The stench of fear.

Cyrus was sitting within a caravan being pulled by a horse with 8 other slaves, crammed inside. They looked diverse in skin and hair color, male and female all wearing gorgeously made dancer outfits. Each sharing the same kind of golden collar and cuffs. Their eyes all seemed to glow with reddish hues. The caravan wobbled and buckled roughly as the wheels were pulled over the uneven ground in the mining caves below Nual. Cyrus peeked through the cracks of the wood covered windows so he could see the guards that followed with the caravans on the route to Yagwern. The path was lit by many torches upon the walls.

As usual, he could see the slaves who worked in the mines as they passed by. The loud clanking of their pickaxes chipping away at the ores was muffled by the movement of the carriage, as they headed down one of the tunnels the sounds became faint. The mines were a place he spent many of his younger years working before his master decided he was too pretty to be down here. He clenched his jaw thinking of that day.

The mines had changed a lot since he was taken out of them, but he still remembers the main passages. Every time Stein would bring his slaves to Yagwern, Cyrus tried to memorize every tunnel he could see. Knowing there were a few that led outside, as he was caught several times trying to sneak past the guards who were stationed at those exits. Many have been killed or beaten in their attempts at freedom. But Cyrus always used his body to get out of punishment.

The trip to Yagwern took almost an entire day. The cave system is a much longer route than being on the surface, it's just safer. On the route, Cyrus and the other dancers went over the kind of routine they would do. They wanted to keep a circular ring formation, something easy to follow. Some were inexperienced, but Cyrus and the more experienced dancers gave them tips on dancing and for what may happen after. There were drugs and alcohol that made the night go faster. It was an unfortunate dark truth of being a slave.

There was a large set of stairs that were made from stone slabs that lead into the basement of the Rose Maiden's den. The servants that walked along with them were tasked with bringing up all the goods and supplies into the basement and out of the caravans, they also were tasked with set up of rooms and cleaning.

Out of the 2 caravans that were brought, a total 15 slave dancers came out. There were also crates full of spices, and drugs. Aphrodisiacs and sensual oils and lubes were brought for the slaves and placed in every one of the many private rooms of the Rose Maiden's den in the top floors.

Cyrus did his best to keep the newer and inexperienced slaves calm by holding their hands, and telling them it would be ok. Even though he himself didn't know that. How could he know? They were about to service a group of Orcs, who were notorious for being unstoppable when they fought. Or even in bed, if they wanted to believe all the rumors.

The slave's quarters were in the basement, there they were told to wait, rest, and eat. A guard would tell them when to prepare themselves for the entertainment when they had word of the guests arriving in town. Cyrus was no stranger to this situation. The only thing different was the guests in particular.

He prepared relaxing tea for all the slaves. Due to their collars, the Fire elves were unable to cast magic, as the collars blocked most of their mana. The best they could muster in terms of fire, was very hot hands. They used their hands to heat up the tea. While they relaxed one of the older female elves, by the name of Shireen, sang a beautiful song as she braided one of the other girl's hair.

Shireen was in her late 30's. Her hair was naturally tightly curled and a dark vermilion color that fell down her back adorned in colorful jewels and pins. Her skin was a soft chocolatey brown that had a lovely golden tone.

Her white sheer clothing hugged her body elegantly. The golden jewels and beads only made her more divine to look at. Her eyes shined a very dark red, almost the color of blood. She was a curvy beauty, and her singing voice was angelic. Bringing a much needed ease in the slaves.

Cyrus was wearing his new dancer outfit his Master had told him to wear. It was dark purple and blue with white and green beads and embroidery upon the sash that draped over his hips accompanied with beautiful stone beads and metal coin shaped pendants that dangled from the layered sash. The many layers of the skirt that cascaded down his legs like gold trimmed flower pedals hid the openings that would show his long tan legs while dancing.

Many of the elves wore similar attire, some wore less gaudy outfits, and were more revealing. As they waited the dancers painted each other to decorate their exposed skin with golden makeup applied with large paint brushes. Cyrus' shoulders and chest were painted with golden paint in the shape of leaves and flowers.

While painting other dancers Cyrus thought over the formation of the dancing they spoke about earlier. It wasn't entirely necessary to stay in tune with each other, the point was to draw attention. Whether the patrons watching were male or female didn't matter. If you did well, you could be bought, or at the very least be given a nice meal or two and a few days rest.

It didn't seem like much time had passed before a guard knocked, and let them know the Orcs were arriving shortly. Shireen began helping the women while Cyrus helped the men. Adjusting their outfits and lining them all up to leave once the doors were opened.

The grouping of them all was very colorful, and also loud as they walked up the steps to the main room. It was octagonal on the first floor in the back from the main entrance. While they walked up Cyrus remembered the secret passages of the building. Some of the walls had narrow hallways between them for servants to travel in secret, or for masters to watch and eavesdrop on conversations. It made his skin crawl to know there could be someone watching his every move from behind the walls.

The Slaves sat themselves in a bundle in the middle of the room. Sitting in a large circle, Cyrus and Shireen sat in the middle with 3 others, 2 females named Zestari and Alasse as well as another male named Laiex.

They sat there trembling. Around the room there were pillows and seats set up for the guests. Each corner had a guard stationed. And near the back left and right of the room were stairs leading up to the private rooms. Between the stairwells sat a band, lutes, tambourines, qanun and doumbeks held by servant musicians. The inside of the Rose Maiden's den was decorated tastefully with colorful draped fabrics covering the ceiling. The walls had beautiful lanterns that lit the room. The subtle scent of incense drifted around. Filling the area with a sweet floral scent.

They flinched at the commotion they could hear from outside the doors that lead into the main entrance. Cyrus looked through his brows as his face was down turned. The dark brown door began to creak as well dressed servants pulled the doors open. Cyrus could see his master Stein walking in.

Behind him was a massive man covered in dark brown and black clothing, a cloth mask covering below his eyes with a large hood he stood a bit taller than the rest. Cyrus could only see his glowing blue eyes that seemed to immediately leave Stein and latch onto Cyrus. The man was followed by an entourage of green and brown skinned orcs. They were a bit rowdy, excited and loud as they laughed together. With them all beginning to crowd inside, Stein and the servants nearby looked so small next to them.

Cyrus wanted to count them, get a good look at them all, but he was so terrified of the eyes watching him he was too afraid to look away. His hand squeezed onto Shireen's, tightly intertwining their fingers. Their footsteps vibrated the floorboards they sat upon. Cyrus was filled with terror, his chest was tight with anxiety just seeing the Orcs. He knew he wasn't the only one afraid and did his best to keep a brave face.

"Welcome King Malach, to the Rose Maiden's den. As you can see my dancers are ready to entertain you, please make yourself comfortable in any of the seats, my servants will be bringing food and drink to you shortly." Stein was unusually nice in these situations. He kept up a showman attitude as he walked with them, which he looked between the hooded figure and the slightly shorter Orc with dark green skin. Cyrus wasn't sure which one Malach was, the one who was responding was the dark green orc.

"We are very excited ta try yer services." His voice was gravely, and his accent was rather interesting. It seemed he knew basic language well as his words rolled casually, and his tusks didn't seem to distort his speaking much. Despite what Cyrus had been told about Orcs, they didn't roar and growl like he expected. They were still imposing just in their size alone.

Stein looked between the green orc and the one covered a few more times, a bit perplexed but he kept the charming facade up. "Which one of you is Malach? Not to be rude, but I would hate to be disrespectful to the King of Vibhurik should I speak to the wrong person."

There was an awkward silence as they stood there. The entourage had already begun sitting down, there were at least a dozen of them clad in roughly sewn together hide and furs, they seemed to purposely show off their scars and tattoos with exposed midriffs or sleeveless tops. They wore a lot of jewelry made of clunky iron feathers and bones.

The orcs who remained standing with Stein were the Blue eyed Orc, the dark green one with facial tattoos, and a female with wild red hair dressed in something that can only be described as a hide bikini. It was obvious Stein was uncomfortable. He even flinched when the blue eyed Orc lifted his hand as he reached up to his hood.

The orc paused, glancing at Cyrus and the dancers briefly before he pulled back his hood. His forehead had light colored scars carved into his teal skin. There were scars that dragged up from under his left eye to his left ear, which was partially missing in comparison to his mostly normal pointed ear on the right. He had thick eyebrows, and long blackish hair that was tied back with a center braid running over the top of his head into a high ponytail, held up with some kind of spiky bronze cuff. The rest of his hair spilled out from the hood, it had a purple shine to it in the light.

"That would be me. These two are Durlag," he motioned his head to the male orc, "and Thera." He motioned his head to the female orc. "They often speak on my behalf."

With the rest of his face covered with a dark cloth his words were a bit muffled, but his strong voice was menacing as he spoke at a slow pace, which made him all the more imposing.

One of the girls was struggling to keep herself from sobbing in fear as the orcs sat around the room. Shireen pulled her closer and hid the girl's face in her chest and kissed her hair, the movement caused some of the beads to clatter audibly. Stein shot a sharp gaze at the dancers in a warning before looking back at Malach and offering him a formal bow which was stiff. Stein was visibly sweating and his voice sounded a bit more panicked.

"Well, it is nice to meet your acquaintance. You are quite the reputable one, I hope we can be long term business associates from here on out."

He held his hand out to Malach to shake. Who looked down at the man's hand with a blank stare. He made no effort to shake Stein's hand, frankly he was disgusted by him, instead he chose to nod with a gruff huff. He untied a coin satchel from his belt and plopped it in his hand and walked past to take a seat. His large frame, around 7 feet, made him need to duck his head below the drapes on the ceiling.

As he got himself to a spot he liked he somewhat awkwardly got situated into his seat upon the floor. It was a cushioned seat with a wooden back support on the ground and a small table next to it. He sat with his legs crossed. His knee bumped into a small table next to him. Malach carefully pushed the small table to the side a bit for more room. It was a bit of a comical sight.

He looked extremely out of place and rigid. But so did all the other's who came with him. They were much larger than the regular customers who often dwelled here. The room was large and spacious, but the furniture could have passed as dwarven made with the size differences. The sight made Cyrus grin, but the unsettling feeling in his stomach kept him on edge.

Durlag shook his head with a sigh at Malach as Stein put the money in his sash. He leaned into Stein's ear. "He ain't much a talker, but he be very excited as the rest ov us." Durlag gave the man's shoulder a friendly pat, which was more of a hard slap from just the weight of the Orc's hand. Stein smiled through the pain.

"Please enjoy, and let me know if I can do anything to serve you better." The man's voice cracked a bit with unease.

He gave Durlag and Thera a bow as they went to sit near Malach. Once everyone was seated, Stein clapped his hands 3 times, signaling the musicians to begin playing and for the other servants of the Rose Maiden's den to begin bringing out refreshments and food to the guests. Instead of tankards as usual, Stein thought it best to just give the Orcs entire pitchers of Ale. He then went to check on other matters in the kitchen as the dancers would begin their entertainment.

His showman bravado flew out the window when he entered the kitchen. He smoothed back his hair with unsteady hands and let out a stressed sigh. Looking to a guard he spoke to him in hand signs, not knowing how good the Orcs could hear.

(Keep a close eye on our guests. Orc's don't need weapons to be dangerous.) The guard nodded in understanding, leaving the kitchen he informed other guards to be extra cautious. They were warned previously to mind what they say, even in private.

Thera sat on the left of Malach. She whispered to him in orcish tongue without getting close, knowing he would hear her even with the couple of feet of distance that was between them.

"You should lose the face covering, you're terrifying the humans and elves again."

Malach's ears twitched at Thera's words, as his eyes stayed on the dancers. They all began to stand up and spread out with graceful steps that flowed to the rhythm of the musicians. It was enchanting to watch them, but he could smell the terror coming from them all which made him feel a bit agitated.

"They might become more afraid if I do…" Malach's voice rumbled low, and soft behind his mask.

Durlag draped an arm around Malach's shoulders, whispering to him with a friendly tone.

"Aye, it'll be better fer ta rest ov us if yer ugly mug scared em."

Durlag was given no response. Malach was focusing on more important matters. Like the sounds his heightened hearing picked up from below and upstairs, and even in between the walls inside the secret corridors. His eyes watched the dancers, but he wasn't paying much attention aside from remembering where everyone was. He could hear the whispers in the room, his soldiers attempting to relax the dancers who sat with them. But that did very little to lessen the thick tension within the air.

His nose picked up the many different emotions and the burning incense in the room, even through the mask he wore it was strong, almost to the point of overwhelming. To Malach the room stunk of onions and burnt wood. There were traces of a floral scent, and of course the smell of the cooking food. If he removed his mask he would probably get nauseous. Crowds of people like this were not something he particularly enjoyed. The scent of emotions tends to get mixed with crowds and confuses him. There was a reason Orc's never dealed with slaves outside of their own kingdom, but this meeting had to be done.

Cyrus and the other dancers moved about the wide open floor in the middle of the room with elegant spins and shakes of their hips. Drawing in the attention of the orcs with flirty hand movements and rolling their bodies to the sensual and fun music that filled the room.

The less experienced dancers chose patrons to sit with after they circled the area a few times. They gave them an up close show of their rolling hips at the speed set by the musicians. As the music slowed down they dropped to their knees, playfully beginning to feed them some of the fruits that were brought out. None were brave enough to sit with Malach as he just seemed entirely uninterested in any that passed by him. His eyes watched Shireen for a time, she had fastened small gold cymbals onto her fingers. She played them in sync with the musicians with skillful clacks of her fingers. Her dancing was alluring and very eye drawing.

She noticed Malach watching her, so she gave him a wink and danced closer to him. Causing a chuckle to come from Thera as a small elf boy fed her some grapes. Malach hadn't even realized he was so drawn into her dancing as he wasn't quite paying attention until she winked and danced in front of him. Her very round butt was jiggling 2 feet away from his face only covered by sheer white fabric. 'Focus… You have a job to do.' He told himself. But how could he not enjoy the sight? Man or woman, this dancer was very attractive. He did however sigh in relief when she did move away from him.

He considered drinking down the pitcher of Ale on his tiny table to help him relax. He sat there as an unmoving statue with his arms crossed. Durlag slapped his back. Urging him to at least act like he was enjoying himself. Malach was a terrible actor, and he was regretting even agreeing to this ridiculous set up.

'Next time, I'm staying out of human affairs...' His foot tapped a bit as he told himself that. As he caught the red eyes of the beautiful male dancer that stared at him before he felt himself get nervous. His face flushed under the mask and his jaw clenched as he watched him dance. He sat there internally cursing and hoping he didn't come over to him.

Durlag waved the boy over for Malach. Thinking he was doing the King a favor.

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