Slave to the Empire (Elf Slave #1)

by Sarah Hawke

  “On the bed, girl,” she ordered once he was finished. I stood and bent over the end of the bed for her, but when I glanced back over my shoulder she was shaking her head. “No, on your back. I want to be able to see you while I fuck you.”

  I dutifully flipped over and spread my legs, and without a moment’s hesitation she climbed between my knees and pressed the phallus against my sex. With our minds still connected I could feel her desires almost before she even knew she had them, and I allowed the faintest moan to escape my lips knowing how much would entice her. She smiled wickedly, hungrily, as she casually traced her fingertips across my breasts.

  “Tell me, whore: have you ever been taken by a woman?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  Her finger stopped the moment it touched my nipple. “’No’ what?”

  “No, mistress,” I repeated. “I have never been taken by a woman.”

  “Good,” Luriel breathed as she leaned down and dragged her tongue across my sternum. Despite my best efforts to remain in control, my skin caught fire; I nearly lost my link with her mind as my hold over the Aether faltered. But somehow I managed to maintain the spell, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Duke Kristoff take a seat behind us and settle in to watch.

  “I’m sure Kristoff has gifted you to many men already, and he will undoubtedly gift you to many more before he decides to breed you,” the duchess continued. Her tongue lashed at my nipple as her mouth closed around my right breast, and this time the gasp that escaped my lips was entirely genuine. “They will use you, they will fuck you, they may even hurt you…”

  Her eyes lifted back up to mine, and her smile froze against her face. “Don’t expect any different treatment from me, whore.”

  She thrust the phallus into me in a single motion, and I yelped in startled delight. My toes curled, my back arched, and a full-blown tremor of bliss rattled through me. But Luriel didn’t stop there. She slammed into me relentlessly, remorselessly, and yet again I felt my concentration slipping away. This time, however, I couldn’t hold onto the spell…and the truth was that I didn’t really want to.

  “Please,” I whispered into her ear when she leaned in close. “Please fuck me, mistress.”

  The words were as much for my benefit as for hers. For whatever reason the moment they rolled off my tongue I trembled in ecstasy, and judging by how she clenched more tightly at my hips it must have had the same effect on her. She splayed my legs so far apart it almost hurt, and she dove into me deeper than I ever thought possible…but each twinge of pain only made the shudders of pleasure that much more intoxicating.

  Distantly, as my senses threatened to slip away entirely, I noticed Duke Arland climbing up over her. Luriel paused for the briefest of moments as he entered her from behind, and I could feel the aftershock from each of his thrusts as they staggered with hers. We quickly became a tangled mass of bodies, and I whimpered in helpless joy as I finally climaxed.

  At some point before my senses fully returned I felt a stiff arm grab my wrist and fling me out of the way, and once my vision cleared I saw the duke flip over his wife and drive into her from the front. She locked her legs around his waist, and just like during desert I once again faded into the background.

  But that was all right. I had accomplished my mission, and if the Arlands to bind me to the rack or stick in the pillory for the rest of the night, it didn’t really matter. The secrets and schemes I’d plucked from Luriel’s mind would serve Master well over the next few months, and most importantly the Arlands would join us at the Quorum. We were that much closer to pressuring Emperor Lucian into calling off his foolish crusade, and with luck, we might even be able to convince the Vaeyn to give up Stormcrest in exchange for some reparations and the promise of an extended peace.

  I smiled despite myself. Master had put himself at considerably risk by placing so much faith in me, but I knew he would be proud. By tomorrow afternoon I would be back in his arms, and we would be able to celebrate together. Perhaps he would take me then and there in celebration…or maybe he’d even carry me back to his chambers and allow me a rare night in bed with him.

  Another shudder of contentment rippled through me as the Arlands climaxed in each other’s arms. I was more than a slave. I was more than an avenari. I was a weapon—perhaps the most powerful one in the entire Empire.

  And I couldn’t wait for Master to wield me again.

  Chapter Seven

  As promised, Larric retrieved me from the Arland mansion the next morning. I’d barely gotten any sleep by that point; while the duke had passed out just after midnight, Luriel had kept me awake and at her mercy until nearly dawn. By the time she’d joined her husband in bed I had curled up on the floor in exhaustion. The scowling handmaiden had eventually retrieved and dressed me before shoving me out the door like part of the morning garbage.

  Not that I particularly cared. My skin still tingled as if I’d been holding onto an Aether-charged crystal, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever felt as drained and contented. Besides, I’d done what I had come here to do, and even if I never saw or spoke to the Arlands again it didn’t really matter.

  Larric remained silent the entire trip back, as expected, and I actually managed to fall asleep inside the carriage. But once we reached the main gate and the portcullis slowly cranked open, I realized something was wrong. The mansion was bustling with activity, far more than was reasonable for a late morning when no meetings or events had been scheduled. Had Master invited over unexpected guests? Had Larric arranged some type of new training exercise for the house guard?

  I peered out the window once the carriage entered the estate, and all across the courtyard the guards were either on patrol or whispering to each in other in hushed, frantic tones. It didn’t look like the estate had actually been attacked—I doubted that even the Faedari rebels were crazy enough to assault the mansion of one of the Grand Dukes inside Sanctum—but enough of the men were mobilized that it certainly looked like they were expecting trouble.

  My mind was fully awake and alert by the time we stopped and Larric let me out, and I made my way into the mansion as quickly as my shoes would allow. Master was waiting for me upon the second-floor balcony, his arms crossed as he stared vacantly out at the horizon.

  “I trust everything went well,” he said as I approached. His voice was dark and gravelly as if he’d just woken up…or had been screaming.

  “Yes,” I whispered as I crept forward. “The Arlands seemed quite pleased with my efforts.”

  “Good.”

  I frowned and stopped behind him. Didn’t he care whether or not I’d learned any useful secrets from them? Didn’t he care if I had convinced them to join the Quorum?

  “Is something wrong, Master?” I asked.

  His shoulders slumped as he blew a thin stream of air out the front of his teeth, and he slowly turned around to face me. “Balagarde has fallen.”

  “What?” I stammered, my mouth falling open. “How is that possible?”

  “The Vaeyn attacked overnight. Evidently they managed to breach the northern gate before anyone knew what was happening, and the Legion was driven out before sunrise.”

  I stared at him unblinkingly, my mind reeling in shock and horror. It didn’t seem possible. Balagarde was more of a military fortress than a city, and its position within the Salt Peaks had made it virtually impregnable for generations. Even the Reaping Horde had eventually broken on Balagarde’s walls a few decades ago, and that had been army of almost twenty thousand incensed groll warriors. How could the Vaeyn have possibly captured the city in a matter of hours?

  “General Torelius is scheduled to speak in the palace plaza this afternoon,” Master went on. “I’m sure he’ll find a way to blame the local commanders or even claim that we must have a turncoat feeding the elves information. The attack was perfectly timed—the Third Army was scheduled to arrive to reinforce the city by the end of next week.”

  I forced myself to take a deep breath. “D
o you think it’s possible? Do you think someone alerted them?”

  “What I think is that Farrow was right,” Master said coldly. “The Emperor shoved his face in a beehive and wasn’t prepared to get stung. The Vaeyn don’t fight like groll or orcs. They’re clever and subtle, and they don’t burn their Unbound children at the stake. The Legion isn’t used to fighting anyone with magic, not like this…”

  He slammed his fist into the nightstand. I hopped backwards as one of the vases crashed to the floor, and I recoiled in fear as his cheeks twitched with barely-controlled fury. Master had only been angry a handful of times in the two years since he’d purchased me, mostly since the start of this war. But I had never seen him like this. His dark eyes blazed like hot coals, and I could even see a spark of Aetheric energy crackling in his palms. I recoiled in terror of what he might do…

  “We can’t delay any longer,” he hissed between his teeth. “We have to stop this now, before it’s too late.”

  I swallowed heavily and leaned against the wall for support. All our efforts, all our carefully-laid plans, had been dashed to pieces in a single night. It was hard to believe and even harder to accept. This morning was supposed to herald our greatest triumph yet. With the Arlands’ support, we would be able to stop the war and perhaps even return home to Stormcrest before the summer. But now…

  “What are we going to do?” I asked.

  “I’m going to officially summon the Quorum,” he told me. “But not just to stop the war—peace is no longer an option. The Vaeyn won’t simply fall back now that they’ve conquered most of Glorinfel. They’ll dig in, and we’ll have to force them out. And that means we’ll need new leadership. The Emperor and General Torelius must be removed.”

  I licked at my suddenly dry lips. Convincing the other dukes to pressure Lucian into calling for a truce was one thing. They all seemed to agree that the war itself was foolish, and if he refused they might have been willing to call for a nullification to replace him. But to openly try and replace both him and the most powerful High General in order to prolong the war…

  “Do you think the other dukes will support you?”

  Master slowly lifted his fist from the nightstand and glanced down to the bloodied splinters jutting out of his knuckles. “They will,” he growled. His dark eyes eventually flicked back to me, and a cold, vengeful smile crawled across his lips. “You will make certain of it.”

  To Be Continued

  The Elf Slave series continues in Unbound, due out early this summer!

  If you are interested in more hardcore fantasy erotica, you may enjoy my Dirty, Filthy Fantasy Tales series starting with Web of the Spider Queen.

  For updates about new releases, subscribe to the Sarah Hawke Fan Newsletter by sending an email to hawkenovels@gmail.com with the subject line “Subscribe.”

  Appendix

  ~Dramatis Personae~

  The House of Kristoff

  Elara: Vaeyn female, avenari slave

  Gabriel Kristoff: human male, Grand Duke of Glorinfel

  Larric Aresi: human male, Kristoff’s bodyguard

  The Imperial Court

  Lucian Patravian III: human male, Emperor of the Veshari Empire

  Antoine Torelius: human male, High General of the First Army

  Inquisitor Jodai: human male, Covenant Inquisitor

  Luriel Arland: human (Talishite) female, wife of Duke Arland.

  Bolvir Farrow: human male, son of Duchess Farrow

  The Imperial Grand Dukes

  Kathryn Farrow: human female, Grand Duchess of Abenwreath

  Darian Arland: human male, Grand Duke of Sorthaal

  Aemond Darkstone: human male, Grand Duke of Korvale

  Jora Zarene: human female, Grand Duchess of Rivani

  ~The Imperial Provinces~

  Abenwreath: Also known as “the Wreath,” Abenwreath curls around the central province of Veshar and is known for its vast fields and farms.

  Glorinfel: Once the ancestral home of the near-extinct dwarves, Glorinfel is a snowy, mountainous region in northeast Calhara.

  Korvale: Also known as “the Vale,” Korvale is a fiercely independent province almost completely isolated from the rest of the Empire by vast mountain ranges.

  Rivani: A warm, tropical province, Rivani is the center of power for the Covenant and the most important trade center in the Empire.

  Sorthaal: Once the ancestral home of the Faeyn, Sorthaal is a sprawling mass of forests and hills known for its natural beauty.

  Veshar: The central province of Calhara is home to Sanctum, the imperial capital and the home of the Emperor and the Imperial Legion.

  ~Terms~

  Artificers: the lowest caste of Bound channelers who create enchanted armor and weapons for the Legion.

  Bound: The vast majority of channelers in the Empire are granted their powers in a Covenant ritual that binds them to the “Godstone,” a crystal said to house the souls of the Triad. Through the stone, these “Bound” channelers are able to touch and manipulate the Aether, but the Covenant is capable of severing this connection at any time.

  Calhara: The second largest continent in the world of Obsidian, Calhara is under near total control of the Veshari Empire.

  Channeler: The all-purpose name for someone who has the ability to manipulate the Aether.

  Covenant: The central religious organization in the Empire. They control and regulate the use of the Aether.

  Faeyn: the name for the fair-skinned elves who once ruled most of Calhara. The seat of their empire was Sorthaal, now an imperial province.

  Hierophant: The highest-ranking priest in the Covenant. Her power rivals that of the Emperor.

  Inquisitors: The chief enforcers of the Covenant. The Inquisitors’ primary purpose is to root out and destroy Unbound.

  Levinthian: The holy text of the Covenant.

  Numen: A large country within Torsia known for its fine silks and berries. The Numense reject the rule of the Triad and instead worship their immortal leader known only as the “Shadow King” to outsider.

  Sanctus Veshar: The founder of the Empire and conqueror of Calhara. The Covenant preaches that Veshar ascended to godhood along with his wife and his top lieutenant. Together they make up the Triad.

  Sorthaal Highlands: The ancient home of the Faeyn, now an imperial province under the rule of Duke Darian Arland.

  Spellswords: Legion soldiers trained to channel Aether.

  Sulinor: The home of the Vaeyn located in the far northeastern corner of Calhara.

  Talisham: A country located in the scorching desert region of Torsia and ruled by a powerful theocracy under the leadership of the Pah.

  Unbound: A few rare individuals are born with the ability to channel Aether without being bonded to the Godstone. They are known as Unbound, and they are hunted and executed by the Covenant whenever they are found. Elves of all ethnicities are slightly more likely than humans to possess this ability, and it is incredibly rare in the other sentient races.

  Vaeyn: the name for the gray-skinned elves of Sulinor. They are among the last free elves in the entire world, and the Covenant has long branded them demon-worshippers and heretics.

  About the Author

  Sarah Hawke is a thirty-something aspiring spinster with two cats, a horse, and a car that can technically still get her from place to place. She loves the cold, hates the heat, and desperately watches anything made by Joss Whedon for fear it will get cancelled.