by Randi Darren
“Not at all. I’ll make this one simple. I want you to wear a collar with a silver and gold tag on it that simply reads, ‘Two.’ That’s it, and I’ll do exactly what I said. You would just have to dictate how much to give out.”
“You want me to wear… wear a dog collar?” she said uncomprehendingly.
“Yes, Two. I want you to wear a collar around your pretty throat. A nice one. With my ownership tag on it, and your name.
“Come now, it’s a very simple trade. It costs you almost nothing, and you get something you know you need. You’ll look good in it.”
“Fine, yes. You insufferable jerk. Yes, Alex, I agree,” Carla groused, folding her arms across her chest. “I swear on my oath to your terms.”
“Well and good. I also swear to those terms. Next, I’d like to offer you your own room here in the mansion, your own room in our capital, and the possibility of your own house down the road,” Alex said, moving quickly to his next offer.
Carla’s eyebrows shot up to the top of her head. She was an expressive woman.
“That’s… unexpected. I thought I’d have to sleep like a dog at the foot of your bed for the rest of my life.”
“Hardly.”
“And what do you want for that…?”
“I want you to let me style your hair in the way I deem fitting, and for you to address me as Master, unless otherwise specified.”
“My hair…?” she asked, a hand going up to her very short hair.
“Yeah. Your hair, and calling me Master. For a room here in the mansion of your own, a room in the castle back at Brit of your own, and maybe a house at some point down the road, of your own.”
“I… why my hair?” Carla asked, still fingering said non-existant locks.
“Because you’d look much prettier with longer hair.”
Carla’s face flushed quickly, turning her face to one side.
“I agree to your terms, and swear to the oath,” she said.
“I accept, and agree to the terms as stated. I’ll have your room put together tomorrow, Two.”
“Thank you… Master,” Carla said, not meeting his eyes.
Chapter 11
Alex wandered into the large banquet hall with private rooms attached.
It was the perfect location for the ball they were hosting for him. And this time around, they’d invited a number of other bachelors to draw in even more women.
After all, if you were already interviewing for one man, why not several?
Alex had no doubt he was the top-selling ticket here, but who knew—maybe someone would show up he didn’t expect.
On top of that, tonight would bring a new set of women to go on their first interviews. That and the three who’d made it to their second.
They’d even managed to make this a masquerade ball, a last-minute change Walter had come up with. They’d been doing an audit on the local warehouses they owned when they’d discovered several crates full of unused masks.
Something to be said for being anonymous.
Remind me to thank Walter for this idea. I might be able to get more information from the new girls before they interview with me.
I wonder if I could talk to Eugenia, Holly, or Anna with this on? Keep myself unknown?
Ha, doubt it.
He and Carla were dressed much like everyone else. Carla’s mace had been modified a bit to look more akin to a cane.
At a glance, one would never think it was a steel weapon of death.
Carla pulled at the tunic she was wearing, more than likely frowning beneath her frog mask.
“Little tight,” she said.
“That’s what you get for being decently filled out. You’re the one that wanted to wear a man’s tunic, remember?” Alex said, leaning up against the table next to her.
Men and women were moving around, talking, chatting, flirting.
Alex had no desire to do any of that right now, and was mostly concerned with watching everyone else.
“Still that tongue of yours, Master,” Carla murmured, pulling down on her tunic.
“What, can’t take a compliment?” Alex asked. He reached up to adjust his mask, a badger, and sighed. “Is it almost time yet? This is pointless.”
“Eh… five minutes more, I think. Want to go in early?” Carla asked, her head turning towards a large clock set on the back wall of the hall.
“Could we? I could also think of something fun to do with you in five minutes.”
“That’s not happening. And why the hell can’t we go in early? They’ll know who you are after the interview anyways. It’s not like you’ll be secret after that.
“Besides, the first three are the second-pass interviews. They already know you.”
“That’s… a good point. Alright, yeah. Grab whatever you want from the table and let’s go.”
“I don’t want anything from here,” Carla said, annoyance in her voice.
I wonder what she’s mad about.
“Problem?” he asked, turning towards the meeting room he’d been assigned.
“Huh? Oh… uh… I’m not… well—the food we eat is really… fatty.”
And she’s not working out the same way she used to. Heh. She’s worried about putting on weight?
“I see. Well, I know there’s a training room in the mansion, if that’d help,” Alex said, making sure to make no mention of weight gain.
“Haven’t had any days off yet. No time. But I will as soon as my day off gets here. I already planned out what I want to do.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I haven’t noticed a change in you. I don’t even believe there is one. Same sleek and sexy Two I met on the road,” Alex said, opening the door for her. “Dangerous, slightly evil, and just what I want.”
He waited as she entered before him. Once she’d looked around, she turned her head to face him. Her eyes looked more than a little annoyed through the eyeholes in the mask.
“Don’t tempt me, Master. I’ve killed many more for much less.”
“I know you have. It’s why I hired you. Your looks were secondary.”
The room was simple and given to a very common decoration. It was truly meant for meetings, and that was it.
Alex sat down in the chair positioned behind the desk, the only other chair in front of it.
“Does the door lock?” Alex asked, pulling his satchel off his shoulder and setting it down. He leaned down and pulled out his fresh stack of interview sheets.
“It does,” Carla said from the door. “Gonna try to bury yourself in one?”
“If I can. We’ll see. Otherwise you’re the only possibility.”
Setting the sheets up in an orderly pile, he pulled the top one over and started reading through it.
“Where in the world did you figure this out?” Carla said, staring over his shoulder. “Never seen the like.”
“Huh, this? It’s fairly normal for stuff like this.”
“What’s it say?” she asked, gesturing vaguely at the paper.
Can she read? I wonder. If she can’t… I might be able to broker that later with her.
“Just basic information. Like, this is her name. Eugenia,” Alex said, pointing to her name. “I could teach you sometime, if you like.”
“For a deal,” Carla said.
“For a deal. Though I think I could be generous on that one. You being able to read would be beneficial to me.”
The door opened, and a woman wearing a blue fox mask walked in. She closed the door behind her, peeling the mask off.
It was Eugenia, of course. She gave him a smile and walked over to the table.
“Count Brit, it’s a pleasure to see you. I was surprised that you invited me back to another interview. I wasn’t sure you liked me.”
“I liked you just fine, Eugenia,” Alex said, not pulling his mask off. With her, mystery went further than knowing. “I think the bigger problem was you might not be willing to swear such an oath of secrecy.”
“I… I wa
sn’t. Not at first, at least. I am now though. I think it’d be worth it,” she said.
“Oh? Alright. Let’s start with that, then. You swear to keep my secrets safe, to not betray me to anyone, and to not reveal any of my private life to anyone else. On pain of death and the loss of your soul, on Leah’s name,” Alex said.
He’d checked his crystal this morning before coming. He’d gauged it as being about eighty percent full. Holly had counted for quite a bit.
For someone so tied up in figuring this out, it might count for a bit with Eugenia.
“I… yes. I do so swear, on Leah’s name,” Eugenia said after a deep breath. “Now what is it you want to keep secret?”
Laughing to himself, Alex realized why she’d come.
He was interesting, a puzzle. The moment she had him figured out, she’d bail.
“Now, where’s the fun in telling you? You’ll just have to marry me to find out. Suffice it to say, it’s nothing that would impact or impair my ability to be your husband and care for you and yours.”
“Really? No budging on that one?” she asked, leaning forward over the desk and giving him a good view of her cleavage.
“I guess I could. But I think you’d have to crawl under my desk and show me how devoted you are to learning those secrets early. I’d hate to share my mysteries with a woman who wasn’t involved in learning them.”
Eugenia blinked at that, the request snapping through her brain like a lightning bolt.
“Did… you just tell me to… perform fellatio on you?” Eugenia asked, her voice going up an octave.
“I did. That’d be the price to learn my secrets at this juncture.”
“Fellatio?” Carla asked.
“I told her to blow me,” Alex said, turning to Carla.
“Huh? Oh. Oh. Huh. Never heard that word before.”
“I never…” Eugenia said, looking rather angered at the affront she’d apparently been subject to.
“Your call. We can continue with the interview, or you can get to work,” Alex said. He’d wanted to know where she fell, and if she balked that hard now, he doubted he could use her later.
Her pride and stubborn nature might be too much.
“Or I could leave,” she said as she stood up. “I will consider your words, and I’ll let you know if I would like to be considered for the final interview. Though I sincerely doubt it.”
“Alright, there’s the door,” Alex said, pointing. “Be sure to send in the next one.”
Eugenia walked through it without another word, putting her mask back into position as she went.
He wasn’t concerned. He’d already mostly decided on Holly. She seemed malleable to his desires.
Someone would have to really stand out in their first interview to win him over.
Looking to his master list, the next interviewee should actually be Holly. Which meant he could be done with this whole process in the next hour if she won him over.
The door opened and closed again, with a petite woman in a burgundy dress and a cat mask standing in front of the door.
“My lord,” said Holly from behind the mask.
“Hello Holly, thank you for coming. Please, come join me and have a seat,” Alex said. Pulling off his mask, he set it to one side and gave her a genuine smile. “It’s good to see you.”
Holly paused in front of the desk, then reached up and slowly pulled off her mask.
She was as uniquely different as he remembered. In fact, she might be growing on him, because he found her rather pretty today.
Adjusting her dress, she sat down gently in the chair and laid her mask down next to his.
“It’s good to see you again, Count Brit,” she said, her eyes coming up to meet his and remaining.
“Did you bring what I asked you for? Or at least memorized it so we can discuss it?” he asked, pulling out a blank sheet of paper.
“Yes. Though I worry over why you wish to know this information. It’s my family’s business.”
“If I marry you, it’d be my business. Though I can swear you an easy oath with no return from you,” Alex said. He wanted her at ease, to a degree.
“I promise to keep everything you tell me in this room regarding your family in complete confidentiality. I also swear to not use the information to jeopardize, harm, gain, or in any way leverage it against your family and its business. On Leah’s name.”
Though I make no promise not to use it against you, my dear Holly.
“Ah… thank you, Count Brit. I appreciate that. Then yes, I can share it.”
“From our last discussion, I gather there are some serious problems going on?”
Holly hesitated before giving him a broken smile.
“Was I that desperate?”
“A little. But that’s ok. Let’s go with the easy route. What would you expect from me as your husband with regard to your family? Rather than telling me everything, let’s focus on the part that falls into my sphere on a Venn diagram.”
“Whose diagram?” she asked.
“Nevermind. Just… what would you want from me, if I were your husband?”
“That is… ah… financial assistance would be a primary one.”
“Ok, that’s not unexpected considering you have no dowry. Could I ask the specifics?”
“My family invested in new technology for our fields,” Holly said, her hands in her lap. Her eyes left his and went on an adventure around the room. “The increase was significant, but the sale of the excess was not enough to cover the debt.
“The interest is slowly killing my father. We’re able to make payments now, but it is clear that we will be unable to ever resolve the debt.
“We’re not paying it off faster than the interest is collecting.”
Alex nodded at that. He’d seen it before a number of times in smaller businesses he’d acquired.
Overpromised and under-delivered on an investment.
“And what’s the current payable amount?” Alex said, scratching some quick notes down onto the paper.
“I don’t know… father won’t tell me.”
That’s not chump change, then.
“And the principal of the investment?”
“The what?”
“What was the original amount borrowed?”
“Eighty thousand. I believe we paid off forty thousand, but we’re not making the payments in full anymore. Father defaulted and had to sign a new contract, and the interest went higher, but now there’s no minimum to pay.
“We’re falling behind further each time now. We make the current payment, but it isn’t high enough to exceed the amount of interest picked up from the next cycle.
“Each payment due is more than the last. I know that if we go above a certain amount, the contract will change again.”
“Right. And the interest?”
“That… my father… ah…” Holly trailed off, her eyes locked to the table.
“Holly?”
“Thirty percent on the total owed. Is what Father said.”
That’s hefty. Alright. If we wed her, we’ll need to make a massive outlay to drop it down to a reasonable amount. Something they can make payments on.
We’ll need the exacts afterward to make it work.
That’s going to wipe out a decent chunk of our reserve.
Suppose that’s better than having His Highness dictate my marriage.
Price of freedom and all that.
“—y lord Alex. I know it’s excessive, but I believe… no, I know… I’m worth it,” Holly said. He’d missed the first part, but guessing from what he did catch, it really didn’t matter.
“And how are you worth it?” Alex asked, looking up to her.
Should we push?
“I… I already… demonstrated what I’m willing to do for you. I’d be your loyal wife in all ways.
“But… but I won’t do anything further until you wed me. I believe I demonstrated my willingness already,” Holly said, meeting his gaze fir
mly with her own.
Huh. Alright. That’s good, though. If she has a bit of spine, that’ll serve my purposes later.
“Anything else you’d need from me for your family?”
“Ah, I think father would want to send my niece to learn from you. She is only a year younger than I. My oldest brother’s daughter. She would be in line for succession of our titles.”
“Agreeable. Anything else? Best tell me now, because if it isn’t in the contract, it won’t happen.”
“Uhm… no, nothing else for my family.”
“And for yourself? Anything?”
Holly shook her head.
“No, my lord Brit. No limits on me. I would be bartering myself for my family. Just… please don’t give me to anyone else.”
“That I can agree to, but I may have you service other women I’m attempting to subvert to my own desires. I can promise it will not happen frequently, and I would be willing to settle on a firm monthly number if that appeased you.”
“I think that’d be… acceptable, yes,” Holly said, giving him a small smile.
“Wonderful. That’s all I had, Holly. Please send in the next candidate.”
“Yes. Of course. Thank you, my lord Brit,” Holly said, bowing her head and scooping up her mask.
Before the door could even close behind Holly, Anna bounced in.
It was obviously her from the impressive display of flesh and the expensive-looking dress.
She was wearing an owl mask, which she promptly pulled off as she skipped over to him. Her face wore a warm and wide smile as she bounced.
“Husband!” she gushed, leaning over and planting a kiss on his lips. “It’s so good to see you. Do you think we’ll be done after this?”
She promptly sat down at the desk, then looked to Carla and waved a small, finely manicured hand at her.
“Hello! Did he fill you up again? Did he at least clean you up this time?”
“Ah… kind of,” Carla said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Clearly unsure what to say.
“That’s good! I’ll make sure he takes better care of you once I’m your mistress,” Anna said, nodding her head. Then she turned back to Alex and unleashed that blazing smile on him.
“Hello Anna,” Alex said, unable to keep himself from smiling back at her. “How are you?”
