Closed [Caged Sun] Curiosity Kills [Vice]

[Adi Skyglow]

20th Summer 514

Kenash was a city of plenty. This Adi had already come to know in her short time there.

There were Dynasties, though she was not sure how many exactly existed, and there were slaves. This...saddened her. No one deserved to live their life in chains. Perhaps before this was done she could aid someone captured.

With that thought in mind, Adi set off from her room to explore Kenash further. She was dressed in her newest outfit-soft black pants and a grey shirt with sleeves that flowed loosely around her wrists. Around each wrist was a bone bracelet, though these were different in appearance. When Adi put them around her wrists, she felt giddy from thinking of the circumstances surrounding their acquisition. One was stolen, the other was a gift, and both were constant reminders of Adi's darker traits.

Wonder what happened to Stefan, Adi thought idly. Since their first meeting, she hadn't heard from him. It had been just over a season since she'd first encountered the bard and his tendencies towards larceny almost got the pair in trouble. He'd promised to meet back up with her later on in the season, but since then Adi hadn't seen him around.

Well.

She was in Kenash now. New place with new opportunities.

So the young Vantha took off outside, hair loose. Streaks of Syna's light occasionally reflected the purple that Adi had naturally in her hair. Being outside in the summer without snow on the ground was an odd feeling for her, one that she hadn't experienced ever. It was nice not needing to wear a cloak around everywhere.

Her walk took her across bridges and over streams, some muddy, others clear. Water unfrozen was another odd sight for the Vantha woman. She leaned over the edge of the bridge between Dry Island and Sun Island and scooped up a handful of water in her palm, then tapped into her gnosis to freeze the liquid held in her hand before dropping the chunk of ice back into the water below. It floated for a very short distance before melting back into its original form.

Once the Vantha woman crossed the bridge and made it to the midpoint of Dry Island, she stopped to consider her final destination. She did want to explore all of Kenash, so it made sense to her to head towards the east bank and poke around there.

Though...right before the bridge, she saw something that caught her eye.

A huge building.

It appeared to be a home, possibly a house of a Dynasty member. Actually, it being a Dynasty member's home made the most sense-they were the richest people in Kenash, and as such would have the money to do such things.

Curiously, Adi approached the house, though she had no intention of going inside. It couldn't possibly hurt to check it out...

NaJu Word Count: 477

[Vice]

Peace and quiet. This was what one heard within the bowels of the Caged Sun. If Kiala Radacke pressed her fingers to the doors, she would be able to sense the vibrations of sound, the strangled moans and shouts of ecstasy of satisfied customers surrendering their afternoon to the pleasures that eluded them elsewhere. The Caged Sun knew not the concept of time, for the world above them was entirely shut off, the tools and sustenance available to each patron, compliments of the Sun itself, kept them more than occupied. This was how Kiala, one of the few heiresses of the Radacke Dynasty, passed her time. It was the life of privilege, spending it diving into the midst of pleasure. A body dedicated to her husband, Kiala passed her time with the female slaves quite often, ensuring that they were properly inspected and prepared for their patronage, though she also spent her time playing with them.

Intriguing games of 'How long can a slave hold her breath?' and 'How many pebbles can a slave swallow until they get sick' were her favourites, but with slaves that were sedated, drugged, and otherwise calmed, the process was not as... visceral as she remembered. For them, what a sober person would perceive as sharp, agonizing screams were merely lazy gasps and even pleasure at times, the drugs poured into their systems (save for the Ranuri, who she dare not damage) saving them from her punishing games. No... these slaves were quickly becoming boring, and it would be another week before the shipment was traded for another. She had to satisfy her desire now. Chimes passed in relative boredom as the Radacke ordered a slave that was not in use to deliver unto her a vine of grapes, the woman enticing the slave to feed them to her as fingers clawed upwards along the slave's arm. She considered it, a human female with tanned skin, untouched by the drugs for she was a slave of the estate and not of the Caged Sun beneath it.

"Ah... turn around."

The slave ceased her action, taking the picked grape she had taken from the vine, placing it upon a saucer, and turning around for her mistress. She was lithe, her body seeking with it the promise of pleasure, though the Radacke paid it no mind. She required this slave to maintain her sanity, and that required abstinence from such desires. It was a nightmare for her, and so she decided to rise from her place, leaving the slave without a word as she found herself approaching the double doors of the upstairs manor.

Syna glared through high windows, her light dictating the time to be afternoon, though approaching evening, Syna's walk approximately halfway its path through full flight in Zulrav's skies and setting so that Leth may take the world. The weather would be sweltering, though the fashions of the day, light blues and silvers, allowed for the skin to breathe in draped silks that formed a dress over the woman's body. A slave held the door open for the Radacke as she left the manor, intent on distracting herself from the festering frustrations of day, though she found an intrusion upon what would ordinarily be a small, empty walkway that led to the rest of Dry Island.

And, it just so happened that this intrusion happened to be a rather attractive Vantha woman, though her lack of familiarity with the area, her poor, almost dreadful choice in attire, and her posture clearly dictated that she was not a member of the Lorak Dynasty. This meant that she was, as far as Kiala was concerned, fair game. A grin materialized upon her features for a moment, covered by a sly movement of the Radacke's hand before she called out, her voice exemplary of her status as Dynasty-born, her tone prim and haughty. Her chin was slightly raised, her gaze not quite reaching Adi's as she called out,

"Good day, dear lady. Are you lost? This is the estate of Kiala Radacke, whom you are currently speaking to."

The woman paused for a moment, a smile working her way into her features as she flourished, her arm pointing to the magnificence of her estate. The lie materialized within her mind as her words wove into an offering of 'peace',

"Actually, would you like to come inside? My husband, the worker that he is, has cancelled on me and now I have arranged a table for two when there will only be one... Would you join me, dear? You can introduce yourself over tea."

[Adi Skyglow]

Mesmerized by the mansion in front of her, it took Adi almost a full ten ticks to realize that there was a woman standing in front of her. A woman who seemed to not only be very much in charge of this place, but who looked...irritated? Yes. Irritated, the Vantha decided.

Black hair flicked up to frame her face, following the movements of the young woman's head as she glanced at the woman in front of her before doing a double take. Estate? Radacke? Was she supposed to be impressed by this? Though the name Radacke meant nothing to her, Adi felt that this woman's sole purpose in life was to attract attention. How she hated people like this.

As she was about to decline the woman's invitation for tea, Adi's stomach cut her off with a loud growl. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, and tea sounded wonderful to her at the moment.

Adi's eyes, violet as they normally were, gazed back around the grounds of this Kiala woman's estate. What harm could come from accepting the invitation? She seemed wealthy and powerful-surely she bore no malicious intents towards the Vantha woman standing on her front lawn.

Said Vantha woman had no idea how wrong she was about this.

With a smile, Adi finally returned her gaze to meet the Radacke woman's, though their eyes did not quite meet. Adi thought nothing of it.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not entirely lost. I was exploring the city of Kenash and had to stop to admire your beautiful home."

After Adi spoke, she took several steps towards the woman, a polite smile on her face. "If the table's set, I see no point in wasting it," she added. Though she didn't extend a hand to the woman-something told her that this Kiala wouldn't shake it in return if she did-Adi did offer her a slightly wider grin.

"My name's Adi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[Vice]

A lack of manners was what the Radacke noticed immediately. Not only had she neglected to keep with the fashions of Kenash upon bringing her body upon her property, but she had neglected to speak her surname. 'Adi', as she called herself, a short, single syllable name, was obviously born of 'lesser' blood. A Vantha, but not a Lorak. She was likely wearing on her thirty day welcome into Kenash before greater action was done regarding her presence. Not a Freeborn, not a Dynasty Member, and not a slave. Neither of the three, which made her all the more a prime target.

Low as she was, she still bore the promise of intrigue, and with that promise, Kiala Radacke allowed the Vantha passage into her house. The table was set, boiling tea set upon a beautiful wooden table, a satin table bloth set over the table. Tea was to be served in a set of ceramic cups, gilded with designs set in gold leaf. A smile adorned the woman's features as she offered the woman a seat, not across the table as she would with her husband or polite company, but next to her. The woman would perhaps not understand the distinction, but in Kiala's mind, it was akin to assigning a space for a pet. Kiala called out for a slave to bring the sugar.

"Which one, mistress? There are three containers..."

"The leftmost, dear, thank you."

Moments later, the slave brought the sugar, and immediately poured Kiala a cup before running off to tend to the house, Kiala managing a smile before she asked,

"So... Adi. What brings you to Kenash?"

[Adi Skyglow]

Adi looked around the woman's house with gusto, taking in all the sights around her. This Kiala had a beautiful house, nicer than any place Adi herself had ever set foot in. It was the table that immediately drew her eye, covered with a fine cloth and set with an elegant tea set. Was she really about to be drinking tea from gold?

The Radacke woman offered the Skyglow woman a seat next to her, and she was right in assuming that Adi wouldn't understand the distinctive statement that the spot right next to her made. Had she known what the woman was saying by having her Vantha guest sit next to her, Adi would have been offended-she was no one's pet, and she never had been. There was a time in her life when she'd been someone's pet, and it had been the worst time of her relatively short life. Was she a slave then? No, but she was a toy.

A toy to a man who should have known better.

Adi blinked, startled out of her thoughts by the woman's call for a slave. The idea of owning someone was despicable to her. Immediately, the Vantha woman grew slightly wary of her hostess, though she knew from her brief time in the city that slavery was the norm in Kenash. Perhaps this was just what Kiala was used to.

That thought relaxed her slightly, and she paid no heed to the slave's mention of three sugar containers. Kiala Radacke was rich, after all.

"Really, it was a combination of things. I'm kind of looking for someone who I think might be here, and I wanted to see more of the world. I stopped in Kenash briefly when I traveled from Avanthal to Riverfall some time ago, and wanted to see it more thoroughly when I had a chance."

Without thinking, Adi rubbed a finger on the Kuvan tattoo she'd received a while ago as she spoke. It had healed up nicely now, thankfully without infection, and it marked her as a citizen of Riverfall should Kiala choose to look at it.

"What's it like, living a high-class life?"

[Vice]

.

Kiala Radacke did not take sugar in her tea. It was a born from appreciation of the pure and unaltered taste of the tea that was served. A very hot green tea was poured into Kiala's cup, delicate china radiating steam as Kiala Radacke allowed a small smile to materialize upon her features. The question was a fair one, primarily because of the fact that it was a lifestyle that the woman to her side would never experience. The life of a Dynasty member was one riddled with complexities. It required a profound sense of people. It required a sense of caution that Adi obviously did not possess. She walked into the house of a person she had never met for little reason other than what Kiala perceived as boredom.

The common folk lived such mundane existences.

"The life of a Dynasty member, or the high life, as you call it, is one of many faces, my dear. I could show you exactly what I mean, if you like. One of the many repercussions of living in this exact house is that you become privy to some of the most... debase aspects of those who live a life of privilege. However,"

A smile crossed the woman's features as she asked,

"First, our tea. Would you like sugar in yours?"

The Radacke motioned to the container that was set between the two women, a smile gracing Kiala's features as she mentioned,

"Ah! You've been to Riverfall, you said. And as all Vantha, originally hailed from Avanthal? How delightful. A well-traveled individual is so... appealing."

A second smile graced the Dynasty member's features as she lifted her cup of tea to take a trip.

.