Dark Lord (4 page)

If only she had been able to see
Triniti
in her cell, she would have felt some measure of relief.
She would have been able to see for herself that her friend was alright.
Her guard, Lord Payne in the Ass, had refused to allow her entry.
Jules,
Triniti’s
brother, had later sent
Briella
a message.
The Countess had agreed to meet with him in the morning to express his concerns.
Jules wanted her to be present when the matter was discussed.

Briella
entered the
small solar
at the appointed time and stood beside Jules.
Nefertiti
gave her a questioning look.
“Jules asked me to be here.”

“I have come about my sister
,
”
Jules said
.

The
Countess
appeared confused, as if she did not understand why he would care about the welfare of a family member.
“
Triniti
has been stripped of her advisor status.
She is awaiting my decision regarding her punishment.”

“Have you reached a decision?”
Jules asked.

Nefertiti offered him a chair and then took a seat.
“She caused the death of a concubine.
I am debating on the proper punishment for that offense.
I do so love
Triniti
, probably as much as you do, but she is not exempt from our laws.
Mistreatment of the lower classes, although not a crime, is a thing of wrongness.
If our nobles conduct themselves in such a manner that peasants are needlessly killed, then the peasants may revolt.
I must teach everyone a lesson, that such mistreatment will not be tolerated.
I shall have
Triniti
executed in a public hanging at the village.”

Nefertiti had lost her mind to even suggest harming
Triniti
.
It was the Countess who had murdered people.
Briella
opened her mouth to speak, but Jules beat her to it.

“You cannot have her killed
,” Jules said.
“
You do not have the authority; that honor lies with the house of Beaumont, and they would never agree to such a harsh punishment.”

“I can do what I want, Jules,” Nefertiti threatened.

Jules tensed, clenched his fists, and raised his voice in anger.
“Need I remind you that it was by your hand that the concubine met his death?
Who wielded the whip, the rope, and the scarves?”

Nefertiti’s face reddened in her anger.
“Who purchased the equipment, I tell you?
Who instructed me on its proper use?
It was
Triniti
.
She failed in her duty and now the concubine is dead.
I was only trying to have a bit of diversion.
”
Nefertiti stood from her seat and began pacing the room in an agitated manner.
Her brisk movement caused some of her bandages to loosen, revealing reddened skin and oozing sores.
She pressed the bandages against her skin and hissed in frustration as pus coated her long fingers.
“
Is that too much to ask
, to lose myself in pleasure for a few blissful moments
?
The stresses of being the
C
ountess overwhelm me at times and I need
to be able to blow off some steam, in a perfectly safe way.
Do you even know what I’ve been through lately?
My harem was invaded by a fake lord
.
My
sister was abducted
.
M
y tribute to the Romans never arrived for some inexplicable reason
.
Amalie tried to kill me and her poisonous brew made all of my hair fall out.
T
he lord that I really wish to fuck is impotent and unable to please me
, and last but not least,
one of my concubines
died while I was fucking him
.”

Jules took a deep breath
and responded in a sarcastic manner
.
“I see that you have been through
quite an ordeal and you have been
terribly disappointed.
It’s not
Triniti’s
fault that she did not know enough to help you with your
very special needs
.
She’s a very good advisor in everything
Flourdan
, but what you need is an expert in the erotic arts.
You cannot expect one of your innocent ladies to possess the required information.
One must look to Rome for expert advice
on the libidinous and sensual.”

“I really like that idea, Jules.
You are
right,
I need to get some experts with the right skills.
I will still punish
Triniti
, but not so severely.
I want her to remain in the tower for now.
What I need is a certified and credentialed expert on the erotic arts and techniques of bondage and pain giving.
I will discuss this with my advisors right away.
You are dismissed, Jules.”

Briella
was impressed by the way in which Jules manipulated the Countess.
He was very skilled at such manners.
As she got out of her seat to make her own escape, the Countess stopped her with an agitated glance.

“I’m not done with you,
Briella
.
I’m calling
an advisor’s meeting
to discuss this issue.
We will meet
in the conference room.
”

Briella
nodded.
“The idea to acquire a special advisor is a good one.
Perhaps
Triniti
could be released so she can assist us?”

Nefertiti scowled at her.
“I will not tolerate you second guessing my orders.
Do it once more and you will join her in the
tower.
Meet me in the conference room and do not dally.”

Briella
headed toward the conference room and took a seat beside
Audrelia
.
The ladies had to wait thirty minutes before the Countess arrived.
Once there, Nefertiti
described her plan and then asked for feedback.

“Countess, there is no such thing as a certified, credentialed, or licensed expert on erotic matters,” Audra stated.

“Do not be ridiculous.
There are certified, credentialed, and licensed experts on everything.
There have to be experts on bondage and pain giving during coitus.
I need this expert ASAP, and I will not even
consider releasing
Triniti
until this expert is in place.
”
Nefertiti pounded her fist on the table and screeched, “
I will not countenance another death of a concubine
!”
She shot out of her seat in a sudden motion that caused her wig to fall off her head.
She appeared oblivious to the loss of it and began to pace about the room in an agitated fashion.
Her bald head
was blindingly white and reminiscent of the moon.
“
The peasants are important to me; without them, we are stuck having to rely on slaves, which are too troublesome by half and tend to die a lot.”

Nefertiti could care less about the peasants,
Briella
thought with disgust.
It was the
C
ountess who had sold some of their own
people
to Roman slavers.
Nefertiti looked upon the concubines as sexual tools to be used for personal gratification purposes, and most of the time, she did not even bother to ask the name of the one servicing her.
When Jules had mentioned the need for an expert on erotic matters, the idea
had some merit.
However, the notion of finding a licensed and credentialed expert was ludicrous.
“We cannot produce a
licensed
expert on
sexual matters
if such a thing does not exist.”

“You must think outside of the box,
Briella
.
If one does not exist here, it does not mean it exists nowhere.
The world is not
Flourda
.
I am of the highest confidence that such an expert can easily be found in Rome.”

“We are at war with Rome,
C
ountess,” Audra said.

Nefertiti smiled.
“We are not at war with all of Rome, wise woman.
There are some territories that are friendly to us.
One of those contains the city of Eros.
You can safely travel to Eros, can you not,
Audrelia
?”

“It’s not that wise to travel right now,”
Audrelia
said.
“There is still much fighting in the Roman occupied territories between
the Romans and the natives.
We would have to travel through those areas and we would still need to avoid the raiding parties of roaming Roman slavers.”

“That doesn’t sound too terribly difficult, not if I send an armed escort of eunuchs with the ladies,” Nefertiti replied.
“I am not going to operate out of fear.
I don’t fear the Romans
and they cannot overtake my eunuch army or any of its members
.
I demand that an excursion to Eros be undertaken in order to find my expert.
I will not lose another male of my harem to ineptitude and ignorance.”

Briella
knew that pointing out the obvious solution would be pointless, but she felt she had to say it anyway.
“You could just entertain yourself without the whips and chains.
No one gets hurt, no one dies, and everyone stays safe.
It wouldn’t require a dangerous trip to Eros.”