Vincent laid in bed, letting his mind wander while his elf slept next to him. Both of them were naked, save the collar that so snugly fit around her throat. She nuzzled into him, her warm breath on his neck, her limp body loosely draped across his own. One of her arms laid across his chest, letting him see the bandage wrapped around her wrist that covered where he’d bitten her a few hours before.

It had been two weeks since the fiasco with Ibrahm, and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t really want to be in here, playing pillow. He wanted to be up in his observatory, taking advantage of the full moon to experiment. But that could wait. His loyal, fiercely obedient, profoundly affectionate, and—most relevant to why he was in bed—exceedingly dependent elf simply didn’t handle being apart from him with much grace, and he cared about her happiness.

He could handle missing a full moon.

On his nightstand, a book, some letters, and a plate of half-eaten apple turnovers laid, offering some means to alleviate the boredom. He reached over and picked up one of the letters.

It was a heavy envelope, decorated with Ash’s device in the wax seal and hand-delivered earlier that day. He broke the seal and opened it, and was surprised to find the envelope contained two smaller letters, addressed to himself and Manny, respectively. Curious, he opened his, first.

Vinny,

I hope you and your lovely thrall have recovered well from the ordeal with Ibrahm. Shani and I most certainly did, and have just arrived home, in Lavie. The trip up river gave me a good bit of time to consider the whole affair, and whether I had any blame in the way the cursed brat turned out.

I’ve decided that, no, I did not.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that his tantrums ruined your dinner and demonstration in equal amounts, and that just won’t do at all. I’ve decided to host a feast of my own, exactly four weeks after the eclipse, and I simply must insist that you come, and bring that delicious thrall of yours.

Ever since you let us get to know her, Shani has been begging me to arrange another encounter.

Don’t bother with a response: I know you’d never miss an opportunity to come dote on me. Every single door at my estate is open to you, and I look forward to seeing you again for a less chaotic evening.

All my love,

—Ash

Postscript: The note addressed to Manny is simply a separate invitation. Give it to her unopened, opened, or not at all. I do know how you love to teach your thralls in clever ways like that.

Vincent sighed and smiled as he put the letters back on his nightstand. Ash was right, of course—he’d be there come hell or high water. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the note addressed to Manny, but that decision could wait. He was about to pick up the book to do some reading, and indeed already had his fingers brushed against its cover when a knock came on his bedroom door.

“Yes?” He said, loud enough to be heard, but hopefully still soft enough to not rouse his elf. A few moments of silence passed, and then the doors opened, revealing several figures in the hall outside. Most of note was Alara—obviously the one that had knocked, though she had her elven toy guard with her, as well as Zorah, now dressed in a simple tunic and trousers.

“I figured you’d appreciate the heads up that I’m leaving, my lord,” Alara said, walking into the room. Vincent noticed how demurely Zorah followed her, eyes flicking between the priestess and himself. He could swear she looked sad about the news. “But I want to share my findings with you first. That, and show off your newest servant, of course.”

With a bit of effort, Vincent scooted back in the bed, sitting up a bit straighter without disturbing Manny. Alara gave Zorah the slightest touch, which prompted the human woman to step forward, and kneel by Vincent’s bedside. He raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

Zorah looked up into his eyes and swallowed, then began to speak, obviously reciting a memorized speech. “With Lord Darishi’s guidance, I’ve been able to learn that I am weak, and your lesser. I accept that it is my duty to serve and obey, and I beg you to accept the duty of guiding and disciplining me, as my lord and master.”

Vincent snorted, slightly, and returned his gaze to Alara. “That’s awfully orthodox of you,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve heard that line since Isabelle’s days.”

“Fun, isn’t it?” Said Alara with a wry grin.

“Very,” agreed Vincent, before he turned his attention to Zorah again. “I accept those duties,” he said, then thought for a moment. “Have you met Sean, yet?”

Zorah nodded. “He’s the butler, my lord.”

“Exactly. My first command to you is to find him, and tell him that I’ve accepted your service, and want him to introduce you to the staff.”

“Yes, my lord,” she said with a nod. She rose from where she’d knelt, then quickly rushed out of the room to do as he said. He chuckled slightly—she clearly had no idea what he’d just ordered her to do. She’d enjoy it, though.

Alara smiled as she hurried past, then stepped closer herself. Though, oddly, she stepped to Manny’s side of the bed. “Obéissance aveugle,” she intoned, casting a spell on his elf. For a moment, anger surged in him. Had this woman learned nothing from staying here?! Manny stirred next to him, and he was already opening his mouth to yell at the woman when he realized something—the spell hadn’t worked. It hadn’t had a charge of magical potential about it.

Alara grinned, and reached into her robes’ pocket, presenting one of the deep purple crystals that had been produced in the eclipse. “I’ve been experimenting, and I think I’ve figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Vincent asked.

“Why I was able to cast the spell that saved Manny from that sword, of course,” Alara easily said.

“It wasn’t because the eclipse was over?”

Alara shook her head. “If it had been, the stones would have been spoiled by the sunlight.”

“I suppose,” Vincent conceded. “What, then?”

Alara stepped even closer. She leaned over the bed, looming over Manny, and reaching for her throat. Gently, she took a hold of the pendant that hung from her collar, and slipped it free of the little black fabric satchel that kept it covered in the dark. Immediately, light poured from it, stinging the eyes ever so slightly.

“Petit mort,” the priestess intoned, as she held the crystal she’d brought with her close to it. This time, the spell took immediately, and obviously. The charge of magic was unmistakable, as was Manny’s unconscious shiver and moans.

“They cancel each other out,” Vincent realized, excitement surging within him. “That’s… huge. The applications are—”

“—Tremendously big,” Alara agreed. “Entire fortresses that only allow one side to cast divine spells could be built.”

“If you can get enough stones,” Vincent pointed out.

“Luckily, I know an ageless astronomer who can predict eclipses, and will have every resource made available to him to charge thousands of crystals.”

Vincent smiled. It was nice to be recognized for his talents. While he wasn’t an alchemist by trade, proficient in mass-producing magical items, he’d certainly be willing to do so here, with this next eclipse. He’d want to feel around a bit, to ensure the cult of Darishi didn’t intend to abuse these stones so much that the orthodox denominations came after him for his part in it. But… how could he say no to such an offer? “I’m flattered,” he said.

He’d study the crystals he was keeping, and learn all he could about them. Perhaps the lens in his current array wasn’t optimal for this kind of light, or maybe it simply wasn’t large enough. If he was to make more, he’d need more arrays, and other mages to help him. The arrays could be different, the mages could be tasked with trying different focusing spells. Already, a veritable excess of ways to iterate on that day’s experiment was unfolding in his mind, and he was getting excited just thinking about it.

And that excitement was rousing Manny.

By Vincent’s side, the elf stretched and let her eyes flutter open, a big, sated smile that spoke of the afterglow of Alara’s spell on her face. She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek, eyes full of the Adoration he’d earned. “Why are you so happy?” She asked in a purr.

“Alara had some wonderful news for me, Little Elf,” Vincent easily answered, with a gesture to the priestess that still loomed over her.

Immediately, Manny looked up at Alara. She paused for a moment to smile, then pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. He enjoyed the sight a great deal, and could tell she felt that by the way she rubbed her legs together under the sheets, and the little shiver that made her come out in goosebumps. “Thank you for making him happy,” Manny softly whispered to the priestess, which seemed to stun the woman a little.

“I… You’re welcome, Sunset.”

Manny smiled and nodded. Predictably, she didn’t let her attention linger on the priestess for too long, though. She wasn’t the center of the elf’s world, after all—Vincent was. Manny quickly settled back against him, head on his shoulder, bandaged hand on his chest, caressing him. Between the excitement of the good news and Manny’s brief display of intimacy with Alara, he felt himself get hard. Manny quickly capitalized, letting her caresses move lower and lower, until her hand was on his length. “How can I make you even happier?” She asked, punctuating the question with another kiss on his cheek.

Vincent considered that for a moment, fantasizing about everything Manny could do for him. It was all very, very appealing. Though, as he thought about it, he noticed Alara was trying to make a stealthy exit, and that wouldn’t do at all. “Stop Alara from leaving,” he ordered Manny.

The priestess gave Vincent a quizzical look, and Manny scrambled to obey. The naked elf didn’t even make it to her feet before she fainted, and collapsed back onto the bed. Perhaps he’d been a little too zealous with today’s feeding.

“Go on, Alara,” Vincent said, putting some steel into his voice. “Undress.”

“I beg your pardon?” The priestess asked, shooting him a skeptical look.

“Oh, you were willing to sleep around before my grand experiment, but not anymore?” Vincent asked. “You seem to be forgetting you just asked me to work with you and your cult for years to come. You’ll undress if you want me to do so.”

Vincent knew that would get to the priestess—the cult of Darishi was all about being bent to the will of those who had the power to do so, and he very, very much had that power. A month and a half ago he might have been too melancholy to do much about it—been forced to bribe the priestess to secure her obedience and help him take Manny for himself. But not anymore.

“Undress,” he repeated, forcefully.

Predictably, Alara smiled at him, and started to do as he commanded, shedding her cloak and kicking off her boots. That gave Vincent a moment to turn his attention to Manny. He buried his fingers in her orange curls, scratching and petting as he waited for her to recover from her faint. It only took a few moments longer for that to happen, and she quickly leaned into his touch.

That was perhaps his favorite part about Manny. Where his previous thralls often treated him as a king, she only ever treated him as a master. Florian had been an Adoring fellow, eager to make love and be useful, but he’d always attempted to be useful in what he thought of as a dignified way.

Manny, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. She positively ached to serve. Vincent had never seen Manny give selfish orders to Sean—had never known her to ask to be catered to. She didn’t ask for anything—didn’t seem to want for anything, except to be close. She didn’t have hobbies, now that she’d mastered her letters—though he’d find her some—and where a thrall like Siama had been happiest at their weekly fencing sessions, Manny was, without a doubt, happiest when she was on her knees with his nails scratching her scalp.

When the time came to hang a painting of her in the next room, it would depict the elf like that, he decided.

A few moments later, his attention was drawn back into the here and now by the sound of a throat being cleared. He glanced up, and was satisfied to see the priestess had stripped, exactly as he’d ordered. Manny had a big grin on her face, staring at Alara with a mixture of lust and admiration.

He quite liked seeing her look at people like that. It would make her all the more popular when they visited Ashlander.

“Join us,” he said, scooting to the middle of the bed so he’d have Manny on one side, and Alara could lie down on the other. The priestess did as she was told, quickly taking her place, and offering Vincent a kiss. It was a passionate affair, and it was reflected by the eager expression that had replaced the skepticism of before. “I’ll try not to delay you.”

“Delay?” Asked Manny. “You’re leaving?”

“That was the plan, until your master decided to keep me. I have business to attend to in Cornon,” Alara mused.

Manny moved closer, propping herself up on the bed to lean over Vincent and give the human woman a kiss. It gave him a fantastic view, and made him all the more eager to get into it.

“If you’re leaving”—Manny placed another peck—“I guess we’ll have to make sure this is as memorable as can be.”

“I’m sure I’ll be back eventually. But… I won’t pretend I’m opposed to making this special.” Alara smirked and gave the elf a wink, then turned her attention to Vincent. “Did you have anything in mind, my lord?”

Vincent grinned, looking from the priestess, to his elf, and back. “I did, yes,” he mused. He took a few moments to explain what he wanted each of the beautiful women to do, reveling in the blind eagerness at his every whim on Manny’s face, and the vague sense of intrigue his plans evoked from Alara.

When they both had their parts explained to them, they wasted no time in carrying out his bidding, turning the evening into a night to remember. And as they did so, Vincent savored every moment of it. He was: so very happy to again be someone’s master.