed at the recollection. “She was actually my first lover too. Well, my first consensual one, at least. We worked out a code so that I could treat her like dirt in public, and reassure her at the same time. Sort of like I’ve done with you two. Of course, it all got found out eventually, and she was taken away from me. My mother was most angry...or was it confused? Well, she thought the slave was corrupting me...ha! So she ordered her put to death for no reason. I couldn’t let that happen, so I rescued her, and blamed it on an enemy of my mother’s. For such a cunning woman, I don’t think it ever entered her mind that her daughter would betray her, rescue a slave, and set her loose. All I could give Taenia was a set of clothes, some food and a knife. I never did find out if she survived.”

Lia stared reflectively at the ground, but then looked at her current two High Elf slaves. They were staring at her.

“What? Is that so unlikely a story? I guess it is.”

“Taenia?” Aelina asked in amazement. “She survived and became the High Priestess of Ashira! But...that means that you...” she trailed off.

“That means you’re the Liavondra!” Ailis said with a whispered awe.

“The? It’s not that uncommon a name, is it?” Lia replied, puzzled.

“You are the ‘Light in the Darkness’. You are Princess Liavondra, the Drow with the pure heart!”

Lia thought guiltily of her bath-time with her slaves that morning. “Well, I do my best,” she muttered, embarrassed.

“But surely, that was centuries ago! Vaenia was our great grandmother!” Aelina exclaimed.

They were both looking at Lia, and she coughed. “Yes, well the centuries do seem to slip by. Stop looking at me like that! And any jokes about walking canes will be dealt with severely!” she joked.

“I’m sorry, Mistress. I’m just surprised!”

“Does your family make a habit of being enslaved? Good grief, I knew there was something familiar about you two! You really do look like her. And I,” she said with absolute certainty, “look exactly the same as I did then.”

“How, Mistress? That must have been five hundred years ago!”

Lia sighed. The truth was too complex and too incomprehensible for these two. She tried to find a way to explain the complex circumstances involving time travel, parallel universes and a hefty dose of divine intervention. She failed and gave up. “Magic,” she finally said, knowing it was broadly true, at least from these two elves’ perspectives.

Lia sat and stared at the opposite wall for a moment before she felt something touching her leg. She looked down to see Aelina kissing it.

“What was that for?” Lia asked in surprise.

“Because of you we’re alive...because of what you did all those years ago. And, well...I want to thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I only hope I can save you two like I did her!”

“I want to thank you, in another way too,” Aelina said, looking up.

“You do? How-,” Lia begun, and then shook her head. “No, that’d feel wrong. It’d be like forcing you. That is wrong,” she protested, though her body was not quite on the same righteous wavelength.

“I want to...Mistress,” Aelina whispered.

“’Lina,” Ailis started.

“No. It’s not wrong!” Aelina shot back at her sister. “Not if I want to.”

Ailis clearly considered her options, and then nodded. “I’ll do it too, though you can’t make me touch my sister in that way!” she said sternly.

“I’m not forcing either of you to do anything!” Lia protested. “But if you want to...well let me undo these.” She reached down and unlocked their leashes from the floor. When Ailis offered her wrists, Lia grinned and shook her head. “You’re both too adorable to untie. Also, it’d take to long to chain you up again if I had to answer the door.”

Ailis didn’t look convinced, but didn’t really have much choice. So the twins would have to do their best with their wrists and ankles chained behind their backs!

Lia stripped off her clothes and dropped them carelessly on the floor. Then she lay back on the bed and opened her legs.

Aelina, who seemed much more comfortable with the arrangement, crawled forward until her head rested between her Mistress’ legs. Her pale body rubbed against Lia’s leg as she started to lick her Mistress.

Ailis meanwhile had awkwardly clambered onto the bed, and lay partially on top of her owner, gently licking Lia’s nipples with exquisite care.

Though parts of Lia’s mind still fought against this exploitation, she simply overruled those impulses as pleasure flowed through her. She let out a little moan as Aelina’s tongue touched an especially sensitive area of her body, and Ailis started sucking on one of her ears.

With her hips jerking forward slightly, Lia started to caress one of her own breasts, and rub her body against Ailis

Aelina was exceptionally good at her job, and even with her hands shackled uselessly behind her back, she extremely capable. Lia, or at least the small part of Lia’s brain which was thinking about something else other than sex, realised that Aelina’s expertise likely came through painful training.

But then, even this part of Lia forgot all about it as she bucked and cried aloud as Aelina started to lick her clit directly. Rubbing her body against Ailis she finally came with a final moan of pleasure, and relaxed as a warm glow filled her.

After a moment Aelina slithered up to join her, and the twins lay, still chained, on either side of her, the three naked elves pressed against each other.

“That...was incredible,” Lia said, kissing them both. She put an arm around each of the twins and held their beautiful bodies close. “I’ll have to thank you two for that later. But for now, we should clean up. And where the hell has that human got to?”

It was a rhetorical question, and Lia carefully sponged down her two slaves, and let them clean her as well.

“I’m going to change your positions. You could probably do with a rest,” Lia said. She fetched her keys and resecured her slaves so they had their hands bound in front of them, and left their legs free.

“Thank you, Mistress!” Aelina said, stretching her arms and legs out.

Ailis nodded her thanks too. Her hands idly played with her collar and leash, but there was nothing she could do.

“Now don’t try anything silly, dears,” Lia warned, slowly pulling on her clothes. She felt much better now, satisfied sexually and philosophically. It wasn’t wrong to make love to her slaves as long as it was consensual, and since she’d promised to free them when she could, it wasn’t exploitation either.

Thus satisfied in her own moral rightness, Lia stood and headed for the door. “I’m going to find that human, and beat some responsibility into her if I have to.”

The corridors were as gloomy as ever, and the usual collection of Drow and slaves were around. Lia’s guards fell in behind her as she proceeded. It was as Lia was walking along that she saw Imelda coming towards her. With her was Priestess Zarra. They both looked surprised to see Lia, but Imelda bowed respectfully nonetheless.

“Mistress, Lady Haelra wishes to see you,” Imelda said.

“Yes, I was just asking your slave to take the message to you,” Zarra said.

Lia was instantly on her guard. Coincidence was all very well, but Imelda’s long absence, along with Zarra’s very personal interest in being Queen. Would Imelda be so stupid as to betray Lia?  Considering her personal view of humans, Lia considered it possible.

“Oh, and why is that?” she asked casually. Her hand slipped down to her waist where her knife was concealed.

“Just a few minor matters, Lady Liavondra. I’m sure she would welcome your personal...attention.”

“I bet she would. Perhaps she wants a bracing game of poker?” Lia said sarcastically, dropping out of her carefully practiced tone for a moment.

Zarra’s eyes narrowed. “Are you going to come or not?”

“I don’t think I will, Priestess,” Lia stated.

“Pity.” Zarra made a signal.

Movement behind her made her draw her knife and turn, but it was too late. Her guards, plus two others concealed in alcoves nearby were heading towards her. Her lunging stab was caught on a guard’s shield, while another guard came at her from the side.

It was as she was drawing back to defend herself again that she felt a prick between her shoulders. Turning back she saw Zarra lowering a blowpipe. Lia pulled the dart from her back, and reeled backwards slightly. Other Drow in the passage were watching, but none of them were about to intervene – if one of their kind was foolish enough to be caught alone then that was their problem!

The world was starting to become blurred, and despite Lia’s best efforts she was soon slumping to the ground.

“Take her. Lady Haelra would like to ‘discuss’ matters with her. You two, go to her room and fetch those High Elves. The Lady Haelra would like them as well.”

As Lia drifted off she realised that the only way Haelra or Zarra could know she had two elf slaves was if Imelda had told them. Then blackness took her as the knockout poison did its work.

After a dark and disturbed stupor, Lia was awakened by a bucket of foul smelling water to the face. She instantly knew she was in trouble. She was standing, naked and stretched out, with her wrists and ankles manacles to four separate rings. She could feel her limbs straining against the pressure of the stretching.

“Welcome back, Lady Liavondra,” Haelra said, stepping forward, daintily avoiding a puddle of water. She was dressed in dark robes, and most noticeably was carrying a coiled whip. “I think it’s time we had a little discussion about promises, and loyalty.”

Lia said nothing. She looked over, and saw Aelina and Ailis chained tor the far wall, but Imelda was nowhere to be seen.

“You have betrayed me. Pledged your support to me, but then turned around and gave that cow Valriya your support. Well, I know how to deal with betrayal...and how to reward those who are faithful.”

Imelda stepped into view, naked and chained still, but looking adoringly at Haelra. “Mistress,” she said, kneeling down at her real owner’s feet.

Haelra looked down on her with something approaching a smile, but there was no affection there. “I saw the way you treated that High Elf slut of mine. Barely a mark on her, or the other one. You’re soft, and if this human had answered me back I’d have cut out her tongue. So I gave you this worthless piece junk to see if you kept your promise. You did not – you received a slave from Valriya. The rest is easy to work out.”

“I don’t know what reward you’re expecting, Imelda, but you won’t get anything from her,” Lia said.

“She will get what she wants...to be my slave, to serve me, and to be disciplined severely if she errs,” Haelra said. She looked disdainfully at the adoring human, then slapped her hard across the face. “Did I tell you to look at me?” she demanded.

“I’m sorry, Mistress!” Imelda said.

“You will be later. Unless you satisfy my every desire tonight I will whip you like I will whip this betrayer.” Haelra looked at Lia. “You really are stupid. Too soft, too trusting. Well, I am going to give you a lesson in manners, and then I’m not sure what to do with you. I might give you to Zarra as a sacrifice, or I might just torture you a bit myself. Guard, bring the brazier.”

Lia struggled against the chains, but it was useless. “I’m sure we can work something out,” Lia said.

“You have nothing I want and are irrelevant to my plans. I’ve never had the opportunity to torture a Lady before. Do you scream as loud as the slaves? Guard! Brazier now!”

The brazier of hot coals was brought forward by two guards with long iron tongs. In it were a number of metal objects. Ailis and Aelina struggled, but were stuck fast.

Haelra kicked Imelda aside and approached, uncoiling the whip as she did. Drawing back her arm, she slashed it with brutal precision, across Lia’s right breast.

The pain was so sharp and agonising that Lia cried aloud and struggled even harder. She barely bit back a scream as the whip lashed her left breast. Dark red blood oozed from the cuts.

“You mentioned to Zarra about playing a game of ‘poker’. I do not know what this means, but I do have...these.” Haelra went to the brazier and extracted a red hot length of metal.

“Why are you doing this?” Lia asked.

“Because I want to,” Haelra answered simply. “Now, this is going to hurt a lot. Maybe if you beg me pitifully enough I’ll stop...or maybe I won’t.”

Lia wrenched and pulled at her restraints, but nothing would let her escape the burning metal. Even worse, it was heading directly for her pussy. Closing her eyes, she waited for the unimaginable pain to hit her.

However, that pain never came. Instead there was a strange whooshing sound, and a cry.  Then, several more, and shouts.

Lia opened her eyes, hoping to see friends rescuing her against all hope. Instead, other Drow were firing crossbows from the doorway, and Haelra’s guards were being cut down. A brief battle ensued, with crossbows twanging, and swords clashing, but the Lady’s soldiers were outnumbered and outfought.

However, Imelda had gotten to her feet, and despite having her hands chained behind her, she had found a discarded dagger. Holding it behind her, she walked towards Lia, who was still helplessly bound.

“Why are you doing this?” Lia asked.

“I love my Mistress, and you were going to spoil everything!” the human claimed, her eyes wild.

“What has she done to you? She’s done nothing but treated you like dirt!”

“I am not good enough for her, but I will learn. And you...’Mistress’...will die!” She turned her back on Lia so that the knife she held behind her could be used.

Lia was as unable to escape as she had been before – and could only watched as the shackled slave prepared to drive the knife into her stomach.

At that moment there was a twang, and Imelda staggered, and fell to the floor, a crossbow bolt in her throat.

Lia looked around to see Garsh lowering a crossbow. He gave Lia a feral grin before drawing his sword and joining in the remainder of the battle.

Soon, it was all over. Lady Haelra was wounded and lay on the ground, with Zarra beside her.

Only when the fighting was done did Valraiya and her daughter Daeyr enter. The Priestess walked over to where Lia was secured and grinned.

“Lady Liavondra, I presume?”

Chapter 5

Lia stared at the Priestess in her silver and blue robes. The way the Drow was smiling was not reassuring in the least.

“Nothing to say?” Valriya asked, one delicate eyebrow raised.

“You killed...” Lia said, jerking her head at the carnage.

“Astonishing how observant you are. Unlike you however, I fail to see the problem in it. Your rather strange morality is something that amuses me. And although I wouldn’t have minded seeing that stupid witch Haelra have some fun, I need you to do something for me.”

“Oh?” Lia asked. She looked at where Haelra and Zarra lay, still both alive.

Valriya followed her gaze. “Ah yes, where are my manners?” she asked. “Greetings, my Lady,” she said to Haelra.

“I’ll get you for this,” Haelra said, trying to stem her bleeding.

“No, I really don’t think you will,” Valriya said conversationally. She lifted her staff, and from the butt of it a thin, sharp blade emerged. Standing over her captive, she speared it down into Haelra’s heart, straight through cloth and skin, and into her heart. It was accurate in the extreme, having neatly avoided the ribs, and Haelra died almost instantly.

Lia just stared in amazement at the whole scene. She could see Garsh out the corner of her eye behind her, and knew that the same fate might befall her if she displeased the Priestess.

Meanwhile Zarra, who had been securely bound, looked up at her captor defiantly.

“And you?” Valriya asked rhetorically. She pulled her staff from the corpse and rested the bloody blade on the stone floor mere inches from Zarra’s face.

“Go ahead. You are no true follower of the Goddess,” Zarra stated.

“As the High Priestess I think it is for me to make that decision. However, now that you mention it, yes, the Goddess demands strict punishment for apostates, heretics and false preachers.” She looked at her guards. “Take her to the special dungeon and ensure that she is...comfortable.”

Zarra, still struggling and cursing, was dragged away.

When Valriya returned to Lia she had cleaned her murder weapon and the blade was safely concealed in the staff once more.

“And now for you. As I said, you are going to do something for me. Something which fortunately for you involves you keeping all your body parts.”

“And what is this that you want from me?” Lia asked. Her body was really not enjoying her current position, and her legs and arms were burning with the strain. It could be far worse though, she knew.

“With Haelra out of the way and her puppet dealt with, my daughter is the leading contender to become Queen. However, you are going to vote for me, because it will still be close.”

“How do you know I will accept?” Lia asked.

Valriya ran a hand down Lia’s body, from her neck to her pussy. “Well, there’s the thing. You see, I know you are a traitor.”

“What? That’s absurd,” Lia said flatly. She thought it had to be a trick.

“Isn’t it? But true nonetheless. See, your behaviour interested me, so I contacted through a special way, my Priestess in the hold of your supposed patron. She tells me that no message was ever received, and that no ‘Liavondra’ was sent. So, you are an impostor.”

Lia had nothing to say, just stared at the priestess. She wondered why the Drow was smiling still in as friendly a way as was possible for her kind to do.

“So yes, I know that you will do this for me unless you want me to drag you off for a very painful public sacrifice to the Goddess. A sacrifice that takes...oh...half a day at least. However, in case you are thinking of trying to be stupidly brave, I also have them.” She pointed at where Aelina and Ailis were securely restrained to the wall.

“They’re just slaves. I don’t care about them,” Lia said flippantly. She got hurt looks from the two High Elves, and even worse, she knew it wouldn’t work.

“Nice try, but I know that you do care. Watch. Garsh...go cut the ears off the smaller one,” Valriya ordered, eyes fixed on Lia.

The Drow male drew a long knife and advanced. Both slaves struggled desperately as he got closer.

“Stop!” Lia said.

The Priestess held up her hand, and Garsh stopped. “Your problem is that you lack ruthlessness. If we were in exchanged positions I know that you could neither carry out the threat, and nor would I care even if you did. They are nothing to me – I could go to the markets and get a dozen more. You though...you care what happens to them. And that is what makes you puzzling. You look like one of us, you sound like one of us, but you are not.”

“I’m not a sadistic psychopath, you mean?” Lia asked snidely. It probably was not a wise question to ask, but she wasn’t just going to give up.

“Perhaps you’re not. Label us what you wish, it is just words.” Valriya turned away.

“How are you going to explain all these deaths? They’ll realise you killed her soon!” Lia called.

Valriya smirked slightly. “You have spent too long on the surface, or wherever you go, traitor. We are Drow – if you are defeated it is because you are not strong enough to survive, and haven’t the support of others. Basically, Haelra deserved what she got because she did not survive. It’s sad really to think that we’re related.”

Lia frowned. The way she had said it made it sound more than mere racial ancestry. “Related?”

“Yes, I know who you are. Everyone in my family does...your family. Princess Liavondra. The traitor. The disgrace. You rescued that High Elf slut, and I bet you even made love to her rather than force her to please you!”

Lia forgot the pain in her limbs for a second and stared. “You?”

“Me. I am not sure how you have survived unchanged through the centuries, though you are clearly vulnerable to injury. But I am descended from your sister Liyandra, and your story has been passed down to each generation as a warning.”

“You don’t think that actually showing a scrap of compassion might be a good thing?”

Valriya raised an eyebrow. “Which one of us is naked and chained up and going to submit to the other? Compassion, mercy, it is all weakness, and only the strong survive. Garsh, take her to the dungeon and make sure she is secure. The two slaves too. No escapes or I’ll take your tongue and eyes as punishment.”

With that she walked away with her daughter and guards.

Lia turned her head to Garsh who was behind her once more. “You don’t have to obey her. We can work out a deal.”

“You have only one thing I want, and my Lady will assuredly let me have it soon.” His hand drifted between her legs, despite her struggles.

“Don’t even think about it!” Lia said coldly.

Garsh pressed his body up against her naked back, so the armour pressed into her bare skin. “Oh, I am thinking about it,” he whispered.

Before Lia could reply she felt a prick, and the world went dark as the knockout poison took effect.

When Lia muzzily opened her eyes, she knew at once that she was chained on a cold stone floor. A tightness around her neck indicated that she had been fitted with a collar as well. A brief experiment showed that this was led to a ring on the wall. Lia was in a low, dark stone room with no external light at all, only a pair of lanterns on the wall.

Struggling, she managed to sit up against the wall, though her bondage was uncomfortable it was bearable and completely inescapable.

“You’re awake, Mistress,” Aelina said. She was on one side, a few meters away, while Ailis was on the other. A fourth figure was in the cell, but slumped in the corner.

“It’s Zarra,” Ailis said slowly. “They brought her in a while back. It’s...not nice.”

Lia winced. Drow were vindictive in the extreme, and quite willing to torture anyone in their power. It didn’t bode well for Lia once her usefulness was at an end.

“Mistress, are you alright?” Aelina asked.

“Look, I’m not your Mistress anymore, got it? I’m chained up here same as you! The same way as you too...oh the irony. Look, do either of you have any special way of unlocking chains? Any concealed keys or lockpicks I should know about?”

“No, we have nothing, or else we’d used them,” Ailis said pointedly. “We don’t enjoy being enslaved you know!”

“And I was working to free you, you know!” Lia shot back testily. “I just failed. Well, it happens. Is there any food?”

“They put it out of reach until we beg,” Aelina said sadly. “They gave it to us though, and it was fine.”

“Well I’m not begging,” Lia said firmly. She pulled at her chains, twisting and jerking at her bonds before giving up a moment later. “So in short you have no ideas about how to escape?” she asked them.

“No. They only ever undo one prisoner at a time, and they have three armed guards force you into the new position,” Aelina said.

“I tried to struggle once and they hit me until I wanted to be sick, then did it anyway,” Ailis added.

“So basically, we’re screwed,” Lia said and leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her breasts still hurt from the whipping, her arms and legs were still sore from her long suspension, and the collar was tight around her throat.

Lia didn’t know how long it was, or how long she had dozed off before she was jerked awake by the opening of the room’s door. As this was only a cellar with restraint rings fitted to the walls, it lacked some of the aura of a specially constructed dungeon. However, despite this, the door creaked on its hinges as it was pushed open by Garsh and two guards.

He towered over Lia, his broad chest bare once again as his dark eyes looked down on her. “My Lady has asked for you. I’d advise you not to resist or she’ll find out about it.”

While Aelina and Ailis backed away from the Drow, Lia was grabbed roughly and hauled upright and held against the wall until she was unlocked from the wall. Lia tried to kick or grab at her captors, but stopped after her head was rammed into the wall by Garsh.

Dizzy and unable to resist, Lia was dragged from the cellar. As she passed Zarra she saw that the Drow how been whipped mercilessly across the back, and that the soles of her feet were blistered.

“She did not last long before she started begging,” Garsh commented callously. “My Lady let me have my own fun with her. What fun it was to see her alternately cursing and begging me while I took her from behind.”

Lia turned away in disgust.

Inside the very room where Lia had met Valriya the first time, she saw the Priestess and her daughter were waiting. Daeyr had a smaller chair by her mother’s side, and both were wearing only light robes. Lia knew instinctively what was going to happen, and tried to pull away, but her guards dragged her on before dumping her at Valriya’s feet.

“Ah, ‘Lady’ Liavondra. I’m hoping your new accommodation is up to standard?” Valriya asked mockingly.

“The bed’s a little hard, and I can’t say I approve of the room service,” Lia fired back, again getting a little out of sync with this world’s terminology.

“Ah yes, service. It is interesting you should mention that.” Valriya uncrossed her legs, and Lia could see she was wearing nothing underneath. “Secure her to my chair,” she ordered.

Garsh hurried forward, and with the other two holding Lia, he attached her leash to a ring on the throne. “Open-mouth gag for her, Priestess?” he asked. He held up a wicked device for forcing the captive’s mouth open, but leaving their tongue free.

Valriya looked down at Lia and smiled. “No, because she’s not going to try and bite me. Not only because I will have her slave friends turned into mince very slowly, but because I will personally fill her sordid hole with molten lead. Drop by drop until you wish you were dead...and trust me, it takes a long time to die from it.”

Lia looked up and saw no pity in that beautiful, cruel face. She knew that Valriya would not hesitate to do either thing, and would feel not a flicker of moral angst about it. Worse still, she would believe it justified as well.

Valriya spread her legs, and moved forward in her chair. Her triumphant look was full of contempt and arrogance.

Defeated, angry and unfortunately a little aroused, Lia submitted. Shuffling forward she reached out her tongue and licked Valriya’s pussy, just once.

Suddenly, Valriya gripped her by the hair and forced her face between her legs, and held Lia there. “Get in there, slut!”

Lia choked as she was smothered by the Drow’s nether regions, but managed to force a breath as she licked and sucked her captor. She’d never actually made love to another Drow before, and only once had a Drow make love to her. The taste and sensation was not radically different to that of other elves, but it was distinct as she was forced in. Soon Valriya was grinding herself up and down Lia’s face as the Priestess trembled and shook as orgasm approached.

With a final shuddering sigh, Valriya pushed Lia away and caressed herself for a moment in seeming ecstasy. Finally, she looked down at Lia and raised an eyebrow. “Impressive skills. Did you get them whoring yourself out to lesser races?”

They’re only lesser to you,” Lia replied acidly.

“That’s a yes then.” Valriya fastidiously cleaned herself off with a silk handkerchief and covered herself with her robe. “Now my daughter, and don’t try anything defiant with her.”

Lia’s leash was long enough so that she could reach Daeyr’s body without having the lock moved. It was a put of a pull, but Daeyr moved herself into position, and like her mother, she forced Lia’s head between her legs and held her there. With no escape or choice, Lia licked and sucked, all the while struggling to breathe in her predicament.

Only when Daeyr had let out a sigh and relaxed was Lia’s head released, and she fell back to the stone floor.

“I like this one, mother, may I keep her after I am queen?” Daeyr asked.

“Oh no...this one is mine, daughter. You may have the traitor Zarra...what is left of her anyway.”

“I would not have beaten her so much if I had known I could have her as my slave,” Daeyr replied sulkily.

“She deserved it. Beat her until she obeys only you out of fear. Knock out her teeth too, so that she cannot try and bite you.” Valriya looked down at Lia. “You have pleased me. We still have a day before the election, so I have other things for you to do.”

“Such as?” Lia asked.

“Well we don’t let our slaves lay around all day. We only keep them for their looks and their personal uses, and how do we keep this up? You’re going to find out. Garsh, take her to the workroom. The others too. Make them sweat. Whip this one if you need to, but nowhere where it will show.”

Lia had her leash unlocked, and was dragged to her feet. She struggled, but in vain, for the two guards, and Garsh too, had her in a tight grip, and she was dragged out of the presence of Valriya and her daughter.

Lia was taken downstairs, and along a long, narrow and freshly made tunnel. The floor and walls were not even dressed stone, and still she was being dragged along, barefoot and naked.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, trying not to fall.

“To work, slave,” Garsh said.

Lia felt like arguing, but there was really no point. Instead, she trooped along until finally they reached their destination.

Inside a cave there stood an extraordinary sight. Giant windlasses like the capstans on a ship which raised and lowered an anchor. A central wooden column offered up a dozen spokes so that it looked like a horizontal wheel with no rim. There were at least six of these in the cave, and to each handle a slave or some sort had been chained. Like some parody of mindless tortures in hell, the slaves were forced to push around the heavy devices. What was more, it seemed to serve no purpose other than to make the captives exercise.

At the entry of the Drow, the grinding of the capstans stopped, and prisoners and guards alike turned to stare at Lia. She struggled, but was hauled over the rock floor to an empty handle.

“Let go of me! I won’t do this!” Lia protested as she was shoved against the central column.

“You will, or your little friends will suffer. And after tomorrow, my Lady will make sure you suffer for any infractions,” Garsh promised.

Lia fought, but against the two guards and Garsh, she was helpless. While one guard put her in a choking hold, the other casually punched her in the stomach, and while she was distracted by the pain and lack of air, they attached her leash to a ring on the capstan arm. Then, after being hit again, she was forced against the beam and had her chains removed. Desperately, Lia thrashed out, but Garsh slapped her hard across the face, and kicked her legs out from under her.

Falling, she was caught by her collar’s leash and started to choke. Trying to pull herself up, Garsh stepped on the back of one leg, and Lia pawed at her throat as the collar became a noose.

“Stay still, or I will rape you here and now,” Garsh whispered in her ear.

Lia choked, but finally nodded. She couldn’t breathe, and knew she had no chance at the moment.

Garsh let her stand up, and then forced her arms onto the capstan bar, then attached a pair of manacles to her wrists which in turn were riveted to the wood.

Lia pulled on her new restraints, but they were tight and strong. Her legs were free, but secured as she was there was no escape. She looked at the other slaves as much as she could, and to her dismay saw Aelina and Ailis being tied to a different windlass.

A tall and imposing Drow woman in ornate armour strode down the central aisle between the capstans and stopped by Lia. “Who is this?”

Garsh went over, and there was a short discussion.

“I see. You are a pleasure seeker who feels erotically excited by this treatment?” the woman demanded.

Lia was taken aback, but by the way Garsh was casually playing with his whip, she knew her answer. “No, I’m being held prisoner by the Priestess Valriya and threatened,” Lia said, being contrary because she could. Garsh’s eyes narrowed, and Lia knew she was going to get it, but she was not going to just give in and accept it!

The Drow woman looked at her dispassionately. “Whatever your reason for being here, you will work. I trust the Priestess’ judgement. Now, get working!”

Lia knew that this meant that the woman either was in the pay of Valriya, or simply didn’t care about Lia’s fate. The latter was more likely, as most Drow viewed anyone stupid and weak enough to be in this position as not worthy of attention.

“You’re going to regret that, and your little friends are going to suffer,” Garsh told her. When Lia tried to kick him he slapped her across the face again. “Now, push!”

The other slaves, all of whom were naked and chained like her, started to push, and Lia had to do the same, or she’d be dragged off her feet. The capstan was heavy, and probably had been made deliberately so it was hard to move. It wasn’t difficult, but Lia knew that after an hour her arms and legs would be burning from the exertion.

That overseers and guards did not whip Lia, but Garsh had no such inhibitions. While the other slaves, men and women alike where flogged almost indiscriminately, Lia was the only one received the Drow male’s attention. Every time she passed the whip snaked out and caught her on the back. There was nothing Lia could do to stop him, and one attempt at turning away had caused the lash to curl around and hit her nipple. She bit back a cry of pain only with effort. She didn’t have much pride left, but she would not cry out in front of these other slaves.

Time passed, and she continued in her thankless task, her legs and arms soon burning from the strain. She was sweating despite the cold floor and damp air, and her back flared whenever the whip hit. It was not a particularly damaging whip, but more the sort to cause pain, but leave few marks.

Some slaves, the weaker ones perhaps, had stumbled, and were being dragged across the floor. Because these slaves were personal pets of Drow their appearance was somewhat important, so those captives were removed and dumped on the side.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the overseers ordered the captives to stop. Garsh went to talk to the Drow woman in charge, and what passed between them was a mystery. However, as the other slaves were tied together and driven out, Lia was left still secured, as were Ailis and Aelina.

After a few more moments the cave was deserted aside from Lia, the two High Elves, Garsh and his two cronies.

“Well, well. Decided that you’d play smart, did you?” Garsh asked, his eyes burning with rage. “Thought someone would care, did you? Well, my Lady gave me orders about what to do with you if you tried.”

“She needs me for the election tomorrow,” Lia said, having regained her breath.

“Oh, this won’t leave a mark.” He turned to his men. “Do it.”

Lia instantly tried to push the capstan around and get away when she saw what one guard had fetched. However, the capstan was locked in position, and her flailing was pointless. Though she managed to kick one guard, all it did was hurt her foot on his metal helmet. They seized her legs and held them apart while Garsh slid their tool into place. It was a long bar of metal with straps on either end, and despite her best efforts, she had one ankle tied to each side. Now she could not close her legs, not move more than a few inches.

She knew what was going to happen to her, and she glared at Garsh. “Don’t you dare. If you so much as touch me I will cut off your fucking balls!” she snarled. For a Drow woman, even more than normal, this was humiliating and shameful. Men of her race were below women socially in every area, and old thoughts died hard.

Garsh just grinned and started to unbutton his trousers. One hand caressed between her legs as Lia pulled and fought and struggled madly. Garsh simply put an arm around her waist and was strong enough to hold her still.

“Be thankful my Lady did not give me permission to take you through the back door,” he said, moving up so that his penis rubbed against her vagina.

“I’ll kill you for this!” Lia screamed at him. “I will make you pay, I swear!” She looked over to see Ailis and Aelina now similarly spread, and the guards taking station behind them. What struck Lia was how resigned the two looked; they’d not even tried to struggle and made no protest.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. And remember, your defiance has made your friends suffer too. How do you feel about being responsible for their violation?”

Lia said nothing, at least, until she could feel the tip of his cock about to push into her. Her fists balled as she waited for this shameful violation. But she promised that she would have revenge for this more than anything else!

Behind her, Garsh smiled horribly, and thrust.

Chapter 6

Lia felt him penetrate her, but as she opened her mouth to curse him again, another voice cut crisply into the situation.

“Stop!” It was Daeyr, dressed in a long robe, and accompanied by retainers.

“Lady?” Garsh asked, still awkwardly inside Lia.

“Get yourself out of her before I have you castrated.”

Garsh looked angry at this order. “But Priestess Valriya said I-“ he protested.

“Are you arguing with me, male?” Daeyr demanded. Her hand fell to her blade, and her retainers likewise readied themselves.

“No...of course not, Lady,” Garsh said sullenly. He looked down at Lia’s helpless, exposed body.

“Then button your trousers, this bitch is mine. Mother said so...or did you want me to go get her down here so you can hear from her directly?”

“No, of course not,” Garsh said. “What of the slaves?” he asked, pointing to Ailis and Aelina.

“I don’t care about them. Do what you wish with them,” Daeyr said blandly. She looked at Lia. “As for you...I have such fun things planned for you!”

Lia looked over at the two High Elves, and knew that they were going to suffer Garsh’s anger over being denied. “They need to come as well. Your mother was using them to control me,” Lia pointed out.

Daeyr leaned down until her face was just inches from Lia’s. “Very well then. But you owe me, slut. I’ll spare you three for now...but after I’m Queen, I’m going to personally have some fun with all three of you. So there’s your choice!”

Lia looked up into her eyes, and saw a wild look there. She didn’t relish the prospect of being brutally tortured, but the key factor that it WAS later, and not getting raped now. That would give her more time to possibly find a way to escape. Therefore, she took a deep breath.

“Later,” she said.

Daeyr glared at her, and then shrugged. “Fine. Take this one with me. Take those two to the slave pens...for now.”

Garsh grabbed Lia and roughly pushed her into the capstan’s arm while he shackled her hands behind her back. Lia had tried to squirm free, but two other guards had helped, and soon she was being dragged by the collar back out of the workroom.  The spreader bar had been left on the ground, and they stopped to chain her legs also. Lia was back to being naked and helpless...a state she was rapidly coming to dislike! Her last glimpse before being forced out of the room was Ailis and Aelina being dragged out of the workroom in a different direction.

Lia was taken along a new path and finally arrived in an ornate bedroom. It was much more luxurious than hers had been, though still very typically Drow. Rings set into the floor and wall abounded for restraining slaves, and off to one side was a horizontal X-shaped rack with heavy metal restraints.

Lia immediately struggled to get away from the device, but now there were five guards and she was lifted and carried  until she was dumped painfully onto the hard wooden surface. Lia fought with all her might, knowing that once she was secured to this torture device she was completely in Daeyr’s power.

Garsh and the others forced her onto her back, and four of them held her down while the last locked each limb in turn into place. The X was longer than her reach, and heavy metal cuffs were attached to her wrists and ankles rather loosely. This changed though when winches mounted to both ends of the rack were tightened, leaving Lia stretched out and barely able to move.

When this was done, the guards departed other than Garsh, and Daeyr entered her field of view. The way Lia was restrained, a person could walk in the space between her legs, and her pussy was open and exposed.

Lia struggled, and although the stretching was not painful, there was every indication that they could use the rack to cause her terrible pain.

Daeyr watched her for a moment, and then slowly stripped naked. The welts from where she had been whipped were red and visible still, as were Lia’s. She looked down on Lia, her face angry as she slowly brushed one hand across her captive’s body. The hand travelled up until it rested around Lia’s throat. Daeyr tightened her grip, as if she wanted to choke her captive, but then released her grip.

“What are you going to do?” Lia asked. In her current position there was no rest for her head, so she had to keep it up, which was an effort.

“Whatever I want,” Daeyr said smugly.

“Your mother said-“ Lia began.

The blow came out of nowhere. Daeyr’s fist slammed down onto Lia’s stomach, making the captive jerk in surprise.

“You are mine and I will do what I like!” Daeyr declared, glaring down.

Lia knew she had to be careful. Unlike her mother, Daeyr was a woman of barely contained desires. She was brave when faced with a helpless captive, and liable to be cruel to someone who couldn’t fight back. Yet Lia had seen Daeyr begging and pleading when it had been her being whipped.

“Lady, the Priestess did say she was-“ Garsh said.

Daeyr turned on him in a pique of anger. “Tomorrow I will be Queen Daeyr, and I will do what I want! This bitch will do what I tell her, and so will you. So will everyone!” she shouted. “Now go away. I haven’t forgiven you for whipping me...pray I forget.”

Garsh glared at her, then left Daeyr and Lia alone.

Now friendly again, Daeyr smiled down at Lia. “You really are beautiful. However, that will make this much easier. She moved to the head of the rack, and with her naked body just a foot away from Lia’s head, she wound the winch a notch tighter.

Lia hissed as her body was stretched out. “You must really hate your mother!” she said. Lia wasn’t even sure why she’d said it, except that a random thought had occurred to her.

“What do you mean?” Daeyr asked, relaxing the rack and glaring down at Lia belligerently.

Lia hadn’t expected the reaction, and thought quickly. “Well, you’re taking a risk doing this to me when she ordered you not to.”

“I don’t care what my mother thinks. Tomorrow, I will be Queen, and she will have to do as I tell her for once!”

“Do you really think she will? After all, why did she whip you yesterday, and plan to crown you tomorrow?” Daeyr lashed out furiously with her hand, but even in her prone position, Lia moved her head to avoid everything but a glancing blow. “I can still see the marks on you, and when they crown you tomorrow, everyone else will as well. They will all see who the power really is!”

This enraged Daeyr further, and she seized a whip from the wall and slashed it down onto Lia’s helpless breasts and stomach a half dozen times.

The pain was incredible, but Lia knew that she had only one chance. If she let her captor regain her composure it’d go very badly for her. “Who are you really whipping, Lady Daeyr? Me...or your mother?”

“My mother is a whore, a harlot, and I hate her! Now shut up!”

Lia, her head tilting all the way back as she no longer had the strength to hold it up, saw a shadow by the door. Almost by instinct, she continued. “I’m the only Drow you get to play with alone, aren’t I? That Priestess Zarra was fun I bet too, but she didn’t look like me. As you’ve noticed, I look a lot like your mother. We’re related, all of us are related.”

“Not for long!” Daeyr said darkly. She seemed to be regaining her composure and looked down hatefully at Lia. “I’m going to enjoy playing with you, and you’ll be begging me to end it!”

“Like you begged your mother yesterday? Word got out about that. Everyone knows that you’re the minion of your mother, put forward for royalty because she can manipulate you.”

Daeyr had murder in her eyes now, and she punched Lia hard on the jaw, then again, and finally wrapped her hands around her helpless captive’s throat. “Shut up!”

Lia realised she might have gone too far, but there was nothing she could do except gasp out a few words. She’d not had time to think much of this interrogation out, but if she didn’t want to end up dead she had to get the right words now.

“Revenge...you could get...revenge on her!”

Daeyr stopped her strangling and looked down. “How can you help? You’re my toy! And I am growing tired of you...I might just break you now!”

“After you are made Queen then you have the power to arrest your mother. Put her on the rack rather than me. I can help by carrying a dart of that sleeping poison. No one can get close to her, but I can conceal it. She is ready for betrayal from everyone, and has spells and magic. When I am pleasuring her, I just need to prick her with the dart and she will fall asleep...then you can grab her and take her to the dungeon before she wakes up!”

Daeyr shook slightly, looking down. “Yes...yes! You could do that. Or you could tell her about the plan and have me down there instead! But if you are caught with the poison, who will she believe? I could blame it on someone else.” Daeyr seemed to be thinking.

Lia was not happy with this idea. It was crude, and the work of a few seconds panicked thought, but it seemed to be interesting her captor. “She deserves it, doesn’t she? Look what she did to you. Are you going to let that go unavenged? You deserve to be Queen...but how can you be Queen when she is pulling your puppet strings?”

“Alright, slut. After the coronation I will give you the dart and I will be ready. My mother will get what’s coming to her!”

There was the sound of light feet. “We all get what’s coming to us...daughter,” Valriya said, standing there with Garsh and other guards just behind her.

“Mother...I...” Daeyr said, flustered.

“Engaging in a little plotting, were you? Well, I can’t have that.”

“It’s not how it looks!” her daughter said quickly.

Lia said nothing, didn’t move or speak. She didn’t want either one of them to notice her. To her mind, Daeyr had been stupid, giving away far too much aloud. If she had come up with a reasonable defence instead of looking guilty, she would probably get off as well. It was probably why she’d been chosen as royal material by her mother.

“Oh really? Because it looks at the moment as though you are plotting to have me replacing the traitor on the rack. You’d like that, wouldn’t you. You’ve always hated me in a weak, snivelling way, but that is because you are a coward. You like having power over people, and you’d like nothing more than to have me begging you. Well, it’s not going to happen. I thought I could trust your weakness to make you Queen...you are my daughter still, even if I wish I had one with backbone. Oh, I don’t mind your stupidity, I expect that, but the way you try to wriggle out of it, that is what makes me despise you.”

“Mother, I-“ Daeyr begun.

“Silence!” the Priestess shouted, and her daughter obeyed. “Well, I cannot trust you to be Queen, so I will take the role instead. At least then I know that it will not be a fool in charge. You are an insult to our family...almost as much as this...thing.” She gestured at Lia dismissively.

Valriya turned her back. “Get her, and take her to the dungeon. Beat her once for every word she says. Garsh...I know how to respect loyalty. You may rape her. Your soldiers too”

“Not if you die first!” Daeyr shouted. From the rack of torture implements she drew a long flensing knife and hurled it straight at her mother’s back.

The blade never reached its target, stopping  an inch from the robe the Priestess wore. She turned, and the knife reversed direction and nailed her daughter’s hand to the wall. “Die, daughter? I assure you that I will die long after you do. Take her away!”

Daeyr was seized by the guards, and Garsh especially was looking very expectant as she was led away.

Lia saw Valriya appear over her. The Priestess’s flimsy robe did little to hide her body as she looked down at the captive.

“You knew I was there, didn’t you?”

“A lucky guess. The door opened slightly, but no one entered. I guessed there wouldn’t be many keys.”

“A lucky guess indeed, and one I do not thank you for. I had hopes for my daughter. She is weak, spineless and vacillating. But she is my daughter, and I wanted better for her. Now, I have to destroy her.”

“Would you have rather waited until she tried? What if she had succeeded?”

“Unlikely, but had she actually planned a coup I would have gone to the rack at least happy that my daughter took after me. But she is a liability, and you are rapidly becoming one as well. You do not understand loyalty...since you have entered this place you have change allegiance four times.”

Lia looked up, and knew that this Drow was a far stronger person than her daughter. “You just sent your daughter to be raped and tortured. What sort of person would do that?”

“One that would therefore have no compunction in prolonging your death over a number of days, and that impulse is growing.” Her hand rested on the rack’s winch, and then she slowly turned it.

Lia started breathing harder as she could feel herself being slowly stretched. “I helped you!”

“You think I owe you anything, traitor? You have spread much discord here, and done your foul work. I literally feel nothing when I think of making you scream.”

“But the vote!” Lia protested desperately.

“Yes, the vote. And so you have some incentive; you do as I ask and I’ll spare those High Elf sluts from what I have planned for you.”

“And what is that?” Lia asked, sure she didn’t want to know.

“The punishment for all heretics – be tied across a hollow metal altar of the goddess while burning coals are poured inside. You will slowly, and agonisingly be roasted to death over a number of hours. And that will be a fitting punishment to you. But for now...you’re going back to your cell.”

Valriya paused. “It’s a shame...I would have liked to keep you as my bed slave, but you are too dangerous to keep alive any longer.” With that she viciously turned the winch and left Lia to suffer and wait.

Lia didn’t know how long it was before the guards came. It felt like hours, hours of terrible pain, but it might have only been a few minutes.  She could not resist as they dragged her from the rack and shackled her wrists, and dragged her out. Lia was literally unable to walk, so the guards simply carried her through the halls and dumped her on the stone floor. She was back in her cell, where Ailis and Aelina had been ealier, but they were gone.

Instead, Zarra was hanging from chains further up the wall, and was moaning in pain at the strain on her wrists and arms. On the other side of the room, a set of stocks secured Daeyr. Her face and body were bruised, and her mouth roughly gagged with a wad of cloth.

Male Drow guards were taking it in turns, under the direction of Garsh, to violate her, ignoring their captive’s gagged curses and pleas.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” one guard said. “Stuck up whore bitch!”

Lia couldn’t watch. They had not bound her legs, perhaps thinking she was too weak to resist, or they had perhaps been too eager to join in the rape. Either way, Lia at least had one pair of limbs free, even if she felt weak and pained. She was also secured to the wall with her leash, but she had something free at least!

Finally, after an unreasonable amount of time, Garsh called a halt to his torture. “Come on. Let’s tell the Priestess that everything is dealt with. Chain her to the wall and let’s go.”

Lia lay totally still, and none of them looked at her, merely flung Daeyr to the floor and hogtied her with ropes, connecting a new collar to the wall with a chain. It looked uncomfortable, and Lia was doubly thankful they hadn’t tied her in that way.

Perhaps the guards were still too happy, or they assumed that Lia was no threat, for they left without checking her. They did not see that her legs were free.

Lia tried to rest, trying to plan how to use the one freedom she had. Her only chance was to attack the guard who brought food, and to do it unexpectedly. The problems piled up though. If she failed to score a clean hit, then her last chance would be taken from her, and it was certain that she’d suffer even worse in the days to come. Other problems nagged at her; what if the guard had no keys? What if there was more than one guard? What if they didn’t get close?

Lia tried to control her beating heart, and also shut out the moans of the other two Drow captives. The smell was starting to get to her. The two other prisoners, being unable to move, were forced to dirty themselves; a further humiliation. Lia at least had the use of a tin bucket some distance away from where she slept.

It was as she was just dozing off that footsteps came down the hall. Lia quickly moved position so she was sitting on her knees. This would hide the lack of her leg irons for as long as possible. She waited, expectant as the door opened.

In walked one of the guards from before. He looked down at Daeyr and prodded her with his foot. “Dinner for your majesty,” he jibed, placing the bowl in front of her, out of her reach. He pulled the gag from her mouth and turned her over, crudely groping her body while she cursed him. “Oh, the Priestess has promised us more fun with you soon,” he said, rolling her back onto her front and shoving her head into the wooden bowl so she could eat.

Next he went to Zarra where she hung in agony, a few inches off the ground. “Are you going to beg me?” the guard asked. He was clearly the sadistic type that enjoyed taunting the helpless. It made Lia’s plan even more morally right than if he’d been nicer.

“Please...water...” Zarra whispered.

“Sure, have some!” the guard said, splashing water down her body. He laughed when the former Priestess tried to reach it. He fondled her, but soon gave up, and instead pulled down on her legs so the Drow woman cried out in pain as he abused arms were yanked. Tiring of his game, he stuffed some food and water into her mouth and left her.

Finally the guard came to Lia. “Well now, you’re the one who had to be presentable!” he said. Clearly he relished the chance to pick on another Drow woman, which would be an extremely rare occurrence.

Lia said nothing, leaning back and rattling her chains slightly. To her amazement and relief he pulled her closer by her leash, obviously wanting to kiss or play with her body. Lia controlled herself as his face edged nearer and nearer.

Then Lia struck.

Drawing her head back, Lia slammed her forehead down onto the guard’s nose like a hammer. There was a crack, and he reeled back in shock and anger. Lia wasted no time, getting to her feet, and kicking the man hard and accurately on the jaw. In bare feet it hurt, but Lia had the initiative now. The guard, hurt and dazed, must have wondered how she had gotten her legs free, because she could not have fought had they been chained.

Lia pressed her advantage, and knew she had to catch him before he left the range of her leash. If he did that then it was all over. As he tried to get up she kicked him with all her might right into his kneecap. Fortunately he had no armour there, and he cried out and lurched forward, right into Lia’s knee which connected with his chin. The guard fell back and hit his head on the stone floor and was still.

Lia crouched, waiting to hear any sounds of alarm that the fight may have caused, but there was nothing. Though her body hurt from the uncomfortable fight, and from her racking before, she could stand easily. Leaning against the wall she hooked one leg under the guard’s arm and dragged him closer. When he was against the wall she straddled him looking for keys to her collar or manacles.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Drow just had to be smart and not give jailors keys. With panic starting to rise, Lia looked at the guard’s other equipment; a truncheon and a bell. Neither were of any use for a prisoner trying to free themselves. However, just as fear was taking hold, Lia saw a glint of metal where there shouldn’t be any. A small twist of wire from his reinforced belt had come loose, and she pulled it free gratefully. Though she was no expert, Lia found to her relief that her handcuffs were of a simple lock type which were simple to pick.

After a few minutes, in which the guard started to stir, Lia finally felt one wrist free itself as the lock clicked open. Now able to see what she was doing, Lia picked the lock on her other wrist quickly, and set to work with her collar. That was also relatively easy, and soon Lia was free, if still naked.

“Lia?” Zarra asked from her torturous position on the wall.

“A little busy here,” Lia said tersely. She started stripping the guard and getting into his gear. It was uncomfortable, as he was bigger than her except across the chest where his breastplate did not take a woman’s breasts into account. That was certainly uncomfortable, but it was a good disguise. In dim light she could pass for a feminine guard.

“Please...help me,” Zarra pleaded.

“I don’t remember you helping me when Haelra was about to brand my clit,” Lia said, still disinterested.

“I underestimated you. Please let me go and I’ll take my own revenge!”

Lia looked at the hurt woman. “You’d not be even able to stand.”

“Then I will find a way to cause my own death. I can’t take another day’s pain. It hurts to be alive.”

Lia sighed. “Fine. I’ll get you loose, but if you try anything I’ll smack you into next week.”

Looking down, she swiftly cuffed the guard’s hands over his head, and used her collar and leash lock to secure the manacle chain to a ring on the wall. With this done she stuffed a rag into his mouth and headed over to Zarra. Her locks were better made, but fortunately she only had to pick one of them, as the Priestess’ legs had only been tied with rope. Lia dropped the guard’s muffled bell beside Zarra for her to use as an improvised weapon and turned away.

Finally, Lia came to Daeyr, looking down on her as she struggled against her hogtie. “Untie me!” Daeyr demanded.

“You make no demands of me. I only wish I had time to give you a proper education on the matter. You’d have had no compunction in killing me. I won’t do that...I don’t do that. But I’m not going to save you either.”

With that, Lia turned and left the furious, helpless Daeyr to her fate, and exited the room while Zarra was still untying her own legs.

Lia was at large, and so far no one knew that she had escaped. It was time to get the hell out of this city of the Drow.