Immunity, page 10
“Why?”
“And I told them to make it as dehumanizing as they could, without actually hurting you.”
“Why?” I spat.
“Aniyah was there. I sent her back to Earth two days later, after she saw what I was doing to Ms. Bender.”
“You bitch!” I screamed. I jumped to my feet and backed away from her.
She didn’t chastise me. Instead, she pushed a piece of paper in my direction and said, “Read that.”
“Fuck you,” I said.
“Do you want the knife?”
“I want to know why!”
“Well, the explanation continues when you read that.”
I stomped over, grabbed the paper, and picked it up. It was a note on White House letterhead. I stared at that for a moment then read. It was a formal letter from the president, addressed to Rhosani, Khaleesi of Algonae.
Per your request, I have sent Amelie Newman to you, but Hillary Bender is my true emissary and the only woman authorized to speak on my behalf.
I read it twice. And then I figured it out, or at least that part of it. “That bitch,” I said coldly. “That putrescent snake. That…” I couldn’t think of anything appropriate. I found myself clenching my fists, and I tossed the paper back on the table.
“You don’t like being bypassed?”
“I couldn’t care less about that,” I said. “She didn’t want to share with the UN. She had absolutely no intentions of sharing.”
“No,” Rhosani said. “She didn’t.”
“I never lied to you.”
“I know.”
“I came here on good faith.”
“I know you did.”
“Then why?” I wailed the last word.
“It’s complicated. I know all that. But there is a significant anti-human contingent, and I am not some all-powerful ruler.”
“They didn’t believe me.”
“They didn’t think anyone could be that naïve.”
“That’s me,” I said.
“It gets worse. I wasn’t angry at you. Or even them. I was angry at Ms. Bender, quite angry, and even more so at your President Moss.”
“She’s not my president.”
“When Ms. Bender laid out what Keira Moss really wanted, I pointed out it was unlikely you would stay quiet. And she said they were already aware and thought it might be better for you if the harpies found you during the return to the portal than what would happen if you made it home.”
“Fuck me!”
“Yes, I believe that was the plan.”
I stared at her then slowly sat back down. “And the rest?”
“Clearly, I couldn’t send you home,” she said. “Or let the harpies have you.”
“Thank you for that.”
“I’ll tell you the rest of that. I showed Ms. Cobb what I was doing to you and Ms. Bender. I then told her that we would not be sharing our magic with anyone on Earth, but if anyone from Earth attempted to bypass me, I would use our magic to find her – the president, not Ms. Cobb – and I’d bring her back here. I’d collect her granddaughters at the same time. And then they could experience the wrath of an angry elf.”
“Oh, shit,” I said. “What did you do to Hillary?”
“I gave her to Enania for a while. You may remember her offering such a warm welcome at the city gates.”
“Oh shit,” I said again.
“And then I gave her to the harpies.”
“Seriously?”
“As far as I’m concerned, I was too good to her, but killing her was too sudden, and I have no stomach for slowly torturing someone.” I stared for a minute, and then she asked, “Did I go too far?”
“They were going to kill me?”
“She was quite earnest when she suggested the harpies were a better result for you.”
“You have a poetic side, then.”
“Yes, I just might.”
“Fucking bitch,” I said. “God damn it.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” she agreed. “Let me explain a little more. We’ve closed the portal to Earth. Humans will not be using it. And, as I said earlier, your president lost her election. I had a little something to do with that.”
“Oh?”
“I leaked what she’d attempted to do. And then I allowed appeals from her opposition to sway me into not sharing our magic with the North Koreans.” She smiled. “And then I kidnapped one of her aides, drugged her, and got her to spill her guts on camera. Not a very good woman, Keira Moss.”
I stared at her for a minute then stood and walked away. There wasn’t really anywhere to go, but I gave her my back and stared at the wall.
Eventually, without turning around, I said, “I didn’t deserve the way you treated me.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You believed they intended to kill me if I returned to Earth.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because the anti-human contingent wanted to let you die. Or give you to the harpies. Or kill you themselves. And while I don’t have many enemies, I have some, and if I had treated you as a friend, you would have become a target.”
I turned to her. “You were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit.”
“No, not bullshit,” she said. “Just not the end of the explanation.”
“You had me brutally beaten.”
“Yes. I also gave Otter the healing ointment she used afterwards.”
“Oh, that makes it all right.”
“I made sure you were cowed,” she said.
I mock applauded. “You certainly achieved that goal. You had me beaten. And you drugged me. You’ve been drugging me once or twice a week for nearly three years.”
“No,” she said. “I drugged you for the first several times. And then I began reducing the dose. You’ve received nothing but fruit juice for the last two years.”
“That can’t be right.”
“And I never, not once, let anyone have you who would abuse you.”
“Is that why you never touched me yourself?”
“Touché,” she said. “Perhaps we’ll come back to that.”
“Someday?”
“It may become moot,” she replied. She paused. “I never summoned you.”
“You summon me every few days.”
“I misspoke. I didn’t summon you to Algonae. I invited you.”
“And there is a difference?”
“Your president decided to use you.”
“She’s not my president. I didn’t vote for her.”
“Regardless. I invited you once we had secured our world because I thought you would enjoy visiting, and I thought perhaps we could better get to know each other. I had no intention of involving you in politics. I sent a written invitation when I returned the first delegation.”
“I never got it.”
“So I concluded when you arrived as the leader of your expedition and asked why I’d demanded you.”
“You could have corrected me.”
“I wanted to see where this led. A death threat against you is where it led.” She paused. “I did ask if you would stay, if invited. I was surprised by your response.”
“You kept me anyway, and you gave me such an immersive experience in one aspect of elven culture.”
“I put you somewhere you would be safe.”
“And gave me no choice in the matter.”
“True.”
I turned away again. “You’re finally telling me all this.”
“I only learned your… Keira Moss is no longer president.”
“You got off on watching me kneel to you.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know that phrase. Perhaps it translates poorly into Elven.”
I spun. “I think you know exactly what I mean. You enjoyed watching me kneel. You enjoyed when I kissed your feet. And I think you enjoyed giving me to your friends.”
“I admit the first two. No, I didn’t enjoy giving you away. I wanted you to myself.”
I froze. “Since when?”
“Since London. I tried to catch you alone.”
“It was a whirlwind trip,” I admitted.
“And I was on my own mission. Visiting that conference was a selfish choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I was on Earth for a reason, and it wasn’t tourism or to join the conference.”
“Are you going to tell me?” I turned back. Again.
“I was heading to Iran. We couldn’t reach the portal from this side. It was far too carefully defended. The Iranian side was not. No one would have known where it was.”
“And you did?”
“No, but I knew how to find it.”
“How did you even get there?”
“Amelie,” she said, “We can open a portal any time we want. It takes power, and they aren’t permanent. It also takes power to close one that has formed naturally.”
It clicked together. “You succeeded.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, shit,” I said. “Who knows?”
“Everyone.”
“Clearly not everyone.”
“Fine,” she said. “Every elf of Algonae, and probably many of the humans. The rulers here only knew the portal closed, and their advanced weapons stopped working. No electronics, no gunpowder, no explosives. It was still a bloody war. We were outnumbered, and they held a fortress.”
It was her turn to get up and turn away. I took a step closer, staring at her back. “A personal story.”
“Yes,” she said. “Losing the portal cracked their back, but the war would still be going on.”
“You were a hero at least twice. Tell me.”
“Do you hate me?”
I took two steps closer, stopping just short of touching her. “I don’t know.”
Yet again, I turned away, and we stood, back-to-back, until she turned and set her hands on my shoulders. “Tell me.”
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“I didn’t think I could keep you safe if anyone realized you meant something to me.”
“Who knows we’re having this conversation?”
“No one.”
“The guards in the hall.”
“I put a silence spell on the room before removing the muting spell. No one.”
“What are you going to do with me? Have you already decided?”
She didn’t answer. Nor did she remove her hands from my shoulders. Instead, she asked, “Do you hate me?”
I didn’t know. “Is my life still at risk?”
“From Keira Moss? No.”
“From other elves.”
“Oh. No.”
“Why not?”
“I gave them what they want. The portal to Earth is closed. We will not engage in trade of any sort.”
“If the portal is closed, how do you know Moss is out?” Then I answered it for myself. “Oh. You can reopen it whenever you want.”
“Yes.”
“Can just anyone?”
“No, but I’m not unique, either.”
I thought about it. There was more I didn’t know. “Was that bit about female relationships staged?”
“No. I could have let you claim your diplomatic immunity. I could have ignored it entirely. I used it to strike down a law we never enforced.”
“And the law about being accompanied by a male relative?”
“Clearly, it receives little enforcement.” She paused. “You’re an observant woman. Did you notice the behavior of humans changes within two days’ ride of Algonae City?”
“I did.”
“They are not afraid of us because we abuse them. But some are afraid we’ll take an interest in them.”
“Yours isn’t the only harem.”
“No, it isn’t. I do not know if that’s a law I can strike down.”
“The women affected aren’t the ones who subjugated you.”
“That’s not entirely true,” she said. “The human women didn’t have official positions of power, but many held significant influence. I won’t tell you which ones, but three of the women in the harem here petitioned me for their positions. Four others are children or grandchildren of men of power. I made sure they would know I was putting their daughters and granddaughters in the harem before we executed them. I let them believe the women would be treated the way they used to treat all harem members, human and elf.”
“Don’t you?”
“No. I won’t tell you more about that until you decide whether you hate me.”
“No one knows we’re having this conversation.”
“No one.”
“Mute me again and send me back. I will let you know when I’m next ready to talk to you.”
“Am I to continue treating you as I have?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t argue with me. It took only a moment to mute me. “Remember to pick a few books,” she ordered.
Confusion
I wasn’t entirely sure why I asked to be sent back to the harem. But I found Otter. I sat down beside her then slumped further, laying my head in her lap. She stroked. “Snow Dove,” she said, and then spoke in Persian, soft, soothing words.
It wasn’t difficult to return to my patterns from the last two and a half years. I knelt as expected. I served at dinner as expected.
I wasn’t sure why I asked to be sent back. I think I wasn’t ready to ask what she intended to do with me. The harem was a holding pattern. I didn’t have to answer questions I wasn’t ready to answer. I didn’t think she could decide until I did.
Did I hate her?
No.
But I was most definitely the wronged party. She hadn’t actually apologized for a single decision.
I wasn’t sure there was an apology big enough, anyway.
If she wasn’t lying, she’d saved my life.
And I believed her. I didn’t necessarily trust my own judgement, but I believed her.
I wanted to scream at Keira Moss. I wanted to scream even more loudly at Hillary Bender. Giving her to the harpies had been poetic justice, but I was the victim, and it felt too disconnected.
I was feeling vindictive rather than vindicated. I wanted to hear from Hillary herself. That wouldn’t happen.
Keira Moss, a one-term president, and under some amount of disgrace besides. Good. My biggest complaint there was I didn’t get to vote against her again.
But Rhosani hadn’t apologized. She had wronged me. I wasn’t sure exactly what I remained most bitter about.
Two and a half years of silence. Oh, I was definitely bitter about that.
A beating. Yeah, also bitter.
Boredom and a lack of purpose? I wasn’t thrilled about those.
* * * *
I faced the bench, the one where I’d been beaten. It was where it always was. It had last been used two and a half years previously. I climbed up and slipped my hands through the restraints, tugging them tight.
No, I didn’t know what I was doing. But it was a mistake, because I couldn’t reach my wrists to free myself again. I was still there, struggling with the restraints when Otter found me. “Snow Dove,” she said. She hurried to me, ducking her head to look into my eyes.
“Otter,” I mouthed.
She spoke, asking a question. What did I think I was doing, I suspected. But then her expression changed. She moved around. I didn’t struggle as she also bound my ankles. Then she moved to my side, slipping her hands inside my leggings to caress my bottom. She did that for a minute then leaned over to look into my eyes again, grinning at me. She gave me a little pinch before withdrawing her hand and releasing me, ankles first, then my wrists. I climbed down and pulled her to me, hugging tightly.
Part of me, a very big part, wanted her to spank me. A very big part wanted to kiss her. Neither occurred.
She led me away.
But that night, I pulled her to me, lying on my back while she cuddled against my side, her head on my shoulder. I stroked her hair with one hand, her arm with the other. We fell asleep like that, although she moved away in the night.
But by morning, she was cuddled against my back. It wasn’t the first time.
I realized then I loved her, and I better understood why I hadn’t demanded Rhosani return me to Earth.
* * * *
I stared at the glass of juice. I’d told her to treat me the same way she had, and she hadn’t given me to anyone in a week or two. I’d lost track. If she hadn’t lied about that, too, I was an excellent example for Pavlov. Give me juice, and I turned horny.
She leaned to me and whispered into my ear, speaking English, “It is your choice.”
I wanted to know who she would let have me. Then I asked myself if I cared. My heart began to pound, but at the same time, I was so confused.
I wanted her to keep me. I didn’t want her to give me to someone else. I laid my head in her lap. And when she offered the juice, I drank it.
I didn’t know if she was lying about not drugging me in two years. I felt myself beginning to respond, and respond more with each drink she gave me. I couldn’t help it.
Well, I probably could have, but at the same time, I couldn’t.
“Would you like a new game, Snow Dove?”
I didn’t know, but I looked up and nodded.
The Khaleesi raised her voice. “If you would like special attention from Snow Dove tonight, ensure you have a lap for her.”
Around the room, many of the elves pushed away from the table. There was laughter at the noise. Rhosani lifted my chin with a finger. I looked up into her eyes and nodded. She steadied me as I stood.
I looked around. I didn’t quite know what to do. There were a lot of elven women with available laps. I’d spent time with some of them, but not all. I turned, found the first one with a lap, and I moved to her. She smiled at me. I stepped behind her, set my hands on her shoulders, but then reached further and pulled her chin towards me, lowering myself to kiss her.
I’d been hers two or three times, and she was a good kisser.
And the other elves teased her when I moved on.
I kissed five or six that way, always someone with an open lap, always someone who made a point of smiling at me. And I ended up behind the Khaleesi. She hadn’t opened her lap for me, but I set my hands on her shoulders, and then I bent down and kissed her cheek.
