NOVEL NEXT Chapter 61: Abusing Trust
5/6 midnight
Vanessa's tent was a bit bigger than most. It had space for four people if they wanted to squeeze, mostly so she could bring out her alchemy lab, which she kept in a small magical bag her father had given her. It was compact, but generally had all she needed. Tonight, she was working on a bit of fun. Something to make the drinker aroused. She didn't really need a tonic with that effect as she was fully devoted to her Lord's pleasure, but she needed something liquid in which she could mix just a drop of the lilac potion she had been provided.
Faith announced when Irma arrived. Vanessa looked at her older friend appraisingly as she entered. The mage was around thirty as of this year, a passable enchanter, a strong frost mage, and a level head to balance Vanessa's occasionally impulsive nature. She was also beautiful, even glamorous if pushed. Her striking silvery gray hair and slim build spoke of elven blood several generations back in her family tree.
https://imgur.com/a/dqrw3bM
Irma didn't like to dress herself up, mostly because she was largely disinterested in sex and didn't like drawing attention. When she had a need to walk among high society, Vanessa would usually masquerade as Irma's handmaiden. Throw enough jewelry on a pretty enough girl, and she will be accepted at parties just for the sake of the eye candy. The serious older woman hated pretending to be a flirty young girl, but going forward that wasn't important. Their Lord deserved beauty and eagerness, and he would get it.
"Vanessa. I hope you called me so we can discuss these amulets. I don't think we can trust them."
The ringleader rolled her eyes. "Obviously. I'm not a fool. I called you in so that you could study it in depth." Tony's citrine pendant changed hands, and the silver haired woman held it gingerly, chanting the spells of identification. "I also made you an elixir of clarity. You said it was complicated, yes?"
Vanessa proffered the aphrodisiac laced with just a drop of consent. Irma trusted her, and this was how the trust would be repaid. She suppressed a shudder of pleasure at the betrayal. The enchantress downed the potion without a second thought, starting about five minutes of mental vulnerability.
She'd read the report by Abby on the potion. It wouldn't turn Irma into a golem awaiting orders. She could still think critically. She would just find anything suggested to her incredibly appealing for around three minutes. "You should put on the necklace. Just trust me. You will get the best understanding of the necklace if you put it on yourself. That way, it won't imprint you on anyone." She considered it for long moments, and then agreed. "That should make it easier to examine, yes." The silver haired mage put on her necklace with her own hands, and sealed her fate.
Now for the far more difficult part to frame. Vanessa forged right ahead. She didn't have long so she'd need to be just a bit blunt. "I'll run a few tests to see if the necklace is having an effect on you, ok? Just watch the necklace to see if it reacts. Whatever you do, don't try to take it off." She took a deep breath as Irma nodded distractedly, getting back to the necklace in her hand.
"I'm going to need you to submit yourself fully to Lord Erich Bismark. Whenever I refer to a man by that name and title, play along and act like a good little slut for him. Fantasize about serving him."
Irma snorted. "I'm not seeing any flare ups, but I think it must be having some kind of effect. I have no idea who Erich Bismark is, but all of a sudden I want to sidle up to him in a ballroom. After all this running about the last few days, a nice easy job buttering up some mark sounds positively therapeutic." Jackpot.
Vanessa's eyes took on a devilish gleam. "Don't worry. Erich is just a nobleman I made up for testing purposes. Couldn't risk using a real man's name in case it actually did imprint you, could I? Or maybe, despite my lack of jewelry, I've been brainwashed into the service of a mysterious master. That sounds pretty hot, honestly. Just think about how sexy that would be." Vanessa was pretty sure that the potion was wearing off, but one more request to fantasize about her lord's domination couldn't possibly hurt.
It hadn't worked as well as she might have hoped. Lord Bismark had shown her how to assess the remaining time until someone would be captured; Irma had 90 hours remaining. She'd been hoping for the minimum, 72. Oh well. Maybe because Irma took her suggestion to mean setting up a scam instead of true and proper submission. Her lord would understand she had done her best. She hoped so, she didn't want to be a bad slave.
••••••••••
Once I'd been fairly sure that Vanessa had her team well in hand, I left. Until she wasn't surrounded by enemies, I didn't really want to risk sleeping with her. She gave me a bullet point version of her plan, and I signed off on it. In the meantime, I was just enjoying a bit of time in Lakeshire. I had a late dinner with the Lions, a delicious meat and vegetable stew, and gave them some vague campaign promises.
Driving back the darkness assaulting Stormwind on all sides was only the beginning, all of Azeroth needed to stand united, we can't rely on the army to handle every problem. Telling them what they want to hear by focusing on the most benevolent and impressive things I intended to do. I let them know that we had operatives in Lakeshire, Darkshire, Goldshire, and we were looking into moving into Westfall. Auffrey had assembled a team of people who wanted to make things better but didn't really know how; without guidance they seemed like the kind of people that would go out in troupes of 1 to 3 to clear out the murloc population and get themselves killed.
I kept Annetta's necklace. I'd give it back, or replace it, when things were a bit less crazy. Probably. The next few days were going to be hectic on necklaces and she didn't really need hers. She was happily serving the community in Redridge, particularly the Rampant Lions. She wasn't going anywhere, and didn't want anything except perhaps to see me more often. That made me feel a bit guilty; she was pretty mono focused on me to the point of orgasms requiring her to think of me, and I didn't actually have much interest in sleeping with her specifically anymore. I'm gonna put a pin in that one, but I didn't really want to be an asshole who left these girls pining for me.
I barely felt like I had time to sleep with the new and interesting girls in my life, let alone my old conquests. Maybe I could pull some ultimate wingman mojo and set her up with a nice young man that will treat her right. At the moment my options are Tony, spontaneous bisexuality, or someone who isn't in the retinue. Eh. It can wait, but I definitely wanted to counteract the monofocused sexuality when I have time.
I headed up to a private room Auffrey had rented for me, one of the smaller but adequately furnished ones. There, I removed Prudence from my inventory, including Lillibeth who was still inside of her. Prudence was a woman I would call impressive. She was a tall woman, only a few inches shorter than I was in my default persona. She had a very toned body with well defined muscles, paired with a pretty face and respectable breasts. Her straight brown hair spilled down to her lower back, which is a look I liked. She looked like she could probably kick my ass, or any asses I aimed her at.
"So, what are we gonna do now, babe?" Lillibeth asked me. "There's so much space for me in this one."