- Chapter 4 -

"Internal gravity well to standby."

"Power sails to manoeuvring stations."

"This is the helmsman, to all passengers and crew. We are at Grey Status, and commencing departure sequence..."

The voice's of the ship's crew, electronically transmitted and amplified for all to hear, were mumbles in the distance for Raven and Ashyra. Both stood at one of the external view-ports, the imminent departure of the Prince's ship having special meaning for both of them. For Raven, this was her first time on a star-sailer since being rescued from the void - a moment that marked the start of a whole new life - but for Ashyra, it was an experience she struggled to bear.

All her high spirits drained away the moment the ship began to rumble, reeling in its mooring cables and powering up its reaction grid, its means of executing small-scale manoeuvres by generating artificial forces opposing or deflecting Freeport Rock's inherent gravity. Ashyra had apparently learned much about star-sailing from her brother, and appeared to anticipate each command, mouthig the words as they were delivered. It seemed to give the girl some comfort to do this, and Raven let her continue uninterrupted.

"Clearing dock - reaction grid to one-third..."

"All ship's stations, we are now at Blue Status."

"Freeport gravitic influence now reading seventy percent. Internal gravity well to primary start-up."

"Sails are receiving power..."

"Clearing the secure perimeter - entering open space."

"Freeport gravitic influence now thirty five percent - internal gravity well engaging in ten - nine - eight..."

"Stand on the tips of your toes", Ashyra said unexpectedly.

"What...?", queried Raven, understanding nothing she had so far heard.

There was a tear in the elfin girl's eye, but she could still smile. "Do it - you'll be glad you did..."

"...three - two - one."

Raven did as Ashyra advised, just in time to avoid much of the jarring effect as the ship's onboard artificial gravity was activated, briefly subjecting everyone on the ship to the combined force of the equivalent of Freeport's normal gravity plus the residual gravity of Freeport itself. Four or five seconds later, the ship had moved far enough away from Freeport to have only its own gravity to cope with, and the girls could relax.

"Told you", said Ashyra, a suggestion of a chuckle in her voice. It was good to hear, for it meant that Ashyra had faced this ordeal, and had overcome it. Another ordeal, however, was just minutes away.

The dancers lingered for a while longer, just long enough to see the stars blur and smear into rainbow streaks as the ship accelerated up to, then beyond the speed their light could attain. Once Ashyra had seen all wanted, they turned away from the oval window and went to join an increasingly restless Sshraada.

If the Prince's ship had seemed lavish before, the banquet hall took things to a whole new level. The columns were pure gold, the ceilings were mirrored, the narrow, triangular dining table was one great slab of silver-veined black marble...there was too much to take in, and too little time, for the Prince was waiting.

The Prince looked no different than before - although his waistcoat and the cuffs of his boots were trimmed with silver swirls - but Raven looked at him differently on this occasion. On their way to the banquet hall, Chal'Shi had voiced a rumour she had heard, and it left Raven wondering if there was any truth in it.

"Some say the Prince is secretly an avatar of Lord Serpentine - the Creator-Lord made flesh, walking amongst us", Chal'Shi had said, quite innocently. This had earned her one of Skylla's customary reprimanding stares, and the girl went quiet, but the rumour was out in the open, and the damage was done.

Raven let the Prince kiss her hand as though nothing was amiss, whilst taking the opportunity to fish for traces of emotion. Even the most disciplined mind she had encountered let some hint of feelings slip through, yet the Prince was an emotional void. Raven felt nothing from him.

Once he had greeted the dancers, the Prince motioned to them to sit, along the two longer sides of the table. he did not sit himself, apparently waiting for someone else...

From the dimly lit far end of the banquet hall came a striking figure - a giant of a woman, easily nine feet tall even without the spiked heels of her black and white lace-up thigh-length boots, which appeared intermittently through the front slit in the skirt of her long golden satin dress. Her skin was tanned to the hue of stained wood, and her hair was the deep red colour of fine wine...

...the scales on her forehead bore a faintly silvery sheen, and the single horn that started just above her nose and curved up over her head was polished ivory, tinged with mother-of-pearl.

Sshraada's sword hissed against the inside of its scabbard as it was drawn. "Shr'Ganti", snarled the Naagian.

"Half-Shr'ganti", corrected Skylla, unperturbed. "Pure-blood females have two horns, the males one; half-breeds have the same number of horns as their Shr'Ganti parent..."

"I know the difference, milady", growled the bodyguard. "It matters little to me."

"Yasil is my personal companion", declared the Prince. "You need not fear her. I, for one, do not."

Yellow serpent eyes narrowed threateningly. "Fear is nothing to do with it, Your Highness..."

For the first time, Sshraada was the recipient of one of Skylla's withering looks. The Naagian matched the stare for a moment, then relaxed - or at least appeared to do so.. The sword returned to its scabbard once more, unbloodied, and the sound it made seemed rather...disappointed to Raven's ears.

Without a word of introduction or self-defence, Yasil took her seat beside the Prince, carefully arranging her dress so that her boots were completely uncovered, and servants stepped forth to begin serving the feast. It was a meal in the traditonal style of the Sapphire Cluster, platters of hot and cold fare laid out for one and all to sample as and when they wished, all the diners using their bare fingers to take what they wanted as equals. If a serving dish stood untouched for any length of time, the Prince asked if any of his guests wanted more of that particular delicacy, and if no-one answered in the positive, the servants took the remainder away and shared it between themselves.

The more dishes that were removed, the more relaxed the atmosphere became. The girls began to feel more comfortable in the presence of the Prince and his "companion", with the notable exceptions of Sshraada and Ashyra. Sshraada's attitude was easily explained by the presence of a creature she recognised only as an enemy, but Ashyra was very much a "party girl", and surely in her element.

The banquet was a dress occasion, however, and Ashyra had admitted to Raven that anything long enough to reach the tops of her boots made her feel "stiflingly overdressed". On the other hand, Raven once more felt strangely "at home" in her high-necked, sleeveless white dress, slit to the hip at both sides.

With relaxation came the beginnings of conversation, started by Yasil. "Your boots", she commented looking towards Ashyra. "I see you wear one black, and one white. Is there a reason...?"

Raven's voice was unusual, perhaps unnerving, on first hearing, but Yasil's made Ashyra shudder visibly. The half-Shr'Ganti's words carried an unearthly, distant echo that Raven, too, found somewhat disturbing.

Ashyra glanced down at the toes of her boots again. She had swapped over, now wearing black on the left, and white on the right. "I...we...It's a good idea to do something that makes you stand out from the rest", the elfin girl mumbled. "Chal'Shi wears silver, Skylla wears snake-skin - I do this. Visitors remember you, you get more tips..."

"Ah - I see", said Yasil, rather vacantly. "I do not need to be so distinctive", she added, glancing over at the Prince. "I have an audience of one."

"Will you be performing with us?", asked Skylla.

"If your contract with His Highness permits", Yasil replied.

"I'm sure we can arrange something", said the First Dancer, raising her wine glass in salute. "Your Highness - will you be requiring entertainment this night?"

The Prince nodded, just once. "If you and your companions feel able, Mistress Skylla."

"I'm sure we will", replied Skylla, directing that stare oh-so-briefly at each of the other girls. "I'm certain of it."

***

That evening, the girls from The Phantasia danced for royalty for the first time, to the somewhat tribal and old-fashioned sounds of a traditional Sapphire Cluster band. Stationed behind a semi-translucent silk curtain, the musicians saw little of the dancers and their performance - that was for the Prince and Yasil alone.

To begin with, the girls danced in their usual costumes - Skylla in snake-skin, Chal'Shi in silver, Raven in her legless and sleeveless white body-suit and Ashyra in a short black leather skirt and loose white shirt, tied shut under her breasts, Gradually, however, the Prince began to explore exactly how much they would do, and how far they would go, his requests relayed to the performers by Yasil.

"Take off your jacket", she said to Chal'Shi after a few minutes. "Slowly..."

Chal'Shi did as she was told, slowly undoing her jacket, easing it off her shoulders and letting it slide off, down her arms.

Yasil got up onto her knees. "Now the skirt - oh. it's so hot in here, isn't it...?"

The dancer obliged, letting the tiny skirt drop about her spike-heeled feet, stroking her body and and letting her hair swing about her a though it really was hot in the little amphitheatre. For the others, though, the temperature was quite comfortable, and had been from the start.

Yasil crept forward, onto the steps leading up to the stage, eyes alight with an almost feral gleam, and the Prince had to lean forward to make his next request.

"Ashyra looks hot too", purred the half-Shr'Ganti. "Help her out of her things..."

Raven looked out of the corner of her eyes as Chal'Shi strode past, and went to stand close to Ashyra. Chal'Shi was sweating - more than she should have been, given the temperature and her level of exertion. Is Yasil actually influencing Chal'Shi somehow?, Raven wondered. Hypnosis, perhaps...?

Knowing that Skylla would be watching, eager for the elfin girl to step out of line, Ashyra showed no resistence to Chal'Shi, letting the girl undo her shirt and slip it off. Chal'Shi's hands then moved down Ashyra's body, unfastened the short leather skirt, and let it fall.

Yasil was now standing, and went to the nearest column in one fluid movement. Pressing herself against it, she murmured "Kiss her, Chal'Shi. Kiss her and caress her like a lover..."

Raven reached out to sample the aura of emotion around Chal'Shi, and found only a tangle of half-formed feelings. Lust, confusion, excitement, fear - Raven was not sure that the girl was in control of herself any more.

Ashyra was still in control, that was certain, and a little spark of surprise jumped the gap between her and Raven as Chal'Shi's lips met those of the elfin dancer. A brief sense of dutiful resignation followed, with pleasure sweeping along behind as bare bodies touched.

Raven glanced over towards Skylla, and caught the First Dancer exchanging looks with Sshraada, who lurked in the shadows. The Naagian looked ready to leap to the girls' defence, but Skylla motioned to the bodyguard to stand down.

Ashyra was returning Chal'Shis' caresses now, showing that she had done this sort of thing before, and had no inhibitions about it. Whether that came from professional or personal experience, Raven could not tell. Ashyra had made no overtures towards her, or shown any such intention - so far...

Still interested to learn whether Yasil was exercising some kind of control over Chal'Shi, Raven tried to read the half-Shr'Ganti's emotional aura. Yasil "felt" as she appeared - excited, and somewhat aroused - but that was about all that conformed to what Raven expected...

The room suddenly grew quiet, and Raven's surroundings seemed to blur. All that stayed in focus was the form of the half-Shr'Ganti, whose eyes had now become pure, almost dazzling white.

"I am not for one such as you to read like a book", Yasil hissed, and lunged forward...

Raven tried to back away, only to trip over her own feet. She came down hard on her almost bare behind, the world returning to normal as she fell. The band stopped. Yasil returned to her seat, an impassive expression on her face, and Chal'Shi pulled away from Ashyra with a yelp of astonishment.

"Is there something not to your liking?", enquired Skylla. "If this girl" - she gestured towards Raven - "has displeased you with her clumsiness..."

The Prince looked to Yasil for an explanation. "I startled her - that's all", replied the half-Shr'Ganti. "I often have that effect on people."

"I see", said the First Dancer, hearing the distinct insincerity in Yasil's response, but making nothing more of it. "In that case, perhaps we can offer His Highness something different - something special..."

Skylla walked to the edge of the stage, and extended a hand into the darkness where Sshraada was standing guard. The dancer's hand returned to the light containing the scarlet coils of her whip.

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