It takes you a moment or two to fully digest the scene in front of you. This Earth girl has come into your home to play the part of a slave, and she has dared to help herself to your clothes, your wine and your food without your permission. Furthermore she has established herself in front of your sister as a supposed Free Woman.
You are obviously not happy about any of this.
Rosanna lingers in the doorway, anxiously peering out into the courtyard as you confront Michelle Brennan for the first time.
“Perhaps you might join me with some of this wine,” says Michelle, “and then we can discuss...”
“One moment.” you hold up your hand, your voice changing pitch to one of absolute authority. ((1)) Michelle is stunned into silence as your eyes brook no disobedience from her. You turn on your heels and return to the hallway where Rosanna has now retreated to, having heard the tone of your voice towards the stranger. You find your sister standing demurely as you approach.
"Rosanna, there's obviously been some misunderstanding. Please, go and see to dinner while I sort things out." Your voice is kind but firm.
“Rosalita, what's going on...” she says softly, but you press a finger to her veiled lips and shake your head. She too goes quiet.
"I'll explain later. Attend to your work.” Your voice makes it clear that this is not a good time for your sister to argue or ask questions.
“Yes, Rosalita. I'll prepare a vulo for the pot tonight.”
“Good. Vulo will be nice.” You stroke your sister's hair and kiss her softly on the cheek to reassure her that she has not done anything wrong. You watch as she lifts her skirts just a little and hurries towards the kitchen. Then and only then do you pick up the slave tunic and place it into the satchel alongside the engraved collar and other items, and then you return to the courtyard outside, overlooking the harbour. You are not very impressed with this Earth girl.
“Look, um, is something wrong?” Michelle Brennan is no longer reclining on your outdoor couch. She is now standing amongst the potted plants and the various fruit trees. You know you now have the edge in this conversation. There is a slight quaver in her voice. She is perhaps a little unsure of herself now in front of you, whereas before she was not. “I was brought here, and I was wearing my disguise, for the role I will be playing, you understand? So I took the liberty of borrowing a gown from your wardrobe. I was hungry and thirsty and I thought since we would be working together...”
“Quiet.” Again your commanding tone makes the girl shift uneasily. You see her fidget and take a step back. “If you are indeed who you say you are, then I consider your lack of respect, together with your entire manner to be wholly inappropriate. You should be wearing this and kneeling." And with that you remove the slave tunic from the satchel and throw it to the tiles in front of her. It is a white tunic, sleeveless, with a modest neckline befitting the slave of a woman, and a hem line that reaches to a few inches above the knees. It is modest compared to what she might wear if she was owned by a man. It is made from stretchy, clingy rep cloth and will be tight across her breasts. The fabric is thin enough that her nipples are likely to show. Obviously there is no under garment to go with it.
“I don't understand...” Michelle glances down at the garment that she had been wearing when she was brought here, presumably by men who reported to Isabel and the Kurii. “There is no need for me to wear that just yet. We have days yet before the mission begins, and we need to discuss the nature of our working relationship going forward, and...”
Your raised hand silences her again. “In addition, you should not be eating or drinking without permission. In short, your behaviour in front of my sister totally compromises your work. You should be in your role already and not lapse from it."
“My role?” She looks angry now, annoyed, but still hesitant to confront you too boldly. She is after all a stranger in a strange land.
“Yes, your role.” You pull the slave whip from the satchel and glare at her. To your satisfaction she takes two steps back as she sees the supple whip in your hands.
“What's that?!” she says in alarm. It is a stupid question, you think, because obviously enough it is a whip. Has she never seen a slave whip before?
“This is a slave whip. It is used to discipline slaves.”
The Earth girl takes another step back. She looks at you as if you are mad.
“You can't possibly suggest that...”
You crack the whip against the tiles. The leather blades of the whip sound loud as you do so, and you see the girl clearly jump in surprise. “I will repeat myself once and once only in view of the fact that you are a free agent of the Kurii. You will put on that tunic and you will kneel. Do so. NOW!” You crack the whip again. ((2))
“Okay! Okay!” She backs away, practically to the edge of the crenelated wall overlooking the harbour, with her back to the brick work where she can retreat from you no further. “I can see I overstepped my mark... I'm sorry - I didn't mean any offence.” As you take two measured steps towards her she holds out her hands quickly in panic. “I'll change! I'll change into the tunic! Please... I'll just go inside and...”
“You will do so here and you will do so now.”
“Okay... it's not a problem...” She glances round to assure herself that the courtyard is secluded, which it is.
It is with trembling hands that the beautiful Michelle Brennan begins to unfasten your lovely gown. She allows it to drop around her ankles as she steps out from it. Underneath it she is wearing one of your soft underslips that drapes below the knee. As you narrow your eyes she quickly pulls that from her body and stands before you in just her slippers. She pulls these from her feet quickly, breathing heavily now from what can only be the intimidating nature of your commands. “See, I've taken the clothes off! I'm sorry... I didn't know...”
And then you see it. For a moment you can't quite believe your eyes, but there is a fresh looking kef brand on the naked girl's left thigh. She has been branded!
Michelle sees where you're looking and she bites her lower lip. “It's... necessary for my disguise. The men who spoke to me on Earth had a pen shaped device. They did this. It was painless and quick. They told me I would not pass in my role without it.” She seems shy and she places her hand over the brand site, hiding it from view. “It's nothing. It will mean nothing on Earth when I return there with my rich rewards. I am being paid well for the inconvenience.” Michelle now feels exposed, more vulnerable as she is naked and you are clothed. “If I may...” You see she suddenly craves the covering of the slave tunic, and as you do not object she hurries forward to pick it up from the tiles. Brief as it is, it is suddenly precious to her. She laughs nervously as she holds the fabric to her chest, covering herself as best she can before she dresses. “We seem to have got off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry.” When you don't say anything she seems even more nervous. Quickly now she pulls the slave tunic over her body and pulls it down snugly about her breasts. She blushes, knowing how the garment accentuates the curves of her body whereas your gowns flowed like liquid, disguising them. “I understand you wish to see how I will look in this. That is it, is it not? You wish to ensure I will pass inspection when I do my work? Well? Are you satisfied?” She seems a little bolder now that you have not actually used the whip. “I confess you scared me a little earlier. You have a very stern way about you when you are angry.” She laughs nervously again, as her hands try to pull the hem down a bit further towards her knees. “I am glad I will be working with you, Rosalita. I think we will make a good team.”
You point with the whip at the tiles beside her feet.
“Of course,” says the Earth girl, “you wish to see that I can kneel correctly?” She drops to her knees in slave tower position with her hands on her thighs, her head up and her eyes lowered. “See. I have been taught this and a couple of other positions which I may have to adopt in front of men. I trust you are satisfied? I do not particularly like this. Can we please dispense with this nonsense and move on?”
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((1)) A convince roll is made here. You can be very convincing when you have to be. Your skill is 6D+1 base Charm ability that governs the additional skill of Convince at 2D. You therefore roll a very impressive 8D+1 to silence the Earth girl. At this point in time she is very sure of herself, feeling safe, with no particular need to fear you, and so the base difficulty is Difficult (20). You roll 1+2+4+5+5+6+6+3+(2) (last dice is 'wild') = 34. This is a spectacular success. You immediately silence the Earth girl with a sweep of your hand and a glare. She is no longer quite so confident of herself in your home.
((2)) The slave handling skill applies here. Again, base Charm of 6D+1 and skill of 1D+2 gives a dice roll of 7D+3. To make a woman obey a command to strip is very difficult (25) but your previous spectacular success with the Convince skill has already intimidated her, so it is reduced to Difficult (20). You roll 5+5+5+6+6+6+5+(3) = 41, a result so ridiculously high that she obeys immediately, scared of both you and your whip.
"She's been branded. Actually branded. Is she insane?" was my instant thought on seeing the mark on her thigh. "Is she so naive that she doesn't know what it means? But no, she's right, the brand will be expected if she's to pose as a slave"
ReplyDeleteThen all her words come together in my mind. "She really is naive, she has no understanding of what her role really is".
Sighing inwardly, I sit on the edge of the couch, the whip idly swinging from my hand. "Tell me, do you know exactly what your role is?"
With a hand motion I indicate she doesn't have to answer, then continue speaking. "Your role is that of a slave. You're not a servant. In this society, slaves obey, without question. You could be beaten by a man for not being sufficiently deferential, or you could be
killed if he deems you to be insulting. A free woman could beat you for looking at her in the wrong way. I will help you with this, but understand, you are at risk if you do not learn quickly".