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Several more days passed, and just as Lorenus had expected, the court of the Sizwe were growing ever more interested in the Snakelands way. Oh, none of them were brave enough to defy Prince Dumisani - and his father, the Emperor, by extension - but they were more than willing to come to him privately, whispering their requests for slaves that could be trained in the way that only nagas could actually manage.

It was attention that was both flattering and encouraging, because it meant that the rulership of the elephants was not so solidly ingrained as the Empire wanted everyone to believe. The Emperor had a way of forcing people to submit, but it was not so complete and interesting and pleasurable a way as the Snakelands could do, and the fractures between the acting monarch and the other nobles were already deepening.

Lorenus kept his responses vague, letting those that came to him know that he was interested - of course - but that he would need time to consider whether he could deliver on what they asked for. The nobles, already a bit antsy about whether they could follow through on paying for it and keeping it quiet, seemed quite happy to go along with that excuse.

Of course, if he did want to follow through with it, he needed bodies, and that meant getting more slaves.

Which was the whole reason why they were out of the palace and down near the port that the Sizwe seemed to send all their trade through. The snake slithered across the rough, uneven stones, cursing them with every other breath, while his slaves marched at his side. He looked back at them, a glance of appreciation as much as one of ensuring they were still there.

Mesun, the panther of all-service. The black-furred feline stood out among the various greens and grays that covered the other species in the capital city of the Sizwe, and he knew it. A loincloth barely covered his low-hanging, heavy balls, a feature of the panther ever since Lorenus had cut off his ability to get hard, or even cum. There had never been a complaint, though, and the panther had continued serving with all the loyalty he'd shown before that.

Jelani strode behind him, the jackal's eyes glazed slightly, his body told to ignore the stresses and strains it was put under. It was crucial to remind the jackal of that from time to time, considering that Jelani was his main perch and the big guy needed all his muscles, plus a little more, to be able to bear the naga's weight for long. He was dressed similarly, though with a few golden bands around his ankles and wrists.

Last, but not least, Thulani. Lorenus had debated bringing the monkey along with him to the port, but the prince seemed to be gaining more and more of his mind as the days went on. Even now, the naga noticed the flicker of awareness fading into blankness, the prince hiding his recovery.

Not sure why he bothers, considering I can just look into his head, but...

As long as Thulani didn't cause a problem, he was willing to allow the prince his little deception. If he made trouble, however...

Well, that was an issue he'd deal with at another time.

The slave markets - or at least, this one - was at the far end of the docks, the one furthest from the city. Lorenus was happy when they left the cobblestone street behind, gesturing at his jackal perch to pick him up. He slithered and coiled his way around the muscular canine's body, sighing when he was finally situated on the big male's shoulders.

"Forward, perch."

He whipped his tail across the jackal's ass, and off they went.

They passed rough boat after rough boat, most barely more than a set of planks jammed together with a mast in the middle. They looked like they should have capsized at the slightest wave, and most looked like they were held together by the most hastily-tied rope imaginable.

But they were unloading cargo, so obviously they did something for the Empire.

At the end of the docks, at the longest pier, were the bigger ships. These ones, he could tell, were meant for military action. They had a pointed bow, as well as protective walls along the sides for archers and other warriors to duck behind. There were several sails on the mast rather than just one, and there were slots for oars along the sides.

The one good thing you can say about their navy; they ARE effective, he thought. No wonder the Oceanborn are actually having trouble with the Empire.

But he wasn't here to look at their boats. He was here to look at their cargo. The navy - any branch of their military, he suspected - took a great deal of prisoners, bringing them back to the capital to sell as slaves. Some would be unconditioned, others would already be deep within the Sizwe way, but he looked forward to seeing what was on offer.

The crowd of hyenas, boars, and crocodiles was as thick as mud, and he had to push Jelani and the others to create a path for them to get forward. Some tried to push them back, but as soon as they saw they were dealing with a naga, they made a space.

All the prisoners and slaves to be were gathered in cages where the land and the pier met, rough wooden constructions that likely wouldn't have held up to the larger species. So, he wasn't entirely surprised to see that the main species captured were things like wild dogs, hares, and fennec foxes rather than the larger species of crocodiles and sharks and other things on the coast. Most of them had been stripped down, their fur or flesh marked with paint to designate them as slaves, and about half of those were also marked with a price.

A very, very low price.

"Issss thissss the actual price?" Lorenus asked, turning to one of the crocodiles at his side. "It'ssss...quite different from back home."

"Eh, they're prisoners. You pay extra for getting them broken, but they're not gonna last long. They're too dumb to make it."

The snake shook his head as he looked back at the cages.

The more he looked, the more he saw. There were bruises on most of the captives, and while they weren't obviously injured, there was every possibility that their rough treatment as prisoners of war had given them trauma that would take time for them to heal from. That, combined with the cheap but thorough mental drain that came from a slave being conditioned by the Sizwe, would lead to someone that didn't know how to take care of themselves. If they were bought by an owner that didn't take steps to ensure that they were cared for, it would be essentially a slow death by neglect.

And considering how cheap the slaves were, he doubted that anyone was that motivated to keep their slaves in good condition.

It was an economy that ensured that the slaves were guaranteed to be seen as easily replaceable meat, nothing more than a walking dildo or cum-dump in the case of the sex slaves. Sure, there'd be some people that were willing to put in the work to keep a favored or beautiful slave around, but...

But most wouldn't.

It was enough to leave a man depressed, or in Lorenus's case, angry.

"Ladiessss and gentlemen!"

The snake shouted, his voice hissing over the crowd as he slithered further up his perch. Jelani adjusted his position under him, the jackal supporting him in a different way - more with arms than with shoulders, now - as the naga addressed the crowd.

"It isss clear that thissss market issss sssuffering from a sssseriousss problem. You are all here to buy sssslavessss, yesss?"

The crowd muttered a vague affirmative, though most of them turned to each other and muttered curiously. Why was he interrupting them? Why was he getting in the way? Lorenus shrugged it off and continued.

"You may have a bargain before you, but it'sss only a matter of time before you return to the market. Allow me to offer my ssservicesss."

"What can you do, huh?"

"Many thingsss, hyena. Many thingssss."

The naga smirked, lifting himself up all the higher. Jelani struggled to keep supporting him, but it barely mattered. He had a show to put on, an audience to woo, and he could not do that from the ground.

"I am Lorenussss Adelin, a lord of the Ssssnakelandssss, and a masssster trainer of ssslavesss. For a modesssst fee, I can enssssure that your new ssslave will be better trained than any you have purchassssed before."

"And how can you do that?" a muscular gnu woman asked.

"Ssssimple. With the power...of hypnossssisss."

The cobra hissed with a smile on his face. He was reaching at the moment, and he was willing to admit that. He was good with the power of the mind, but few of his family would dare to put on a public display like this. An audience had free access to the body of the hypnotist when they were in the process of subduing someone. It was one of their few weaknesses. But...Well, as long as Jelani, Mesan, and Thulani did their job, he should be safe.

And his audience would need an example of his power to believe that he could do this.

"Obsssserve."

He picked a slave at random, a monkey that might just have come from Thulani's tribe, and dove into the prisoner's mind.

#

It was strange to be in a healthy mind again. He had been in so few of late that he had almost forgotten what it looked like.

The walls of the mind were far from the great white light that beamed around him. However, as soon as he got his bearings, the naga was aware that the slight fog around him was thickening, the monkey's mind trying to bring its defenses to bear. Willpower, strength of character, a sense of self, raw stubbornness: all of that and more was manifested in the fog that tried to hide the interior of the mind from him.

Lorenus didn't mind. It made the hunt that much more fun.

He closed his eyes, but this time, he didn't leave the mind of his prey. Instead, he summoned his own willpower.

"I come, little monkey," he said, his voice echoing around him. "I come, little prey."

There was a tremor through the mindscape, and he could feel where it centered. The naga turned his head towards it and slithered forward, charging through the mist.

Just as expected, the monkey's mental personification was right there, waiting for him. As the primate leaped back, trying to escape, Lorenus stretched out his tail and caught him, pulling him back by the ankle. He twisted about, wrapping his lower body further and further around the monkey's mental projection, trapping him in his grip.

"You shouldn't have given yourself away."

"Let me go!" the monkey shouted. "I won't be trapped! I won't! You can't take me!"

"I already have..."

And so he had. In the mist, chains of the snake's mental power and force of will were already overtaking the misty defense of the monkey. It was a quick, rough use of it, far from the subtle conditioning and chaining that he would normally do for a submissive like this, but he was working under time constraints.

As he pulled them closer with nothing but his mind, the monkey struggled against the binding coils, a futile endeavor if ever there was one. Lorenus knew the power of his coils, and he knew the power of his mind. Neither could be escaped.

The first chain eventually settled on the monkey's right ankle, and as Lorenus focused on it, the emblem of a snake head appeared, burning into the metal. The monkey shrieked, leaping against the snake's coils, and finally, the naga allowed him 'freedom.'

As the primate pulled back, the chain snapped tight, keeping him from moving more than a few feet away from the naga. The monkey male dropped to his knees, pulling at the metal band. Lorenus didn't stop him. It was more fun to watch him try and fail.

"You won't get free."

"Watch me."

"Trust me, you won't. In here, I am stronger than any enemy you've ever met on the battlefield."

"I will not be a slave."

"You already are. Look down."

The monkey did, obeying almost without thinking, and the primate gasped.

In the short time since the chain had been attached, a metal collar had taken form around the monkey's throat, clenching tighter and tighter. The warrior reached for it, only for similar shackles to take form around his wrists.

"What...what is this?!"

"My will. You are subservient to...."

#

"My will..."

The snake pulled his head back, smiling at the glassy-eyed primate. It wasn't the same as when he had looked at the Sizwe slaves, not by a long shot. The monkey had an awareness to him, still, and there was a bit of movement, his head turning to follow Lorenus's eyes.

Very good...

"Now, ladiessss and gentlemen," he said, turning back to the crowd. "Tesssst thissss monkey as you will. He hassss been hypnotized to be erect on command, to turn and disssplay himself, and many other thingsssss. Do assss you will to him. He will not mind; he wisssshessss only to serve."

The naga tapped his perch to move out of the way, and the jackal obeyed. As the crowd surged forward, he knew that he would have many members of the public eager for him to use his powers for their benefit. They'd want him to train their slaves in the same way, knowing that they would be safe with Snakelands training. It would be worth the price rather than replacing a slave many times over.

However, there was one person that did not move to examine the monkey. Instead, the elephant turned to him, bowing his head.

"Prince Dumisani calls you to the palace, Lord Lorenus."

"Ah. Then I sssshall come."

The End