Legends of Belariath

Stormbringer and naiya{SB}

The Taking of Naiya - Part Two

Naiya sniffled and shivered, tears staining Stormbringer’s shirt as she pressed hard against his chest for several minutes before quieting down, silently shaking, her tiny hands clenched into fists that gripped the clothing. “Well girl,” he spoke softly, “the time I asked for has almost gone. It's for you to decide if you were right to trust me, and for you to decide if you want to stay longer or leave now.”

After a long while, Naiya lifted her head and looked into the man’s face with an unreadable expression. She seemed to be searching for something. Then she whispered “W... what was that... and why... how did you do it?” with a slight edge of panic and fear in her voice.

Without looking away, Stormbringer met the gaze with one of his own, slightly quizzical. “That was me demonstrating how to play your body as you play your instrument. Nothing more, just my knowledge and patience, and you reaching a natural state that maybe you haven't found before.”

The little nymph shook her head, almost violently. “N... no... Not the... the climax... I know that well, although this was... was... somehow different... stronger... longer...” her voice trailed off, and then she looked back up at him almost accusingly. “No... I mean why... why did I just... I mean what did you do to make me just... just lie there and accept things?” The girl looked confused, angry, and yet curious all at once, but wasn’t pushing away yet either.

The emperor held her loosely without moving, while thinking about this. It wasn’t anything he had really considered before. Finally he replied, “Maybe it's as simple a fact as that I asked you instead of forcing you. Or maybe you wanted to take a chance on trusting me. I didn't use any magic on you, you decided for yourself.” The nymph turned her head away, hair falling to obscure her face so the large man couldn’t see if his answer had caused any change in her expression.

After a long period of silence Naiya asked in a low voice, “What... what happens if I decide to trust you a little longer?” The mixed feelings in her tone made it sound as if she were both dying to know, yet afraid of the answer; almost mad at herself for even asking.

”Well that depends how long you want to trust me for... an hour, a day... “

Naiya started trembling again, and replied in a quavering voice, “S... say a day...?”

”Then I'll let you go and get cleaned up through there,” His hand pointed to an inner door, “After that we'll sleep until morning. And then I'll show you some more ways to play different melodies on your body.”

The dryad struggled to sit up in the man’s lap, pulling away a little and hugging her arms tightly to her chest. Then she gasped, nipples obviously still erect and tender. Modifying her pose a little, she frowned obstinately up at him. “I... I don't understand you... why are you doing this? What do you... get out of this? Every other male wants to spurt that... white stuff all over me or in me, or make me do things to them. Why are you different?”

Stormbringer tried not to grin at the words, looking at tiny girl as gravely as possible, knowing this could be a defining moment. Then mentally shrugging and following his instincts, he replied, “Sometimes I get pleasure from using a girl's body for my own needs. Mostly I enjoy using her body for us both. But before I can do that, you have to trust me enough to offer yourself unconditionally.”

”You didn't answer my question... why? What do you get out of it? And... and what does trust have to do with it?” In her agitation she picked up the end of a lock of hair and started to nibble on it.

”Why?” he replied, slightly perplexed. “Because I want to. What do I get out of it? If it works out I get a willing slave to serve me; if it fails nothing but some pleasant memories. And trust has everything to do with it. Without trust you fight me and rebel against me. With trust you place yourself in my hands. It's easy to capture a girl and enslave her. It's not difficult to train her to obey. But that gets boring. I want you to ask to be collared.”

Naiya squeaked, squirming backwards off the man’s lap and away. “S... slave? Y... you want my freedom too? I'm a dryad! I... I need to be free, to be away from strange enclosed places like this... I... What right do you have to own another? To own me?” she snapped, eyes flashing.

He shrugged slightly. “Leave then. The door is behind you and no one is stopping you. But to answer your question first, I have the right by law and by strength to take you and chain you to my bed if I so choose. I choose not to. I choose to let you decide for yourself. But if you have decided not to stay and find out, then go now.” With a sudden movement, Naiya sprung up and snatched her clothing and her lute and sprinted to the door, grabbing the knob and turning it. Then she stopped, her face rather incredulous. After a long moment, she let go of the knob and turned back towards the big man where he sat unmoving on the cushions, lute case clutched to her like a shield, as she stared at him.

”You... really didn't try to stop me?”

”Didn't I tell you that trust was the basis of all things?”

Naiya shook her head slowly. “B... but... why... no male else other than Jadrek ever...” Her voice trailed off but her eyes remained fixed on Stormbringer’s face, an almost wondering expression on her own visage. Then she shook herself, not quite losing her look of wonder, and focused back on the present. “You... want me for a slave... want me to want you to take me as a slave. And you say that I will trust you that much…” She spoke slowly, trying to make sense of something that seemed utterly crazy to her, yet unable to totally dismiss the idea.

Stormbringer looked at the little dryad patiently, still not moving. “I am myself, not anyone else. I don't model myself on others, I do what I prefer. Just now I prefer to gain your trust and wait for you to ask to belong to me. But if you don't trust yourself enough to find out, then maybe you are not who I thought you were. And I didn't say I wanted you to want to be my slave. I said I wanted you to want it enough to ask.”

”What's the... how is that different?” she asked, even more confused.

”It's not difficult to want something. Asking for it can be a lot harder. Maybe there are things you want already. But can you ask for them?”

Naiya started to look outraged, opened her mouth to speak, then stopped and thought again. After a long moment she straightened up and looked almost challengingly at the emperor and declared, “I trust myself. I can ask for what I want or need, so long as my commitments don't forbid me.”

”So what do you want right now?”

The girl pointed to her collar. “What I want most... is to be free of this... But I can't ask that, can I? Besides, as you said... anyone can just... just... take me again... so it does... have its uses I guess...... Sir.” Belatedly she remembered to add that last word as the touch of the collar recalled her unhappy state.

”I could arrange for that collar to be removed,” the man replied, “but you would probably think the price I wanted was to replace it with my own. That wouldn't suit me. So... I can arrange to have the collar removed and for you to be taken somewhere safe, deep in the forests and set free. If that is what you want, ask for it.” He paused, “Or I can have the collar removed and guarantee your safety around here while you decide what you want.” Stormbringer paused again, “Or you can stay as you are.... or ask for something different again.”

Naiya stared at the emperor as though unable to believe he could or would do any of those things. Finally, after long moments she spoke very softly, almost as if she wasn’t quite sure why she was saying it. “I... want to learn more too I guess... I've... I've never met anyone quite worthy of trust since J... in a long time.”

Stormbringer smiled slightly and nodded, almost speaking to himself. “I knew there was something special about you. Now it seems the best thing is to arrange for that collar to be removed. Will you wait here?” Naiya nodded dumbly, still clutching her lute case to her naked body, and stepped aside from the door, eyes still fixed on the man’s face. Standing up for the first time since she had arrived, he walked past the dryad, dwarfing her as he got closer and left the room.

Returning quietly, Stormbringer watched Naiya shift restlessly, looking all around the well furnished room, chewing nervously on the end of a lock of her hair as though not sure what she had got herself into, or why. Then entering the room fully he made a gesture with one hand and the collar fell loose from the dryad’s slender neck. Naiya squeaked, turning around with a start, having been surprised by the sudden entrance. She didn’t quite cower away, but trembled a little, standing there beside her lute, still naked and with the after-effects of the man’s earlier attentions still evident in her slightly sweaty, rumpled appearance and glazed inner thighs. She gasped as her leather lined collar suddenly fell away, staring dumbly at that symbol of most of her misery while at the Inn.

Moving across the room Stormbringer got a glass of wine, sipping it without looking at the pretty nymph directly. “Now you are safe here to stay and learn, or you can leave, or I can have you taken anywhere you want.”

Naiya stood there trembling, almost scared to believe. “I... I really am free? Ma... errr... he agreed?”

”I found something he wanted more.”

Naiya bit her lip, swaying slightly from one slender leg to the other. “Must I... decide all at once? Can I... perhaps learn a little more, or... know more before I choose?”

”Do you think I did that expecting you to suddenly fall at my feet?” he replied. “The door is open and you can stay or go. The door will always be open until you close it yourself by asking to become my slave.”

The girl bit her lip again, this time hard enough to make it bleed, then straightened up, hands down at her sides, to declare, “I... I can, can't I? I can take time. For trust... trust requires time to build?”

With a casual gesture Stormbringer tossed something small to the little dryad, glittering in the candle light as it arced towards her. It was a key. “Since I don't want to have to leave the door physically unlocked as well as symbolically, this is for you. Lock the door now if you wish to stay.” Naiya caught the key reflexively and stared at it for a long moment. Taking a deep breath, she stepped over her former hated collar, and locked the door with the key, then turned around to look at the emperor with a slightly challenging expression, as if to say 'now what'?

He smiled at the expression, almost as though with relief, meeting Naiya’s eyes for the first time since returning to the room. Then slowly the man looked down her naked body, “You look like a raggle-tailed dryad, so you’d better get yourself cleaned up before bed.”

Naiya stuck her tooth-marked lower lip out in a cute pout. “W...why do you call me raggle tailed?” she asked, obviously not sure what this meant, but certain it was somehow insulting.

”Think of it as my pet name for a cute little woodland sprite,” he grinned. “Now follow me.”

Naiya followed slowly, looking around the new room almost warily, yet not so much as when she first entered the apartment. The largish bedroom was made to seem smaller by heavy drapes covering every wall. Shadowy corners were created by the dim lighting given out by several candles, creating a sense of comfortable intimacy. As with every room, a large fireplace decorated one wall and a small blaze was burning constantly even in summer to provide a warmly welcoming glow. A soft blue-black fur lay invitingly before the hearth but the undoubted centrepiece of this room was a large four-poster bed covered with silks and furs, its heavy wooden posts carved into erotic patterns. Steel rings were affixed at various heights so that slaves could be secured in different positions and at the foot of the bed, on the floor, a thin rug has been placed; sleeping mat for a slave who has not earned the right to share the bed of her owner. Stormbringer gestured to the door in the far wall. “The bathroom is through there. Do you object to me watching you?” Then without waiting for an answer he followed the girl through the door.

The bathroom was not overlarge though its sybaritic elegance made plain it was intended for more than utilitarian function. A large sunken marble pool covered much of the floor space. To one side a padded table was obviously intended for relaxing massages, it's positioning adjustable to suit. Around the room were a number of shelves and cabinets holding a bewildering array of bottles and pots; oils and unguents, perfumes and creams for every purpose and mood.

Naiya gasped at the lushness of the bathroom, the large amount of things she had never seen, the bottles filled with unfamiliar contents, and then noticed the large tub was already filled and hot. “How...” she started to ask, and then remembered the lutes that had appeared out of thin air and just shook her head. Settling down on the massage table the large man watched quietly, almost amused at the size of the little dryad’s eyes as she looked around.

Without a shred of apparent modesty, Naiya tested the temperature of the tub with a toe, and then climbed in quickly. The bath was built to human size and almost appeared a swimming hole to her, and she found herself up to her waist just standing. Mentally Stormbringer made a note to have the tub shelved for different heights. With a quick glance over at the man, Naiya started poking through the bottles along the side, searching for soap or something to clean herself up with. She wrinkled her nose at the smell or the consistency of some of them, and unfortunately when testing the contents of one bottle of lotion, got her fingers too slippery and dropped it, the bottle shattering on the stone floor and its contents splashing everywhere.

Naiya looked at the huge man in dismay, almost cringing. He sighed a little, pretending to be annoyed then stopping abruptly when noting her reactions, smiling reassuringly instead and waving the bottle and its mess to oblivion. Unknown to the girl, the gesture also caused her old collar to disappear. “There... done.”

The little dryad slowly relaxed, obviously surprised at the non-reaction, but decided not to push things, and hurriedly selected what appeared to be some sort of soap scented with sandalwood and jasmine. With the lower half of herself wet already, she carefully placed the bottle apart from the others, and then dunked her whole body underwater, long green hair spreading out like a living wave across the surface. Stormbringer watched quietly, reflecting on how easy it was to provide simple pleasures for people, and how rewarding it could be when they don't expect them.

Naiya came up for air again with the grace of an otter or some other water creature, looking very pleased at least for the moment. She perched on the edge of the deep tub, and poured a bit of the soap into her small hands, and started thoroughly going through her hair with it, taking care to wash all of her long tresses, massaging her scalp, and in the process making her breasts jiggle interestingly. The watching man found his eyes drifting more away from the movements of her hands and over the shape of the nymph’s body, aroused by its naturally provocative grace, though not about to lose control and undo what he have achieved. Still the thought of using that small body to its full potential was… interesting...

The girl cleaned her hair again one more time, and then rinsed the soap out, obviously tuning the watcher out to a large extent in her concentration. She sniffed at the result of her hair washing, and seemed rather surprised and pleased at the agreeable scent left behind. Then she began to wash her body, and a touch to her still rather sensitive nipples brought her thoughts rather abruptly back to the present. She looked up at Stormbringer, blushing a little but continued her bathing anyway, the large green nubs stiffening in reaction even as she coloured. The man found his growing lust, though almost certainly unnoticed, return again as he looked at those provocative nipples rising in arousal, the green of them darkening as they swelled and the light jade tracery of veins in her smallish breasts becoming more pronounced.

Naiya obviously found it a little difficult to bathe in such deep water, and ended up half perched on the side of the tub, the edge digging into her firm little bottom as she soaped first one leg, then the other, before standing up to start cleaning the after-effects of Stormbringer’s attentions off her inner thighs and mons. Soaping up the moss green patch of fur between her legs and careful to clean herself thoroughly, the blush still deepened a little, obviously sensing some male attention as her fingers worked around her private parts. Then finished with her cleaning Naiya dunked herself one last time, rising out of the water with hardly a splash to climb quickly out of the tub and sluice clean water over her dripping little body. All done, she looked around for towels which the man silently handed to her before leaving her to enjoy some privacy in the bathroom.

When Naiya emerged into the bedroom after several minutes, still patting her hair dry with the towel, Stormbringer was already lying in bed. She looked at him for a long moment, then set the towel aside and approached the bed, face a little uncertain. The emperor turned the covers aside, enough to suggest he was probably naked though the gesture was intended as no more than an invitation. “Well you've come this far.”

Naiya nodded jerkily, and then climbed into the bed beside the much larger human, carefully keeping her hair out of the way, her face a little pale but watching without real fear. Stormbringer lay on his back, putting an arm out for the girl to come and lay on it if she wished.

Naiya looked in confusion at the arm, then at the man. Then with slow comprehension, realizing that when he had said 'sleep' before, he meant just that and nothing more, she moved a little closer, resting her damp head on his arm. Gently but firmly Stormbringer pulled the little dryad against his side and held her there, doing no more than to brush her hair away from her face, and smile into her eyes before closing his own and yawning slightly. The girl trembled once, and then when nothing else happened she slowly relaxed, watching with a sense of wonder and confusion as this strange man drifted off to sleep.

She had the feeling that for herself, sleep would be long in coming.

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