Barbaric Behaviour

I thought about the mission I had given myself, the feeling of anger I felt as I flung open the gates and steeled my nerves for what was to come.

"Actually, your majesty. I deliberately removed my wig in advance of this meeting. In fact, now that we are alone I can fully transform myself to a form ready to make the point I wish to make." I once again felt Jodrolim's will bubbling within me as I unclasped my slinky dress and allowed it to drop to my feet. I unclipped my unorthodox necklace to reveal it was actually my slave chain, fastened behind my neck by the piercinf bars I was now threading through my nipples. I now stood in front of my prince naked, shaved, and disgraced. I had become the slave I once was.

"I've had a lot of time to reflect on my dealings with the dwarves, on the negotiations for people's lives that I conducted in smiling dining rooms over elegant meals, and one thing really struck me. In all our negotiations, all any dwarf cared about was replacing the elven slaves they lost. Not one of them spoke on behalf of the dwarven slaves they must have known that we have." I explained to the abjectly stunned royal. "By your reckoning, how many dwarven slaves do we have?"

The prince took a moment to regain his composure and think through my question while I stood before him without shame despite my degraded display. I had thought about how Jodrolim had given his strength to mine to secure the freedom of my brethren, and now I would put myself on the line to free his, two halves of the same fight.

"By... by my estimate, we have two... no three mining towns each with a thousand or so dwarves. I guess... maybe a few coastal villages who need maritime workers, oh... also there will be some farming towns in need of brute force. Altogether I... I would put the figure at four... maybe five thousand." He calculated, his smooth presentation long forgotten in the presence of my naked body.

"Is it making you uncomfortable seeing me like this?" I quipped, approaching the prince so my degraded body would fill his vision. "Is the sight of a hero of the realm, now absolutely stripped of all respectability, something unpalatable to you?"

"Yes, you've made your point, you are using your own body to confront me with the realities of slavery, I get that. Are you going to be stripping down on behalf of the slaves we captured in our war with man as well?" The prince asked, throwing me for a moment.

"Deep down, I know one day I'll have to deal with my issues, and one of them is my fury at what men took from me. I can't fight for them yet, but I am hopeful that one day I will." I reasoned.

"Well, I guess I'll have to prepare for that. As for the dwarves, I can't just give a blanket order to free the slaves across all territories, there would be a huge backlash." The prince stammered.

"Then I guess I know what my next mission is. Give me a list of every elven territory where dwarves are kept as slaves and I will visit them one at a time. I'm sure I can be very persuasive."