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Jaina smiled as the woman looked over a central chamber of the palace. It was a plush space of white marble, gold, and silk cushions, with great planters of greenery and flowers. In fact, flowers were everywhere, hanging down the pillars from planters at their crown and growing alone side the heated pools where naked girls lounged. The marble floor was strewn with silk cushions on which reclined beautiful women, many locked in warm embraces as they hugged and kissed.
There were women everywhere, some in slave silks, some completely naked, as they cuddled and loved with open adoration. If the real women were not enough, there were statues of them, in all their glory, often standing in poses like a dance. Tapestries of girls at play hung on the walls, creating an atmosphere of paradise. It was a garden of women, a floating heaven, a place where love could flow unrestrained.
“There are so many,” Cindariel gasped as she looked over the sight.
“Rajeen is a bit of a collector,” Jaina said. “But there are other esteemed masters here, each who has added to the harem.”
“Why do so many girls want this? Cindariel asked as she looked at Jaina. “Don’t they know what they are doing?”
“Listen,” Jaina said as she took a hand. “Look at them, and you tell me if they look unhappy. Do you think there is a single girl in this room who is unhappy or wishes she could be free?” She watched as Cindariel looked over the room, searching for some flaw in what she saw. Jaina gave her a moment, then reminded her they were on a quest for food and pulled her along. They waded into the cushions, passing girls who smiled and waved. Some even reached for Cindariel, urging her to join them and be loved.
The woman was speechless as Jaina took her through the room to a massive stone arch of green jade. Jaina explained that this was a magical portal that linked the harem chamber in the palace to the one in the jade temple.
“I am in the floating palace?” Cindariel asked as she examined the arch that, to the untrained eye, was a simple piece of architecture.
“You're in the palace here,” Jaina said, then pulled her through the arc. “And now you are on the ground in the jade temple.” Jaina pulled her back to the palace and announced she had returned. Cindariel was amazed and stood in the arch, halfway between the two places.
“I can’t even tell,” she said.
“That's how we like it,” Jaina said, taking her hand. “Now, common, let's go to the common room and get something to eat.”
Cindariel nodded as Jaina pulled her along, pausing only when a passing harem girl demanded a kiss.
“Whose your friend?” the girl asked as she leaned into Jaina smiling.
“A friend of the harem,” Jaina replied.
“Oh, not a sister yet?” the girl pouted as she looked sadly at Cindariel.
“Not yet, but I think she’s warming up to it,” Jaina said as she glanced Cindariel’s way to see the woman blush. “Oh, is Hannah here?”
“She is in the bath with her brood,” the woman said with a smile. “Cooking like a lobster on boil.”
“Cooking?” Cindariel asked.
“Hannah is a little special,” Jaina laughed. “Common, the baths are right here, she will love to meet you.” Jaina took her hand and took the girl through arches guarded by stern tiger men until they reached a garden oasis that circled a large pool. Girls lounged around the sides, talking and kissing, but this was the main bath. Hannah had a special room behind it in a larger space where a bath more to her suiting had been placed.
The air was hot and full of steam as Jaina led Cindariel into a tropical jungle. Giant ferns and broad-leafed plants were all that would grow in the steamy mist of the marble pools here. The water bubbled in places as the heat welled up to escape, producing a mist that filled the air. Four women lounged in that boiling cauldron, their leathery wings and long tails giving away their devilish heritage. One particularly ravishing devil girl sat in the middle, her red skin glistening with water as she soaked in the tub. She held a large glass in her right hand, filled with a glittering blue liquid. Her left arm was curled around the back of a green devil girl nestled securely to her breast.
“Cindariel,” Jaina said as she waved some mist from her face. “I would like you to meet Princess, Hannah, Breanne, Quinny, and Umtha. Our resident devil girls.” Jaina was pleased when Cindariel bowed slightly while Hannah and her family looked up and smiled.
“Welcome to our little abode,” Hannah said before taking a sip of her drink. “I would invite you in, but the water is a little hot for most of the girls.”
“You can cook in this water,” Breanne laughed.
Cindariel lifted a bare foot and dipped it into the water, swishing it about without a care.
“It’s a little cool,” she said.
“See, I told you it wasn’t hot enough,” Hannah said to Breanne.
“If we make it any hotter, we will need a way to vent the steam,” Breanne remarked. “You remember what happened the last time you tried to heat it. The outer rooms were drenched in condensation.”
“Oh, goodness, we have another heat lover,” Jaina laughed.
“Good, I want more company in the bath,” Hannah said as she stared at the woman. “I suppose you are the mysterious woman in red.”
“She is,” Jaina replied while hugging her tightly. “But there is a lot you need to know before you pass judgment.”
“I wasn't going to pass judgment,” Hannah remarked. “If she's with you, then I trust her completely. Besides, any girl who can stand the heat is a friend of mine.”
“I am a pyromancer,” Cindariel said. “All I can do is fire.”
“Good. Can you heat this ice bath?” Hannah joked.
“Will you please just enjoy the bath,” Breanne scolded. “Honestly, we will need a volcano to make it as hot as you want.”
“I like how warm it is,” Umtha cooed as she snuggled into Hannah while her head was gently stroked.
“Well, we were going to get some food in the common room,” Jaina explained. “I am pretty sure they are doing pizza tonight.”
There were two loud groans as Umtha shot up and moved away from Hannah as if something had tried to eat her.
“What?” Hannah said. “It has a mind of its own.”
“It has a hunger of its own,” Breanne said. “This is why nobody likes you to snuggle against them at night. They fear that beast will get hungry and devour them in their sleep.”
“Oh, ha, ha,” Hannah countered. “She was just as loud.”
“Ha, you two are like twin sisters,” Jaina laughed and tugged at Cindariel. “We will be in the common room if you want to feed that thing.” She hurried the girl away and passed out of the baths, taking her deeper into the temple.
“So that was Princess Hannah?” Cindariel asked.
“Not what you expected?” Jaina asked.
“Not really,” Cindariel replied with a glance to the side. “I guess I expected her to be more aggressive.”
“She can be aggressive,” Jaina cautioned. “Threaten the harem, or god forbid, threaten Frank, and you will see that aggression tenfold. But most of the time, all she wants is to be held and loved like any other girl. Hannah wants the same thing we all want: a peaceful life, where she is free to love her family without fear or worry.”
“But she’s a slave girl in a harem,” Cindariel insisted.
“So what?” Jaina asked. “You have seen it yourself. This is nothing like the real world. This is basically one big poly family dedicated to sharing their love. If it helps, don’t call it slavery because it really isn’t. That’s just the title the visitors used and what shows up on the character sheet. What we choose to do with that is live a life of love and compassion, sharing the experience together.”
“It is very different,” Cindariel agreed. “But I can’t forget.”
“Hey,” Jaina said as she stopped the woman in the hall. “I have no idea how even to approach what you went through, but that experience is over. You are here now, and if you want, you can be a part of this. Then you would be a part of this love and have a home with us. We would be your family, and if anybody threatened you, Hannah would fight to protect you and restore your happiness.”
“I don’t know,” Cindariel said.
“Listen,” Jaina said as she lifted the woman's chin. “You woke up in a bath with two of the girls you were responsible for killing. The first thing they did was kiss you and say they forgave you. That's the kind of love this place is based on, and all you have to do to be a part of it is reach out your hand and take it. Now, no more talk about you joining. Rajeen has her heart set on making you a daughter anyway. Let's get you some food and relax.”
Cindariel nodded, and they headed through a final jade arch, entering a vast chamber of tables, columns, and mosaic floors. Jaina took her to a booth on the side where white walls capped with dense plants created a nook of seclusion. She asked Cindariel what she wanted to eat, but the woman didn't know. Jaina asked, and they were indeed serving pizza, so she ordered one with extra sausage.
“You are a meat eater?” Cindariel asked.
“I am an everything eater,” Jaina replied. “You saw me in the tunnels. I am a slime monster who can dissolve stone if I have enough time. I could eat this table if I wanted to. Are you not a meat eater?”
“I never had much choice as to what I could eat,” Cindariel admitted.
“Well, here you can choose from the menu,” Jaina assured her. “It changes daily, but they usually have a wonderful thing called a wild hunt that almost everybody loves.” The waitress returned with a pair of drinks, setting a blue glass like Hannah’s before Cindariel. Jaina explained that the drink was called a blue glitter bomb, and it was the favored drink of Princess Hannah.
“It’s very good,” Cindariel said after she took a sip. “What is the sweet honey taste?”
“A secret ingredient,” Jaina replied with a smile. “So, tell me how you got hooked up with the other guy?”
“Thexis?” she replied as she sat back. “I met him on the way here. He's a mercenary, and I shared some of my beliefs with him. He said he would help me if I could pay his price.”
“So you wanted this to happen?” Jaina asked. She already knew about the charm affecting Cindariel's thoughts but wanted to test her. She wanted to see what the woman would say if not told she wasn't at fault.
“Look, I feel bad about it now,” Cindariel admitted. “But it does feel like you are mocking my pain by calling yourselves slave and being so happy with it.”
“I understand,” Jaina said, reaching over to pat her hand. “But you can't punish us for that. You are venting your anger on the wrong people.”
“I see that now,” Cindariel sighed. “But I want to be honest with you. I also did it because I knew you slave girls would be easy kills.”
“Because of the collars,” Jaina said with a nod.
“Yes,” Cindariel replied. “I am not a nice person, and I don't belong here.”
“You are a wounded person who needs to be healed and forgiven,” Jaina countered. “Both of those things can happen here.”
“But I am the one who did all this,” Cindariel insisted. “I brought that man here.”
“That’s not true,” Hannah said as she arrived with her sisters wearing bare slips. “Do you two mind if we join you?”
Jaina and Cindariel moved over, inviting the girls to sit. Hannah and the others settled in and got comfortable before ordering drinks.
“So we should talk about Thexis,” Hannah began as she settled in.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Jaina sighed. “I didn’t want to be the one who had to tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Cindariel asked.
“He was using you,” Hannah said as she locked the woman’s eyes. “For a purpose we don’t clearly understand.”
“He couldn’t have been using me,” Cindariel balked. “I hired him.”
“We know,” Hannah said with a hand up to calm the woman. “But I seduced him and got the truth. You were a happy accident. He was already on his way here to kill harem girls to collect magical ingredients for a party unknown.”
“Wait, he was?” Cindariel said in shock.
Jaina put an arm around the woman to steady her as Hannah explained the rest. Hannah and Thexis had a history all the way back to the first few days of her being in New Eden. The man had stolen her magical panel and given it to a woman named Moon, who attempted to blackmail Hannah. When Hannah escaped, Thexis tried to stop her, resulting in a showdown with another of her friends. Hannah hadn't seen him again until yesterday when she fought him and managed to seduce him. Under her influence, he told her everything. He had been hired by another to hunt girls of the jade harem and, using a series of magical devices, harvest magical energies and blood from them. Nobody knew why, but on his way here, he ran across Cindcariel and decided to collect an extra bounty while also setting her up to take the fall for his efforts.
“He was setting me up?” Cindariel said in shock.
“Sweety, there is something you need to know,” Jaina said. “Once you took Roric's collar, he gained the ability to see what status effects you had. Thexis had you charmed with a magical device he hid in your pouch.”
“He was controlling me?” she gasped.
“I am afraid so,” Jaina said. “And it looked like he used that control to turn your anger into a rage that drove you to kill girls.”
“He was covered with magical goodies,” Hannah added. “One of which took off his head when I tried to get him to tell me who his real employer was. All we got out of him before his head turned to paste was that it was a woman.”
“I was a puppet again,” Cindariel cried, hiding her face in her hands. “It never ends.”
“Hey,” Jaina urged as she put an arm around the woman. “You should be happy. It means you aren't responsible for what you did.”
“Yeah, Thexis is,” Hannah agreed. “Or, more properly, the person pulling his strings.”
“And we have no idea where to even begin looking,” Breanne said.
“The rogues are going to the cities in the north,” Hannah said. “But maybe Cindariel can help.”
“How can I help?” she asked without showing her face.
“Did you see him talking with anybody after you met him?” Hannah asked. “Another woman? Somebody with power?”
“No,” she replied as her hands came away. “But he did go off on his own a lot. The only person I ever saw him truly talk to was that man we hired to take us to the dungeon. He said he knew the first two floors well and took us in to show us the layout.”
“Why did you kill him?” Quinny asked.
“He found out about what we planned to do and said he wouldn’t help,” Cindariel replied with her head hung low. “I was so angry at him I laughed as Thexis slit his throat.”
“That wasn't you; it was the charm in your pouch,” Jaina reminded. “And we have a few girls who are good with magic. They say he was feeding you something to lower your resistance.”
“I am such a fool!” she cried and stood up. “I need to leave. I don’t belong here. I am too ashamed.”
“Ashamed of what?” Hannah asked.
“Oh, you didn’t hear her background,” Jaina said as she clung to the woman’s arm. “She has a history of being abused and taken advantage of.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Breanne said. “Please sit down and have something to eat. None of us will judge you.”
“Why are you all being so nice?” she implored them with wet eyes. “Look what I did to you.”
“I thought we just established Thexis, and his secret employer did that,” Hannah said as the waitress arrived with a large pizza steaming hot from the oven.
“Ahh, double meat,” Hannah said with a toothy smile.
“I expected you to show up,” Jaina laughed. “I know you devil girls have a hunger for cooked flesh.”
Jaina dismissed the waitress and urged Cindariel to sit, finally getting her to try the pizza. For the next twenty minutes, they ate and talked as if she had always been a part of the harem. She asked a few questions about Hannah and her class that Hannah was all too happy to tell her. However, what really made an impact was when Hannah told her about her past with Thexis. Cindariel was shocked to hear how Hannah had been lied to and manipulated, driven and enslaved. Frank had been hurt and used as a pawn to force her to obey. It was a terrible story, but Hannah smiled and said she was glad. Thanks to all that turmoil, her wonderful family had come together. She credited it all for her husband, her title as a princess, and her home in the harem. She was grateful for what happened as it led to this moment, sitting around a table with her loved ones eating pizza.
“So you credit all that turmoil for your happiness now?” Cindariel asked.
“I do,” Hannah said. “I had to go through that to prepare me for this.”
“And now it’s your turn,” Jaina said as she put a hand over Cindariel’s arm. “Your turmoil has led you here, and we are prepared to welcome you in.”
“You hardly know me,” Cindariel argued. “And what you do know is awful.”
“We know everything we need to know,” Jaina said. “You are a woman desperately searching for a place she can call home, where she will be welcomed, loved, and mothered.”
“All the masters have met,” Hannah said. “They agreed to admit you to the harem if that’s what you wanted.”
“Please,” Quinny said. “You can heat the tub for us.”
“Is that all you care about?” Breanne scoffed.
“What, I agree with her, it’s not hot,” Quinny argued.
“No, it really wasn’t,” Cindariel agreed as she smiled. “But Rajeen said she was going to make me a daughter.”
“Really?” Hannah said with a raised brow. “I don’t remember that in the meeting.”
“It happened after the meeting,” Jaina explained. “Because of her troubled past, Rajeen thought she would benefit from having a mother instead of a master.”
“Rajeen is our mother,” Umtha said. “She takes good care of us.”
“She is kind of like a harem mother,” Hannah agreed as she pondered it. “Until she ties you to her bed.”
Jaina tried not to laugh as Cindariel listened to a few shocking quips about Rajeen's sexual adventures. The girls then shrugged and resumed their feast as if nothing they said had been interesting. Jaina urged her to think about and remember that all the masters had already agreed they wanted her. If she could find it in her heart to accept the collar, she would be welcome in their paradise of love, and her life would never be alone again.