WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
SA occurred in events before the start of the current story.
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Drysia dug around and found some more blankets, folding one into a pillow for herself and another for Elmerin.
He was already in a bad way, twisting and writhing beneath his blanket. He was biting down on the gag so hard Drysia suspected he'd have broken a tooth without it, while the gag itself only partially muffled the sound from his screams.
There were a lot of wannabe bard-types who wrote songs and plays that showed being afflicted by Lustvine as something romantic, or something a couple in love could use to go "oops, I guess we have to get married!" when opposed by their families. They'd never seen the reality -the total loss of control, the complete willingness to accept even humiliation and injury if it satiated the mucus-induced lust for even a moment.
Drysia was pissed for another reason as well. She'd been hoping to keep Elmerin's tired state in a balance between maintaining his free will and being susceptible to temptation. She'd been wanting to have sex with him for years just because, and had hoped that after they'd gotten to this room, she'd be able to seduce him and also use him to get away from the Cothmores. His wanting Kres was a bonus; while a Diamond was welcome anywhere, a Black Opal was actively sought after, and she could choose which kingdom she wanted to live in. She could leave the whole shitty Cothmore County and Korrum Kingdom behind and start a new life with wealth, fame, comfort, while killing monsters here and there.
But damn the Cothmores and their fucking experiments. Their damn secret Lustvine plantation had not only gotten loose, it'd monsterized. And that had put her in a position where she couldn't seduce Elmerin, not until the goo wore off and he'd recovered some from the intense strain.
Lisko thought he was clever, but he really tended to not think things through. Drysia had no doubt he was the one behind the Bolat crystal and the Red Dragons, and that he had not thought for a second about what having Bolat energy that close to his Lustvines would do to them.
Elmerin jerked beside her again. Drysia could see bruises forming on his skin, just from the action of the muscles straining against the restraints and fake desire. The blackout phase would keep him from feeling it now, but he would be hurting when it ended. At least he couldn't use magic due to his state; Drysia suspected no mage short of a Diamond would be able to stop Elmerin if he went on a rampage.
But, no fault of his own, he was keeping her awake. Drysia sat up, her arms on her knees. Her mind turned back to the Cothmores' experiments.
Apparently the experiments went back farther than their count title and name. Governing the county and having access to the labyrinth had simply provided greater resources for researching Heartfoot, Lustvine, specifically how their pollen and mucus worked and how it could be processed into "useful" potions.
Heartfoot was mostly useful for paralysis bombs against monsters -the romantic attraction element deteriorated rapidly after the pollen was removed from Heartfoot's flower. It was mostly used as something for heirs newly introduced to the "family business" to practice on. Falchan had never been able to get past it.
Lustvine, on the other hand, was useful for many kinds of "aphrodisiacs" and, though the Cothmores would swear this wasn't the potions' purpose, rape drugs. The sale of these brought in a lot of underground money to the Cothmores. Illegally purchased slaves with equally illegal "absolute obedience" tattoos were disguised as adventurers to keep other adventurers from noticing and taken into the labyrinth to take care of the plants. Or be experimented on.
Drysia didn't care about that part. She'd fought for her own life and place in the world now, and despised others who couldn't fight free as weak. The problem was how lax Lisko was with security around such very illegal projects. The only reason the out-of-place Lustvines hadn't been discovered yet was that clearing the Cothmore and noble area of the labyrinth was restricted to Cothmore and Cothmore-approved personnel. But with monsterization, they were now all too noticeable.
Elmerin's moans seemed softer now. A touch of the back of her hand to his cheek only got a slight response. He was in for a few days of aggravation at best though.
While regular Lustvine's goo left the body within a day of being hit with it, the Cothmores had found the monsterized version's goo was different. The bulk of the effect also passed in a day, but residue would stay in the body for several days afterwards. Under general living circumstances, at worst the victim might seem slightly drunk. But if put in a situation that was sexually stimulating, it would be very easy for them to be sexually aroused.
Since most adventurers received healing or took appropriate potions shortly after being hit by the mucus, while researchers in the Merchants and Crafters guilds only researched the ordinary plants when they did research, this was unknown to the Guilds.
Although they'd learn pretty fast once they deciphered the Cothmores' notes. Or if they caught Falchan with the vials of goo potion he spiked his alcohol with and figured out what they were.
Elmerin was breathing more easily now. Drysia pulled up an eyelid and noticed his cornea was a much paler green now. A little longer, and he should be over the worst of it. This was rather fast, really; those detox potions must have had some effect.
Lisko would want to know, but she had no intention of telling him. What he'd done…
She looked down at Elmerin. Lisko had threatened her if she told anyone, but Elmerin wasn't really listening, and she wanted to talk about it.
"You know my mother was the prostitute of Tow? Her grandmother was brought in as a slave to the village when it was still thriving. It was the headman's answer to the amount of men cheating on their wives with other men's wives, and the priest having trouble figuring out who was the child of which father. Reliable blood test papers cost." Drysia stroked Elmerin's hair back from his forehead.
"In order to not have to spend that much again, the slave was taken to Bexley during the Turning of the Year Festival and her 'services' sold. Bred to produce a future prostitute." She laughed sharply. "And when that child was sixteen, she became a prostitute in Tow as well."
Using "prostitute" instead of "sex worker" or "companion" was incredibly rude, but Drysia really did not care. She hated the whole idea.
"That woman was also bred to produce an heir, and so on. I found out what I was eventually expected to become when I was fourteen and one of the men attacked me. The headman pulled him off and had him whipped, not for the attack, but for not waiting until I was sixteen.
"Grandma had always told me I needed to get away from Tow, to find my own way, but I didn't realize why she was so urgent about it until then.
"That bastard had beaten me when I fended off his advances with the staff I'd been using against monsters -he was bigger and stronger, and I didn't know how to fight against humans. Once I recovered, I went back to hunting monsters. Since tracking them could take a few days, the village didn't care much that I didn't come back every night. After coming back a few times to reassure them, after one monster kill I kept going. I signed up with the Guild in Bexley." She rubbed her eyes, reminding herself she was tired. "I suddenly had a bunch of people willing to back me. When the headman from Tow showed up with some of their goods for sale, he realized he couldn't make me go back. But he demanded I send him a daughter to make up for me leaving." She buried her face in her hands. "I didn't know about male prostitutes when Kres was born… I was just so glad he wasn't a girl. I never would have left him in Tow if he'd been. I never wanted a child, but there's some things you don't do."
She touched the back of her hand to Elmerin's cheek again. At the lack of reaction, she pulled away the gag. Aside from a reflexive sigh, no sound came from him. "Good." Another look at his eyes showed his corneas were almost clear. He seemed to be pretty much asleep.
"Falchan -I thought he was the prince come to rescue me, like in the stories. Part of me didn't like him, but I suppressed that, thinking if I went along with him, I'd be alright. Hah!" Drysia surprised herself at the bitterness. Shaking herself, she continued.
"Lisko came down to celebrate Falchan making Ruby. He was not happy to meet me. The Cothmores have a house in Bexley, you know? After the public celebration, Lisko had an upstairs room closed off to all but some trusted servants. He fed Falchan some of Lustvine monster goo potion and then had two of his trusted guards… well, you can guess. Falchan doesn't even remember what happened. And apparently he was already addicted to Lustvine potions, so the taste and feeling didn't mean anything to him.
"I think Lisko slipped me a potion, too. Instead of finding the… what the guards were doing horrifying, I found it… I felt good. I wanted to watch, and I wanted to be touched. Lisko pulled me onto his lap and started… touching- me. It -I liked it. Then he took me into a neighboring room with a bed and, he was better than Falchan. He took forever, and finally, all I wanted was him."
Drysia looked bleak. "It went on for a couple of years. Falchan would be drunk or drugged, and Lisko would take me. It only stopped when he deemed me 'too old.'" She laughed harshly. "Yeah, male or female, he likes his 'lovers' young." She glared down at the now-sleeping Elmerin. "You have to get Kres away from here. You have to."
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People appearing in this chapter:
Elmerin
Drysia