“I don’t know,” Gaze admitted. “But if I had to guess, I’d say that even if she meant all of that, she’s probably embarrassed now that she admitted it. So I don’t think we should bring it up again.”
“How are we ever gonna bond her to us if we don’t bring it up, though?” Bound exclaimed. “You think she’s gonna just slip on a puddle and fall pussy first onto both our dicks by accident? You have to talk about these kinda things, Brother!”
Gaze gave him a sidelong glance.
“For a male who never had any interest in bonding a female with me before, you’re certainly eager now.”
Bound ran a hand through his thick, dark hair.
“I told you—Angel is the one! Of course I never wanted to bond a female with you before—we never found the right one before. But now we have!”
“We have to take things slowly,” Gaze told him. “If you rush in headfirst, you’ll scare her off and ruin everything! I can’t—”
“Shhh,” Bound interrupted him, putting a finger to his lips. “Listen, can you hear what they’re saying?”
Gaze looked to where his twin was pointing and saw that Alexa and Mistress Pricklethorn had come to a stop between two cracks in the rough stone wall. One was the sorrow fountain which was emitting a steady stream of blue smoke filled bubbles, while the other, much smaller crack, was letting out bubbles filled with purple smoke at a much slower rate.
“…think this vein of Dream Gas is nearly played out,” Mistress Pricklethorn was saying. “And when it’s gone, I don’t know how I shall remember my old friends anymore.” She sniffed deeply and put a bright yellow handkerchief that matched her hair to her faded eyes.
“Maybe it will keep going,” Alexa said hopefully. “Though I can certainly understand how sad it is to lose friends. But you know, there are a lot of people being lost every day here on Yonnie Six—people who should have lived a lot longer than they did, but their lives were cut short.”
“What? Whatever are you talking about?” Mistress Pricklethorn frowned—which was indicated by a slight downturn in the corners of her mouth—and put a heavily beringed hand to her face. Her fingers flashed with jewels—all of them either yellow or purple, Gaze saw.
“I’m talking about bodyslaves,” Alexa told her.
“Bodyslaves?” Mistress Pricklethorn’s thin eyebrows shot up. “Bodyslaves aren’t people.”
“They are to me,” Alexa said steadily. “I know a lot of Mistresses on Yonnie Six don’t think so, but males are people too. And they don’t deserve to be sent to the Death Mines to work until they die when nobody has any use for them anymore.”
“Sent to the ‘Death Mines?’ What are you talking about? What are these ‘Death Mines?’” Mistress Pricklethorn demanded, frowning.
Alexa rapidly explained, gesturing as she spoke.
“Males—mostly discarded bodyslaves—are being forced to go work in the mines full of toxic fumes until they expire,” she told the other woman. “I know many Yonnite Mistresses probably wouldn’t care about that, but I’m sure you do, Mistress Pricklethorn. You have a kind heart and you care about people—even males.”
As she spoke, she waved her hand and a bubble of blue smoke—so tiny it was barely visible—wafted gently up the other woman’s nose.
“I mean, think of it—they’ve already been worked half to death and discarded by their Mistresses,” Alexa went on earnestly. “And then they’re bought and sent to work in toxic conditions that will certainly kill them. Why, I rescued my own two bodyslaves from that fate—they nearly died!”
She gestured at Bound and Gaze, a tremble in her voice, and Mistress Pricklethorn’s eyes followed her motion.
“Oh my, how dreadfully sad,” she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. “You almost lost them before you even knew them!”
“Yes, very sad,” Alexa said earnestly. “This kind of thing has to stop, Mistress Pricklethorn—this cruel and disgusting use and abuse must be ended!”
“Yes, yes, I quite agree my dear!” The other woman was weeping by now— though her face was still a calm mask, tears were pouring from her eyes.
“Thank you.” Alexa took Mistress Pricklethorn’s hands in hers and squeezed lightly. “Then will you please grant me an audience before the Sacred Seven to speak about this issue in the near future?”
“My dear Mistress Alexa, you shall come to our very next meeting,” Mistress Pricklethorn promised. “It’s to be held at Mistress Bodymod’s tower tomorrow at noon. Here—I’ll give you a token so they’ll let you in.”
Slowly, she pulled one of the brilliantly jeweled rings from her wrinkled fingers. The ring was a golden band set with alternating stones of yellow and purple, Gaze saw.
“Here,” Mistress Pricklethorn pressed the ring into Alexa’s hand. “You just present that at the door and tell them that Mistress Pricklethorn sent you and they’ll allow you up at once.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Such a sad issue—I’m certain we can get it resolved.”
“Thank you!” Alexa’s eyes shone with gratitude and excitement and Gaze thought what an amazing female she was. She really did want to help those in need. She was the most self-less person he had ever met and he couldn’t help remembering how sweet her lips had tasted when she kissed him either.
Apparently Bound was thinking along the same lines because he muttered hoarsely in Gaze’s ear,
“She’s fuckin’ amazing. She really cares.”
“Kind, compassionate, beautiful…she’s just about perfect,” Gaze admitted. “Too bad she comes from a society that doesn’t believe in males and females being together.”
“I think she’ll change her mind,” Bound told him. “It’s like you said—we just have to give her some time—that’s all.”
Gaze hoped his brother was right but he wasn’t sure at all what the future might bring…
TWENTY-FIVE
Lexi slipped the ring with its yellow and purple jewels over her right forefinger and smiled triumphantly. She’d had a feeling that a tiny whiff of the sorrow Dream Gas might be just what was needed to soften Lady Pricklethorn’s heart. Of course, it was to be hoped that she would still feel compassion for the misused and murdered bodyslaves when Lexi saw her again at the next meeting of the Sacred Seven, even without the gas.
Lexi decided to worry about that later. For now, she had what she wanted—an audience with the Sacred Seven. As far as she was concerned, this part of the mission was accomplished and now she and Bound and Gaze could get out of there.
Well, as soon as she visited the Ladies Relief Area, that was. She’d been needing to pee for a while now, and she didn’t want to wait until she got home. Also, once they got back to her penthouse, they were probably going to have to talk about all the crazy things she’d said to Gaze and Bound while under the influence of the Love gas. Had she really meant them? To be honest, Lexi wasn’t sure herself, but she would just as soon put off talking about her huge overshare a little while longer.