Gronnus was growing increasingly displeased with the Conclave, and for the first time he was seriously concerned over how the endgame would be played out.

He stepped out of his quarters and into the glowing red dusk. The sun had descended not long before, the clouds still rimmed with deep purple and maroon highlights. He wrinkled his nose at how sodden the air still felt. Even the breeze from the ocean appeared to do little to stir it.

He wandered down a short distance to another of the Overlord's quarters and rapped smartly at the door frame.

"Enter."

Gronnus took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Despite steeling himself for what he might see, he was given pause as his eyes fell upon Freya's naked body. She was turned away from him, however, and a moment later she slipped into a black dress.

Gronnus noted the difference between this and the others and smirked. "Changing fashions, Freya?"

Freya turned around smoothly. Unlike the red dress, this one was open in the front. She paused a moment, letting Gronnus catch a lingering glimpse of her naked breasts, her mound already covered with lacy black panties. She afforded him a sly smile and abruptly closed one fold of the dress over the other.

"I wear whatever the situation demands," she said as she tied the sash around her waist. The bottom of the dress covered her hips better than the red one had, the hem extending partway down her thighs and hiding her panties from view. There was also a single button near the top of the dress, which allowed the material to be stretched tightly across her breasts. Her nipples appeared as two small raised bumps against the shiny, satiny material.

"Will you also now vote in Conclave as the situation demands?"

Freya uttered a suffering sigh. "Really, Gronnus. Must we cover that again?"

"You are going to try to get Amanda from Roquan tonight, aren't you?"

Freya smiled sweetly. "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

Gronnus frowned. "Freya, I don't have times for games."

Freya paused and arched an eyebrow at him.

He sighed. "I need your support."

"Oh?" Freya sat down on the bed and crossed one leg over the other with a sly smile on her face. "Do you now?"

"It is imperative that I have it. I am ... willing to deal for it if needed."

"Oh, but my dear Gronnus, I already have what I wanted from you. I got the information I needed about Roquan's little indiscretion. What more would I want?"

Gronnus clenched his teeth and had to pause a moment. "Freya, be reasonable," he said in a strained voice. "It is very important the vote goes as we want."

"You mean as you want."

"All right! Fine! As I want!" Gronnus exploded. "Are you satisfied now? Yes, this is what I want. It is what the others should want as well, but I will not go into that ..."

"Are you not having the luck that you had hoped for in making deals with the other Overlords?"

Gronnus fumed. "He is up to something with Weton. I have a bad feeling he is attempting to sway the man with better goods."

Freya looked bored. "Is that not how these deals are supposed to work, Gronnus?"

"Not when dealing with a man that by rights should have no resources or contacts!"

"You act as if you are sure you are about to lose the deal with Weton."

"Weton brushed me off earlier when I attempted to engage him after the Conclave. That concerns me."

Freya gave Gronnus a sly smile and stood, sauntering over to him. "And how much is my vote worth to you, Gronnus?"

Gronnus took a deep breath. He was already taxing himself to the limits trying to secure deals against Roquan. But he had no choice. "Name your price."

"Ooo, that might be a bad idea," Freya said in a sultry voice. "I can think pretty big, you know."

"Whatever it is, I will pay it! This is too important! It should be important to you, but I will not hold my breath on that score!"

Freya looked thoughtful. "I will consider it."

"That's all? You will consider it? What if ..."

"Gronnus, I do not have time for this. I have other matters to attend to."

Gronnus made a face. "Yes, I can imagine," he said icily.

Freya simply smiled. "Can you? Don't get yourself too excited over it now."

She stepped past Gronnus and headed to the door. Just as she was about to leave, she paused and turned. "You know, I don't believe I am dressed for this quite right after all."

Gronnus' eyes widened as she reached under her dress and hooked her thumbs into her panties. She slid them down her legs and stepped out of them. Giving Gronnus a grin, she tossed them to him.

Nonplussed, he barely caught them before they fell from his hands.

Freya snickered and headed out.

For the first time in a long while, Roquan actually had to puzzle over the question of what to wear.

Even consulting with Doran had not enlightened him on this score. There was no specific protocol for one-on-one debates such as this. He did not even bother asking Rennis, knowing full well that the man would not be able to stop from grinning and cracking jokes about it.

He ultimately opted for something light, but neat and still reminiscent of his station.

Roquan waited for her in the outer chamber. He made sure the curtain to his bedchamber was fully closed. He did not want to give Freya any more ideas than she may already have. He was truly not interested in a tryst with her, no matter how enticing a prospect it may be on a purely physical level.

Well, almost purely physical.

The truth of the matter was, his ego ruled his thoughts. He felt towards Freya as he did towards Amanda early on, that she was a wild spirit that needed to be tamed. He quite relished the idea of doing such a thing to Freya, though he would never openly admit this, nor actually attempt it on his own. Yet thinking about it, he felt, afforded him the proper attitude in dealing with her.

He was not left to his thoughts for very long. Freya slipped into the room before dusk had turned to full night, not bothering to announce her presence in any way. She was simply there when Roquan turned, already closing the door quietly behind her.

Roquan remained silent for a moment, simply taking her in. He had expected her to dress provocatively, yet at first glance this appeared no worse than at the Conclave. It was only when she started to move towards him that he saw that the dress was designed to both accentuate her body and be slipped off easily from the same.

Roquan kept his gaze steady and his face impassive as he gave a single respectful nod of his head. "Overlord Freya."

"Overlord Roquan," said Freya in a husky voice. She crossed the chamber slowly, swinging her hips. Roquan's eyes darted to them briefly and then returned to her eyes. Her smiled widened.

"Would you care for some wine before we begin?"

Freya allowed herself a small chuckle. "Pass. Wine dulls the senses. I would rather remain ... alert."

Roquan paused a moment before clasping his hands behind his back. "It is likely best we get down to business. This is something that should be resolved as quickly as possible so that the Conclave may return to the matter at hand."

"Everything is about business with you, isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Business. Protocol." One corner of her mouth twitched. "Tradition."

"These are what define an Overlord's life, Freya."

"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Roquan paused. "I am unsure of your meaning here."

Freya's lips curled into a sly smile. "You're quite well known among the other Overlords as being something of a traditionalist."

"You recall Doran's words at the start of the Conclave. Tradition is everything."

Freya uttered a small sigh. She placed a hand lightly on Roquan's shoulder. He glanced at it briefly before returning his gaze to her. "I am uninterested in what Doran had to say on the matter," she said in a soft voice. She averted her eyes for a moment, tracing a single finger down his arm, pressing lightly into the bulge of his muscle. "I am more interested in your thinking."

Roquan paused as Freya played her finger in light swirls against his skin. "One might believe, Freya, that it is not quite my thinking you are interested in at the moment."

Freya paused and chuckled. "Oh, but you do have a rather high opinion of yourself." She stepped closer to him, her body almost touching his. She slid her hand up his arm and back to his shoulder. "Don't you?"

Roquan reached up and took Freya's hand tightly in his. Freya gave him an inquisitive look.

"I know what you are trying to do," Roquan said in a low voice.

"Oh? Do you?"

"Yes. And it will not work."

Freya's grin became wicked. "Oh, but it is. I can see it very clearly in your eyes."

Roquan's fingers tightened around Freya's. He wondered if she truly could see it, or if she were guessing. In any case, he silently cursed her for being correct.

"But you resist it. Why?"

"You came here to conduct business, Freya," Roquan said softly. "Not this."

"There are many ways in which business can be conducted, Roquan." She lifted her free hand to his chest. "Some are more pleasant than others."

Freya's hand slid slowly across Roquan's broad chest, her fingers teasing a few of the buttons open in his shirt. Just as she slipped her hand under his shirt and over bare skin, he caught it and now held both of them.

Freya cast a small smile at him.

"You will not sway me in this way," Roquan said in a low, heavy voice. "This is too important. The Conclave ..."

" ... is of little interest to me at the moment. Do you need proof of this?"

Before Roquan could respond, Freya leaned into him and touched her lips to his.

Roquan did not respond at first. He even tried to back out of it. But Freya persisted, writhing her body sensuously against Roquan's. Her softness slid against the hardness in his loins. He drew in a breath and returned the kiss. His hands let go of hers and instead gripped her by the waist, fingers curling and digging into Freya's skin.

Freya broke off the kiss, the two of them panting lightly.

"Freya ... this is not what we should be doing ..." Roquan breathed.

"Always the traditionalist are you?" Freya said softly with an evil gleam in her eye. One of her hands covered one of Roquan's about her waist. "I thought that you would be one to break with tradition now and then."

"And why would you think ..."

"I'll explain later." She lifted his hand from her waist, all the while gazing intently into his eyes. "Right now ... perhaps a little more proof of how little I care about our debate at the moment."

Roquan knew this was wrong, yet he let her guide his hand anyway. She slid it down towards her sex, lifting her dress with the other hand. Roquan's eyes widened very slightly as his fingers found not the soft fabric of her undergarment but the warm, slick wetness of her pussy.

Freya's eyelids slid closed and she drew in her breath slowly through parted lips as his strong fingers sank into her. He paused a moment, his hand unmoving, until she encouraged him with a push of her hips. Her mound pressed into his hand, fingers pressing hard against her swelling womanhood.

Freya let her breath go as a slow, sensual sigh as Roquan's fingers slowly began to tease her.

"You planned this from the start," Roquan said in a low, accusing voice.

Freya's eyes opened halfway and she cast a sultry, languid gaze at him. "I leave nothing to chance. You ought to know that about me from the other Overlords."

"I have heard many things about you from the other Overlords, Freya."

One of his fingers pushed past her folds and into her cunt. Freya moaned softly and pressed her body to his. One of her hands gently caressed the long hardness that bulged against his clothing. "Hopefully one of them is that I cannot be taken like a slave. I ... uhhh ..."

Freya was panting lightly as his fingers made gentle thrusts into her.

"No. But in some ways, you respond like one," Roquan said evenly, a very tiny smile on his lips.

"Mmm, so this is how you would treat a fellow Overlord ..." Her hand suddenly slipped under Roquan's clothing, fingers curling directly around his manhood. "With insults even as you touch her intimately?"

Roquan drew in his breath deeply and let it go as Freya's fingers played along his cock. "Perhaps ... now is not the time for further conversation."

Freya pulled Roquan into another lingering kiss before responding. "For once, Roquan ... I agree with you."

"And how are you this evening, little one?"

Amanda smiled. "Quite well, master."

"This is good to see, your life improving before my eyes," Jollis said with a soft smile.

Yet even as he said this, a slightly subdued look came over Amanda's eyes. The merchant saw this, but chose not to make note of it to her yet. It would be better to draw it from her slowly. Besides, he needed something to distract him from the most distasteful task he had to perform in the deeper night.

Amanda looked thoughtful. "I guess you could say it that way, yes," she said cautiously.

"Where I am from, little one, we judge our day by whether we have accomplished what we have set out to do. That is what decides our fortune, good or ill."

Amanda paused. "I am not sure that would apply to me, master."

"Oh?"

"I am a slave. I do not choose what I do from day to day."

Jollis simply grinned at her. "Ah, but it is the wise man that knows how to choose what he sets out to accomplish. Only the fool chooses that which he cannot possibly obtain."

Amanda considered this for a moment. "And what of things that he didn't set out to accomplish, master?"

Jollis looked inquisitively at her. Perhaps she was about to reveal what was on her mind without any further prodding from him.

"What about things you don't expect?" Amanda continued. "Things that you get but you weren't expecting them?"

"And were these good things that you acquired, little one?"

Amanda knew that one was. She was looking forward to having something to read again, something to do other than just being a slave, or even being Sirinna's lover. Neither was enough for her any longer. She wanted more from her life. The promise Roquan made to her would help her with that.

Yet what she had learned about the Draught ...

"I'm not sure, master," Amanda finally said in a lower voice.

Jollis studied her for a moment. It was clear that something good had happened. For a moment after he had asked his question, there was a flicker of satisfaction across her face. Yet it had been tempered by something else.

He decided to take a chance. "Sometimes, little one, the bad can be adequate price for the good."

She looked at him with interest. Jollis sensed he had guessed correctly.

Amanda felt mildly frustrated. She wanted to talk to someone about what she had learned, but she had to keep it a secret from everyone. She was sure that Roquan did not want to talk about it with her any longer. Not that such a thing would have helped.

She bit her lip and looked at Jollis, as if trying to decide how far to trust him and how far she was willing to go in breaking her agreement with Roquan.

"Master, may I ask a question of you?"

"Of course, little one. I am here for the conversation as much as the company."

"Have you ever ... ever been told something important ... something that really changed how you looked at things ... and you couldn't tell anyone?"

Jollis pondered Amanda's words carefully. She would not be saying such a thing unless it had actually happened to her. He had to wonder what Roquan could have possibly told her. Naturally he assumed it was the Overlord. He was the only one of any import that might tell her something to cause her this distress.

He smiled at her. "Are you asking me if you should tell someone?"

"Oh, no, master. I ... um ... I really have said too much about it."

Jollis reached out and touched her hand. "Do not worry. You have told me nothing out of confidence. Whatever it is, I know nothing of it."

Amanda smiled wanly at him.

"I am simply sorry it has caused you distress."

She shrugged slightly. "Maybe not all that much. It was just ... something I had not expected."

Slowly, Jollis was attempting to piece together in mind what it could have been. He hated manipulating her in this manner, but it was the only way to get the information from her without her breaking whatever confidence she had entered.

"Sometimes, it is good to have a new perspective," said Jollis. "Even if it, at first, reveals things we wished had remained hidden."

Now Jollis knew he had hit something from the darkening look in Amanda's most expressive eyes. She had discovered or was told something that was supposed to remain secret from her, and now she was bound to the same secrecy. He reasoned it had something to do with the Overlords. Or her Overlord in particular.

"It's just something that ... that makes me realize something about myself," Amanda said softly. "Not something bad, but ... something I really can't do anything about."

Jollis realized he had hit upon an important clue, but the answer did not reveal itself to him immediately. He let it settle into the back of his mind for now.

He smiled gently at her and slid closer. Amanda appeared to relax, and the troubled look turned to one of anticipation. His hand alighted on her knee, and she immediately let it fall to the side, opening her intimate regions to him. "Perhaps, then, little one, it is something that you should not be worried about."

"It's hard," Amanda said in a very soft voice, her eyes glistening slightly.

"I understand." He let his fingers slide slowly over her thigh. Her lips curled into a tiny smile. "There are things that I, too, wish I could do something about, but cannot."

"So what do you do, master?" Amanda asked, her voice growing husky.

Jollis did not advance on her sex as she had expected, but instead slipped it around her hip and up her side. She enjoyed the touch anyway, and it still made her pussy tingle with renewed desire. "I do as any man can." His fingers played under the curve of one of Amanda's breasts. "I accept them, and occasionally ... try to forget them."

Amanda closed her eyes as his fingers drew up and over her breast, lighting stroking the nipple. She spread her legs further apart. At least with Jollis, she knew exactly how to be a good slave, for it was everything she wanted to do with him.

Jollis leaned forward, his hand sliding from her breast and around her back. He drew her into an embrace. Then to his surprise, he felt one of her hands alighting on his hardness, stroking it very lightly through his clothes.

"It would appear you are most eager this evening," Jollis whispered into her ear.

Amanda wanted to tell him how much she loved having him visit her, how she loved how good he made her feel about herself. But such things were inappropriate for a slave to say. Instead, she would have to show it in other ways.

"Let me do something for you, master," Amanda said in a pleading voice. "Please."

Jollis smiled. Yes, he would let her. He felt right about that now.

"Of course, little one. I would be most honored."

Freya had been partially right. She was not willing to be taken as a slave -- at least not without a struggle.

As soon as they entered the bedchamber, Freya tried to take the initiative. Roquan resisted this immediately, but instead of yielding or calling him on it, Freya simply fought a little harder. This only encouraged Roquan to become more aggressive, and Freya appeared to revel in this. Each time he used a little more of his strength or made a bolder move, her smile grew more sultry and her enticements more sexy.

Finally, Freya went too far for Roquan's patience. She drew herself closer to him, stroking her leg against his, or grabbing for his manhood, all the while deftly dodging his attempts to snatch at her sash and open her dress. Finally she reached up and yanked his shirt open to his bare chest, several buttons popping off.

Freya gasped in genuine surprise when Roquan seized her wrists very tightly. She looked up into eyes that were filled with both indignation and passion, giving her pause.

That one moment was all Roquan needed.

In a single smooth movement, he used her arms like puppet strings and flipped her around in his arms, pinning her against him with her arms crossed before her, her back pressed tightly against his body. Freya was breathing hard, her eyes wide, and she struggled briefly in his grip.

Roquan waited until she stopped struggling. When she was still, he brought both her wrists together and held them down against her with one hand. Freya could have slipped out of this if she had wanted to, but she remained still, panting lightly.

Roquan's free hand dropped down to her sash and undid it, letting it fall from her body. He paused, then curled his fingers around one of the folds and pulled it back from her body, exposing one breast and her mound. The latter glistened with moisture.

He thrust his hand over her sex, sinking his fingers into her and stroking her very firmly.

Freya shuddered in his arms and moaned deeply, closing her eyes. Her breathing grew more ragged, and she arched her back, pressing her backside into his erection. She wiggled her hips against him, making the bulge in his clothing rub against the cleft between her ass cheeks.

Roquan let go of her wrists and wrapped his arm around her waist tightly. "Even now you continue to try to command things here," Roquan said hotly into her ear.

"I told you, I would not be taken like ..." Freya began, her voice trailing off as Roquan slid his arm up and seized one of her breasts, kneading it slowly in his fingers. She moaned again, her nipples growing hard and sensitive. He rubbed at them roughly, making her tremble with desire.

"You were delighting in this the whole time, Freya." Roquan pulled her dress apart completely. He pulled his fingers from her pussy and grabbed her other breast, spreading her own slick fluids over the nipple. "You may not want to be taken like a slave ... but you want to be taken in either case ..."

Freya's lips curled into a knowing smile as she leaned back against him, letting him fondle her, her pussy aching as he only aroused her even further. That and the knowledge that he had done what she wanted him to do in the first place excited her.

Roquan in command? To Freya's mind, hardly. Everything was happening because Freya had wanted it, not Roquan.

"But now I grow weary of sparring."

Roquan suddenly withdrew his hands from her, yanking her dress from her body as he went. The next moment, Freya uttered a yelp as Roquan abruptly pushed her hard towards the bed.

Freya stumbled and bumped up against the foot of the bed before she recovered and whirled around. Before she could react, Roquan seized her and kissed her hard. She struggled in his grip anyway, even as she returned the kiss just as passionately. Finally he broke it off and pushed her again, forcing her onto the bed.

Freya looked back at him with a sly gleam in her eyes as she pulled herself fully onto his bed.

Roquan stared at her with an unyielding gaze as he shed his clothes, well aware of Freya's eyes roaming his body. He admitted to himself now that he was letting his frustrations towards this woman guide his actions. Yet he would not hurt her in the least. That was not his way. But he would teach her a lesson in humility.

Freya licked her lips as she watched Roquan undress. Despite her feelings towards him as an Overlord, none of those affected her view of him now purely as a man and an object of desire. She was quite impressed with what she saw when he was revealed to her.

Her smile widened as he climbed onto the bed and then over her. She lifted her hands to his chest, caressing the hard muscle, before sliding her fingers down his sides. She opened her legs to him, but drew her feet up.

She was preparing for one of her classic moves. Catch him just as he thought he was about to take her, then lock her legs around him and roll in one quick movement so that she was on top. Seconds later she would impale herself on him, and commit him to having her on top.

Yet now Roquan held one last surprise for her.

He read Freya's intentions in her eyes immediately. Before her hands could get far, he seized them and hurled himself upon her, slamming her wrists down into the furs on either side of her head.

Freya gasped in genuine surprise, and this time her struggles against him were real. She squirmed under him, but his weight was already pressing her down. She looked up at him with eyes burning with indignation, but he returned an amused look back to her.

"In this one case, Freya, being a female Overlord is a disadvantage," Roquan said. "I can read each of my female slaves like a book. Apparently, this works on you as well."

Before Freya could retort, Roquan descended upon her, and she drew her breath in deeply as he abruptly slid into her.

Freya tilted her head back, resisting the urge to moan deeply and failing. He filled her tight tunnel far more than she had expected he would, and her body responded, quivering madly with lust.

He wasted no time. He was thrusting into her barely after she managed to take her next breath.

Freya was panting hard. She barely had time to think. Already the pleasure was rising from her pussy, Roquan's thick cock stroking her nub with each pass. All through it, her arms kept tensing, as if still struggling against him. Her hands clenched, her wrists aching from his weight on them.

Roquan hastened the pace steadily, but did not allow himself to move too quickly. He wanted to draw this out, to remain in control of her pleasure for as long as possible, just as if she were indeed one of his slaves.

Freya sensed this, and she tightened her legs around him and the muscles in her pussy to resist going over too soon. Roquan felt her cunt tighten around him and slammed into her harder to break through her resistance.

Roquan won. Freya began to lose control and she rocketed upwards, crying out loudly as she came, her pussy throbbing around his shaft. She was forced to concede this match as Roquan continued to pump his manhood into her, only now beginning to rise towards his own peak. Freya felt herself fall back, then rise again, unable to stop it. She tilted her head back as she soared, straining as she reached the edge, then moaning loudly as she went over.

Finally, Roquan shuddered against her and uttered a deep, strained groan. He started panting wildly as he pulsed inside her, his orgasm almost unbearably strong. He buried himself inside her until the throbbing began to fade. Freya struggled to catch her breath as his climax made hers linger at a low but maddening level until he was finally spent.

Roquan kept his hold on her wrists for a few more moments, long enough to look at her and say, "You came here intending to surprise me, I gather. Perhaps I surprised you instead."

Freya's lips curled into a sly smile.

"Don't be so sure about that. After all ... we have not yet begun to ... debate ... yet."

Jollis was simply amazed at Amanda. So young and yet already so skilled at this. And after such a short time being trained. She was remarkable indeed, in many ways.

As much as he was used to giving her pleasure instead, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy it. He lay sprawled out on her bed as the young one lay between his legs. With deliberate movements and practiced skill, Amanda's lips slid slowly up and down the merchant's manhood, her mouth opened wide to accommodate his thickness.

Amanda uttered a soft moan as she felt his cock slide back and forth across her lips and tongue. Steadily she worked her way downward, taking in a little more of him each time, until her lips touched the base of his cock on the downward stroke. Despite the fact that his cock was not overly long, its girth made it fill her mouth more than most other men with whom she had done this.

It was also exciting her in equal measure.

Her pussy was hot and wet, and she had to restrain herself from touching it to give herself some relief. It made her pant through her nose, and she had to catch herself to prevent her arousal from making her move faster than she ought.

She tilted her head back slightly as she deepened her strokes, squeezing her mouth a little more closed around his girth. She was rewarded with gentle moans. She cradled his balls on her fingers, playing with them, coaxing them from his body so that he did not rise too fast.

"Oh, very good, little one ..." Jollis said softly. "You do me an honor."

Amanda really liked hearing this kind of praise, and it made her even more excited. Now she ached to be touched.

She made her strokes more shallow, but only so she could move faster, building him up towards final release. She heard his breath grow short, and tasted some of his seed oozing from the head. She felt his balls try to retreat towards his body, and she coaxed them into remaining out a little longer.

As much as Jollis liked to watch Amanda doing this for him, as he grew closer to climax, he dropped his head back, groaning softly. He felt Amanda's fingers slip around the base of his cock, joining with her lips in milking him hard and fast as he strained near the edge. He held himself a little longer before letting go, throbbing hard inside Amanda's mouth.

Amanda felt his seed splash warmly inside her mouth. She kept her lips carefully clamped around his shaft, drawing her cheeks in as she gently sucked. She heard Jollis moan softly as he came, and his orgasm seemed to last quite a bit longer than most men, even after he was no longer oozing seed. She massaged his shaft until the last of his throbs faded. She carefully drew back until only the head was touching her lips, swallowed, and then descended again to lick the remainder from his manhood.

Amanda raised her head, and was greeted by a widely smiling face.

"Thank you, little one. That was quite enjoyable."

She smiled in return and drew herself up. As she did, her pussy ached from her arousal, enough to make her utter a very low, soft moan.

Jollis sat up and gazed at Amanda. She looked back with sultry, needful eyes.

"And now I shall pleasure you in return."

Amanda tried to hide her eagerness as the two exchanged places. A slave was supposed to do everything with grace and decorum, unless she knew that he wanted something else. Even though she was very comfortable with Jollis, and that he was rather unconventional anyway, she did not want to take any chances.

Jollis smiled as she positioned herself on the bed. He could see her eagerness through the veneer of calm, and he found it most pleasing. He preferred it this way.

Amanda's pussy was already very wet, and he enjoyed the thick odor of her arousal as he lowered himself to it. She immediately shivered and moaned softly the moment his tongue touched her. It did not take more than a few furtive licks to make her pant. She closed her eyes, head rolling to one side in complete submission.

She did exactly as the merchant wanted. She lay there still and simply enjoyed it.

Jollis occasionally teased her, slipping his tongue to one side or the other and running it up and down on either side of her slot. Yet he always returned to her womanhood before she had the need to silently beg him for his attentions there.

This, Jollis felt, was the proper way to "tease" a woman. Enough to keep her excited, not too much to make it denial. Denial was most distasteful to him.

Jollis sensed her rising. Her need was becoming much greater now, her body trembling with it.

He ceased teasing and played his tongue over her nub, licking it faster, using a firmer touch. He chose not to use his fingers this time. He wanted to satisfy here with his mouth alone.

Amanda panted harder, her rise very slow but steady. She had no fears that he would do to her as Marisa had done so many times. She trusted him that much. She resisted the urge to move and just let him do everything, because she knew this it what he wanted of her. Her moans rose with her growing pleasure.

His lips drew close to her tender folds, and then closed over her womanhood. She drew in a long breath as he sucked, her loins quivering. He pressed into her, spearing her nub with his tongue and lashing at it. Amanda's eyes flew open as she rocketed the remaining way up and over the edge, only to close them again as she came, her pussy throbbing hard and long. His tongue prolonged her pleasure, letting her down slowly.

Jollis drew over her and hugged her to him. She moaned as she returned it, grateful for the simple touch and affection, her cunt still throbbing weakly.

"Thank you, master," Amanda said softly.

"Ah, but it is I who should thank you. I most enjoy giving you pleasure, little one."

Amanda smiled at this and hugged him tighter.

Freya lay in Roquan's bed, draped over him as he lay on his back. She no longer allowed herself to play the submissive anymore. Rather than simply lie still against Roquan's body, she lazily traced circles and swirls with a fingertip against his chest.

"Did you ever come with the intention to debate anything with me, Freya?" Roquan asked. "Or was the Point of Order itself an excuse for this?"

She lifted her head and looked at him with a languid but sly gaze. "And if it were?" she replied, briefly flicking at one of his nipples. "What would you have said then?"

"That there are other means to gain access to my bedchamber."

She laughed. "I doubt very much you would have entertained any notions of the sort. You would never have let me into your quarters, let alone your bed."

"And why are you so sure of that?"

"Stop playing games, Roquan. I am quite sure you know by now what I've been doing to Amanda."

Roquan tensed and gave her an icy look. "Yes, I am well aware. Just as I am aware that you had her twice, in violation of Presenting tradition."

Freya smirked. "There we go, back to tradition again. You seem quite hung up on that."

"It is everything. It is what we are, Freya."

"More rhetoric from Doran, I suppose."

"They were his words, yes, but hardly rhetoric. Certainly you see the value of our traditions."

Freya's smile widened. She drew herself up and out of Roquan's bed.

"I believe in tradition about as much as you do, Roquan," she said darkly as she picked up her dress. "Which is to say ... only when it suits me."

Roquan sat up in bed, giving her a stony look.

"You see ... I know your dirty little secret."

Roquan paused. His eyes wavered very slightly. "I am sure I do not know what you are talking about."

"Oh yes, you do." Freya slipped her dress on and picked up the sash. "You know quite well. You see, those two sessions with Amanda were very educating. I learned something very interesting about that girl."

Roquan said nothing in response.

Freya closed her dress about her and slipped the sash around her waist. "Amanda never had the Draught."

"You're mad," Roquan said. "Quite mad."

Freya laughed again.

"All Captives have the Draught."

"Stop with the games," Freya said, her voice growing harsh. "I made the girl say things that no one who had the Draught would say. I made her beg me to stop giving her a continuous orgasm. I made her do things that no slave who had taken the Draught would do. I can see it in her eyes, Roquan. She can play the part, but she cannot control the way her eyes reflect her true emotions. She is utterly untrainable as a normal slave and you know it. And Gronnus knows it as well."

This time, Roquan was unable to suppress his reaction. Freya's lips curled in final triumph when she witnessed this.

"Yes, that's right. In fact, he told me. He wanted to use it to depose you."

"What?" Roquan blurted. There was a distinct undertone of anxiety in his voice.

"He'd have a case too, if he had had the courage to push it. But I had a better idea. So you should thank me. You won't be deposed. Instead, you have only me to deal with."

Roquan's eyes narrowed. "And what is it you want? Some bribe to keep this information to yourself? Some deal to make you drop your Point of Order and let the Conclave continue?"

"I can still let Gronnus call for you to be deposed. Or I could bring up the point myself. Even if the Conclave decides not to hold a tribunal, do you believe that the other Overlords will vote for you once they hear this?"

Roquan leapt out of bed and advanced on her, hands balled into fists. Freya thought him fairly amusing, trying to look infuriated while he was still naked and she was now clothed. "Your proof is worthless," Roquan snarled at her. "It is not enough even to gain censure against me let alone a deposing."

"But it would be more than enough to ruin the Conclave for you, and that's really all that matters to you, isn't it?"

Roquan paused for a long moment. Finally, he let out a disgusted sigh and folded his arms. "What is your price?"

Freya smiled wickedly. "Amanda."

Roquan looked at her in surprise. "You wish to purchase her from me?" he asked dubiously.

"No. You will give her to me."

"Now I know you are truly mad."

He started to turn away. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her.

"You'll give her to me, Roquan," Freya said in a low voice. "And here's some added incentive for you. I know how you've been using her to snatch first one and now two deals away from Gronnus."

Roquan's mouth dropped open. That was all the proof that Freya needed of her words.

"I wasn't sure of that a moment ago, Roquan, but now that look on your face confirms it for me. You were gambling on the other Overlords' blind sense of tradition protecting your little ruse. Well, it doesn't work on someone who refuses to be blind to such things. Oh, now I wonder what the Conclave would think of that little ... indiscretion?"

Roquan could only stare at her. He had no words he could say, and nothing with which to negotiate or bargain.

Freya smiled and headed towards the door. "I'll give you until this time tomorrow evening to make your decision. Give her to me, and your little indiscretions remain a secret. And as an added bonus? You get my vote as well." She chuckled. "And Doran thinks you're bad at making deals. He doesn't give you half the credit you deserve."

She gave him one last smile and headed out of his bedchamber.

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