You're so vaiiiin

[Goldie]

The Adelan Lord looked around his chambers with a half hidden sigh from his large oak bed.  It was beautiful, a wonderful room filled with every trinket he could possibly afford in a lavish display of his wealth to anyone who entered.  The bed where he was laying was covered in black velvet embroided in gold and even his sheets were made from the finest silks.  The oak posts of the enormous bed were carved with rose vines that encircled the length of the wood up to the draping canopy that hung elegantly above his head.  All the other pieces of furturature in sight were decorated with the same designs and covered in a gold leafing that matched the color of his blankets and furs.

But all of these intricacies were nothing compared to the decorations that lined the mirrors.....

Mirrors were hung everywhere and decorated in frames so gawdy that there was no way that anyone walking into this room, or this house for that matter, would miss them.  Gold, silver, ivory....each mirror was decorated in a different color, with a different design that made them unique but also made sure that they did not exactly match the luxurious deep stains and colors that occupied the rest of his room.  Vaenain wanted to make sure that wherever he turned he had somewhere to look in order to see himself and make sure that he looked as beautiful as the last time he had glanced over at himself.  God forbid that some stray piece of parsley get caught in his perfectly white teeth, and heaven help the servant who failed to fix a stray hair or point out the smallest pin point of a stain.

Vaenain needed to be beautiful....

Hell, he WAS beautiful!  In fact he was quite certain that he had not found anyone that could match his beauty and felt a need to spread his wonderful looks to all the people he could.

Which would explain why nearly every night and new girl could be seen walking on his arm into his house.  Seducing came like a natural charm to him and many virgins left the next morning stripped of their honor and crushed when he chose not to keep them.  Vaenain was very particular about his women.  After all he could not let a soiled lady give him some vile disease and destroy his beauty which he treasured above all else!  It was unspeakable!  Whenever he paid for a prostatute he would make sure she was new and had never been taken, pay them their fee and leave them forever.  Well...there were a few who he ended up hiring as servants if he was pleased enough with their performance...

"Lord Vaenain" a male servants voice echoed from the hall as a soft knock echoed through the large chambers, "Your breakfast is ready."  

Looking over at the girl beside him he rose from his bed and quickly put his finest clothes on, careful not the wake her.  Her payment was beside her clothes which were in a pile on the ground and taking one last look in one of the many mirrors that littered his house he started down the stairs toward his breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Orindis led his master to the dining hall, where a single elaborate setting had been carefully arranged at the large table, ready for the other servants to bring out the morning meal.  The lord's valet pulled Vaenain's chair out for him but did not stand aside so that Vaenain could sit down.  "Master, I know it is not my place to speak unbidden," he began boldly, "but I cannot keep silent any longer.   I caught a glimpse of the woman who has been your most recent conquest when you opened the door only moments ago, and I knew her, for she is my sister.  Can nothing ever satisfy you?  Would you rob every maiden in the world of her virtue, and even the ones who are not yet old enough to possess the sound judgment to reject your coldhearted flattery?"  He could hardly believe what had just come from his own lips.  But it was either that or give silent consent to it all.  Lord Vaenain probably even knew that it had been his sister, for he had likely got her to tell her whole life story, pretending to be genuinely interested in her for who she really was.  And that made it even worse.  His own sister ... what would she do now?  What honorable man would take her as his bride after she had been tainted?  It was next to impossible among elvenkind.  And what if she became with child, what then?

[Goldie]

Vaenain couldn't help but laugh as his servant opened his mouth to voice concern and objection.  This practice of his had been going on for years now!  What could possibly make Orindis suddenly speak out after the hour was so late?  Not to mention his sister was doing him a favor!  He paid her very handsomely and it was her income that allowed his Valet and herself to live a life of luxury compared to the rest of the servants in the land!

"My dear Orindis!"  The Adelan Lord exclaimed, his white teeth flashing in a dazzling smile filled with mirth as he took his seat and smoothed out his silk and velvet doublet, making sure that no crease would show after he rose from his meal.  "Do you not know that I am doing you a favor?  Your darling sister has been the reason for your great status in the servant world!  I am surprised that you have not noticed our relationship sooner."  It was true, his sister had signed a document saying she would only give herself to Vaenain and he would continue to pay her until she was removed from his services.  But of course, that would not be for quite some time.

"Now let us not bring up this topic over such a wonderful meal!"  Turning to his plate the Lord had made a polite end to the conversation but was sure that it would be continued.  After all, he was sure that Orindis' sister had not wanted him to know of her efforts to keep their family alive.  She was a sweet girl but her beauty was no where near his own so he had no intentions of marrying her.  The way that he saw it, he was doing their family a favor and nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Orindis had wanted to say something for years, but as a slave he knew he did not have the right to--but when it came to his own sister, he could not help but speak out.  "I would rather  we slept on the floor and lived off table scraps than to have you make my sister your whore," he said.  "She is too young and naive to realize what you are doing to her; all she sees is her family's welfare, and all you're doing is taking advantage of it."

[Goldie]

"She knows very well what she is doing."  He replied taking a sip from the glass of milk that was set before him and dabbing his lips with the edge of his napkin to make sure no white residue would dare linger there.  His brown eyes did not linger toward his servant in a show that nothing the man said meant anything to his master and his words were not welcomed.

"Now if you don't mind, the mirror in the lounge is in need of polishing.  The silver is beginning to tarnish and I hate the thought that it could be loosing its shine."

Once again it was a polite instruction for Orindis to leave off the conversation, but now Vaenain did not even want him in his pressence.  This servant had worked for him for nearly ten years, hired by Vaenain's father as a man servant to his son and when the great man had died Vaenain had decided to keep him and invited his entire family to live in the house.  Of course...now Orindis was probably hating that decision.

[Anonymous]

"She is only thirteen years old!" Orindis replied, ignoring the not-so-subtle hint to leave.  "That is not even a drop of an elf's lifespan!  She is still a child, and you have become nothing more than a pedophile."

[Goldie]

Vaenain stopped eating and set his fork beside his plate.  At first sight it looked like he was fighting back an overwhelming urge to punch his servant in the face, but his own features reflected nothing of anger and mere....tranquility.  As if he were thinking things over and weighing his decisions before he acted.

Bringing his hands up he clasped them together and rested his chin on his knuckles, turning to look at Orindis with calculating, but gentle, eyes.

"You really feel strongly about this don't you?" he asked evenly, almost kindly as he drifted back into his train of thought.  Of course he could ignore his servants words, after all he was a mere commoner where Vaenain was a Lord of noble blood...but where would that leave him?  If servants were unhappy then the chores around the house, especially when the mirrors were falling into decay as the days passed.

"Then I will stop."  After all, loosing one girl meant nothing when he had thousands to choose from, "But know that you're increased income will cease as well."

[Anonymous]

"May I bring her the news myself, Master?" he replied with not a little bitterness.  "I am sure that she has dressed herself by now."

[Goldie]

Vaenain couldn't ignore the obvious sarcasm that littered his servants voice and he wanted it clear that although he was listening to his request, that gave Quindis no right to over step his boundaries.  No right at all!  He would need to pay for his insolence, even if it were just a warning as of yet.  It seemed that recently he had found his mouth where servants should not speak.

"You may go." he replied coldly turning his gaze toward his Manservant, "But have it known that I will not tolerate this type of tone in my pressence.  I am doing you a favor out of the goodness of my heart because of your loyal service to me for these past ten years.  Do not force me to take drastic measures and leave you and your family desolate on the streets with a soiled name that no one will hire again."

[Anonymous]

Orindis bowed silently and left the dining hall without another word.  Once out of the room, he quickly made his way to Lord Vaenain's bedchamber, where he found his sister combing her hair.  

She looked up as he entered, and her expression immediately fell.  Averting her eyes, she said, "I already know what you're going to say, how I've lost my honor and brought disgrace on us all."

"Marina, no--I would never think or say such a thing of you," Orindis replied, coming to her and taking both her hands in his, looking into her eyes when she would let them meet his.  "The past cannot be changed, but the present can be, and that is what I have come to tell you of.  Marina, you must leave this place.  All of you."

"But the childr--" Marina began, clutching the payment for last night's services closer.

"--I know," Orindis finished for her.  "It is a handsome reward, but a bitter one for what it would cost you again and again.  Lord Vaenain cares nothing for you.  You are but one among thousands in his eyes.  You deserve more than that from the man to whom you give yourself.  Perhaps what I have said to him this morning was spoken far too out of place, but when I saw you--Marina, he will never share a bed with you again, but that is not enough.  We must not depend on him or his hospitality any longer.  Take what money you have and go to Adela proper with the twins; I have heard the other servants speaking of an inn called the Rowan Tavern that is hiring workers.  It may be that you will find work for all of you; Percival and Binah are old enough, and you will have plenty of money to find decent lodgings until you are paid more regularly."

"But what about you?" Marina asked, looking up at him with concern.

"I'll be all right here," Orindis replied.  "Don't worry about me.  You just keep your mind on caring for our little brothers, okay?"  His voice trembled a little with the overpowering emotions.  "You have a choice where you will go and what you will do in life.  You and Percival and Binah, you are all free.  Maybe if things had been different, we would have--but never mind that now.  You must go, and quickly."  He kissed her forehead and held her close for a while.  When he stepped away from her, he said, "Take care of yourself too, do you hear?"  He tried to smile confidently, reassuring to her.

Marina, tears streaming from her eyes, nodded in return.

Orindis left his sister and went down the hall to the library and archives of the household.  There he retrieved a small wooden scroll case with the Adelan seal carved on it and opened it.  Inside was a document he had not touched in ten years, but he knew every word of it:

Orindis, eunuch, age fifteen years, of elven race, the property of Lord Nebinald of Adela and of his heirs.  Signed and sealed this day in the presence of three witnesses, to be broken only by death or by the free consent of the rightful master, namely Lord Nebinald or his descendants by natural right, as proven by the signing of a document of manumission.  

He could hardly believe that Lord Vaenain seemed unaware of this document.  If only he did not have to tell him...but there was no getting around that.  If Lord Vaenain ever found out on his own, if Orindis were indeed to leave with Marina and the twins, then Orindis could be arrested as a runaway, and he couldn't risk that, not with the law on the side of the master.  Well, it was best to get this over with.  If only being honest didn't give Lord Vaenain even more freedom to deal with Orindis as he wished, since technically the boy was mere property.  

Orindis went back to the dining hall, where he found Lord Vaenain still at breakfast.  Bowing as was customary, he said, "My sister and brothers have left this household, Master, and shall seek their fortune elsewhere.  As for myself, I am obligated to remain."  He presented Lord Vaenain with the closed scroll case.  "I do not believe that Lord Nebinald told you the full story of how I came to be 'hired.'  When my father died, he left too many debts and children too young to work to repay them, and so I was sold by local authorities for the amount demanded.  Your father brought me here to serve you, and here is where I have been ever since.  If you will look at the scroll, you will see Lord Nebinald's insignia."  He took a deep breath.  "Master, I--await your commands."

[Goldie]

Vaenain looked at the sheet of paper without much interest.  After all, paper owned by a servant meant nothing and only made people question how such an important document came into their posession!  If a servant owned their enslavement papers then they could tear it up on a whim and run off leaving their masters without any proof that they were bound to them.

"You poor poor man." Lord Vaenain muttered as another servant arrived to clear his plate and take the soiled linnens.  Taking the paper in his hand he shook his head and looked up at Orindis, "Lord Nebinald was not my father, nor is there any relation between me and that horrible man.  Nebinald sold you to my father before he even brought you back, so of course you would have had no idea of the switch.  This paper, having been in your hands for so long would have meant nothing either and merely sent questions against you as to why you were allowed to hold your freedom.  No, my father, Lord Gathmyr, has kept your true papers hidden away in his safe."

Standing, Vaenain walked out of the room and returned momentarily with a thick file labels "Servant Deeds".  Sifting through he pulled out the one labeled Orindis and looked back up at his valet, "I am afraid that your recent attitude has led me to find your record once more.  Have your things packed and ready.  You will be assigned to a new family."

[Anonymous]

Orindis was not sure how he felt in reaction to the sudden announcement.  He did not feel any sort of sudden reaction.  Not relief, not an overwhelming urge to fall to his knees before his master and beg for clemency.  He merely replied as if he had just been given a command to carry a simple message to someone in town, or to hand Vaenain something that was out of the man's reach.  Bowing, he said, "There is nothing here that I may call my own, my lord, and all of my clothing consists of your own family's livery."

[Goldie]

The Adelan Lord thought for a moment, and in the light of looking cruel he decided to let Orindis take the clothing that had been made for him from the families expenses.  He would not fetch a high price if he looked tattered, like a beggar that sat on a street corning.  And although Vaenain was vexed with his behavior, the man had been with him for ten years and he could not bring himself to shame the valet in such a way.

"You may take any clothing you wish." Vaenain informed him, "Consider it a gift for your ten years of service."

[Anonymous]

Orindis bowed again and left to find something else to put on.  He still was trying to sort out how he felt at the moment as he changed clothes.  Well, he certainly wouldn't miss this place, because his family's memories were tied up in their presence, not in the place that they were made--and besides, he was already a teenager when his father had died.  There were plenty of memories from childhood.  Nothing lost there.  

Maybe the niggling thing that was bothering him was the thought of the unknown.  Would he be sold at market?  Adela certainly had a thriving slave trade, especially in the market near the Rowan Tavern.  Or would a deal be worked out with another nobleman?  What would his new master be like?  

He kept turning these and thousands of other thoughts around in his head as he made his way back to the dining hall.  "Do you have any further commands, my lord?" he asked, as if nothing out of the ordinary had been happening.  He wondered at the level tone in his voice, as if he were asking which of the choices of juice his master would take at breakfast.

[Goldie]

"Yes...go ready the horses.  We will leave at once."

With that he turned to other servants and commanded them to pack his bags for a few days.  He didn't know how long the journey would be and there was no way in hell that he would be caught unprepared and in clothes that most certainly didn't suit him!

ooc:  ACCK!  No muse for poor Vaenain! *sob*

[Anonymous]

As the other preparations were being made, Orindis saw to the horses.  The stableboy did not seem surprised to see him; after all, he had been there many times before.  "The master going out on another hunt with the barons again?" he asked pleasantly.

"No, Devon," Orindis said flatly.  "I don't know where we're going, but it's not hunting."

"What're you talking about?" Devon said, leading Vaenain's favorite stallion from the best stall.  He and Orindis had become fairly good friends over the past few years, as much as Vaenain liked to ride where others might better appreciate his beauty (and where he might be admired while he picked out his next 'conquest').

"I'm not coming back," Orindis replied.  "The full reason why doesn't matter now; let's just say that I spoke to him in a way that overstepped even the most liberal boundaries.  In any case,  it has earned me a sound dismissal."  He hoped Devon wouldn't press him on the matter.

"You won't forget us over here, will you?" said Devon.

Orindis ventured a smile as he took hold of the reins of both horses, ready to walk them out.  "No, Devon, I won't."  He led the horses out into the sunlight and brought them to the front door of Vaenain's dwelling.

[Goldie]

"No, no Yalar!" he cried out at the young servant girl who was desperately trying to tame his beautiful blonde tresses.  Her hands shook as they moved and each time one piece of hair would fall to the wrong place, would curl the wrong way.  But this time, this time she had been sure that she had gotten it right!  Everything looked so perfect, so immaculate!  How could...how was it wrong?

"But...m'lord....I don't see what is..." she stopped herself and curtsied low, "I'm sorry m'lord...I'll..I'll try to get it right this time." She looked around and tried to find the hair that he was so intent on fixing, but could not see it.  After Vaenain's dismissal of Orindis, all of the servants were one edge.  Orindis had been there the longest of all ther servants and if a  veteran could be dismissed so easily, what would happen to the rest of them?

"The bangs girl!  The bangs!" he cried, and she quickly ran to his front to try and fix the single strand of hair that had fallen into his face.  "Now fix my shirt." he demanded, once satisfied with his hair.  There is a wrinkle on the hemline, and that certainly will not do."  With extra speed she hurried and smoothed out the wrinkle with a smaller version of the hot iron, prayng that she wouldn't burn herself on the heated steel, and praying even more that she wouldn't burn her master.

"Now go." he ordered looking at himself in the beautiful ornimental mirror that rested above the fireplace.  He really was immaculate, and he flashed a smile just to prove it.  Now her certainly would look radient as he went on his business to sell that horrible servant.

Walking with his head held high, Vaenain left his house and saw that Orindis had prepared the horses as was his wish and that his favorite stallion had been led out front.  Good good, at least he understood that just because he was leaving didn't mean he could slack off.

"Come" he ordered, mounting his own beautiful horse, almost as beautiful as he himself.


ooc:  um...now to decided where they're going.....

[Anonymous]

OOC:  The storyline in this thread has been at least temporarily taken up by The Adelan Slave Market, which can be found at //http://spiritsoftheearth.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12508#12508.

[Goldie]

Wait!! DON'T!

I didn't really want Orindis to be sold XD  I wanted Vaenain to get them terrible lost XDDDD

[Anonymous]

ooc--ok, i shall fix it.