7.8.YC123
“You understand, dear mate of mine, that this deal will be costly, yes?” The towering woman intoned with a low growl, shifting in her seat as she reviewed the document that had been presented to her by the Khanid holder before her.
“Yes. I do understand that…” The much smaller woman exhaled, eyes downcast, “but I will pay any price for the safety of my subjects.”
“I don’t think you do understand mate mine…” the Wolf shook her head, canine ears flicking slowly before splaying back, and propped her elbows onto the too small desk she sat behind… her stature and bulk making the grand carved desk seem like a child’s toy set.
They were in the Holder’s primary working office. There were no servants, no guards. Just the two of them. They had known eachother for some time now. The Holder herself was one of the strongest singular women that the Wolf knew. They had become close, and the Noble had come to understand much of the ways of her people and had accommodated the Wolf accordingly. In turn, the Wolf had… taken care of small problems for the Noble where it was reasonable to do so.
The Noble had even borne some of the she-wolf’s children, discretely of course. The specifics of their relationship had always been kept fairly quiet, though many had known of their daliances. It was why the Wolf spoke so familiarly to her here and now, “No amount of ISK or Tribute you could provide to me will satisfy the cost of this…” she sighed, looking down at the much smaller woman, “and despite our relations… the cost, will be You.” She rumbles firmly, a sad glint in her eyes.
The words seemed to get through to the Holder, who looked up with sudden comprehension, “Me? but…” she stopped herself, shaking her head. She had been crying before the bestial woman’s arrival, much of the past few months had taken their toll on the woman, but her resolve shone once again as she steeled herself.
“What would that entail?” She intoned.
“You, your genetic line. Your Holdings. Your Mind.” The wolf growled out, “Everything that you are, is the cost of this Contract, dear mate of mine.” The beast said, staring down into the Holder’s eyes, “publicly little will change. You will resubmit your loyalties to the Khanid Throne, I will take in your persecuted subjects and they will be protected, I’ll deal with that ■■■■■■■ traitorous piece of ass you were chasing that decided to help screw all this up. The agents of the Khanid crown investigating you and your holdings will find evidence to clear your name and some will meet with unfortunate fates that will never be tied back to you, or myself for that matter. But you will be Claimed as my Tribute. You will no longer be my mate. You will be lesser and lessened. That, is the price. Think this through.”
The Holder paused, and sat silently for a time, her eyes closing, “You will make me like those I have given to you.” she stated, it wasn’t a question, “so far gone they don’t even know what’s changed.”
“Yes, and no,” the Wolf cleared her throat, “You will be… more than they. But you… your essence, your soul, will be bound to me more deeply than the Khanid or Amarr have ever been able to break a slave’s will. To most, they will never know. But behind closed doors…” she trailed off, eyeing the Noble.
“And my people?”
“Spared their current fate, and will be spared from being made Tribute by myself or my kin or others of my ilk unless such that they wish to become Tribute.”
“I will do it. It will be… better this way.”
The Wolf shook her head and side, sitting back and sagging slightly, she had hoped the Holder would say no. She had become fond of her during their times together, “Then sign the Contract. And things will be set in motion. Just understand… love…” she struggled to say the word, though she meant it, she had come to love the Holder, “that there is no coming back from this.”
The Khanid laughed mirthlessly, and signed the paper in her elegant script, “and it is before things change irrevocably that you manage to use that word… This is an act I take willingly. I know the cost… I will bear it, love.”
The wolf took the pages and shuffled them aside after the holder had finished signing, if anyone else had been present they might have been struck by the difference in size between the two women as the beast stood to her full height, “I can promise, at the least, you will enjoy the process as you are changed…” she rumbled, and sent several encrypted signals with her implants to begin the wider work that the Holder had just given herself to pay for.
“And to think I nearly had you in a collar once…” the Holder managed wryly.
The wolf gave a smile at that, before reaching across the desk and lifted the Khanid woman without effort and set away with her in grasp. One of the wolf’s own would be here to collect the contract… The wolf had much work to do subsume the Holder… She would keep her word at least. The Khanid noble would enjoy what would be done.
And to any on the outside, when the holder would eventually reappear in the public eye, she would be the model of a Khanid Holder, submitting loyalty back to the Khanid Throne, perhaps some might see a change in her personality, but who could endure the scrutiny of the Chesm Khan and having her subjects brutalized without a change in attitude? But she would henceforward be owned by the Wolf down to the genetic level.
Such a shame, the wolf thought, that it had to end this way.