Broker -CH14-

Alex took in a deep breath, then let it out in a whoosh.

He knew it sounded silly since he hadn’t called this place home long, but he genuinely felt better being back in Brit.

The courtyard of his keep to be exact.

They’d made great time and had arrived just after sunrise.

Where the only power higher than himself was miles away, and only wanted their share of his pie.

A CEO who wants me to kick him his bone, and a bunch of peers doing the same thing. I can do this all day.

Carla was standing beside him, her head swiveling around as she took in the sight.

“Not bad,” she said, her eyes moving along the walls. “I think I might actually get a chance to rest here.”

“Mm. Definitely a lot less of a security concern here,” Alex couldn’t help but agree.

Rudolph and another man dropped a large wooden locked truck down beside him.

“Sir, I’ll check in with Max and return to my duties,” Rudolph said, bowing his head to Alex.

“Good work, Rudolph,” Alex said to the man. “I’ll be sure to express my admiration to Max.”

Rudolph and the other man left, Carla nodding at them as they did.

“I take it they trust you now?” Alex sat down on the trunk and gave it a pat next to him.

“Yeah. I think at first they just thought I was warming your bed and little else.

“Now it’s…” Carla paused, a frown slowly developing. “Now it’s like they see me as a guard.”

After a second more, she sighed and sat down next to him on the trunk.

“What are your plans for the day? I’ll settle in otherwise and take my day off tomorrow.”

“Ah. I’ll be visiting my dungeon. Check in on my projects,” Alex said. He paused to watch Anna and Holly wander from one end of the courtyard to the other. “Walter will inevitably track me down later on for a session of the month’s justice. I’m sure there’s a backlog.”

Carla grunted and then scratched at her stomach with one hand.

“I’ll get my room arranged then. Make myself home, I suppose. Unless you have an order for me?”

“No. I’m sure everything will work itself out. As far as sleeping arrangements go. Anna and Holly already claimed the attached sleeping chamber to my own.

“We might need to have Walter convert a nearby room into another attached room for you. Unless you plan on sleeping in my room every night?”

Carla snorted at that and stood up.

“Not if I can help it. Until then… Master.”

Nodding his head to that, Alex couldn’t disagree. It’d be best if she did that. He planned on having a great many deals made, and a number would require an empty bedroom.

“Speaking of,” Alex muttered. Getting up he unlocked the trunk and opened it.

Valeria was curled on her side, her face matted with sweat.

“How ya doing in there?” Alex asked.

She looked uncomfortable. He imagined her knees, back, and shoulders were aching from the confined space.

He did let her out once an hour to take care of her needs and catch a breather, but otherwise, she’d been confined to the box.

Sleeping had been the one exemption to this, but he imagined that was just as uncomfortable.

She’d been bound wrist, foot, and trussed up like a hog, then dumped into the carriage by herself .

The shackle around her wrists clanked as she lifted her head to look up at him.

“Warm… thirsty… are we… are we there?” she asked, her head slowly coming higher to peek out of the trunk.

“Yes. We are. I’ll have you transfered to your cell in a moment, and then we can have a chat about your future. It might be a good time to consider your position, what you want, and what you’re willing to give,” Alex said seriously.

Valeria looked around the courtyard for a few seconds, then looked to him. She nodded her head, and laid it back down in the trunk.

Closing the trunk gently, Alex relocked it and then sat back down on it.

He’d need to have two of his dungeon guards bring it in when he got the chance.

Anna and Holly vanished into a keep door, trailing along behind one of Walter’s people.

No time like the present I suppose.

Looking around, he saw another one of Walter’s people, and waved him over.

“Sir?” said the young man, coming to stand in front of Alex.

“Send a missive to Sylvia Griffon that I’ve returned and await her company,” Alex said, honoring his side of the bargain.

“Also, could you have Douglas come see me? I need to have this trunk moved.”

***

Moving through the hallway that ran the line of cells, he didn’t announce his presence to Riley yet. She’d not see Valeria going by, nor Alex’s return.

“Put it up against the wall for now, and leave it here. I might have a use for it in here later. After that, consider this a standard prisoner cell, with one change.

If she asks for a meal, we’ll need to provide her with whatever a standard meal is for a local, decent quality, inn,” Alex said to Douglas. “And if she does, you’ll need to keep track of it. A simple tally system will do.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“Great. Anything I need to know? Did One do alright? Any concerns, problems, or questions while I was gone?”

“Ah, no, Sir. She did ask where you were often. We followed your orders and provided her with a bath once a week, and made sure to add extra fruit and vegetables to each meal. Both to be given with your compliments.”

“Good, good. Alright. Thank you, Douglas. I’m going to break this new one in. I may or may not have order changes for you after this.

“Oh, and before I forget, the lady Griffon will be returning. Please reinstate her accommodations to what they were previously.”

“Of course, Sir. Glad to have you back,” Douglas said, bowing his head. Then he left, going by the same hallway they’d use to get in.

Alex unlocked the trunk, then left the cell. Pulling the iron gate shut as he exited, he locked it.

“Come on out, Valeria. You’re home,” Alex called.

Creaking on its hinges, the lid to the trunk opened cautiously.

He watched was Valeria’s head came up, her hazel colored eyes flitting from one side of her cell to the other.

“You’re alone. And no one will harm you. If you come on over this way and put your wrists through the bars, I’ll unlock the shackle,” Alex said.

Taking several steps back, he put himself at a distance to the bars.

Valeria looked to him, then slowly got to her feet.

Her hair was a wild disarray of what could only be called a rats nest, and her tunic was rumpled and sweat stained.

Stepping out of the trunk, she stretched one way, and then the other.

“That was… unpleasant,” Valeria said, her tone neutral.

“I’m sure it was. We can always use it later as punishment… or a reward,” Alex said with a smile.

Now that he had her where he wanted her, he could start curbing her personality to fit what he wanted.

Part of that, was indulging her needs and wants. Which could very well be, being locked in the trunk for all he knew.

It was a possibility given her personality.

Walking over to him, she stuck her arms through the bars.

“Come closer. Get yourself pressed up to the bars and stretch out as far as you can. I’ll not be giving you the possibility of catching me.

“Sorry,” Alex said.

Complying, Valeria squeezed up against the bars and held her arms in front of herself.

Smoothly as he could, Alex unlocked the shackle, and pulled it away from her before she could take it into the cell with her.

“Well. The rules here are pretty simple,” Alex said as she drew back into her cell. “You’ll be fed regularly, given all the amenities you’ll need to survive, and be left alone.

“No harm will befall you, no one will hurt you, and no one will contact you,” Alex said. He paused for a second contemplating if he wanted to offer her anything.

“And the… the deals will be like the last one? You’ll offer me things and I can say no?” Valeria asked, inspecting her bed.

“That’s right. The deal for your meals will continue of course. The last unpaid tally we had before we left was… four meals, so twenty swats?”

Valeria nodded her head but otherwise didn’t respond.

“Good. Now, before I go. I’d like to make you a deal. If you’re willing?”

“Of course,” Valeria said, vanishing behind the privacy screen to probably inspect her “bathroom” as it were.

“I’m willing to offer you the chance to have a hairbrush and a couple changes of clothes. A mirror as well,” Alex said.

“I’d definitely like all of those,” she called over the screen. “But what’s the price?”

“You have to swear an oath to not harm myself, yourself, or anyone in this dungeon. You also have to swear to not make any attempt to escape. Fairly simple things, really.

“It’ll also make our deals moving forward, much easier to conduct.”

“Ah… those do seem… prudent. Yes, I’ll swear to all of that. On my soul and life, to Leah’s name, on our previous bargain.”

And there it is.

“Wonderful. I accept and swear to the oath as well. I’ll have everything brought in for you shortly. Now, I need to be going unless there’s anything you need?”

“No.”

Alex left her cell and headed back to the dungeon guard post.

He turned over the shackle to them, and made arrangements for Valeria’s new needs, then entered the corridor that ran through each cell.

Walking through Sylvia’s cell, he glanced in to see a guard giving it a once over and seemingly making sure it was as it should be.

Alex nodded to the man, and entered Riley’s cell as quietly as possible.

With any luck he’d catch her sleeping, though the morning had passed a while ago. It was much closer to lunch now.

Riley’s head jerked up from her seat at her table.

She was sitting in her uniform, doing nothing at all.

Before she could start stripping, Alex smiled and held up a hand.

“Good morning, One. No need to strip this time. You weren’t expecting me, and I see you’re wearing your lovely uniform,” Alex said, coming up to the bars.

“Master! It’s good to see you. I… I hope everything went well?” she asked, bouncing up from the table and moving over to him at the bars.

Her enthusiasm to see him was definitely a good turn of events.

Though it felt slightly ahead of schedule.

That or she’d seen such little kindness in her life, that even the small bits he gave her were more than she’d ever had.

“As well as can be expected when dealing with our toad of a king,” Alex admitted with a smile and a sigh. “In the end I was forced to take a wife. Otherwise, everything is as it was.”

She could use a compliment I bet. When we left, we had just converted her over to her new persona. She’s had some time to live in it. Seems like she’s fitting it well.

“Now hold on there,” Alex said in a curious tone. Leaning back he gave her a once over. “You certainly look much better all and all.

“The bruises are all gone, you look like you have a much better coloring to you, and you definitely fill out that uniform nicely, One.”

Riley blushed deeply, looked to the ground, and clasped her hands in front of herself.

“I… I think I’ve been eating more regularly then I did living in the city,” she said. One of her hands came up to toy with an errant curl of red hair. “The person you said would come cut my hair did. They just trimmed it up. Said they hadn’t heard from you what you wanted it to be yet.”

“Well, you look good. And your collar really fits your neck quite well. Would you lift your chin and show me your tag?” Alex asked. He made sure to phrase it as a request, not an order.

Riley lifted her head up immediately and met his eyes, her left hand cupping her tag and holding it out to him.

“Ah, you’ve kept it clean, good girl. How are you otherwise, One?”

“I’m good, Master. I’m good. Though I like eating as often as I get to, I think I’m… I’m very tired of eating the same thing every day,” she said, still holding her tag up to him.

Alex smiled at her and gestured at the tag with a finger, indicating she could drop it.

“I see. What else?”

“I’ve… I’ve had my moonblood a day ago. I’m afraid I dirtied the sheets on accident, Master. The guards took care of it and were very polite about it.”

But?

Alex waited, smiling encouragingly at her, he leaned up against the bars.

“I’d like to have a bath but the guard said when you returned it wouldn’t be available anymore. That you had given it to me since you couldn’t be here.

“I think I could do the previous deal you offered me… now, for it.”

Poor thing. Doesn’t she realize that it means little if she wants it?

“I’ll consider it. Not sure what a bath tub will run now that I’m back.

“For the change in meals though… are you looking for just different food, or better food?”

Riley looked shocked at his question. As if she hadn’t even considered the possibility of better food.

“Better food, Master?”

Alex grinned in what felt like to him a wolflike way.

“I’ll upgrade your meal to what’s served in a local inn, and change the variety, but the price will be…”

Riley was staring at him, her eyes a bit wider than they were previously.

Alex did his best to watch her as he started to offer the deal. He wanted her craving the deals to get more for herself.

To look forward to them.

Even when he asked her to demean herself.

“That you take training as a personal maid. I’ll have you working with a keep servant to begin learning the roles and duties of a personal maid to me. Exclusively. In addition, you’ll be swearing to be celibate. To not touch another man or woman in any way that could even be thought of as romantic or sexual.

“You won’t be leaving your cell just yet either, but I do need to find a use for you.”

A carrot, this time. The stick, next time.

“I swear, Master. I accept the deal, and swear on the oath,” Riley said immediately. 

“Good. Thank you, One. I’ll think on the bath. I’ll probably drop by later on, alright?”

“Yes, Master. Of course, Master. Should I make myself nude for you next time?”

“Ah, no, as much as I enjoy the view, it isn’t needed. You look too good in your uniform. It’d be a waste. Wear your uniform going forward, we’ll take each day as they come. Until next time, One.”

Alex gave her a tight smile, and then headed for the door to Sylvia’s cell.

“Until then, Master,” Riley called after him.

Not responding, Alex ducked into Sylvia’s cell, then froze as the door shut behind him.

Standing in the middle of the cell was the wraith he knew as Leah.

“Hello, Alex,” she said.

“Ah, Leah. It’s good to see you,” Alex said, pinning his screeching thoughts into submission before they could give anything away.

She chortled to herself, as if even recognizing that for what it was.

“Your favor. I do believe it’s time to collect on it,” Leah said.

“Ok. Ah, I was wondering what the possibility would be of having a… second crystal. One that I could offload other deals to for a future months debt.”

“You’re thinking of Eugenia, I take it?”

“Yes, and no. I have no… reason… to make more deals this month. At all. In fact, my deals in your name will dry up faster than the desert until the new month.

“There’s just nothing to compel me to do anything. There’s no reason to offer more deals when I get nothing from it.

“No motivation.”

The wraith paused, her head tilting to one side.

“Yes, I could see how your mind views that. Works it. Your wife triggered this thought in you. With Holly’s contract,” Leah said.

“That’s right. She did. Providing me with another crystal, so I could preload my debt, would make me work a month in advance.”

“And yet no further than that, after that. One crystal wouldn’t change your thinking… no.”

Leah stood there, unmoving. Then she suddenly snapped her fingers in a very human like gesture.

“I have it. I’ll give you a crystal column. As big as a grandfather clock. Whatever excess deals you commit to, will fill it. If you were to turn it completely black, it’d be the equivalent of twelve months worth of deals.

“What do you say to that?”

Alex almost resisted the urge to think about that. Almost.

With that much leeway to work with, I’d be able to store a massive amount in advance.

Though I wonder, if I filled it completely, would she take something in trade for it and give me a new one?

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Yes, I would, but we’d have to dicker on the price of course,”she said.

“Could you stop reading my mind? It’d be nice to actually have a thought to myself, and then convey it to you if I actually wanted to do it.”

“Sorry, bad habit. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”

Grumbling, Alex, ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, ok. I’ll take that as my favor then.”

Leah held out a hand to him.

Without thinking about it, he shook her hand.

“We have an accord then. Also, because I want you to live a long happy life and earn me a number of souls and deals, I’ve taken care of another problem you had.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“The STD you had eating away at you. Marta the whore gave it to you. You already passed it on to Carla, who gave it to Holly,” Leah said deadpan. “I’ve already seen where you’re guiding your deals, and do approve. With that in mind, I’ve changed you a bit. Only a tweak, mind you. But still, I changed you. You’ll never catch an STD of any sort, ever again. In fact, anyone you sleep with, will be cured of their own. That’s how strong your own body’s defense against it will be.

“Consider it my blessing.”

Alex wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but he was glad to hear it’d been taken care of.

He hadn’t even considered the problem, even though he clearly should have.

“Feel free to go cure the world with your dick if you want, but I’d advise against it,” Leah said with a shrug, then vanished.