NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 24.2 Bargaining
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall.
Sade hoped it was someone bringing food. After hours of sitting alone in the dark, meditating on what abilities she possessed and testing if the magic sealing enchantment blocked them, she had worked up quite an appetite. Oh, she knew perfectly well that whatever meal her captors deigned to give her would be little more than slop, meant only to keep her alive and little else. But if she was going to keep the hope of her ever leaving this dungeon alive, then she would take whatever she was given.
Sade unfolded her sore legs out from underneath her. They had nearly fallen asleep from being locked in the same position for who knew how long. She gently kneaded the tingling flesh in her thighs then stood up. Sore or not, she would face her jailer on her feet, ready and willing to fight for all she was worth.
It was unfortunate that virtually all her magic was sealed. Elemental manipulation, cantrips, not even internal spells like ‘stretchy’ were able to cross that line between readied and active. Sade had even gone so far as to test if using unspent level stat points could work.
It hadn’t.
Nope, the only exception she had found after hours of continuous testing had been the one unique aspect of her vocation. It was a curious oversight. Lady Rivenmoor and her allies knew about intimacy, actually knew about how it worked and the effects of coital energy, and even had the ability to identify those who had augmented themselves with it. Yet the only thing even remotely close to magic Sade could perform while in her enchanted cell involved using that very power they so despised.
Were Lady Rivenmoor and her cohorts stupid? Sade couldn’t believe that. The high elf woman was arrogant, yes, but not remotely stupid. The woman was calm, calculating, and driven. Which made the odd gap in their defenses all the more suspicious.
It was possible that it was some sort of trap. One that waited until Sade used more than a single drop of energy before it sprung. That seemed even more unlikely, but it never hurt to run through all the available possibilities. Regardless, Sade had no choice but to stumble her way forward. And her first step was to observe who those loud footsteps belonged to.
The man was scruffy. A far more normal sight in the dingy atmosphere of the dungeon than the bright and immaculate image Lady Rivenmoor cultivated wherever she went.
“It’s meal time m’lady!” He called out with a chuckle when he got near the door. “I hope the cooks whipped up something suitable for your more refined paaaaa-”
Whatever that final word was supposed to be, it became lost the moment his eyes beheld the prisoner before him. Sade was standing in the dead center of her tiny room, not so close that the guard could consider her a threat, and not so far away that would infer fear. Her long legs were shoulder length apart, with one foot ever so slightly placed further back and the heel raised off the cold ground. One hand rested on the generous swell of her hips and the other dangled loosely at her side. She was gloriously exposed, and her seemingly relaxed posture did nothing to obscure that fact.
“Oh? Is this your first time seeing a woman without clothes?” Sade asked. She raised a dainty hand to her mouth and let out a low giggle, not in a manner that he could consider mocking, but simply to convey that she knew exactly what kind of reaction her appearance had on men.
The guard quickly recovered from his shock and glared at her. “Step back and put your hands to the wall. I want no funny business.”
“Relax.” Sade replied calmly, lowering her hand so it hung limp once more. “I have no plans to do anything other than cooperate.”
It was a lie and they both knew it. While putting on the facade of a calm and peaceful prisoner, the moment the jailer had opened her cell door she had attempted to cast nearly a half dozen different spells, every single one lethal.
To her mild surprise, Sade found that the enchantment suppressing her mana actually increased significantly once the key was turned. In fact, all but the most simple spell patterns inside her body dissolved before she could even think of casting them. It was a feeling similar to the nullification wave used at the tournament. The effect was quite impressive in her humble opinion. If she wasn’t so skilled in rapidly cycling through every formula she knew, she wouldn’t have been able to test any of her prepared spells at all.
Not that her efforts amounted to anything.
Seeing that Sade wasn’t going to move from her position, the guard figured that her not making any overt attacks against him was probably as good as he could get. With a shrug, he set down the wooden tray he was holding on the floor and backed away a couple steps.
Sade looked down at the piece of bread and the small pile of goop next to it then back up to the scruffy looking man. He was eyeing her with a hungry gaze that had nothing to do with the culinary masterpiece sitting on the floor. She also saw one of his hands casually resting on the handle of a small wooden club just in case the first clue wasn’t completely obvious.
“Oh please.” Sade drawled. “Did you really think that would work?”
“Gotta eat sometime.” The man said with a gap toothed grin. The sight instantly made Sade’s appetite shrivel and die. A small mercy for the moment.
“Do you try to sweet talk all your prisoners this way, or is it because I am special?”
The man’s disgusting grin grew even wider. “We were told to treat you with extra care. Not often we have the opportunity to entertain a mage.”
“Indeed.” Sade replied dryly.
Doing her best to ignore her screaming instincts, Sade casually stepped forward. She made sure to add just a little more sway to her hips, that extra bounce to her bust, her gait all the more enticing for the short distance she had to cross. Evidently, this managed to catch the man off guard.
“Since my hosts seem intent on treating me like a whore, I propose a trade.”
The man looked up from salivating over her swaying tits and nearly jumped in surprise. While he was nowhere close to being small, he still had to crane his neck up to look her in the eyes.
She smiled down at him. “Well? Would you like to hear my proposal?”
“W-what? Like better food?” He stammered out.
She quirked a brow. “While that would indeed be welcome, I was more talking about a bath.”
“You want a bath?” The man asked dumbly.
“I want you to take a bath.” Sade said, sticking a finger forward and jabbing it in the air like she was poking him in the chest.
“M-me?”
“Yes, you.” Sade huffed. “I may still have spent all day locked in a cell, but you sir, I could smell you halfway down the hall.”
The supposedly smelly man looked up at her with a mix of surprise and confusion. Of all the attacks Sade could have launched at him, a low blow like that hit harder than anyone could have ever predicted. It seemed her ‘sense weakness’ skill was still working to full effect at least. She would have to try and test if the other vocational skills could still be used.
“And why should I?” He asked with a small hint of petulance to his tone. Sade had mostly been exaggerating. But seeing him get all defensive almost made her feel bad for insulting him like that… almost. He was indeed filthy, and if she planned on letting him or his friends get anywhere near her, she was going to make sure they all were scrubbed clean.
“Let us stop pretending to dance about the subject.” Sade said while placing both hands on her hips. “If I would have let it, the moment I grabbed for the food you would have knocked me to the floor and had your way with me until you were satisfied, even if your boss had not given her express permission for you to do so. So instead, I propose we make a deal so we can skip all those unpleasantries and we both can get what we want.”
“I… Huh? Wha?” It seemed that Sade’s unconventional tactics had caused the gears inside his skull to grind to a halt. They really had no idea who they were dealing with.
She gestured towards her exposed assets. “Look at me. Do you think a woman like myself is unaware of how men like you look towards me? The unflattering remarks your employer has no doubt said about my proclivities are not exactly unfounded. I am no stranger to using every part of myself in the service of pleasuring a man.” She leaned down so they were eye to eye. “So here is my offer. Clean yourself thoroughly, and I do mean thoroughly. Do that, and I will show you exactly just how skilled I am.”
The man visibly gulped and chanced a look downwards once more. Sade made no move to stop him. Let him see. Let his puny mind try to grasp just what a fraction of her glorious womanhood could be capable of providing.
When Sade felt she had given him enough time, she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well? Do we have a deal?”
The confused guard weakly nodded his head and mumbled something in the affirmative. Slowly, as if in a daze, he closed and locked the cell door behind him and walked away, not even bothering to look back at the prisoner who wore a self satisfied smirk on her face.
“Oh! One more thing!” Sade called out before he disappeared completely. The man paused and gave her his attention once more. “Do let the other guards hiding behind the corner that the deal is valid for them as well. The last thing I want is to come down with a fever and be unable to uphold my end of the bargain.”
The guard froze in shock. Sade took pleasure in imagining that the small group of guards listening nearby also sported similar expressions.
It was an impressively smart move to send only one guard in at first. The way he deliberately kept the cell door wide open while he foolishly stepped inside by himself. Sade was more than positive that they had used a similar trick to lure prisoners into making an escape attempt. If they were skilled enough to evade and get past him, the larger group lying in wait out of sight could swarm and overwhelm them.
Given the circumstances, the guards would be forgiven if they were a bit forceful or creative in their duties to put the convict back where they belonged. Especially if the person in question was a highly skilled mage. She would bet her whole life’s savings that the hallways were no less enchanted to stop spellcasters as the cells.
Sade might have fallen for it. If she hadn’t been so intent on sharpening her senses, she may have missed the soft whispers or the shuffling of more than one pair of boots across the stone before the lone guard got into character and started making a racket to get her attention.
From where she stood, she could hear the group muttering to themselves as they walked away. While she couldn’t make out everything, the small snatches of conversation indicated that they were more than tempted to play along with her game for the moment.
When she was sure they were gone Sade let out a deep sigh of relief. Her legs growing weak, she plopped back down on the hard floor and clutched her chest in an effort to settle her rapidly beating heart. The whole ploy had been an enormous gamble. With her magic suppressed, she had only her above average strength and her martial experience she got from sparring with her friends. She was skilled, but not skilled enough to handle all that while her primary method of attack was removed. She was still a mage first and foremost.
Still, it seemed they had taken the bait. All that was needed was to continue with her plan.
Once she had caught her breath, Sade crawled forward and reached out for the tray of ‘food’ the guard had left behind. Using the stale bread and her fingers, she scooped up some of the gloop and shoved it quickly into her mouth. The stuff tasted even worse than it looked. She forced herself to swallow it down and reached for another bite of the vile substance. Even if her plan went off without any hiccups whatsoever, she would still be doing far worse things than eating rotten slop.
It was all just one more indignity piled onto the funeral pyre Sade was building for Lady Rivenmoor once she got out.