Lockes and Chains

There were some things that Clara and Sura did have in common. Ezzo was quickly learning that while hislatrunculipieces were remorselessly obliterated yet again, now by another whole new Locke.

"You're terrible at this," Sura said plainly, tilting her head as she tossed Ezzo's last defeated soldier onto his lap with a flourish of her hand. His general, as was becoming a habit, was now alone and thus incapable of capturing any pieces.

"I've only been playing it for a couple of months," he muttered defensively.

It was decidedly less pleasant to lose to Sura, even if she was about as difficult to beat as Clara at this game. She brought her dainty fingers to the bowl of bonbons on her bed, positioned strategically next to their gameboard. She always made a show of popping one into her mouth.And for the life of me, I cannot grasp how she remains this skinny.

"Sho... again?" she asked, not even bothering to swallow the chocolate first. "If you can't beat me, then you'll never beat Clara.Sheis the one who inherited Father's tactical wits, believe it or not."

Sura was already reassembling the battlefield with both their armies. She only needed to pause in order to slide another bonbon between her lips, and then wipe the melted chocolate on her fingertips off with her pink handkerchief. Ezzo was surprised she managed to keep her sheets so immaculately pink despite eating so many melting chocolates on her bed. The Bbrasian heat that afternoon was not particularly auspicious for eating bonbons without making a mess, which made her feat even more impressive.

I'd settle for beating you, Lady Sura. Clara is not nearly as lousy a winner as you are.

Ezzo looked at the wooden checkered battlefield one more time as if it were an alien relic. The loss streak Sura was putting him through was starting to make him feel as if he was giving Scombians all over the world a bad reputation as far as intellect was concerned. It was probably a good thing she hadn't figured it out yet, or she'd definitely lean into it more.

In truth, the past few days had exposed Ezzo to a less bratty version of his temporary mistress. Sura was cheeky, yes, but she could be a lot less infuriating when you just got over yourself and became domineering in bed. Ezzostilldidn't like the Scombian stereotypes being flung at him, but between that and another forced orgasm race, the choice was quite obvious.

She moved a piece forward with an absentminded gesture.

It always starts like that,Ezzo recalled, fed up with her arrogant nonchalance by now. He moved one of his soldiers forward on the opposite end of the board. The longer he could postpone a clash, the better. Sura smirked. It looked like she was about to taunt him again, but a knock on the door interrupted both her turn and her impending insult.

"Huh," she muttered, as if deep in thought. "Hide?"

She gestured idly toward her wardrobe - also pink, of course - then stared at Ezzo with an expectant look.

"Why...?" Ezzo had to ask.

"Because it might be Ira. And me not knowing where you are is far more difficult for her to maneuver around than me telling her no. She probablyexpectsme to say no by now."

The logicdidadd up. So did the fear of Ira. He rose from the bed without further questions, just as the visitor knocked again.

"Just a minute!" sang Sura, while she gently pushed Ezzo into her closet.

Once Ezzo stepped inside between two colorful dresses, she spoke again.

"If she doubts I lost you, I'll just explain your absence by saying I sodomized you earlier, like she did a while ago. Smart, right?"

"Don't you dare-"

She closed the door on him before Ezzo could finish hissing at her. He wanted to glare at her from inside the wardrobe, but the fear of Ira being really outside outweighed his desire for revealing his fury with Sura. So, he chose not to peek.

"Coming!"

He heard the door unlocking, and the visitor's voice was enough to calm him down a fraction.

"Sura, my secretive little passionflower," said Vera. "It takes an ever increasing amount of restraint not to use my master key during your bouts of reclusiveness."

"Well, we wouldn't be Lockes if we lacked restraint," Sura responded cheekily. "Bonbon?"

Ezzo heard Vera's posh laughter as her voice pushed into the bedroom. He heard the bed creak slightly under the weight of someone sitting, presumably the older woman.

"It's simply too hot for those today, darling. But I'm glad you're feeling generous, Sura, because I'll need to take Ezzo from you for a moment. Tara didn't find him in his quarters. Sheevenchecked under the bed."

Of course,Ezzo groaned mentally.Of course Vera is not planning to follow Clara's rules.He exhaled as soundlessly as he could, pressing his ear against the wooden door to hear better.

"Ezzo's not a southerner," said Sura. "His skin is a bit too light for a bonbon analogy."

The deflection surprised the Scombian.Is this brat actually brave enough to deny Vera?Satisfying as that would be to witness, he wasn't sure if it wouldn't get them both in more trouble.

He gently pushed the door open, just enough so his eye could peer into the world outside. Sura and Vera had their backs turned toward the closet, both sitting with the bowl of candy between them. The mother chuckled briefly at her daughter's words.

"Mmm. And where is he now, darling?"

"He is probably moping somewhere." Sura wiped her fingers with her handkerchief again. "Rough day, today. Ihadto see what was so special about Ira's method, right?"

Bitch. Ezzo rolled his eyes.

"Is that so? Well, I commend your cleanliness. Your room lacks the scent I'd associate with such... activities." Vera placed her hand gently on Sura's shoulder. "Did you peg Ezzobeforeorafteryou two playedlatrunculi?"

Sura did not seem deterred by her increasingly blatant lie being exposed. He had to give her credit forthat,if nothing else.

"Oh, we only played a game to decide who would be on top of who!" She grinned impishly at her mother. "I assure you, I made our country's military proud."

The fact it sounded in-character for Sura to do that to him horrified Ezzo, but he couldn't even look away. The exchange between mother and daughter was like a burning building that captured his gaze despite the urge to get away from there as quickly as possible.

"So good to hear that. It would be unbecoming to lose against aScombian, now wouldn't it?"

Ezzo rolled his eyes again. This had to be turning into one of the least enjoyable conversations he'd witnessed in a while.

"Oh, it was not even close!" said Sura proudly. That brat was definitely enjoying the fact Ezzo couldn't even object now. "And believe me, he did not want to lose."

Sura popped another bonbon into her mouth, while Vera wrapped an arm around her.

"I have to admit I am uncertain if you truly won, Sura."

"Huh?"

That made the Scombian narrow his eyes. There was no way in hell Vera was about to compliment his intelligence. Something else was coming.

"Well, I am only inferring from what I have witnessed, darling," said the older woman innocently. "My middle daughter, locked in her room all by herself? It is unlike you to lock your doors while you're alone."

Vera's fingers drummed patiently on Sura's shoulder. Another piece of evidence casually exposed, and Sura's posture suggested she was no less upright or perked up.

"You know how loud Ezzo gets, Mother-"

"I don't, actually," chuckled Vera. There was quite a bit of malice in that chuckle.

"Then now you do!" Sura continued cheerfully. "I just wanted a bit of peace and quiet after that... noisy bit of fun."

It was official. Ezzohatedthis conversation. The fact Vera probably knew he was listening only made him feel angrier and more humiliated.

"Well, I must commend the good mood with which you've welcomed me, my daughter. I could hardly have guessed you were recovering from anything when I first saw your radiant smile as I came in."

"I recover quickly," Sura fired back instantly. "Itisa gift."

Vera chuckled, just as her daughter bit into another bonbon.

"Are you going to tell your sister's slave to reveal himself now?" the matriarch finally asked.

Ezzo winced inside the closet. Instead of replying, Sura only hummed and raised a finger, as if asking for a moment to finish chewing.As if she ever stops talking just because she has a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

His temporary mistress took her sweet time chewing, holding up her finger the whole time just to keep her mother hanging. It wasagonizingfor Ezzo, though. He had no idea whether he was about to be handed to Vera or not.

Finally, she swallowed.

"Ah. Why didn't you just say so? He's in the closet. Come out, Ezzo!"

She sang the last bit. Of course. Ezzo was suddenly seeing both Lockes glancing over their shoulders at the wardrobe, eager and expectant. He didn't know if he felt more anger than dread at that point.

He gingerly pushed the wardrobe door open and stepped out. Vera rose to her feet with a smile, beckoning him closer with her finger. Ezzo walked around the bed and stopped before Sura's mother.

"So wonderful to see you standing upright, Scombian," said the older woman. Her eyes swiveled to Sura, who was still popping bonbons into her mouth without a care in the world. There was some mockery in the way Vera glanced at his hips. "I do have need of you fresh and ready today."

Ezzo had serious doubts his energy levels would ever disqualify him from pleasuring any Locke that felt like using him, but there was no point in voicing them. Vera looked around for a moment, before her smiling blue eyes returned to Ezzo's.

"How clumsy of me. I seem to have forgotten my leash." She allowed herself a slow smile. "But you no longer need one, do you, Scombian?"

He knew she was trying to needle him with his own domestication. Ezzo tried to maintain a neutral expression.

"No, Lady Vera."

I never did, he reflected inwardly.

The reply seemed to satisfy Vera, who smiled and turned toward the door.

"Good. Walk with me."

Just as she reached the exit, Vera glanced over her shoulder at Sura, still sitting on her bed.

"Always a pleasure to catch up with you, darling. I take it you don't want the room locked all for yourself?" Vera brandished what must have been her master key.

Sura shook her head with an impish smirk.

"I feel more sociable already, Mother."

Vera chuckled softly.

"Don't wait up for Ezzo," she still said, before closing the door. Sura was given no time to offer a verbal riposté.

They started walking along the familiar corridors in silence. Ezzo was no longer terrified of what each of the closed doors could possibly have in store for him. He no longer flinched to make room for passing guards. He'd learned to stomach the Locke estate, if nothing else. And he wasn't blind to the way Vera was side-eyeing him.

"What troubles you, Lady Vera?" he asked without turning to face her.

"Why would anything trouble me, Ezzo?" she asked innocently. "I was just admiring how far you've come, is all."

Her noticing it did make his progress feel a little more hollow. The sentiment did not get any more comfortable as she kept talking.

"You were such a terrified little thing a few months back. Flinching at the world, jumping at shadows, and fidgeting wherever you went. It reflected quite poorly on Clara, I'll have you know."

Ezzo rolled his eyes. He turned a corner before Vera did, already quite aware that she was going to take him to that same master bedroom again. She hummed approvingly, following his trajectory.

"But that is long in the past," said the matriarch, appreciation evident in her tone. "You are positively... tamed."

The Scombian inhaled through his nose in an effort to keep his cool. He was determined not to let his own ego provide Vera with any more entertainment.

"Pity, however," Vera went on, conversationally, "that your acclimatization hasn't yet translated into fulfilling your purpose."

This again,Ezzo thought. The fact Vera Locke wasn't putting on a stern façade this time around was a little unsettling. What could her angle possibly be?

"I thought our previous escapade was meant to pick a new purpose for me," he muttered.

"Why, what could possibly have given you such an idea, Ezzo?" Vera's faux innocent tone returned. "Your little trysts haven't changed your ownership, have they? You are still Clara's, even if she needs Sura to guard her property."

There was a pause. Vera's voice was a lot lower when she spoke again.

"And I imagine you want to stay hers too, even if you keep giving me reasons to give you away."

Ezzo tensed up at that. He could withstand Vera's taunts by now, but nothing could inoculate him against the dread he felt at the prospect of being given away to another Bbrasian or, gods forbid, Ira herself.

He noticed Vera was still staring at him expectantly, no doubt satisfied that she'd managed to silence his barbed retorts with her implicit threat.

"Yes, I do," he said, with some resignation.

"Wonderful."

She put a hand on the small of his back, retaking her role as his guide along those corridors.

"It's important that we keep sight of our goals, is it not?" she said cheerily.

"Yes, Lady Vera."

They arrived at the door to the master bedroom shortly after their exchange reached its natural conclusion.

As natural a conclusion as an exchange can get with threats sprinkled in, at least,he thought bitterly.

It wasn't a surprise for him to find Tara sitting at the foot of the bed, legs crossed as if she owned the room. She was dressed, for a change, and it almost felt strange to see her devoid of any bindings.Knowing this one, Vera might be punishing her by taking away the leash.

Tara gave him a flirtatious wave while her mistress shut the door behind Ezzo. The Scombian placed a hand on his heart. It was beating steadily, for now, devoid of fear despite his discomfort.

"Now what?" he asked the room at large. His eyes remained on Tara, just to be a little safer.

"I think now you need to undress," said the Bbrasian slave. "It stands to reason, right?"

Ezzo glanced over his shoulder. Vera was by the door, observing her two slaves with rapt attention. She was like a woman watching two pets of different species measuring each other up from afar. When she noticed him staring at her, the noblewoman smirked at him.

"She is right, Ezzo."

He was not feeling like arguing or clinging to self-respect that day. Whichever of these two women he had to pleasure, he figured it was best to get it over with quickly.

His beige slave garments came off and were tossed to Tara's side on the bed. Ezzo had been washed recently. Sura had made it a point of dragging him into the bathhouse even more frequently than Vera's original schedule. The servants were a lot more deliberate with the fragrances they chose to wash him with now. Sura's byzantine rules were all but unknown to him, but she'd had the grace of explaining his Scombian herbal fragrance went too well with roses to go for any other scent. He could still feel that perfume wafting off his own body as he stood naked between those two Bbrasian women.

Tara made no move to undress or come closer. Her eyes ran along his exposed body in a slow, indulgent manner. Ezzo didn't know what there was to appreciate. There was nothing new about his slender body since the last time she and him had had sex. In fact, he was still flaccid. There was arguably less than usual for her to appreciate.

"So?" he asked. "What are you waiting-"

Tara cut him off.

"You know, Iama little offended that you aren't even a little hard after seeing me," Tara said, her feet dangling playfully from the bed.

Ezzo could only muster an annoyed squint at her, before he heard Lady Vera's wooden zoccoli on the marble floor coming closer.

The noblewoman had a strange device in her hand. It was a metallic structure, with coils of glinting steel forming an armor - or cage - of some sort. The shape left little doubt about what part of Ezzo would be armored up.Or caged.

"What thefuckis that?!" he hissed.

"Language, Ezzo," said Vera with a roll of her blue eyes.

"You don't have cock cages in Scombia?" Tara asked conversationally.

Ezzo didn't even glance at his fellow slave. His entire focus was on Vera now.

"No," he said. It was both an answer to Tara's question and a rejection of whatever it was these two wanted to do to him.

Vera, naturally, only read the first interpretation of his reply.

"This shall be quite illuminating, then," she said with a smile.

The Locke matriarch took a step toward him. Ezzo immediately took a step of his own away from her.

Vera paused. Her smile didn't vanish. She merely tilted her head. "I see. Is that your... final decision, Ezzo?"

He felt his blood running cold. There was so much dread and anger running through his head that Ezzo couldn't even mentally call Vera all the profanities she deserved to be called. It was a threat, clear as day. And Ezzo would either provide his farcical consent to being caged, or he would test, first-hand, how keenly Vera followed up on her ultimatums.

With a sigh, he lowered his arms. Vera feigned confusion at his gesture. She wantedtotalsurrender that day.

Gritting his teeth, Ezzo walked slowly up to the noblewoman, until he was right in front of her. Vera brought a hand idly to his cock, as if she was browsing wares.

"Good choice," she said with casual indifference. "Like I said:tamed."

Ezzo flinched as the cold piece of steel was clasped into place. A ring was hooped around his testicles, while his cock was fitted inside the long cage. The two pieces were joined together by a small lock that clicked without any hurdle. To Ezzo, that click was deafening.

Tara was watching him from the bed, fascinated. Ezzo wasn't sure if it was his misery that was turning her on, or Vera's dominance.Probably both,a morose thought popped up unbidden.

"I do feel bad about disappointing you, Ezzo." Vera put a warm hand on his bare chest. "You did look ready to serve."

"Well,almostready," Tara corrected with a smirk and a meaningful glance at his restrained cock.

"Almost ready," Vera conceded with a chuckle.

Ezzo did not like the way her hand was touching his chest. There was a deliberate quality to how her fingertips ran circular motions on his skin.

"I'll survive," he said, barely concealing how much the humiliating device was already getting to him. His eyes returned to his discarded clothes next to Tara. He'd grown used to his body being bared for everyone in that manor, but all it took to invoke self-consciousness in him again was a cage around his cock.

"Indeed you will," Vera whispered, bringing her red lips closer to Ezzo's neck.

The warm breath on his skin sent a shiver down his spine, but there was a new kind of discomfort along with the usual goosebumps. His cock, already stiffening due to her touch, strained against the cage when the noblewoman spoke.

The sensation was unlike anything Ezzo had ever experienced. He'd never quitewantedto get hard since he'd been dragged into the Locke estate, and now... he couldn't. The discomfort was difficult to describe. It never quite became painful, but it was far enough from pleasure to make him wince at his own cock.

Vera noticed it immediately.

"Already heating up, Ezzo?" she asked sweetly, keeping her lips uncomfortably close to his jugular.