Completed [Challenge] The Length Of A Day II

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 45th of Fall, 522 A.V.

The Kois Quas Dominion : Gold Lake (first season)

When the servant girl lead her through what Tazrae could only call a palace, Tazrae looked around carefully, quietly, following the woman and taking everything in. She felt like she was in a stone jungle, memorizing the pathway that she could take to retrace her steps to… to where? The chest was gone. Taz should have been terrified, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t happy, sad, afraid… or anything. She just… was. There was a part of her brain that was screaming at her to have a reaction, to run, to fight, even to shift into her Ixam form and fight. But instead, she did nothing. She followed the servant in a docile peaceful manner, even thanking her as she turned down yet another corridor and was dropped at a set of double doors leading to what in essence was an elegant suite. The place had a sitting room, an activities room, an elaborate bedroom, and a bathroom that was almost as big as the entire Protea Inn.

Tazrae paced the length and breadth of it, studying the paraphernalia that accompanied the Benshira decor. This should have been her life, the man said. She wanted to hate it, but instead, she had no feelings toward it. She had no likes or dislikes, not finding the overall color scheme wanting or attractive. It was warm, all of it, with deep stone and russet and golden hues. Had she had to describe the décor, she would have called it topaz and earth tones, with occasional spots of green and blue or a flare of burning orange or coral for accents.

There were a series of layered carpets on the floor, each one patterned to match the way the room was decorated and the way the space was used.

A tray of food was laid out in her parlor by a brazier that was flaming and keeping what looked to be tea warm. Tazrae took a seat, lifting the dish covers to see what was under the lids. An array of food she’d never seen before was laid out before her and she found herself not feeling hungry. A movement from the corner of the room caught her eye as another servant, this one closer to her age, stepped out of the shadows. “Lady, you should eat.” The woman said, studying Tazrae with cool amber eyes.

Tazrae shook her head. “I am not hungry.” She said softly, not feeling threatened by the woman or really feeling anything at all.

“It’s the collar.” The woman stated. “It will take your body some time to get used to it. At first, it will restrict everything. But over time, things will return. It … dulls your emotions and sometimes your bodily sensations like hunger and exhaustion, slowing the processes that cause you to feel startlement or fear. It will take you some time to start feeling things again, even simple things like your appetite or physical arousal. You shouldn’t feel sleepy either for a while, so we’ll have to keep reminding you to get to bed when it's time to rest. This place has that effect on people anyhow. You will feel like you are living the same day over and over again.” The woman said. “He had that added to its properties as well as the fact that it restricts you from accessing your djedpool.” She said, as a way of explaining things.

Tazrae heard what she said without her actually saying the words. It was designed to render her harmless and compliant.

[Tazrae]

While she spoke, the woman fixed Tazrae a small plate from the dishes arrayed on the table. Then she poured a glass of wine and pulled out a chair for Tazrae. “Eat this… only this. Drink this.. only this. I suspect you won’t feel hungry or full for a while either. So I’ll watch your portions so you don’t grow fat or starve unknowingly.” She said.

Taz, finding herself not having an opinion about this, sat and did as she was told. She did, however, perk up enough to ask the servant a question.

“What are you called?” The question was asked without inflection.

“Lira.” The woman answered. “I am one of your distant cousins. Your mother was my mother’s cousin.” She added, explaining more. The woman was in her twenties as well, with long dark hair and amber eyes. She had the exotic looks of what Tazrae considered a true Benshira, not someone like her who was more golden olive skinned than brown. “My purpose here is to take care of you.” She added. “Our family line has no power other than physical training. We aren’t mages and are not learned like the Arcadius’ are. So we caretake.” She said, not unkindly.

Tazrae nodded. “Will this collar ever come off?” She asked, her voice without inflection, but her mind screaming about the answer.

“No. Unfortunately, it is there to stay. He has told me you are a very dangerous person without it. I believe him. The Arcadius line is very passionate about everything. They make good warrior mages and your women produce some of the best fighters around.” She added. “That’s why he wants you, you know. You are breeding stock.” She said, watching Tazrae for a reaction.

There wasn’t one. Tazrae truthfully wasn’t surprised. With all she’d been told, the stories she’d heard, and what she’d glimpsed of the lives of Alric’s parents, this was something she’d almost expected. Deep down she knew Florentin wanted her for this purpose. He wanted a new vessel, a son of this line, with more power added. And what Lira said made sense. She should have been berating herself for putting on the necklace and getting herself into this situation. Looking back, it was a brilliant trap, one that she could dispassionately admire as a mastermind outsmarted the prey he hunted.

The day progressed. Taz ate, wandered the grounds, ate again, and in the evening the doctor visited. She hadn’t expected that, nor the physical exam that came with it, but with Lira giving her directions, she’d submitted to being undressed by the servant, robed, and then presented to the man who immediately removed the robe and gave her a physical exam.

He’d worried over the ixam scale, but when he’d tried to remove it, even with a dagger, he’d been unable to. He checked her arms, under them, and felt her breasts explaining as he did so that he was looking for unusual lumps, bumps, and growths that indicated disease. She’d had her heart and lungs listened to, her back ran down, and she’d been asked to do a number of motions from bending, stretching, and even squatting, to check her flexion and mobility.

[Tazrae]

There was no reaction throughout all of this. Taz felt detached from herself like her inner voice was screaming but nothing showed on the outside or got out of her mindscape. Even when the doctor bade her to lay back and he examined her reproductive system, she gave him no trouble and did not react to his cold hands as they invaded her body and checked each ovary. He paused then, did the doctor, and studied Lira instructing her that he wanted to know the moment that Tazrae started bleeding so he could track her cycle.

He also gave the servant special instructions on a few foods to include in her diet to improve or change this or that about her. He liked her physical condition but thought she was too heavy in the muscle and did not have as much stored fat in her stomach and hips as he liked to see on breeders.

And then he said something that should have terrified Tazrae. He recommended the sessions Florentin had ordered begin immediately because Taz didn’t appear to be pregnant nor bleeding, which meant she could be fertile that very moment.

Lira had nodded and the doctor departed. Instead of letting Tazrae alone, she immediately took her to the bath and bathed her. She was redressed in a robe and then the servant produced a length of black silk she secured around the woman’s head, over her eyes, tightening it down so she could not see. “He has ordered this. You are not to know who you are paired with.” The servant explained, then left Tazrae alone perched on the edge of her bed. Tazrae found herself sitting there, her hands in her lap, waiting.

Her mind raced through what was occurring. What had been threatened for Kami, for Serana, for a whole line of women in Florentin’s life was going to happen to her as well. Her grandfather – no Sran’tuka – was going to breed her like a prized cow and make sure she produced children for the Tribe. It wasn’t long before the door to her main room opened and closed. Light footfalls carried someone larger across the sitting room and up the elaborate marble stairway of four steps to the doors of her bed-chamber which opened. And then closed again. Someone approached, stopping just before her, and she felt the belt of the silk robe around her body pulled free and the cloth pushed off her shoulders.

It was as if the male was instructed not to speak, for he said nothing. There was a clean masculine scent about him, but the energy felt like that of a stranger. She didn’t recognize the scent nor the touch of his roughened hands as they trailed down her arms and grasped her hands, drawing her to her feet. She wanted to fight. Inside she was fighting. But outwardly she allowed him to draw her to her feet without protest.

She could not see him, but she could tell he was looking his fill. And suddenly she wondered if it would be like this every time… for she was sure there would be more than once. Would it always be the same man or would it be different men? Inside the woman screamed again, over and over, pounding at the walls of her mind, but outside she stood placidly.

[Tazrae]

The strange male trailed his hands down her sides, across her flat stomach, and down her thighs. She could almost see him contemplating what his job here was. He ran his hand back up, touching the lump under her skin that was covered with the Ixam scale, sucking in his breath as if he recognized what the lump was. Then she felt him gently grasp her hips, turning her around and away from him, as he traced the tattoo at the small of her back that was her djedline.

He immediately found the gnosis marks on her, the Rhaus marks at the base of her hairline on the back of her neck, and the Caiyha’s mark that swirled in a tree pattern down her left arm. That gnosis depicted the jungle in all its glory. The man fingered her scars too… touching them gently as if learning who she was by the marks on her body. With his hands on her hips, he walked her forward, and by the swirl of the silk against her rump, she understood he had a robe on as well.

She bumped against the bed and found herself crawling forward onto it, guided by his hands until she was on her hands and knees. Her legs extended outwards over the open air next to the bed. She felt him move between her legs and heard the whisper of his robe sliding off his body. He traced the line of her back with his hands, then ran them across her rump, opening her to his sight. His hands trailed down, across her sex, and he teased at the nub he found in the folds there.

Taz should have jerked, should have protested, and when his touch proved to be something that should cause her pleasure, she felt nothing. The man cursed as his thumbs parted her folds and found her dry.

“Lira.” His sharp voice came out of the silence of the room. She heard another door open and the servant approached. “He’s got her emotions dulled, doesn’t he? She’s non-responsive. Is it drugs or magic?” He asked with almost a growl.

“The collar. Magic. It’s dulling her emotions. Until she adapts, she won’t be able to feel anything at all. It’s also what keeps her separated from her djed, so be thankful for that. I heard she killed Nico by shifting into an Ixam and biting his head off.” Lira replied, shaking her head. “I never thought that bastard would die. I’m glad a woman did it.” Lira added, venom in her voice.

The man moved, as if he was nodding, his fingers still trailing across Tazrae’s sex. “It’s bad enough I have to do this. Bring her something to ease the act.” He ordered, sharply, as if he were annoyed to have to point out something that should have been obvious to the servant that it was needed.

Taz could hear Lira physically nod and retreat, only to return a moment later with something she handed the man. “Massage oil.” She said, then paused. “Would you like me to apply it to her and get you ready?” She asked as if this wasn’t the first time something like this had occurred here. The man moved in place behind Tazrae, but she didn’t know if he shook his head or nodded. “Very good, Sir.” She said, then retreated immediately, leaving Tazrae alone again.

[Tazrae]

“I’m not supposed to speak to you. You are not supposed to speak to me. But I would know your name.” He said softly, his fingers leaving her body and the sound of a jar being opened filling Tazrae’s ears. Both his voice and the jar sounded incredibly loud. She heard him dip his fingers into the oil, swirling it around in the jar, before she felt his fingers back on her body at its opening, coating her slit and moving deep into her tight body to coat her with the oil. Then he took more of the oil, and she could feel the motion and hear the sound of him palming something repeatedly behind her.

“Tell me your name.” He ordered again when Tazrae hadn’t responded.

He moved away, his touch vanishing, and she heard the jar getting sat down on a nearby end table. Then he moved back to her, running his hands across her thighs, up the crack of her bottom, and across her back tracing her spine. The sweet smell of the oil permeated her senses and Tazrae snapped her attention back to the man. “Tazrae Arcadius Kois.” She said, having never spoken her true full name out loud.

“I’m sorry for what I am about to do, Tazrae. Your name is as beautiful as your body. I knew your mother as a child. She was a good strong woman. I am going to make this as painless and quick as possible. Conceive quickly and this will end for you… for both of us.” He said, stepping forward and gently shoving her head down so she was on her elbows and not on her hands, causing her hips to lift. He anchored his hands on her hips and pulled her back against him gently as he found her entrance and slipped into her body, his flesh already rigid. Taz made a small noise in the back of her throat, her scream of rage and denial erupting past the barrier of the dampener on her neck to be uttered as a small sound that might be mistaken for pleasure. But that was it, that was all she could muster before the power of the thing around her neck once more sucked the emotion out of her and left her indifferent. It was almost as if the more she fought the thing, the stronger it got.

The man, on his part, did his duty. Taz held still for it through the whole process even after the initial outburst proved so ineffective. There was no doubt he took pleasure in it, even though it was nothing short of rape. Taz wondered what motivated him. Any child he filled her with would have no life, no future, other than being a vessel for Florentin’s monster. After a few minutes of the man working her body, he spilled his seed in her and pulled back, leaving a kiss on her shoulderblade like she was actually a lover.

What a joke.

Then she could hear him gather his robes, slip out of the room, and leave her there with his seed leaking out of her body while she held the position he’d placed her in, unfeeling and uninterested in moving as she processed what had just happened to her. Lira returned then, warm wet cloths in hand, and cleaned her up and removed the blindfold before tucking her into bed.

Taz laid on her back a long time, staring off into the canopy of fabric that covered her bed and kept out the night bugs since her chamber was open to the desert. She could still smell the man on her. She could still feel the motion of his shaft in her body. There was still stickiness oozing from her folds that happened after Lira had cleaned her up. But ultimately she thought nothing and felt nothing. And the only sound she really noted was the voice in her head telling her how wrong all of it was.

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