Part 15
Chapter 68: Torture
The Master of Assassins undid his cloak as he looked down at the implements on he table which appeared to be a mix of sex toys and genuine instruments of torture and a few that were probably both. Then he tossed the cloak onto the armchair and pushing up the sleeves of his doublet he walked back towards Ellie.
‘So,’ he said, ‘you were about to tell me what you were doing in Thoth.’
‘I told you, I’m here with my party.’
‘Really? Anything else?’
‘That’s about all there is to it,’ Ellie said.
The Assassin slammed his fist into Ellie’s belly making her body jerk backwards, prevented from falling by the rope binding her wrists, the ropes on her ankles snapping taut. Ellie gasped, fighting for breath. There was, she realised, little point in resisting. If she did say that they are planning to steal the third part of Sister Stephania’s Wand from the Gordian palace it was hardly likely that the Assassins would hand her over to the Watch but they might tell the Thieves’s Guild or they might decide to take the Wand for themselves. For all her fighting prowess, Battle Babe might still succumb to a knife between the shoulder blades in an alley somewhere in the city. The thought of Battle Babe hardened her resolve. Obtaining the third part of the artefact was her chance to prove to the Party Leader that she wasn’t a complete waste of space.
And, after all, how hard could it be not to talk? This was just a game. And yet…
‘Anything more you’d like to tell me?’
‘Nothing springs to mind.’
The Assassin smiled. ‘I hoped you might say that.’ He walked to the table and picked up a large metal hook. ‘I do like to play with my favourite toys.’
Ellie was surprisingly relieved when she found the tip of the hook was not sharp and it was destined for her bottom, it was better than a number of scenarios she’d imagined and, had it been about to pierce some part of her anatomy, she might have given up on her resolve.
‘Kinky,’ she gasped as the cold metal slid inside her. She was surprised at the response it produced.
‘Oh, you haven’t seen the half of it yet.’ The Assassin took the rope around Ellie’s neck and passed it through the ring in the top of the rectal hook then pulled it tight making the metal slide more deeply inside her and the loop of rope around her neck tighten.
Ellie gasped again and her body tingled. For a moment she thought she was actually enjoying this treatment then she realised it was the effect of XPs.
The sensation could only mean one thing; the man was clearly aroused by what he was doing. This was something she could work with.
The noose around her neck wasn’t tight enough to choke her but she could feel its pressure and immediately experienced the effects of the partial strangulation.
‘Cool,’ she said as the Assassin returned to the table. ‘I’ve never done breath-play.’
She thought he might have reacted to that, his body stiffening. It probably wasn’t a sane plan to antagonise one’s torturer but this man obviously enjoyed this aspect of his work and, from the array of implements, it was clear that some of what was about to happen was going to involve sexual torment. If she could keep him to kinky toys and away from the branding irons, she might escape relatively unscathed and, she realised with excitement, gain some experience.
Two leather straps came next, one around each of her breasts, pinching them and making them jut out even more than usual. This didn’t seem too bad at first but, after a few moments they began to throb. Cautiously tipping her head forward, the rope on her throat tightening, she looked down to see them starting to turn blue. These cuffs were a lot tighter than the press Prospero had put her in.
‘These are some quite serious assets,’ he said, rubbing her nipples before tying two thinner straps around them, pulling them tight and adding weights.
‘They certainly attract a lot of attention.’ Ellie was starting to feel light headed.
The Assassin set the weights swinging.
‘You know,’ Ellie said, her voice breathy. ‘If men had breasts, they’d probably think twice before doing this sort of thing to them.’
‘Perhaps it’s as well we don’t.’ The Assassin smiled and picked up a whip causing Ellie to feel a sudden rush of XPs or, at least, that’s what she thought the feeling was.
‘Ahhh!’ Ellie cried out as the whip came down hard on her right breast making it bounce and the weight on her nipple jerk hard.
‘So sensitive.’ The Assassin ran his finger along the line where the whip had struck.
Ellie risked a look down despite the rope across her throat. Her breasts were a dark blue and there was a red-blue stripe where the whip had landed but even as she realised this, she felt a certain excitement which seemed to be brought on by the rope around her throat.
The whip came down again and Ellie made an effort not to cry out. This was painful but she hadn’t suffered any actual Damage yet, even with the punch.
He continued to whip her breasts making them bounce and she soon lost her resolve not to respond, the blows were painful on her bound breasts and the jerks of the weights on her nipples only increased her pain. After what must have been around the twentieth stroke she felt the sickening feeling of Damage and realised she’d lost a Hit Point. The Assassin seemed to register this too.
‘I’m rather enjoying myself but if you want to tell me something, I might pause our little game.’
‘No.’ Ellie gasped, finding herself breathless and light-headed. ‘I’m good.’
‘We’ll come back to these then.’ He slapped her right breast making it jump and Ellie tried not to whimper. It was only the effect of the XPs that was keeping her going.
And, perhaps, the rope on her throat.
He targeted her bottom next. Stroke after stroke, slashes of pain, hard across her buttocks that made her struggle, lifting her legs to pull uselessly against the ropes binding her ankles.
She felt another Hit Point slip away and imagined the flesh of her buttocks bruised and blistered, perhaps bleeding.
‘Well?’ he asked, standing in front of her.
Ellie’s breathing rasped in her throat and she knew she was crying. ‘I’m game if you are.’ She managed. Her legs were shaking, her calves trembling from the effort of holding herself.
He brought the whip up hard between her legs.
‘Fuck!’ Ellie screamed.
‘Still want to continue?’
‘And spoil your fun?’ Ellie flashed a smile.
He took some brutal looking clamps from the table and crouched before her. A moment later she felt him pull on one of her labia and then the teeth to the clamps bite into it. The second one caused her to lose another Hit Point; the weights he added made her scream. Then he pulled on her clitoris and tightened a clamp around that, adding another weight. She wanted to look down but knew she wouldn’t be able to see anything and her throbbing sex told her all she needed to know. However, now the weights were attached and swinging gently, it didn’t feel too bad.
The steady trickle of XPs told her he was enjoying himself and, if she was honest, having his hands touching her down there had not been unpleasant, until he’d applied the clamps. She gave thanks to Aphrodite for the coding that made girls in Fantasia submissive.
‘You really know how to give a girl a good time,’ she rasped, her voice shaking. She was hanging now, her legs no longer able to support her weight, her breasts throbbing, her buttocks burning, stinging as her sweat trickled into the wounds caused by the whip.
Needles came next, he plunged them into her tortured breasts making her gasp and cry out with each one. Another Hit Point drained and she felt a wave of nausea that was worse than the torture. Gaining levels had given her more Hit Points since her near fatal encounter with the gnolls but she saw a flashing red 3 and decided enough was enough.
This was, after all, only a game.
‘Alright,’ she said, ‘I’ll tell you.’
He stood in front of her expectantly.
‘We’re here for an artefact. It’s in the palace.’
‘Sister Stephania’s Wand,’ he said.
‘You know?’
‘Of course I know.’ I’m on the City Council, we veto all quests in the city.’
‘Then…’
‘Why torture you?’
‘Yes.’ Ellie felt confused but perhaps that was the pain or the loss of Hit Points or the noose around her neck.
‘Why do you think?’
‘Oh.’ She couldn’t help but smile at the realisation.
‘And, if you succeed in acquiring it, there’s quite an adventure ahead. Have you heard of The Sorceress?’
‘It has come up.’ Ellie flashed a weak smile but then coughed and winced as the tug of the weights set swinging from her nipples and her sex. ‘Do you think you could, let me go now.’
‘All in good time.’
‘You mean you’re going to carry on torturing me anyway?’
‘I’m an Assassin, not a barbarian,’ he said curtly, apparently seeming genuinely offended. ‘Your reputation precedes you, Seductress. I am going to let you go but I am planning to make full use of your oral skills first.’
The Assassin who’d picked her up from the tavern was the one who threw her out into the street through the back door of the Assassin’s guild. Despite her ordeal, she had satisfied the Master of Assassins, on her knees, swallowing as she guessed she was expected to do after which he’d removed most of the needles from her breasts and the hook from her rectum and the clamps from her sex.
She lay curled on her side in among the garbage, rotten fruit and vegetables, soiled pieces of cloth, broken boxes and stuff that smelt a lot worse. Her body ached, her breasts particularly as they were still bound. At some point her wrists had been tied behind her back so there was nothing she could do about it.
‘Are you ok?’
Ellie opened her eyes. There was a young man sitting on the step above her drinking from a flask. With a sinking feeling she realised it was the young Assassin who’d originally been sent to pick her up, the one she’d kneed in the groin.
For a moment she considered snapping at him - of course she wasn’t fucking ok! She’d just been tortured.
‘Not really,’ she said, forcing a smile. ‘Perhaps I should have come quietly with you.’
Then she realised he seemed to be in almost as bad shape as her, his face bruised, trails of blood from his nose, his right eye almost swollen shut; his clothes were torn in places and soiled too as if he’d also been thrown in the garbage.
‘I guess it doesn’t matter now.’ He took another swig from the flask and grimaced. ‘You want some?’ He held out the flask to her.
‘Yes, go on then.’ She struggled to a seated position and turned to show her bound hands. ‘I could use a little help though.’
‘Oh.’ He stood and lifted the flask to her lips allowing her to drink.
‘Ugh.’ Ellie made a face as she recognised Healing Potion.
‘I suppose there’s a logic in making it taste bad,’ he said. ‘I mean medicine is supposed to, right? At least that’s what my mum told me when she forced one of her herbal remedies down my throat.’
‘Yes, I suppose so.’
‘Here, you look as if you need it more than me.’ He held the flask to her lips again.
Ellie took another swallow. ‘Thanks.’
The red 3 had stopped flashing and had changed to a yellow 4.
‘You have needles in your breasts,’ he said.
Ellie clamped her jaw shut but then, snapping at him wouldn’t help and he had given her some of his Healing Potion which was making her feel an awful lot better.
She looked down. ‘Yes. If you…’. She’d been about to say ‘If you untied me, I could take them out.’
‘Here.’ He reached down and pulled one of the needles out.
It was at this point that Ellie fainted.
Chapter 69: Building Bridges
The first thing Ellie did when she came round was to look down at her breasts. She was still tied up but, mercifully, the straps had been removed from her breasts and nipples and the remaining needles were gone. There was Healing Lotion on the wounds too. She looked up and found she was lying with her head in the young man’s lap.
‘Did you do that?’ she asked in a more accusatory manner than she’d meant to.
‘I thought it was best to do it before you woke up.’ He began to blush.
Once more she was about to snap at him but then realised a man in Fantasia X could do an awful lot worse to an unconscious naked girl, whether or not her hands were tied behind her back.
‘Thank you, I think.’ She sat up, felt dizzy and lay down again. ‘Look, could you untie me?’
‘That depends.’
‘On what?’
‘Whether you’re going to attack me again.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ellie said, now feeling genuine remorse and wondering how this boy…man could ever have thought he would cut it as an Assassin. ‘I promise not to knee you in the groin or indeed, attack you in another way.’
‘Alright.’ He slipped her head out of his lap and crouched behind her where she felt him pulling at the knots.
Her stats told her she was now up to 5 hit points; not her full quota but the number was reassuringly green.
When her hands were free, Ellie sat up rubbing her wrists. ‘What happened to you, anyway. I didn’t do all that.’ She gestured to the bruises on his face. While she’d been unconscious, the Healing Potion or perhaps Lotion had taken down the swelling of his eye.
‘It was a punishment for failing to bring you in.’ He looked over his shoulder at the gate behind them. ‘It’s the way Assassins do it. You have to be tough.’
Ellie followed his gaze frowning.
‘I’m Ezio, by the way.’
‘Really?’ Ellie laughed. ‘Ezio?’
‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’ He shrugged. ‘There are thirty five Ezios in the guild at the moment. Though most of them are older than me.’
‘How do they tell you apart?’ Ellie asked.
‘They give us nicknames…’
‘And yours is..
‘Squirt.’
Ellie tried not to smile. ’Why an Assassin?’ She had to ask.
‘What?’
‘Why become an Assassin? I’m sorry but you really don’t seem the type.’
Now that he wasn’t trying to take her away and tie her up, he didn’t seem in any way threatening and now that the swelling in his face was going down she was reminded that she’d thought he was handsome. She suddenly found she quite liked him.
‘It was the attention to detail; planning...and the cool gadgets.’ He smiled at the latter, his eyes glazing slightly, remembering or imagining. ‘We make them all ourselves. I also thought the whole Assassin thing would be…you know…macho.’ He shrugged.
‘You thought murdering people was macho?’
‘I’m a bit of a nerd really,’ he said then quickly added. ’In the real, I mean. I wanted to try something different.’ He looked embarrassed. ‘I’m not so keen on the assassinating part.’
‘So you’re an Assassin who doesn’t want to kill people?’
‘I have done it... I’ve been on a couple of missions but only as part of the Lead Strike’s retinue. So I’ve only killed people…avatars in a fair fight, just not, you know…’ He motioned the act of sliding a blade into someone’s ribs. ‘I really like the training, though, especially making the gadgets. I’m actually really good at that bit.’ He smiled shyly at her.
‘And the getting beaten up?’ she asked.
‘No, that bit’s not so good.’
‘But presumably at some point you have to…Assassinate someone? Didn’t I read you need to do it to get to Level 4.’
He looked away.
‘And you haven’t done it,’ she said, reading his body language.
He sighed. ‘I could probably be Level 5 by now. If I’d agreed to do a Job.’
‘Come on, I'll buy you a drink.’ Ellie stood.
‘You know you’re naked.’
Ellie looked down at herself. She’d been naked for over half her time in Fantasia, and even when she had been clothed it wasn’t as if she wasn’t almost naked. Her mind appeared to have accepted this as normal along with large cumbersome breasts and an insatiable lust. ‘So I am.’ She realised that she’d been sitting there naked for some time and he hadn’t once looked at her breasts even if he had smeared Healing Lotion on them while she’d been unconscious..
‘Oh, sorry.’ Ezio jumped up and took off his cloak. ‘Here.’
The cloak was heavy and black and dirty where he had been thrown in the gutter. It smelt of dung and leather and, Ellie thought with a slight smile, of him. She drew it round herself. I’m not sure I should really wear this. You’re guild were pretty clear I wasn’t to assassinate anyone in Thoth. If I’m seen dressed like this they might be upset.’
‘Alright,’ he said. ‘stay here, I’ll get you something to wear.’
He was back relatively quickly. He was holding something white that she wasn’t surprised to note didn’t look very substantial. He held it out to her, turning his head away apparently embarrassed now by her nakedness now. She took the garment and held it up, it was a white fishnet body stocking.
‘I’m not a whore,’ she said rather more sharply than she meant to. He had been kind to her even though she’d landed a Critical Strike on his balls.
He looked back at her and shrugged again. It was a movement he used a lot and it was clearly to signify ‘what else can I do?’
‘This is the Slave City of Thoth,’ he said, ‘for three copper pieces it was either this or a harem slave outfit and well, frankly, I wasn’t sure the other one would fit you.’
‘I’m not fat,’ she said, still feeling irked at this choice although, now she thought about it, she had passed a stall selling what were essentially disposable costumes for whores.
‘Not fat but certain parts of you are quite…large.’ His eyes finally dropped to Ellie’s breasts. ‘Not that I’m complaining, of course.’
‘Of course.’ Ellie couldn’t help but smile at his clumsiness. A week ago this might have been her and their roles were somehow weirdly reversed. She suddenly wondered exactly what it had been like having him smear the Healing Lotion on her breasts. She thought it might be quite nice but then, perhaps, that was because it had been several hours since the sex with Prospero.
‘Besides I think you’ll look good in it.’
Ellie slid herself into the skimpy garment, it stretched easily over her body, high cut on the thigh and across her shoulders, finishing at the neck line presumably to allow a collar to fit snugly around a girl’s neck above it. It accentuated her curves, stretching over her breasts and buttocks, white against her pink skin. It was mostly the mesh of the fishnet but over her nipples and sex there were tiny triangles of white material providing a modicum of decency. Aside from Maiko’s kimono, it was probably the least revealing garment she’s worn in all her time in Fantasia X.
‘Does it?’ she asked realising she’d shed the cloak and dressed in front of him without thinking about it.
‘Does it what?’
‘Look good on me?’ She slid her hands behind her head and pushed her breasts forward posing for him in a way that Madam So had suggested.
Ezio licked his lips nervously. ‘It’s not bad.’
She fixed him with a stern glare. ‘Not bad?!’
‘You look…amazing.’ His face reddened.
She smiled genuinely flattered by the compliment. ‘Come on,’ she said, ’let’s get that drink.’
‘You haven’t got any money,’ he said. ‘You’ve just been thrown out of the Assassins’ Guild naked.’
‘Ok, I admit it.’ She held up her hands. ‘But I have other things to trade.’ She leaned forward, willing herself not to try to Seduce him.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘I’m paying.’
Ellie was surprised when he took her hand.
‘What the fuck is that?’ Ellie asked as Ezio placed a colourful glass on the table in front of her; it contained a fizzing liquid that swirled and changed colour: red to yellow to green then blue, purple and back to red; a mist rose off it.
‘It’s called the Rainbow Fountain,’ Ezio said. ‘It’s a cocktail. A magic one.’
‘I didn’t see Assassins as big cocktail drinkers?’
‘They’re not.’ Ezio shrugged. ‘But I don’t really like ale.’
‘You really aren’t cut out to be an Assassin,’ she said, not unkindly.
‘You’re probably right.’ He sighed. ‘I probably would have been better as an Artificer.’
He sat down and passed her a straw.
‘Are we sharing?’ She found herself surprisingly delighted by the thought.
‘If you’re ok with that,’ Ezio said, defensive again. ‘You didn’t mind with the Healing Potion.’
Ellie watched as he slid a straw into the swirling rainbow of liquid and drew some into his mouth. When she saw it hadn’t had any obvious ill effects, she did the same. The liquid was cold and sweet and fizzed on her tongue then burned as she swallowed.
‘Are you trying to get me drunk?’ She hadn’t meant to say it in quite the flirtatious way but it had come out with a pout and a seductive wink.
‘No...’ Ezio gasped looking at her, his face reddening.
‘Shame,’ Ellie said, then added quickly. ‘I mean it would be a shame if...’ She fumbled for words, tongue tied for the first time since meeting Goldie. ‘That’s to say…’
‘So what’s it like being a Seductress?’ Ezio came unexpectedly to her rescue and she almost felt as if he had ridden up on a white charger.
Or perhaps he hadn’t.
She paused to think.
Well, she thought, there’s walking round looking like you’re a living sex toy which is quite an experience in itself and then there’s quite a lot of sex…an awful lot of sex actually…not necessarily the sex you want but it all feels good because Seductresses get XP for having sex and there’s the Quickening that fills us with a constant need to flirt and…lust... Then there’s the getting tied up; did you know Seductresses get a negative weighing on Escapology; the system is pretty much designed to ensure we end up in bondage and stay in it; and I’m gradually finding that being in bondage makes me horny. In fact, with one thing and another I’m constantly horny; constantly, voraciously, achingly horny... She looked across the table at him. Perhaps, she thought, the cocktail was stronger than she’d expected but after a single mouthful her perceptions couldn’t have changed that much.
Could they?
She looked at Ezio and realised he was surprisingly handsome now the swelling in his face had almost totally subsided thanks to the Healing Lotion and he wasn’t trying to take her to the Assassin’s Guild to be tortured. His avatar was dark skinned and he looked like he might be Asian or perhaps from southern Europe. He’d mentioned his mother giving his herbal recipes. Perhaps she should seduce him… It must have been at least four hours since she’d last had sex, maybe five, and there was the baggage from the torture session/flirtation with the Master of Assassins.
‘You get to meet a lot of people,’ she said finally. ‘As a Seductress, I mean, there’s a lot of…meeting people.’
He looked surprised at her answer but nodded, perhaps understanding that talking about it might be awkward. ‘So are you here on your own?’ he asked after a moment.
Ellie took a sip of the cocktail. ‘Actually I’m here with my mum.’
‘Your mum?’
‘And her girlfriend.’
‘Is this like a girls’ weekend away?’ He looked around nervously. ‘Where are they?’
‘I sold them into slavery.’
He froze, a look of horror on his face. ‘Seriously?’
‘Cross my heart and hope to die a virgin,’ Ellie said, motioning with her hand to support the oath.
’And you think being an Assassin is bad?’
‘It’s temporary. Actually, I rented them out; my mum’s entertaining guests in a brothel called the Pleasure Dome and her girlfriend is currently pulling a pony cart.’
‘Wait, your mum has a girlfriend?’ he asked.
Same sex relationships were as common as heterosexual ones these days in western Europe and the States, leaving Ellie surprised at his comment. That’s when it occurred to her that his speech patterns were a little forced. His English was perfect but it was clearly a second language. She regarded him carefully, perhaps for the first time, certainly the first time since he had tried to escort her to the Assassin’s guild. She was fairly sure now that the real Ezio was Asian. The world had grown more liberal over the the first half of the twenty first century but in the matter of sexual relationships the east, particularly the Middle East, was still behind what was still called ‘the West’.
‘My mum threw my dad out when I was very young.’
‘Because she was gay?’ he asked, further confirming her suspicions.
‘No.’ Ellie shook her head, very much aware now of the alcohol in the cocktail. ‘They used to go to festivals together and get up to all kinds of stuff. When I was born, he wanted to carry on and she wanted to settle down. They couldn’t agree and, in the end, mum threw him out.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes.’ Ellie sighed. ‘He really regrets it. I think he still loves her.’
‘You keep in touch?’ He’d suddenly become serious.
‘Yeah.’ Ellie took another sip of cocktail. ’I talk to him a lot.’
‘And what about your mum?’
‘She won’t speak to him.’
‘That’s harsh.’
‘I think she regrets it too. Keeping him at a distance is part of how she copes.’ Ellie laughed suddenly. ‘Apart from having covert sex with her new lover.’
‘Covert.’
‘They try to pretend it's not happening,’ Ellie said. ‘But just before we left to come here, I came home and found my mum tied to her bed.’ She made a gesture to suggest the effect had been to induce nausea or even vomiting and realised he was looking uncomfortable.
‘So, what are you doing in Thoth?’ He asked, his words slightly slurred.
‘Is this an official Assassin’s question?’
‘No.’ He grinned. ‘I’m just curious.’
I’m on a quest.’ She giggled at this, it seemed so ridiculous to be talking about quests in the same breath as her parents’ separation and her mother’s relationship with her boss.
‘Really?’ Ezio sounded distracted and she saw his eyes were no longer focussing on hers. She watched as they drifted down her body.
The cocktail glass was more than half empty.
It would be so easy to seduce him. She realised she actually wanted to but there was something about his innocence that stopped her; the Dark Seductress, she realised, wouldn’t have any such qualms; a boy like this would be putty in her hands, a slave bent to her will; it would just take a single kiss. There might even be a trace of her Lipstick of Seduction left on her lips.
She dismissed such thoughts. ‘Are you looking at my breasts?’
Ezio’s eyes flicked up. They were glazed. ‘They are…big…er, I mean magnificent. Er, I mean I wasn’t really looking at your breasts. It’s just that... Well, you are quite…by which I mean very, very beautiful and…’. He stopped and made himself look at her eyes. ‘Sorry, you must get this all the time.’
‘It is one of the consequences of having a body like this and walking around semi-naked.’ She flashed a smile. ‘And there was me hoping you were interested in my mind.’
‘You sound...’ He paused for a moment. ‘I want to say charming, but I probably mean interesting.’
‘Interesting?’ Ellie rolled her eyes.
‘I mean…’
‘Do they have rooms upstairs?’ Ellie asked, cutting him off.
‘Yes, I think so.’
Ellie stood up. ‘Come with me.’
‘But…’
‘Girls have needs too you know.’ She flashed her perfect smile. ‘Besides you’re cute.’
She took his hand and led him to the bar and then, after securing a room, led him upstairs.
Chapter 70: Sex for Fun
Ellie leaned back against the door, closing it behind her. It was, she guessed, a typical Thoth room, kitted out for one purpose with a bed and a slave cot, rings set into the beams overhead and an upright post with more rings set into it. An ottoman at the foot of the bed had the end of a leather strap poking from beneath the lid.
Ezio turned to face her trying to hide the smirk on his face that told her he couldn’t quite believe this was happening to him. She watched him lean forward, a shyness evident in his dark eyes, felt his lips touch hers and the gentle press of his body against her breasts; sensed her own body respond. Kissing him back, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, kissing him harder, aware of the swell of his erection. A moment later, his arms encircled her waist and his hands slid lower cupping her buttocks.
‘So, which one of us is going to be tied up?’ Ellie said, breathless as she felt his cheek, rough and unshaven, graze across hers. To ask this seemed natural, a mix of her desire overlaid with the traits of her character. That’s what she told herself, anyway.
‘You mean…?’ He paused, still as he registered what she was saying.
‘This is the Slave City of Thoth,’ Ellie said. ‘If one of us isn’t tied up, we’re not doing it right.’
He looked at her, his mouth slightly open then recovered. ‘Well... I suppose you’ve been through a lot today, what with the guild. Perhaps it should be…’
‘Don’t even think about it.’ Ellie cut him off again, surprised by her own feelings on the subject. ‘They do teach you how to tie people up in assassin school don’t they?’
‘Yes. Assassins practice Abduction and Torture.’
‘And you did pass that class?’
‘I got a Distinction,’ Ezio said with a wry smile. ‘I passed my basic torture test too.’
‘Promises, promises…’ Ellie watched as Ezio turned away and bent to open the ottoman then rifled through it, tossing our ropes and manacles and chains.
‘Ah,’ he said, holding up a handful of short leather cords. ‘Assassins’ Cord. Completely inescapable.’
‘Then, what are we waiting for?’ Ellie shrugged out of the body stocking. ‘How do you want me?’
Ezio was good with the ropes. This wasn’t something she’d expected to be thinking about but then most of the sex she’d had in Fantasia X had involved her being in some form of bondage and she now felt herself comparing ways she’d been restrained. She was getting used to it, the algorithms subtly reducing any resistance she might have, making her conform to the submissive female stereotype that the coders had envisaged. He was more adept than Val, more focused, knowing. There was something about his hands on her body too as he guided her, making her stand with her hands behind her back, arms folded behind her, wrists pressed together and forearms just below her shoulder blades; something about the sureness with which he looped the cord around her wrists and cinched them then ran the rope up over her shoulder and down between her breasts, then encircling her waist before running the rope back up over her other shoulder to her wrists. Then he took another of the leather ropes and wound it around her shoulders drawing them back before weaving it around her breasts then taking in her bound arms.
‘Tight enough for you?’ he asked, securing the knot.
‘Not bad.’ Ellie realised she was panting, flushed, her body now charged with sexual desire. She struggled, enjoying the feel of her arms pinned securely suddenly aware of her vulnerability, her excitement ratcheting up. ‘But don’t forget my legs can be pretty dangerous weapons.’
She saw Ezio wince. ‘I’ll be restraining them too.’
‘I should hope so.’ She pouted, pushing out her breasts. ‘I want the full treatment. You did promise Abduction and Torture.’
‘So I did.’ He looped a cord around her throat just once, the gentle pressure thrilling her in a way that surprised and frightened. Her body had responded similarly during her ordeal with the Master of Assassins and she shuddered.
‘You ok?’ he asked, ‘too tight?’
‘Yes, fine. Just right. A girl likes to know she’s helpless and still have a circulation.’ She was surprised how unsteady her voice was. She had assumed it was the thrill of gathering XPs that had carried her through her visit to the Assassins’ Guild but she knew it was something more than that now.
‘Come on.’ He led her to the bed. ‘Up.’
‘Yes, Sir.’ She half teased and half felt the need to say it as she climbed up to kneel on the bed wishing suddenly that he would treat her more roughly, perhaps spank her and found herself disappointed when he didn’t.
‘Here.’ He pointed to the foot of the bed.
‘So masterful.’ She tried to sound playful, teasing but inside she was reeling from this treatment finding it excited her more than she had expected.
He secured her ankles to the head of the bed then had her kneel up so he could tie cords around the bottom of each of her thighs which he secured to the posts at the foot of the bed forcing her to keep her knees apart.
‘So what happens now?’ she asked, kneeling back and tossing her head to shake the hair out of her face. She was, she knew, completely helpless and utterly thrilled by it. When Val had bound her, she’d thought that with time she might escape but these cords were tight against her body, utterly inescapable even if she wanted to be free.
‘A few finishing touches,’ he said, his voice also unsteady even as he took another cord and made a ligature around her right nipple then drew it tight enough to make her gasp. She was panting and she knew her body was shimmering with arousal.
‘It’s the character class,’ she said, suddenly embarrassed by her need. ‘Seductresses in Fantasia can barely cross the street without needing to orgasm.’
‘Must be tough,’ he said with an ironic tone casting a second ligature followed around her other nipple with a sureness that thrilled her and she quivered, using all her willpower to stop herself climaxing.
‘Then I got bitten by a libido vampire... It’s probably why I’m so horny at the moment.’
‘Yes, that can happen when the venom wears off.’
‘What?’ She turned to look at him.
‘We use it for interrogation,’ he continued, tying the ligatures together. ‘Orgasm denial is in the Assassin’s creed as a way of getting someone to talk.’
‘It would work with me,’ she said, flashing a smile, the very thought of it making her quiver with excitement. ‘Wait, what do you mean it wears off?’
‘The effects only last two or three days.’
‘Bastard!’ She spat the word.
‘What?’ Ezio jumped back.
‘Not you.’ Ellie shook her head. ‘I paid an Artificer to cure me.’
He laughed.
‘It’s not funny.’
‘Dare I ask how he cured you?’
Ellie blushed furiously although in her current state of arousal it was possible Ezio hadn’t noticed. ‘Probably best I don’t tell you.’
‘Didn’t your party leader warn you?’
‘She was too busy worrying that I’d been turned.’
‘From the bite?’ He had an amused expression on his face.
‘Yes.’
He laughed and she looked at him.
‘That bit wasn’t true either, was it?’
‘If you’re bitten by a Hive Master you’re turned. The bites look completely different to the vampiresses’.’
‘She staked me out for three nights in a row!’ Ellie said crossly.
‘And does she do the same to that pretty oriental girl in your party?’
‘Maiko?’ Ellie regarded him quizzically. ‘Have you been following me?’
‘You’re an unlicensed Assassin, that makes you a person of interest.’
‘So you think she’s pretty?’ Ellie said. ‘Would you like me to introduce you.’
‘No, I’m good,’ he said. ‘She’s not as gorgeous as you.’ He tugged on the cord between her nipples and kissed her.
‘I’m supposed to do the seducing,’ Ellie said as she kissed him back. Ellie’s mind was reeling, not from the deceptions that had been practised on her but from Ezio’s sure treatment of her helpless body. If he didn’t do something soon, she’d explode.
‘Don’t go away.’ He stood suddenly. His smile was oddly charming and she wondered if tying her like this was a fantasy come true.
‘Ha, ha.’ Ellie rolled her eyes and grinned but she knew it wasn’t enough to conceal the need that pulsed within her. She was teetering on the edge of orgasm, longing for him to touch her and use her and she squirmed with frustration as he pulled off his doublet. His body was lean and unexpectedly muscular still bruised from his beating despite the Healing Potion, there were scars too. Just looking at him made her want to reach out and touch it and this made the bondage more intense, magnifying her desire.
The dark Seductress, or the dominant one, she wasn’t sure which was telling her to control him to use that voice and she willed herself not to speak as he sat on the bed and slid off his boots then his breeches.
When he turned back to her his cock was rigid and drooling and she wanted nothing more than to have it inside her. Her dark sister told how easy it would be to take control and she desperately wanted to give away that possibility.
‘Wait,’ she said as he went to kiss her again.
He stopped, the confident and oddly charming smile dropping from his face. ‘What?’
‘I need you to gag me.’
‘What, why?’
‘Perhaps I enjoy it.’ She tried to make a joke of it. ‘No. I’m worried I’ll take control. I don’t want to Seduce you.’
‘I think you’ve already done that.’
‘Seriously, I want you to control me.’ She squirmed again, enjoying the embrace of the ropes. ‘Use me…’ She realised she was babbling. ‘Please Ezio, gag me and use me. Spank me if you want to. Punish me if it pleases you.’
‘Ok.’ The smile was creeping back onto his face. ‘Or is it just because I’m a really bad kisser?’
She smiled. ‘You’re a very good kisser. Believe me, I’m a professional.’
He stood up and went to the chest at the foot of the bed, producing a leather muzzle with a large plug and she willed him to hurry.
‘Will this do?’
‘That will be perfect.’ Her voice was quick, breathy.
He knelt on the bed behind her and she opened her mouth, excited as he slipped the large leather plug between her teeth and then began to buckle the straps, one over the top of her head, another around the back of her neck. She smelt leather and found this exciting too. The plug forced her mouth wide and she knew she would soon be drooling on her breasts. Even that might be enough to make her cum.
‘Ok?’ he asked.
‘Mmmm.’ She nodded as she tightened the straps under her chin.
Then his hands were on her breasts, cupping them and playing with her nipples, stiff and erect and exquisitely sensitive from the ligatures tightly around them.
She came then, almost immediately, gasping a ‘Shhry’ by way of apology. It wasn’t over though, not by any means. In the foreplay of the bondage, there hadn’t been much in the way of Experience, perhaps the coders didn’t believe in rewarding consensual sex but when she climaxed there was a sudden rush of XPs which left her immediately ready to cum again. She felt his lips on her shoulder and then his hands slipped lower, across her belly and down between her thighs. His fingers creeping towards her sex brought another orgasm making her mewl into her gag and buck in his arms, the ropes tightened on her body and that triggered another orgasm.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Is it always like this for you?’
‘Mmmm.’ She nodded dreamily, her mind riding the waves of arousal.
And he hadn’t even reached her sex yet!
He pulled her back, lying her on her bound arms and she thought, hoped, he was about to enter her. The thought made her recall the orgasm inhibitor and wish she’d bought or, more likely, stolen one. It was a shame it would likely be over so quickly for him. However, he sat on the bed and gently touched her sex with his fingers. She climaxed again, glad she was gagged as it muffled her cries.
Then he began to tease her. He had very gentle and shockingly skilful hands; it was almost as if he was playing her like she was a musical instrument; teasing her repeatedly to a crescendo and then letting her rest before doing it all over again until, finally, her body could bear it no longer and she was thrashing and bucking and screaming into her gag, her body trapped in a never ending sexual frenzy.
When he stopped, she was gasping, her body burning, feverish, her mind numb from the onslaught of pleasure.
Cautiously, he removed the gag and lay beside her.
‘Did they teach you this in Assassin school?’ She said when she could finally speak again. She was lying on her bound arms, her legs still spread wide, sex gaping.
‘I learned the bondage,’ he said, ‘and we practiced orgasm denial in the torture class and, like I say, I’m naturally good with my hands. Although, that was the opposite of denial.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t use an orgasm inhibitor on me.’
‘I think you might have burned it out.’
She turned to look at him grinning.
‘You’re good with your tongue too,’ she said, turning to look at him.
At one point, tentatively, he had caressed her with his tongue, flicking her clit in a way that made her orgasm with every touch.
‘You are beautiful.’ He stroked a finger down her cheek and she lifted her head to kiss it. Then he traced it across her neck down to her breast teasing her nipple. ‘But does it ever worry you that this place is all about beauty?’
‘Not really. I thought it would but now it just seems part of the game.’
‘Do you look like this in the real?’ he asked suddenly.
‘I’m way more gorgeous,’ she said ‘What about you?’
‘I’m not a lot different,’ he said. ‘Not quite so muscly.’ He laughed. ‘A lot less muscly if I’m honest. A lot less bruised too.’
‘Are you as good with your hands?’ She felt herself blush.
‘I’ve always liked making things. In the real I’m studying engineering. Like I said, I probably should have been an Artificer.’
‘So you could pretend to cure gullible young Seductresses?’
He laughed. ‘Something like that.’
She swallowed and looked at the ceiling. She had barely registered the mirror above them but now looked at her body with its huge breasts, her legs splayed, sex gaping. She looked at him too, lean and handsome, his dark skin and thick dark hair.
‘You haven’t...’ she said. ‘I’d like to feel you inside me.’
She saw him stiffen. ‘I’m ok,’ he said.
‘What?’ Then she realised. You’re…?’
She saw him blush.
‘How many times have you been here?’ She asked, as much to distract him as because she wanted to know.
‘This is my third trip.’
‘And you’re still a virgin?’
He froze.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I mean... I suppose as a Seductress, I was thrown in at the deep end.’
He still seemed hesitant.
‘Don’t make me Seduce you,’ she said, turning to look at him with a smile. ‘Anyway, it’s not as if I can stop you.’
He leaned towards her and kissed her on the lips then, gently climbed on top of her looking down as he guided his cock towards her sex.
She looked up again. ‘Just push inside me. It will be fine.’
He looked at her in surprise.
‘Sorry, this is probably the first time I’ve had any say in the matter. I’m usually gagged or completely helpless and usually both.’
‘Oh.’
‘Which is just the way I like it.’ She grinned. ‘Now push that thing inside me and use me like the walking sex toy I seem to have become.’
He looked a little shocked by what she’d said but did as she told him, his shaft sliding easily into her soaking pussy and saw him smile. The sight was enough to bring a tingle of pleasure that almost matched the feeling in her sex. He leaned down and kissed her, pushing himself in a little deeper.
‘Are you sure you haven’t done this before?’
He buried his face in her neck, his lips caressing her skin.
‘And just for the record,’ she said. ‘When a girl’s just enjoyed multiple orgasms like that, she wants it long and slow. Show me how long you can hold out for.’
He did a pretty good job, gently sliding his cock in and out of her sex, bringing her slowly back to the edge of orgasm then thrusting hard as he came pushing her over the edge too then he lay on her, his cock still stiff inside her.
Chapter 71: Frills and Thrills
They had sex again before Ezio finally untied Ellie. Being able to dress in the same clothes was, she thought, something of a luxury even if it was a fishnet bodystocking.
‘You know, if you’re unhappy being an Assassin, you could change class.’
‘I’m Level 3, I’d have to more or less start again.’
‘It might be better than staying as a Level 3 Assassin forever. Unless this has been an elaborate ruse and you’re about to make your first kill.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ he said.
She reached out and pulled him towards her, going up on her toes to kiss him.
‘I don’t suppose you’re doing anything later,’ she said with a slight smirk.
‘I could make myself available, but I’m not sure I can afford another room.’
She pushed him away. ‘I thought you were interested in me, not just this body.’
‘Oh?!’ he said, confused. ‘I thought…’
‘We might get some sex in afterwards,’ Ellie said with a smile, ‘but what I really need is someone with the skillset of a…oh, let’s just say, for example, a Level 3 Assassin who’s good at gadgets.’
He frowned. ‘You are planning something!’
‘I might, theoretically, be planning to break into the Gordian Palace and steal a magical artefact,’ she said. ‘Of course, as an unlicensed individual, I’d never actually do it but if I was to do it I would need some help.’ She paused, regarding him. ‘And the pretty oriental girl would be there too, if it helps.’
‘And what would this theoretical burglary be for?’
‘There’s a magical artefact called Sister Stephania’s Wand of Warding,’ she explained. ‘We have two parts, we need a third.’
‘What for?’
‘I don’t know yet. People keep hinting that there’s a Sorceress who needs sorting out but I don’t really know what we’re supposed to do with her. However, I’m guessing it’s something pretty cool; apparently we’re on a Golden Quest.’
He raised his eyebrows then frowned. ‘It’s not Magical,’ he said. ‘It’s Clerical. Sister Stephania’s Wand is a religious artefact.’
‘Ok,’ Ellie said, surprised but suddenly interested to know more. ‘Do you know anything else about it?’
‘In the History of Fantasia X it says Clerics were persecuted by Mages in the Era of the Mage Lords. A bit like a reversal of mediaeval witch finding in Europe - only the mages sent off ‘cleric hounds’ to track down, interrogate and kill anyone of a religious persuasion. Sort of a magical inquisition. Anyway, Sister Stephanie was captured and interrogated but no matter what the mages did, she wouldn’t talk. In fact nothing they did to her even seemed to harm her. It was part of the downfall of the mages. Like a miracle. Well, actually, in the spirit of the game, an actual Miracle.’
‘So this wand makes you immune to magic?’
‘Pretty much, yes. Only Arcane magic, the sort used by sorcerers and mages. It might work against druidic magic but I wouldn’t want to put that to the test.’
‘So, Mr Knowall Assassin. Will you help me steal it?’
He looked at her in amazement. ‘But…’
‘Yes, I know, if I get caught your Guild is pretty much going to skin me alive and there’ll be no magical wand to protect me. But even if you don’t want to do it, I’m trusting you not to say anything.’
‘Of course I’ll come with you,’ he said. ‘It sounds like a lot more interesting than running errands for the Guild. When do we go?’
‘Midnight. There’s an alley along the west wall of the palace.’
‘Convenient that, isn’t it?’ He said with a grin. ‘I’ll be there.’ Then his grin faded. ‘Wait! You didn’t just do all that to get me onside?’
‘Of course not!’ She smiled. ‘Well, maybe a little but I mostly did it because I really needed to get laid and you’re cute.’
‘Ok.’ He still seemed unconvinced.
‘Alright, you’re very cute.’
‘You’re beginning to convince me.’ His smile was returning and pulled him close to kiss him.
‘And I trust that you’ll bring some of those gadgets you’re so fond of to help us get over the wall and past the guards.’
‘Oh, yes.’ He grinned.
‘Then I’ll see you later.’ She turned to go.
‘Honey?’
‘Yes?’
‘Will you be going dressed like that?’
She ran her fingers through her hair and gave him a shimmy. ‘In your dreams, lover boy.’ She blew him a final kiss and slipped through the door.
It was late afternoon when Ellie reached the tavern where they were staying. The elf had, at least, kept her belongings safe even if he showed little interest in her return. After sliding on her boots, Ellie replaced her weapons in her hair before strapping her dagger to her thigh.
The afternoon with Ezio and his knowledge of the Wand had left her in a very positive mood despite the events of the morning. What else, she thought, would any self respecting Seductress do in such a situation?
She slipped her satchel over her shoulder, nestling the strap between her breasts and went shopping.
The dress shop Goldie had mentioned, Frills and Thrills ‘Designer Clothing for the Discerning Seductress’ was easy enough to find, just a little off the main square. She wasn’t surprised to see the rose with its exaggerated thorns and a drop of blood turning to a heart shape painted on the window; somewhat unusually, this one was a black rose and a droplet of blood which was black too.
The female elf behind the counter regarded her with some suspicion, her dark eyes taking in the tacky white bodystocking, already starting to tear in places, stretched over Ellie’s body, still bruised from her morning. In many ways it reflected the Damage she’d taken and she resolved to purchase some more Healing Potion and Lotion when she got the chance. Even her shiny pink boots were a little scuffed. However, dropping Goldie’s name into the conversation produced a flicker of recognition and her small pouch of Thothian Krowns laid on the counter brought a smile to the merchant’s elfin features.
The woman was, Ellie thought, quite attractive and, unlike her last encounter with a female elf, Tabatha’s bodyguard and probable lover, Gygax, this one wasn’t pointing a sword at her. Like most elves she was slim with a pale silvery skin, mother of pearl might be the best description; a thin face and dark eyes with silver bolts piercing both eyebrows. Her thin, straight nose was pierced with a ring through her nasal septum. She had multiple piercings in her ears too, studs with thin silver chains looped between them. There was, Ellie knew, quite a fetish around elven ears and seeing them decorated like this made her understand why.
‘It’s a fetish thing,’ the woman said when she saw Ellie looking. ‘A bit like getting your nipples done.’ She smiled and parted the robe she wore. ‘Of course I’ve had those done too.’
Under the robe, the woman wore an elf silk dress, so fine it was almost transparent. It bore the motif of the Seductress’ rose with its exaggerated thorns and a drop of blood turning to a heart shape, again in black.
The elf did indeed have pierced nipples, little bars like those in her eyebrows with a fine chain hanging between them and more chains running down her belly.
‘They’re wonderful for predicament bondage,’ she said in a conversational tone. ‘Especially this one.’ She tugged at a chain hanging from the tip of her right ear. ‘Gets me in the mood every time.’ She clicked a tongue stud against her teeth.
‘I’d, er, love to chat,’ Ellie said, ‘but I’m on kind of a tight schedule. I’ve been a little distracted today.’
‘Shame.’ The woman shrugged. ‘I’m sure we could have made a Bargain.’
‘I wanted something in black leather,’ Ellie said.
‘I bet you did.’ The woman’s smile was a little feral. ‘You little pussy tease.’ She shrugged out of her robe and stepped around the counter to reveal that the elf-silk dress was very brief indeed, barely reaching the tops of the thighs.
‘Shall we start by getting rid of this?’ The woman reached out and, with elven dexterity, ripped the bodystocking from Ellie’s body.
‘Oh,’ Ellie said in surprise.
‘I’m sorry but I do have a reputation to keep up and I can’t run the risk of you going out dressed like a street whore.’ She stood for a moment looking over Ellie’s bruised body. ‘You have had a bad day.’
‘Actually,’ Ellie said, as the woman reached out and traced one of the whip marks on Ellie’s belly left over from her encounter with the Master of Assassins. ‘I think I may have a little time.’
The woman smiled. ‘Why don't you come through? My best stuff is in the back.’
‘I call it my Dark Seductress range,’ the Elf said, running her hands along a rail of black leather and silk garments, harnesses and cloaks. ‘Although, much as I’d like you to be, I don’t see you heading down that path.’
Ellie recalled the Class progression options; the images of her future selves. The dark figure in Assassin black, dominant, a mistress of bondage and torture. Even the thought made her shiver a little, although, she realised, this was with a mix of fear and anticipation.
‘After my morning, I wonder if it might keep me out of trouble.’
‘Oh, darling. I think it would do quite the opposite.’ The elf smiled and reached out to cup Ellie’s chin, looking her in the eye. ‘You’re tempted though, aren't you.’ She smiled wickedly. ‘It doesn’t hurt to try the look.’ She selected a couple of hangers from the rail. ‘Why don’t you try these?’
The bodice was in shiny black rubber, firm and barely yielding although the rubber over her breasts was more flexible, stretching easily over Honey’s huge nipples and, Ellie noticed, pinching them gently.
‘A girl has to have a little fun,’ the merchant said. ‘The bodice will give you a +2 on your armour class. ‘Make up a little for those tits, I expect.’
Ellie must have looked skeptical. The hard part of the garment covered her belly and cupped her breasts comfortably but it was cut high in the thigh and didn’t look as if it would give protection anywhere else.
‘I have an Artificer friend,’ the merchant confided. ‘It’s magical. That’s why I keep it in the back.’ She spun Ellie around and tightened the straps at the back of the bodice. ‘Mmm. Nice.’
‘You’d better put this on too.’ She held out a tangle of black rubber and it took Ellie a moment to realise it was a thong. ‘Cute as it is, we can’t have you getting arrested for walking around with your pussy on show.’
Ellie slid into the thong. ‘Ohh!’
‘Yes, quite diverting, isn’t it?’
‘I’m not sure I need to be diverted.’ Ellie tried to control the sudden flush of arousal.
‘You’ll get used to it.’
‘Mmm.’ Ellie swallowed, suppressing the urge to try a Seduction then and there.
‘Boots, I think,’ the Merchant said. ‘Those are lovely but they are a little scuffed. I can get them repaired for you overnight.’
Ellie frowned. ‘Overnight?’ Her mouth was suddenly dry.
‘I’m assuming you are planning something tonight and will be leaving early in the morning.’
‘Perhaps.’ Ellie looked at the woman cautiously.
‘And I’m assuming the Thieves’ Guild isn’t aware.’
‘They might be…or they might not be.’ Ellie sensed the woman was teasing rather than threatening though she kept her guard up and tried to meet the woman’s gaze resolutely. Elves, she knew, had an innate ability, like Seductresses to read people.
The woman gestured to a stool and Ellie sat, the thong pressing insistently against her pussy and bottom on the hard wood. The Elf knelt and pulled off Ellie’s boots. ‘Lovely.’ She put them to one side and produced a pair of patent leather black thigh boots. ‘Though, I’d say these are pretty good too.’
The boots were beautiful: shiny, soft, a four inch heel. Ellie couldn’t resist the urge to run her fingers over the glistening black surface as the Merchant knelt before sliding them onto her legs.
‘Gorgeous, aren’t they?’ The Merchant’s fingers stroked the leather too, her hand brushing Ellie’s.
‘Yes.’
‘We need to finish getting you dressed up.’
‘We could do that later,’ Ellie said, her heart, pattering with excitement and her nipples swelling.
‘I want to see the full effect.’ The Merchant smiled. ‘Hold out your hand.’
She unrolled a shiny black rubber opera glove up Ellie’s right arm then another up her left.
‘This armoury will have to go.’ The elf stood behind her and began to pull her combs and pins out.
‘But I might need those.’
‘I’ll put them with your boots,’ the woman said. ‘Dressed like that you won’t be attacked, trust me.’
With Ellie’s hair free, the elf brushed it and then fitted a cowl over Ellie’s head, masking the top half of her face and a cape that fastened to the top of the bodice.
‘Do I really need that?’
‘It will ease a fall,’ the merchant said. ‘If, for example, you were climbing over a high wall like the one around the palace and fell or had to jump because someone was chasing you, it will allow you to land on your feet with no Damage.’
‘Even in these heels?’ Ellie said with a grin.
‘You look like a girl who can pull off heels.’ The elf guided Ellie along the rack and turned her towards a mirror. Ellie gasped at the goddess in black rubber and leather who appeared before her; a goddess who might not always be beneficent. It was probably the most dressed she had been in her time in Fantasia but it was, unarguably, the sexiest she’d looked.
‘Gorgeous, aren’t you?’
She could see the Elf in the mirror behind her. At some point she had shed her dress and was naked now apart from her piercings. The Elf’s hands caressed Ellie’s breasts and Ellie turned to kiss her.
‘Not yet.’ The Elf held up a hand. From the end of the rack she produced a coiled whip.
‘I don’t know how to use that,’ Ellie said, though she accepted the weapon.
‘All Seductresses can use a whip.’ The woman smiled. ‘It’s part of their class basic skillset. At Level 4 you should be pretty competent by now. And this one gives you +2 for climbing and catching.’
‘And I can afford all this?’ Ellie asked with a slight frown. She certainly hoped she could even if it was only so she could wear it the next time she saw Ezio.
‘The gold in that bag should cover one night’s rental. You can leave it with my cousin at the tavern when you get back from whatever it is you’re doing tonight.’
‘Rental?’
‘This will be no use against a Sorceress,’ the elf said with a wry smile.
‘Sor…’. Ellie stopped herself.
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but you might want to look up the legend of the Redheaded Warrior who rescued the Sorceress from the dragon and became her slave.’
Ellie nodded wondering if everyone in Thoth knew about her party’s quest. ‘I take it you’re on the council here,’ Ellie said.
‘I think you’ve already met Prospero and the Master of Assassins.’ The elf smiled. ‘The local equivalent of Goldie and Tabatha.’
‘Don’t forget Imelda.’
‘Imelda?’
‘An 8th Level Slaver of your acquaintance,’ the elf said. ‘She was quite upset by the loss of those earrings you know but that little stunt was what really got you noticed.’
‘I recall she got her revenge,’ Ellie said ruefully.
‘We’ve all spent a night in the pillory,’ the elf said. ‘Some more than once. If we didn’t enjoy that sort of stuff we wouldn’t be here.’ Her smile broadened. ‘Which reminds me, Mistress.’ She dropped to her knees and put her hands behind her back. ‘It’s time to fulfil your half of our Bargain.’