Demiourgos (3 page)

“I will do what I can to not raise his ire during my short stay then.” Nina regarded Rose for a moment with a smile and put her slender fingers around Rose’s. “I shall ask my mother if you can come with us when she comes to get me, I'll tell her how nice you were to me.”

Rose knelt down in front of Nina and ran her long, thin fingers through the long blonde hair of her head. She had trouble looking into Nina’s innocent blue eyes as beautiful as they were. She wavered for a moment in sadness, knowing that the girl would be devastated when she learned the truth. “Nina, once you’re in here the Pasha owns you. You will never be released or set free no matter how much your mother tries.”

“Have faith Rose, not everything is as it seems.” The large toothy grin she got in return made her cock her head to the side and wonder if Nina was truly delusional or if something more was going on. She dismissed it.

“Alright then, I await the day, but I doubt I will ever see the outside world. I am my master’s prized treasure; he would never let me go even if offered a fortune in return.” Rose smiled down at the elf-child and sat down on a nearby purple lounging pillow, motioning for Nina to take the blue one she favored most. “You may take my favorite spot.”

“Thank you.” Nina said in reply as she sat down on the comfortable cushion. “So what are you allowed to do here for fun?”

“We are not permitted much unfortunately; the best we get is a brazier of prajma weed burned once a day. We are close to the daily burning as a matter of fact. It makes all of the girls giggly and,” Rose paused when she saw Nina’s face. “Bothered.”

“I know what prajma weed does, I am allergic to it.” She took stock of the room with a glance. “Is there somewhere we can go?”

“It’s okay, I never use it either.” Rose indicated an open side room with a window high up on the wall, barred with solid obsidian rods. “We can go into the matron’s room and wait it out, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“That is good; I don’t like the feel of its effects anyway.” Nina said with a small nod as she looked around at the room. “Those three girls over there keep motioning toward us, they look angry.”

“Ah, that is the terrible trio: Vishna, Neeshka and Koral. They don’t like me, so in turn they don’t like anything I touch or come close to. I fear I may have put you into their sights inadvertently.” Rose looked over at the three girls as they lounged in comfort and schemed. “They wish to drink my blood I hear.”

“Oh, have you reached maturity then?” Nina said with interest.

“Well I feel I reached that a long time ago but today I turn eighteen. They think that if they drink my blood they will receive long life.” She sighed softly and shook her head at the concept, humans were so strange but she guessed that if she had such a limited life span she would feel the same. “I had never heard of this until the matron told me of it.”

“It is true actually. The caveat is that this must be a gift from the naarabian to the human, otherwise it doesn’t work. The life must be freely given. You would feel no ill side effects, just be weakened for a day or two.” Nina said in a hushed tone as if she were sharing some big secret. “You have but to grant the person a few drops of your blood and once you grant it you must wait a great deal of time before it will work again. Or so I hear anyway.”

“I thought you said you had never met a naarabian.” Rose said incredulously to this sudden wash of knowledge. “You sound as if you’re an expert.”

“I was raised and educated in the elven court; I am versed on many subjects.” Nina looked up at her with her innocent face and eyes and then back out to the girls in the room. “This is a harem right?”

“Yes it is.” Rose said almost somberly.

“Will I be expected to…?” She let herself trail off and Rose frowned just a bit.

“The blue sash indicates that you’re too young for such things.” She said quietly near the elf’s long ear. “I must warn you though, the pasha owns us. Therefore we are his property and in the end we are expected to do what he says.”

“Barbaric.” She said softly with a scowl growing across her features. “It seems humans are just as vulgar as the stories make them out to be.”

“They can be, but humans can also be nice people. Take Maudette for instance. She has been matron for a long time. She has raised me since I was a child and I would not have it any other way.” Rose nudged Nina gently with her shoulder by rocking to the side a bit. “Not much experience with humans eh?”

Nina paused for a moment and looked over at Rose when she felt the nudge; such intimate contact between two people was not unknown between her people. It was the mark of a friend more than anything. “No, I have never before left my home before a few weeks ago. My tutors were all elves and my friends the same. I met a dwarf once, he was nice but he was a little dirty and crude.”

“Can you tell me about your home?” Rose felt curiosity above all else more keenly than anything. She knew it was because she had never seen the outside world through more than a barred window.

“We are not permitted to say much because it is a secret.” Nina looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot. “But I don’t mind telling you. It is far into the desert, farther than most can travel so it’s very dangerous. There are a lot of creatures out there that would love to make you a meal and for some of them an elf or human would be just an appetizer.”

“I can imagine, I’ve read a few books about the creatures of the deep wastes.” Rose said with a curt nod.

“Well beyond the desert there is a mountain range and on the other side is my home. It is the last forest on the face of this continent; the mountains keep it safe from outsiders and the harsh weather. It goes on for hundreds of miles before it drops off into the Last Sea. My people live in the trees; we use fallen wood and magic to make our homes within them. You would like it Rose, the bridges spanning across them are so high in the air that you can taste the sun as it rises and feel the rain so cold and pure.”

“A forest?” She whispered harshly, surprised by the story. “Such things are lost to the world!”

“No, there is one forest left on this continent and one sea, untouched by the magic that devastated the remainder of this land. I hear that beyond us, there are more.” Nina whispered back. “But I digress, that is why we are not permitted to talk about it. We have a very large library as well, stuffed full of volumes from ages past. The curator preserves them for us.”

“Oh I would love to walk through your library and read until my eyes stopped working from old age.” Rose smiled looked over at Nina again; a strand of hair fell in front of her face. Rose brushed it back behind her ear. “Your home sounds lovely.”

“Thank you, we take much pride in our heritage.”

The double doors opened wide and a pair of guards stepped into the room carrying a bone-carved burning bowl on four obsidian legs. The burly armored men closed the door and placed the object in the center of the room. The skinnier of the two pulled a leather pouch off of his belt and dumped the contents into the center of the bowl. Prajma was more like a moss than a weed so it burned quickly and thick. Once it was packed in the guard pulled a piece of metal and stone out of his pouch to light it as they always did at this time.

“What’s that he’s using?” Nina said as she stood and started heading for the matron’s room.

“Firesteel.” Rose looked at the red piece of metal and the obsidian stone the guard was holding and realized that Nina had most likely never seen such a thing. The firesteel was a fairly rare metal that was found among the ore mined from the city’s only functioning mine. It sparked fire at the slightest touch of obsidian. “If you touch it to obsidian it sparks flame instantly.”

“Interesting.” Nina stopped suddenly and Rose spied the reason why. Vishna and her crew were all standing in her way. She was sure they’d adjust if either of them made a move to go around. “Um, hello.”

“New girl, do you really want to hang around with this freak instead of us?” Koral and Neeshka looked on silently, letting Vishna talk exclusively as usual. “That doesn’t look good on you.”

“Vishna, there is no need for this type of confrontation.” Rose looked her over once. She had dark hair, dark skin, and equally dark eyes. Her features were delicate and she had a curvaceous figure that bespoke of a sensual nature. Rose could not help but laugh internally at that, her body was much different from her attitude. “She is allergic to Prajma so we must use the matron’s chamber.”

“Allergic? What nonsense is that?” Neeshka piped in with her squeaky, high-pitched voice. It was definitely annoying if one listened to it for too long but she had a body not unlike her mother, Maudette. She had light milky skin and brown eyes with raven-black hair tied back in a series of twists that somewhat resembled a wide tail.

The third girl, Koral, did not speak often. She was with the two other girls mainly because she was intimidated by them more than anything. She was somewhat pretty. Her red hair was fanned wide behind her making her skinny body look a bit strange in contrast. She was short and her frame looked like that of a porcelain doll with freckles painted on its face. Her green eyes were a stark contrast, which was what most likely had drawn the pasha; her features were exotic. “We should let them go Vishna; allergies are no one’s fault.”

“Shut your mouth Koral or I’ll shut it for you.” Vishna said with a scowl on her face which was screwed up in a manner that made her look more like a beast than a girl. “You don’t want to associate yourself with the unpopular ones this early in the game little elf.”

“My name is Ninantha and you will call me as such you mordant little bitch.” Nina said with her shoulders squared and her face hard-set. “I will associate with who I want and I need not your permission to do so.”

Vishna growled with rage as she lunged forward with her hand going wide for a slap across the small elf’s face.

Nina ducked under the blow and grabbed onto Vishna’s arm tight. Carrying the larger girl’s momentum she tugged Vishna forward and sent her sprawling out on the floor directly at Rose’s feet. Once she had angled her squirming captive’s arm behind her back she leaned forward and whispered into the girl’s ear. “Now kiss her feet and tell her that you are sorry.”

“I’ll do no such thing!” Vishna yelled at the top of her lungs trying to get her face away from Rose’s feet. “Let me go!”

Rose looked on at the guards who had pulled a pair of hide whips from their belts only to put them back when the situation unfolded. They both wore amused expressions as they looked over at the bitch of the harem getting her hatred spoon fed back to her. Seeing the guards taking no action made her breathe a sigh of relief.

“You’ll do it or I’ll break your arm in several places with one jerk.” Nina replied in a tone that sounded sickly sweet like poisoned sugar dates. “Now apologize to her.”

Rose watched Vishna struggle internally for a long time before she finally pursed her lips up and kissed her toes. She was taken aback by the display that would definitely have repercussions. “I’m sorry Rose.”

“Thank you.” Nina said as she released the older and seemingly more powerful girl’s arm then stood and walked around the other two stunned cronies. Rose followed blankly for a moment.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

“I told you, I was trained by the best elven tutors my parents could afford. This world is dangerous so we who walk it should know how to defend ourselves properly.” Nina walked into the matron’s quarters without another look around though she had not missed the various whispers and snickers she got as she walked by.

“You have made an enemy already my dear.” Rose said in a wary voice as they both took a seat by the window and watched the main room. The girls huddled around the smoking bowl to get their high. The fairly common plant relaxed most people and made them drift along as if in a daydream. It also boosted the smoker’s want for physical love as well. She figured that was the pasha’s way of getting his girls ready for him in the evening. Most days he enjoyed having several of the girls at once. “I was hoping we could avoid such conflict.”

“They will get high and forget all about it for now.” Nina looked over at her for a second and then back at the gathering in the middle. “Rose can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, anything you’d like.” Rose replied through a grin.

“I feel like I can trust you, and more than that my lyrica tells me you have a good heart and soul. I need your help.” Nina looked very serious.

Rose turned to her physically and nodded her head. Barring the obvious question about what, by the sands, a lyrica was. “Name it love; I’ll do what I can.”

“The pasha has a book that I need; it is a small book with bone pages and a slarkskin cover. This book is why I am here but while I am in the harem I cannot go looking for it. I have to get out of this room and find it.” Nina looked up at her in all seriousness and indicated the girls in the center. “I am not here because of a debt like these girls or their parents. I am here because my people wanted me here; I am here because I volunteered.”

“You’re serious?” Rose said in yet another whisper as she looked over Nina trying to sense the truth from her demeanor. She would not believe it if she had not seen the tome Nina spoke of herself. It was in a language she did not recognize and she knew the common tongue and trade cant. “I know the book you speak of.”

“You know where it is?” Nina said excitedly. She leaned into Rose as if she were tired trying to mask her jubilance. “Can you get it for me?”