They approached without a word. Not standing, not with the arrogant pride they had displayed before my generals and the nobles a few hours earlier. No. On all fours. Slowly. Their ball gowns, masterpieces of silk and encrusted stones, rustled on the carpet like common rags.
I gazed at them. A few hours earlier, these same gowns had inflamed the entire assembly. Nyss, in her dark dress slit to the hips, had made all the women writhe with jealousy and half the men hard. Her breasts, barely contained by the velvet corset, had attracted feverish glances. Sae, on the other hand, had chosen a silver dress that hugged her waist before opening over her pale thighs, revealing just enough to make even the wisest hearts flutter. They had entered the room like queens.
And now, those same dresses dragged on the floor, their seams straining under their groveling movements. Two queens, reduced to groveling female dogs before me.
