923 - The Lady of the House
The inside of the keep that Branwen had created was like a prison.
Or at least, that was how it looked to Nenet. She’d never seen an actual prison in her life, having only read about them in books, but the interior of this place seemed to match those descriptions in more ways than one.
The walls were bare, being cold grey stone with only a tiny window on either wall, both of which were eight feet off the ground and barred. The only furniture was a line of beds along the rightmost wall, though calling them “beds” was a stretch. In fact, they were nothing more than hard wooden slats that jutted out from the stonework at waist-height, each corner having a length of chain that extended upward at a forty-five-degree angle to connect back to the wall.
The only other features were the door they’d entered through – itself made of two-inch thick steel, with an interior bar to seal it and a small slat at eye-level that could be pulled aside to look at anyone trying to enter – and the iron rungs that were sunk into the back wall, leading to a trapdoor set in the ceiling. Like its counterpart, it was made of solid steel with a thick metal bar.
There was nothing else. No tables or chairs. No hearth or torch sconces. No amenities or decorations of any kind.
It reminded Nenet entirely too much of her living quarters in Adagio’s mountain fortress.
“At least it’s clean,” sighed the sphinx, padding over to sit on the nearest of the chained slats.
“I admit it’s rather...minimalist.” Despite her pained expression, Agapay managed to keep smiling. “But Branwen is a knight, and her orders are to protect you, so it’s understandable that she’d be more concerned with safety than comfort.” Tossing a long strand of silvery hair over her shoulder, the chasmalim put one hand on her hip, raising the other to point at the sparse interior of the place. “So I guess that last part is my job.”
Clearing her throat, she gave a soft, melodious murmur, swishing her finger around as though stirring something unseen. A moment later, mattresses, blankets, and pillows appeared on the beds, along with a pair of large, cushioned chairs with a low table between them springing up in the middle of the room. Pointing upward, Agapay murmured another word, and small points of light began to gradually fade in and out like twinkling stars, giving the place an interplay of soft lights.
Giving a satisfied nod, Agapay turned to look at the two of them, her smile turning apologetic. “I’m sorry that this is the best my magic can do. But either of you would like, I can offer you a massage.”
Nenet’s ears perked up. Massages had been one of the myriad topics she’d been able to read about but never experience. Given that they were supposed to induce soothing relaxation, Nenet found herself eager to take Agapay up on her offer.
But since Mei Li had been the one who’d been hurt so badly just now, it would have been unforgivable to jump at the angel’s offer when the kumiho almost certainly needed it more. Glancing at the vixen, Nenet gave her an expectant look.
But Mei Li only smiled at her and shook her head before turning her gaze toward Agapay. “Perhaps another time, if that is alright,” she replied politely, before moving to sit in one of the comfortable-looking chairs.
“Of course,” nodded the angel, before looking at Nenet. “Would you care to-”
“Yes!” blurted Nenet, before biting her lip and blushing at how eager she’d sounded. “I mean, since you offered...I’ve never had a massage before, and, well...”
“And you’re eager to learn something new firsthand, right?” Agapay’s smile widened, and the entire room seemed to brighten as a result. “The last sphinx I was with was exactly the same.”
Nenet’s eyes widened. “You’ve met another sphinx?!”
“I sure have,” grinned Agapay. “He was a client of mine a few thousand years ago. Go ahead and get undressed and lie down, and I’ll tell you all about him.”
Nenet almost fell over. “‘Him’?! Oh my gosh, you knew an androsphinx?!”
Part of her knew she shouldn’t feel so carefree. Right now, Lex was fighting, and Solvei was still there in danger with him. Not to mention the unexplained mysteries of where their master had been, and why he suddenly had an angel and a vilderavn doing his bidding.
But the gentle aura that Agapay exuded made it easy to overlook all that. In the angel’s presence, everything just seemed like it was going to be okay. Lex would deal with Burly and those elves – probably without breaking a sweat – and bring Solvei back, safe and sound. He’d explain where he’d been, and once they told him how hurtful it had been that he’d run off after consummating their relationship, he’d make it up to them.
Feeling like that, it made perfect sense to lie back and let herself be pampered for a bit.
Changing into human form – the only one that would fit on any of the beds, since it lacked wings – Nenet unhesitatingly stripped down, carefully folding the clothes that Solvei had made for her and placing them on the small table before pulling her hair up and lying face down on the closest bed. “Is there anything else I should do to get ready?”
“Not at all,” answered Agapay, quickly chanting another spell to summon a small jar of aromatic oil. “I was going to suggest that we lay some of the mattresses on the floor so you could be more comfortable, but I didn’t realize you knew the Two Feet at Noon technique. You must be a renowned scholar; even the sphinx I was with before was still studying how to master that form.”
Despite feeling embarrassed, Nenet found herself grinning. “I can’t take credit for it. It’s one of the powers I received from Master after he, um” – she glanced at Mei Li, blushing slightly as she recalled how the kumiho had referred to the soul-bond Lex had formed with each of them – “after he married me.”
“That’s so sweet!” Climbing onto the bed, Agapay straddled Nenet, smiling as she poured the oil onto the sphinx’s back. “He must love you very much.”
This time Nenet’s blush was stronger, and she turned her head so she was facing the wall. “I know he does...even if he has a funny way of showing it sometimes.”
“Well, a lot of-”
“You said that Nenet’s and my husband holds your exclusive contract. What does that mean?” cut in Mei Li, her voice having a sharper edge than Nenet had heard her use before. She almost turned her head to look at the kumiho, wondering what was wrong...but then Agapay’s hands went to work on her shoulders, and it felt so good that Nenet suddenly didn’t have the energy to follow through on that idea.
“Well, as a chasmalim angel, it’s my responsibility – and my joy – to tempt others toward righteousness by offering myself as a reward,” answered the angel, not pausing as she worked the tension from the sphinx’s body. “For that purpose, we form contracts with those who need help bettering themselves, giving them our love and devotion in exchange for their agreeing to try and make the world a better place.”
Nenet frowned a little, wriggling as Agapay worked a particularly tight knot in her back. “But...isn’t that-, OH!”
Her eyes widening as the angel pressed down on a tender spot, Nenet arched her back, toes curling as her entire body stiffened up. A moment later she collapsed bonelessly back onto the bed, a low moan of pleasure escaping her lips as she shuddered. “...ooohhhhhh...”
Agapay giggled at the sight, continuing to work her way down the sphinx. “I thought you might like that,” she confessed, her tone playful. “Most women, when they have a chest as big as yours, tend to tense up right there without realizing it due to carrying so much extra weight around.”
Nenet’s reply was an unintelligible murmur of serenity, her eyes fluttering closed.
“I believe what my Elder Sister was trying to ask you before,” cut in Mei Li, her tone still incisive, “is if what you do could be called prostitution.”
“It could,” answered Agapay easily, no trace of anger in her voice. “It is. My patron, Agrat, is the Archangel of Prostitution. And while the contract she signed with Lex-”
“He signed one of these...love contracts, with an archangel?!”
Agapay’s hands stopped for a moment, prompting a whimper from Nenet. “I was trying to say, I don’t know the specifics of the contract Agrat signed with Lex. She originated the practice of celestial prostitution – before her, the only way it was accepted in the empyreal realms was as a sacred rite among certain deities of love – and each contract that she signs has unique stipulations. One of which was that I’m to give Lex the full and exclusive measure of my love and devotion until I’m told otherwise.”
The angel’s hands returned then, moving to rub Nenet’s hips, this time returning a throaty grunt of approval. She was sure that if she’d been in sphinx form or her hybrid body, she’d have been purring.
“Of course, since he told me to take care of you both while he’s busy, I think we can argue that there’s some room for interpreting what he meant,” continued Agapay, her voice taking on a playful lilt as she scooted further down Nenet’s body, her hands beginning to rub her backside. “Go ahead and spread your legs for me, okay?”
Blissed into a near-comatose state, the command seemed to bypass the sphinx’s consciousness entirely, and she opened her thighs-
“That’s enough!”
Agapay’s hands paused again, leaving Nenet needy and unfulfilled. “Is something wrong?”
“Remove yourself from Elder Sister Nenet,” ordered Mei Li, her voice now completely devoid of politeness. “Right now.”
The bed creaked as Agapay slowly climbed off of it, and the motion made Nenet huff, blinking her eyes blearily as she looked over at where the kumiho was giving the angel a cold look. “Mei Li, what-”
“Elder Sister,” cut in Mei Li, “please forgive me for being so presumptuous as to lecture one of greater standing than myself, but it is unseemly for a lawful wife to engage in amorous activities with one of her husband’s concubines when he is not present.”
The sphinx blinked, feeling like she had just woken up from a deep sleep. “...huh?”
“And it is even more unseemly,” continued the vixen, giving Agapay an icy look, “for a concubine to try and seduce one of her benefactor’s wives.”
“I’m sorry...I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” protested Agapay, holding her hands up in a gesture of compliance. “I wasn’t trying to seduce anyone. I’ll admit that I might have been liberal in my interpretation of Lex’s orders to look after you both, but Nenet seemed to be enjoying herself, and-”
“Because you influenced her.”
Agapay’s eyes widened at the accusation, looking like she’d just been slapped. “I did no such thing! I didn’t use any magic, and even the oil was completely without any sort of mind-altering properties!”
“And your aura?”
“My aura? It’s a numinous property that all angels have. It protects against harm from those of a malevolent disposition, as well as hedges out minor spells. It doesn’t cause anyone to trust me if they don’t want to.”
“It also stimulates the ki of those it protects, causing it to resonate in synchronicity with your own, does it not?”
“I’m a chasmalim, an angel of love and passion,” explained Agapay. “Those who share my disposition can sense that I’m a kindred spirit, and it helps them to relax and lower the barriers that they normally keep raised. That’s not manipulation, it’s just my nature.”
“And it’s my nature to keep my husband’s household in order, rather than allowing it to succumb to hedonism and indulgence.”
Mei Li fanned her tails out then-
And suddenly Nenet’s sense of casual relaxation was gone, feeling as though a bucket of cold water had just been thrown over her. “Huh?!”
Agapay seemed to be affected as well, looking staggered.
“Elder Sister, please get dressed,” murmured Mei Li, gesturing to Nenet’s clothes. “As our husband’s wives, we must never forget that our love and passion” – she stared at Agapay as she spoke, her expression cold – “belong to him, and him alone.”
“Y-yeah.” Nenet felt a shiver go down her spine then, suddenly nervous.
But it wasn’t nervousness which made her stand up and drape an arm over her chest in modesty. Rather, the weight of Mei Li’s expectations had taken on an almost tangible force, making doing anything besides what she said feel...not terrifying, or even uncomfortable, so much as...
Awkward, Nenet decided, slipping her clothes on. Like it would just be wrong to defy her.
It wasn’t wrong in the sense of embarrassment or shame. Rather, it was a powerful sense of being out of step, as though having made the wrong move during a dance and suddenly being unable to get back in sync with the music. Or when two people stopped just short of walking into each other, and then stood there because whichever way they moved, the other person just happened to move in that same direction. Or trying to run with footwear that had become unlaced.
It was a powerful, uncomfortable sense of things being out of sorts, and Nenet instinctively responded in a way that let her shed that feeling, fixing her outfit and moving to stand by Mei Li.
Agapay, meanwhile, looked stricken. “I was just trying to help,” she murmured, her voice thick with remorse.
“I understand,” answered Mei Li. “And I am grateful to you, both for healing me and for making this locality more hospitable. But you must remember your place. You are Lex Legis’ concubine, while we are his wives. Your affection is a commodity that he has purchased from your betters, while ours is proof of our loyalty to him. To confuse the two is to insult his honor.”
Agapay winced, looking down. “I understand. Would you like for me to leave?”
Nenet almost cringed at the downcast tone in the angel’s voice, still not sure she understood why Mei Li was so angry. But the thought of protesting the kumiho’s decision was viscerally repellant, as though she was brushing her wings against the grain of her feathers, and so she stayed silent as Mei Li nodded. “I believe that would be for the best.”
Looking like a puppy that had licked its owner’s hand and been kicked in response, the angel slunk over to the door, giving the two of them one last sorrowful look before exiting the building.
As soon as the door had closed, Mei Li let out a sigh and lowered her tails. All at once, the awkward feeling was gone, and Nenet grunted in relief before looking at the vixen...only to realize she wasn’t sure what to say.
Mei Li, however, seemed to have no such problem. “I apologize again for having spoken on your behalf, Elder Sister,” she murmured, turning and bowing deeply to Nenet. “Do you wish to punish me yourself, or will you report my actions to our husband and Elder Sister Solvei?”
“What?” Nenet blinked, trying to figure out what was happening. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath – and then a second, and then a third – before opening her eyes again. “Please stop that, would you?”
“If that is what you wish,” murmured the kumiho, standing upright again.
“It is. Look...what just happened? That thing, with...with how it felt when you were chewing out Agapay. What was that?”
“Feng shui.”
That wasn’t a term that Nenet was familiar with, her omnicomprehension ability only giving her the literal translation. “‘Wind and water’?”
“It’s understood to mean the movement of energy. As wind and water have rules which guide them, flowing in a way that keeps them in conformity with their environment, so do the other forces of the universe.”
Intrigued despite herself, Nenet cocked her head. “Like ki?”
Mei Li nodded. “Ki, magic, nature, and many more. All have principles which govern their direction. Being able to understand and manipulate those rules is what my culture calls feng shui. All creatures, all beings that are part of the world around them, can feel this, and instinctively know when they’re moving against it, the same way birds and fish know when they’re moving against the currents.”
“And so that just now...?”
“Was my using our husband’s other wedding gift to me. I can control the feng shui around myself, restoring the peace of his household whenever anyone would disturb it. It’s why my tails collectively show a portrait of mountains and rivers, because those are where the wind and water flow.”
A wistful smile crossed Mei Li’s face then. “Our husband truly is generous, trusting me with so much responsibility.”
“Oh...” Nenet chewed on that for a moment, silently comparing it to what she knew about herself and Solvei. In each case, they’d received a massive power-up from Lex forming a soul-bond with them, gaining new abilities that were concurrent with their nature. And in each case...
Lex could use it too!
Drawing in a breath, Nenet glanced in the direction where she knew Lex was fighting, wondering if he was aware that he could use “feng shui” the same way Mei Li could...
But she didn’t have a chance to think about telepathically contacting him as there was a sudden din outside, with a number of raised voices – all of them female – speaking up at once.
“YOU DEVIL BITCH!!! I’LL GUT YOU FOR INVADING MY MIND!!!”
“If you don’t like it, try following orders next time.”
“At least you didn’t have to get near that disgusting tentacle monst-, OW! YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!”
“It’s what you get for being so mean to Sugar! I’m gonna summon them back right now so you can-, BLURGH!!! H-HEY!!! QUIT IT!!!”
“No way! You almost hit me with that thing’s juices when you flung your arm out just now, so you’re getting hosed off before you can do it again!”
“WILL ALL OF YOU PLEASE BE QUIET?!”
That last shout made Nenet gasp. “Solvei!”
She ran for the door immediately, Mei Li following close behind, fanning her tails out again.
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If they avoid talking about the mental affecting auras they can claim plausible deniability?
If this crew keep arguing like that, Meilin is going to end up going the whole ninetails with extra fire on someone and end up with a nice lava jaccuzzi for the dragons.
11844032 The thing I was trying to point out with the conversation between Mei Li and Agapay, is that there's a grey area when the aura in question isn't technically a mind-affecting effect. Having people feel safe, open, and even intimately-inclined toward you because you make them feel safe (because they actually are safer around you) and because you have bonuses to your skill checks to get along with them, isn't you messing with their heads. It's more like you making sure to dress up, put on the good perfume, have a winning smile, and generally doing everything you can to make yourself look good. Except angels are just that way, naturally, without trying, all the time.
To them, it's not manipulation at all, and certainly not mind-manipulation. It's them bringing out the best in people around them, which is what they're supposed to do. Others, such as Mei Li, don't quite seem to agree, being more concerned with propriety.
It'll be interesting to see how she handles imposing that on all of the other concubines who've just dropped in.
Well, it's safe to say that Lex's 'household' as Mei Li puts it, will be a very chaotic one until he takes time to establish proper order at least if Mei Li somehow doesn't beat him to it first. Granted, I somehow doubt the others would submit as easily as Agapay did but given how diverse the powers of her tails are...
11845314 Well, her control over feng shui seems like it will give Mei Li an edge in keeping the peace, though she'll probably be better suited for it once she can use all of her tails. As it is, we know that she has a lot of "household magic" at her disposal, and that none of Lex's "wives" are weaklings. On the other hand, she has an angel, a devil, a demon, and several other creatures that she needs to wrangle, so she has her work cut out for her.