[Pedigree]001 Journey to Atlanna
Jump to the link to Highway DNA, a graphic scene
\Note the change in name tagging from square brackets to backslashes and sometimes slashes. This is to streamline having the story read to you by your computer via ReadPlease 2000 software. This free software allows you to let your computer read to you while your hands are busy doing dishes or whatever. You can download it at http://readplease.com/ Anything in backslashes ReadPlease skips. \
[Pedigree]001 Journey to Atlanna
\Narration\
Cigar smoke wafted through the well appointed chamber as local men of wealth and station took a moment to discuss their concerns and insights. Had he not been wealthy, and a neighbor to these men, Nathaniel Jackson-Ellis would never have been invited, for he was a bastard, the son of a wealthy plantation owner and a guard's wife. Yet it was well known he was the most intelligent and cultured of the Matthew Ellis' bastards, so when the legitimate Ellis heirs died in tragedy, the old man had made the best of things and acknowledged Nathaniel as his heir. Nathaniel was tolerated, though not truly accepted by his neighbors. Had he not been one of the best local slave breeders and a man of exceptional wit, he would not have received even the few social invitations that were sent him.
\Squire Raddington\
"...And what's more, he tried to escape, got as far as Mill Creek before the trackers caught up with him."
\Nathaniel Ellis\
"My humblest apologies, Squire Raddington. Unfortunately that buck had an abundance of strength and stamina, but little sense. Unlike men of lesser honor, however, I stand behind my products. If you like, I'll replace him and take the defective merchandise off your hands. I am sure I can find a place for him in one of my mines," Nathaniel smiled. It's a shame he did not bow to your superior wisdom, but these savages at times lack the wisdom to realize their own inferiority."
\Squire Raddington\
"That's right good of you Nathaniel, you're a credit to your father's memory. I do believe a replacement would remedy the problem satisfactorily."
\Planter Fitch\
"Speaking of honor, did you hear what that Ratcliff fellow did?"
\Squire Raddington\
"That man doesn't know the first thing about running a farm, what is it this time?"
\Planter Fitch\
"Why I hear he sold a slave to a Westerner, and when she escaped, caught her and sold her off to someone else."
\Planter Emmons\
"Scandalous! These white trash have no honor. No offense to you Nathaniel, you obviously take after you father, but this man shows a total lack of breeding. Why I hear he was seen carrying on with a doe in the fields. Bedded the slave girl right out where his field hands could see it like some ill-mannered man child. Why a man who owns slaves and property ought to set an example, even as little property as Ratcliff," Emmons sneered.
\Squire Raddington\
"Here, here, I quite agree. I refuse to keep company with men such as Ratcliff. My friends are men of honor and breeding, men who contrast with the slaves they keep as day contrasts with night. After all, a man who's hardly superior to slaves should not have dominion over them."
\Nathaniel Ellis\
"Yes indeed I agree. It was a kindness of you gentlemen to invite me over. I realize my breeding is only half-baked, but I find it very instructive to be around worthy men, who's honor, wit, wisdom and moral superiority stand like beacons above the dark savages they sacrifice a great deal of time instructing, directing and civilizing so that the world can be a better place."
Nathaniel touched the golden band around his neck.
"Unfortunately I have a business engagement the day after tomorrow, so I must leave your august company, gentlemen. I must soon start off for Atlanna."
\Planter Emmons\
"Excuse me for saying it Nathaniel, but that gold band around your neck, it reminds me of a slave collar."
\Nathaniel Ellis\
"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Rest assured I am no one's slave. This is a handy piece of sympathetic magic that allows me to realize when one of my more important slaves is getting near. As you know, before I was acknowledged, I used to be the assistant to my father's alchemist. The small bit of magic I picked up can occasionally be put to practical use."
\Butler\
"Excuse me Squire Raddington, gentlemen, Master Ellis' coach has arrived."
\Squire Raddington\
"Astonishing! You knew, didn't you Nathaniel? You are a clever man indeed Mister Ellis. Farewell then, I will see that you are again invited over as the good neighbor and honorable man that you are."
\Nathaniel Ellis\
The young man took his hat, coat and cane and bowed to
his neighbors. "Thank you Squire Raddington, it has been a pleasure.
Farewell gentlemen."
\Planter Fitch\
"Goodbye Nathaniel, now you will keep an eye out for those highwaymen we keep hearing about, won't you?"
\Nathaniel\
"Thank you Planter Fitch, I shall."
\Neighbors\
The gentlemen bid Nathaniel goodbye.
\Nathaniel Ellis\
Nathaniel Ellis smiled, tipped his hat and left.
\Narration\
The black coach that stopped for Master Ellis was larger than most, it's trim was polished gold. It's wheels were huge and its axles were part of an elaborate steel suspension system designed to soften the blows of even the worst roads. Outside the coach, high up on both the front and rear were seats for the coachman and guards, all of them large, burly black skinned men who wore silver collars around their necks. A team of eight perfectly matched black stallions of the utmost quality pulled the coach.
The smile on Nathaniel's face seemed to grow with each step towards the carriage. Several stairs folded down from the coach, and the door snapped open for him as he arrived. He took the stairs two at a time and disappeared into the coach. The coachman moved some levers. The door shut instantly, cutting off all sound from within the cabin; the stairs retracted, and with a single snap of the reins the stallions surged forward.
Mirrored windows kept the prying eyes of the public out of master Ellis' carriage. The inside of the coach was more like an office and sitting room on wheels than a traditional carriage. The ceiling was high enough for a man to stand beneath. The cabin had a desk, bookshelves, a chair for the desk, and a bench chair that could fold out to become a bed. A young, scantily clad slave girl lounged on the bench seat absently caressing its thick removable velvet cover. Around her neck was a golden band quite similar to that of her master.
\Nathaniel\
Once safely inside the coach, the slave master released the gales of laughter he had been holding back. "Ahhhahahahaha-hahahaha! You should have heard them, Asheika, hour after hour, ahahahaha, talking about honor and courtesy, often in the same breath as they mentioned the most effective ways to torture slaves into obedience, hehehehe. And breeding, they had to mention good breeding, ahahahaha, what pitiable fools! Those 'gentlemen' would not know good breeding if it bit them! aha-hahaha!" Nathaniel's feline, hazel eyes flashed as his meticulously groomed sandy blonde mane shook with his sarcastic humor.
"My intellect and passable good looks were a stroke of good fortune, a bit of happenstance, a lucky roll of nature's dice. But you, woman, are a different story entirely. Breeding, hahahaha, you have better breeding than any of them could ever hope for, even if their mother had found a wagon load of four-leaf clovers on the day they were conceived. Stand up my pet."
Nathaniel gazed at the lovely slave girl as she stood. Her skin was burnished chocolate, her eyes were such a deep, rich brown they were almost black; her face was exotic, stunning. Her belly was flat and well toned, with a perfect navel that made it all the more sexy. The slave master reached around and unfastened the deep purple, silk halter his mistress wore and let it fall to the coach's thickly upholstered floor. With the lightest touch he cupped the smooth curve of one of Asheika's full, extravagant breasts, her dark, prominent, up-tilted nipples rose in unison, jutting from the slave girl's perfect breasts like twin towers of lust.
"How old are you my pet?"
\Asheika\
"Almost seventeen, sixteen years in pen 84, almost a year finishing my training and competing with the other girls in the selection process, and two weeks as your personal girl, massa."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel smiled, "Yes and I selected you because you were the very best of the ten very special girls I bred in both attitude and physique. You my darlin', are a gem. Your breasts, in spite of their magnificent grandeur, show not one whit of sag. Now that's breeding. Your sensitive nipples perk at the slightest touch, showing that you are effortlessly hotter than Squire Raddington's wife, his three mistresses, and the on-season walking horse he was riding this afternoon, combined. That's breeding. And that's not even the whole of it." Nathaniel brushed his lips across his mistress's pert nipple as he bent to open a drawer beneath the coach seat. He withdrew a thick towel and a vial of scented oil. He sat on the coach's bench seat and brushed his hands down over Asheika's delicate, bare waist, then unlaced the short, silk skirt that barely covered her lower torso. He turned Asheika's hips so that her right side was towards him. Nathaniel's hand traced down her lower back.
"This is a masterwork," His hand smoothed over the beginning of Asheika's rump. "It starts so high and then blossoms so smooth, round and ripe it makes me want to scream for mercy. I have heard white men joking about the size of some black women's' butts from one side of their mouths as they drooled from the other; well yours, my dear, is a shameless monument to excess. You have, undeniably, the largest, highest, roundest, sexiest pair of orbs ever to grace a woman's backside. That is breeding."
Nathaniel spread the thick towel over his lap and gently pulled the woman down to lay with her pubes pressing through the towel against his thighs. He removed the glass stopper from the bottle of emollient and set it in a well in the chair arm. Asheika's thighs were slightly parted, and Nathaniel could see moisture already glistening from between her nether lips. He poured a bit of oil onto one of the magnificent cheeks of her lush rear and began to massage it deeply into her bounty. Each of her opulent orbs was in excess of a double handful of pliant, resilient flesh, and Nathaniel delighted in massaging her delicious cheeks, first one, then the other, until his whole body shook with lust, and his slave girl thrust her hips wantonly against his thighs. Nathaniel stowed the oil, removed another towel from the drawer below, and buffed Asheika's rump to a bright sheen. He tossed the towel aside and kissed one of her breath-taking orbs. There now, let us do some breeding of our own... Over an hour later when they had finished, Nathaniel was exhausted, but Asheika still smoldered with ready heat.
The coach floated briefly as it crossed a badly maintained ford. It was no matter, Nathaniel's main magical and alchemical laboratory was on an island off the coast of some newly purchased lands he had added so that the estate he had inherited from his father now stretched the extra half mile to the sea. The land was basically rocky and worthless, but it did mean that any practical approach to his island would have to be made from his land. Not that the cliffs afforded a practical approach. A jump off those cliffs meant death, and more than one slave had escaped to prove it when Nathaniel was a boy.
He had had a secret tunnel bored down through the cliffs, and his coach specially built so that he could drive down to and across the water to a corresponding tunnel that penetrated the cliffs of his island. The ford was nothing compared to the sometimes rough waters the coach could traverse. All of its doors were water tight and sealed even without the modified wizard-lock spells he had placed on them for good measure. With the bit of lead ballast he had along the center line of the bottom of the coach, the conveyance could be entirely bowled over and immersed by waves one moment and bob to the surface right-side-up the next.
"The sun is setting, Shall we have a look at the view?" Nathaniel asked Asheika, as he put some clothes on. Asheika slipped into an expensive burgundy lace babydoll as Nathaniel folded the back of the bed up so that it returned to being a bench seat. When the slave girl was seated next to him, Nathaniel hit a hidden stud and the chair ratcheted up to the ceiling, a sunroof opened and the two of them were soon sitting in open air, the bench seat even with the roof of the coach. Ahead they could barely see the backs of the heads of the coachman and two guards over the luggage loaded into the rack that covered most of the coach's roof. Behind, the heads of three more guards could be seen.
"Oh my, what a magnificent sunset. The golden light enhances the glow of your skin, though even this marvel of nature falls far short of your dusky beauty, my pet."
\Asheika\
Asheika pointed into the distance. Massa?
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel squinted, then reached between Asheika's knees and opened a drawer in the seat below her, kissing a perfect knee as he did so. He handed her a spyglass.
The coach was approaching a copse of woods.
\Asheika\
"Ten riders, massa. White trash, all armed, some wearing bits of mail."
\Nathaniel\
"You have exceptional vision, Asheika. Now that's breeding," Nathaniel smiled. "Ready arms. It appears we have company, Master Ellis spoke rapidly to his black guards. "Looks like some good practice for you boys," Nathaniel smiled. My eyes are not nearly as sharp as Asheika's, but if I don't miss my guess we have just encountered that group of highwaymen Planter Fitch warned me about. Interesting that we are so close to Ratcliff's little estate. I wonder if he ever has trouble with these men? Somehow I doubt it."
\Highwayman Leader\
"Stop if ya value yer lives," A highwayman hollered as he brandished a crossbow.
\Nathaniel\
"Speed up."
\Coachman\
The coachman swallowed, he snapped the reins and the eight stallions broke into a gallop.
\Highwayman Leader\
"You three, plink me a coachman."
\Highwayman\
Two of the highwaymen fired their crossbows while a third let fly with an arrow from his short bow. All three arrows went wide of the black coach. The highwaymen looked at their bows in confusion, as the coach bore down on them.
\Highwayman Leader\
"Get out the way! Can't you idiots hit anything!? They were warned. Now get on their tail and fire at will!"
Seven more arrows streaked towards the coach, all went inexplicably wide of their mark.
"Damn our luck! Close in on em!"
\Nathaniel\
"I believe there's a nice little clearing about a hundred yards into those woods up ahead. Stop there," Nathaniel commanded the driver. Nathaniel looked back at the highwaymen, "A pity they couldn't afford better horses. Hahahah, it's no matter even if they could. You can't buy equines that have the kind of breeding that went into my stallions."
The coach steadily gained ground even though the coachman was not urging the 8 galloping stallions to greater speed.
\Highwaymen\
The highwaymen dug their heals into their mounts and rode high in the saddle.
\Highwayman Leader\
"Damn it! How can a coach that size be beatin' are asses?"
Tree limbs whipped by as the ten riders streaked after
the black coach. Then suddenly it slowed, stopped and turned into a clearing
in the forest.
"What the fuck!?"
\Nathaniel\
"Hermes, stay at the reins. Frey and Balder, stay on guard. Odin, Thor, Tyre, with just you three fighting, the odds are in excess of three to one. If any of you fight at least three men and emerge from this battle without a scratch, I will think of an extra reward for you. Hermes, the running lights please, it's getting dark, and I would like to be able to enjoy the show."
"If it's a fight you'd like, then you shall have it," Nathaniel shouted to the highwaymen as they rode up.
\Coachman Hermes\
The coachman pulled one of the many levers at his side and lights along the edges of the black coach lit up.
\Highwayman Leader\
"Mage lights? I got a bad feelin' about this. Them slaves... ain't that gladiator armor they're wearing? We better get the hell outa here!"
\Nathaniel Ellis\
Nathaniel intoned a few arcane syllables and pointed at the ground in front of the men's horses as they slowed to turn tail. A host of roots rapidly sprouted from the ground and entwined the animals' hooves.
"Welcome highwaymen, it's so kind of you to drop by for a little battle. To whom do we owe the honor?"
\Gladiators\
The three black gladiators grinned, each of them wore a gladius short sword on his belt, but each carried other weapons he preferred to the gladiator's stock sword. Thor carried a hammer in each hand, Odin carried an enormous battle axe and wore wicked looking metal gloves - cesti, and Tyre carried a spear in onne hand, and swung a net in the other.
\Highwaymen\
Their crossbows already discharged at the coach, eight of the ten highwaymen drew blades of varying shapes and sizes, from daggers to a two-handed sword and jumped to the ground, avoiding the roots near their horses hooves. Two drew short bows.
Thplot! went the skull of one of the bowmen as a thrown hammer annihilated him. The other bowman managed to shield his face with his arms but was nevertheless picked up by the force of the hammer and thrown to the ground end over end like a rag doll.
Three of the highwaymen found themselves suddenly enveloped in a net full of barbed hooks. "Argh!" "Ouch!" "You idiots, don't move, use yer blades and cut on it." " Easy fer you ta say, I got a falch- ulgluck," the man gurgled blood as Tyre's spear pierced his heart.
\Odin\
With deceptive speed, Odin dodged the blow of his opponent's two-handed sword, stamped his foot on the blade's end as it approached the ground, and brought his great axe down cutting the now bent over highwayman in two from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist.
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel whispered in Asheika's ear, "Keep an eye out for exceptional qualities in any of the highwaymen."
\Asheika\
Asheika nodded.
\Highwaymen\
Another highwayman was skewered by Tyr's spear, while the third, the leader, nimbly cut his way out with his two sharp daggers.
Deftly swinging two scimitars, a highwayman lunged at Odin. Much to his surprise Odin threw his huge axe at him. The highwayman blocked the flying weapon with both blades, barely managing to stay upright. As he did so, Odin jumped forward. The gladiator's cestus-clad hands grabbed the highwayman's wrists as the axe hit the ground between them. Odin smiled and squeezed. Blood poured from the man's wrists as the gladiator muscled the man's arms against his will. Aaaiii! The highwayman screamed as the tips of both his blades entered his ears. Odin lifted the man right off the ground twisting to interpose his victim's body between himself and an incoming rapier. Odin straight-armed the highwayman in his grasp and kicked him forcing his friend's rapier to transfix him so deeply that it could not easily be withdrawn. The point of the rapier nicked the gladiator's chest before the force of his kick slammed his opponent to the ground beneath his dead compatriot.
\Highwayman\
"Oh fuck!" The highwayman grunted as he hit the ground with such force that his vision blurred.
\Nathaniel\
"Such a pity, Odin was nicked."
\Thor\
Thor drew his gladius. He briefly crossed blades with a highwayman before bashing the criminal to the ground with a single mighty push of his body. He sustained a nick, but crushed the highwayman's windpipe with the heel of his boot before jumping aside. He crossed blades with a second highwayman and threw him against a third. The two men went down as if struck by the rear hooves of a kicking Clydesdale.
\Nathaniel\
"Uh, Thor has been nicked. Only Tyr still has a chance at an extra reward, such a pity."
\bowman highwayman\
The man who blocked Thor's second hammer with his arms dragged himself up from the dirt. One thing was certain, his left arm was broken in at least two places. He drew his sword with his numb right hand and ran at the spear-wielding gladiator.
\Tyr\
As Tyr pulled his spear from his second kill he saw the former bowman approaching from the corner of his eye, he dodged, sustaining a slight gash across his arm before slamming the butt of the spear into the highwayman's adam's apple. The unfortunate went down gagging as he drowned in his own blood.
\Nathaniel\
"Aah, only three highwaymen left. These odds are much better, but all of the gladiators have sustained petty injuries."
\Highwayman leader\
Damn it! The leader's twin daggers flashed as he engaged Odin, from what he could see, the slowest, but also the strongest of the gladiators. He knew his daggers were useless against the gladiators cestus-clad hands. He tried to work his way under the man's guard, as it was a cinch he was not tall enough to work his way over it. The two men traded blows. He had never fought a man so incredibly strong who was nearly as fast as he was. Until today, he was faster than any man he knew. He got in a few quick jabs but the gladiator's armor took the brunt of the damage. One solid punch from this idiot and it would be over. The glancing blows he'd already received had been inhumanly powerful, knocking him several yards and addling his brain. A cold sweat poured down his chest and back.
\Thor\
Thor was surprised the two men he'd tossed together had scrambled to their feet so quickly, then again they did look terrified. He dodged backwards letting a tree take the sword blow intended for him from the one man, while he blocked the blow from the other man with his blade, and kicked the tree chopper in the belly.
\Kicked Highwayman\
Puuuuh! "Oh shht I cn't brthe," the highwayman gasped, only dimly realizing his feet had lifted off the ground and had still not touched down again. A tree that had been across the clearing from him remedied that problem. "Ooooof!"
\Swordsman Highwayman\
As Thor blocked his sword stroke, and kicked his friend across the clearing, the first highwayman put all of his energy into a punch to the gladiator's gut. Crunch! Aaaargh! You broke my hand! He looked down at his mangled hand and was surprised to see the point of Tyr's spear emerge from his chest. His expletives became a stream of blood as he crumpled to the ground.
\Thor\
Thor ran to pick up his hammers.
\Tyr\
Tyr watched the scene, his spear at the ready. The highwayman Thor had kicked, seemed to be having a great deal of trouble getting up. It seemed as though his legs would not work for him, though his arms flailed considerably as he coughed blood. Tyr smiled as a casual swing of Thor's hammer reduced the man's head to pulp. The gladiator had passed the unfortunate on his way back from retrieving his hammer.
\Leader Highwayman\
The leader grinned as he opened up a large gash on Odin's belly. Haha, a little slow there, aren't ye big man?
\Asheika\
Asheika whispered in her master's ear. "The leader is exceptionally fast. Slightly faster than Odin, though not quite as fast as Tyr or Thor."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel nodded and whispered to Asheika, "I have found that if I find three men who are naturally fast, the individual traits that make them so are often not the same. There is often more than one way for a body to accomplish a given result such as speediness. If one stacks several different speed enhancing traits in a single individual, one can breed truly preternatural speed. Tell me, do you fancy him at all?" Nathaniel pointed at the leader of the highwaymen.
\Asheika\
Asheika nodded, "He is an evil, criminal white man who kills casually, and he is not bad looking. I do not know why, but I find him attractive."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled, "Now that's good breeding. Nathaniel gave the slave girl a conspiratorial glance, "I suppose I really should see if he has any connection with Ratcliff."
"Odin, keep him busy but do not kill him. I think I will have a word with him."
Nathaniel smiled at Asheika, before slipping into the cabin. The door to the coach opened for an instant and the slave master jumped to the ground, circled and approached the highwayman so that he could see both his adversary and catch a glimpse of Asheika atop the coach from the corner of his eye.
\Highwayman Leader\
"A word aye? I'll cut ye a new mouth in yer throat, then ye'll tell me no lies."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel smiled, "On the contrary, you will drop those daggers."
\Highwayman leader\
"The fuck I will!"
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel stared into the man's eyes, "Drop the daggers."
\Highwayman Leader\
The man's eyes bulged
\Nathaniel\
"You will obey."
\Highwayman Leader\
The man stared at his own hands as they began to open. Tears ran from his eyes as he used every ounce of his will to disobey the slave master's command. His brain felt as though it were about to explode.
\Nathaniel\
"I am the master, you will obey me."
\Highwayman Leader\
Gah, the highwayman's hands opened, the daggers fell to
the ground.
"Yes... master," he rasped.
\Asheika\
Asheika's mouth dropped open. She could not explain why she was so attracted to her master. It was obvious that her attraction to him infuriated the lesser slaves. She did not know why his power and dominance made her want him. Perhaps it was some trait he had bred into her soul. His evil sneer, his callous disregard of human life, his courtesy and cynical honesty while behind closed doors, his ability to play the sham role of the honorable gentleman to the hilt, his commanding voice, his smoothly dominant nature, these were things that stirred her loins, but until this moment she had no idea of the raw mystic might of his mind. The highwayman was strong willed. He had tried very hard to resist, that was easy to see, but her master had broken this outlaw's will with only a few words. Asheika's breath came in shallow gasps. As she watched her master dominate the chief highwayman, lust came over her in waves.
\Highwayman Leader\
Tears streamed from the highwayman's eyes as he felt his own helplessness.
\Nathaniel\
"Now, you will tell me if you are partnered with anyone not present."
\Highwayman Leader\
"No, the highwayman squawked."
\Nathaniel\
"Obey" Nathaniel's eyes bored into the man's mind.
\Highwayman Leader\
He... will... kill... me...
\Nathaniel\
"You will tell me his name," Nathaniel said softly.
\Highwayman Leader\
The highwayman shook from head to foot. "M-m-mark Ratcliff. H-he's our l-leader. H-he puts us up i-in a secret cave on his estate. H-he hides us w-when the law c-comes looking. H-he takes f-fifty p-percent. H-he will kill me."
\Nathaniel\
"Muahahahahaha," Nathaniel's laugh was pure evil. "No, on the contrary. Given the chance, I believe you would try to kill him."
\Highwayman Leader\
"I would?"
\Nathaniel\
"Of course, otherwise when I tell the constable about the highwaymen camping in a cave on Ratcliff's estate, and Ratcliff finds himself cooperating with the law to find you, he will work overtime to kill you to conceal his involvement with you. He will make like you were simply squatting on his land. I will not tell the constable that Ratcliff is involved with you since I have it only from your own lips, and I certainly cannot trust the word of a highwayman against the word of a landed gentleman, regardless of how newly landed he is. You must first escape me in order to get a chance to kill Ratcliff before he kills you, but should you do so, you must be very careful to kill Ratcliff when you can safely stab him in the back. If you don't succeed, he will surely kill you for your trouble."
"There is one thing you can help me with before you try to escape."
\Highwayman Leader\
"There is?"
\Nathaniel\
"Yes, I have a slave girl I had bred for exceptional sex drive, among other things. You see, I had a choice either to ignore the trait of sex drive altogether, in which case I would have wound up with a very boring mistress, or to make absolutely sure she had it in abundance, which almost certainly would make her more woman than any one man could handle."
\Highwayman Leader\
The highwayman blinked incredulously.
\Nathaniel\
"First you must tell me if you believe you have any diseases of the sexual organs. You will be honest."
\Highwayman Leader\
"I think I'm healthy in that regard, sir."
\Nathaniel\
"Good then let me inspect you, and do a few divinations on you. You cannot be too careful with a slave this valuable. Stay here, I need a few necessaries. Nathaniel brought a basin, a decanter of water, soap and a washcloth. While I work, I would like you to disrobe completely, and wash the region thoroughly. Odin, hold the basin for him."
\Odin\
"Yes, masta."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel mumbled incantations and passed incense beneath the man's privates, then followed up with a few other bits of divination magic.
"Remarkable, a white man of your station who is healthy between the legs. Miracles never cease."
"Asheika, climb down into the cabin."
"Tyr, take his clothes and his daggers, and put them in a neat stack on the other side of the clearing."
\Tyr\
"Yes, masta."
\Nathaniel\
"Coachman Hermes, toss me your sleeping pad from atop the carriage, lower the stairs and open the door, please."
\Coachman\
"Yes masta," the slave pulled the appropriate levers for the stairs and door then reached up behind him to untie his sleeping pad from the cargo wrack atop the carriage. "Here it is masta," the slave tossed Nathaniel the pad.
\Nathaniel\
"Very good." Nathaniel disappeared into the coach where he met his slave girl as she road the bench seat down from the roof. He whispered to Asheika, "I have a little spell that I found for a lesser girl who helped me secure some seed from some of my competition's best gladiators. As a matter of fact, you might even consider her to be, a partial mother to you. The spell is really quite ingenious - originally it was like a sheath for inside females, but I improved it to cover the external genitalia as well. It is totally undetectable without mage sight, and it will conduct matter in only one direction. In this case from you towards him, but not vice versa. His secretions will be contained. Thus it is good protection against diseases, but I take no chances with property as valuable as you, my pet." When he is finished and you have secured his seed inside you, you must whisper in a commanding tone, the word, 'claudere,' to close the sheath and keep his seed from dribbling out. I will remove the sheath and put the seed in a vial for preservation. Say the command a few times now before I cast the spell so you will remember it."
\Asheika\
"Yes massa, claudere, claudere, claudere, claudere, claudere."
\Nathaniel\
"Good." Nathaniel intoned arcane syllables, made gestures, plunged his hand into his mistress's panties until his palm covered her nether lips, then pronounced the final words of the spell, "skeida nominalle."
\Asheika\
She felt a tingle surge up her tunnel, but that ended almost as soon as it had begun. Otherwise there was no indication that the magic existed.
\Nathaniel\
"When it is convenient, collapse and give him a moment to escape once he has given you his gift. Stay here for a moment, then come out."
\Asheika\
Asheika nodded.
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel returned to the highwayman's side and handed him the sleeping pad. In a low voice he said, "This slave girl is a jewel. If you harm her in any appreciable way, I will see that you are tortured, castrated and left to live life as half a man. Aside from the consequences of any damaging acts, you should consider yourself lucky, your prowess against Odin impressed her even more than it impressed me. She fancies you. Being a gentleman I will give you a little privacy. You are not to go near your clothing but you may seek the cover of the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing if you wish. If you pleasure her successfully she may collapse beneath you for a time, but you will not use this time to make an escape since you really want me to turn you in to the constable. Do you understand?
\Highwayman Leader\
The highwayman nodded and thought to himself, "I understand, all right, the last line had none of his blasted warlock's compulsion in it. For some reason, he seems to prefer that I live, and Ratcliff dies. At least we agree on something," the highwayman thought. "With Ratcliff dead there will be no one left to connect me to my criminal activities in these parts except this slave master, and he evidently has better things to do than report a highwayman. Besides, he seems to be willing to wait until Ratcliff is dead, so at very least I should have a head start, since he won't know exactly when I kill the man. "
"I could just run and leave Ratcliff alone, but then that would be two men knowing about me. Likely Ratcliff would get the trackers on me to kill me soon as the constable showed up to his estate checking into this slave master's story. Ratcliff's only hope would be to beat the constable to me. He don't want anyone knowin' he was in on it, and I'm the last one who could tell. No, I better kill Ratty, and when the job's done I'll make a quick escape and leave my problems, and hopefully the constable behind. Can't quite fathom why the master wants me to bed his slave wench, ah... he wants a gladiator with my speed, no doubt. Well If he's going ta give me a chance to escape, I guess I can give him that much, long as the damn gladiator motherin' wench ain't too ugly an' muscle bound."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel returned to the coach, passing his mistress as she emerged.
\Asheika\
Asheika came out of the coach ambling down the steps, her sumptuous breasts bobbing against the sheer fabric of the lace babydoll she wore.
\Highwayman Leader\
"Holy Shit!" the highwayman thought to himself as he stared at the slave girl in awe. He felt his erection raise like a branding iron from the flames of the forge.
\Asheika\
Asheika passed by the man and walked towards the bushes. She grinned to herself, it sounded as if he were panting.
\Highwayman Leader\
"Damn!" the highwaymen gasped, his heart pounding, as he saw the woman's incredible rear moving in front of him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Highway
DNA] A graphic scene that fits here, wherein Asheika collects a bit
of valuable DNA, and then her master finishes satisfying his girl after
the highwayman flees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\Narration\
It was about an hour shy of midnight when the black coach pulled up to a country inn and disgorged its occupants. There Nathaniel dutifully reported the incident with the highwaymen to the inn keep so that he could relay the news to the constable next time he was by.
\Nathaniel\
"If I thought the constable would have a hope of catching the last of the highwaymen, I would make the trip to his house, but I do believe by the time I made it there, the trail would be plenty cold, and I don't believe the constable would want to search for the man in the middle of the night anyway. Just the same, I did want to make sure someone was appraised of the situation before I continued on my way to Atlanna. The constable might wonder how it was nine ruffians met their doom in that clearing. With any luck, that group was all of them, and we can all rest a little easier about the safety of our roads."
\Innkeep Tibbs\
"Well then Master Ellis, I will make it a point to tell the constable as soon as I see him. I do appreciate the work you and your gladiators did exterminating them. I met some of the folks they cleaned out, and some folks were killed. They were dangerous, and plenty bad for business."
\Nathaniel\
"I and my gladiators are glad to be of service, Mr Tibbs. It's a fine state of affairs when fighting slaves can do a greater service than merely entertaining, and I do believe it was good practice for them. Goodnight, I'll see y'all in the morning."
Nathaniel retired to his room where Asheika was already waiting. "It has been a good day today my pet. My neighbors entertained me with their laughable beliefs, and I had the fun of shoveling on a little matching bull crap of my own. We got to see how the gladiators fought against real world opponents, and my girl helped me with my research, which a do appreciate."
\Asheika\
"A girl might wonder why massa asked if she fancied the highwayman."
\Nathaniel\
"She might, might she?" Nathaniel chuckled. "Aside from the practical aspect of securing the quickness trait in the highwayman's seed for my research, the main point to that liaison for me was entertainment. I enjoy watching my insatiable girl in action. Perhaps sometime I would enjoy watching my bored girl pretending to enjoy bedding a man she had no interest in, simply because I required it of her, but I do believe I would find it near as dull as she would. The only situation I can think of when that might be appropriate is when I could get political advantage from it in order to advance my fortune and reputation. Primarily what I require of my bed slave is that she satisfy my carnal needs, serve as a companion, and that she make my friends and enemies envious of me with her beauty. Your superior breeding allows you to perform those functions admirably, but I do believe you are showing potential beyond mere breeding, and beyond the adequate satisfaction of those rather basic functions. I am pleased."
"Consider if you were a white woman and my slave in the unholy state of matrimony. Your job would be to manage social matters with other men of influence and their families, to preserve and enhance my good name, and to produce heirs. You could do that speaking to me only rarely, and bedding me even less often than that. If you were from the right family, you would have been trained to the job practically from birth, just as you, my pet, were trained in music, dance, grooming, massage, table service, etiquette and whatever else the trainers decided to throw in."
\Ahseika\
"A girl might wonder why her massa is not married."
\Nathaniel\
"I shall indulge my girl and explain this last thing before I sleep. Just as everyone in my organization has a station, I too have a station within this culture. As a bastard son of a wealthy man, who nevertheless inherited that wealth, I am at a grave social disadvantage. Men of wealth and station in this culture have convinced themselves of certain ridiculous views, and they are wary of men of the lower classes who attain a high station as they are not likely to share those same views. Thus men like me who have wealth, but were not raised to it are often frowned upon and shunned by men of the upper classes. I must pretend to agree with their views and play the part of a perfect gentleman in order to maintain and increase my own wealth and power. Social contacts are extremely important in many businesses, and I am at a disadvantage in that regard compared to men born to wealth. I am forced to make up for it with talent and cleverness."
"A son of mine might be accepted by the upper crust if he grew up going to the proper schools, mingling with the proper people, and learning the propper etiquette. The degree of his acceptance will depend a great deal on the value of his mother's name. There are a few families who have very good names. I have looked into the matter, but there are no young women with a sufficiently valuable name who are desperate or penniless enough to be interested in a man like me. I would be a fool to marry a lesser woman as it would lock my family out of the inner circle of men who run this kingdom. Thus I will remain a bachelor until I can find a way to secure the kind of woman I require."
\Asheika\
"Does massa require an attractive wife?"
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled, "She need only be attractive enough to avoid ridicule. My magical research concerns the breeding of human beings, and I am an expert in that area. No white woman will attain half of your beauty, my pet. I see no reason to set my sights on the impossible when I am already lying next to her. Now go to sleep. I wish to get a few winks before Hermes wakes us in the morning."
\Asheika\
"Yes masta," Asheika smiled to herself, snuggled up to her master and let all her muscles relax. She did not need as much sleep as her master, but she was content to lie with him in his repose and think about the days events.
So much had happened to her since she had left pen 84 on Nathaniel's laboratory island. She had been raised and trained there exclusively for the first sixteen years of her life. The pen was a building actually, there were no bars or cells, but there was no way out either, or at least she hadn't know there was until she was sixteen and she and her sister slaves had the way opened for them. Pen 84 was different than the regular world. People were more delicate there so all the walls and floors of the pen were padded, and everyone had to have medicine every day. It was cozy, but you could not see the sky and the trees, or feel the wind in your hair.
It had taken a little time for her to get used to the real world with its wide open spaces. In the real world a girl could pick up her heels and run, and if she fell while running, her injuries would not kill her. Two of her sister slaves had died in the pen. It had been easy to hurt oneself and others there. Bodies were so delicate. Only ten of the original twelve girls had lived through their childhoods. If it had not been for the padded walls and the availability of healing potions, fewer of the girls would have made it to their sixteenth birthday in one piece, but the master had spared no expense on his special girls. The teachers and mothers had talked about the outside world as though it were a much harsher place. Perhaps it was for many, but Asheika now realized her station was far above that of most other slaves, and in some ways far above the pitiful white trash who competed for the right to work for men like her master, so that they might have the money to feed and clothe themselves and their families.
She had learned about the outside world from her teachers in the pen. There were masters who's skin was white like some of her teachers' skins. They had power, and the master who owned her and her sister slaves had special power - magic. When she first saw her master, she could sense his power, and she knew she must have him. All of her sister slaves had been very beautiful, and many were talented. Later her master told her she was unquestionably the most beautiful of them all, but she had not known this until after she was his. She had set her talent against theirs, her music, her dance, her service competing for him against theirs. The odds were difficult, but she had won.
Most of the others had been sold on the block. It
had been the only other time she had visited Atlanna, and she had seen
little of the city then. She went there to say farewell to her sister
slaves as they were sold on the block, one by one. Each of them fetched
a king's ransom, enough to pay for a hundred or more of the farm hands
that had been on the block before them. She had seen the other masters
and their agents bidding. She knew then that she had been right to
win her master. Most of the other masters were older men. Their
wealth and power had been apparent, but it was older than they were and
much of it came from social position. Nathaniel's power, in contrast,
flowed from him. It was vital, electric, consuming and addictive.
It attracted Asheika from the very first moment she had seen him, and now
she was his.
---
\Narration\
Not long after dawn, the travelers had breakfast and returned to the coach. Soon they were again rolling forth to Atlanna.
\Asheika\
Asheika enjoyed the freedom of the outdoors, and all the new sights and sounds. The inside of the master's coach reminded her a little of her padded home in pen 84. The coach was cozy, but so much more wonderful than the pen because it was part of the big world.
For much of the day master Nathaniel sat at the desk within the coach catching up on his correspondence with powerful friends and business associates while Asheika played the flute and lyre for him. In the later afternoon he finished, opened the sun roof and elevated the bench seat. There he sat with her sipping lemonade as the coach rolled through the city. He pointed out many buildings, temples, city hall, the great market square, and many others.
\Nathaniel\
"...And that spire over there is the temple of the god of light. I don't spend a lot of time over there," Nathaniel chuckled.
\Asheika\
"Why you bad, massa?"
\Nathaniel\
"I am a powerful man, my pet, and more importantly I am a man building power. Occasionally you will find a genuinely good man with power, but it's rare, and when it does happen, the power was most often inherited. Usually what you might have thought was a good and powerful man, is simply a man with a better than usual illusion of goodness about him. Take the men that are the largest sponsors of the temple of light. You will find that these are usually wealthy men with guilty consciences. I have no use for guilt, it is a waste of energy. I do what I can to maintain the semblance of honor and civility about me in public, but I kept only the businesses my father owned that had a decent profit margin or were helping businesses for those that did. Primarily I am in the slave business, the mining business, the whiskey business, the gambling business, and the brothel business. All are high profit, and all involve a great deal of human suffering. Ironically, all are quite essential to our culture as well. If I closed all of my businesses tomorrow, the demand for minerals, whiskey, games and sex would quickly sponsor the the growth and creation of new businesses to fill those needs."
"It is easier to maintain wealth than it is to build it, thus men from old and highly wealthy families can often manage to maintain their wealth from businesses that are relatively kind and low profit. Go back far enough into the history of those families and you will often find someone like me who built their wealth in the first place. Someone ambitious, selfish and ruthless enough to manage businesses for high profit. Sometimes you will find a long gradual rise to wealth, but look at the wealthiest and most powerful family of them all, the King's, and you will find a very ruthless history indeed. Kings' families are warrior families, conquerors who demand a portion of their subjects money simply because they have the power to take it. I pay an enormous sum in taxes to the crown every year, and if I did not, all I had would be taken from me by force, and I would be jailed or executed."
"Taxes are a form of ritualized extortion. I pay them to avoid punishment, just as my slaves work to avoid punishment. My slaves see me as wonderfully free, and perhaps I am in comparison to them, but the crown allows me only enough freedom to make money, a portion of which they take every year. If they took all my money, I would not be able to make much for them in the following year, because it takes money to make money. Thus the crown has developed a system where they skim wealth from anyone making money. However, the crown leaves them enough money to make more money and enough so that they can enjoy their wealth as incentive to make money for the crown year after year. They have maintained this system by using propaganda to convince people it's in their best interest, and by simply getting people used to it so that it has become a tradition. Don't make the mistake of believing there is no violence behind it though, my dear. The King uses his soldiers to destroy anyone who refuses to give money to the crown. In addition, the king limits the size of private armies so that no one can compete with his force."
\Asheika\
"But massa, doesn't a king protect his people with his army?"
\Nathaniel\
"Oh indeed he does. We are like a great herd of milking camels in a lawless desert. Each sheik tries to protect his herd from the other sheiks that raid and take his camels away. It is in the King's best interest to protect us from other kings who would take us, and our ability to produce wealth and power, away. He is protecting his investment. The other things he does, such as spending a portion of his money on roads and bridges and so on, enhance our ability to make him money, for businesses cannot run well without roads and bridges. I am sure the King does do some charitable things, my pet, but by and large he runs this country for his own advantage. Luckily this is often at least in part to the peoples' advantage as well, especially wealthy peoples'. You see the King knows who makes him the most money, and those are the people who he takes care of the best. You will find there are a great number of laws that protect the wealthy at the expense of the poor."
"There are laws that protect the poor as well, because the King realizes that if all businesses went through people like my mines, for instance, there would soon be no people left. The mines use people up. Only the very lowliest people work in the worst mines. These include problem slaves and poor white criminals, in other words, anyone who cannot abide by the king's laws. The King allows the mines to exist as they do simply to profitably drain the life out of people who are bad investments for the King. Profits from such mines are high, as the crown rewards mine owners like myself for getting rid of the trouble makers while producing very important minerals that are difficult and dangerous to get, but necessary for industry."
"You and I, my dear are very small gears in the machinery that supplies our King with power. We are part of a very large and intricate pecking order. Slaves complain about a lack of freedom, men of wealth complain about taxes. What we are really complaining about is that we lack the power to do exactly what we want to do. Society constrains us, and though we might gain some small measure more autonomy that we started with in the course of our lives, we are largely trapped in the stations we were born into."
\Asheika\
"Massa, is the King superior to you, like white people are superior to black ones?"
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled and leaned toward his girl so that his lips were very near her ear. He spoke in a whisper, "I am going to let you in on a little secret, Asheika. It would not do for you to tell anyone, as you could get in serious trouble, and I will certainly deny ever having told you you or having ever believed the secret myself, if asked by any man. The King is not superior to me, and white people are not superior to black ones except in social standing. For reasons of convenience in this kingdom, all non-criminal white people are at least nominally free, all black people are at least nominally slaves. In some kingdoms there are no slaves at all, and in others there are white slaves and no black people at all, and in the area of he world that blacks originally came from, there are blacks who are free and blacks who are slaves and very few whites whatsoever."
"Blacks originate from an area overseas that is less populous, and less magically and technically advanced than our kingdom. It is hard to say how the practice got started, but at some point the King decided it would be legal to have black slaves but not white ones. This stimulated importation of blacks. Tribes of blacks made fortunes making war on their neighbors, conquering them, and selling them off to whites on ships. Sometimes the whites would go in on their own and conquer, but white businessmen soon found it was easier to let local blacks do the conquering."
"This whole superiority thing, my dear, the superiority of whites to blacks, the superiority of royals to commoners, is a sham created to salve the guilty consciences of the powerful group while instilling docility in the minds of the less powerful group. These sham theories of superiority simply justify one group having dominion over another. They are the product of powerful men not wishing to admit or even being able to admit to themselves that they are predators who wield deadly force against others in order to gain power and hold it for themselves. Instead of owning up to their own ruthless selfishness, they hide behind ridiculous theories that hold as much scientific water as a sieve. I am a subject because the King has the power to kill me if he feels like it, and you are my slave because I have the power to kill you if I feel like it. In this culture, blacks make convenient slaves simply because they can be kept socially apart from whites. Any fool can tell the difference between a white skin and a black skin, so there is an easy basis for classification. The difference between commoners and royals is a little more subtle but it is the same kind of arbitrary distinction."
"As far as I have been able to tell from my research, the traits for the shape of the features and skin color have no interaction with traits such as strength, speed, intelligence, endurance and so on. That is why Thor could take apart three white highwaymen by himself. I do not believe his training at arms was that far in excess of the highwaymen's, but his breeding was far superior to theirs. His strength, dexterity and speed are superior to any naturally bred man's, black or white. He is average as far as intellect and inferior only in social standing, because his outward appearance marks him as a slave. Ironically, being a bastard son of a gentleman, one of my main difficulties in life is also my social standing. I do need to study more royal seed to be sure, but as of yet I have found nothing special about it, and I strongly believe I will find no outstanding traits in it."
\Asheika\
"Massa?" Asheika pointed.
\Nathaniel\
"Nathaniel reached for the spy glass in the drawer beneath Asheika, kissing her knee as he did so. "I believe the placement of that glass was a real inspiration." He put the glass up to his eye and looked. That, my pet, is a uniformed policeman, and by the looks of things he is coming this way. Gladiators, coachman, stow all weapons. Asheika, your powers of perception never cease to amaze me, but how did you know to point that officer out?
\Ashieka\
"A girl has heard massa's friends wonder why he used black guards. Massa's friends seemed confused, and said massa could get arrested in most cities for having armed blacks."
\Nathaniel\
"My girl is right, like many cities, Atlanna has an ordinance against armed blacks, though the arena has an exemption, of course. The trick here is that bribing an officer of the law is a crime, as is using magic to scramble his brains. Now one might be able to do either or both of those without repercussion if he were slightly clever, but that involves a certain degree of risk. Luckily I had this coach built with certain compartments beneath the guards' seats and elsewhere." Nathaniel pressed one of the studs hidden beneath the chair arm sealing the weapons compartments. "Lets see if our officer notices anything amiss." Nathaniel pressed another stud and the bench chair lowered to its former position while the sun roof closed. The atmosphere within the coach seemed cooler than it did outdoors. Lets look out the windows and see what the officer is doing. If he decides he wants to come in, we shall have to play it by ear.
\Asheika\
"Yes massa."
\Officer Leary\
"Hold up there coachman. I believe I saw you stowing some gear. You men weren't carrying weapons were you?"
\Coachman Hermes\
"No sir, massa. Weapons is illegal in the city."
\Officer Leery\
The officer eyed the empty sheaths on the belts of the black guards. "I would like a word with your master, the young officer stated firmly."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel sat at his desk and rolled the cover up. He reached into a secret compartment and moved a gem-tipped lever. Sounds from the outside could now be heard within the cabin, though sounds from inside still did not leave it. He moved a second lever and the temperature within the cabin began to drop still farther. He closed the compartment as he set out an unfinished letter, a blank sheet of parchment and a quill.
\Coachman Hermes\
Coachman Hermes drew a gold cup-tipped talking tube to his mouth and spoke, "Massa, a police officer wishes a word with you."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel pulled one of the talking tubes built into the desk and replied, "Tell the officer his request for audience is granted."
\Coachman Hermes\
"Massa says your request for audience is granted."
\Asheika\
"Massa that officer, he was a proud young buck, now he looks a little uncomfortable."
\Nathaniel\
"It was the wording I used. I have found that police officers have an instinctive fear of royals," Nathaniel chuckled.
\Officer Leery\
Looking a bit less sure of himself, the officer walked towards the side of the coach, evidently looking for a door, but none was apparent.
Suddenly a door in the side of the coach snapped open as a small staircase lowered itself nearly to the ground.
Officer Leery blinked and walked up the stairs, looking a bit trepedacious.
\Nathaniel\
"Please come in, Officer.
When the officer cleared the door, it shut with hardly a sound.
\Asheika\
Asheika gave the officer a brief look at her stunning face and knelt smoothly before him.
\Officer Leery\
Officer Leery shut his dropped jaw as he saw the stunning slave girl. His eyes could not help but follow her as she knelt, but that was a mistake, one glance at the tops of her extravagant breasts made him gasp in spite of himself.
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel grinned inwardly. His girl was using royal etiquette, kneeling in the officer's presence, head down, posture perfect, as though she were only familiar with greeting noblemen.
Officer...?
\Officer Leery\
"Leery, sir."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel frowned slightly as if the officer had got his title wrong, then wrote the officer's name down on the blank sheet of paper.
\Officer Leery\
Officer Leery noticed the air within the coach was much cooler than it was outside, but he was sweating none the less.
\Nathaniel\
"Offer our guest refreshment, my pet."
\Asheika\
"Would Officer Leery care for a glass of wine? A girl can offer Chateau Laffront Madir, Chaetau Larange de Buzan, and Chateau Canat De Luze, among others. Or perhaps Officer Leery wishes Champagne, or a non-alcoholic beverage since he is on duty? Officer Leery may have apricot nectar, mandarin orange juice, or lemonade."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel maintained a straight face, but laughed inwardly. No wine Asheika offered sold for under sixty-five gold a bottle, well over half the yearly salary of the poor white trash.
\Officer Leery\
The officer shifted uncomfortably. "No thank you," I will only be a minute. I believe I saw equipment being stowed by your guards, but it was at quite a distance. I am sure I was mistaken, but I thought perhaps it was weapons, so I wanted to make it a point to inform you that there is a city ordinance against blacks carrying weapons. I would like to spare you any trouble with officers stopping your coach as you move through the city."
\Nathaniel\
"Why thank you Officer Leery. You are a most considerate man. Have you been to the arena?"
\Officer Leery\
"Yes, sir. I am a fan of Raptorath and some of the other gladiators."
\Nathaniel\
"Good, I have seen Raptorath perform, he is indeed an exceptional fighting slave. I do hope to produce a slave to beat him one day." Nathaniel reached into his desk and pulled out a stack of tickets. As a small token of thanks for your kindness, I would like to give you some tickets to the arena this evening for you and your fellow officers. I get a number of free tickets for the evenings my gladiators fight. Usually they go to waste as I haven't the time to find interested parties. My slaves Tyr and Odin will be fighting a pair of slaves from the same house that produced Raptorath. I believe you might enjoy the round."
\Officer Leery\
Officer Leery took the tickets. His eyes opened a little wider. He had never been able to afford ringside seats before. Usually he sat in one of the tiers of seats way back near the outside edge of the bowl of the arena. Of course he usually went on the weekends when ticket prices were steeper, but still, a dozen ringside seats were worth a small fortune to him. "Thank you sir, I am sure we will enjoy the bout."
\Nathaniel\
"Very good, Officer Leery, My girl Asheika and I will be personally attending the bout tonight. As a matter of fact Asheika will dancing as part of my owner's speech for the main event. I am sure she would be very flattered if you and your fellow officers were to chant her name if you enjoyed her performance." The door to the cabin opened.
\Officer Leery\
"We will be sure to watch for her sir. Thank you for the tickets sir," Officer Leery bowed and stepped out.
\Nathaniel\
"You are most welcome, Officer."
The door snapped shut behind Leery and the stairs retracted. Outside he looked at the tickets he still held almost incredulously.
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel stood up, "Ahahahahaha, that was brilliant my dear." The slave master pulled his girl close and embraced her. You are indeed a gem, my pet. He reached behind her ear and withdrew an amethyst.
\Asheika\
Asheika looked at the gem in confusion. Where had it come from?
\Nathaniel\
"I have seldom had trouble with the Atlanna police concerning my armed slaves, but I will have my lawyer check to see if there might be some kind of permit available.
Nathaniel picked up the talking tube and spoke to the coachman, "Hermes, it appears the Atlanna police have added some youngsters to the force of late. Until I can get a permit, I want you to have the men stow weapons soon as we enter the city limits, and re-equip them as soon as we leave the city."
\Hermes\
"Yes masta"
\Ashieka\
"Massa, there was no stone behind my ear."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled, "sure there was, my dear."
\Asheika\
"Yes massa."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel laughed. "Actually you were absolutely correct, my pet. It's a parlor trick. I will show you how it's done. Nathaniel demonstrated the art of palming the gem and making it appear as if it came from thin air.
\Asheika\
Asheika tried it and quickly mastered the technique.
\Nathaniel\
Very good Asheika, your dexterity is obviously without peer. Now more advanced magicians might do it like so. Nathaniel pulled back his sleeve and held his palm out flat, turned it over then back upright. He raised his eyebrows and the gem appeared in his hand as if by magic.
\Asheika\
Asheika looked at her master's hand. "How'd you do that massa?"
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled. Magic, my dear. You are never to speak in public of my magical powers save to discount them as amusing tricks and minor feats, but I believe after being in pen 84 you might sense that magics exist that are quite potent. Magic can bend reality, and since you are my personal girl I have not toyed with your memories of the pen. Since you will be around me almost constantly, you will need to get used to the fact that I am an alchemist and something of a magician. Getting back to the trick, there are two ways one might do it. An illusionist might glue the stone to his palm, then make the stone invisible either to your eye or your mind, and then cancel the invisibility. It would be a small matter for me to make the stone invisible to your mind, as I have had a great deal of practice with mind magic. Being a slave master I have had innumerable human subjects to practice it on.
A true magician, however, can teleport small objects from place to place. The art is called apportation. As of a few years ago, I did a great deal of work developing my ability to teleport very small objects with precision. I have many volumes and spells concerning the art. Some are more useful than others. Nathaniel took a gold coin from his pocket and put it on the palm of his right hand, while placing a silver coin on his left palm. Which coin is in my right hand, girl?
\Asheika\
"Gold, massa."
\Nathaniel\
"Are you sure?"
\Asheika\
Asheika looked at the coins. The gold coin was now in her master's left hand and the silver was in his right, yet the change had taken place so quickly she had not noticed.
"Massa you switched them."
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled. "Indeed I did. Apportation is a skill, my dear, and like all skills it requires practice to maintain and improve. Larger objects require more power. One can often teleport larger things, even one's own body if one doesn't mind taking his time about it, but usually a mage of a given skill can teleport a maximum of only so much mass. Some magicians work to transport ever larger items, but my primary concern is speed and precision, not mass. I also must continually practice the ability to teleport items I am not touching, and to work within the auras of other organisms.
Large creatures, like people, have relatively powerful auras. It is as if a person's will surrounds him, making it more difficult for me to port an item very close to another human being. I am skilled at teleporting extremely small objects into and out of the auric fields of very tiny organisms, but my skill could use some broadening. I believe if I practice with you enough, we may be able to surmount the obstacle of teleporting objects into your personal field. I may not be able to teleport items to and from everyone just by perfecting the skill with you, but it certainly won't hurt my powers any, and this ability might prove quite handy if you wish to collect mens' seed for me on occasion. Would you like to try?"
\Asheika\
Asheika looked intrigued. "Yes massa!"
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel smiled, "let us try something easy first, a speed and precision exercise. Take a seat on the bench, I will sit over here at the desk. Throw this silver coin at my hand with your right hand, but also be ready to catch it."
\Asheika\
Yes massa. Asheika gave the coin an easy toss towards her master's hand. She watched as it disappeared in mid air, instantly it reappeared slightly closer to her going in the opposite direction. She caught it. Massa!
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel chuckled, "Lets try a continuous stream, my dear, as soon as you catch it, throw it back."
\Asheika\
Asheika tossed the coin, then caught it, then tossed it again, and again and again. It was almost as though the silver piece were a yo-yo. Asheika giggled as she increased the speed. Now and again her master would miss and they would have to start over, but by and large he did very well.
\Nathaniel\
After about twenty minutes Nathaniel took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his brow. The cabin was actually rather cool, but the magical workout was bracing.
"Now lets try something else, my pet. Hold your palm up and extend your palm out from your body as far as it goes. I will try to drop coins into it one by one from within your aura. Nathaniel's pockets gradually emptied as he ported one coin after another into the air above Asheika's hand. He gradually worked the distance down from twelve inches away from her palm.
\Asheika\
"Masta, that was a good one, only two inches away from my hand."
\Nathaniel\
"It's a start, my pet. Give me the stack of coins you've been making over there and I will try some more.
\Asheika\
Asheika gave Nathaniel the coins and reseated herself on the bench.
\Nathaniel\
Nathaniel rapidly ported coin after coin into the air only a couple of inches away from his girl's palm, then waved his hand. I am spent, my pet. We will try again tomorrow. For now I would like you to massage my face and scalp. Constant work like this can give a man a headache.
Sometime later Nathaniel looked out the window. It was afternoon and the sun was moving lower in the sky. The coach was leaving Atlanna, headed west moving away from the coast rather than coming from the south as it had earlier. After a short but satisfying massage and a very brief nap, the black coach pulled up to The Ellis Gladiator Training Camp in the hills just west of Atlanna.
Nathaniel got up and went to the desk where he spoke into the talking tube. "Continue down that road to the Northwest Hermes. I want to see if those blasted contractors have finally got my tunnel up to specification. I do wonder why the word, 'identical' does not seem to be properly defined in some mens' vocabularies."
The coach traveled a few hundred yards to an area where the soil had been stripped away from the stone core of an abrupt hill.
\Coachman Hermes\
Coachman Hermes unscrewed and removed the shaft of one of the coach's levers, then handed it to Tyr who inserted it into a hidden hole in a crack in a rock wall next to the coach. He gave it a twist. In front of the coach, a large, natural-looking rock wall slid into the hillside revealing the dark entrance to a tunnel.
\Nathaniel\
The door looks good, turn every light we have on, Hermes and take the couch slowly down the tunnel. Nathaniel extended the stairs and opened the door. He stood on the steps carefully scrutinizing the tunnel as it went by. The stone door to the tunnel slid back in place not long after the coach entered.
At the other end of the tunnel there was a tight turn-around loop. The coach went through it and returned to its starting point. The door slid open once again as the coach arrived.
"Turn around outside and come back into the tunnel. It appears they have finally got the flaws ironed out. All lights off Hermes. Splendid, what do you think, does it look familar?"
\Coachman Hermes\
"Yes masta, it looks just like the flat stretch in the tunnel to the island cliffs and the tunnel to the estate cliffs."
\Nathaniel\
"Indeed it does, just as it is supposed to. If all has gone correctly, my friend the magician has already placed the enchantments as well. If it all works as planned, these long trips from my island to Atlanna are over. I will not risk a test right now, however, we must get ready for our night at the arena.
The story continues in [Pedigree]002 Pregame Gyrations, on the, Let The Games Begin, page.
copyright 2000, by Rapina
Back to contents: 
:email Rapina
Get your own Free
Home Page