A Lotus for the Regent (2 page)

Kaelmoro laid
his hands across the dulcimer, silencing its last, fading note. “I'm sorry,
master.”

The Guildmaster
opened his mouth to say something more, but the arrival of another servant—an
adult—interrupted him. “What is it?”

"A Sunjaa
ship approaches, master," the slave said.

“
From Arinport? In this weather?”

The slave only
bowed in response.

The Guildmaster
turned to Kaelmoro. “You're only six, boy. You will learn in time, and you will
surpass even my own skills some day. For now, run along. Return to your Sunjaa
scrolls. After the Zenji tongue, that one is the most important.”

Kaelmoro nodded.
He was only too happy to leave, to be alone with nothing but the storm sighing
to him. He tossed aside the dulcimer and scrambled from the room.

The
Guildmaster's voice called after him. “We start history next week.”

Chapter
One

Ajalira closed
her eyes. She missed the sound of the rain. It had rained all morning, and the
storm, though it had torn all the blossoms from the trees in the garden, had
granted her a sense of cleansing. She had listened to the rain all throughout
her lesson on Sunjaa and Zenji politics, along with the economic statuses of
both nations. She did not remember much from the lesson—only that the Sunjaa
nation was the richest and most powerful nation in the west, and that she had
already known. Ever since the Ausir civil war had begun six years ago, the
Sunjaa supremacy had been unchallenged and unchallengeable.

“
Lotus?”

Ajalira bit her
lip to keep from flinching at the sound. “Yes.”

“
Come here.”

Ajalira opened
her eyes and rose from the low divan where she had been sitting. She went to
stand before Evix, her trainer.

“
It's time, Lotus.”

“
Yes.” Ajalira dreaded this lesson above all the others. She was a
Lotus now, and she was not her own. “Do as you will with me, Evix.”

No Lotus could
be touched without her express consent, not even by her trainer, but Ajalira
knew that in her case, it was a mere formality, utterly without meaning. To
refuse one's trainer meant only that a different trainer would be assigned, and
Ajalira was not permitted any trainer apart from Evix. The Guildmaster did not
want anyone else to know of her horns.

“
It warms my heart to see you,” said Evix, drawing her close. “You
know how I treasure our time together.”

Ajalira nodded,
but she said nothing. She believed Evix when he spoke of caring for her.
Affection was in all his looks. His eyes lit up as she looked at him, and she
forced back the bile in her throat. It was by her own will that she was here.
Her honor was bound to this. Ajalira forced herself to relax into Evix's arms.

“
Lovely,” said Evix. He slid his hand up from her waist, along the
curve of her throat, and up to her golden hair. “So very lovely.” He unbound
her hair, worn long in accordance with the Lotus regulations, and he pushed it
down around the base of her horns.

Ajalira knew
that she was fortunate that her horns both curved back along her skull and were
also naturally golden. Otherwise, she had no doubt, the Guildmaster would have
had her horns sawn off.

“
Kiss me, darling.” Evix bent his head to hers, and Ajalira obliged
with the open-mouthed kiss he desired. Evix twined the fingers of one hand in
her hair, but his other hand roved down to her breast.

Shame burned in
Ajalira's cheeks, and she mocked herself in her thoughts. How could she, six
years among the Lotuses, still know shame? Six years of slavery. Six years of
whoring.

“
Still shy of me, love?” Evix pulled away from her and shook his
head. “After all this while?”

Ajalira shook
her head, having no words that would not cut him. Evix had been her only
trainer, and she knew that she must be a disappointment to him. She had never
achieved anything beyond the first petal in coupling. The Red Lotus tattoo on
her forearm showed her lack of progress, but Evix never seemed put out with
her.

“
Come, pet.” Evix pulled her to the divan, and Ajalira went. There
was no point in struggling. She had willingly come to this life, and she had no
right to complain of her treatment. She was just the same as any other Lotus.

“
I have been thinking about you ever since our last session.” Evix
kissed her lips. “I want so much to show you how much pleasure you are capable
of.”

“
Thank you.” Ajalira forced out the words. She despised herself, but
Evix was not to blame. He was property of the guild the same as she, and he had
been here longer.

“
Now, lie back.” Evix released his hold on her hips, and Ajalira
obeyed him, lying back on the divan. She kept her arms loose at her sides, her
legs still closed.

“
Good, pet.” Evix bent his head toward hers once more, dropping a
kiss on her brow. Then, swift as a sparrow, his hands darted between their
faces, and black silk descended over Ajalira's eyes. She could see nothing, and
a shiver went up her spine. She heard Evix chuckling, and then she felt his
lips on her throat. The sudden baring of her breasts by the jerking of her
pallav came as a shock, and Ajalira bit her lip. She had almost enjoyed that.
Almost.

Evix's mouth was
off her throat, and she had no idea where he was or what he was doing. When a
soft caress passed down her left flank, Ajalira fidgeted. Then came pressure on
her right breast. She felt a slight nip of pain, and then the chill of metal.
Some sort of metal clamp was closed over her nipple, and the sting was
pleasant. She wanted one on the other nipple, too, and she felt a fresh wave of
shame threaten to drown her. How could she enjoy her own prostitution? It did
not matter that neither Evix nor anyone else in the whole guildhouse saw a
Lotus as prostitute. Ajalira did.

“
You're doing beautifully.” Evix's whisper was warm against her ear,
and then he rose. She could tell by the sound. She heard him move toward the
foot of the divan, and then she felt his strong, slim hand on her thigh. He
slid down her flesh, caressing her leg as he moved toward her ankle, opening
her as he did so. When he reached the ankle, she felt a soft constriction
around her skin, and then the heavy weight of silk. It took her a moment to
realize that her leg was bound to the underside of the divan. Just as
understanding dawned, she felt the same weight of silk on her other ankle. Evix
had her bound and spread, and she knew that her bare cunt would be open to his
eyes.

“
So sweet.” Evix murmured his pleasure, and then her poor, neglected
nipple received its clamp. Evix trailed his fingers down toward her navel, but
as soon as her hands moved, he was gone. She could not see him, and the mystery
heightened her anticipation. Then she felt his hands close, vise-like, over her
wrists, and he pulled her arms up over her head. Soft, strong silk looped
around her wrists, and then he must have secured her bonds to something. She
could not see, so she had no idea what it might be.

And she was at
his mercy, completely open, vulnerable, his for the taking.

“
I thought so.” Evix's familiar hands were at her nether lips, and
they slipped inside her without resistance.

Ajalira bit her
lip to keep from crying out. It was the first time that Evix had not had to oil
his fingers before penetrating her with them. She had not heard him open any
jars; she could not smell the rose-scented oil he favored. No, all she could
smell was … what?

Arousal. Her own
arousal.

“
Such a good little pet.” Evix's fingers thrust into her, and she
heard the pride in his voice. “You like being bound. I should have guessed it
before now.” And then his fingers were gone, replaced by his tongue. Ajalira
felt him lapping at her cunt, sucking on her clitoris, and a tear slipped down
her cheek. How could she
enjoy
this? Enjoy being touched by a man who
had no rights to her?

Then a sudden
sting in her clit brought her back to the present. Evix's teeth had clamped
down on her little pink hood, and she felt herself grow wetter.

“
Yes, my pet likes a touch of pain in her pleasure.”

Then the
familiar scent of rose-oil filled the air. Ajalira knew what came next.

“
At least I don't have to remind you to keep your legs open.” Evix
laughed, and a slap landed on her thigh. “They're tied open. You are mine to do
with as I like.”

She felt the head
of his phallus pushing against her nymphae, and then Evix penetrated her. His
cock was inside her again.

Ajalira relaxed
into Evix's motions. There was relief in knowing that there was nothing
required of her, that she did not have to work to please him. She was bound,
tied into a position that would enable him to take from her all the pleasure he
would.

For the first
time in her life, Ajalira understood that sex could be pleasurable. She
understood why the other Lotuses seemed to enjoy this part of their training as
much as any other.

But she had no
pleasure of her own. The dampness of her pussy dried, but the oil kept both her
and Evix uninjured. She tried to remember to clench her sheath around Evix's
cock. She knew that that was something she was supposed to do, but she gained
no enjoyment herself from it. Still, for the first time, she realized that,
were she not so ashamed this would be pleasure itself.

Thrust and
retreat, pull and push, in and out—the rhythm of Evix's fucking was as familiar
to her as breathing. Then came an unexpected tug at the clamps on both her
nipples. Somehow, Evix had pulled on them simultaneously, and then she felt the
pressure of his hand on her throat. His hand closed around that most fragile of
points, and the sensation was delightful—until shame stole her breath more
effectively than Evix's hand. She felt Evix pulsing inside her, filling her
with his dead seed. Every Lotus-trainer was sterile.

“
Well done, pet.” Evix pulled out of her and carefully washed her
pussy and thighs before he unbound her. “I think we have finally learned where
your predilections lie.” He removed her blindfold and sat beside her on the
soft divan. “You are quite demanding in your tastes.” He traced the edge of her
cheek with his forefinger. “Still, now that we know, I think we might be able
to get you your next petal.” He took up her left hand and slid his grip up to
her forearm, running his thumb over the half-blown red lotus there. “My love.”
He raised her arm and kissed her tattoo.

Guilt pierced Ajalira.
Evix was kind to her. By his own admission, he loved her, and she had no doubt
that the other trainers mocked him for his lack of success with her.

But she was
saved from making any reply by the sound of bells. She counted the peals. One,
two, three, four. Five? Five peals? She and Evix exchanged a glance. The
arrival of a potential purchaser was a rare event.

Within twenty
minutes, Ajalira, her hair safely piled over her horns and the high tips of her
ears, joined all the other Lotuses in the small viewing chamber. Each Lotus
sat, seemingly careless of her appearance, with a quiet occupation. Some tuned
instruments; others embroidered; still others practiced Sunjaa hieroglyphs; and
finally others composed poetry. Ajalira took up her assigned task. Though the
girls appeared to be passing the time in profitable hobbies, in reality each
Lotus had been assigned the occupation that would show her to best advantage.
For Ajalira, that meant translating Ausir poetry into Zenji and Sunjaa.
Languages were the one subject where she excelled. Yet as she began the
laborious double translation, she knew that even here there was a dash of
failure. Though she could read these languages and write them, her speech,
though correct, was accented. She could not lose the Ausir lilt of her native
tongue.

“
It's Saerileth!” The whisper went through the viewing chamber.

Even Ajalira
paused to take note at that. Saerileth Kesandrahn, full-blown Red Lotus, was
famous in the guild. She had left six years ago, only half a year before
Ajalira's own arrival, and her reputation had only gained more luster since her
departure. She was the concubine of the Sunjaa Lord Admiral, and she had borne
him two sons already. That a Lotus should have deigned to give any man children
was almost as shocking as that she had become his concubine. Saerileth had
saved the life of the Sunjaa boy-king, and she was the most highly-favored
woman in the Sunjaa nation.

“
Guildmaster!” Saerileth spoke in Sunjaa, and Ajalira listened. She
doubted that the other Lotuses could hear. Her Ausir hearing was keener than
any human's could be, and she knew that Saerileth was purposely keeping her
voice low.

“
Welcome back, Lotus.” The Guildmaster's voice held both pride and
welcome as he responded in the same language. “And I see you have brought the
Lord Admiral with you. Welcome, Admiral.”