The Elfmaid's Curse (The Elfmaid Trilogy Book 1) (5 page)

            "Danica," she whispered, face flushed and eyes burning.

Chapter 2

            Danica landed on the bed with an umph, then scrambled to her knees, ready to put up as much fight as she could muster. Talar might take her however he wanted, but it wouldn't be easy by any means, but then she noticed he wasn't even paying attention to her.

            He was running his hands over his newly stolen body, and flexing his muscles with growing delight. She watched warily as he pulled the sword and tested its weight and balance. He seemed satisfied. Then he began stomping around the room in an imaginary fight.

            "Sloppy," Danica said, clearly not pleased to see her former, rightful, body perform so poorly. "Obviously you didn't inherit my talent as well."

            "On the contrary, my pretty, I did. But, I fear, it may take a week or so to totally master it," Talar said, barely glancing at her. "I have all your memories and skills at my disposal."

            Danica started at that revelation. She quickly scanned her own memory. Nothing! Where were Taara's memories of sorcery? If she could find them, then maybe she could someday challenge Talar for possession of her old body.

            Slamming the broadsword back into it scabbard, "In case you're wondering, you won't be finding any magic left in that body. Magic is knowledge, and I stripped all the stored energy, wards, and knowledge of magic from that body when I transferred over." He grinned. "In fact, I stripped away all of my memories and knowledge, just to be sure."

            Bowing her head, "I see."

            She had never felt so helpless in her life. It wasn't the first time she'd been taken prisoner or enslaved. But then, before, as a man, she didn't have the same concerns a woman had. Men and women were definitely treated differently when taken prisoner. The thought unsettled her.

            Admiring Danica kneeling on the bed a second, "You look so weak and miserable and vulnerable, that it gives me pangs of desire. How about it? Want to be ravaged?"

            Danica's gasp of horror and wild-eyed look was all the answer he needed. She quickly pulled the sheets up to cover her nakedness. Could he read her mind? Did he know that was her greatest fear? Gods, was he going to take her just because he could?

            Talar laughed in delight, but decided to test his strength instead. When he turned away, Danica breathed a ragged sigh of relief. She watched as he began casually destroying the room's furnishings. Both he and Danica were surprised with the ease he ripped apart the chair with only his bare hands.

            Stepping before her, he gave Danica a mischievous grin, "Are you sure you don't want the pleasure of making love to yourself?"

            "You're sick," Danica growled. Gooseflesh covered her body. But she was determined not to show any more fear. "If you so much as lay another hand on me — "

            Talar backhanded her brutally. Dazed, she felt herself jerked from the bed and hurled against the wall. Then collapsing, she lay gasping and trying with all her strength not to cry. For some strange reason her body wanted to ball like a baby, and it was amazingly hard to control it.

            Grabbing her arms, he jerked Danica to her feet and glowered at her. "I will do anything I want to you, understand?"

            "Yes," she heard herself answer.

            Sticking his face into hers, "Yes, what?"

            With a groan of despair, "Yes, master."

            She quickly averted her eyes, unable, or unwilling, to look at the triumph in Talar's face. That, and the way she was trembling, made her burn with shame.

            Sneering, Talar said, "Good girl."

            Talar released her and walked over to the discarded dress. He retrieved money and papers hidden within. Then dropping the coins in Danic's old leather coin pouch hanging from his belt, he grinned at Danica.

            "Come here, my pretty," he said. Holding out the blue silk dress, "Put this on."

            She took one step toward him, teetered atop the sky high heels, and fell. Up until then she hadn't taken a step.

            "No!" Talar said when she started to remove the offending shoes. "I want you to learn to walk like a lady by the time we reach the Slave House. Elven women are known for their grace and beauty."

            Slave House. The mere thought of slavers getting their hands on her almost unnerved Danica. She had heard horror stories of what happens to women inside them. Especially women new to slavery. And especially beautiful noble women. And the fact that she would be perceived as one of the exotic elves would mean her fate could take a decidedly nasty turn for the worst. Like being trained as a Silk Slave.

            Gritting her teeth, "Yes, master."

            By taking tiny steps, Danica managed to walk the short distance to Talar. It was harder than she had thought. Indeed, she had never really considered the difficulties in walking in high heels. They were said to have been invented by the elves thousands of years in the past, but made popular by Amazons some two centuries back, to make themselves look taller in their dealings with men. She doubted it, but one could never know for sure. At any rate, Amazons seemed to have a fetish about wearing them. Especially Amazon nobles. And, of course, slaves to fashion, other women had taken up the practice as well.

            As she gingerly crept over to Talar, teetering precariously atop the five inch heels, she suddenly felt a new sense of respect for any woman able to walk gracefully in high heels.

            Impatient, or just cruel, Talar jerked her over the last few steps.

            "Hands." Danica held out her hands and he pulled off all the rings and bangles. Then after removing the necklace, he pulled off her long dangling earrings and the tiny copper stud in her left earlobe indicating she was unmarried and unpromised. "Your new master will adorn you to his pleasure."

            After Danica pulled the dress on, he took her by the wrist and half-dragged her to the window. It was all she could do to not stumble and fall. She looked doubtful as he opened the window.

            "Sneaking out the window? Some daring warrior you're going to be," she said in the most contemptuous voice she could muster.

            Tightening his grip, which elicited the expected gasp, "I suspect you have friends downstairs." He stuck his head out the window and studied the pitch black alley below. "And I really don't care to take any chances."

            Danica snorted her contempt.

            He bound her wrists behind her back and then tore the brown-stained sheets off the bed. Making a crude rope out of the sheets, he tied one end under her arms and around her chest. He slowly lowered her to the alley below. Then he lowered himself down by hanging off the window sill and dropping the short distance.

            Danica almost freed herself of the makeshift rope before he dropped down. In another couple of seconds she would have slipped free and escaped.

            "I'll have to be more careful," he said, pulling her up. Then pushing her forward, "You lead."

            Danica seethed. His manhandling of her was the most humiliating ordeal she had ever endured. Now she was being taken to slavers, who might sell her into any number of horrible fates. What would be her fate? A harem? Brothel? Tavern slave? And could she really...endure?... stomach, maybe?...sex with a man? And would she have a choice? Not likely.

            She soon found herself standing before the door of one of the city's many Slave Houses. Like most of the city's structures, it was made of mud bricks with a low-pitched terra cotta roof. She knew the slaves were kept in cells below ground. The structure above ground was reserved for the business offices, showrooms, and barracks.

            Talar's knock was soon answered. The spy window snapped open. She couldn't make out the face peering at them in the dark. "Who goes there?" came the raspy voice from behind the door.

            "Sir Talar."

           
Sir Talar! The bastard is assuming an unearned honorific!
Danica was incensed. She had labored years to earn the right to call herself knight! That honor could not be stolen.

            "State your business."

            "I have a slave to sell," Talar said. "An elfmaid of extraordinary beauty and breeding."

            "Indeed? Wait."

            The spy window snapped shut before he could respond.

            "You bastard," Danica whispered, sapphire eyes flashing. "I will not let you get away with selling me, or passing yourself off as a knight."

            "If you do or say anything that doesn't collaborate my story, then I won't sell you here," he said, smiling without mirth. Somehow, his smile disturbed her more than the thought of being sold into slavery. "Instead, I'll stake you out in some alley and charge derelicts to use your body. Maybe even pay some of the more grotesque ones to use you, just for the fun of watching your reaction."

            Danica bit off any reply, a cold chill dancing down her back and a load of bile trying to batter its way up her throat. She definitely didn't want that, but would her fate be any different inside the Slave House? What would the slavers do? The thought sickened her even more, but the unknown was preferable to what Talar would definitely do to her.

            The door screeched open on rusty hinges to reveal an old, grisly desert nomad. His strangely uncovered salt and pepper hair and beard looked greasy and unwashed, and his dusky face creased by countless lines. His every movement looked painful.

            "In, quick," he snapped, glancing behind them warily.

            Hard looking, armed men and women filled the small entrance foyer. The three women surprised Danica, as women rarely worked as slavers. They relaxed noticeably once the door was locked. Danica understood their fear. Elfhaven was for all practical purposes ruled by the sword. If the slavers were attacked, they couldn't expect any help from the authorities.

            A chill ran up her back as she felt the appraising eyes of the slavers look her over. Never had she seen such unbridled hunger. They studied her in silence a moment before the elderly man waved them towards a side room. One of the armed slavers stepped up and seized her tightly in hard callused hands. Her handler was tall and burly for one of the desert folk, which his dark complexion indicated he was. He stank of stale ale and onions. Inside the side room, they found another, much younger, fair-haired man.

            "I am Mikem, of the House of Mikem," he said with a smile. His accent said he was a Tyrian, and well bred. He indicated a chair and Talar took it. "You wish to part with your slave?"

            Two slavers ripped the dress off Danica. She was pushed to her knees, mind reeling and feeling utterly humiliated. She was left kneeling sullenly between them and slightly to one side, fighting the urge to pull at her bindings. It would accentuate how vulnerable she felt.

            She didn't want to give Talar the satisfaction.

            "That I do," Talar said, returning the smile. "As you can see, she's an exceptional beauty." Then frowning, "But I feel I must warn you, she can be a little headstrong at times. She is also a notorious liar. I can't trust her anymore."

            "I see," Mikem said, deep in thought. He slipped off his chair and dropped to one knee beside her. With one hand tangled in her hair, he forced her mouth open to check her teeth. Then his free hand roamed her body, touching her in all of her most private places. "Good, she has all of her teeth and no cavities. No obvious open sores. Have you owned her long?"

            Mikem rolled one of her nipples between two fingers, sending the most astonishing ripples through her body. She gasped and groaned when he twisted and pulled her nipple. Her eyes went wide when he surprised her with a deep, lingering kiss. At the same time his hand dropped between her legs and stroked her nether lips.

            "No."

            The slave master released her lips, only to kiss her ear, neck, and breasts. Danica shuddered, tiny sounds starting to bubble up through her lips as she struggled to regain control of her body and mind. Then he thrust his finger into her. Deeply into her.

            "Aaggh!" Danica cried, back bowing and a tingling starting in her belly and thighs.

            "Not a virgin, is she? No? Pity. Not that I expected her to be," he said. "Will she try to escape?"

            Danica sighed in relief when he pulled his finger out of her. He pulled her forward, forcing her face down on the floor. Mikem ran his hands all over her, checking her arms, back, butt, and legs. Then he pulled off her shoes and examined her feet.

            "Without a doubt," Talar said. "I’m sure it's her only thought."

            Pulling Danica back to her knees, Mikem said, "A rare beauty, indeed. Slave, how old are you?"

            Not bothering to even look at him, "Twenty."

            "Excellent!" he said. "What's your name and House?"

            Taking a deep breath to steady herself, "My name is Danica. Slaves don't have Houses."

            Mikem's eyes flashed at that and she looked away.

            "She can be stubborn, my lord. I fear she won't ever accepted her slavery."

            "She's new to the collar? I see," Mikem said, scratching at his blonde goatee. "In some ways, that is even better." He grinned. Danica cringed. "Some men enjoy breaking in a new girl."

            Danica could almost feel the men looking at her, raking her body with greedy eyes, appraising her, wondering what she'd be like in bed.
And I am helpless to stop them if they want to find out
.

            "If I had the time, I'd love to do it myself," Talar said, studying her intently. "But, alias, I am pressed for time and she's holding me up."

            "She's a rare beauty. A blonde and blue-eyed elf is especially valuable in the Desert Kingdoms. Is she a High Elf? Forest Elf? Is she a mage?"