Topic: Spring Cleaning

Lord Brutin

Date: 2008-04-24 10:35 EST
The men stood loosely around Brutin as he stepped up to the large compound door and he eyed each of them as if just beyond the door stood a marauding band of warriors instead of the dust and decay of his absence.

Philodus stood calmly at his side, completely oblivious to the momentous occasion he was witness to. Somewhere behind them all the carpenters and laborers shifted about uneasily. Only Brutin remained unsurprised at Tara's efficiency.

Brutin turned back to the door and inserted the key, twisting and finding no resistance which was no surprise considering Tara had passed this way recently. The click to the lock resounded loudly in his ears and he pushed wide the double doors as he stepped through.

Philodus posted four guards, two to a side and the men took up their posts silently. They had already discussed what was to be done and in what order, the men having taken their orders stood ready to serve.

Brutin did not rush but hurried to the front door to the main hall, opening this door just as quickly and stepping down the dusty hallway. Philodus fell behind as he posted men along the wall and near the front doors, his job to secure as surely as if they were on campaign.

Brutin stopped in front of his office and stared at the door, his only consolation in coming back was that he had lived more of his life here in RhyDin now than he had on Gor. Which of the two was home for him now, truly?

Pushing the door wide he stepped through and glanced about, the large bay window was dirty but intact, the gardens beyond choked with unpleasant foliage and offshoots to his beloved flowers.

He stepped up to the desk and ran his hand over the surface, the wood smooth and solid still and he wondered if he should have it replaced or refinished, there was no use on standing with nostalgia. If it didn't serve a purpose, it would be replaced.

Carpenters and workmen entered behind him and then whistled, apprising their work to be done and he did not envy them, but then, he did not envy any manual laborers.

He turned to the pole in the middle of the left side of his office, the sand around the small pit dirty and colored black with time. Chains still hung rusted from the nap and he shook his head. Those would not be cleaned, only the best for his girls but those chains had held Alyssa, Rose, Bella, Candy and of course, Myr.

Men bustled around him now, they had a job to do and were paid by the job, there was no sense on dragging it out, so like a river they flowed around him as he stood there with the flood of memories passing over him in a kaleidescope of faces, actions and sounds.

He stepped out finally to inspect his garden, even as the men cleaned his window he knew it was for naught if there as nothing there to soothe his soul, for the things he had yet to do would require soothing the likes of which all the whore patrons of RhyDin had no yet seen.

Philodus approached silently behind him and waited patiently for instructions. Brutin gazed one last time over the garden and then sighed.

"We seriously lack in serving staff, Tara will handle the hired labor such as cook and physicians and such things. I am off to acquire the first chattel of the business." He said as he fingered the thongs at his belt and then the steel collars inside his coat pocket. Perhaps hunting females in a business suit was not the wisest but he would only be gone for a few hours, enough to obtain one or two girls for the men and one for himself.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-24 13:57 EST
Tara was beside herself with worry and grief as was usually the case when she oversaw Brutin's affairs. Although, back in the old days, there were a lot more people around who helped her such as the slaves and things just seemed to run more smoothly than they were running presently.

If working at the SA was difficult in and of itself, re-opening the SA was a monumental task. There was just so much to do to get it back to its old self and looking shiny and new.

Because Brutin was set in his ways and had this image of her in his mind where she could do no wrong, Tara always felt the pressure. Even if it was not intentional and there were some days where it was, she felt it.

Since she had recently returned herself she did not even have her own ducks in a row. She was not even sure where she was living. Staying between Kitty & Tass's home and Cor's house was a chore and she felt like a burden. She could not go back to Castle Longden either because Talomar and her were not exactly getting along very well.

In all honesty, she was homeless and it felt weird.

How is it that a girl who has more money than God is homeless, she wondered as the masons showed up with their tools and asked her where to start first.

"His bedroom. The tub needs to be repaired and please keep it in the Roman style as that is his preference and I do not want to see any blood spilled should it be changed in any fashion," she said to them with a firm look and sighed.

She sat down on the window ledge and lit up a cigarette to ease her nerves. Brutin wasn't fond of smokers but he had tolerated her lighting up one every now and again. Which was decent of him given the fact that in order to survive ten minutes in this place you pretty much had to be on drugs. She never touched the stuff and had grown a thick skin so it did not matter. But every once in awhile she needed to calm down and this was one of those times.

The doors opened down the hall and she could see five men in suits walking, single-file, toward her. Her eyes rolled instinctively.

Accountants.

You could smell them from a mile away.

"Good evening. Miss Tara is it?" the first one in line asked while adjusting his spectacles.

"Mmm," she said and gestured toward her office, knowing exactly what they wanted. "It is dusty. Do not complain. I don't want to hear it. The electricians got the lights working. Just touch the lamps. It's Gorean technology. And do NOT touch anything in my desk or I'll snap your necks like twigs," she said and blew out one long stream of smoke toward him.

He blinked and led his troops into her domain.

She looked down the intersecting hallway she was facing and saw the painters arguing.

"Idiots," she breathed, crushed out the cigarette in her hand like Nokturnulz used to and headed for them, tossing the cigarette out an open window as she walked.

"We must go around it!" one of the painters cried and ripped off his cap.

"What seems to be the trouble, boys?" she asked with a warm smile although she was not trying to be pleasant.

"Mam," said what appeared to be the head painter with a respectful nod. "We are just having a disagreement is all," he said and she could see he was nervous.

She slid her eyes to the wall and saw her portrait which seemed to be the cause of the trouble. Pointing to it, she smiled again though it was strained. "Take it down and re-hang it later," she suggested.

Both of them look like they had just won the lottery.

"Brilliant!" they cried in unison and she groaned.

These people just had to leave. She could not allow stupid people to be around her Boss. They would affect him in some way. Taint him.

No, they all had to go or die. She could not kill them because Boss hated blood on his floors so she would have to wait to satisfy the craving as much as it killed her to do so.

So she walked to the great hall to see what was happening there. When she opened the door and was witness to the goings on inside, she promptly closed it with a shake of her head.

"Absolute lunacy," she whispered and stalked toward the gardens. She prayed the gardeners were having better luck with what was probably the most important part of the Slaver's Association.

Brutin's gardens were reknowned for their beauty. In the old days it was a constant subject of discussion by those who knew him well. He loved them so much you could almost say he thought of each flower as one of his children.

Outside now, in the fresh and clean night air she surveyed the gardens and her face took on a new look of terror.

Someone, not in their right mind of course, had taken her two venus flytraps and placed them by Brutin's hydrangea bushes.

Herbert and Humphrey, the venus fly traps in question, were, along with her Elf-head petunias, her own addition to the various plantlife that existed within the SA compound back in the day.

While they were like other venus fly traps in size and color, they were different in that Herbert and Humphrey talked. What possession of Tara's didn't?

Because Brutin loathed magic he ignored them as he did the Elf-head petunias who would all wail in complaint whenever he would open his office bay window and urinate upon them.

But now that Herbert and Humphrey were snacking upon the Boss's hydrangea bushes, she did not think this would go unnoticed by him.

"Stop! Oh! What have you both done!" she cried and went over to them to save the bushes from further molestation.

The venus fly traps snickered and broke out into song, their heads swaying, leaves rustling together, in time.

"Booooorn free.......as free as the wind blows.......as free as the grass grows......" they sang.

She growled and stooped down to pick Herbert up first. Though he appeared the same size as Humphrey he was always heavier for some reason.

"You are both very very bad plants!" she hissed and again the plants teased her.

"We want to be in the ground with our brethren!" they screamed.

"No! Absolutely not! You will not start this age-old argument up again! This is Boss's garden and he will have a heart attack if he sees you two in here, flirting with his roses, gardenias, and tulips!"

Humphrey grinned. "I think she's flustered."

Herbert snickered. "Yes, brother, she is. Just wait 'til the slaves show up, then she's really going to flip out!"

She set them both down in a far off corner and huffed.

"Do not make nuisances of yourselves! You hear!"

In unison, again, and because that is the way they usually talked, Herbert and Humphrey, responded for the last time before she went back inside to check on the workers.

"Good night Sweeeeeeeeeet Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!"

She scowled and slammed the door.

Lord Brutin

Date: 2008-04-24 14:48 EST
"Right this way Lord." The man ushered him along and he frowned.

"I am not your lord, do not use a title on me." Brutin corrected the man who bowed in understanding. The man would simply never learn. They stopped in front of the office door and Brutin looked down at the worker.

"We have switched the old for the new, the carpet is fresh, things have been dusted and your desk has been refinished." The worker declared and could see Brutin's impatience grow so he pushed the door to the office open to reveal the fresh clean change that had befallen it since this morning.

Brutin walked in and glanced about, studying the new details, they had done this quickly because instead of cleaning they had replaced everything, and that would probably show on the bill.

Unfortunately they had to contend with Tara.

He walked around to his desk and sat down, the leather chair gave way to his bulk and he could smell the new leather smell. He brushed his hands over the top and then opened the drawers, the desk was the original.

Suddenly he was on his feet and at the bay window, his sight falling on the desecrated garden below him, the weeks and flowers battling for supremacy even as the landscapers began to toil around it clearing a path through the compound.

He turned back to the desk and saw the blotter, the pens he would never use and that infernal telephone primed and ready should anyone else learn how to use a phone.

It was a wonderful world.

He couldn't wait to wreck it.

Maerissa LaeAnna Drakonis

Date: 2008-04-24 16:10 EST
There were few that drew Maerissa toward Rhy'Din any longer. However, this return most certainly was enough to do so. Brutin she had always kept an eye on, knowing his penchant for what he termed "exotics." Tara was, simply put, the proof that friendship was guided by nothing more than the heart. At times, someone to chase about the grounds, at others, one you would protect, though she didn't really need it. Truth be told, others probably needed protection from her.

Earlier that morning she had landed on the grounds, knowing that soon he would return. It was a simple spell she used to choose a shape that she was sure none would find out of place here. A small boulder which appeared buried into the earth, moss covered and there for probably as long as the garden had been.

Just as expected, they had returned, and with quite a number of people. Obviously Tara had been very busy gathering up such large crews to set right the halls once more.

Dragons are patient observers, and she had the patience of an ancient. So she waited out in the far corner of the garden, out of sight by most and unobtrusive. Then she saw Tara come out and looking more than a little flustered. Was that singing she heard? Was Tara capable of singing? She had seen the woman dance.

No, it was definitely not her doing the singing. Though there was no doubt she was talking to the singer or singers as the case may be. It was simply to far away to really tell.

Then she was crossing the grounds and setting the talking plants there. So that had been what it was. That didn't really surprise her. It was the fact that they were even allowed in here, considering his obvious distress over anything magical.

And then she was gone, and Maerissa was left there with the two chattering plants.

She had promised not to use magic, at least not around Brutin. That, however, did not curtail her use of it when he was not around. She did something at that moment no boulder would be able to do, cast up a spell which drew a mist about her form allowing her to shift from the shape she had chosen to one she used more often when passing time with humans. At the moment she stepped free of the mist, Herbert and Humphrey went to whistling and catcalling.

"Shush you two. If I wanted an announcement, I would have given it myself."

To get them to finally quiet down just a little she glanced about and then slid her finger through the air seeming to unzip it and reached inside what now looked like a hole in the air.

"Oh, what ya doing lady fair?"

Not knowing which one had spoken to her, she simply answered. "Getting you a treat, but only for you if you promice to be good."

And that set up a new ruckus, "A treeeaaaat!"

"Shhh. Or I'll seal it up and you get nothing."

And that, for the moment seemed to quiet them. Nodding with satisfaction she drew out two plants and set them close by. It would take a bit of a reach, but she was pretty sure that those two would manage.

So with that, she turned about to make her way across the grounds to pay a little visit.

Lord Brutin

Date: 2008-04-24 17:23 EST
Brutin sat down with his first official memo. All across the top was the familiar and regal brand of the SA and the coat of arms for House Vitellus and as he scanned down the single page he noticed borders, header and footer as well as the paper type. It was good stock.

He sat back in his chair and finished his inspection of the document as the phone rang. He looked up at it as it took its sweet time to chime again. He finally sighed and reached forth to pick it up. "Greetings." He said firmly, unsure if it was the correct protocol but deciding at the outset it would have to do.

"Uh, sir, this is a line test, if you could hang up and not answer it, just making sure the phone works sir." Came the distant reply. Brutin nodded but said nothing. Silence spread slowly and he could hear the technician on the other end breathing into the receiver. "Sir? Are you still there? Are you going to hang up? Sir?" Brutin nodded politely to each of the queries but wondered himself when this genius was going to hang his end of the line up.

Finally the line went dead and Brutin replaced the receiver and went back to the memo, starting at the top for the third time and reading down to the bottom before the phone again rang loudly. "Greetings." He spoke firmly in answer, the receiver in his ear.

"Uh Sir, this is just a line test, please don't answer it." Came the tiny voice and Brutin frowned and hung up. He didn't want to talk to them either. He picked up the memo again and looked out the window, perhaps another hour or two before dinner, he could survive that.

The phone rang. "Greetings."

"Uh, Sir, you answered the phone again." The technician accused and Brutin nodded.

"Yes, I am aware of that, I was sitting right here when it happened." He replied.

"If you could refrain from answering it, I am testing the line, I just need four rings and I can sign off the paperwork sir." Came the response.

"Very well." He said and hung up the phone, the last words of the Technician cut off. Then the phone rang. Brutin watched it ring a second and then third time, finally sighing and picked it up. "Greetings."

"God Damn, he answered it again. Hello? Sir? Can you please not answer the phone?" The technician said abruptly and Brutin frowned, this was quickly losing its luster.

"The phone rang." He replied simply and the technician sighed.

"Yes sir, I called the line, I am doing a line check, unless I get four rings out of the phone I cannot sign off on the paperwork." The technician reported and Brutin nodded to the receiver.

"How much longer do you think it will take?" He asked and the technician sighed.

"If you don't answer the phone sir, a matter of seconds."

"Then what are you waiting for." He hung up the phone and sat back to read the memo. The phone rang. Brutin sat there feeling the flush rise in his face, he was getting to hate this technician person who couldn't seem to concentrate on his job. "Greetings." He said into the receiver.

"Oh my God. Someone help me here. I have chest pains." Came the reply over the line and Brutin squinted to better hear the colorful commentary coming from the other end.

"May I help you?" Brutin finally offered and the line went dead. He set the receiver back down on the cradle and again picked up the memo. He made it to the end of the memo before the phone rang again. "Greetings." He said and he heard a large sigh emit from the other end.

"Dude....no one says greetings, why don't you try hello like everyone else?" It was the technician person.

"How goes the line test?" He asked.

"What the...can you....that as<squawk> thinks he can...." Brutin listened in as the technician vented his views the likes of which a sailor would likely blush accompanied to the sounds of something on the other end striking a flat surface several times.

"Hello?" He finally offered, reminding them politely that his time was valuable. "If you are done with your break please remember that I will not pay extra for overtime when you could have had this job done minutes ago." He said and hung the phone up. He sighed and wondered if he should read the memo again, it was the only thing that he had to do, and by drawing it out and keeping it pending he could always say he was busy.

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Well Glory Be! This time he said hello, I feel like I wanna cry." the technician was yet again talking to his assistant and Brutin listened in a little while to follow the gist of the conversation. Finally he hung up to get back to work.

Brutin reached out for his brandy and sipped it, setting the glass down lightly before taking up the memo. The door opened and Tara strode through, she was humming to herself and she smiled to him.

"Hey Bossman." she said scanning over his desk and taking note of his memo. "What does the memo say?"

"I have no idea, but let me ask you something. I have been asking myself the reason why someone would call me on this phone and tell me not to answer it, AFTER I have answered it. In any case I do believe we should dock the technicians working on the phone a part of their fee if they are going to sit around and play jokes upon me all day." He remarked and her eyes fell on the phone and then on him.

Then the phone rang.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-24 17:58 EST
She smiled and picked up the phone, nodding to Brutin to alert him to the fact that she would handle this.

"I will, of course, punish them severely for this outrage, Bossman," she said and her eyes slid to the phone in her hand.

She remembered then, with vivid clarity, how amused he was when the phone had first been installed ages ago and how confused poor Alexander Winter, her then husband, had been when trying to ask Brutin how it worked and the Boss did not explain it to him.

Her lips curled into that cruel smile she was known for in her prime working for this man. Old feelings returned and she mused with a great deal of satisfaction that she was slipping right back to her old self.

"Good evening Slaver's Association, this is Da Cockroach Killa speaking, how may I direct yer call?" she asked with a finger tucked on the corner of her lip.

Lately she was trying out new looks.

This look she had now could be called Mildly Ticked Off.

"Hello! It's a girl this time. She sounds young!" came the voice of the harried technician on the other end who was obviously speaking to someone else, technically inclined she imagined.

"Yes, I am a girl but not young an' that is none of yer business," she said and smirked. "Why are you tying up this line! We are very busy here, conducting the business of men! Now either you tell me what you want or you can jus' die! Die you bastard die!" she growled.

The line went dead.

She hopped up on the desk and replaced the receiver as if nothing had happened.

Then she looked to her Boss and giggled.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I killed someone over the phone with just a thought?"

Lord Brutin

Date: 2008-04-24 19:12 EST
Brutin sat back in his chair and smiled with a thought, that would show them, attacking his personage in so vicious a manner. Ah well, stub my toe and I will run you over with a coach and six. It was just his way he guessed but it kept respect for him high and his body safe.

"Tara my dear." He said as he lifted the memo. "See to it that this is completed, now that the technicians have eaten up my time I am so busy I cannot bear the thought of leaving it undone until tomorrow." He said and handed it to her. "In the meantime I must inspect the work being done on my bedroom, I cannot tolerate any slackers at this time." He said and she nodded readily.

He walked out into the hallway, paint fumes stinging his nostrils. Yes, he would inspect his bedrooms, and if they had been completed as tasked....

He would take a nap.

Maerissa LaeAnna Drakonis

Date: 2008-04-24 22:44 EST
She had made her way across the grounds at a leisurely pace, pausing from time to time with a nod to this worker or that one as they busied themselves. Of course, not being more than temporary hired help, no one bothered to stop her or ask her for her business on the grounds. That would probably happen on her next visit.

She found it quite convenient that someone had not even bothered to close the door and prevent her entrance inside. Of course, she still paused and knocked before entering and striding down toward where she remembered Tara's little retreat to be.

It should have struck her as odd that the men who apparently were supposed to be guards seemed to just let her stroll through, except she knew that they probably assumed her to be less threat and more the fly strolling into the spider's web. Her thoughts were still on this funny little piece which was running through it when she came to the door she had been seeking and gently rapped upon it with three sharp taps.

?I do hope someone is about.?

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-25 14:24 EST
She takes the memo, looks at it, and nods. There was absolutely nothing written on the page but she would not dare say that. She knew that he knew it was blank and he knew that she knew it was blank.

This was how they worked together.

Keeping one another on their toes.

"Yes, Bossman," she says softly and watches him leave.

Now that he was back it was difficult for her to be away from him for more than five minutes at a time. It was more fear of what someone might say to him than fear he would leave for good again.

Brutin was not a complex man however to many people in Rhy'Din long ago he was. At least once a day someone would approach her and ask her what he had meant when he said something or what he would do if they did this or that.

At first it annoyed her to be questioned so intimately about her Boss but slowly over time she grew to understand that this was just another one of her talents.

Understanding Brutin.

Gor, the planet where he came from, was entirely dominated by men. There was no such thing as a "resistance" like there was in Rhy'Din back when Zonker was leading his grassroots campaign to stop Brutin. Women on Gor were either free or they were slave. The one and only group of women who were neither were these wild girls called "The Panther Girls" and for the most part Goreans tried to pretend like they did not exist because if they acnowledged them it was like saying the Gorean way of life was wrong.

Tara hated Gor because of what it represented: Brutin's one and only love. But she understood its ways, its principles and its people perhaps better than Goreans did themselves. Gor was a place of beauty and of innocence, in a way.

Because slaves were the majority on Gor, men like Brutin were used to being waited on hand and foot. They learned this from birth as slaves even helped their mothers care for them. One would think that being a slave was a harsh life or that Gor itself was like a Hell in some way but it was not.

The slaves there loved to be in chains. For the longest time Tara spent reading Gorean historical scrolls trying to understand more about her Boss and when she was not doing that she was observing other Goreans she had come to know. After awhile it became obvious that Brutin would never change because to him there was nothing wrong with himself to change.

Once you understood that you would understand the man.

And slowly Tara accepted that. She did not like that slavery existed but there was nothing she could do about it and so long as no one she loved got seriously hurt, she started not to care. Besides, all of the women who were collared by her Boss came willingly. She watched this happen with her own eyes so really what was the big deal?

Now that he was back she suspected women would once again be flocking to the Slaver's Association and she would, once again, have to turn a blind eye to some of the goings on.

But for now she had to keep an eye on her Boss. Much in Rhy'Din had changed, even the people, and many of his old acquaintances, friends, even his enemies were no longer living here or even alive.

She had to keep a close eye on him so not only could she translate his meaning when he spoke to others but so that she could also translate to him what he was being told. She did not want him confused.

In ways only Brutin could understand, you see. If he asked someone to come work for him and they declined Tara knew Brutin would not accept that. It was not that her Boss was arrogant, he was not.

In his world his word, a man's word, was Law and she hoped that people would understand this about him once they got to know him.

Now she takes the blank memo and walks out into the hallway.

It is quiet which for the time of day was not odd though Tara knew that hours later it would still be quiet. She remembers how busy this place used to be. How even she would have to wait to speak with her Boss because he always had so many visitors.

"It will be that way again, Tara, just have some patience," she says to herself and sighs.

She walks down the hall a ways and comes to an empty room which has recently been painted.

"Nokturnulz," she whispers into the space almost as if she expected the man to manifest right before her eyes.

This room would now be Anubis's office should he decide to occupy it. Brutin had asked her to have an office ready for him and Tara never let any of his orders go undone.

Anubis would remember Nok as the two used to work here at the Slaver's Association together. She remembered Nok.

She remembered all of them.

Thaluka, Oxbel, Grim, Essa, Lucius & Fiona, Ashe, Wolf, Tresalira, Dave, Sonyia, Damian, Magen, Krovos, Anathesius, Savior, Rook, Daemon, Azrael, Vaenom Morkai, Church Rhino....

Kain Locke.

Her eyes slide down to her thigh to the brand there and she remembers Brutin's last order he gave her the night prior before they parted ways.

"A Black Heart," she whispered and tried to think of which man in this realm who could even begin to fill Kain's shoes let alone replace them.

Kain was one of a kind. Tara always said that that if Church were the meanest bastard that ever lived Kain was beyond description.

Tara was his slave once. An honor that many women would have killed for and later, for a brief time, she was his First Girl, an even greater honor, virtually impossible to achieve at the time but she had. He had only had one girl like that before her and he killed her for Tara.

What man alive now could possibly be like him?

She slams the blank memo up against the corkboard and begins to write names on it.

Brainstorming, if you will.

When she is finished she looks to the very last name and she smiles, saying it aloud.

"Jodiah Ayreg," she whispers and starts to snicker and then stops.

"But he does not show his face around here no more."

That would have to be rectified she thinks. She would have to try and lure Ayreg back, if not so he could meet Brutin, but just to see what he would say when she sees him again.

"I must try to get him back. No one else is right for it save Kain himself and if I ever lay eyes on him again it'll be too soon. No, Ayreg is perfect. He is unforgiving and mean. Perfect for this job and no other."

She nods and hurries down the hall to toward the dungeons to see how they were progressing. As she passes Brutin's bedroom door she notices it is closed.

She smiles.

He is napping.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-25 14:39 EST
After going over the dungeons with a fine tooth comb and checking to make sure the bars held fast and the locks held good, Tara returned to her office to begin putting her old life back together.

Working on piece number seven to a thousand-piece puzzle and getting frustrated when the piece did not fit the way she thought it should, she bit the end off and made it fit.

"That'll show you," she said to it and picked up another piece just as there was a knock on her door.

"Enter or be damned!" she thundered and looked up from her puzzle making.

Maerissa LaeAnna Drakonis

Date: 2008-04-25 20:49 EST
There was a soft click as the door was opened and she stepped inside.

"Well, since I would hardly wish to be damned, I suppose I will need to enter."

A glance about the room and she noted the level of work that had been done. She then crossed the room to take a seat across from her, picking up one piece of the puzzle and place it without problem into one of it's mates.

"So, what has brought your Boss back to these fair shores?"

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-26 14:53 EST
"Hi Rissa!," she said happily and motioned for the lights to brighten so the dragon-in-human-form could see better.

"The 'official' reason," she said, bringing her two hands up and tucking her index and middle fingers in the air at the same time, " is that the Kuuri are once again displeased with him and have exiled him."

She smirked and pushed some puzzles pieces Ris's way so she wouldn't have to reach.

"My guess, however, is that he is bored, " she said with a giggle. "So we must be sure to entertain him."

Her eyes lit up and she looked at the older woman. "With your magic an' my antics that should keep him plenty pissed off enough to start killing people left an' right......an' then Rissa," she said, thrusting her finger in the air, " then I shall be right as rain once again."

The puzzle pieces on her side started to wiggle then. She looked up with a blink.

"Did you do that?"

Maerissa LaeAnna Drakonis

Date: 2008-04-26 19:11 EST
A glance was given to the pieces that were nudged in her direction as she settled back in her chair. One was lifted and slowly twirled between pinched finger and thumb before she looked at the ones Tara asked her about.

?Hardly. If I cast a spell they do something more like this.?

A gentle wave of her hand and she drew four to her and then lifted them off the table to spin through the air as if they were being juggled before they resumed their places on the table in front of her.

?Of course, I didn?t do that.?

She considered Tara?s proposal for a moment. She knew that boredom could be such a detrimental thing.

?There?s only one slight problem with your proposal. The last time I performed obvious magic around him within these halls, he asked me to leave. He doesn?t seem to really get mad, just doesn?t understand it, and what he doesn?t understand, he tends to not want around him.?

Though she had not been seeming to really be paying much attention to the puzzle itself, she absently picked up a few of the pieces and easily placed them together, making small groups of three and four before settling back once more.

?However, if you are really bent on this endeavor, I supposed I could let what magic I do use regularly around him drop and settle myself in his garden. I?m just not going to be under his office window mind you. I never cared for his idea of watering flowers.?

JewellRavenlock

Date: 2008-04-27 10:06 EST
Jewell chose to walk. She chose to walk holding the little jar she had left the house with in her hand. Yes, she had access to a carriage and horses if she wanted them, she could even drag out the motorcycle given to her by one Skyler Jackson Chamberland that she never quite learned how to ride. Instead, she settled on her own two, high-heel shoed feet as she set out from her house relatively early in the afternoon. She would have left earlier if she had not spent all morning debating whether or not to go at all. On the one hand, her curiosity regarding the small pile of dust sitting on her vanity--at one time in its life it was a gold coin--was getting the better of her. Why had Lord Brutin given her a Faerie Gold coin? Was it a joke? Some odd way of him hinting at the fact that maybe he could see what she truly was: not an Elf but in fact one of the Sidhe, a Faerie.

On the other hand, did she truly want to go to the Slaver?s Association? Especially when Lord Brutin and Tara had both just returned? Even with an invitation to do so, she was reluctant to go. The confident Empress was truly nervous. She had heard so much, read so much. Sure, the Association had been all but defunct for years now, and she doubted that there were going to be very many people around the place if she did decide to go, but that did not do much to assuage whatever worries that were plaguing her mind.

In the end, she looked her pretty little face in the mirror, reminded herself who exactly she was, that she had not seen her best friend in a very very long time, and finally decided to get dressed. That alone was a lengthy process, but she finally left the house in a sharp, navy blue dress, her hair pulled back from her face, and her heels clicking along on the cobblestone streets. The small jar of dust was in her hand.

Her every movement bespoke confidence as she made her way to the SA compound, navigating by directions once given to her by Tara. Her friend told her she couldn?t miss the building once she was near. For once, the Killa had not been exaggerating. Jewell had seen and lived in many impressive places in her lifetime, but none quite like this. She allowed herself only a moment to gawk before repositioning that confident smile on her lips and approaching the gates and the two guards that stood there.

She did not wait to be prompted for an explanation regarding her visit; ?I am here to see Tara.?

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-27 12:18 EST
She stared at the moving puzzles pieces for a moment and then shrugged.

"Guess I must have done it,' she said and listened to what Ris was saying. Her finger tapped her lip as the other woman was speaking and Tara considered what would happen should Brutin see magic being worked around him.

"No, on second thought, yer right. I do not want him to do that to you again. Yer right. You jus' stay in the garden or perhaps we can construct another place for you to rest while you are here," she said with a smile.

Then her eyes moved to the door and narrowed.

"I think we might have to cut this visit short, Rissa," she said softly and stood. "I sense we have a visitor outside and I best go see who it is before Brutin gets to them first. Yer welcome to stay if you like. I am sorry I can't offer you any food or even a drink as our supplies are a bit low but next time, I will be able to," she said and walked to the door.

"Excuse me," she said and began to stalk towards the exit. She could not discern who it was this far away but she felt a shift in The Balance again as she had when Rissa was demonstrating her own magical talent.

Whoever it was definitely had some sort of power and as Rissa had mentioned having that type of ability and using it here at the SA could prove unwise so Tara thought she best handle this herself.

Besides...Brutin was still napping.

Maerissa LaeAnna Drakonis

Date: 2008-04-29 02:00 EST
She had felt a slight tremor. Before, when there were so many roaming these halls, one could actually hide. With the few that were here now, silence intensified the sound, for that was what it seemed to her, a note sung in the ether, and this one familiar to her.

She decided to remain for the moment, but a little less obtrusive. So she watched Tara move to the door to greet the new comer. Once the woman had her back to Maerissa, she rose and moved to the window. Rather than shifting to dragon form though, she shifted to that of a housecat and curled in the window sill.

Soft purrs would be heard, but nothing more to announce her for now. The curtains simply fell into place in front of her offering cover where she lay curled in the sunlight.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-04-30 13:06 EST
As Rissa was leaving, Tara grabbed a garment off the hook on the wall and proceeded to the double doors at the end of the hall. The garment, a cloak of sorts, was bright blue which had a significance of its own like the cloak itself, and inside the hood there was a veil that had been sewn on much later. She put the cloak on before she stepped outside and drew the veil across her face, fastening it to the opposite side of the cloak so that her face was covered.

She then walks to the gates calmly, staying to the left of the Gorean men she passes, with her head held high, though when she approaches the Gorean Guard, her eyes were somewhat downcast though her chin did not dip in the slightest.

"Tal," she says to the guards and raises her right hand, palm facing inward, to her shoulder, performing the common Gorean greeting to them.

She sees Jewel now beyond the gate but does not address her as of yet. She would once they were safely inside and could speak in private. The Goreans her employer had brought with him were a source of frustration for Tara for a variety of reasons she kept to herself although Brutin was aware of her feelings about them. She only spoke to them sparingly, out of necessity only, and even then it bothered her to do so. The Goreans, on the other hand, were indifferent toward her. She was a free woman to their eyes but still a woman and if they spoke to her at all it was also out of necessity, and not out of a desire to hear her thoughts or feelings. She learned long ago not to even bother trying to converse with them casually as they would only laugh at her and she had been embarrassed on more than one occasion thinking she could even try to be their equal.

"I ask your favor," she says softly and gestures to the gate. Silently, the guards open the gate to let Jewel pass through and although they do not say anything to her, Tara can see they are assessing her best friend who was dressed quite differently from herself and other women they were used to.

She steps forward to collect Jewel, taking her by the arm and whisks her into the compound where behind the safety and privacy of the walls, they could behave as they normally would.

Once inside, she throws off the cloak and hugs Jewel to her tightly and her laughter rings out in the halls.

"I have missed you Empress!" she cries. "Come! Let me give you the tour! Brutin is busy right now but he should be around later."

JewellRavenlock

Date: 2008-05-05 13:24 EST
Seeing Tara approaching the gates, dressed as she is, recalls Jewell to herself and reminds her of where she is, reminds her of lessons learned long ago. In the Lands she is held in high regard because she is a woman, greater than man, and of a high house. At home, she is both Guardian and Princess: respected, adored, loved, and feared. Even in RhyDin she has carved out a place for herself, given a nickname that has become a title, that holds meaning and power--The Empress. But here? She reminds herself that here she is nothing, an unknown, and knows next to nothing about the territory, the other world, she is about to enter. While her posture and stance retain that confidence, she lowers her head, her own way of showing respect without knowing the actual customs of this culture she is about to be surrounded by.

She allows Tara to take her by the arm and guide her into the compound, guide her into the world of the Slaver?s Association.

Once inside, she rejoices in hugging her best friend, in being able to do so. Their initial reunion had been overshadowed by the reunion of Tara and Brutin, but Jewell was not bitter or jealous; she was happy to be able to laugh and see her friend now. ?Yes, please do give me the grand tour! I have many questions and have much to learn if I do not wish to make a fool of myself, which I certainly do not wish to do.?

Tara?s mention of Brutin reminded her of the small box she was holding in her hand, filled with dust. She held it tighter, waiting until later to bring up her questions and want of an explanation.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-05-11 14:59 EST
"I used to say when greeting visitors, 'Welcome to my nightmare' but none of them knew or I should say, ought to know the reason behind the saying. I am going to show you because I love you an' I trust you an' yer here. Being astute as I know you to be, Jewelsie, you'll probably understand it better than most," she said with a faint smile and produced a similar blue cloak from the trunk on the floor which she handed to her best friend.

There were many garments inside of it, all different colors. The office itself was, however, painted black and had no color. It was quite possibly the most depressing room in the place save for Nok's old room and by now it had been redone so that Anubis could use it as an office. She had yet to tell the Egyptian slaver about it but would, sooner or later.

"This is the world of men," she said and walked out into the hallway. "Here, in this corridor, the fate of many girls was decided. Money exchanged hands freely, wine flowed, naked women kneeled, and hard men cast cruel smiles and glances at any uncovered piece of flesh their eyes did see," she said with a nod and a deep sigh.

"I was spared most of it as I slept during the day but the slaves kept me informed and sometimes, if I concentrate hard enough, I can walk into a space and see what had recently transpired there. Buildings, like people, have excellent memories of events and will remember what has happened for you if you are lucky. This one," she said and her eyes moved toward the ceiling, "has never forgotten a blessed thing which happened here."

She nods now to the cloak. "They are not required but for yer safety I ask that you put that on as we walk around. The men, the Goreans, here, they are from a place where no woman is free even though the women that don those types of robes there are called Free Women, the Goreans, though, they have many sayings although the one that comes to my mind now is the reason for why I ask you to put that on" she said.

"There are two types of women. Slaves and slaves," she said and smirked.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-05-11 15:10 EST
As they walked down the hallway, the sconces on the wall began to light up one by one as the girls passed them. Tara lifted her finger without looking at them and explained.

"Gorean technology. The planet Gor has made many advances in such things that us Rhy'Dinians only dream about. In truth I do not know how they work but I use my powers to will them to light up when I walk near them as I am afraid to touch them. When I first came here I used to walk around with torches until one day I accidentally set Boss's office on fire," she said and giggled remembering.

"Nok had been chasing me as he often did. I dove under Brutin's desk which was my safe place and even Nok wouldn't go under there to get me as Brutin said if I made it there I couldn't be touched. Well, I had the torch in my hand still and the next thing I know everyone is screaming and Boss is tossing me over his shoulder as he ran outside with me. He held me in his lap as we watched, from the lawn, the flames licking the sky. Everyone was yelling how I was careless and I had started to cry but Boss just stroked my hair and said it was an accident. As the guards labored to put out the fire, Nok went over to the window and lit his cigarette on the flames which were crawling up the wall," she said and grinned to Jewel.

"Nok feared nothing which is why I idolized him so much. He walked back to where we were seated, sat down next to Brutin an' I and shook his head. Said I'd be the death of them all," she said and giggled.

"After that night I was not allowed to bring a torch into the SA no more."

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2008-05-11 15:42 EST
Tara turned left down the first of many intersecting hallways. This was the only one off the main hallway that started at the entrance. On the left wall was a huge portrait of Tara, straddling a chair backwards. She was naked save for a purple translucent cloth which was draped over her body.

She again lifts her finger and stops although her eyes do not look its way.

"A long time ago in Rhy'Din there was a family of vampire named the Suspire clan. The patriarch, Christian, was a man I at first hated something fierce. He called me names and used to throw things at me whenever I visited their home because it was common knowledge I had no clan and this frightened him. I had become friendly with his son, Elijah, who was mute. Though Elijah was older than me he had a child's brain and was very innocent. Christian suspected I would corrupt him and did not want us together but eventually he relented when his wife told him that Elijah had started to speak since coming to know me. Not much, just little words, here and there," she said and frowned.

Her eyes slid to Jewel. "I was married to the slaver Arrithon at the time. Arri hated Elijah and so when Christian Suspire came to complain to him about my frequent visits, Arri threw a fit and demanded I never go there again. I stayed away but word soon reached my ears that Elijah had been withdrawn since my disappearance. He would not go out to feed with his pack and he grew weak. Christian, having no other choice, summoned me to the Suspire mansion. After a lengthy discussion, argument, what have you, he took me to his bed."

Her eyes darkened and then looked up to the painting finally. "In those days I only let Drake feed off me. Arri knew none of this an' of course neither did Christian's wife but Elijah knew. He wanted very much for me to become his mother and he would encourage Christian an' I to sit closer to each other whenever I was visiting with them. Christian did warm up to me after that night but I looked at him only as a means to an end. I loved little Elijah so I was willing to do whatever it took to spend time with him an' of course being away from Arrithon was always a blessing. What a bastard I had married," she said with a growl.

"One night as I working late here at the SA, the guards came to say that I had a visitor. When I went to the door, I saw it was Elijah. He was wet as it had been pouring rain but he was so excited about something. He motioned for me to follow him to the carriage but I wouldn't as I hate to get wet. Well, anyway, the guards went in my stead and they brought that in," she said and nodded to the painting.

"By then Boss had come to see what was the trouble at the door. Elijah, seeing him, cowered behind me and Boss grew very confused but when he saw the painting he complimented the mute vampire on his skill with a paintbrush. I, however, blanched in horror as I had never been naked in front of Elijah before but as I looked to it, I recalled the night with his father, Christian, in his chambers," she said and swallowed.

Her eyes closed and she sighed.

"The chair, in the painting, was the one I sat on, in exactly that position. It belonged to Christian. It was how I looked that night. I had thought we were alone but we were obviously not. The painting is only on the wall because Boss favors it," she said, growing angry and she began to stalk down the hall again.

"Were it not for it pleasing him I'd have it burned. I never saw the Suspire clan again although Christian tried to see me, wrote me letters of love, sent me flowers, I refused him."

"I am told," she said as she kicked open the door to her chambers at the end of the hall, "that Elijah blamed him for my absence and disappeared from the realms. If I cared about that, I never let on."

JewellRavenlock

Date: 2008-05-15 09:46 EST
Jewell accepted the blue cloak, similar to the one her best friend was wearing, with no objection, comment, or question. She trusted Tara to know what was best for her in this environment--a trust some might think misplaced in the crazy red head but Jewell was completely assured of--and to explain it all in due time.

She remained quiet for a time, absorbing all that Tara said and more. She was taking note of the depressing d?cor of the first room they entered and reaching out to place a hand against a wall as Tara explained how she often learned about what had happened during the day at the SA while she slept. Buildings did indeed have memories, sometimes retained in the very natural materials they were constructed with, and Jewell was tempted, only for a moment, to reach out and find what she could see and feel. She pulled her hand back and followed Tara out into the hallway.

Having just carried the cloak earlier, when in the prospective office of one Anubis Karos, Jewell now put it on at Tara?s urging, struggling only a moment to fasten the veil the way she had seen Tara wearing it earlier. She found the practice highly interesting, the explanation even more so. "There are two types of women. Slaves and slaves.? Truly, the idea of a culture where women were viewed in such a way was fascinating to the Fae, whose mother had been born in a world where woman often rained supreme.

Moving down the hall, grey eyes examined the sconces curiously. Although RhyDin did not have technology quite like them, she knew of some place that did. ?Very much like home,? she commented quietly, not wanting to interrupt Tara?s amusing and enlightening--in providing more detail both of Lord Brutin and Nok--story of the torch incident. She had to smile at the end of it: only Tara.

Far from being embarrassed at the next part of the SA they stop in front of, Jewell admires the somewhat scandalous picture of her best friend even when the object of the picture did not turn to look at it at first. Although Tara obviously objected to the painting, even going as far as to say she would burn it if Brutin did not favor it, Jewell smiled and followed her onwards. ?I think it?s rather becoming, honestly?? branching off as she thought of Stephen?s reaction if he saw a painting like that tone of her. She smirked.

?I am sure Elijah, if he were still in the realms, would also be glad you have not burned his rather remarkable work of art,? Jewell tacked on as she followed Tara into her room.

As Tara took a moment to breathe--or not breathe, considering her state of aliveness--Jewell jumped on the opportunity to ask a few questions: ?Are there many of those guards about that were at the front gates? Are they all Goreans? Did I act in a horrible way towards them earlier, they were watching me quite carefully it seemed. And I feel somewhat bad for the free women of Lord Brutin?s world, these cloaks can be hardly comfortable to wear every single day, though I do sort of like the mysteriousness of wearing the veil.?