Sins of the Father Ch. 02

**557 years since the Sundering Enlightenment, 519th year of the reign of Emperor Tyros**

Cast-

Nitta: Princess of Ulstead. King Lann's daughter. Paying the price for her father's cruelty.

Attendants: Slave courtesans tasked with entertaining guests and escorting them around the Imperial Palace.

Ohai: Matron of the Attendants.

Miresta: Imperial Princess. Half-elf.

-----

Nitta was shaking violently as the older attendant helped her up and led her down the hall. "I can't be a slave," she kept repeating to herself, the effect of Darienne's spell having worn off. The Chief Advisor, for her part, wordlessly headed for the exit and returned to her duties.

"Come, my child," the elder said, softly. "Let's get you in." The former princess could only whimper in response.

The doors opened and revealed a hedonist's dream. The entire room was made of finely carved marble. Erotic murals were painted all across the walls accompanied by various statues of nude women in bronze and marble. The room's occupants were, each and every one of them, quite beautiful. While the was one who wore a golden collar with blue enamel and had with her two more in black silk chokers, most of the women, here, had golden collars with white enamel. Other than that they were all nude, save for a few in white silk briefs. Thanks to the commotion outside, all eyes were already on the door before the two even came in.

"Is this her, Matron Ohai?" the one in blue asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Teni," Ohai answered. "Nobody had told her about this until just now."

A second later, Nitta found herself right in front of more than a dozen worried faces, some offering words of sympathy or encouragement. It made her almost vomit. Slaves... all talking out of turn to her. Back home she would have had them all beaten for their impertinence! She could feel the rage boiling, inside.

And then she saw her. Green skin. Tusks protruding from her lower lip. She was the perfect target. Triggered by the sight, Nitta broke free of the Matron and lunged forward, delivering a hard slap to the face.

"FILTH!" she shouted with all her might. "YOU FILTH! Why is there an orc, here?! It belongs in the Pit with rest of its foul kind!"

The room erupted with a collective gasp while two of the Attendants moved in front of the once royal, blocking any further. The orc Attendant, though unhurt, nonetheless looked shocked and was about to cry while suppressing her anger while Nitta continued to spew curses and epithets at her.

The tirade was cut off by by Matron Ohai with a slap of her own, shocking Nitta silent. Struggling to control her anger, the Matron kept herself from yelling, outright. "That's enough out of you!"

Ohai was shocked to find herself doing anything violent. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I'm sorry about all of this. I even begged the Emperor to reconsider. I do not why King Lann kept this from you, but it's done, now. This is your home, now. We will do everything to help you adjust, but cannot be hitting anyone, especially poor Murtha, here!"

It was clear Nitta was unwilling to accept the situation. "I will not stand for this." Her voice quivered as tears welled up in her eyes. "I will not become like you! I will not be a slave! Someone will get me out of this! You will see!"

The blue-collared Attendant, stepped into the argument. "I think we need time for things to cool down for a bit." She offered her hand to Nitta. "How about my novices and I give you a bath? It has been a long journey for you, and a good hot soak will help while we work things out, okay?" Reluctantly, Nitta agreed.

At home, she had a copper tub brought in and filled with preheated water. Here, she was led to a heated marble pool and was scrubbed down by three Attendants. She had sorely underestimated what it was like to live in luxury.

"Tell me," she asked. "What exactly did my father do to the slave?"

All three of the Attendants froze with the novices visibly nervous. Teni was the one to finally speak. "Her name is Kasna. He... he beat so badly that nearly every bone in her body was broken. It took the healers weeks for their magic to finally heal all of her injuries."

As she went on, she started sounding angrier. "On top of that, the process had weakened her to the point where she has to learn to walk all over again! She's still not too sure on her feet!"

"And I take it your emperor didn't like that?" Nitta responded.

Teni permitted herself a smile. "There are three things he cares about in the palace more than anything else: his family, the Peace of the Palace and the Attendants. He may not act like it in public, but he is fiercely protective of us and the role we play."

Even then, Nitta's upbringing showed through. "But why go through all that to heal her up? Why not just put her out of her misery?"

She felt herself grabbed by the jaw and her head spun to look into Teni's angry eyes. "Pray you never have that choice on you!" the Senior said, sternly. "Believe it or not, you're one of us, now, so I sugg-..."

Nitta slapped Teni's hand a away, now full of defiance. "I am not one of you! I am not a Slave! I am of royal blood, not some whore who dares to worship the Queen of the Gods!"

She quickly scrambled out of the pool and stood up. "Where's my dress!? I demand to see the Emperor about this!"

Not even listening to anyone's answer she started looking around frantically for her clothes. Moments later, she found herself bumping into the worst possible person. "Are you okay?" the orc asked meekly.

Nitta just froze in fear looking at her kingdom's greatest enemy. After a few seconds of tension, she let out a ear-piercing scream, running for the nearest hall. For a moment, no one said anything, the whole room eerily quiet. It was Matron Ohai who broke the silence.

"Oh Goddess!" she exclaimed. "That leads the the Imperial Bath!"

-----

The entire room was one large heated pool, lending to warm, humid fog all over. On a high marble bench, Imperial Princess Miresta was lying nude face down, while a red-haired Attendant, also nude save for her collar, was performing her daily massage. The princess was the very definition of beauty combining the best of elves, men and gods.

"Are you sure she is okay, Kyn?" she asked. "I know I have seen her every other day, but I cannot stop worrying for her."

Stifling a giggle, Kyn moved her hands up to the princess' shoulders and started caressing her arms. "Someone is with her every waking moment, my princess. If anything, I think she is annoyed by so many 'mothers' doting on her like we do. Trust me. Kasna is going to be fine." She leaned over to playfully whisper in the princess' ear. "I think I said that everyday we do this. Miresta smiled sweetly to herself. That much was true.

"I think I will see her to-..."

Suddenly the door to the Attendants' quarters burst open and a naked girl scurried in, falling over face first onto the floor. Quickly, she struggled to get back up, coughing from the water she just inhaled. Looking around wildly, she saw the two and started limping towards them with a desperate look on her face.

Miresta immediately grabbed her towel and covered herself up, utterly confused. "Hold it right there!" she yelled. "Just who are you?!"

Kyn leaned over and whispered, "This is her, my Princess - the daughter of King Lann."

The newcomer noticed the princess' ears and instantly knew. "You must be Miresta! You have to help me!"

Miresta interjected before Nitta could continue "That is PRINCESS Miresta, to you! Remember whose house you are in!"

Nitta failed to take the hint and kept going. "I cannot be here! You're Attendants have been so insulting and disrespectful as to even strike me! I don't want to a slave! Talk to your father! One princess to another, you have to help me!" On and on she kept rambling. Eventually, she ran out of energy and just stood there with an expectant look in her wild eyes.

Miresta wrapped her towel around herself and stood up, now face to face with Nitta. "I want you to know that I have begged my father not to do this. To force a free woman into the Attendants is nothing but trouble."

"Yes! Yes! You have to help me!" Nitta began again before Miresta halted her with an upraised hand.

"There are three things my father cares about, more than anything here: his family, the Peace of the Palace," She turned to Kyn, took the Attendant's hand into her and gave a grateful smile - a smile that was returned. "And these girls." She turned her attention back to Nitta. "Slaves though they are, they fill an important role, here, and are protected fiercely. What King Lann did to poor Kasna...

Her eyes started welling up. "When I saw what was done to her, my heart broke into a thousand pieces. IT was quite possibly the worst day of my life. You father begged for help while showing contempt for everything we had built.

Her voice turned stern. "And you barge in here, demanding my help and not even showing the proper respect. No, Nitta. I will not help you. From now on, you will learn humility and respect. Is that understood, Novice?"

Novice. That word, more than any other, hit home to Nitta more than any other. There was no hope - no going back. Her father was not going to come back for her. He had, indeed, sacrificed her to keep his kingdom. She fell to her knees and started crying in despair.

Moments later Ohai arrived in a near panic. "I am so sorry, my princess. I will take her away from here."

Miresta gently held up her hand, motioning her to stop. "Let her be, Matron. Kyn, we can do this, tomorrow. For now... just let her be."

-----

For hours, the Attendants were talking in hushed tones. When they finally saw the former princess limping through the door, exhausted and weary, all went quiet. It was not long before Ohai addressed her, crossing her arms with no small amount of anger on her face. "Well!?" she demanded.

Nitta, utterly broken, sniffed between phrases. "I don't know what to do... nowhere to go..." Then she uttered the one word she never thought she would have to say. "Please..."

Ohai was unmoved by her plea. "I, in all my life, have never had to strike anyone until today. Your actions and attitude have ruined the sanctuary this place is supposed to be. I was supposed to initiate you tonight, but now I don't even know how I am going to do that!"

A new voice interrupted. "It's okay, Matron."

Everyone turned to look and gasped. It was Kasna. And she was standing, though assisted by the twins Liana and Diana.

"She is scared," Kasna continued. "Terrified, even. Her whole life has been turned upside down through no fault of her own. I know what that's like"

Gently she pulled herself away from the twins' support, and to everyone's astonishment, started walking unsteadily towards Nitta. "It is okay," she said softly. "I know things started bad, and I know we cannot bring things back to the way they were. But if you let us in we can show you love, and help you heal."

Nitta did nothing as Kasna embraced her. In fact, she was unsure if anyone ever had embraced her, before. It felt... she just closed her eyes and let the fatigue take over.

There was not a dry eye in the room. "I think we can wait until tomorrow to initiate her," Ohai finally managed to say.