A priaveteer recieves a gift [Edward Thatch, Mary Elmwood]

[Edward Thatch]

Thatch stood in the Queen's lessor audience chamber. He knew he'd been caught and actual indisputable proof was finally brought forth about his activities against slavery. He hated it. He hated it with a passion, ever since he'd seen you closest childhood friend sold off to cover his father's debt when Teach was 11. He vowed to fight it ever since. But he knew this day would eventually come. He wasn't too worried about a death sentence. The made the Queen entirely too much profit.

Before coming out to deal with Tatch the Queen looked at the slave and smiled. Yes, she knew a direct punishment would be to admit his conduct and demand death. So she could ignore the accusation and deal with him in a different manner. Yes, this was much better. Seem to infer his innocence with a reward, yet punish him by making him the very thing he hated, a slave owner. Particularly of such a … challenging slave.

She spoke to the slave: “Your new owner is going to be a challenge. He will not want to use you or treat you as a slave. He may even try to free you. If he does, he will face a death penalty. My justice will not be denied. Do you understand, slave?” She lifted the girls chin and looked at her closely. “Yes, you will tempt him finely I think. He is very strong willed though. I want you to get under his skin. You do love to be a slave and love a good master, don't you?” She smiled wickedly at the woman. She knew this was more then a double punishment for him, but also a way to deal with a rebellious and self willed slave. With that she turned and walked to the door. “Come slave.”

Edward was standing in the lessor audience chamber and when the queen entered he went down to one knee and said, “My Queen.” “Stand”, the queen said. She looked at Edward for a moment and smiled. It was a vicious smile. “Well Edward we find our self in a unique situation. If I acknowledge your crimes, I must sentence you to death. But then you are far too valuable for that. So I will put the crimes aside and recognize the assistance you have given Us. “I have a gift for you Edward. If you refuse it, or do not use it as intended, well are back to the death penalty aren't we?” She smiled even more cruelly. “Oh, and Edward, she has been implanted with a chip that will give her debilitating shocks if she tries to escape.”

He arched an eyebrow at this Queen's words, but before he could ask any questions the Queen motioned for Mary to step forward. “Introduce yourself to your new master and owner, child.” The look of shock on Thatch's face was plain. He stood six and a half feet tall, long black hair and beard. The beard was braided and tied with red ribbons. His skin was bronzed and his eyes were a piercing blue. His broad shoulders were house in a simple but costly coat a merchant might wear. He wore a white shirt with ruffles and skin tight black slacks. He wore a wide red sash around his waist and a cutlass tucked behind it. His appearance was completed by tall knee high leather boots.

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary blinked as she looked around the queens private chamber, her day had started out interesting. She woke up in her cell to find something was out of place, a Royal gaurd and lady in waiting to the queen stood there. She glared at the woman before and sneered. "What do you want?" She snapped and the gaurd started to draw his sword, to answer a lady of the queens circle that way meant a sever punishment. "My queen has purchased you for a mission of most importance. Mary looked at the woman shocked open on her face. She was taken from her cell and wrist shackles placed on tightly, the gaurd had drawn a dagger standing in front of the lady in waiting.

Ankle shackles were also placed on and a chain that looped to her neck metal collar. She was taken to the castle and forced into a bath, she would struggle against the woman handlers in the bath and when she was being prepped to be before the queen. Her skin was scrubbed almost raw, oils and purfumes were applied, her restraints were tightened with the struggling. Her hair was braided with pieces of blue and purple threads and a few feathers put in. All were symbols she belonged to the queen, her queens favorite colors and feathers were from the local exotic birds.

The gaurd who had had to deal with her the entire morning gave her a punch to the stomach as his way of putting her in line. Mary fell to the floor gasping for air and everytime she had struggled at all he would hit her harder. Moaning in pain after the fourth hit, breathing became difficult. The gaurd held her against the wall pressing his body against hers as a wizard of the queen came into the room. Panic started to fill her as the man came forward, older in age than herself he mumbled a spell as Mary struggled then felt all of her hair stand on end, a green vapor washed over her body absorbing into her skin. She has no idea what spell it was but it couldn't be good.

Being put in a cream colored simple dress with her collar on, covering the bruises on her stomach, the scars on her torso and back from knives and whips. Being sold into slavery when she was very young she grew up being a Slave. She was brought before the queen in her study and forced to kneel until the guards were dismissed to watch the lessor audience hall. Mary bowed her head to the queen as best she knew how and had been told to rise.

The queen had grabbed her chin firmly and Mary looked into her eyes which would had been a death sentence but she was good at cheating death. She listened carefully to the queen talking and nodded. "Yes my queen." Was all she had time to say, the queen was already leaving the room and was told to follow. Having a hard time keep up and her ribs throbbing she entered the lessor audience hall. She saw a man standing there waiting for the audience with the queen.

Mary watched the man as the queen told him of her plans for Mary and came forward slowly as she was called, the chains making clanging noises. She had paled from the hits to her stomach and no food in her stomach since it was early afternoon. When the queen told her to introduce herself she looked at her a moment then turned to Edward. "My name is Mary Elmwood Sir Tatch." She said to him and gave him a stiff bow. She had heard of this man, freeing thousands of slaves but also doing so much work for the queen. She understood the queens words on this man now. The shackles clanked together as she moved and she looked at the floor a look of anger on her face thinking she was going to go to being absorber piece of meat for another owner to use.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He stood there experiencing a touch of vertigo. This was surreal and he was having a hard time believing it was happening on one hand. On the other he knew the Queen and her perverse sense of justice and this was just right up her ally. He finally remembered to breath and struggled to gather his wits. A slave. He was being given a slave. He was being made a slave owner. He began to quiver, partly with a dread of what he was being forced into and partly with a quiet rage at the queen and her machinations.

Just then his head snapped up and to the queen. “Excuse me, Majesty. What was that?” She sneered at him. “We said, We think you ought to keep her for one year for every of those unfortunate ships that so mysteriously were lost at sea. You know the slavers? Yes, We think that would be a fitting tribute from such a caring and noble Lord as yourself.” He visibly gulped a breath. His voice came out as a horse rasp. “Majesty, that is a long long list. If I am … requested to keep her a year per ship she will die of old age before she can be freed.” The Queen looked at him and smiled that wicked smile of her, “Well, that would certainly be inconvenient for you, now wouldn't it?” She turned and left the room.

Thatch looked at Mary for a long moment and took in several things about her. She was attractive to begin with. She was clearly seething just as much as he was and she had been harmed recently. That enraged him all the more. But he considered the circumcises and where he was. He knee he'd have to at least put on a good show before the royal court. He considered he last words. “Lord, I am a Lord. The proper form of address would be my Lord or your Lordship.”

The next three events were, to his mind at least, protection and balm to her. As soon as he had corrected her form of address, one of the guards made to strike her. He immediately threw up his hand. “Halt. Do not presume against my property. She is mine now, unless you question Her Majesty's orders. She is mine now and I will be the only man to touch her from hence forth. Any other man that touches her will die.” The guard dropped his arm and stepped back, glowering.

Next Thatch stepped up to her grabbing her chain at the neck and forcibly kissed her. He jammed his tongue in her mouth and gave her a deeply passionate kiss. He knew at first she would assume he was being just like any other master she'd had. More importantly the eyes and ears of the castle would report to the queen that he had taken to his new slave readily. But after a moment she began to feel the chaffing wounds of her shackles heal and the pain of the strikes to her ribs recede. He gave her a slight negation to warn her not to react to it.

The last thing that he did in the castle for her was to look at the guard and say, “Remove her shackles.” The guard's eyes widened and started to protest, “My Lord this one is too much a fighter and and wild to to give that kind of freedom to.” Thatch laid his hand on the hilt of his sword and raised and eyebrow at the man. The guard then could not get her shackles off quickly enough.

Finally he looked back at her and said, “Well, come on then. I suppose there is no putting this off or wishing this wasn't happening.” He picked up chain still attached to her collar and led her, not very gently out of the side entrance to the castle. He knew as long as he was in the capitol he'd be subject to the eyes and ears of the queen. He led her to a tavern and sat them down at a table in the back and ordered them both a large meal. Looking to her he asked, “Well, we are in quite a situation aren't we?”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary looked at the man who was to be her new owner and saw the look of dread on his face, he almost looked like he was going to pass out. She glanced at her queen and saw the look of satisfaction on her face. A chill ran down her spine as she looked at the queen and then forced herself to focus on breathing, her breath was short due to the bruising on her skin and internally. She thought back to the wizard and the spell that had been placed on her. She hated this whole thing, being a slave for starters, how she was still alive after all that had happened.

Blinking she saw the quiver in Edwards body and saw the reality of the situation start to sink in then he asked the queen to repeat herself. Mary saw the gaurd who had hit her move forward to her side. She shifted uncomfortably next to him and looked forward. The queen quickly had repeated her words and left. Mary stiffly bowed to the woman and saw the queen looking over her shoulder one last time before leaving. Mary went to stand before Edward first bowing to him and nodding. "Yes Your lordship"

The gaurd had come up beside her so quickly, she openly flinched away from him as he went to hit her. Edward had stopped the man. Mary had paled slightly at the gaurd her breath short from pain. The next moment she was yanked forward hard by Edward who kissed her on the lips. Mary had no idea what to do, she had never been kissed before. She stood there frozen in place, the shackles keeping her from moving much. His tongue went into her mouth and she gave out a small cry in surprise. When the kiss ended Mary was lost in her senses a moment.


Mary felt her ribs heal somewhat and her skin around the binds start to heal, her shock was masked when he gave her a warning look and she didn't say anything and acted like nothing has changed. She looked down at her wrists seeing no sign of years of damage of raw worded.

Mary was led towards the entrance of the castle but like they had stopped before the guard who had been the one to hit her earlier that day. When Edward wanted the shackles removed the gaurd started to protest this but Edward didn't listen. Was the man stupid? What was the magic? How had he healed her. Mary was taken from the shackles which started to make her uncomfortable. The collar was kept on her neck, she was yanked forward by Edward leaving the gaurd in shock.

She had never walked the streets as they were doing now. She was taken to a tavern a place she had only heard about and looked around the room in wonder. She then focused on Edward and tensed slightly as they sat down and she kept away from him. She watched him as he talked and nodded."Yes your lordship. It is the queens orders." She said flatly and looked around the tavern getting a lot of hungry looks from drunken men.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He sat there and stared at her for a long time. At least until their drinks arrived. He'd ordered mulled wine for both of them. He serving girl, who wore a silver pendent of a rose in profile, looked from Edward to Mary then to her collar and back to Edward with a shocked expression on her face. Edward barked a bitter laugh and pulled the girl into his lap. “The Queen's justice, Lizzie. Isn't it a fine thing? He gave her a kiss, pat on the bottom and a whole gold piece, easily worth some horses, for her eyes. The girl left, but winked at him in departing.

He looked back at Mary. “Well, I guess I'm going to have to disappoint her tonight.” He sighed. “Okay, so tell me about yourself. I imagine if I am to own you, I ought to at least get to know you. Don't you think?” He took a deep draw of his drink. He looked at her again. “Whatever are we going to do?” He held up is hand, “No I know that, obey Her Majesty or both our lives are forfeit. At least as far as she is concerned. So go on and tell me about yourself.”

He listens while she talks and the food arrives while she is talking. It is a very large meal of mutton stew and heavy bread. He begins to eat after he tells her to continue with her story, but to eat while doing so. He makes short work of his meal and sits back looking at her. He'd heard her story and still wasn't sure quite what to make of her. Then he asked a question she might have expected but perhaps not. “Mary, are you a virgin? If not how many men have you had?” He listens attentively to her answer. He is clearly interested in her answer, but it doesn't seem the interest of a man sizing up a bed partner.

When they are both finished eating he takes the chain attached to her collar and leads her up stairs to his room. Upon entering he told her to sit on the bed. He began pacing he room thinking and muttering to himself. Eventually he stops dead in his tracks. “If that guard was rough with you, you must have other older injuries. Strip. I want to get a look at you and see just what I am working with here.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

He sat there and stared at her for a long time. At least until their drinks arrived. He'd ordered mulled wine for both of them. He serving girl, who wore a silver pendent of a rose in profile, looked from Edward to Mary then to her collar and back to Edward with a shocked expression on her face. Edward barked a bitter laugh and pulled the girl into his lap. “The Queen's justice, Lizzie. Isn't it a fine thing? He gave her a kiss, pat on the bottom and a whole gold piece, easily worth some horses, for her eyes. The girl left, but winked at him in departing.

He looked back at Mary. “Well, I guess I'm going to have to disappoint her tonight.” He sighed. “Okay, so tell me about yourself. I imagine if I am to own you, I ought to at least get to know you. Don't you think?” He took a deep draw of his drink. He looked at her again. “Whatever are we going to do?” He held up is hand, “No I know that, obey Her Majesty or both our lives are forfeit. At least as far as she is concerned. So go on and tell me about yourself.”

He listens while she talks and the food arrives while she is talking. It is a very large meal of mutton stew and heavy bread. He begins to eat after he tells her to continue with her story, but to eat while doing so. He makes short work of his meal and sits back looking at her. He'd heard her story and still wasn't sure quite what to make of her. Then he asked a question she might have expected but perhaps not. “Mary, are you a virgin? If not how many men have you had?” He listens attentively to her answer. He is clearly interested in her answer, but it doesn't seem the interest of a man sizing up a bed partner.

When they are both finished eating he takes the chain attached to her collar and leads her up stairs to his room. Upon entering he told her to sit on the bed. He began pacing he room thinking and muttering to himself. Eventually he stops dead in his tracks. “If that guard was rough with you, you must have other older injuries. Strip. I want to get a look at you and see just what I am working with here.”

Mary kept her eyes on the table furious as to how she could be traded like a sack of potatoes, slavery angered her, it consumed her soul. She blinked and looked up at him a moment and opened her mouth. A woman was standing there in shock looking between the two sitting. A slave and a owner walk into a tavern joke. Mary ignored the woman and watched the crowd of people instead. The wine had arrived and she made sure Edward had taken a drink first. She took a large gulp thirsty beyond belief and the taste was shockingly strong. She had never had wine of any sort before.

She waited until the woman left and answered Edwards first question. To talk about herself as a person. "I was traded into slavery at a very young age, around 10. I don't remember much about life before then. I was a field hand from then on, I got into trouble a lot and would steal food to eat since the portions we got most others starved to death. Everytime the overseer found food on me I would be strung up and whipped with a whip that had metal spikes on the ends, or burned with coals or the branding iron. I enjoy the winter because there wasn't much to do except sort seed, pickling items and storing food for the main houses." She said leaving out the parts of escaping and running away.

She knew it was the wrong choice to tell all of her secrets to a stranger. Edward seemed just as uncomfortable than be did now as he had then. She has taken a long drink of mulled mead when the food arrived and took hunks off of the bread putting into the mutton. Her stomach growled with hunger pains and she ate quickly , not really chewing much of her food. As a slave she had been trained to eat quickly to her the day started.

She almost choked when he mentioned her womanhood and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I've had several men, not that I had a choice" she said darkly lying about the comment. She was a vigrin, the masters bad so many slaves and she would always be in trouble. She finished her food almost eating all of it and was led upstairs.

His pacing made her nervous but she ignored it, she sat when she was told too and watched his pacing. Mary looked at him almost shocked but took off her dress standing naked before him. In the dim lamplight she turned so her back, ass and legs would so the damage. Whip marks with spikes on them had scarred. She had brand marks as a Slave on her wrists and ankles, wide brands with an S on each body part.

Burn marks where her skin had been melted was covering her breasts. She stood in front of the empty fireplace and watched him. Her inner thights were cut up as well, fresher wounds included bruises from the gaurd. Knive sounds, one from being stabbed in the left arm then turned slowly. Bruises black as night covered her legs and her torso area. "I wouldn't sell at auctions, I am damaged goods" she said to him

---

He sat there and stared at her for a long time. At least until their drinks arrived. He'd ordered mulled wine for both of them. He serving girl, who wore a silver pendent of a rose in profile, looked from Edward to Mary then to her collar and back to Edward with a shocked expression on her face. Edward barked a bitter laugh and pulled the girl into his lap. “The Queen's justice, Lizzie. Isn't it a fine thing? He gave her a kiss, pat on the bottom and a whole gold piece, easily worth some horses, for her eyes. The girl left, but winked at him in departing.

He looked back at Mary. “Well, I guess I'm going to have to disappoint her tonight.” He sighed. “Okay, so tell me about yourself. I imagine if I am to own you, I ought to at least get to know you. Don't you think?” He took a deep draw of his drink. He looked at her again. “Whatever are we going to do?” He held up is hand, “No I know that, obey Her Majesty or both our lives are forfeit. At least as far as she is concerned. So go on and tell me about yourself.”

He listens while she talks and the food arrives while she is talking. It is a very large meal of mutton stew and heavy bread. He begins to eat after he tells her to continue with her story, but to eat while doing so. He makes short work of his meal and sits back looking at her. He'd heard her story and still wasn't sure quite what to make of her. Then he asked a question she might have expected but perhaps not. “Mary, are you a virgin? If not how many men have you had?” He listens attentively to her answer. He is clearly interested in her answer, but it doesn't seem the interest of a man sizing up a bed partner.

When they are both finished eating he takes the chain attached to her collar and leads her up stairs to his room. Upon entering he told her to sit on the bed. He began pacing he room thinking and muttering to himself. Eventually he stops dead in his tracks. “If that guard was rough with you, you must have other older injuries. Strip. I want to get a look at you and see just what I am working with here.”

Mary kept her eyes on the table furious as to how she could be traded like a sack of potatoes, slavery angered her, it consumed her soul. She blinked and looked up at him a moment and opened her mouth. A woman was standing there in shock looking between the two sitting. A slave and a owner walk into a tavern joke. Mary ignored the woman and watched the crowd of people instead. The wine had arrived and she made sure Edward had taken a drink first. She took a large gulp thirsty beyond belief and the taste was shockingly strong. She had never had wine of any sort before.

She waited until the woman left and answered Edwards first question. To talk about herself as a person. "I was traded into slavery at a very young age, around 10. I don't remember much about life before then. I was a field hand from then on, I got into trouble a lot and would steal food to eat since the portions we got most others starved to death. Everytime the overseer found food on me I would be strung up and whipped with a whip that had metal spikes on the ends, or burned with coals or the branding iron. I enjoy the winter because there wasn't much to do except sort seed, pickling items and storing food for the main houses." She said leaving out the parts of escaping and running away.

She knew it was the wrong choice to tell all of her secrets to a stranger. Edward seemed just as uncomfortable than be did now as he had then. She has taken a long drink of mulled mead when the food arrived and took hunks off of the bread putting into the mutton. Her stomach growled with hunger pains and she ate quickly , not really chewing much of her food. As a slave she had been trained to eat quickly to her the day started.

She almost choked when he mentioned her womanhood and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I've had several men, not that I had a choice" she said darkly lying about the comment. She was a vigrin, the masters bad so many slaves and she would always be in trouble. She finished her food almost eating all of it and was led upstairs.

His pacing made her nervous but she ignored it, she sat when she was told too and watched his pacing. Mary looked at him almost shocked but took off her dress standing naked before him. In the dim lamplight she turned so her back, ass and legs would so the damage. Whip marks with spikes on them had scarred. She had brand marks as a Slave on her wrists and ankles, wide brands with an S on each body part.

Burn marks where her skin had been melted was covering her breasts. She stood in front of the empty fireplace and watched him. Her inner thights were cut up as well, fresher wounds included bruises from the gaurd. Knive sounds, one from being stabbed in the left arm then turned slowly. Bruises black as night covered her legs and her torso area. Infected cuts some being used as a slice of meat also covered her body. "I wouldn't sell at auctions, I am damaged goods" she said to him

 

[Edward Thatch]

He can see the anger in her eyes and her demeanor. Initially he was going to let it go, but then decided the better of it. “Mary, I understand being angry at the situation. It's not one I'd have chosen either. However it is the one we find ourselves in. Acceptance and trying to figure out how to live with it and each other, is likely the only feasible way to deal with it. Do you honestly think Her Majesty won't have an eye kept on me to see if I try to free you or you try to escape. I'm pretty sure it'd be a very painful experience if you tried to escape. I am sure the Queen planned this to be a punishment on the both of us and has no intention of letting her little game end soon.”

He seemed amused by her reaction to the wine. He heard her talk and offered a little bit of himself in exchange. “When I was 11, I saw my best friend sold into slavery to cover his father's debts. I begged my grandfather to buy him so we could free him or at least keep him close and take care of him. My grandfather refused saying it would be too uncomfortable having someone know in the community as a household slave. Even if his only responsibility was to keep me company. Two things happened that day. My relationship with my grandfather changed forever. I could no longer see him as the grand and heroic figure I always had. Also I developed a deep and abiding hatred of slavery. I vowed that Roseshire would never be tainted by the blemish of slavery and I would do all I was able to fight back against it.” He studied her face for reaction. “We both see how effect that turned out to be.”

He saw her tear into her food and laid a hand on her arm. “Mary, you will never go hungry with me. I will not withhold food or use it as a punishment for you. You will have all you can eat when you want it. No one is going to take it from you. Take your time and enjoy it.” He looked at her sadly.

He had asked about her status as a maiden. He'd had his own reasons of course but she had no way of knowing that or what they may be. He also sensed something off in her answer. But he accepted it at face value. When she was done he'd asked if she want more but seeing she was sated led her up to his room and told her to sit on his bed while he paced and thought. He paced and paced, working all this over in his head like a puzzle to be solved.

He'd realized she'd been abused severely in the past and wanted to assess her physical condition and see what he had to work with and what he'd have to heal. How much he'd have to heal. He gasped at the sight of her. He stepped to her and lightly used his fingers to trace the damage. On the fresher injuries he looked at her almost like a healer would. He stepped back and looked at her on whole again. Shaking his head he said, “The damage they've done to you is much worse than I had thought. Still, my kiss should have healed all you minor harms. All you lessor cuts ought be healed. All your bruises healed and gone too. Your infected wounds, while never good the infections look like they might be minor enough to have been fully healed as well.”

He shrugged and stepped back up to her and took her in his arms. He kissed her again. This was a much deeper and more passionate kiss than before. He also held it much longer. Then he broke away. He stood back and watched her for the minute of so for the healing to begin and swept quickly across her body. He nodded. “Well, that's the less hurts. The greater ones will require my seed.” He began to undress. He thought a moment. “To heal all those scars and burns may take days though.” He'd finally stripped completely.

He stood before her bare but a very proud man. His six foot six frame was completed by wide shoulders, a well muscled body from years as a swordsman and sailor, his skin was bronzed and he stood before her with utterly and completely unself conscious about his nudity. His manhood though, well, while not monstrous as far as such things went still hang down flaccidly, at seven inches. Excited it would grow to nine and a girth of two inches.

He stood before her, looking at her and finally asked. “Well, don't you want to complete your healing of immediate hurts and begin the healing of your scars? You did say you've had many men. This should not be a problem for you. I promise not to be cruel in it. And you will feel better after than you have in years. My seed is very potent and the healing will be far advanced by the end of the night. She what's wrong?”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Looking at the table top, fidgeting with her spoon under the table, she heard whispers about her from the bar and looked their direction and watched them. How free they were. Their age and situation was the only reason she had been a slave. She listened to him talking about the queen and nodded. "Her spies are everywhere and I've heard at the auction her spy master can change his looks. "Pain doesn't really bother me anymore."'she said remembering back to her first whipping how the gaurds had taken turns because their arms had grown tired, how she had gone hoarse from screaming.

The thoughts of torture made her reach for the wine again. It was strong and the taste was like nothing she had ever had before. She took a breath in her mouth after and picked up notes of fruit in the wine. She looked at him as he told his story and wasn't sure she believed it. "What was your friends name?" She asked and was surprised she even cared about the story at all. When he finished the story she wanted him to talk more but found that surprising to herself she had an interest.

She felt herself wanting to comfort him in some way, to express that he had saved so many lives even if it was brief. He had shown that there was something left in the world that gave hope to slaves. She looked at the food before overwhelmed. A half loaf of bread and massive bowl of stew were put in front of her. She looked at the spoon gripping it awkwardly as she had used a spoon since she was very very young. It fell from her hands many times and the frustration took over. Picking up the bowl she quickly started eating it down. She felt his hand on her arm and panicked jumping away from him watching his every move. Like an mouse would watch the snake approach.

She listened to his words as he talked about the food but couldn't bring herself to believe him. All the food she wanted? That had never happened, she usually went to bed hungry. She saw the look of saddeness in his eyes as she started to take slower bites while trying to use the spoon again. She found a napkin and wiped her mouth on it when she was finished eating but kept nibbling at the bread. Always trying to eat as much as she could wouldn't be hungry later. She looked down at her stomach and felt full in the first time that she could remember.

Following him upstairs the quiet was almost eerie in the hallway. Following him into their room she has striped when he had told her too. Past experience only knew she was about to be beaten or whipped. She remembered his kiss earlier and felt herself flush, she has taken her dress off but had covered herself. She was gong to ask him but he has started to undress himself. She looked towards the door they had just come in and felt herself inching towards if very slowly to not catch his eye. She looked ad him once more and stopped in her tracks. Completely nude and in front of her. She paled at the sight of him growing nervous as it came to the surface. Sex.... They were going to have sex.

He had gasped at her wounds and she looked down at herself knowing it was normal for her. Being a Slave freer he would be upset at the sight of her body. Before she could take another move he collected her in his arms which she was frozen in shock as she had looked him over once. She had never seen a naked man before, despite her station she had never seen a naked man. He kissed her again and she stayed very very still. She felt herself tingling but couldn't look down because he was still kissing her. She felt something stir in her lower body and it kept getting stronger. She felt it drip from her womanhood onto her inner thighs. She had felt his manhood touch her thigh and she gasped and jumped slightly.

She was still being kissed as the tingling got stronger and stronger. The mulled wine had gone to her head as well. Her head was spinning as she touched her lips but looked down at her body seeing the wounds were healing without a sign they were ever there at all. Her nipples had grown hard over the kiss as well but she was too shocked to see her body was healing itself to notice. "How did you do that? Are you a wizard?" She asked looking at him completely unaware at the moment of her station as a slave who was to never ask questions.

Blinking as he asked her if she wanted to heal completely, her skin she assumed would be as a new born child after it was said and done. Who would she be without her scars? Most of them were so old she couldn't image life without them. She picked up her dress and kept her eyes looking at his shoulder but not directly looking at him. "I think I'll keep them thank you"'she said shakily still holding the dress. His last question sunk in and if it hadn't been noticeable by her reactions. "I'm a virgin." She whispered looking at him starting to back up.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He considered everything that had happened in the last few minutes. She acknowledged the queen's viscous humor and intention to keep things as they are. Yet he didn't believe that really mattered to her. Her stated belief that pain didn't matter was a clear expression that and more of her numbness to the horrors she'd been exposed to. He'd told her about his friend and she'd asked the boy's name. His breath caught. He looked at her and said, “Though I have not said his name aloud in all these years in memorium of our friendship. I think he'd understand this situation and approve. His name was Marco and he was nine. He was just a boy from the village and so my grandfather saw only a commoner. I've long since come to scorn that mentality though. For years after I reach my majority I looked for him and never found him. Though with the slave trade being what it is, I suppose that's to be expected.

“I suppose my frustration at what happened to him and my later inability to help him, even after I was grown and had my own funds, is what caused me to do the things I've done. Well, it was a start of it anyway. Then as I began to give shelter to freed slaves I heard their stories. It provoked a rage in me, truth be told. So I took the Revenge and started taking slaver ships at sea and killing the crews. If there were any able seamen among the slaves I turned the ship over to them. If not I towed it back to Roseshire. There, some, I have a new home and a second chance. Others I found a new place in the world for them or gave them a little money to try to go and make their own way. I imagine I will have to be a lot more careful from now on. I don't think I can leave any non-slave witnesses alive anymore. A slave's word has not weight in legal matters you know. The 11 year old daughter of the first mate of a slave ship does. I guess I am just too soft hearted. I could not bring myself to spill the girl's blood.”

He eager and starved need at the food saddened him. He'd tried to reassure her, but it only worked marginally. Then he'd brought her up to his room and began to work the problem over in his mind. Then almost absently he directed her to strip and took a good long hard look at her and felt his heart break. He knew what he had to do. He had to heal her. It was the only thing his conscience would all. He kissed her again to heal the lessor injuries. He then stripped, causally telling her what his healing could do and how long somethings might take.

He was finally bare and standing before her. He asked her then, because she had not moved other then to cover herself, if she didn't want to be healed. That's when she told him she'd rather keep her scars. Then she said it. She really was a virgin. His first impulse was to demand to let him check to verify her word. Then he passed that over for the moment. To give himself a moments thought the reached out and pulled her dress from her hands. He had somethings to explain it seemed.

“Firstly, in private, the privacy of my own rooms at least, I live a nude life and any in my space must do so as well. Generally people have a choice as to whether or not they approach me in my rooms. Unfortunately you will not. I am afraid you will just have to get used to being nude in private situations like this. I believe clothing is an offense against the gods. They are the supreme and ultimate artists and the human form is the crowning achievement of their handiwork. Just as it would be offense to a mortal artist to cover or hide his work, so to I believe it is offensive, perhaps almost sacrilegious to hide their's with clothing. It is as if we are saying “The wonder that you have made we have decided is too shameful and dirty to be seen.” I figure if I were the gods I'd take a great deal of umbridge at that. So in private I chose to follow my conscience. Since I am force to follow common convention in the outside world, I've chosen to enforce my moral code in the privacy of my own rooms.

“Now go sit on the bed. It seems we have a couple things to go over.” He pulled a chair across from her and turned it backwards and straddled it crossing his arms over the back. “This is going to be the first real problem we'll have. You lied to me. I can forgive and let almost anything go but lying to me. Don't ever do it again. I don't care if you think its something I don't want to hear. Always tell me the truth. I assure you, things will be much better for you if you can learn and live this one simple thing. See, for instance, since you've lied to me about this, how am I to know for sure which is the truth? Are you lying now and spoke truth earlier or tell the truth and lying earlier. I am tempted and well might demand to examine you myself and see the truth of it. But that is not here and now.”

“He remembered an earlier question. “No, I am not a wizard. Wizards use magic.” He considered for a long time where to start and decided to begin with something common to him and regular people. “I do not use magic, no. I am not completely human. Where as you need to eat and drink and breath to live. Strictly speaking I do not. Oh, I feel hunger and thirst and the burning need for air like anyone else. But I can't die from it.

“What I do need is a certain kind of energy, aethor that is released in greatest abundance at the moment of climax. The woman gets healing or a little youth or just some time added to the term of her life. I get the aethor, or life energy. It's a win win. Though it does tend to give people the wrong impression of me. Because sometimes I feel my aethor draining or just want to be sure I am carrying more than enough to counter any challenges that may come I have to seek out willing and pleasant ladies to indulge myself with. Now I hope you know this is not a widely known thing about me and in fact most of my family don't even know so much.

“Okay, how does all this work? There are five elements; earth, fire, wind, water and aethor. The first for are material and changeable. Aethor is something else. It is eternal and unchangable. It is spirit or energy or more correctly the force of life itself. Whereas you are built of the four elements and animated by aethor, I am built of aethor and loosely held together by the four element. You are alive. I am life.

“But its like this, what I receive from the encounter is directly related to the intent or amount of personal sacrifice required from my partner. Now as I said, self sacrifice is only one consideration and not even the most common one. Intent of my partner. Like our young and lovely maid there, if a woman is aware of herself and makes her own choices and chooses to be with me for the fun and companionship, that is a decent charge of aethor. A wife who is infertile and comes to me to open her womb, she is making a personal sacrifice and her intent is for others, her child to come. The aethor I'd receive from her is like a bonfire next to a candle. A woman who comes to me from her own caring and affection of me is still more pure intent and still greater aethor. If that person is a virgin, that much greater.

“As you are injured, and mutilated, or if you were dying I would instictively want to heal you. If ever you see me comatose from aethor drain, I hope you would be willing to aide in “healing” me. Otherwise I'd either die or sleep for centuries.

“But the bottom line is this, when faced with a choice between death, mutilation and suffering or life. I will always choose life. Regardless of the moral costs to myself. So I will ask you. Why on earth would you want to keep you scars? Why would you want to keep your injuries? Yes, if you actually are a virgin, I can understand a certain apprehension, even fear, but not so great as to want to remain in the condition you are in. Help me to understand this Mary.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary looked at him over the table and listened as he talked about how he had gotten into freeing slaves. Marco has been the boys name, a fine name indeed. "Slaves are thought to be of a different species, no real thought is very put in as we are also living breathing humans like yourself. I guess they would think it too unimagable that slaves are like them. We bleed, cry, laugh breath and heart beats just like everyone else. All signs point to we are the same species. Even our insides." She said paling as she had seen men and woman slaves ripped apart by saws and the like. Before leaving the table she snuck some bread into her skirts and took a piece to go with. She ate it in haste and had followed him up the stairs.

When he was bare and naked in front of her and she was as well. Her heart was beating so quickly she thought it would burst. Her dress was taken from her and she covered herself up with her hands. Her left arm covered her breasts and her right covering her crotch. "If the gods were real why would they let their people suffer so." She blurted out angerily. She didn't believe in the gods at all. Why should she after unspeakable horrors she had seen and been thru. "It is also their handiwork watching their supposed creation get torn to pieces their blood spraying over the ground. Their begging and pleading to their "gods" unheard." She said anger the only emotion she felt. "I will adjust to be being nude because it is your command not for some god that doesn't exist."

"You are correct, lying to ones master is an offense. Punish me then, it's not like I haven't been before." She said passively. "Check me if it brings you comfort." She said not apologizing for her misleading him and took in a deep breath. Her fiery side in full view for him to see. She saw the world as unbalanced and cruel. He had been trying to help her and be nice but she wouldn't allow herself to see it. She had been noble born into a wealthy house of Elmwood. Her parents had died in a ship sinking by pirates when she was 4, her uncle had taken over her life. Her family name was known through the kingdom. The queen even knew who she was, she had been trying to get Mary's uncles trade route and company for years. Salt in the wound that she would be brought before the queen herself as she knew who she was.

Mary had sat on the bed and listened to the story of himself. Aetheor or a life energy for him came from sex she gathered and the woman gained youth or longer life span. The word climax thru her for a spin a moment as she thought about the word and didn't know what it meant after all. A climax? What was it? She racked her brain to think of what the word could mean. She was able to follow his elegant story easily. The part of the sarafice when it came to sex was interesting to her and she almost wanted to see what energy she could give him.
But why? The thought startled her to her core. He was her master, not her lover or someone she even cared about. It had been only s few hours into her new role as his slave and she was confused as to why she cared.

Her anger and frustration reached its limit. She had grabbed a sheet off the bed and almost glared at him. "My scars and pain are all I have!!! I am nothing without them! I haven't been since I was 10. Being traded into Slave by my uncle a week after my parents were killed by pirates. I was going to be a lady of a grand estate but my uncles lust for money and woman weighed farther on his heart than his own blood. The agony, pain and torture are all I have to my name. It is who I have been made to become! The scars have reminded me that I am still alive and breathing, that I am human just like everyone else! It's all I have." She said and stood up pacing the room, the sheet still covering her. "My full name is Mary Nicole Elmwood, my family owns the largest trading routes in the world." She said not looking at him. She had straightened her shoulders and stood with her back turned as a lady would stand, not a slave.

The collar that was around her neck was visible, she had curled her hands into fists and punched the stone fireplace in front her one twice. She kept the cry of pain inside as her knuckles bled. "If I ever see my uncle again. I'll kill him." She said in such a dark tone she almost seemed surprised in herself. She started to think of her past and her experiences and went to hit the wall again. "I am not the daughter of a great house nor of a family who owns the greatest trade routes. A slave! That is what I am and what I will always be. It is the queens command." She said but silently tears were streaming down her face, she couldn't keep the emotion inside any longer. It had been too long since she cried.

"I am nothing without my scars, just a female with nothing as everything I knew was taken from me." She said flatly thru her tears. The Elmwood family owned most of the trade routes to other countries. The estates almost were as lavish as the queen herself. The uncle who's heirs would be his own children would know little to nothing of Mary or her parents. The anger and hatred her body was giving off almost seemed to restrict the air itself. Blood was dripping her from knuckles and she was sure she has broken a few with hitting the wall a third time even though her knuckles were broken. Blood was smeared on the wall from the hits. She didn't care and she had no reason too. She looked at the crackling fire that had been going to heat the room since before they arrived. It was a nice room because being on the queens good side had its perks.

Sitting in a chair not facing him she took the chain her hands for her collar. The betrayal she felt for her uncle began to come back in full force. The anger and hatred for him, being this angry wouldn't help her in the long run but she intended to kill the man and explain to his wife and children later about it. She held the cold metal links in her hands as she thought of her first master. Her job had been to work in the fields dawn until dusk. The overseer had liked to punish the workers if they weren't working hard enough. Her thoughts got much darker as she thought of her first whipping. She remembered the splitting open of her back, the blood running down her ass and legs. She had been left to hang in the barn and wasn't allowed to be taken down until the daughter of the master had unchained her herself and taken her into the main house to her own room. The master had her removed with a fight between the father and daughter. She had begged to be taken back to her hut that she shared. She was 14 when if had happened, she was out of work for 2 weeks, the daughter would sneak balms and pain killing herbs to Mary. She touched the mark on her shoulder where the whip had lashed over to her front side. There was one marking on her front, it was from the fist lashing. It ran down her left side in a jagged line starting at her shoulder to her knee cap." I am nothing without my scars." She whispered her face hardening.

 

[Edward Thatch]

She sat and patiently listened to him tell her his story about his friend and how he got into freeing slaves. The she talked about most people did not regard slaves as real people. They saw them as some kind of sub species or animal and so could justify doing horrible and unconscionable things to slaves. She listed some of the horrors she'd seen, many of which he'd already heard stories of. He knew all this. It was he did what he did after all. “I understand what you mean and I have struggled against it for a long time. But its like trying to hold the tide back with a broom.”

Back in his room later they had discussed a few things. One being his purview on nudity and the gods. That's when she let out with the diatribe against the gods and declared she didn't believe they existed. As she spoke he got more and more upset till finally he said, “Enough!” Visibly trying to calm himself. “I don't like the gods either. I have no truck with them. I will not, however, have you attract their attention to me by blaspheming them. You don' want to believe in them fine. Keep it to yourself. I know for a fact they exist. I've dealt with a couple in passing. One of the perverted fuckers is even an ancestor of mine.

“Yes, you will learn to accept causal nudity in private because I command it. I command it because I believe certain things. You do not have to believe those things. I do not expect or demand that of you. You will however obey my commands. I have tried to be kind and pleasant and hope to continue on so. So please don't provoke me.

“Yes, you have lied to me and I have yet to decide what to believe. What I learn to be the truth or come to believe to be the truth will sway how I will deal with the situation. And do not taunt me with how you've been punished in the past. I am not those men. I hope you don't push me past my tolerance and make me be the very thing I hate and arbor. Trust me. If you make me have to punish you, it will be unlike any punishment you've received before.”

He told her about his nature, or at least a little about it. Some of the important bits anyway. She seemed interested and even intrigued. But then a change came over her. She started ranting about who she had been and her family. What her life was supposed to be. She told how her uncle had sold her at a young age for no more than money. Her family was propertied and it had been stripped away from her. She went on and on about her scars and pain being the only thing of hers that was really hers and hers alone. She felt like she needed it to define her and remind her she was human.

She gotten up and contrary to his expressed will wrapped a sheet about herself and started pacing. Then she stopped and punched the wall. “Please don't do that again. I'd rather not have you waste my efforts in healing you.” Yet she punched a second time. “Mary...” he said warningly. She pulled back to punch is again he knuckles burst open and bleeding. A sudden gust of wind blew her all the way back to the bed. The air thickened around her body binding her arms to her side and her body to the bed. A ball of thick hardened air appeared in her mouth preventing her from speaking.

He stood from his chair and advanced on her. “Now I have tried being nice and kind. I have tried talking to you and reasoning with you. And you have pressed me too far. I was going to let you lie go and let the truth come out in time. But now, I think I will check for myself.” He yanked the sheet off her. “And remember, in private the order of the day is bare.” Then he lowered himself between her legs and suprisingly gently moved leg wider open and slight opened her outer lips with just the tips of his finger and looked. But that's all he did was look.

As soon as he saw she was in fact a virgin he backed away. “So, you are a maiden after all.” he said. “Now there are a couple other things to get clear. You are NOT your scars and pain. You are more than that and hove more than that. You have you mind and spirit. You have you wit and fire. You have a master who wants to be kind and caring. Who would much rather be your friend then a traditional slave master. Who want to treat you as a human being and get to know you the woman. But it will be up to you. Go easy or go hard. Again, your choice.

“Also, when I heal you I expend my own life force. I give you some of my life. I'd really appreciate you not wasting it by harming yourself. Now I have to heal you again.” The ball of air dissipated from her mouth and he was suddenly kissing her. This was not the warm and pleasant kisses from before. Nor was it rough and harsh. I was more of a mechanical action. I was just what he had said, a healing and no more. He stepped back and sat back down in his chair and just watched her held tightly to the bed for a long time. The days shadows grew long and the maid knocked telling the evening meal was outside the door. He went and got the two trays and pitcher of wine. He sat them on a small table in the corner of the room.

“Okay, Mary, I am ready to let you up, if you are prepared to behave yourself. Are you in control of yourself now? Think you can behave like that lady you say you were supposed to be and not the sub human creature the life you've lived has tried to convince you you are? Because, to be honest, from my perspective you have completely accepted that persona. Prove me wrong.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary kept talking even after he told her to stop, she was saying so much information all at once. She didn't care she had angered him but what was shocking was when she lost control of her own body. "If your beloved gods cared for their creation then the world wouldn't be so cruel." She said and knew she has crossed a line with him. She was frozen for a moment unable to move, she was staring straight ahead only able to breath and blink. Her body floated fast to the bed, she was placed on it gently a pressure coming over her body. She couldn't move at all. "What is thi-" she was cut out by a thick ball of air being put in her mouth. She would struggle if she could, terror filling her. This wasn't a bad dream it was reality.

She looked at him wided eyes in terror and cried out when the sheet was taken from her body, her nipples hardened due to lack of warmth. She felt his hand on her leg then gently spread herself to him, he checked to see if she was virgin which she was.

She couldn't look at him as he talked about her own body and knew deep down he was right. She wasn't all of those things. Still a person to her soul, she wasn't the scars either. She couldn't believe that now, she wouldn't allow herself the thought of happiness after she had seen so much. She thought of her uncle and how his life must be like knowing his son would inherit everything. She had closed her eyes but opened them as he was moving.

He kissed her once more, the pain and throbbing went away in her hand, it wasn't soft like before but like a learned motion. He kept her pinned to the bed all day, her breathing had finally returned to normal, she had started to doze off to sleep when she heard a knock. She had a hard time finding words to speak so she didn't at all. She had to figure out a way to get the spell removed. She watched as he took the tray from a maid and put it on the table and came back to her pinned body.

She would have looked at him but still pinned to the bed. She smelled the food and her stomach growled with hunger. She listened to him and found her voice once more. "Yes your lordship." Was all she said.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He'd let his ire get the better of him. He'd tried the carrot and kindness and friendliness hadn't worked. He let his frustration overwhelm him and used the stick. He'd bound and gagged her. He'd forcibly brought her back to his bed and pinned her to it. Oh, he'd used air so as not to hurt her. He'd even been as gentle as he could. Even when he checked her for her purity he had been gentle. But after the fact he realized that though he had intended to show her lying to him and also pushing him was not wise. What she may have taken from the experience was that he could take whatever he wanted when he wanted it. Though perhaps in the long run, as he did not make advances against her, except to continue to try to get her to let him heal her, she may realize he was different and was trying to be a good man, regardless of the bad situation.

For that matter, he could have just taken her then and there, had he been the type. He hoped she was aware of that. He also hoped she noted that he had been gentle even in checking her. He was unsure what she'd make of him taking the sheet. He'd meant it and told her he meant to enforce his expressed desire that she follow his customs in private. Hell, it not like he wanted her to be nude just for him go gawk at. He was living the very philosophy he was telling to follow. In a similar way he hoped she realized the kiss really had only been healing. He'd certainly had no will to give tenderness or passion. He'd never been one to express negative emotions sexually.

He'd told her she was not just the sum of her scars and pains. She was more than her suffering. He reminded her she had a mind and heart. He taunted her to strive to be with woman she was meant to be, within the confines they were both trapped by of course. He'd made a point of being very clear that he'd tried to be a friend and kind. He'd wanted to be only nice and pleasant to her. He was distractedly frustrated by her behavior.

Still he regretted his actions. Oh, he'd had to respond in some manner and words were not working. She had to learn that, though he may not want to be mean or viscous or cruel like any of her previous masters had been, he was not to be pushed but so far. He'd been as gentle and easy as he could. He'd made a point to not actually hurt her. Though he doubted she'd even realize that. Still he felt sorry for what he'd done. But the kept her there for the few remaining hours of the afternoon while he considered and thought about the situation. But he still felt bad.

Eventually dinner had come and he retrieved it and set up the small table for them to eat at. Then he told, warned, prodded and taunted and cajoled her to act properly. She simply replied , “Yes, your lordship. It made him cringe. “Edward, Mary, remember my name is Edward. Now come and join me for dinner. He finally noticed her hard nipples and saw other signs of a chill. So he called fire to the logs in the hearth. The dinner was another large meal with plentiful wine. After they'd started eating he looked up and asked, “If I had been one of your old masters, how would this situation gone? I tried to be gentle and easy, but you needed to be settled. You were not listening to me.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary had a very unsettling feeling now. She lay still on the bed not moving. Her will could be taken away from her with his mind. No projection, no show of intent or anger, she had no way of fighting this. He wasn't normal he didn't have to fight her to make her submit. The thought chilled her to the core. She was 100% at his mercy with his powers.

Mary stood up when he told her to come eat and looked at the food and then down at herself. Her ribs were showing, fingers were boneir as well. All signs pointed to lack of nutrition she sat down naked still as were his wishes and looked at his bare chest letting her mind wonder. The thoughts disturbed her afterwards and the only reason she was taken from the daydream was when he started talking. Not wanting to experience what he had shown her before or worse. She sipped the wine and answered. "More than likely I would have gone without food but still made to work that. Also burning has always been a passion of my owners. They like to melt flesh on their slaves so even the slaves wouldn't bed them My lord Edward@ She said remembering her own burn scars.



The thoughts were begging to wage war on her mind, the thoughts came thundering back with such force. It was her recent naked exposure and being pinned down. She paled at the thoughts he hands shaking so she focused on trying to use the spoon again that she had at midday. It worked with some effort and she kept mirroring Edwards movements. She started to take a turn for the worst while chewing bread. She had taken up a clear glass of water that was on the table holding it. She had squeezed the glass so hard her knuckles were white.

The liquid in the glass started to form very small orbs that floated ever so slightly, they started to join together to make bigger ones and float towards the top of the glass. Mary's memories kept her in their grasp for a moment more at the end her eyes glowed a sharp piercing glow. Blinking the glowing stopped and the water went back into place. She put the glass down and chewed on nibbles of bread as she had done before having no notice of the water changing form.

She noticed the fire starting and she took in a shaking breath. She remembered the words he had just spoke about her not listening and needing to be settled. The thought of having sex made her stomach twist. Would it' hurt? Was her main concern with the matter. "I understand my lord Edward." She said taking off hunks of bread eating them quicker than she should have.

 

[Edward Thatch]

As he sat and watched her pinned to the bed by nothing but thickened air he considered her and what her life must have been like. He'd seen and heard the things all too often. He really had spent years going from slave market to slave market hunting for Marco. In almost everyone he'd found one that was especially heartrending and needful. He'd invariably bought the slave and freed them. Sometimes they just needed a little money and a direction to go back to something. Or to find a new life.

Sometimes they needed more. Those he took home to Roseshire and established them in new lives. There were so many in Roseshire that he'd brought from the raggedy edge. Not just slaves, either. Mostly not slaves, actually. Between this occasional trip to a random slave market to torture himself and buying one, there the slaves from the slaver ships he'd freed that had no where to go or no one to go to. Even given that, former slaves made up less than a quarter of the population of Roseshire. About a quarter were residents that were more then two generations there. The rest were the hard luck cases he'd found and brought back or sent on. So half of the village was “refugee” citizens, as some called them. Yes, over 90% were women and children, but he was allowed to be especially soft hearted toward them.

So what he was having to do to Mary pained him on a level that even he did not fully understand. He hurt for her. He did. But they both had been put in an untenable situation by the queen. Its like he'd told her, as much as they both disliked the situation they had to accept it for what it was. He'd have to learn to be a good master, though he'd prefer to be more a friend. She'd have to learn to be an obedient slave. Something that clearly escaped her, considering her scares and burns. He'd be damned if he would jeopardize it all for a willful woman who could not see beyond her own problems. He wanted apologize. He almost felt the need to apologize. Then he remembered the queen and her probable death warrant. He wanted to apologize anyway, but he knew that she only see it as a sign of weakness and be emboldened b it.

The food came and he'd had her get up and join him at the table. He'd reminded her that it was better to go along to get along. He had ordered hearty meals and plentiful wine for them. He'd tried talking to her, but not just was she incapable of concentrating, he noted with some interest the water in her glass moving on its own. “Magic” he thought derisively. He did not care for magic. And she did it for the second time. Called him “my Lord Edward”. He gave a disgusted grunt. “No Mary. No. Not my Lord Edward. Just Edward.” he sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

Trying to change the subject he asked, “Do you really not want healing? Really?”

 

[mary.elmwood]

Mary didn't look up from the bread she had been forcing herself to eat out of habit, she was so used to eating food so quickly that nibbling like this she hadn't done for a long time. Taking another morsel she heard his question if she did want healing. Did she? She thought of all the scars she could see and feel and knew they had caused her great pain. She remembered now crying after her first whipping because she knew her skin would never be the same.

She looked down at her breasts and touched the burned skin on her left breast, the skin had melted almost and was rough in some ways but smooth in others. She looked at her hands seeing cutting scars and her brand as a slave marking. "Will it hurt my Lord-... I mean Edward? Can you really heal such wounds?"she asked unsure as she looked at her body starting to get overwhelmed and sad on how she looked. Her body was covered in burns, scars and whipping marks. She hadn't taken it all in until that moment.

She kept searching and finding more scars. At least sometime later she just stopped looking. Tears were threatening to fall down her face. She realized that she had lost the will to care, to have feelings and lost herself in the high of the pain. The scars had become such apart of her identity. She looked at the branded S and got the look back in her eyes of pure rage. She stood up and walked to the window. She opened it and had half a thought to jump down. If she killed herself Edward would be in so much trouble. Why did she care? So many thoughts were ramming around in her head she felt it hard to breath.

Her scars had caused her to rebel because she felt her life was over but she was so young to life. She looked out at the town, the smell of the sea in the air. She hadn't see the ocean before and had always wondered. She stood there trying to catch her breath. She had a new life now, she could start over. Gripping the window sill tightly then turned to Edward. "Could you remove the scars Edward?" She asked looking at him hopeful.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He had asked her if she wanted healing. Which is what he really should have done the first time instead of just assuming that any intelligent and sane woman would want to be whole and blemish free. He watched her as she nibbled her food. He saw the internal struggle. He remained quiet for a bit to let her think and process. He'd already told her she was not her scars and burns. She was more than that and cheapened herself by clinging so tightly to them.

She looked at her own scars and burns. Then she asked if it would hurt. He considered before he answered. “The act itself, yes, the first time and then only for a very short while. Seconds or maybe a couple of minutes before you begin to feel pleasure, But even that I'd make as easy and gentle for you as possible. I'd do things to please you and make you enjoy it before we got to that point. I'd make your body as ready for as it can be.

“First I would bath you thoroughly and then massage all of you. Next I'd cover every inch of you body in kisses and caresses. I'd give you a kind of pleasure you cannot now imagine with my mouth. A sort of pleasure that is so intense it is almost painful, almost but not close enough for you to worry about. Then I'd hold you while you body relaxed from the intense amount of pleasure. Then I'd use my finger to give you more pleasure until I felt you were really ready. Then I'd lay on my back and let you be on top. For a woman's first time it is easier that way. You will be in control and decide how quickly or slowly you wanted to proceed and when we did begin you'd set the pace. Yes, there would be a short amount of pain as I pass through your womanhood, but if we are doing it right that would be very soon overridden by pleasure.”

He'd carefully laid it all out. Than maybe she could really consider it and not be quite so afraid of it. To, she could ask any questions she might want to. Then he addressed her next question. The first time will heal the newer and lessor scares and burns will heal. But with each repeated occurrence, more and more then the older and more severe would begin to fade. After time, perhaps a week or two, all of your scars and burns would be gone. Including the ones marking you as a slave.”

He watched her take it all in and struggle within herself again. First was sadness, then apathy and finally the rage he'd seen earlier. She went over to the window and opened it. He snorted. For someone who had been so concerned for her modesty, she seemed to have no problem over there by an open window. “Yes, I could and would remove them, if you but say so. But remember if you chose this it would be a little slow, but noticeable process. Each time you'd see very real and drastic reduction in your scars and burns. That, at least would reassure you I was telling you the truth.” He sat and waited for her to consider his words.

 

[mary.elmwood]

He had asked her if she wanted healing. Which is what he really should have done the first time instead of just assuming that any intelligent and sane woman would want to be whole and blemish free. He watched her as she nibbled her food. He saw the internal struggle. He remained quiet for a bit to let her think and process. He'd already told her she was not her scars and burns. She was more than that and cheapened herself by clinging so tightly to them.

She looked at her own scars and burns. Then she asked if it would hurt. He considered before he answered. “The act itself, yes, the first time and then only for a very short while. Seconds or maybe a couple of minutes before you begin to feel pleasure, But even that I'd make as easy and gentle for you as possible. I'd do things to please you and make you enjoy it before we got to that point. I'd make your body as ready for as it can be.

“First I would bath you thoroughly and then massage all of you. Next I'd cover every inch of you body in kisses and caresses. I'd give you a kind of pleasure you cannot now imagine with my mouth. A sort of pleasure that is so intense it is almost painful, almost but not close enough for you to worry about. Then I'd hold you while you body relaxed from the intense amount of pleasure. Then I'd use my finger to give you more pleasure until I felt you were really ready. Then I'd lay on my back and let you be on top. For a woman's first time it is easier that way. You will be in control and decide how quickly or slowly you wanted to proceed and when we did begin you'd set the pace. Yes, there would be a short amount of pain as I pass through your womanhood, but if we are doing it right that would be very soon overridden by pleasure.”

He'd carefully laid it all out. Than maybe she could really consider it and not be quite so afraid of it. To, she could ask any questions she might want to. Then he addressed her next question. The first time will heal the newer and lessor scares and burns will heal. But with each repeated occurrence, more and more then the older and more severe would begin to fade. After time, perhaps a week or two, all of your scars and burns would be gone. Including the ones marking you as a slave.”

He watched her take it all in and struggle within herself again. First was sadness, then apathy and finally the rage he'd seen earlier. She went over to the window and opened it. He snorted. For someone who had been so concerned for her modesty, she seemed to have no problem over there by an open window. “Yes, I could and would remove them, if you but say so. But remember if you chose this it would be a little slow, but noticeable process. Each time you'd see very real and drastic reduction in your scars and burns. That, at least would reassure you I was telling you the truth.” He sat and waited for her to consider his words.

Walking back to the table she sat down and couldn't help but blush as he talked, curiosity, lust and hunger showing on her face. "Goodness, that's all quiet detailed." She spoke her face red with embarrassment. She wasn't sure why she was nervous about trying sex. She didn't know what to do, hadn't really seen sex happen and didn't want to make a fool of herself. She opened her mouth to ask a question about how it all worked but closed her mouth. Sitting there naked she almost jumped when the fire crackled and popped out a flurry of sparks.

She starred at it thinking of everything he had said but was imaging it in her own head. She found him attractive but wouldn't admit to herself. She blinked thinking of when he said bath and looked at him. "Do I offend you with smell? The queen made sure my skin was basically rubbed raw this morning. Your first ki-" she stopped thinking about their first kiss and felt herself blush more. "K-kiss, it healed the itching. She even had picked out the perfume I was to wear and can still smell. To be honest it's roses and quiet nice. Even though I wouldn't ever tell her majesty that." She said and wrapped her hands around herself hoping the gesture wasn't against the rules.

"The way you put it all, it sounds enjoyable." She said unable to look at him. Her ears had turned a shade of red. She fidgeted with the chain attached to the wretched collar and itched underneath it. "Did you have me unshackled just because of your powers to restraint?" She asked looking at him a moment. She thought back to that event and the shock on the guards face. Looking at her hands and feet that we're currently free of restraints, she smiled softly to herself.

"I don't know how to position myself when sex happens. I feel such a fool for not knowing these things."'she said still fidgeting with the chain a soft clinking sound happening. "Your energy won't be restored without the act happening... Are you feeling alright my lo- ah Edward?"

 

[Edward Thatch]

He watched her sit back down across from him. He saw and privately enjoyed the blush and play of emotions of across her face. He chuckled. “Detailed? Well, perhaps it is. I just figured if you knew exactly what to expect it would not be so over whelming. It would be less frightening.” He grinned as the pop of the fire made her jump.

She didn't understand about baths. Flash backs of someone else, but in vastly different circumstances, It made him smile. The he recalled himself to the question at hand and the woman in front of him. “No, Mary, you do not offend me. The bath is not so much about getting clean, but the sensual experience of relaxing in an oiled and scented bath with candles and someone taking care of you. It's all part of the process, I suppose. And it could easily be dropped if it was that big a deal to you.

“But see I am a sensualist at heart. I love the sensual pleasures and more so love to give others those pleasures.” He reached across the table and took one of her hands and began to rub small circles on the inside of her wrist, right above the nerve. He smiled at her. He was waiting for the shivers to run up her spin. If he knew one thing it was how to please and tease.

He saw her blush when she talked about his kissing her. He gave her a sly smile. You know, anytime you want me to kiss you like that, just say something. I really would enjoy doing that for you.” He gave her a wink. She talked about the queen's treatment some more. “Yes, her majesty chose the rose scent for me. I am the Lord of Roseshire, so have made roses a little bit of a motif for myself. She was clearly using that to play with me just a little more. But its nice to know you like the rose scent. I'll be sure to buy some for you.” He answered her next statement. “Yes, it is rather enjoyable, provided you are with someone that knows how to do it right.”

He saw her fiddling with her chain and collar and reach forward to touch it. At his touch its instantly rusted to dust and fell away. I will get you a more comfortable one, perhaps padded leather, tomorrow. I might prefer to see you out of it all together, but I doubt her majesty would look too kindly on that. Too, I have to think you have been wearing one so long you may feel odd without something for a time.” He considered her next question.

“No, I did not have them remove your shackles because of my powers. I do try to not be so obvious where I can help it, around others at least. Though my powers did and do give me a sense of surety that made me more comfortable with the decision. I had them remove you shackles for three reasons. Firstly, to show that I had actually taken possession of you and was going be a master. To show that I was going to be my own type of master if master I had to be. But mostly I had them removed because I hate the sight of anyone shackled.”

“Don't worry about positioning and all that if and when you decide to do is. I will guide you through it.” He considered. “My aethor level is well above normal but not “full” I'm in no danger, but could always use more.” He looked at her for a minute. “It's ok to not come to an immediate choice tonight. Though if you don't, I'd suggest we do some things to slowly build you up and get you ready for it. Say first kissing, then holding, then touching followed by caressing and then intimate touching and so forth like that. It is a real option for you to consider.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

"Thank you for taking my uneasiness into consideration Edward." She said still thinking how the day had panned out so far. She fidgeted with the chain more needing to do something with her hands. "It is comforting to know I won't be taken by force." She said and relaxed more. She had been sitting in the chair straight, her back not touching the back. She took in a deep breath, she hadn't taken a deep breath all day. Inhaling thru her nose and exhaling thru her mouth. She did this a few times relaxing more.

"No! Well you see, umm I like the idea of the bath. It sounds all very interesting" she said and felt her nipples get hard. She looked down at them then felt her hand being picked up. Her eyes followed her hand and his touch made her still. He started to rub the inside of her wrist right above the nerve. She openly shuddered, her wrist jerked slightly but she put it back in place in his hand. She closed her eyes a moment her body shuddering everytime the circling reached her nerve.

She opened her eyes but when she did a hunger and need was only in her eyes. She couldn't help it as he continued to send shivers down her spine. Listening to him talk about the queen. She took her free hand and smelled her other wrist that wasn't being used by his hand. The smell of roses made her relax more. She remembered seeing a rose garden at one of her masters and knew there was one at her uncles estate or used to be one.

She felt herself burning red when he talked about the kissing and made a move to stand up but kept where she was. Looking away from him she licked her lips, her nipples had gotten tighter at the thought of his lips on hers and all over her body. She heard him talking about how he was a lord and he was going to buy her rose oil. She kept shivering at the circling.

She watched as he moved towards her over the table but touched the collar. She felt a lightness as it fell away from her. She looked at him wide eyed and felt around her neck. Nothing was there, she gasped again taking her free hand to feel around more still shocked it was gone. There were cut marks on her neck near the major arterys on both sides. She paired them no mind as she finally dropped her hand. She blinked when he talked about getting her a new collar and smiled for the first time to him. "Thank you Edward." She said genuinely.

Nodding when he spoke about the shackles, it didn't sink in fully about what he meant or what it would mean in the future but she was glad for the freedom to move her body freely. Her hand that was free fell to her lap relaxed and loose. Her body was relaxing more as he kept the circling up. "Can we try it now? I am curious and I am feeling something in my lower body. Is it normal to feel a wetness?" She asked touching her vagina and showed him the liquid on them. She was clueless but she tried not to be hard on herself.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He had taken the time and effort to explain it to her. To lay it all out before her. He heard her thank him for reassuring her that he would not take her by force. He felt to be completely honest he should set the record completely straight. “No, Mary, I would not take you by force. I might without your consent in very specific circumstances. If you are too injured or ill to consent or are unconscious to consent. I may even do it if you are in too much pain to consent or in such pain you'd rather death than to go on. You need to know now, if forced into a morally murky situation with you, I will ALWAYS choose and error on the side of life and healing. I understand if me saying this bothers you, but I felt I owed it too you to be completely honest with you.

He like how she reacted to his touch. Something so simple as rubbing her inner wrist was so alien to her it had a real and profound effect. And if he were to be really honest with himself, knowing that he was the one who was going to teach here just how good a touch could be that not all touch was bad, just plain excited him. He loved to give pleasure almost more than receive it. And to be able to give her this? Oh yes. The idea turned him on. Ah yeah, there was that blush and a look of real lust. Yes, this was good.

He was pleased with her reaction of him removing her collar. He was not pleased with the cuts on her neck. She thanked him and he shrugged it off. He did note she did not tell him if she wanted a new, comfortable collar to wear when she was feeling exposed without the one he'd destroyed.

He smiled when she asked to try it now. “If your are absolutely certain, yes.” Then she mentioned being wet and showed him. She asked if it were normal. He chuckled. “Yes, Mary, that is very normal. Just a moment.” He got up and walked to the door and called a maid. She heard him order a “tub and the works” to be brought up to his room. And that he and his companion would be practicing a centering ritual and not to worry about the smoke. It'd all be funneled out the window.

He returned to his seat and said. “Okay Mary, if you are sure, come her and sit in my lap and kiss me. I am going to touch you where you are wet and make you feel pleasure.”

 

[mary.elmwood]

As he was talking about consent she was looking at her body. In a month or so her skin would be healed. The smile that came to her lip surprised even her. She was still reacting to his touch and wanted to be kissing him but he stood up from the table. Her wrist was on the table relaxed and she felt an aching feeling down below. She placed her hand over vagina putting a small amount of pressure. The throbbing only got worse. She felt herself flush as she watched him walk away and stood up. She opened her mouth to call out our stopped herself.

She had seen a hunger in his eyes, an excitement when he had touched her skin. She looked at her wrist and touched just above the point as he had. She didn't feel the same and felt foolish for trying to that to herself and dropped her wrist. Her being without a collar was still surprising. She had always had one on ever since she had become a slave.

She noticed his chuckle and smile and she had shown him her wetness and stood there next to the fire with her hands behind her back. Even without her collar she still behaved like one. Well, most of the time she tried too.

When he called for a tub and the works to be brought up she flushed. Naked and going to be bathed by a man. She almost needed to sit down. Luckily he had moved to the couch. To keep her hands busy a moment she threw a few logs on the fire and walked over to him. She looked at him sitting there feeling the stirring again. She sat down in his lap and hesitated looking at his lips. Flustered she forgot herself and boldly kissed him soft at first almost pecks then she started to move her lips when he did. Learning the pattern to a kiss took sometime but she hoped she would learn how to please him properly.

She was surprised at herself, she had gone from being herself to a Slave who wanted to serve her master. The concept was so unlike her, but the situation certainly was very different than before Edward. The chair creaked under her weight after adding herself to it. She started to kiss harder and found herself touching his bare chest without asking permission first. A small groan passed her lips when he kissed back. She felt almost dizzy just from the kissing and knew she had to keep herself steady. She sent a silent prayer to the gods she didn't believe in for luck.'

 

[Edward Thatch]

He saw the smile on her lips as she looked down at her own body and knew she had made up her mind. He smiled and nodded to her. Normally for a healing he'd be mechanical and just go through the motions like he had planned to earlier. But now he knew that with her, for her this would be wrong. She needed some one to care for her and show her affection and kindness. He wanted to give that to her, to give her the sure knowledge that there was at least one man would be good to her and care about her and what she could do or provide.

He walked over to the door and ordered the tub. Then he sat on the chair in a small alcove and asked her to come and sit on his lap and kiss him. He told her what he would do. How he'd hold her and touch her. That he was going to cause her to feel pleasure. She had gotten up and went to stand before the fire. She was nervous, clearly. To give herself a few more moments she added wood to the fire. Then she came over to sit in is lap. He called a sheet of fog to cut the off from being seen by the women who brought in and set up the tub.

He began easily. He wrapped one arm around her waist and rested the other hand on her thigh. He kissed her gently and tenderly at first. He wanted her to get used to it and decide she liked it. Then she began to grow bolder so he began to add passion to his kisses. He began to give her deep passionate kisses that would be felt to the core of her. He kissed her to curl her toes and let her know she'd been thoroughly kissed.

His hand slowly, oh so slowly, but very surely slid up her thigh as their kisses intensified. Inch by agonizing inch his finger slid forward and closer to the prize of her nether gates. Gates had been locked and barred to any other before. When he started to tease her mouth open in the kissed to allow them to use their tongues, his hand reached her outer lips. At first he just let his finger lay against her lips so she could get used to the feeling of his hands on her.

Soon though, he began to rub her outer lips. Lightly at first then gradually used a firmer and firmer pressure, particularly right above where her please bud would be hidden. Then he slipped a finger inside. Not deeply, just inside her outer lips and rubbed it up and down the full length of her inner lips for a little time. Then his finger found her bud and at first lightly whispered his touch over it. He teased and toyed with her bud before he got to seriously rubbing and stroking it. If her bud was a Stradivarius, he was the master musician. His kisses intensified and he played concerto after concerto seeking crescendo after crescendo from her. Her sounds of pleasure were a sweet music to his ears all their own.

 

[mary.elmwood]

His tender liaises made her foggy in the head. Her pussy began to get wetter and it dripped on her legs and onto his legs. She kept feeling the tender kisses and moaned from the feeling. She noticed the fog but it wasn't hurting her so she didn't care about it. She turned her attention back to Edward and felt a bud pulsing.

Kissing deeper and passionality she moaned as he did. Her hands were on either side shoulders bringing him closer. When she felt his hand move from her legs to her womanhood she pulled away a moment. Panting heavily, eyes glazed over and a small smile she watched him out his hand on her. She then felt him touch her bud and cried out. Her eyes opened widely as she pulls away from his lips her body beginning to writher.

When he rubbed her outer lips, she noticed his fingers were now slick with her wetness. She noticed his fingers put more pressure on her lips then found her bud. Her fingers played her clit with ease. She moaned as he played her and kept the pressure up. "Edward! I feel something inside, a pressure." She said panting heavily and her body jerked this way and that way. Her nipples were next to his face. She felt the pressure build so much and she couldn't hold it in. She kissed him hard as she felt a liquid release from her pussy. She dug her nails into the chair he was sitting in and felt her body feel completely aroused.

He didn't let up on the pressure of her clit and she screamed out the pressure building inside as cum was leaking out of her pussy onto his bare leg.

 

[Edward Thatch]

He kissed her and stroked her. He felt her getting wetter and smiled. He continued with his tender attentions. His kisses grew more and more insistent. He began to try and slip his tongue past her lips and let it embrace and stroke it. At one moment he leaned his head to her ear and said quietly, “I want you to enjoy this, fully and completely.” And he sped up his stroking of her clit a little more.

She had cried out and began to writhe. He redoubled his devotion to her pleasure. She'd said that something was building inside and he was a little surprised. She'd never had an orgasm before? Not even one she gave her self? But her nipples were in his face as though in taunting invitation. He let his lips, his kisses travel down to her breasts. He did not rush, he did not fumble is way through. He took his time and let his mouth explore every inch of her breasts before taking one of her nipples between his lips. First he flicked it, then sucked hard and let his teeth lightly graze her nipple, then he started teasing and playing it with his tongue and lips with a seriousness she had not seen in him before. He was fully intent on her breasts, switching from one to the other and then back again.

He took her lips with his savagely when she moved to kiss him just as she climaxed. He felt her spill out against his hand and he smiled into his kiss. No he did not stop. He continued to stroke and rub and tease he really was intent on wringing climax after climax from her. But as soon as he felt she had started to get just a little used to his pleasure, he slipped his finger inside of her. He knew just exactly where to aim. He began a even and gentle but firm and regular pumping into her, continuously and relentlessly.

He'd heard the last of the maids leave the room and let the fog fade to reveal a steaming tub with scented oils to add to the bath and use on her. Soaps and bath salts were laid out and the room was bedecked with candles.