Leola’s insides tightened at the compliment and at her strange predicament. She said nothing in reply.
“How does a girl like you bring herself to stand up to the warriors who have defeated her own?” Dorva mused.
Leola tried to glimpse over her shoulder to read the woman’s expression. “My uncle raised me. I could not live with myself seeing him harmed.”
“Hm. Well, you have… honor. I’m not sure I could have done the same.” Dorva pulled the brush through Leola’s now untangled hair in a final stroke. Pocketing it, she looked down at Leola with smiling eyes. “May I braid it?”
Leola brightened at the question. “Of course. That would be… wonderful.”
“Splendid,” Dorva said. “So tell me, how are you enjoying being my lord’splaything?” She giggled as she spoke the question.
Leola blushed but couldn’t blame Dorva for her curiosity. She would likely have wanted to know as well, had their situation been reversed. “It is… I am unaccustomed to that sort of attention,” Leola admitted, blushing again.
Dorva let out a raucous laugh from behind her. Parting her hair into three sections she began weaving them together in a braid.
Leola’s face went hotter still.
“My lord is as passionate a lover as he is a warrior,” Dorva said kindly, after Leola said nothing.
Leola tensed at the description. How would Dorva know? Had she been the object of his affections? A wicked, inexplicable jealousy twisted through Leola.
Jealous? Of what? I’m his toy, not his mistress!
“Or so I’ve been told,” Dorva added, a smile still on her lips.
Even more inexplicable was the relief Leola felt at this. That Dorva didn’tknowSedrak in that way was oddly comforting. She shivered as Dorva put her lips close to her ear and spoke.
“Tell me, has he pressed his manhood into you yet?”
Another shiver raced down Leola’s spine. “He hasnot,” she replied.
Dorva seemed taken aback by Leola’s tone. She came around the bathing vessel, braid suspended in her hand, to look at Leola. “Have you known a man that way?” she asked.
Leola’s face turned red and she looked down at the water in the vessel. “I have not,” she whispered.
Dorva stepped around to finish the braid without comment. She wove the hair together for several moments before saying, “That is very sweet, then, for the king.”
Leola’s hands balled to fists beneath the water. She looked down at the water shimmering over her bare flesh.
“Don’t be shy, dear,” Dorva said. She squeezed Leola’s shoulder gently. “I have heard, from the women who come from there, that the men and women of the Southern parts are not free to speak of these matters. ‘Tis very strange to us here. But here, women speak of men and what they do with them. To service a king is a great honor. Sedrak honors your bravery by making you a plaything.”
Leola stole a glance at Dorva. “But… b-b-b…” she stammered. She was left speechless. She looked straight ahead. “It is not so where I am from,” she said coolly.
Dorva wove a few more strands of Leola’s hair before speaking again. “You are no longer where you are from,” she said quietly. Leola could hear the smile in her voice as she leaned close to Leola’s ear again. “You might as well enjoy your fortune.”
Leola felt oddly touched by Dorva’s frank explanation. “May I ask you something?” she asked, after hesitating a moment.
“Of course,” Dorva replied.
“What will become of me?”
Dorva paused, tying off the end of her braid, before circling around to look at Leola as she took a brush to her hands. “You needn’t worry. He might be a brute in battle, but he would never let a woman suffer.”
Leola became indignant. “I suppose our definitions of suffering are very different,” she remarked.
Dorva tipped her head to the side with genuine confusion, so Leola added, “He has spanked me until my bottom is sore and red.”
She was infuriated momentarily when Dorva smiled. “I suspect he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t think you like it. Hm?” She leaned closer. “Does your cunny wet under his hand?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Let me give you some advice, Leola.”
