A rush of steam with the sweet smell of fragrant oils greeted Eliana as they entered the hot springs bath. The attendants there graciously helped her undress, neatly folding her garments and tucking them away. Unlike the preparations for her meeting with the King, the manner of the servants was more subdued. Perhaps it was the relaxed atmosphere of the bath or perhaps she was simply less resistant herself.
As she slipped into the hot waters of the pool, she could hear the soft chatter of other women nearby. For a moment she thought to feel bashful of her nakedness. But they seemed unconcerned with her presence, only briefly acknowledging Celie. She caught a glimpse of Celie as she slipped into the cloudy water. Earlier, the woman had indicated to Eliana that she was quite old, but as far as the princess could tell, she was as youthful as she. Her skin was firm and flawless, not a wrinkle or blemish to be seen. Realizing she was staring, Eliana looked away quickly and closed her eyes.
"Yes... it is nice."
Eliana put her head back and let the warm water penetrate her tensed muscles.
---------------
The bound princess thought in silence for a moment. This was an interesting tidbit of information. From her point of view, the Desert "King" had only ever sought to plunder her homeland. He was a king of thieves and bandits, not a warlord or conqueror. It had never occurred to her that he might have any greater ambition than to grow his hoard and harem. Now it seemed he planned to lay claim to not one, but two sovereign lands.
"Your king is too ambitious," she said, flatly. "You chase two rabbits, you will catch none."
The sharp smack on her bottom, jolted her out of her thoughts and she focused a glare at the striped girl. This was met, to her surprise with a kiss. She jerked her head away, annoyed. More that her thoughts had been interrupted than anything. When Stripes explained the King's intent, she grinned.
"Aaaaaah, I see," she said, smirking. Is that what this was all about? You coming in here to softening me up to be ravished by him? The picture becomes clear."
As much as she loathed the idea of being subjugated by that man, she was not as terrorized by the news as one might expect. While Thema preferred to exercise power in other ways, she was not above using her feminine charms to get her way either. If she could beguile the King, perhaps she might come out of this profitably after all. At very least, she wanted to make sure she understood his intentions more thoroughly. For now, he seemed like an over ambitious madman, but then many had said the same of her father before he ascended to power.
As the striped girl perused her collection of toys, Thema eyed them with equal parts disdain and amusement.
"Not horrific you say? Some would say your methods are equally atrocious. Don't deceive yourself into thinking yourself morally superior, little whore."
---------------
As the guards settled the King onto the cot in her office, she grilled the soldiers about everything that happened. Who did this? How did it happen? When did symptoms manifest? Each answer was scarcely out of the guard's mouth before she was asking another one.
"Poison will destroy his heart soon. Whoever gave him Ivora's Tongue, bought me some time but its going to be close...."
When he spoke to her she grinned down at him, stroking his flaxen hair.
"Damned idiot, " she scolded. "Should have chopped her head off and been done with it. Don't you have enough mortal women here causing you trouble?"
As he slipped back into unconsciousness, Maeve set to work. Waving a hand over him, she let some of her aura seep into his body. This would strengthen him for the treatment she had prepared. Quickly she gathered several bottles and powders from her shelves and began mixing them in a decanter on her still messy desk. She even plucked a single flower from her hair and added that to the concoction.
"The truth is, I don't know exactly what is killing you," she said, not particularly concerned with whether he could hear her or not. "I'm going to have to take a guess.
Holding the glass aloft, she swirled a now transparent purple liquid around, studying it carefully. A few whispered words and the solution began to glow softly, illuminating her pale face eerily.
"That said, you are as always uncannily lucky. I happen to have spent quite some time in Avari and happen to know they worshipped a certain venomous snake for a while. Not many people know how to treat its bite, you know."
Once satisfied with her results, she glided back over to the unconscious King. He was quite still and pale, his breath shallow. For a brief moment she thought it might be too late. Gently, she slid her hand under his head and lifted it, bringing the bottle to his lips.
"Don't tell me you're too far gone to swallow! Drink quickly or die, oh king."
In her concoction she had included a variety of herbs and compounds to boost his strength and stamina as well as the anti venom. Most interestingly, though, she had included a very, very tiny drop of demon blood. Incubus, to be precise. Combined with her magic, it would bolster his strength, stamina, and, well, libido. It would also allow him to draw a bit of power from Maeve, power he would need to survive. He would be quite insatiable when he awakens, assuming he survives at all.
((Its a long ass mess but I'm done finally))