The prison Ray was in was tough, the facility revolved around making weapons, armor and other metal items from start to finish. There were men who went every morning to the mountain to mine ore, others had the job of extracting the different metals from the ore and most of the rest did the actual smithing under the tutelage of three master blacksmiths. Ray started out mining ore but received the garden job after the former garden master was killed for being sterile. There were other jobs in the prison but they were specialty jobs like cook, landscaper or anything else needed to run a prison. Those jobs were hard to come by and if someone got fired they would go back into ore. Ray had just finished marveling at his soil, he had put a lot of his magic into it and now it was almost black with nutrients instead of the light brown it was when he first came in. Ray accomplished this by magic and regulating what he grew but was careful not to grow too much or people would get suspicious.
“You ready for tomorrow?” Max asked as he leaned on his broom. Max was about twenty and had joined the army to keep from starving and got his job cleaning the prison because a guard was sweet on him. Max had black hair that he kept long like the Gaea and had an average build and a poor excuse for a beard he decided to grow.
“Everyday is the same for me” Ray replied. “I am learning a lot about these Largen plants and I think I have everything just right. It was a lot of work at first but now I spend most of my time relaxing in the sun or harvesting what the cooks need for meals”.
“It is our day off tomorrow, we get one every month” Max replied. “They change over the guards during this time, you should pick one out before someone else wants her”.
Ray shook his head and laughed at the prison politics. There was no guarantee that any of the guards wanted to do anything with them, women were just given the job because the majority of the men were out fighting. If a Largen guard was seeking an encounter, then the unwritten rule among prisoners was that you couldn’t try for their girl. The guards wouldn’t push themselves on you but made little hints that anyone but a complete fool would pick up on. Ray never bothered himself with any of it, when he came back from mining ore earlier on he was only interested in a bath and sleep. Now that he got the job he wanted he was content on staying where he was. He had seen at least three prisoners try to lay with more than one guard and found himself back mining ore.
“Count me out of it” Ray replied. “You know how I feel about such things”.
“Listen, one of the guards said she would bring me some stuff in” Max whispered. “There are even rumors of a furlough coming up, you can’t tell me you don’t want to be there”.
“A furlough?” Ray said surprised. There had only been one work furlough since he had been there, a furlough was when they took prisoners out of the prison in order to work somewhere else for a day or so. Most of the time the prisoners ate fruit or vegetables, there was a small place to keep a few animals for meat but the man who cared for them was inept and had only gotten the job through sweet talking a guard. Stories were told about furloughs, people were snuck meat or bread and sometimes even had dessert.
“A furlough is supposed to be happening in honor of one of Duke Treadwell’s sons, it’s his birthday or something and his staff needs more people” Max explained. “They have a wide variety of food, not just the stuff we eat here every day”.
“Hey I try” Ray replied. “We weren’t eating good at all until I took over, unless you miss eating nothing but dry corn and sweet potatoes”.
“Don’t be so defensive Ray” Max replied. “You have done wonders with this place and the times you help out the cooks, your sauces and drinks are the best I ever had. But we can have some real meat and some bread. Our cooks don’t know how to make bread Ray, we probably can have some milk, butter or cheese as well. But not if you sit in this garden all day, me and Devin were about to dip out for a bit. This is Devin’s girl last time here for a bit since they are transferring her up north to that cupcake prison where they only play around with wood items. Now I want some cupcakes, do you think there will be any on the furlough?”
“Who said you are going on a furlough? Ray replied.
“Why wouldn’t I? Max said as he tossed down his broom. “Come on man, I know you are finished for the day and we are one shy”.
“Why don’t you go grab Daniel?” Ray asked.
“Because those damn highborn got him thrown in lockup for the day” Max spat.
The highborn was a name prisoners gave other prisoners that were influential in Holyan. They consisted of officers and nobles and they constantly tried to push other prisoners around like they did back in Holyan. They were angry that people they would have bullied anywhere else started ignoring them or beating the hell out of them. The highborn held most of the specialty jobs and unlike most prisoners they stuck together and worked out a hierarchy based on how influential the person was back in Holyan. Their leader in the prison was a man named Wayne who was around fifty and was a general before he was captured.
“What happened?” Ray replied.
“They told that he had a strawberry” Max replied. “You know the rules regarding food, only in the eating area. The guard one of them were fucking wrote him up and now he is in lockup, he will probably lose his job smelting ore and go back to mining it”.
“All over a damn strawberry” Ray said and spat. “I wish I could stop feeding those idiots any food”.
“But you can’t” Max replied. “Come on Ray it will be fun, a couple of the guards have asked about you but you stay so closed off. Things can be a lot better for you if you wanted it to be”.
“Things are nice for me now” Ray replied. “I can grow multiple plants and even experiment with making different potions”.
“What is a potion?” Max asked.
“Trust me you have had some already” Ray laughed. “Alright I’ll go along with you but not for very long. The guards rarely watch me out here and if I do get one I normally plow them with enough wine until they go away”.
“Wait a minute, you can make wine?” Max asked. “How come you have never shared any of this wine with us?”
“Because I am not stupid” Ray replied. “Besides I cover the alcohol taste well enough that the guard doesn’t realize what they are drinking until they are already drunk and horny. Once they find out I am not good sport they tend to go elsewhere”.
“Well where is this wine, I want some” Max replied. “We can see the guards later, I want to get drunk”.
“And lose your job” Ray replied as he picked up the broom. “You are willing to throw all that away for a little wine? I know you like sleeping with the lady guards, do you remember how tough it was coming from the mines? They demanded you wash up and by the time that was done and you ate you would be in a poor mood to enjoy the experience. With your current job you can fuck all day and come here to eat random things out of the garden instead of just eating once at dinner”.
“You got a point” Max replied. “Let’s go see how Devin is doing, he will shit a mud brick that you finally decided to join us”.
Ray followed Max through a back corridor and into a small room with nothing but a couple of chairs for furniture. Devin was there and looked shocked as he gave Ray a hearty handshake followed by a hug. Three guards were there but it was obvious that they were relaxing since their truncheons and daggers were discarded into a corner and they looked up to see Ray and Max. Ray had seen the guards around but did not know their names since he called them all guard.
“The big Gaea came out to play” said the woman next to him. She was around thirty and had a round face and blue eyes. Ray could tell she must had been a field worker or someone who did things with her hands since her hands did not look as delicate as the other two and she looked to be in decent shape.
“I hoped he would be a good replacement for Daniel” Max said hesitantly.
“It’s just that I have never seen him out while he was not working before” the guard replied. “He spends mo
st of his time in that garden and the male guards normally get that assignment since it is a bit more dangerous and you may have to fight a prisoner one on one”.
“We would never attack you” Max replied.
“Right now you wouldn’t because you get free pussy” the guard replied as one of the other women, the guard with the light brown hair laughed. “But this one is not happy with it, I don’t think a single woman this rotation can say she has bedded him”.
“That’s because it makes life harder here” Ray replied. “I am content to hide out in the garden and the warden lets me because my produce is good”.
“How can pussy make a man’s life harder?” the guard closest to him asked. “Do you know how many Largen men would trade places with you if they could?”
“Not all Largen men would Patricia” the guard with the light brown hair spoke. “But the ones who are sterile definitely would”.
“Of course the sterile ones would” the guard Ray now knew as Patricia replied. “All you men have to do here is make metal things and fuck pussy. That reminds me, is your little game tomorrow?”
“Little game?” Devin asked.
“Now they think we are stupid Anna” Patricia said to the guard with the light brown hair. “We know about your little politics, you all get together and pick out a guard you want to try sleeping with and the others better leave her alone, even the highborn respects those rules”.
“How do you know that name highborn?” Devin asked.
“We know many things here, most of us just look the other way if it does not affect our job” Anna said. “It becomes obvious actually if only one man pays you any attention, besides men tend to talk a lot if they are balls deep in something”.
“Is it normal for women to talk this way here?” Max asked.
“I am sure the women in Holyan speak the same way when they do not have to put up any pretenses” Patricia said as she patted a seat for Ray to sit down.
“Are any of you staying past this rotation” Devin asked as he threw his arm around Anna who snuggled up to him.
“I know I am not” Patricia began. “We only owe six months out of the year and I have a husband to get back to. Too bad Daniel isn’t here, I was hoping to tell him he was going to be a father. I had my fun, I know my husband will be excited to hear the news when I get back”.
“He will be excited to hear you slept with another man?” Max asked.
“Well we are farmers” Patricia replied. “The way things go in Largen is that you work until you can’t any more then your children will take care of you. If we do not have any kids, then we will be stuck broke and unable to care for ourselves. We are better off than most and my husband is much older than I am, that is the only reason he hasn’t been sent to war. No man is happy with his pussy being taken but for us women it is kind of liberating. I can do things with Daniel that I wouldn’t dare try with husband and go back and be his sweet little Patricia. The only reason a woman takes this job as her service is to get pregnant or have a bit of fun, the hours are way too long and there are no days off. It is much easier working somewhere else for the war effort”.
“Come on now Devin don’t be cross” Anna said as she kissed Devin’s neck. “I saw your face while Patricia was talking and so did Erika even though she hasn’t said anything. We can never be more than what we are now, even if my side loses the war. All of us are married to good men who are sterile and not fighting in the war just yet. We miss them and want to get back to them just like I am sure you all have a woman somewhere back in Holyan”.
“So this is all purely physical then?” Devin asked as he broke her embrace.
“Not purely physical but a lot of it is” Anna replied. “Look at it this way, you are safe from being killed in a war and get to have sex almost every day. I know when I leave here tomorrow you will pick out another guard and the game will start again. Depending on how long you stay here, all of our faces will start running together and you may even forget my name. I won’t forget yours though, I haven’t had my woman time in two months. Be happy you were able to help a good couple bring life into this world”.
“It is like we are living in one of the houses” Max said as he sat down next to Patricia then looked up embarrassed at Ray. “No offense Ray, I meant nothing by it”.
“None taken, I never worked in the houses” Ray replied.
“What are you talking about?” Erika asked.
“To combat the cull we snatched little Gaea men from the great forest” Max began. “The queen has a plan to combat the cull by breeding the resistances in the Gaea into our blood. It is hard for most Gaea to find work, the prettiest of them are sent to the houses. They are blindfolded and handle their business with a lady in exchange for room and board. Holyan men can work there too but it is frowned upon no matter how much money they offer, no woman would date you if you ever worked in a place like that so only the desperate go there. I thought as big and chiseled as Ray is that someone had put him to work in one of those before. It would answer a lot of questions like why he hasn’t snuck off somewhere to have a good time. I thought it just brought back bad memories and he just doesn’t want it the way most men do. If you are constantly exposed to it, it may lose its charm”.
“What did you do Ray if you were not working in one of the houses?” Devin asked.
“I am a noble” Ray replied as he could feel Patricia’s fingers massaging his back. “I used to be the son of influential people in the great forest, I was taken and given away as payment to a poor noble with no sons. He adopted me and for most of my life I did the same thing I am doing here, but it takes a bad turn from there. I caught the eye of the crown princess and without going into too much detail my life was similar to what those in the houses are going through. Let’s just say your current and future Queens are not nice people. Well the princess wanted a little fun when she was heading to the front line and brought me instead of her betrothed and the Largen captured me. I miss my family but I am not going back there”.
“You are a noble?” Max asked. “Why don’t you hang around with the highborn then?”
“You have met the highborn” Ray replied. “Would you hang out with them?”
“Good point” Devin replied. “You met the princess?”
“Unfortunately” Ray replied.
“And her man doesn’t have an issue with you being around?” Devin asked.
“He is just as much a prisoner as I was” Ray said shaking his head. “He can’t leave his room and other than Melody, the only person he can talk to of the opposite sex is the same maid that cleans my room. Meanwhile Melody lets him know every detail of what she does to me or have me do to her”.
“How can she get away with this?” Patricia said as she stopped massaging Ray’s shoulders.
“Because I have a family that she threatened and she likes the things I can do” Ray replied. “I have the magic of the Gaea running through my veins, I can grow anything almost anywhere and I was her staff maker. Almost all of the mages are using a staff I made and they are in agreement I should stay and make more. It is not like I can tell anyone, who would take my word over hers?”
“Is that what that branch is that I see you playing with? Max asked. “I had wondered about that”.
“It is” Ray replied. “It is harder to do though since I don’t have any cutting tools, I am using my abilities to slowly shape the wood the way I want it and infuse it with my magic. I have never worked on a piece for so long”.
“Wait a minute” Devin replied. “If you are a mage why didn’t you just fly out here and leave?”
“I am not a mage for one” Ray replied. “Gaea magic revolves around growing things and mixing up different ingredients. And if I could fly, where would I go? I already eat more than my fair share in the garden and I am not as addicted to meat as you all are. I am in here away from your princess doing exactly what I would be doing outside of these walls”.
“It is too bad all of the
areas are taken and that you took too long to come hang out with us” Patricia said as she started again massaging Ray’s back. “Unlike your friends you get your role in life and understand your situation. You were my pick at first until you refused to come out of the garden”.
“What do you mean your pick?” Devin asked. “You guys pick too?”
“Of course we do” Anna replied. “You don’t think you picked me by luck, do you? When you are all lined up to meet the new guards at rotation I brushed my hand against yours a little and made eye contact to let you know I was interested. We make our picks as you are checked for weapons by the old guard then walked into your exercise field. After that we ignore or are shitty to the other prisoners except our chosen. Keep it to yourself though, no need of ruining the game”.
“Well I have to leave too Max” Erika replied. “Don’t worry you are not a dad. I have to go to Pine”.
“What is pine?” Max asked. “Is that the real name of the cupcake prison?”
The Mage Slayer Page 9
