Chapter 8 (3/6)

   


 On the next night, Jerri is tasked with serving the Sultan’s table at his exclusive black tie party. It’s a very surreal experience for former executive, as the affair reminds her of parties he used to attend in the past, either for business or for pleasure. Except for now instead of hobnobbing, sipping martinis and wearing the latest fashions, she’s required to be silent, servile and naked.

The party especially reminds her of business engagements, complete with sycophants hanging on to the host’s every word, laughing obnoxiously at even the slightest joke to stroke egos. The Sultan’s table is the worst for this, with his friends and their attendant slaves gathered around: the men chortling at nearly everything His Magnificence says and the women standing or kneeling silently, dreading whats to come at the end of the night...all of the women save for Piglet, who lazily leans against the Sultan. Even if she’s a slave, she holds herself with a superior air.

“Look at that crazy bitch,” Jerri thinks, “Standing there like she’s the queen of fucking Alqir.”

Piglet’s eye follows Jerri whenever she approaches the table, with the look Piglet gives her Jerri can only speculate to herself, “Small wonder I wasn’t the one with a candle up my ass last night...”

As Jerri steps in and out to quietly refresh drinks for the Sultan’s table, she catches snippets of conversation:

“...Oil is not the end all, surely. Alqir’s climate and exceptional public safety would lend itself to amenable to the tourism industry, I believe.” the Sultan says, leaning quite relaxed in his chair.

The men at the table laugh, “AH HAHAHA, you old dog!” one of them says, “That’s just what you need: beaches full of half naked women! I think you have quite enough on your plate right now, Your Magnificence.”

“What can I say,” the Sultan cracks a small smug smile, “women are naturally drawn to me.”

The men laugh again, this time a little too hard.

If Jerri were back in the States, the Sultan would be wearing the tray of drinks she’s carrying. But, she’s not in the States, she’s a slave trying to make the best of what she has. So, Jerri quietly clears the table while the men laugh and chat. They don’t thank her, as is the protocol in Alqir, they only acknowledge her service with pinches and demeaning swats on the rump.

The humiliation of being reduced to a naked serving wench is not the worst part of the ordeal. Nor is having to listen to rotten old men brag and pat each other on the backs for whatever little projects they are involved in. It’s not even seeing her fellow slaves who are also forced to serve, standing and kneeling while they look distant and miserable. Jerri wonders if the men are just cruel and enjoy the power or if they’re just stupid and actually believe the “official story” that the Sultan’s harem is composed of volunteers who want this life.

The worst part is listening to Roxy play her violin in the background. Make no mistake, Roxy is good, very good and she’s playing light chamber music that the men brutishly talk over. Despite the lighthearted tune Roxy is playing, Jerri can hear a profound sadness in her instrument. It feels physically heavy on her chest, as if someone is standing on her. Jerri thinks if she were to pay too much attention to the music the sadness could be crippling. She can’t bear to look at her new friend as she plays, afraid she’ll start to cry… she hasn’t cried yet since she’s been in Alqir and she’s not about to start now.

Jerri does her best to concentrate on her assigned task. The party goes on well into the night and the men slowly begin to leave with their attendants, off to private rooms to have their way with the enslave girls. Jerri is “fortunate”, as she was used by the Sultan who made no secret about what ways and how many times he had her last night. As attendant slave girls are required to be ‘fresh’, Jerri is allowed to return to the baths at the end of the night.

Roxy will not make it back to the baths for another four days.

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Continued here: ubasa.deviantart.com/art/Her-N…

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This render was a struggle, I tried three different final versions before I settled on this one. It's one of those scenes that if  I were to try to perfect, I would probably be struggling with it... FOREVER. 

We hit the half way point of this chapter, more to come tomorrow.

Thank you all for looking, reading and commenting.