<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Fourteenth Day in the Guilded Cage</span></div><br/>Arensha chose a route that quite deliberately took her by the room where Judi was having breakfast. Even better, the noblemarid called out to her, instead of her having to come up with an excuse to stop by and chat herself.<br/><br/>"Oh hello there catgirl! Come over here, I need a good conversation partner!" Judi had called out.<br/><br/>"Of course, Lady Al-Samara," the catgirl entered the room and bowed deferentially, careful not to show the slight annoyance she felt at being so offhandedly called as such, as though she didn't have a name of her own.<br/><br/>"Do you prefer none, some, or a lot of sugar?" Judi then asked as she offered coffee.<br/><br/>"Just a little, please," Arensha replied, although she was generous with the cream until the drink was light brown, almost white.<br/><br/>Arensha took tiny sips of her coffee at a time, while Judi rambled on at length about the war with the fish-folk and the internal quarrels of geniekind. Judi drew a direct link between them and the assassination attempt, which caught Arensha's attention. What she wasn't prepared for was for Judi to imply so casually that she sought to bear the Sultan's child, the unexpected statement making her spit out her current sip of the hot liquid.<br/><br/>"Sorry, I'm not very good with hot drinks," the catgirl said nervously, her tone apologetic.<br/><br/>Perhaps Judi caught on, because she added, "Arensha, my stay here will be long-term.  Don't worry, our marriage is a political one; if you bear genuine feelings for him, I won't stand in your way.  And besides, I figure you and the other concubines can use a noble lady's touch around here.  Umm, do the catfolk have nobles where you come from?"<br/><br/>Now that was slightly awkward. "Ah, to be honest, I don't remember... you see, about two weeks ago I had an accident in the library and hit my head, so I don't remember anythinya from before that. But I've been recallinya little bits and pieces, and Garetz says I should get better with time."<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Rumors</div><div class="spoiler_body">Diplomacy: 28 (two major secrets) (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=74028)<br/>Remaining rumors 1 and 2 unlocked<br/></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">1, Amvi: "Ah, hello there Arensha!  You made quite a good show humiliating Faliensk at the party!  I figure that's reward all its own, but I'll tell you something not too many people know.  I've seen Roshul sneaking in various...ingredients into the lotion of the palace's catgirls.  I've never been able to find out what they are, and I only found this out via a daring scry spell, but I think it's worth checking out.<br/><br/>2, Sharisa: "Eh heh, hey Arensha," the elf says with a nervous smile as she pats the catgirl on the shoulder.  "Can you give me some of that tea?  Er, I was with al-Samara and he didn't pull out.  In fact, he seemed intent on remaining inside me while he finished."<br/><br/>Zelda overhears this.  "You too?  Was he holding you by the waist, not letting you pull out?"<br/><br/>"Uh no, he was on top, but yeah, not much room for maneuvering.  So Arensha, would you be a dear?  I haven't heard anything yet about your elf friend, but I'll be sure to tell you when I get word of things."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>"Thanks for the tip, Amvi," Arensha said, sincerely grateful. "You were right about Sharisa too. If you ever need somethinya that I can help with, let me know, okay?"<br/><br/>Speaking of Sharisa, her story, and Zelda's, only confirmed what Arensha had heard about al-Samara's intention to produce an heir from Judi earlier in the morning. "Of course," the catgirl said, giving the high elf her requested tea, adding, "it sounds like Samara-pie - ahem, al-Samara - is intent on knockinya up all of us."<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Task 3, al-Samara's Legacy<br/>If Arensha got Major Secret #2 as a rumor, or it's the Fourteenth Day and the catgirl meets Judi, she can infer that al-Samara's trying to impregnate either his concubines, his wife, or both.  If Arensha desires to be the only one to bear him an heir, she must be quick, clever, and crafty.<br/><br/>Without the use of magic, Arensha can try slipping in doses of night tea into the ladies' beverages with a DC 15 Sleight of Hand or DC 20 Stealth check.  A failure catches her 'drugging' the tea, which might result in her getting into trouble with Roshul.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Arensha had an ambition - it was physically impossible for her to bear a full-blooded marid heir for al-Samara, but what she<em>could</em>do was bear him his eldest child. She discovered a curiosity in marid inheritance law and the gestation periods of various races that she was rather certain she hadn't had before. Well, the library would provide her with the information to determine who her competitors would be in this regard. She had the tools for the job, in the form of the night tea provided to her by Bakr, and the perfect way to disguise it - in coffee, its dark hue and strong aroma would hide the presence of the night tea, with any luck.<br/><br/>Did she have enough? She didn't need to keep it up indefinitely, only until she was assured - taking the time until birth into account - to be carrying al-Samara's firstborn. Indeed, a sterile harem would raise too many suspicions after that point. Judi and Faliensk she had to drug, for Faliensk she couldn't bear the thought of her rival beating her in this regard, while for Judi it was nothing personal, but if a pure marid was also al-Samara's firstborn, then his or her position as heir could never be challenged, unless... no, Arensha refused to let herself go there. For the other concubines, she would have to slip them the tea the morning after or as soon as possible as al-Samara bedded them, which meant she needed to keep track of that too. She probably would have to rely on her friends and allies to keep their ears open, and if they asked why Arensha was so keen to know... So, she had to pretend to be jealous, and use that as an excuse for why she wanted to know who al-Samara had been sleeping with.<br/><br/>Arensha smiled to herself, as she realized that her jealously wasn't entirely pretense.<br/><br/>Performing such a risky act, not just once or twice but multiple times at that, called for the safest way she knew to accomplish the task each time, which meant<em>invisibility</em>. The kitchens would need to keep her supplied with gum arabic to carry that out - but then, in a kitchen that served quantities to feed an entire palace, it was unlikely that the few handfuls Arensha needed would be noticed at all. Probably more was thrown out every day as waste. In the end, even if she couldn't keep the ruse up indefinitely, any time she earned was a head start. More important was not getting caught...<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Task 4, Roshul's Secret Lotion Recipe<br/>It can only be done if Arensha uncovers Major Secret #1.<br/><br/>Through some sleuthing, Arensha finds out that the various oils and lotions are ordered locally in the City of Glass, by Roshul herself.  They're quite expensive, or so she says, and as such is stored in her personal chambers.  As the matron of the harem, Roshul's quarters are guarded day and night by a pair of eunuchs, and the door reeks of magic (an alarm spell, as Arensha identifies).  If she can't distract the guards and disable the spell, she could sneak in via climbing through an outside window, although she'll need to succeed at a DC 25 Stealth check (automatic w/ invisibility to get inside.  On a failure, some passing guards are too close to the window, meaning that Arensha must try again the next day.<br/><br/>If she manages to get inside, Arensha will find an opulent room.  A bowl of roasted chestnuts covered by a lid sits on her night-stand.  The nearby dresser is lined with various lotions and oils.  Most of them are labeled, although a few look particularly peculiar.  "For catfolk," one of them reads.  Arensha is not an alchemist, so she can't identify it right now, but perhaps she can ask Bakr or someone else for help...<br/><br/>Gain 750 experience points if Arensha manages to sneak in unscathed.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Armed with an empty vial among her usual other things, Arensha followed up on Amvi's lead, all the way to Roshul's front door. She didn't show herself, of course, as she noted the pair of guards stationed to protect the naga's quarters, not to mention the magical alarm. Searching for an alternate way in, she soon came upon the window, which was subject the surveillance of only the occasional patrol passing by, and possessed no magical ward.<br/><br/>It was obvious which way the catgirl chose, and after turning herself<em>invisible</em>to avoid being spotted by any passing guards, she made it inside Roshul's opulent quarters without trouble. Noticing the bowl of roasted chestnuts, she figured that if she was going to catburgle, she was going to do it right, and so she helped herself to one of them while searching through the likely nightstands and dressers for the lotions she was looking for, taking care to make as little noise as possible so as not to alert the unaware eunuch guards outside.<br/><br/>"Binyao," Arensha whispered to herself, finding the catfolk-labeled lotion. She poured a small sample into the vial she had brought along for this exact purpose, taking extra care not to get any on her skin, and returned the original to its original place once she was done. If the entire thing went missing, Roshul might notice, but odds were the naga didn't count her chestnuts or measure her oils and lotions before heading out every morning.<br/><br/>She checked at the window to make sure nobody was around, then left without a sound the way she had entered.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Fifteenth Day in the Guilded Cage</span></div><br/>Arensha discreetly listened and asked around for whom al-Samara had slept with the previous night, and slipped some night tea into the strongest drinks they took, along with Judi's and Faliensk's as well, with the aid of an<em>invisibility</em>spell to cover her tracks. She could foresee this dangerous task turning repetitive what with having to see to it every day, but she could hardly let anyone else, not even Alfreldi or Hanifa, know, let alone ask for their help in this matter. Partly because each additional person in on the secret was another chance to spill the beans, and partly because she would not spare even her closest friends from a dose of night tea if it came down to that. With any luck, they would never know, and she only had to keep it up until she was sure of her pregnancy and sure that the child she bore would be al-Samara's firstborn.<br/><br/>Her thoughts wandered back to the coffee she had accepted from Judi yesterday - was it just coffee, or had a little something extra been mixed in? Arensha wasn't the only one who could play this game - but then, Judi's child would be pure marid and the offspring of one of al-Samara's official wives, and she might not even view his harem as competition at all. Still, she resolved to be more careful in what she chose to eat and drink, just in case one of the other concubines had similar ideas...<br/><br/>Later, Arensha took the vial with the sample she had obtained from Roshul's quarters to Bakr. Dressed in her harem pants and putting a sway in her hips as she entered his office, she pretended to be oblivious to his lecherous gaze as she presented the vial to him. "I found a bottle of lotion in my room last night, a gift from an anonymous admirer. But given recent events I thought it'd be safer to run a sample by you first, just in case it was really poisoned or somethinya..." she laughed, "silly me, it's probably harmless, right? I'm sorry for wastinya your time..." She made as if to stand and leave, but of course, she was secretly counting on him to insist on checking the contents to be safe...<br/><br/><hr/><br/>That evening, when al-Samara took her again, Arensha was more eager than ever, with a lustful hunger of her own. "I love you too," she whispered back, as she felt each of his thrusts drive her towards her peak. Legs hooked around his waist to ensure he finished inside her - not that she needed to - she milked him until he released his load at the same time as she reached her climax.<br/><br/>In the afterglow she was more than happy to curl up in his arms, purring contently, and listen as she told the story behind the leviathan scale. Its brilliant gleam caught her eye, and when he pressed it into her hands, she was rendered speechless, taking a few seconds before she found her voice again.<br/><br/>"I'll keep this with me all my life, and when the time comes, pass it down to my child..." she promised, pausing to correct herself, "no,<em>our</em>child."<br/><br/>She pushed him down on the bed and crawled over him, looking down at him with a playful twinkle in her eye. "And speakinya of children, you've been mixing business and pleasure lately, haven't you?" she teased, trailing kisses and nips along his collarbone, while slipping her hand down between the two of them and gently coaxing his member back to life. She continued to stroke him as she went on, "Us girls have been talkinya about how our<em>hard</em>workinya Sultan has been takinya very good care of all his ladies lately. In fact, I've heard some of the girls worryinya that the Sultan might overexert himself and tire himself out, but..." she giggled, feeling his erection grow, encouraged on by her fingers, "I've known all alonya that such fears are unfounded."<br/><br/>Guiding his member between her lower lips, she slid back and forth along his length, her nectar smearing over his shaft, not quite being penetrated yet. She maintained the gentle rocking motion as he confirmed his intention to perpetuate his dynasty. "I'll keep it a secret as lonya as I can," she promised, "until my belly's too fat to blame on pastries at least," she added with a laugh, and lowered herself fully on his cock. Hanifa, Faliensk - friends and foes were gone from her mind; in the present there was only Arensha and al-Samara. She leaned down to give him a long kiss, rolling over onto her back while their lips were locked and pulling her knees up high, close to her chest, inviting him wordlessly to fuck her as deeply as he could.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Sixteenth Day in the Guilded Cage</span></div><br/>Arensha half-woke to the sounds of love-making. "Oh, al-Samara..." she giggled, still half-asleep with her eyes closed. But something felt off, like a definitely lack of being filled up, for starters. She opened her eyes, and the first thing that greeted her was Judi riding al-Samara, her blue-skinned body nude and leaving nothing to the imagination. Arensha's eyes widened, suddenly finding herself fully awake. Judi had claimed his bottom half, but al-Samara still had a perfectly serviceable and underutilized tongue. She grinned mischieviously and winked at Judi as she sat up in bed and straddled his face. He was definitely in for a surprise when he woke up... Leaning forward, she captured one of the marid noblewoman's impressively bouncing breasts with her lips and flicked her tongue against the nipple.