Alister's Castle

After that, Lilly was allowed inside of the forge, where the smith fit her for new chains. The process as surprisingly fast though it did require some measurements. The smith took out odd tools of iron and wood and used them to get the measure of her body. He ran his hands over her breasts, muttering to himself as he did . He used a length of wood to size her nipples, pressing it against them from the side. When this was done, he **** her legs apart, and set about doing the same thing with her womanhood. He measured the size of her clitoris, and the length of her legs, and the space between the two of them, and a dozen other things as well. Lilly felt her head spinning. It seemed that even an evil slaving empire had to do boring work at times. The man was all business again. Muttering to himself as he poked and jabbed at her.

Eventually, he came back with a set of chains that looked like iron. They were heavier than the ones Dusklord had made, but about the same size. Dusklord allowed his ones to be removed, and for a blessed moment Lilly felt as if she could move freely again. Then the blacksmith snapped the new ones into place and she was again a captive. These ones were heavier as she had noticed, so they tugged more cruelly on her nipples and clit even when her arms or legs weren't spread. The weight of the chain was a punishment in and of itself.

The rings were left in - they were Dusklord's, and so he could banish them with a thought if he wanted to. Doing this would give him an easy way to free her. As if they really needed one when she could break these chains with a single hand. But it was good to have multiple plans, so she didn't complain.

After they were done with the new chains it was finally time for her to meet Dusklord's brother. This was _not _how she had imagined she would be seeing her next boyfriend's family. Not that Dusklord was her boyfriend or anything like that. It was just a week, that was all. Nothing more.

Anyway, this wasn't like anything she had ever imagined except possibly in her fantasies. Once more Dusklord took the lead, letting her follow him at her own pace. She did her best to keep up, even though moving was difficult with this set up. She could appreciate the reasons why they had the female slaves wear it. It wasn't just for sex appeal. With the way each step tugged at her body, Lilly wouldn't have been able to run or make any sudden movements even if she'd wanted to. To do so would be to invite pain, and likely failure as well. A **** wearing this sort of uniform was a **** you knew couldn't run very far or very fast. She frowned at that thought. The fact of the matter was that most slaves weren't doing it as happily as she was, and this was not something she was going to forget. For now other matters dominated, but there would come a time when this was no longer the case.

She set that thought aside, parcelling it carefully off into its own little section of her memory. Not forgotten, but not relevant.

Not _yet _anyway.

But it would be, she promised herself. Oh yes, it would be.

Dusklord's brother lived in a castle at the centre of town. Well, she said ''at'' but it was more like it _was _the centre of town. It was on a raised hill, overlooking the rest of the settlement and unlike the one that Dusklord lived in which he insisted was actually a mansion, this castle was one with teeth. It was a working castle, the sort that considered it just part of the job to turn aside the odd marauding barbarian army, or shatter a warlord's hopes and dreams. It's main focus was ''big''. It had big walls, which were very thick and patrolled by very professional looking soldiers. It had very big, very strong iron gates, and very big and very lethal looking weapon ports, towers and ****-holes. It was the sort of castle, in short, that is expected to work for a living.

There was only one obvious way in - though Lilly was starting to recognise Dusklord's family traits enough to suspect there were hidden ones - and it was over a large moat of disgusting brown water. There were guards everywhere, checking anyone who wanted in.

Dusklord looked at it all with an expression of distaste.

"I do dislike coming back here," he said to her. "It reminds me of what I could have been. A conqueror sitting in a little town, a big fish in a small pond, my vision limited by the world I know. But if we are to succeed, we need this fish on our side. Or at least, we need the use of something that he has."

He sighed, brushing down his clothes.

"This will be a fun meeting. Do try and look sufficient enslaved, my dear."

She tugged at her chains.

"I'm not really sure what else I can do...?"

"Maybe a look of sullen defiance?"

Lilly frowned at him in annoyance, not quite sure what to make of that. How did you get ''sullen defiance''? But it seemed that it was the same as annoyance because before she could say anything, he clapped his hands.

"Perfect! Let's go."

Getting inside of the castle wasn't hard. The guards recognised him and let him through, not even looking at her as they did! The servants too seemed to know him, and she started to suspect this castle had once played host to the two of them rather than being exclusively his brother's. What she did notice however was that none of them called him Dusklord. To these people he was ''Lord Alexi''. Each time they said it, he would smile, but the smile would never quite reach the corners of his eyes. It seemed to her he was more annoyed by the name than anything. This maybe explained his dislike of it back home. She'd never heard anyone, even his servants, refer to him as anything but ''boss'' or ''Dusklord''.

After several minutes, they were introduced to a steward, who then brought them to a waiting room.

"The lord will see you shortly," he explained. "Would you like me to take your ****, Lord Alexi? We can put her in the pens with the others."

Lilly's heart jumped, but Dusklord shook his head firmly.

"She remained with me. Have my room prepared for two, would you? I think we will be here for a few days."

The steward shot a look at her, his eyes lingering over her body as he doubtless considered exactly what Dusklord would being in that room they would be sharing. Whatever his conclusions, he didn't say them outloud. Instead, he bowed.

"Of course."

Then he was gone. For a moment, Dusklord stood silently, perhaps trying to judge if they were being listened to. Then he turned to Lilly.

"Time was, he would have seen me right away." He admitted, "I don't like being made to wait. It tells me that he has become arrogant."

"Arrogant?" Lilly asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"The two of us banded together to overthrow our father." Dusklord said, half closing his eyes in remembrance. "It was a very long time ago. Afterwards, our ideals clashed. Alister wanted to hold fast to the old ways. Slavery, conquest, dominance by power alone. He hadn't removed our father because he disagreed with him. He'd removed him because he wanted to replace him. However, I was always the stronger of the two of us. I was the older son, and the heir. So I had been trained by father personally. That counted for a lot. Alister knew he could never defeat me in a straight fight. That is why we split so amiably. I came to your world, where my family had the old mansion. It was a world much better suited to my tastes. Alister remained here. It seems he has truly grown to take father's place."

"Do you think he's stronger than you now?" Lilly asked. "What are his powers? Are they the same as yours?"

"Sort of." Dusklord said, waving a hand . "They're similar to mine because they come from the same source, our mother. But you know the theory of superhuman abilities?"

"Yes." Redwing nodded, "The same power can be possessed by two people, but express itself totally differently based on their personality and history."

"That is the case here." Dusklord said. "Our base power is the same, but mine _flows _and ebbs. Like a river, I envelop, adapt, change. You see?" He gestured and a wave of shadow swallowed his hand, becoming the very image of a flame before vanishing into the air.

"Very artistic." Lilly said. "What does his do?"

"Alister is not so adaptable. His power does not flow. Where mine is like water, his is stone. It is anchored and strong. It is not as fast, but when they clash face to face, his constructs are stronger than mine, take less energy, and can sustain more damage. I told you he was a knight, yes? Well he doesn't have a suit of armour, or a blade or shield. He just makes them as he needs them."

"Well," Lilly said, gesturing to one of the rings currently anchored in her nipple, "That's the same thing you do, isn't it?"

"When I make them, they're throw away. Disposable. If you compared one of my creations to whatever it was mimicking, it would almost always be inferior in some way. But Alister has mastery. Not only can he equal whatever he is copying - he surpasses it! Believe me, it is a dangerous ability. And of course, then there is the magic."

Lilly was about to ask what he meant, but the steward returned, and announced that Lord Alister was now ready to see them. The door at the far end of the waiting room opened up, and Dusklord started forwards. Lilly followed in his wake, playing the role of the defeated ****.