As Silf stepped out of the study, and the doors closed behind her, she could hear the muffled argument that almost immediately broke out among Magnius, Zyom, and Aryzath. While she couldn't make out what was being said she could tell Zyom and Aryzath certainly weren't happy with Magnius.
She took a deep breath and held it, attempting to listen in on the conversation, by silencing her own breathing. She focused on just the sound of their voices but every time she thought she could make out what was being said their voices became more and more obscured.
There was some sort of magic at work.
It didn't matter. She was confident everything would work out now. She belonged to Magnius after all. He was going to teach her to read and write, and so much more. She smiled to herself. She was happy. She could feel the magic flowing through her eyes.
Looking in a small mirror hung on the wall she looked at her eyes. They were a mixture of a bright Green and Blue. No Yellow, No Grey. The Numb Fear she'd become so accustomed to was gone. For now at least.
She was Happy and Hopeful. There was a new future before her. New possibilities.
She tried to imagine it. Being able to read, to write, to go and do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
It was hard. She'd never known such things. She'd always been told what to do, when to do it, and punished for even the slightest deviation. Now though ... all that was hopefully behind her.
~
Sometime later the doors swung open once more. It was Zyom. He was smiling but his expression wasn't happy. He looked exhausted now. "Come on." He said. "We've got some stuff to discuss."
Magnius was strangely quiet. He was facing away from the room. Towards the only window in the room. A bay window with a built-in cushion. The curtains had been drawn closed before but now the sunlight filled the room. It made seeing the details of the room much easier.
Zyom took up his former position leaning against the bookshelves unfolding a slip of parchment. There was a sizable cardboard box by his feet she hadn't noticed before.
"Silf we want you to refuse to obey any order or request your master gives you to the best of your ability. If at all possible, do nothing he asks until we say otherwise." Silf's head jerked up to the elf's face. She felt like something heavy had just slammed into her chest. Like when water gets stuck in your throat.
"What?" Silf exclaimed. Refuse to obey her master? She couldn't. Even if she wanted to, the collar wouldn't let her. Even if Magnius was going to free her one day she still had to obey him!
"I can't disobey my master." She protested looking at Magnius. "Master I don't understa~" She was suddenly cut off when a hand took hold of her shoulder.
"Deary, Yo master can't speak to yo right now" Aryzath said. "In order for this to work, we hav to be the ones to do this an we hav to be very careful with our words. We're not sure how the collar works so we're~" She fell silent.
The redhead looked ... annoyed suddenly. Silf glanced between her and Zyom. What was going on?
"I know this doesn't make sense to you right now," Zyom said. "Until we know what the collar considers an order and its limitations, we can't say anything that could be interpreted as a command from Magnius." He'd refolded the note.
"We know the collar can't make you obey us so we're giving you an order to disobey him."Zyom finished and the room fell silent.
Silf looked back to Magnius. He still hadn't said anything or turned to look at her yet. She sat back down. Solemn in thought. It was all sinking in now. This was an order he couldn't give himself.
That meant he was going to be giving her more orders in the future, which she had already expected, but now she understood a little more about her new master.
She nodded. "I understand." The order he'd given her earlier was a test. What sort of other orders was he going to give her though? If the goal was to discover the collar's weaknesses she had some ideas at least. But she understood now why he couldn't tell her himself. The collar might take that as a command.
Magnius finally turned back around facing the room. "Good, with that out of the way, I believe Zyom has something for you." He was smiling.
Zyom pushed off from the bookshelf kneeling down and picked the box up. "I hope it fits. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure about your size." He offered her the box pulling the string loose as she took hold.
Taking the lid off Silf was taken aback as she pulled out a purely white silk dress. It was sleeveless and would hang loosely off her shoulders. Decorated with ornate patterns of thin golden swirling lines around the bust and edges but otherwise simplistic and modest.
It was short. Even for her diminutive size and looked expensive. It was probably worth more than she was. Twice her value if she had to wager a guess. Maybe more.
"I, .. I can't take this sir," Silf said looking to the Elven man unsure why he'd offer her such a thing. She'd never been giving anything more than basic rags to wear. This was ... it was too much!
"Nonsense," Zyom replied. "You can't go around in that for the rest of your life. You need some proper clothes." He motioned to the robes Magnius had given her. "Why don't you go try it on."
Silf looked to Magnius. He was still smiling as he gave a simple wave to dismiss her. "That's an order," Magnius said. "Go get changed, now!" His voice had become commanding.
~
Silf returned a short time later. The dress was indeed short, even for her. Barely coming to the halfway point of her thighs. It was also rather loose around her. Her frail almost skeletal frame allowed the dress to practically fall around her. She had to hold it up at the shoulders.
"Ummm yeah, maybe that's a little too small." Zyom remarked, giving her a once over before stepping behind her to tie the shoulder straps together so she wouldn't have to keep holding it up. "There, that's better."
Silf shook her head. "No, I like it, sir. Thank you." She'd come to accept his gift. It was the single nicest feeling fabric her skin had even been blessed with.
She didn't mind the breeze. Though she kept her hands knotted together at her crotch feeling rather embarrassed. So far only Magnius knew of her secret and she didn't know if he'd informed anyone else or not. It was probably best to keep it hidden, for now.
Azyrath stepped back into view. She'd been standing off in the corner of the room. "We'll need to get yo some shoes soon." Aryzath added, indicating to her still bare feet. "An some undergarments too."
Silf turned to the redhead with a soft smile. She'd only worn shoes a few times and had never liked them. "It's alright ma'am. I don't actually like shoes." She replied. "They're uncomfortable."
"Elves normally don't at first. It takes time to get used to them." Zyom added as he tapped the toe of his boots against the marble floor. He looked to Magnius. "It's best to get her open toe shoes for now, Sandals are recommended."