Chapter 6: A dragon's daughter

Maglor soon realized that he by saving the Sha'al suddenly had become someone everybody had to admire, just to show that they did worship their leader. And the Sha'al was ready to exploit Maglor to gain loyalty from his followers. Now the Sha'al would let his most loyal subjects borrow the elf as a sign of trust and brotherhood and Maglor had to perform at the first private party. He did dance for a few men in a hall far from the harem and he made sure to remember the lay out of the palace. Dancing was all that he did but he tried to make it as sensual as possible and Artemar would have been over himself with pride had he seen the performance.

Maglor was rather safe there, nobody would dare to harm him in any way for that would have ended with the culprit being beheaded and dishonored. The men were almost brought to tears from watching him and when he was taken back to the harem he knew that these men already would want to watch him dance again and they would want to protect him if they could. The next day some slaves showed up with gifts from the men he had danced for and Maglor was a bit shocked. It was gold and jewels enough to buy a mansion and one had even gotten him some sort of rather large long legged cat with spots and huge ears. It was tame as a housecat and very beautiful and Maglor immediately liked the animal but he didn't like the idea of it being kept in captivity.

Artemar was very pleased with him and he kept learning, and now he did speak the local language and started learning some of the other important languages of the region. Aerhan taught him the alphabet too and how to write and read and he never had the time to get bored. Artemar trained with him a lot and sometimes the two would get drunk together and end up in bed and Maglor didn't find it weird anymore. He enjoyed the attention Artemar was showering him with and the obvious love too and he started to realize that he had become very fond of Artemar in many ways. He wasn't just his teacher and a friend anymore but something far more valuable and he feared that something would happen to Artemar all the time.

Then he was told by Belerur that he was allowed to leave the harem once a month, to shop. He had to go with Belerur and several guards by his side but he could get out of the palace and with the gifts he had received he was rather rich now. He was beside himself with zeal when the day approached and even if he had to wear a sort of thick veil and be covered up from head to toe it didn't matter.

Belerur seemed to be in an excellent mood for in this he felt that he was given the chance to showing off his skills. He had after all bought Maglor and he liked to show off the trust the Sha'al had put in him. The city was a shock to the elf, he had been in the harem for months and he had almost forgotten the world outside of the palace but now he was reminded of the real world and it wasn't that nice. Yes, there was freedom but he saw that this realm was based upon the strong exploiting the poor and he saw countless beggars on every corner and whores in the dark alleys. There were bright colors and the scents of spices and perfume but behind it all lay a stench of decay and it wasn't just physical. The Sha'al corrupted his own realm and ruined it and Maglor knew that such a dictator rarely stays in power for long, but here everything was made so that he could. Maglor had been planning well, he bought fruit and candy, some nice cloth and some musical instruments too. Nothing fancy, nothing which could indicate that he really had plans regarding his future. This was things a child would want to buy and he did give the beggars quite a lot too. He knew that they soon would know him and know that he was a friend.

He used the day well, got used to the city and he acted like a child most of the time and allowed Belerur to show him the grandness of the Sha'al's capital. Belerur was beaming with pride when people were staring and whispering and Maglor knew that the population knew of him, he had to use that to his benefit. He was careful never to do anything which could irritate or annoy Belerur and he was polite also towards the guards. The city itself was rather large and built around a central tower or temple which seemed to be ancient. He saw that the population did consist of several different ethnical groups and he compared the chaotic city with the cities of his youth. He remembered Tirion and Formenos and later the cities of Beleriand, and he knew one thing for sure, human cities did stink. The sewer systems were terrible if there was one at all and he couldn't imagine how humans could live under such conditions at all. Was it just that they didn't know better?

Maglor didn't want to buy any slaves, he didn't need that and he sought out the other markets instead. Some places they sold spices while others had handmade things and jewelry Some of it was very nice and he bought a few things, just to do something. He tried to absorb it all and learn from what he was seeing and Belerur kept speaking the whole time. The huge man was obviously in love with his own voice. When Maglor returned to the harem that day he was very tired and a bit overwhelmed but it had been a wonderful day and one he would treasure until the next time. Artemar met him and accompanied him to the bath, Maglor felt sticky all over for the thick robes he had been wearing had been very hot and he had been sweating like a pig. Artemar helped him wash and then he got massaged and put on a sort of thin long tunic he had bought. It was very nice and Artemar thought that it looked good upon him.

He spent the rest of the afternoon telling everybody of everything he had seen and they had a rather good time, joking and telling stories. Maglor was yet again reminded of his brothers and he missed them all, wondering if they were in the halls or if they all had ended up in the void. The thought was unbearable. He had told the others of his past, at least the main parts of it and Artemar seemed to understand why he didn't want to talk about the details. He never pushed the elf and Maglor did appreciate this. He had gotten the habit of sleeping with Artemar now, and sometimes Rial or Kenar would join them too. It was no longer something he found odd or uncomfortable and he enjoyed the physical contact a lot.

Artemar sometimes had to perform for the Sha'al's nobles and Maglor did notice something odd at times. Since Artemar was so valuable he was rarely touched in any way, only the very favorites of the Sha'al was allowed to fuck him, but he would sometimes look very tired and Maglor did notice that he sometimes coughed rather badly. It had to be all the smoking and he didn't like it at all but the albino just made jokes and told the elf that the smoking helped calm his nerves. Aerhan and Noolar sometimes had to perform other tasks than just singing or dancing too and Maglor did notice that Noolar in special found it hard to endure these happenings. He never spoke of it but he would spend hours bathing and Maglor knew that the strange feminine man was crying a lot, on his own. Kherfem didn't have to do such things, for some reason the Sha'al's followers never asked to have sex with him but he too had been trained and he often claimed that his more stocky body was a turn off for these people. Rial and Kenar often had to do different sexual favors for a multitude of nobles and Maglor did see the despair in their eyes each time Belerur came to take them to a party or a meeting. Maglor was very glad he was so valuable.

He and Artemar started to perform together, they both were otherworldly and unique and Maglor would wear dark clothing and jewelry and the albino all white and red. They were a stunning couple and very popular and they did dance very well together too. Artemar did teach Maglor dances that were very vigorous and yet sensual and they would add some more risqué moves too. They didn't fuck on the dancefloor but not far from it and Maglor knew that those performances were the ones which brought them the most gifts. Artemar too got more now when he had Maglor as a partner and they both benefited from it.

Then one day one of the house slaves came with news, and it was important news too. The Sha'al had managed to convince the ruler of a great land to the far east of the benefits of a trading treaty, and some military co-operation too. He obviously sought to increase his influence in any way possible and now strangers from the far east showed up, more by the day. Some were ambassadors, others scholars and all were welcomed with lavish feasts. The Sha'al showed off his wealth and his possessions every time and the men of the collection were all displayed like prized pets. Maglor and Artemar were the icing on the cake so to speak, they would perform at the end of the feasts and the elf saw that many of the guest were shocked by the sight of him. His race had to be completely unknown for these humans.

But he did see that some of them found him tantalizing and bids were made to buy him but none managed to tempt the Sha'al into selling his most precious slave. Maglor was relieved, he was afraid that he would end up somewhere very far away indeed if one of these people got their hands on him. The slaves of the household could bring new information rather often, the Sha'al was to go to war against a realm to the north of his own and he had gotten support from the ruler in the east. Apparently the kingdom they were to attack was a pain in the ass for many of the small realms to their south and east. Then one of the guards told them that the great eastern ruler had sent one of his daughters to the Sha'al as a new queen, that would of course mean that there would be a very lavish wedding feast and soon the preparations were well on their way.

Maglor get worried, a new queen would mean that the power balance within the harem of women would be completely shifted and he paid some of the guards to find out as much as they could about this new bride to be. Apparently the Tha'vaal had already been thinking the same and the young woman was being showered with expensive gifts, the Sha'al's mother wanted to buy the woman's affection, or at least see if she could control the new bride in any way. The guards didn't bring any sort of news for many days but then one of them sort of sauntered into the room where the harem slaves were gathered and pretended to be admiring one of the very beautiful sand paintings Demetry was making. He told them that the new queen was rather young, about sixteen but a very spoiled person extremely well aware of her own status and class. Her father was regarded as an incarnation of the dragon God and so she was almost regarded as something half divine and the guard told them that there already had been some rather nasty incidences since the cultures were so different. She wasn't used to being treated the way women got treated in this realm and he sort of guessed that she wouldn't last very long. She was too proud and too used to having things her way.

The Sha'al's mother did send Maglor a note one evening, it was hidden in a basket of figs and the message was rather short. The bride was a potential hazard to them all, she was hungry for power, rather ruthless and she saw everybody as below herself. Maglor knew that this one spelled trouble, there had to be something they could do. Artemar was nervous too and he feared that she would see the collection as a group of potential rivals. It was not very likely that the Sha'al would rid himself of the collection but she could make life more difficult for them all for sure. Belerur was already on the lookout for a new slave to replace Suuna and one evening he came beaming with pride, dragging a young man behind him. The guy was a redhead, which was extremely rare in this realm and he had freckles and large green eyes and he was probably about fifteen years old. The youth was terrified and in a bad shape and Belerur made sure that he got fed the best food and was taken care of by Harbal. At first the boy refused to speak at all, he was so traumatized he was shaking all over if anyone tried to touch him and Maglor knew that this was one person who wouldn't survive being abused by the Sha'al. He was simply too frail. And he was unstable, that was the most frightening thing. He didn't care if he caused others to suffer if he could get away. He didn't care about the death of other people if it meant that he had a chance and it was rather obvious that he had lived a very rough life, one where your own survival was paramount and others were just tools for use.

The boy was named Janders and he was from one of the islands along the coast to the north of there, he had been the son of a local whore and the gods alone knew who his father had been but he had made a living as a thief, and that was rather obvious too. He was stealing like a raven and nobody could leave anything valuable out in the open. Janders didn't understand the severity of his situation, he had a good understanding of his role, after all his mother was a prostitute but he seemed to be unable to understand the consequences of being disobedient. Before long he did look rather spectacular with the thick red mane and the sparkling green eyes, and he had a very nice shape too so Belerur had hit the bull's eye yet again, too bad he was a rebel at heart. He didn't try to fit in, didn't try to bond with the others there and just kept speaking of how he was to escape. The Sha'al was too busy now to present his new toy and Belerur was a bit disappointed. He had wanted to show Janders off like he had showed off Maglor but that wasn't to happen. It was apparent that the Sha'al had enough with Maglor, and he didn't try to fuck his slaves any more, his mother had probably made him believe some lie about him benefitting from being celibate when it came to other men.

But Janders was very pretty indeed and he did have to show up at some feasts, and before long he was asked for by the Sha'al's nobles. It was unheard of that a member of the collection was to be used by someone else before the Sha'al himself but this time their master didn't seem to care that much. He let the new slave be borrowed by some of his most loyal men and it became a disaster. Janders tried to escape, then he managed to injure one of the men and that was it. Belerur was rather angry when he came to tell them that the red head was to be executed for his crime. The Sha'al didn't seem to bother with it at all, he had just given the order and Belerur was pissed off because he had spent a lot of money on the young slave. The Tha'vaal tried to get someone to buy Janders but nobody wanted to, the slave had after all attacked a master and that was unacceptable. Janders was taken away early in the morning and the guards said that every bone in his body would be broken before he was burned alive. It was a horrible punishment and one that made Maglor sick to the heart.

Then the new queen arrived and rumors spoke of her personality and looks, even the cooks had an opinion for she demanded food that was almost impossible to come by and Artemar sort of sneered and said that she probably acted thus just to be difficult. The wedding was being held on a sacred holiday and the feast afterwards was amazing. Maglor and Artemar had to dance for the crowd so they were allowed to leave the harem and dance on the great main courtyard and they both did their very best. Artemar seemed to almost glow when he was dancing but Maglor did see that he was getting tired rather fast, it could be that he was feeling his age. Artemar had confessed that he was older than anybody there knew, he was over thirty summers and Belerur had been tricked when he bought the albino.

They did several dances during the night and Maglor did see the new queen, she was rather small and doll like and she was absolutely beautiful but also very vain. She wore jewelry which had to have been made from diamonds and white gold and her dress was covered with pearls. Maglor didn't like her eyes, they were hard and showed that she was the sort of person who never is satisfied with anything, and she was complaining even now. The food wasn't good enough, the wine was too sour, the weather was too hot. The Sha'al seemed very pleased with his new bride, after all, she brought a lot of benefits with her and quite a huge dowry too and he was staring at her the way a cat stares at a lame mouse. Maglor did not envy the girl, but he feared that her presence there could spell trouble for them all. She did stare at him and Artemar though, and the glance was calculating and something about it gave Maglor the shivers.

The feast lasted far into the night but he and Artemar were allowed to leave rather early and the albino was sweating and he rolled his eyes. "The Sha'al has indeed grasped a she dragon by the tail. She will most certainly cause an uproar here"

Maglor got rid of the make up he had been wearing and made a grimace. "No doubt about that, I didn't like the way she looked at us."

Artemar scoffed. " No shit, I just hope she won't demand private meetings with us, I fear what she may want from us"

Maglor turned his head around. "You are not suggesting that she would want us to….you know?"

Artemar shrugged. "Hard to tell but possible? Oh yes. She is spoiled that one, used to getting whatever she wants, I bet that includes lovers too"

Maglor frowned. "I thought she had to be a maiden to get married to the Sha'al?"

Artemar made a sort of whistling sound. "A maiden by name, not by shame. There are ways to fake a maidenhood Maglor and I bet that one knows them all. And the Sha'al will probably use the same method with her as with the old queen, and that makes it even easier to hide her previous activities. She will just pay the healers to swear on her innocence and that is it, she is a confirmed virgin, pure as snow"

Maglor felt a need to shake his head in disbelief. "She is barely more than a child damn it"

The albino pulled off his wide pants and massaged his ankles. "Yes, but I have heard rumors about the court of that ruler. Everything is legal as long as you don't get caught and some of the servants in the women's wing of the harem have told the servants here that she is very fond of riding, and they don't mean horses"

Maglor made a grimace, even there inside of the harem they could hear the distant noise of the wedding feast. Shouts, laughter, screams. "I wonder if he will find out?"

Artemar shrugged. "Well, if he does he will most probably just lock her away, he cannot kill her, not without risking the wrath of her father but if she suddenly were to take ill? Or even better, died in childbirth? That would be acceptable, nobody would see anything odd about such a fate."

Maglor swallowed. "Then I do pity her after all, she has tasted freedom but now that is taken away from her, completely"

Artemar put on a stern expression. "Do not pity her too hard then my friend, for she is not that nice. They say she has maimed several of her chamber maidens and even killed a few, just for fun. She is a sadistic bitch that one and this place will only make her worse, heed my words"

Maglor could only hope that Artemar was too pessimistic. The next days were spent training and they sort of forgot about the whole wedding thing. The harem returned to normal and Rial and Kenar had discovered some new moves they were trying to implement in their performances, much to the anger of Artemar who deemed it way too risky. The chance of one of them getting injured was way too high. But they insisted and managed the moves rather well too and Maglor had to grin and think of the fact that this would have been very easy for an elf. He had seen wood elves doing jumps and leaps which seemed to defy gravity completely and this was just nothing compared with that.

Then the Tha'vaal sent another note and asked for a meeting, Maglor immediately suspected that something was wrong and the former queen did meet him in the garden like before. She looked as formidable as before but her eyes were hard and she had a rather bitter expression upon her face. There was just two guards following her and they were half asleep and didn't seem to care at all, she wasn't a valuable person so the Sha'al probably gave her the least skilled of his men. She sighed and smiled at Maglor, tilted her head. " You do look good my friend, blessed be the fact that Belerur found you. That fat bastard is a shame to humanity but sometimes even a blind chicken can find gold."

Maglor just shrugged and she made a grimace. "My son has yet again done a monumental mistake, one which may cost him everything. He is too greedy and too stupid to understand the plans of this emperor he now is in cooperation with."

Maglor didn't say anything, he just listened and she played with her rings, she wore quite a few and her eyes were distant. "He is both dumb and greedy and that is a killer combination, I fear that the emperor wants to add this realm to his own, to expand westward."

Maglor swallowed. "Can he do that?"

The Tha'vaal nodded slowly. "Yes, he is so much stronger than my son, the might of that empire is to great to comprehend for such a minor ruler as my son. He sees only wealth and power and swallows every sweet word like a child swallows honey. And behind the façade they plan on taking the power from him, gradually and discretely"

The elf tilted his head. "So what are we to do?"

She sighed deeply. "We follow the plan, there is nothing else to do"

Maglor frowned. "His sons?"

She made a grimace. "I have people on it, but we cannot be too hasty here, we have to move slowly like a meandering river. The problem is that girl, she has changed a lot already"

The elf stared at the old woman and she bit her lower lip. "How so?"

The former queen shrugged. "His first wife has been pushed aside completely, I have arranged for her to be removed to a sort of summer residence my son owns in a different city to the south of here. If not the new queen will have her murdered soon enough"

Maglor took a deep breath" How about you? Are you in danger?"

She snorted. " Well of course I am in danger, I have no doubt about that at all. She is devious that one, very smart and very determined to rule everything here within a year has passed by. I am an obstacle since my son does listen to me, it doesn't matter that I have pretended to be the most welcoming and friendly law mother ever. "

Maglor had to grin. "So she isn't buying it?"

The Tha'vaal made a grimace. " Oh she is buying it, but that doesn't matter to her, Friend or foe, she will remover every obstacle in her way. It is just the way she is, unfortunately. She wants to control my son Maglor, to be the real ruler of this realm and when the time is right she will deliver it right over to her father, like a pretty present all wrapped up"

Maglor frowned. "So when you son dies…?"

The Tha'vaal tilted her head, her smile was grim. " If I manage to get rid of that horrible male spawn of his the title as Sha'al goes to whoever he deems worthy. If none is chosen by him it goes to his favorite son in law."

Maglor leaned back into the couch he was sitting on. "So she won't inherit the right to rule?"

She shook her head, a strange glimpse in her eyes. "No she won't, if this was her own homeland she would, but a female ruler? Oh I bet the old fools who claims to the guardians of good moral would suffer severe strokes just from the suggestion. No, if he dies she will become a Tha'vaal like me, just a relic of a past era. She cannot remarry, she cannot leave the palace, she is a slave and when a new ruler takes over she will become a burden and he will most likely have her discretely murdered or sold."

Maglor took a deep breath " So what if she manages to fulfill her plan, what will happen then?"

The Tha'vaal made a wide gesture. "This realm falls under the rule of the emperor instead, they say he is wise and just but also cruel in some ways, although much less so than my son. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing after all, time will show"

Maglor realized that this was something she had been thinking about for a long time, and it had bothered her too, a lot. "So we go forth with it, and do bring his rule to an end slowly."

She nodded. " Yes, and I will be very careful from now on, she has brought her own servants and they are all too scared of her to be bought. She does also have her own customs and her own ways of doing things and I am warning you my friend, she thinks she can get away with everything. She is used to having others bow to her every wish and it is rather dangerous to deny her anything."

Maglor shuddered. " Do you think she wants to…you know?"

The Tha'vaal shook her head. "Have sex with you? No, you are no human, she sees you as something akin to a very exotic pet, valuable and rare. But she will try to exploit her husband's feelings in every way possible and you are most precious to him, because he thinks you can make him immortal. She is torn Maglor, torn between the urge to use that power for her own good and the urge to get you out of the way, to weaken the Sha'al."

Maglor had to swallow hard and he took a careful sip from the glass of wine he had brought with him. "So she does believe that the Sha'al gets stronger because of me?"

She nodded sternly. "She does, and she is extremely vain that one, she wants to live forever, to bloom forever. If you can provide her with that she will make sure that you are safe, if you can't then you are an enemy and to be disposed of"

Maglor sighed. " I will watch my back then"

She nodded. "And your mouth too, I will send some good servants to the harem, to taste everything you slaves are given to eat. And your cosmetics too by the way. "

He nodded and tried to smile. " I am very grateful"

She got up and gathered her voluminous skirts around her. "I like you my friend, I will be careful too, I will not let that little minx win this one, she is going to face some real competition."

Maglor felt tense, suddenly the future did look uncertain yet again and he watched as she left before he returned to the others. They were waiting and he told them what she had said and they all looked worried. Kherfem spat and crossed his arms over his chest. "If the emperor conquers this realm it will change a lot, most of it to the better for sure, but if that overtaking is done violently it will be a bloodbath. The Sha'al has good troops but they are nothing compared with those of the emperor."

Maglor saw that Artemar was rather quiet, he looked as if he was in deep thoughts. "If the Sha'al dies, and his sons have died before him the one to inherit the title will be one of his law sons. They are all among his favorites, and all very powerful. But we do know very little about them, all I do know is that they are less mad than him"

Maglor sort of scoffed. "That doesn't tell me much, they could still be like rabid boar, we need real information"

Artemar nodded, he did look a bit pale. "It is a risk to take but I do have some contacts on the outside of this place, people who owe me a favor. I could see if they can shed some light upon this problem."

Aerhan shrugged. "Do that, we need to get a view of the whole situation. Is there a risk of that woman murdering her husband before we manage to do the same?"

Maglor shook his head. "No, that would arise suspicion. I think she wants to keep him alive, but under her control. I bet she has ways to do that too"

Rial and Kenar seemed to shudder and Noolar snapped his fingers. "Drugs, you can get drugs which will turn any person, even a strong will, into a sheer puppet."

Maglor took a deep breath. "Well then, we will see what fate has in store for us, this has gotten me worried to be honest"

Artemar sat down next to him and smiled, his smile was a bit stiff. " Me too, if the Sha'al dies we will get a new master, one perhaps better than him, and perhaps even our freedom. If he lives and the emperor usurp the throne we have no idea of what our futures will hold."

Maglor nodded and let Artemar hold him close, they could be split up, or abused in worse manners than now. It was a most horrible dilemma. Not being in control of one's fate was a cruel sensation and he could just pray that the valar were on his side, even if he had turned his back on them. Everybody were rather quiet for some days and Maglor heard a lot of rumors regarding Belerur. He was trying to find a new slave again and using all his contacts and Maglor hoped that he would fail. They didn't need anyone new in the harem now, someone who would disturb the balance even more.

Maglor and Artemar had to perform at some feasts again, the Sha'al were to entertain some dignitaries from the emperors court and they seemed impressed but one of the house slaves came from a tribe to the east and he did understand some of their language. He told the other house slaves that the men from the empire saw the Sha'al as an uncivilized and brute beast, barely more than a small chieftain of a wandering tribe of pig eaters and sheep fuckers. That made Kherfem laugh out loud and Maglor started to understand that the empire to the east was a very advanced society.

Then the new queen started to ask for private performances and she did ask for all of them, not just Artemar and Maglor. She did enjoy the shows and she never acted as if she was hostile but she could be hiding her true intentions well. The slaves managed to get in contact with her own slaves and they soon learned that it was common with harems like this also in the east but those who were held in them had been born into it, and trained from birth. They never bought slaves from the outside since they could be loyal to their previous masters. The only exception were courtesans and other slaves who were little more than common prostitutes. But they usually stayed only for a few months before they were sold again and the emperor or his kin never sought the company of these males or females.

The Sha'al also showed up a few times and they had to engage in orgies again, Maglor had gotten used to it in a way and knew what it did take to make the whole thing last for only a short while, and he did his best to please the Sha'al.

But one day the Sha'al brought some slaves from the other parts of the harem and Maglor was aghast. These were young men who hadn't been trained nor prepared for this and some of them were terrified. All were beautiful and taken well care of but they weren't as special as the men of the collection and because of that they weren't that valuable. Artemar managed to arrange it so that Maglor spent the time with Aerhan while he and the others used the slaves, he knew that Maglor would have problems touching these poor souls without revealing his repulsion.

The new queen obviously caused the Sha'al some problems for she wasn't demure and passive like the females of this country at all, and he couldn't punish her without her father finding out and seeking vengeance. It had to be very hard for the Sha'al to endure being scolded by a female, when females normally never was allowed to even speak in his presence. Maglor could have admired her courage if it hadn't been for the simple fact that she was a very odd and twisted person. She would punish disobedient slaves in the most cruel manners and she had some perversions which were just as bad as those of her husband. The Tha'vaal barely showed herself anymore, she tried to almost disappear into the shadows and there was little she could do to influence the court the new queen had created around herself. The house slaves kept them informed about the development and Maglor felt more and more nervous. It was rather obvious what tactics she was using to gain influence, if you drop a frog into boiling water it will leap straight out of it, but if you put it in cold water and heat it up slowly it will be sitting there until it boils to death. She was seeking to control her husband's realm through patience, one tiny act at a time.

She still stared at Maglor when he and Artemar danced for her, and there was something very calculating in her eyes. The slaves told that she would keep the elf for herself and she did believe that he could ensure her eternal youth. She too did hide in the walls when the Sha'al went to watch an orgy and Maglor was afraid that she would go too far and demand that one of them touched her. Maglor got new jars of skin ointment from the Tha'vaal and this time the scent was different, not much, but he knew that they now did contain also some sort of poison. His body wouldn't react to it at all, but that of a human would and yet it would take months before the Sha'al felt any effect of it. But it had to be that way and he just hoped that nothing would interfere with their plans.

Then the oldest of the Sha'al's sons suddenly died, he choked to death while visiting a rather shady establishment in the red light district of the city. Apparently he tried to show off and eat some sort of fruit whole and it got stuck in his throat. There was of course an uproar, the Sha'al was beside himself with grief and Maglor wondered if it was the Tha'vaal or the new queen who had disposed of the heir. The prince was buried with a lot of pomp and circumstance and there was a whole week of official mourning. The city went quiet, the shops closed and people were told to stay indoors and pray for the prince. Most did obey but not because they had loved the deceased prince. One of the slaves compared him with a wild boar with a boil on its ass and they all agreed that it was a fitting comparison.

Maglor would often sleep with Artemar curled up next to him but some nights when he woke up the albino wasn't there. He would return after just a little and Maglor didn't try to question him, it was obvious that the albino didn't want any prying regarding this. But he did smell differently and Maglor saw that he often visited Harbal and he felt a surge of nervousness each time. He did see that Artemar did smoke like before but he used different herbs in the pipe than the others and sometimes he did appear sluggish, almost half asleep. Did his friend have a drug problem? That wouldn't be so odd, most of them did use different herbs just to stay sane and he knew that Artemar had contacts on the outside who provided them with whatever they needed. But it still gave him a foul taste in his mouth and when he laid there at night, holding Artemar close he felt a deep fear of losing yet another one dear to him. For the beautiful albino was dear to him, very much so and he had started to realize that fondness had shifted to love, very gradually.

It was a startling conclusion and one which rattled him to the core but he couldn't deny it, he did love Artemar and he knew that it made him vulnerable, and weak. Artemar spent much time telling him of how the network of contacts worked, who he could trust or not, which guard could be bought and which ones who were loyal to their master and Maglor didn't know if he liked it. But Artemar kept saying that Maglor would outlive them all and for the sake of future slaves the elf had to know everything. He was the only hope they had for a better future and if he managed to gain influence he could change a lot.

When he did perform for the Sha'al's followers he always tried to discretely flirt with the ones he knew were opposing their leaders rule and the list of gifts he had received was getting longer by the day. He was very rich now but he couldn't use that wealth as he liked. The former queen had left the city and she was forgotten, nobody spoke of her at all and Maglor knew that it was her sons who kept her alive. As long as they did protect her she was fairly safe but the new queen would probably have loved to dispose of her. Not that the old queen was a threat in any manner but she was the mother of the Sha'al's sons and that gave her some influence through them.

Then the new queen started to demand that Maglor did sing to entertain her and her maidens and he did, he doubted that she understood any of the songs but she seemed to enjoy listening and he had to tell her more of his people. He was careful about what he did tell though, and he realized that she knew absolutely nothing of the elves. To her they were something completely new and Maglor did see that she was rather intelligent. She was probably very well educated and had a keen mind and now she was trying to find if this information somehow could be used to her benefit. He didn't really know what to think about that. But the new queen did bring one new change that was very noticeable, there were feasts thrown almost every night and so the men of the collection had to perform more often than before and Maglor exploited that for all it was worth He was flirting with the patrons as much as possible and the Sha'al would lend them all out more often than before. It was rather clear that she was affecting him, making him less possessive of the collection and that made them all somewhat nervous.

But the feasts did make the atmosphere within the harem more festive and Maglor did notice that the new queen brought some of her maids to the feasts. They sat there behind her, ready to aid her if she needed it in any way and it was so unusual to see unveiled female faces. The queen didn't wear a veil neither, but she wore some rather heavy make up which turned her face pale white and she painted her lips bright red and bud shaped and added thick khol around her eyes. It did look odd but it was probably the way a woman was supposed to look in her culture. The men who attended the feasts were a bit shocked by the presence of female servants and some of them acted in rather rude ways too, they didn't see it as wrong at all since unveiled women were seen as unworthy of respect.

Artemar sometimes let Maglor do the dancing alone, more often than before and Maglor was pretty sure that Artemar was drugged the times he did perform, but it was very hard to discover and he never mentioned it. Maglor was afraid to hurt his lover in any way by being too inquisitive and he did fear the answer. It was a bit of a cowards way of doing things but he had so much on his mind and everything was on edge the whole time. The constant performances meant that they all were tired and the time got spent sleeping eating and being groomed. There simply wasn't time for worries and deep conversations.

Then one day one of the guards who were on their pay list came by and delivered a message for Artemar, the albino read it and frowned and the others gathered around him. Maglor immediately got nervous, was this bad news? Artemar sighed and put the small note into a lamp and burned it. "Belerur is out looking for a new slave again, and he has apparently managed to find one too. Or this says that he has found a slave and an exotic curiosity of some sort"

Kherfem sighed and Aerhan sort of grimaced. "Well, let us hope that this is someone able to cooperate, we cannot afford another fiasco like the last one."

Artemar nodded. "That boy was not suited for this place at all, let us hope that this new one can survive here without putting us all in harm's way"

Maglor sort of stared at Artemar. "You have this information from a contact?"

Artemar nodded. " Yes, a beggar who lives by the slave market. He sees everything which happens there and reports to me if it is something worth knowing about."

Maglor nodded and wondered how many contacts Artemar had managed to get in all, it had to be quite a huge group. After a little while they all went to rest and Maglor did notice that Artemar had lost some weight, he had been training and performing a lot so it wasn't that strange and Maglor too had lost weight lately but it did make him worried again. Was something wrong? It wasn't until the next morning that Belerur yet again entered the harem, and this time he was grinning from one ear to the other. Several guards followed him and Maglor frowned, they dragged a young and rather pale and tall man with long blond hair after them and behind him again…. Maglor took a deep breath of surprise and the others there just stared, flabbergasted. He had to blink, how in the name of Morgoth had the slavers managed to get their hands on such a creature? He could only stare as the guards dragged the unfortunate fellow forth and his heart did beat hard, now this could spell disaster, for nobody are as stubborn, strong and willed as the children of Aüle!