The Royal Condition

[Retroboy]

Apophe KeYahm laid on her bed, wreathed in darkness. Despite her energy, Apophe invariably found there were times that she would crash and shun the company of others. This was one of those times. She had put on a brave face, and had sustained it for some time, but eventually she found she had collapsed in on herself and now was shunning any company she could. Nothing was working to alleviate her mood. Not food, not drink, not carnal pleasures. So instead she decided to wait it out, hopefully sleeping away the problem and then being able to return to her royal duties.

She sat still in the darkness, stroking the fur of one of her dogs, Brutus. The mutt had a strong sense of when she was in her moods, and had a particular habit of not leaving her be. It both irritated her and endeared the beast to her. At the very least, Brutus was loyal, and she could could count on that.

Sighing, Apophe stood as her throat began to feel parched, moving over to her counter and pouring herself a goblet of wine. She considered the possibility of getting herself dressed, but ultimately decided the effort to be pointless, much like everything else. She sat back down on the bed, wrapping her bare form in her blanket and taking a sip of the wine. She could feel the dull ache of her headaches beginning to start, as they often did when she was in her moods. She rubbed her temples, and then drank more wine. Finally, she resolved to eat, if only to keep herself alive.

Grimacing, she grabbed the microphone she kept in her room. "Bring me some food, please," she said quietly, her voice sounding drained and uncommonly meek. She looked at the jar of wine, and then added an addendum. "And some more wine."

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Teema didn't sleep very well in the slave quarters. The sounds of crying did little to help settle her nightmares so she often sneaked out in the middle of the night. It wasn't hard to pick the lock on her chains, the collar was another matter entirely, but she could llive with the choker. It was the chains that really stopped her from going anywhere.

She was already down the hall, about to walk right past the kitchen and find her hiding spot when the door kicked open and Teema stood up quickly looking like a woman who knew what she was doing and what she was doing totally wasn't sneaking around her masters quarters in the middle of the night. Nonono, not the faithful Teema.

The kitchen worker wasn't really a slave, she called herself a servant and had her own quarters and all the slaves hated her. She was mean, she was vile, and she wasn't afraid to use a whip on anyone who dared to try and sneak out knives or any kind of food. She was a strict and cuerl person and her eyes locked onto Teema's when she saw her. There was a inkling of fear in Teema's heart, this woman was surely going to tell Apophe she was snea-

"Good. Your up."

Wait, what? Teema couldn't hide the confusion on her face as the serving woman shoved a tray into Teema's hands.

"The Imperatrix needs wine and food. You look presentable. You will take it to her, and if I find out you even took a SIP of wine or a NIBBLE of her food I will paint your skinny butt red!"

Either she was racist or didn't know that Teema was the official chosen slave of Apophe. Either way, Teema bowed her head. "At once." She turned and walked perhaps a bit faster then she should away from the woman and towards her masters room.

Teema knocked on the door once she arrived then casually opened it, balancing the tray easily on one hand as the giant metal door creaked annoyingly. She was going to have to fix that later. It was annoying and not doing anyone any good.

"Master? You summoned food and wine..." Teema finally inspected the tray of goodies, what looked like a giant ass roasted bird, greens, and something in a bowl that seemed to be blinking at her and a large pitcher of dark purple wine. As well as a much smaller pitcher of water and a small cup. Perhaps just in case? Teema kept her eyes down and remained in the doorway till she was granted access inside. She was wearing what had been deemed her 'night' clothes, which was nothing but a large white tunic that reached down past her knees. Not her normal slave attire.

 

[Retroboy]

"Come in," Apophe said wearily.

However, she perked up slightly when she noticed that it was Teema, rising to meet her and making the effort to keep her blanket wrapped around her so as to not inadvertently flash her slave. She looked down at the Twi'lek, analyzing her for a second before moving back to the centre of the room to allow her in. Brutus, in his excitement, got out of bed and decided to sniff and smell at Teema, hoping for a bit of the food, but Apophe waved the dog away from the slave as she moved over to one of her dressers, pulling out a skirt and a shirt. She shimmied them on under the blanket, before letting it fall to her ankles. The skirt was short and the shirt bared her midriff, but it at least preserved her modesty.

"Thank you," she said tiredly, drinking from her goblet again.

She looks at the slave for a moment, as though considering what to do with her. Then, she shrugged.

"Go ahead, pour yourself a cup," she said. It was technically poor form to let slaves drink, or so said her father, but Koatel KeYahm had never been a particularly smart man. It built rapport between master and slave, and besides, she wanted someone to drink with. That wasn't a crime, right?

 

[Balla Vahla]

Her master had quite the sense of modesty for a woman with cybernetic limbs and a legion of slaves at her disposal. Teema couldn't help but a bit surprised when she heard the shuffling and the famailar sounds of one of Apophes many pets.

She opened the door the rest of the way and resisted the urge to just drop down on all fours and hug the fluffy dog. The tw'lek wanted to play with the dog and even pet it, but no no no... She had a job to do. She could hopefully play with the dogs later. Maybe even see them in action against a dummy or something. Hounds were quite the scary fighters.


"I, uh..." Teem looked up at her master, seeing as how she was at least two feet taller then Teem, looking up at her was the only way to look at her. "Are you alright, Master?"

Teema hadn't been in the woman's employ for too long, but just looking at her she could see the woman was a bit off her game. She had left the party rather early now that she was thinking about it.

When offered the cup, Teema looked at the spare water cup then to the wine jug. Teem looked ready to protest but then realized it was a direct order... After her hesitation she poured herself the cup, setting the tray down on a nearby table. She sniffed it and then took in a big breath before trying to drink the wine.

The tiny twi'lek started coughing right away, the wine burned her throat and it was clear that she wasn't a drinker. In fact, despite having worked in many bars, never had a drink. She had been working... Or plotting an escape. She eyed the cup suspiciously, as if she no longer trusted the contents. Was it suppose to be so dry and... Weird?

Then her eyes went to her master, "Can I speak honestly? This is... Displeasing."

Oh, she had a much more colorful word to describe the taste, but wasn't about to start cursing like a cragmoloid sailor. Not in front of her master.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe had already wandered over to the bird, pulling it apart with her talons. She took a few bites before washing it down with wine. Then, she looked back at Teema, somewhat surprised by her question. It was not often that people, at least outside of her immediate family, asked her how she was doing. That it was particularly forward for a slave didn't even to occur to her. Instead, she took the time to actually think about her response, and how much she wanted to reveal to someone like Teema.

"I'm feeling..." she said, searching for words. "Off. It happens. I get bad headaches."

She tore off a piece of bird and let Brutus have a small bit behind her back. Dog food was not known to the Yahm, so it was entirely proper to feed dogs scraps. This particular trait had been something that had confounded diplomats from more settled societies, almost as much as the fact that the Yahm tended to let their pets roam free, even during diplomatic dinners. After all, to their tribe, hounds and dogs were as much part of the family as any brother or sister might be. It seemed only natural to keep them around.

Then, the Twi'lek revealed she didn't like wine. The idea that someone might not like wine had never occurred to her. The Yahm had all drank wine and beer, even the children.

"Well, you don't have to drink it," she said, with a shrug. "If you really don't like it."

Brutus, for his part, had retaken his spot on the bed, making himself comfortable. He watched the two women, his face buried in his paws.

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Oh thank whatever person or being these people whorshiped. She set the cup down quickly watched as her master devoured the food with quite a bit a grace. Teema was sure she was going to like alcohol at some point, but today was not that point. Not while her master seemed to be pain and eat an entire bird.

"I can help you with that." A short two second pause, "If you want, master! I can help with the headache."

It was sometimes hard to keep in mind she was suppose to be a weak willed slave, she wasn't suppose to suggest things but it was too late. Teem didn't see her master as her equal but what was the harm in helping someone who was basically protecting her in the long run?

However a bit of panic had set in and she continued speaking, a bit nervous but otherwise kinda casually.

"During one of my escape attempts a year or so ago, I met a twi'lek girl who taught me a thing or two on how to rid humans of their headaches. When I was found they took her too, I think she's dead now..."

Wow, was Teema rambling? Teem winced at her own actions, this defiantly wasnt helping. Telling her master of one of her escape attempts before she had acquired her and then just talking herself in circles wasn't going to help when her masters head hurt!

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe shrugged her shoulders. Many had tried to deal with her headaches before, few had succeeded. One had used some concoction that numbed her head, but she found it made her loopy so she decided to stay away from it. She didn't need to be basically useless for weeks on end. Still, she figured, it was at the very least worth a shot. Perhaps Teema had discovered a skill that others had not. It was unlikely but not impossible.

"Alright," she said, pouring herself another drink. "You can try helping me out, little runaway."

She looks over at Teema. The girl was surprisingly honest with her. It was, at the very least, very refreshing to see. The court of the Yahm in her father's era had been full of constant bickering and intrigue, and Apophe herself had been used as a sledgehammer to break through the many political alliances to help Koatel reforge the tribe into something more coherent. It had made her rather weary of any sort of political double-talk, even when she herself engaged in it. Though, admittedly, in her case it was mostly out of necessity rather than any sort of genuine desire to do so.

Was that hypocritical? Probably.

She wandered back closer to the Twi'lek, looking down at her. How small people seemed.

"So what is it you need to do?" she said.

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Teem couldn't help but smirk a little bit, Apophe had no idea how close Teema had been to sneaking out just seconds before coming here. Granted, that wasn't really an escape attempt. Teema didn't really have an active plans to fully escape. She just had a hidey hole for when she wanted to get out of the slave quarters and do her thinking. Which mostly revolved around the Master and how she could find a stick. Like a really good stick. Or a pipe...

Or her parents.

Teema banished those thoughts from her mind quickly, now was not the time to get all sad and remorseful. Now was the time for action!

She clapped her hands together and looked around her Master's room, "I need... You-" She pointed to her master then walked over to the Masters bed and being careful to not bother the dog that was resting there, grabbed two pillows from her bed. She climbed up onto the bed, finally feeling rather tall and dropped the two pillows onto the ground. "To sit there. Facing away from me."

The twi'lek sat on the bed, sitting cross legged so her knees wouldn't be jutting out and hitting her master in the head. For, if she sat on the pillows Apophe's head would basically be in Teema's lap or in that general area. She was too tall for her to sit in a chair somewhere and have Teema do this, unless they had a stool of some kind. Seeing as this was all rather last second this would have to do. Sitting on the floor was surely beneath Apophe but hey... She set down some pillows for her.

 

[Retroboy]

Despite herself, Apophe smiled. Teema had been quite the good pick, at least for her eagerness. It helped Apophe not focus on her headache so much. She took her seat on the pillows, crossing her legs as she did so while making sure that the talons on her feet didn't scratch at each other. She was now left to wonder what exactly the Twi'lek had planned for her. She imagined, based on her positioning that it was going to be some sort of head massage. Which, even if it didn't work, would be nice any.

She found herself staring ahead, at her dresser. She tried to remember how she had acquired it. It was both tall and wide, made of of 3 rows of three drawers each, and built from stained wood. But for the life of her, she could not remember exactly how she had gotten it. Was it in a raid? Possibly, but that seemed unlikely - it was rare that she would take anything wooden with her. Perhaps it was a coronation gift. Except that didn't make sense either because she remembered the coronation gifts she had gotten quite well, despite the fact that she had gotten so many of them. Then where was it that the dresser had come from?

"Alright," she said. "I am sitting. Do I need to do anything else?"

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Teema wasn't sure why she was glaring at the dresser but Teema was sure it had wronged Apophe in some way. Teema giggled and touched her masters temples lightly with each hand and guided her head back a bit so it rested on the edge of the mattress so she was looking up slightly.

Gently she guided her fingers down Apophe's face, her pink little hands caressing her skin. "Close your eyes, master."

A slight chill went up her spine for a second. She was bossing the master around! What a thrill! She was going to put this in her memory banks forever and never tell anyone because she didn't want them to know. Teema was going to be loyal to her master and that meant sometimes just telling people lies and hoping they rolled with it. No one needed to know what a fearful dresser hater Apophe was.

"Tell me, Master... Have you ever been to a beach before?"

She started to work the muscles in her jaw, not forcing her fingers deep into the skin. She still had to be able to talk. Teema moved her fingers in slow even circles, starting at the chin and moving down the bone before moving up a bit and working the softer parts of her cheeks.

Up close like this... She kinda looked like a girl. Okay, sure, Apophe was a woman. A powerful, half robot woman who could kill a man with her freaking talons but up close and looking down at her with her eyes closed... Teema could see the wear and tear but she was still a girl.

 

[Retroboy]

As instructed, Apophe kept her eyes closed. It helped a lot, especially since her sensitivity to her light made her headaches so much worse. It galled her that she had to spend so much time shunning the brighter parts of the city when her malady acted up, but there was little to be done about it. At the very least her condition wasn't unique. She had known others who also suffered from migraines, including some amongst her tribe. Strangely enough, most of them were committed warriors themselves. She wondered if, perhaps, that meant that their conditions were caused by battle somehow. It seemed plausible.

Her thinking was interrupted, however, when Teema began to rub at her face. A shiver went up her spine and she found herself relaxing, the tension in her muscles dissipating. It had been a long time since she had received any sort of massage. Very long, in fact, now that she had thought about it. And now she found herself wondering why. A small sigh of contentment escaped her nose.

"A beach?" she asked, taking a moment to think about it. "Yeah, a few times. Raided a few settlements with beaches. Only a few, though.

The idea of the beach as a place of leisure was foreign to the Yahm, for they had spent many generations away from any sort of terra firma, making large bodies of water mystifying to them. Even when they raided, they spent precious little time on the surface of the planet spent relaxing, instead focusing on taking on as many supplies as they could so they could continue their wanderings across the Galaxy. Even now that they had settled, they tried not to spend too much time on planets they plundered, knowing that dawdling too much brought the risk of a more coherent force going against them rather than a mob of terrified villagers.

"Why?"

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Her fingers worked up, rubbing under her eyes now, in slow even circles. It was relaxing and soothing, but this was not all she had up her sleeves.

Teem leaned over her master a bit, lowering her head and her lekku moved accordingly. Falling over Teem's shoulders and dangling on either side of her masters head.

"I never been to a beach before... But I've seen pictures."

As she talked her lekku moved, looking like snakes as the tips of her lekku presssed into the softish flesh of her temple. The lekku pressed down, squeezing her head for a fraction of a second before seeming to release her head, but in reality her lekku started to pulse. It would match the pulsing of her masters head, if she still had a headache or migraine, and would slowly try to settle her head while stimulatiously massaging the head. Working out the kinks.

"I want you to think about the beach, master. Pretend you aren't raiding, you are standing on the white sand... Looking out at the calm blue ocean as it gently splashes against the shore..."

Her voice was calm and even. Teem had no idea if this relaxing trick was going to work on her master, talking about the beach always worked on other humans. The lekku trick was something she had never thought she was going to use, but here she was. Trying her best.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe sighed once more, relaxing herself further into Teem's lap. She didn't even know that Twi'leks could do that. Ms. Quba was full of so many little surprises. Good ones, too, not bad ones as Apophe was so used to finding fallen into her lap. Perhaps things were not so bad. After all, her power-base had grown and diplomacy looked fruitful lately. She had a spirited servant who actually seemed to enjoy her presence rather than despise her as well, which, strangely enough, made Apophe feel rather good about herself.

She listened to Teem's demand , and began to picture the idea. It was still strange to her at first, but she indulged it anyway. At the very least it seemed to make the dull throb of her headache subside. She imagined herself standing on the beach of a planet she had seen when she was still a young teenager, the sun on her and the sound of the waves in her ears. Yes. She could remember that clearly, now. The smell of salt, the feeling of the breeze coming off of the ocean. The name of the planet escaped her, but it seemed inconsequential, as it probably did at the time. She imagined herself taking in a gulp of the humid air, and she felt completely calm.

A serene smile crossed her face, and her eyes opened slightly to look up at the slave girl. She wrinkled her nose, and laughed softly. For a moment, the Imperatrix melted away and the young woman, the girl she might have been had she been born to someone else, somewhere else, shone through.

"Thank you, Teema," she said. "I do feel better." The truth was that the headache still remained some, but the dour mood she had been in had subsided, and she actually felt like she could face the court, had she needed to. Of course, she didn't need to, and that suited her just fine as well.

She regarded Teema for a moment, analyzing her face. It was nice to look at someone who didn't fear her. "You're very talented, you know that?"

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Was she lying? Teema wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that Apophe was... Being nice. Really nice.

She could almost hug the giant warrior woman! Teema relaxed quite a bit, grinning at her masters face. She totally did look like a girl, someone whom she might have befriended if she had been allowed to leave the house. She couldn't think of what her life would have been like if she had been able to become friends with Apophe... Maybe she would have been able to take the man who had stolen her in the first place and then what? Becoming Apophe's training buddy? Probably carry her towels around as she boot stomped jerks into dust.

Kinda like now.

Teema lifted her head and her lekku drooped and relaxed, she was feeling rather dizzy now. Making her lekku pulse like that was not something she was quite used to. She released her masters head and started to stroke her lekku, closing her own eyes now as she focused on getting the room to stop swirling.

"Thank you, Master. You don't have to say such nice things though." She opened her eyes after a couple seconds and scooted off the bed, she seemed a bit off balance as she stood up but managed to stay on her feet. "I know I'm just a slave... My talents mostly consist of... Failing at escaping and sometimes I can hit people with a stick. And being... Appealing." She motioned to herself in a up and down pattern.

Twi'leks were quite the... Appealing species. Most common slaves in the galaxy.

"If I could fight like you and your sister, I wouldn't be a slave. Nor would my parents."

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe's smile cracked into a lopsided smirk.

"Teema, I am the Imperatrix, I don't have to say anything," she said with good humour. "So I only say what I mean. You are talented." She looked Teema up and down once more. "To Hell with being nice to spare people's feelings. Yeah, sure, be polite or whatever but don't lie to make people feel good."

It took her a moment to realize she was ranting. She had fairly strong feelings on sycophants and the obsequious, finding them to be distasteful at best and repulsive at worst. She of course expected her slaves to respect her, but she never wanted them to lie to her either. Simultaneously, she wouldn't lie to them. It was a pretty good arrangement, she found. Kept her on her toes while also making sure that she was constantly improving.

"F***, if you think you wanna fight, I'll teach you how to fight," she said. "Lazzis will too. Wouldn't be the first time a Yahm taught a slave to fight."

Her smile shifted back to something more soft. "If you think you are weak, then you'll be weak. You gotta constantly be improving, always. You decide who you are, and you are always the person getting in your way when you can't be who you want to be. I wouldn't be Imperatrix if I didn't believe that one hundred per cent, so, you know, I'm speaking from experience here."

"Alright?"

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

Wow. She was even more spooky when she was ranting. Teema listened with wide eyes, watching as Apophe seemed to go off on a small rant about weakness and her status.

Her heart fluttered a little bit when she said that she was going to teach her how to fight. Teema kinda glued herself to that statement, her yellow eyes getting really wide and she even bounced a bit.

"I can fight! Well... Not really, but my father taught me to fight with a staff! I used to do pretty good when I was a kid!"

Anyone within listening range could hear the excitement in her voice. She had seen Apophe fight before, and her sister. They were both forces to be reckon with, and while Teema doubted she was going to be able to get up to their muscle mass, she wanted to be able to hold her own. Stop someone from trying to mess with her. Perhaps her skills could reside more with speed then just brute force.

Time for Teema to look a bit sheepish, "I maaaaaay have a staff hidden in one of the storage rooms by the slave quarters too. I try to keep practicing but its really hard to do in a storage room..."

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe giggled. The idea that this slave had been practicing to fight in a storage closet was an incredibly amusing site. She could only imagine how she managed to keep from making enough racket to alert the rest of the slaves as to what she was doing. The amount of spirit that Teema Quba showed off was something captivating, and Apophe only hoped that the spirit would stay when she got down the actual training. It would be profoundly disappointing to find that it was mostly bluster. But Apophe felt like it wouldn't be. There was something very genuine about Teema.

"Alright, sounds good," she said. "Don't know much about staffs and stuff though. I mostly just like..." she flexed her claws. "Like, slash people. Lazzis is pretty good with a lot of weapons though."

She looked around her room for a moment, but then it occurred to her how late it was. Was she going to start teaching her now? Probably not. Still, there was much to be planned at the very least and she could at least figure something out. Hopefully, Lazzis wouldn't complain too much about having to teach a slave how to fight.

"Alright, we'll begin tomorrow, after I get my rest," she said as she rubbed her chin. "If I'm going to be teaching you, though, I think you should have a room closer to mine." She looked around. "I guess I could move your bed in here, maybe. I dunno. I'll think about it."

@Balla Vahla

 

[Balla Vahla]

The gasp that came from her mouth was one of total utter shock.

Teema was maybe going to be moved to be closer to her master? To move out of the slave quarters where the sobbing could be heard nightly and it gave her nightmares? She felt bad for her fellow slaves but there was no way she was going to stick around with them if she was given the chance to leave. Hell, Teema had done her best to get some of those slaves and feared that one day they were going to see Apophe's favoritism towards her, if they hadn't already, and jump her in her sleep.

Her nails suck into her thigh, it was the only way to keep herself from trying to tackle the much taller woman and just squeeze her. Apophe was being truly kind right now and Teema did not want to ruin it. She didn't want to ruin it all... It was just a maybe for right now anyways. It could easily become a no, or a yes, or Apophe could just forget about the offer all together and leave her to die in the snow.

Wow, dark thoughts there.

Teema bowed her head low, "Yes! Thank you! Tomorrow. If it pleases you... And rest! Yes. Thanks!" She stood back up and started to kinda... March towards the door, feeling rather giddy about this entire conversation. She didn't feel like she was making sense right now, but this was what she wanted. To be trained. To fight. To make people fear her too, instead of just watching others be afraid.

"If that is all you need, Master, I shall take my leave!" She stood in the door and bowed her head again.