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Subject: {ASSM} Amanda's Choice 18/19 (nosex)
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<1st attachment, "Chapter18.txt" begin>

WARNING: This is a work of erotic fiction. It contains depictions of
nudity and graphic sex.

Author: A Strange Geek
Title: Amanda's Choice
Summary: A 14-year-old girl with a troubled home life is swept away to
another world by an older female lover, where she must make the
ultimate choice between love and freedom.

Part: 18 of 19
Keywords: nosex

Note: Story codes are for this Chapter. See Chapter 0 for complete list
of codes

Copyright A Strange Geek, 2005

Feedback welcome! Please email me at astraYOURngegeek@comMINDcast.net
( lose YOUR MIND to email me )

Or to send anonymous feedback, use the form at bottom of HTML version:

http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/A_Strange_Geek/www/novels/AmandasChoice/Chapter18.html



---------------

The day was to be robbed of its sunset. Just as the sun began to drop
towards the ocean, a line of long, low clouds drifted in from the
horizon, growing steadily thicker as they encroached towards the shore.
Faint shafts of showery rain appeared under them as they slid over the
waters.

As the failing afternoon light darkened her bedchamber, Yanna was
forced to reach over and flick on the lamp in order to complete her
little experiment. The light illuminated the pouch of sleeping powder
sitting open on the bed next to her, its contents about half full. She
placed some of the fine powder on her outstretched palm, until she had
a small mound that was several times more than a normal dose. It took
but a single pinch to make the smoke that, once inhaled, put the victim
into a deep sleep.

The more powder, the deeper the sleep. But if inhaled directly, without
first being burned, it was doubly-potent, and potentially deadly.

Yanna held her palm before her face and gave it a quick puff of her
breath. A small cloud of particles swirled in the air before her,
drifting away, driven partially by the breeze that blew into her room
through the window behind her, the shutters having be opened fully.

She gave it another, stronger blow. A much larger cloud formed, and she
had to wave at it with her other hand to dissipate it before she felt
it safe to breathe again. Yes, that should work, but she needed to test
it first. Yanna slowly smiled as she realized she had two test subjects
likely on their way right at that moment.

She quickly dusted off her hands and put the pouch back into the night
stand's little cabinet.



If there was one modern convenience that Amanda missed from her own
world about then, it was a clock.

Normally with the sun out, she could tell about what time of day it was
by looking out her window. Everything in the Manor seemed to happen by
the position of the sun, yet with the clouds obscuring it, she had no
idea how late it was getting. She lay on her bed, anxious, alternately
looking from the window to the doorway. Sometimes she would stand when
she became too restless and pace the room.

When she finally heard the outside door open, she rushed out into
Sirinna's bedchamber.

"Hello, love," Sirinna said as she carried a tray of food to her bed.
"I brought us some dinner."

"Dinner!" Amanda cried. "I can't even think about food."

"You hardly had anything at lunch," Sirinna admonished softly. She
placed the tray in the center of the bed and sat cross-legged before
it. "Come, eat."

Amanda sighed, flouncing onto the bed, forcing Sirinna to grab the
platter so it would not bounce food out over the furs.

"Is something the matter, Amanda?" Sirinna asked.

Amanda gaped at her. "How can you ask that?"

Sirinna looked non-plussed.

"Once it's twilight, we're going to be walking right into a dangerous
situation!"

"Oh, Amanda, I really think you worry too much," Sirinna said before
popping one of those fish-filled pastries into her mouth. "She won't be
the first disobedient slave I've dealt with. Hiatha herself gave me a
great deal of trouble when I was training her."

Amanda felt this went well beyond just a mere case of disobedience, but
she knew it would be impossible to convince Sirinna of this.

"If it makes you feel better, love," Sirinna said. "You can reach under
the bed for me and fetch the spare collar and chain I have."

"How will that help?" Amanda asked as she slid off the bed.

"If she's uncollared, I can re-collar her, and bring her to Roquan,"
Sirinna explained. "I imagine he'll be most unhappy with her."

"To say the least!" Amanda groped under the bed until her hand touched
something cool and metallic. She pulled it out, and stood, the open
collar dangling from one end. She paused a moment, a shudder going
through her as she remembered her dream, and Master Roquan from the
night before when he threatened to collar her.

"Really, all we need to do is confront her. Even if she does not come
willingly, I need only inform Master Roquan of her disobedience. He
will believe me when I tell him this."

Amanda was still staring at the thing she held in her hands, having
pulled it into her hands, examining it in greater detail. It looked
much like a dog's collar, only wider, and there was a second set of
holes near one edge. The lock dangled from one of these holes. Curious,
she threaded the end of the strap through the buckle, closing the loop.
Just past the buckle, the overlapping holes lined up.

Sirinna noticed Amanda's interest. "The lock threads through the
holes," she explained. "And prevents the slave from undoing the
buckle."

"Oh," Amanda said softly, quickly tossing the collar and chain onto the
bed.

"When a Captive is made a Trainee," Sirinna continued as Amanda climbed
back onto the bed. "Either the Trainer or the Overlord places the
collar around the new slave's neck, and then gives the chain a flick
..." she moved her hand in the air as if holding a chain, " ... which
is the traditional signal of the slave's new life."

Amanda just nodded absently, eyes darting from the collar to the
platter.

"Then the Trainer tells the Trainee what the basic rules are and such.
Not a really complicated ceremony."

Amanda tentatively reached for some of the food. "And the collar never
comes off?"

"Not until the Trainee graduates. Though it's removed occasionally for
bathing purposes, of course."

"How long does it take to train someone?"

Sirinna smiled. "Depends on the Trainee, love. Usually about two, maybe
three years. Hiatha was a handful. She took nearly four."

"According to Roquan, I'd probably take a lifetime," Amanda said with a
humorless smirk.



As Yanna had hoped, Hiatha first brought Garas back to allow him to
clean up before dinner. She released him from his cuffs and secured his
chain in his bedchamber, which would allow him enough movement to use
the sanitary. She then came to check on Yanna.

"So did you manage to sleep some this afternoon?" Hiatha asked, folding
her arms under her breasts.

"Yes, mistress," Yanna said, sounding brighter than she had to Hiatha
before. "Thank you for allowing me to rest, mistress."

Hiatha nodded slowly. "Perhaps after dinner we'll see if you can do a
little better with the weights before retiring for the evening. If you
do well enough, perhaps I may let you sleep in a little tomorrow
morning."

"Yes, mistress."

Hiatha nodded again, a slow smile coming to her lips. "You're even a
little more respectful now. Very good. Perhaps this will be a remedial
training only and not a full re-training. It would be a refreshing
change."

"Of course, mistress," Yanna said, bowing her head deferentially.

"I'll be back shortly with dinner. I'll save you a little extra since
you did not have lunch. Practice some of your muscle control exercises
while I am gone."

"Yes, mistress," Yanna said, her voice unfailingly polite.

Hiatha paused a moment, then left Yanna's bedchamber. Yanna waited
until she saw the door open and close through the curtain.

Yanna sneered.

She heard a noise off to the side, and saw Garas' hazy figure through
the translucent curtain into the sanitary. This was her chance.

She dove down to the floor and snatched the pouch from the cabinet. Her
chain tinkling, she started to cross the room even as she fiddled with
the drawstring and poured a small amount into her hand. She shook her
hand a bit to level off the mound of powder just before stepping up to
the curtain, her hand extended before her.

At that moment, Garas finished what he was doing and started to turn
back towards his room.

Yanna tore the curtain aside and cried, "Garas!"

Startled, Garas whirled around.

Yanna gave the sleeping powder a quick, strong puff of her breath,
sending a smoky cloud into Garas' face.

Garas blinked in surprise and started to raise his hand to disperse the
cloud. The next second, as he took his first breath and inhaled some of
the powder into his nose and lungs, he gave two explosive coughs,
stumbling, grasping for the doorway behind him as his eyes glazed over.
He paused, blinking rapidly, taking another breath but pulling in only
a small bit of the already fading cloud, but enough to make him moan
with intense fatigue. His muscles grew weak and his mind fuzzy as he
slowly slumped to his knees.

/Hellfire,/ Yanna thought, and blew another puff into his face.

Garas' eyes rolled back and he fell to the floor with a loud thud,
motionless.

Yanna sighed. She watched him for a few minutes. For a long moment she
feared he had not survived the second dose, but then his sides began to
rise and fall, though very slowly and rather shallow.

She felt his pulse on the side of his neck. It was there, albeit a
little weak. He would live.

Yanna was not pleased. The single puff would have ultimately knocked
him out, but it took far too long. She needed it quick. It had to bring
the person down almost immediately. She had to use the larger dose,
despite the risk. Fortunately, her compatriots at the other end of the
Portal would be ready. They knew she might have to resort to such
tactics.

What's more, she could not use this technique to knock out Hiatha. She
could not risk that formidable woman getting only a partial dose. If
she managed to sound an alarm or get to fresh air, Yanna's plans would
be for naught. And as much as it would have pleased her to kill Hiatha,
her master had forbid her to take a life.

She looked down at the pouch in her hand, then towards the open window.
An idea came to her mind.

She fetched the pearl under her bed and unlocked her collar, tossing it
aside. That was the last time she was to wear that thing. She headed
into Hiatha's chamber and stepped over to the bed. She reached over to
the window above it and closed the shutters. Next, she stood near the
table with the lamp and turned it up, until it burned with a bright
flame. Yanna then paused to take several deep breaths in a row, holding
the last one in, and started to pour a generous amount of the powder
into the flame.

The flame crackled loudly and briefly surged up and out of the glass
container, turning purple. The somnolent mist began to billow from the
flame in a rush, like a column of ash from a volcano. Still holding her
breath, Yanna fanned the cloud with her hands, trying to disperse it
through the room. When her lungs began to hurt for air, she quickly ran
from the room and towards her window, gasping as she panted to catch
her breath.

She could not have timed it any slimmer. Hiatha's quarters were only
down the path from the kitchens, and soon the outside door opened and
closed.

"What the ... blazing hellfire!" Yanna heard Hiatha shout. "How did ...
how ..."

She heard Hiatha cough, then gasp. Something hit the floor with a
muffled metallic sound and a splatter. Another gasp. A pause, and then
a crashing thud. And then silence.

Yanna took a deep breath, held it, and rushed over to the curtain,
pulling it aside.

Through the miasma generated by the somnolent mist, she saw an upended
platter and spilled food. Just beyond this was the prone and motionless
form of Hiatha, sprawled out over the floor, very deeply asleep.

Yanna went over to the window and breathed again. She smiled to
herself. She would wait a short while longer for the skies to grow a
bit darker and give the other slaves a chance to return from the
kitchens, and then she would head to the Portal chamber.



Amanda managed to eat some of what Sirinna had brought, but she got
only halfway through it before her stomach fluttered in her increasing
nervousness. From there on she only picked at her food, taking only
small nibbles, sure that if she ate too much in her present state she
would just throw it back up.

The only good thing about it was that it had distracted her from the
prospect of having to go home and part from Sirinna forever.

"Sirinna, I was wondering about something," she said tentatively.

"Yes, love?"

"What if ... what if what Yanna had said were true. I mean, I know it
isn't, but what if it had been? What if Rennis really wanted to take
you back and take you out of here?"

Sirinna paused a moment, then raised her eyes to Amanda's, her gaze
steady and sure. "I wouldn't go, Amanda," she said in a level voice.

"Why not?" Amanda asked. There was no trace of admonishment or anger to
it. She truly wanted to know. "After everything Roquan did to you, I
thought ..."

"Amanda," Sirinna said firmly. Amanda quieted and listened. "As Master
Roquan reminded me, a slave is told that there are three things that
are very important to being a slave. Those three things are loyalty,
sensuality, and submissiveness. Of those, loyalty is the most
important."

"Is that what he punished you for? For being disloyal?"

To Amanda surprise, Sirinna smiled. "No, he didn't," she said. "He
punished me for failing to be submissive, not for lack of loyalty, and
after I had a chance to think about it today, I realized that this was
significant."

"Why?"

"Loyalty is everything to a slave," Sirinna said softly. "Without that,
a slave has nothing. No one wants a slave that is not loyal, Amanda.
Not an Overlord, certainly not a client. No one. Loyalty is very much
prized and cherished. I'm loyal to Master Roquan. Nothing has changed
that."

Amanda was trying very hard to understand. "But he was still wrong to
punish you," Amanda insisted.

Sirinna said nothing, her eyes downcast.

"Sirinna, it's okay to believe that," Amanda said, her voice rising.
"It's got to be! Just because you disagree with him doesn't mean you're
disloyal to him!"

Sirinna finally lifted her head, her eyes glistening. "Maybe ... maybe
you're right about that Amanda."

For that brief moment, there was a connection between them. Each
understood the other perspective just a little better. Amanda
understood why Sirinna enjoyed her life as a slave. Sirinna understood
Amanda's reluctance to submit to being a slave.

"We better finish up, Amanda," Sirinna said. "It's just getting to
twilight now, and I'm anxious to get Yanna sorted out."

Amanda nodded. No more than she was, certainly. Yet she could not still
the restlessness inside her. She almost suggested going to Roquan and
convincing him enough to at least come down to the Portal with them,
but she knew Sirinna would not go for this.

Sirinna needed to prove herself. She needed to prove to Roquan she
still deserved to be called a good slave. Amanda could see this now.
She just had to hope that Sirinna knew more about the situation than
Amanda did.



Roquan finally threw his quill down in disgust and rose from his desk
so quickly his chair tilted back and fell over, saved from a loud
report only by the furs that lined the floor of his quarters.

He ran a hand over his hair and marched into his bedchamber, where he
poured himself a goblet of wine. He took a single long pull from it and
sighed deeply. He stared down into it, swirling the wine around idly.

Twenty years. That was how long the D'ronstaq Manor had been his to
command. In that time, he had gained a great deal of experience and
wisdom. Before the sabotage, his slaves had no equal. Rarely was a
client dissatisfied, and rarely was another Overlord not jealous of his
accomplishments. Surely this meant he was doing something right, that
his decisions were the correct ones, that he brooked no interference
from others and tolerated even less any dissent to his rule.

Yet one simple statement from his Healer had shattered his
concentration for the evening.

Disagreement was not disloyalty. What nonsense was this?

In Roquan's mind, loyalty demanded agreement, even if it were tacit. It
was the job of the Overlord to make decisions and carry the
responsibility of maintaining the Manor. Disagreement would make this
impossible if it were allowed to continue.

He had punished Sirinna for a lack of submissiveness, not a lack of
loyalty. He could not imagine Sirinna being disloyal. Yet she disagree
with him. He was doubtful that even now, after two days of punishment,
she had changed her mind on this score. She was willing to be
submissive, but not to agree with him.

For the life of him, he did not understand this at all.

Roquan returned to his outer chamber and sank into his comfortable
chair near the doorway, placing the goblet down on the table next to
him loudly. He folded his hands in his lap and tried to find something
to distract him from his troubled thoughts.



The clouds had rolled in over the Manor as Amanda and Sirinna silently
crossed the gardens towards the path that led to the Portal building.
The skies could not decide what to do, the air laden with moisture,
misty and spitting occasional drizzle, but refraining from actual rain.
Already at the western horizon, gray gave way to indigo as the clouds
cleared behind the weak storm.

Amanda recognized part of the path as the same she took to Roquan's
quarters the two other times she had come this way, but they turned off
before coming within sight, and headed through a gap in the trees and
down a steep, winding path. Barely halfway, Amanda could hear the deep
thrumming noise of the Portal energies as they approached their peak,
drowning out the sound of the chain of the collar that Sirinna carried.

Amanda glanced at Sirinna. Sirinna appeared calm and very much at ease.
There was even a small smile on her lips. Amanda by contrast was tense,
ready to bolt at the slightest hint of trouble. She had already
resolved in her mind that if she saw anything at all dangerous coming
at them, she would pull Sirinna out of the way, or push her to the
floor, whatever was the appropriate response. She went over all sorts
of scenarios in her head, imagining Yanna with all manners of weapons
short of an actual firearm.

But as Amanda learned, the best laid plans of the inexperienced never
mesh with reality.

Sirinna opened the double doors of the Portal building, swinging them
inward. When the bright golden column of magical energy first appeared
to Amanda, she uttered a small gasp, mesmerized by it for a moment. The
quick, energetic pulses of the column, exuded a steady, staccato beat,
each one sending a vibration up through Amanda's feet. The crystal orb
in the center whirled, flashing brightly with reflected light, the
large jewel inside shining in crimson splendor.

Amanda paused in awe, just for a second, but it was long enough for
Sirinna to get a step ahead of her. She had just managed to wrench her
gaze from the Portal when she saw the flash of movement and the figure
jump out from behind the door.

"Sirinna, look out!" Amanda shouted.

It was too late. By the time she uttered the last syllable of her
warning, a dense cloud of sleeping powder billowed in Sirinna's face.
This time, there was no noise, no sound, no gasps. One breath stopped
her in her tracks, fogging her mind. The second breath overpowered her
body, and she collapsed to the floor with a sickening thud.

"/Sirinna!/" Amanda screamed, surging forward and crouching down next
to Sirinna's motionless body.

Behind her, the doors slammed shut.

Amanda looked up, her eyes wide and terrified. With her back to the
doors and the pouch still in her hand, Yanna smiled down at her.
"Hello, Amanda," she said amiably.

The tone of Yanna's voice was so out of place with what had just
happened that it made Amanda hesitate, her mouth opening but her
panicked mind unable to form any words.

"There's no need to worry about Sirinna," Yanna said, stepping around
them. "It's just sleeping powder, that's all."

Amanda looked down. She tried to feel at Sirinna's neck for a pulse,
but she had no idea where to check and her hand was shaking too badly.
"Why d-did you do this?" Amanda demanded in a shrill voice. "I-I
brought her down here like you asked!"

"I'm sorry about that, Amanda, really I am," Yanna said in a contrite
voice. She moved herself between Amanda and the Portal behind her. "But
I realized at the last minute that she might be reluctant to go. You
know, loyal to Roquan and all that?"

Amanda could not take her eyes from her fallen lover. She stared at
Sirinna's sides, her heart pounding, her stomach sick with worry.
Finally she caught a small movement. But it was very small, barely
there. She put her hand in front of Sirinna's face.

"Oh my God," Amanda gasped in horror. "She's barely breathing."

"She'll be just fine, Amanda. She got a little bit more of a normal
dose, but she'll be okay soon as we get her to Master Rennis."

Amanda lifted her head, her eyes burning. She rose shakily to her feet,
her hands clenched.

Yanna lifted an eyebrow. "Is something the matter, Amanda?"

"Sirinna doesn't want to go," Amanda said, her mind working furiously,
trying to figure out what to do.

"Well, then it's a good thing I thought of the powder, isn't it? Now,
we don't have much time. I'm going to open the Portal, and then I need
you to help me carry her through and ...'

"She's not going!" Amanda shouted.

Yanna paused. "Of course she's going, Amanda," she said in a darker
tone of voice, her friendly demeanor slowly dropping. "Don't you want
to be with her? Don't you want to avoid the life of a slave, or never
seeing her again?"

Amanda swallowed. "You ... y-you're lying ..."

Yanna's smile faded. "Am I, now."

"I ... I saw you Farviewing. I saw you talking to someone. It wasn't
Rennis. Everything you'd done. Everything you've said. It's all
/lies!/"

"And just what made you want to spy on me, Amanda," Yanna said. "Did
you tell Sirinna? Did she clue you in?"

"I clued /myself/ in!" Amanda retorted bitterly. "I figured out for
myself there was something fishy about you. I decided I needed to make
sure you really were in league with Rennis, so I waited and I followed
you, and I saw you from your bedchamber."

Yanna stepped up to Amanda, and looked at her with an icy gaze that
made Amanda shudder, and frightened her to her core.

"I did say you were a clever girl, Amanda," Yanna said with a wicked
grin. "Apparently a little too clever. But careless. Or did you mean to
leave my shutter open when you were done eavesdropping?"

Amanda gaped, horror-struck. "You ... y-you /knew?/"

"Oh, yes, I did." She glanced down at the floor, where the collar and
chain had dropped from Sirinna's hands. "And you told Sirinna, it
appears. I was right to drug her instead of you. So, enough games,
Amanda."

Yanna turned and waved her hand in one direction before the Portal, and
then the other.

A crack like thunder echoed through the chamber, a bolt of bright
blue-white energy shooting out from the crystal chamber. It reflected
from the ends of the column and returned to its starting point,
crashing together to form a coruscating ball of energy that expanded
outward, then turned inside-out, opening the hole in reality and the
long silvery tunnel into the distance.

Yanna turned back to face Amanda, smiling coldly. "Now, we go."



Vanlo knew he was going to have another troubled night. It was growing
dark, and his mind was still as wound up as it had been during the day.
He could not remember such sad times at the Manor, or how deeply
personal it had become to him.

He puttered around in his office, trying to find something to distract
him, something to while away the time until he felt tired enough to
possibly sleep. Nothing could hold his interest, and he gave up with a
sigh.

As he passed through the lab, he glanced at his experiment, and saw
that it was complete.

He stepped over towards the table, his eyes already on the scarlet
fluid in the flask, already discerning that very subtle shading, that
very tiny difference ...

Halfway to the apparatus, he froze.

His face took on a very puzzled look. He headed to the door and opened
it, looking up into the misty skies. He stepped down the path far
enough to look west, and saw the lingering brightness of sunset as the
clouds drew back from the horizon.

"It's too early," he commented in a low, urgent voice.

He set out immediately for Master Roquan's quarters.



"Didn't you hear me, Amanda?" Yanna said crossly.

"Sirinna doesn't want to go!" Amanda shouted back. "I'm not taking her
anywhere."

"Oh, yes, you are, Amanda, if you want your precious lover to live!"

Amanda's mouth opened in shock.

"You see, Amanda, I seem to have given poor Sirinna a bit of an
overdose of the sleeping powder. But you're in luck. Someone at the
other end of this Portal has the antidote. But if we don't get her
there now, she'll die."

Amanda looked from Sirinna to Yanna and the Portal, panic rising.
"Y-you're ... /you're lying!/" she screamed. "You're lying to me again!
You have to be!"

Yanna gave Amanda a chilling smile. "Do you really want to find out?"

Amanda stood where she was, shaking, not knowing what to do, and no one
to tell her. Tears spilled from her eyes. Again, she was being asked to
make the decision of an adult, and now another's life was at stake.

Yanna grew impatient and grabbed Amanda's arm, shaking her. "Amanda!
You don't have time to waste, you stupid girl! As we've been debating
this, she's slipped from deep sleep to coma. What do you think the next
step is, hmm?"

Amanda stumbled back over to Sirinna and fell to her knees hard on the
stone floor. She held a hand to Sirinna's face. She could barely feel
the tickle of her breath on her skin. She uttered a short, keening cry
and clutched tightly at one of Sirinna's hands.

"There's no more time!" Yanna cried. "We go now, or she dies!"

"A-all right," Amanda said hoarsely. "I'll ... I-I'll do whatever you
say."



Roquan drained the rest of his goblet, having only it to comfort his
still addled mind.

Just as he rose from his chair, a gentle glow of the alcohol settling
around him, the door opened.

Roquan gave his Healer a small smirk. "Ah, Vanlo," he said, his voice
still smooth and in control, though his tongue loosened. "Have you come
to torment me with more insightful comments as to my management of this
Manor?"

"Actually, your Lordship," Vanlo said in a strained, winded voice. "I
was rather surprised to find you here."

"Oh? And where am I supposed to be?"

"At the Portal chamber was my assumption."

"You know I do not open it until full night has fallen, Vanlo, unless
you question that tradition as well."

"Nevertheless, your Lordship," Vanlo said loudly. "The fact of the
matter is that the Portal has been opened."

Roquan paused. When the statement sunk in, it burned away the haze of
his wine. "/What?!/"

"The Portal has been opened. Someone is operating it without your
permission."

The words were barely out of Vanlo's mouth when the Overlord broke into
a dead run.



Amanda was nearly blinded by her tears as she held Sirinna's legs in
her hands, Yanna grasping Sirinna's shoulders, the Portal entrance
looming behind her.

In a brief flicker of a second, everything that Sirinna had said to
Amanda since coming to Narlass crystallized in her head. Sirinna was a
slave. It was what she was. It was her reason for rising in the
morning. Loyalty was everything, she had said. There was more to it
than that.

/This was her home./ This is what was familiar to her. This is where
she found comfort. This is where she found purpose. And Yanna was about
to take that away from her.

Amanda couldn't do it.

She stopped, and lowered Sirinna's legs to the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Yanna snapped. "Pick her up!"

"No!" Amanda cried. "I'm not going to do it! I can't take her away from
her life! I don't even know where I'm taking her, but it can't be good,
if you went to all this trouble to trick her into coming here so you
can take her!"

"Fine!" Yanna shouted. "I don't need you. I'll do it myself. She'll
just have a few bumps and bruises on her, that's all. But forget about
coming along now. Say goodbye to your lover, Amanda!"

"/No!/" Amanda surged forward again, intending to pick up Sirinna's
legs and pull her back.

"/Touch her and I kill her!/" Yanna bellowed, locking an arm around
Sirinna's neck.

Amanda staggered back. She stumbled as her foot came down on the slave
collar still sitting in the floor.

Yanna began dragging Sirinna backwards, seconds away from entering the
Portal.

Amanda looked down, and remembered what Sirinna had told her. Amanda
grabbed the collar and ran over to Yanna.

In the back of her mind, Amanda knew it to be a foolish idea. She knew
it wouldn't work. No sooner than Amanda started moving, Yanna had
dropped Sirinna's near-lifeless body to the floor. Amanda never got the
collar even close to Yanna's neck. Amanda yelped as Yanna slapped her
hard across the face and pushed her down to the floor.

With a bark of derisive laughter, Yanna bent down to pick up Sirinna
again.

Amanda no longer tried to think. She simply acted. She scrambled to her
feet and whipped the chain around with every ounce of her strength.

The end of the chain cracked loudly against Yanna's face.

Yanna screamed, clutching at her face, blood pouring from her broken
nose. She stumbled back and fell into the Portal, her body frozen for a
second before it abruptly raced away into the distance at impossible
speed.

The Portal fell in upon itself and closed with a ground-shaking boom.

Amanda stood, shaking, and then fell to Sirinna's side, bursting into
hysterical tears.

Barely seconds later, the doors to the Portal building where thrown
open, crashing loudly against the walls. "/What in the blazing hells is
...!/" Roquan began to bellow. Midway into the room, his eyes fell on
the stricken form of Sirinna, and the small pool of blood near her.

"Oh great gods," Roquan breathed.

"Roquan!" Amanda cried, sobbing wildly. "Please! She needs help!"

Roquan had already fallen to the floor next to Sirinna, cradling her
head with one hand. "Sirinna? Sirinna!" He lifted his head towards the
doors. "/VANLO, GET IN HERE, SIRINNA'S HURT AND THERE'S BLOOD!/"

Had Amanda been in any other state of mind at that moment, she would
have been stunned to have heard the abject panic in the Overlord's
voice.

"It's not hers!" Amanda cried. "It's not her blood! But she ...!"

Vanlo raced into the room, panting, his joints aching badly from the
strenuous activity. Yet he ignored it when he saw the situation,
pushing both Amanda and Roquan aside with surprising force.

Amanda tried to force herself to speak coherently. She did not need to
bother. The words were barely forming on her lips when Vanlo had
already checked Sirinna's pulse, lifted an eyelid, and examined some
powdery residue on her cheek. "Sleeping powder overdose," he said
gravely. "Get her to my office now, Overlord!"

No sooner than this was said than Roquan swiftly collected Sirinna in
his strong arms as if she were no heavier than a feather. Roquan
started out of the chamber, followed closely by Vanlo, and then Amanda.

"Amanda, you will go to my quarters and wait for me there," Roquan
said.

"What? But I ...!"

"No, Amanda! For once, do not argue with me!" the Overlord thundered.
"I will be with Sirinna through this, and then I want to know what had
just happened, and I need you to explain it to me. Now, /GO!/"

Amanda stopped, stunned, and simply watched through watery eyes as they
rushed off into the distance.
<1st attachment end>


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