It was early in the morning, but the Queen, didn’t care. She enjoyed the rising sun as she woke up, feeling it empower her for the day.
Taking a moment let her mind wake up, she thought of what to do first. She normally took a moment to freshen up, go eat a simple breakfast, deal with a large bulk of her paperwork and then deal with whatever duties that would be forced onto her.
Her slave, Three No Brand, jumped into her mind and caused her to frown. Her first thought was to check up on him and make sure he was ok. She almost told herself it was just her duty to check up on him, but she remembered that Swift Thought told her not to lie to herself. She was worried about Three No Brand because she was worried about Three No Brand.
It did make her thoughts easier to deal with, but she was still a bit unnerved that she was feelings these…feelings for a slave she barely even knew. He had been around a few days and she was already was having deepish feelings for him! She wasn’t even sure why she was feeling this way, besides the fact he was plenty smart, a good conservationist, a very nice coat colour, a bit taller then her which was always a plus in her eyes, quite cute in the morning…
Grumbling as she shook her head from the last thoughts, she needed to make sure she was in control at all times, otherwise this whole endeavour would be for nothing!
Settling to brush her mane, tail and coat into a presentable state, she placed her crown on, a symbol of the two true Princesses, dressed herself in her light silks and went to her slave’s chambers. She wasn’t a fan of clothes like most ponies, but it was expected of her to wear them.
Pulling open the doors, she frowned slightly. Her slave, who the servant slaves had tended to last night with the strictest order to be gentle and polite where their hooves went, was still sleeping with a slight wheeze coming from his mouth. It was the manner that he was sleeping that made her frown. He had moved around in his sleep, clearly, going from the far left to the right, closer to her own room. His right wing was still out and properly bandaged and he still had a number of towels on him, with a few on the floor or on the bed. She had placed the blanket over him when he finally fell asleep only for it be now semi on the floor, with half of it covering the lower half of his back, hiding his flanks, with his tail flicking around.
Frowning properly, she thought of her slave’s build. His barrel was slim, light and almost dainty at times. His legs did have some muscles to them, but they were undefined. His mane and tail was what she looked at next. She stopped and glared at him. His mane was short, thick and messy and tail was a tangled clump at best! They did have some appeal in their current state, but certainly not acceptable when she could clearly see what it would be if he took proper care of both. Which he would do or she would force him to sit with several young fillies and their attempts to make him pretty and presentable. That would make any stallion crack and dress however she wished.
She would need to make him exercise more, as to better define his body. He had the potential, everypony did, and there was no way she would let her slave become a simple show pony! He would be a fine, handsome, powerful stallion, clearly representing her power and position to all that saw him bowing down to her with such strength emanating from his chiselled body.
There was no reason he could not be her loyal slave, gifted with his mind and looks.
Leaning down to look at his face, she was instantly worried. His face was glistened with sweat, his head twitching around in light jerk, whimpering slightly. She lifted a hoof to his head and bit her lip. He was burning up, that fever from yesterday was breaking out.
Again, like yesterday when she dealt with that whore who didn’t know not to touch her slave, she spoke without thinking . “Three No Brand.” She spoke soothingly, a bit of concern trickling into her tone, causing him to twitch slightly, blinking awake instead of falling over in the same cute manner he usually did when he heard her voice when he awoke. “How are you feeling?” She leaned downwards, letting her magic go over his head to see how he was internally. She bit her lip more; he was really dizzy and ill by what she could tell by her limited medical magic knowledge.
He groaned at her, trying to stick his head under the pillow but his horn was hitting was baseboard. He used his left wing to cover his head as much as he could, his right wing twitching as he tried to move it. The splints for it prevented Three No Brands from folding it up or moving it in the slightest as the bones needed to heal properly. His hindlegs were still tucked deep into his sides from yesterday with his forelegs covering his face. His hooves were over his eyes, squinting at her.
“I feel like, like-” His eyes went wide, trying to get up rapidly, his mouth bulging in a very telltale way. Stepping back in alarm, she just managed to avoid being puked on as Three No Brand emptied his stomach onto the bed and floor. Whimpering loudly, he leaned over the bed and retched again.
Instantly she called out for her guards, a reaction she was dimly aware of doing, she immediately went to his side to place damp towels on him again, letting out soothing tones. Giving the order to get the healer and the Head Overseer, she went back to paying attention to Three No Band who was shivering in pain.
She started to rub his back, using her voice to make soothing notes while she kept him damp with more towels. It seemed to have some effect as Three No Brand was no longer retching and was whimpering less now, leaning into her side greatly. She desperately wanted to give him some water, to help wash away the taste but she didn’t dare go get a cup and leave him….or give him water!
She bit her lip with that lie running across her head, really worried now about how much she actually cared for him.
“Great Sun aid me, what am I to do?” She muttered softly, brushing his mane out of his face.
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Smokey groaned as he stepped out of the bar, and glared at the sun, making his head tighten up even more with his bucking hangover making him feel like there a loud music party going off in his head. He would be in trouble once he got back for not returning right away, but he didn’t care. He had received the orders to separate from his two catchers, as it had said the more skilled raiding groups were to go back alone while the inexperienced were to stay together and start making tracks back into their borders. He was obviously quite skilled since being at the job for so long, so he didn’t need to worry about the recommendation from the Head Overseer to stay together.
This Swif Thinking or Fast Idea or whatever his name was being a worry wort. He was going to take his time to enjoy this flea bag town before he returned home.
First things first, find a place to sleep this –
“Hey, are you ok sir?” A nasally voice called out to him. A glance to his left was an earth stallion pony in some sort of guard attire, a police pony he corrected himself.
On one hoof, he knew that he should say that he was fine, just a bit tipsy and he would need to go somewhere to sleep it off. Be polite and make it short. Make no presence, be completely unremarkable so they can move on without being detected by the false deities and their unknowing servants. That was the standard procedures of over a thousand years and it had worked fine.
On the other hoof, he was suffering a hangover and he had little patience to deal with anyone in this state.
“Ah shove it up your plot, you stupid mare of an ugly inbreed donkey!” With a poorly swung hoof, he missed the guard and fell onto his face.
“What the?” The guard stepped back from the passed out drunk. Shaking his head, the pony quickly grabbed the drunk and threw him onto his back. He noticed the drunk had some saddle bags, so after a quick look through, he could figure out who this pony was.
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Swift Thought walked through the palace, annoyed at the distance of his chambers from the Queen’s. It would do more good if he closer to her as he was the Head Overseer and her new adviser to aid her in matters like this. The healer had just passed by him with a frown on her face, shaking her head and muttering things. He did his best not to roll his eyes, half annoyed that she didn’t bother to tell him what was wrong with Three No Brand and half glad that she didn’t bother him so he could get to the Queen faster.
Turning around the corner, he was nearly knocked over by a pony carrying several notes. Frowning, he pushed the incident out of his mind and walked towards the Queen’s chamber and raised a hoof to knock twice.
“Swift Thought, my Queen.” He called out, his voice loud and steady.
“Come in.” Her voice sung out, his ears picking out a soothing tune from her. Frowning slightly, hiding it with an ear twitch, he opened the doors.
He entered the Queen’s chamber with a confused look. The Queen was sitting on her bed, with a small writing table with a stack of papers on one side and a small pile of rolled up parchments on the other side. She had a little bell on the nightstand to her side, but it was what on her other side that caught his eyes.
It was Three No Brand, curled up in a tight ball, next to the Queen who was stroking his mane in very tender way.
Swift Thought was instantly worried. She shouldn’t be acting this way this soon, as what he knew of the Queen told him he she was a horrid actor if pushed into things that she didn’t actually plan for. He had heard what she had done and said to one of the girls he found to make Three No Brand’s naming more effective, and was split on whether or not it was worth the outcome. He had heard how close to breaking he, but the Queen had ruined it by being too comforting to him. She had not dug in properly and made some ridiculous promise to her slave to go out on a date so he could learn about how ponies that knew the truth lived. On one hoof, it was an ingenious plan to get him truly devoted to her by this little date and would have Three No Brand more willingly submissive to her. On the other hoof, she had agreed to go on a date with him because she was falling head over tail for him and was just barely able to keep her wits about herself when dealing with that colt next to her. And what he heard, Three No Brand was a notorious flirt with the mares, had caused over a dozen or so weddings, and it was strongly believed that he should have a matching making cutie mark instead of a water one!
…Did he just think of the Queen as his daughter dating some stallion for the first time? Great Sun and Moon above, he did! Oh, this was NOT good.
Shaking his head, he looked at the two again, and saw that the slave had a very damp blanket wrapped around his lower half, yet he was still shuddering in pain from something. His head was resting near the table, hanging over the bed with his right wing on her knees!
“How are you this morning?” She looked up at him briefly, speaking softly before darting her eyes to her slave who whimpered slightly, who’s back she rubbed again.
“Concerned as I was told you needed to see me about something.” He spoke softer, already aware that Three No Brand was ill in some fashion, and he was suffering some sort of headache. Looking at the slave, he raised an eyebrow accusingly before he continued. “I see that this has been dealt with if I am correct?”
“To a degree.” She spoke softly, looking at the alicorn for a brief moment. “I have asked the mages to create a charm of sorts.” She hummed softly, looking longingly at her slave. Only a few days, and she was this in love with him?! It almost caused his eyes to bulge out at this sight! “Swift Thought, my Head Overseer, I have but a simple request.” Her checks were red, a sight that caused both stallions to look, as he noticed Three No Brand had turn his head to look at her before wincing visibly. “I wish to go check on the progress personally, but I do not feel that Three No Brand should be left alone, nor is capable to travel such a distance in his condition.” She looked up at Swift Thought, using her magic to move the table to the floor and gently move his wing to the bed with her hooves, which he noticed it caused Three No Brands to flick a smile out before hardening his face. She looked up at him and she took a shallow breath to ready herself. “I would like you to watch over him in my place, as I feel that I can trust you to fulfil your life debt to my slave in case any harm were to come to him with prompt action above any other pony in my service.”
“Of course, my Queen.” He bowed, frowning inwards at that little blow against him. She had deliberately let Three No Brand know about his life debt, giving the slave some potential leverage against him and weakening his own power over the slave. And let her stand above the both of them.
Clever girl.
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