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As such, when Shreniel did reach adulthood, Lord Talanth did not marry her; she simply remained his kept pet, allowed only to engage in the delicate activites allowed most noblewomen with the notable exception of his dark education for her in matters of a sexual nature. In this arena, he used her race’s curse as a weapon against her, driving her to voluntarily engage in ever more bizarre acts if she wished any satiation for her appetite whatsoever. Always intelligent, she recognized his manipulation of her fairly early on, and willfully began attempting to battle her own inclinations, often failing miserably. This only contributed to her general dissatisfaction with her place in life, and fired in her a great determination to take control of her baser nature, if only to have charge over one portion of her existence. Over many years of difficult and often physically painful attempts to maintain power over her desires, Shreniel slowly became more jaded and cynical, viewing the sentient creatures around her as pawns to be used for her own gain. Locked between adoring and despising her lord, Shreniel took to venting her frustrations on animals, and eventually servants about the keep. Lord Talanth was not unaware of her actions, nor was he unaware of her own attempts to deny her desires, which were becoming more and more successful as time passed. He found her struggle amusing, and simply used her own satisfaction in tormenting others to introduce further depravity to his intimate encounters with his kept lady. He admired her all the more for her stubbornness and will, flaunting her and her refined mannerisms (in public, in any case) about the town and when hosting gatherings within the keep. Shreniel never formed any sort of close relationship with anyone other than Lord Talanth, despising the servants about the household both for her perception of them as inferior, as well as for their freedom to come and go from the castle as they chose and seek mates as they desired. Her tutors were never more than mentors to her, and were quickly forgotten as her childhood slipped away. The townsfolk were as distant to her as fish in a lake. She had no peers, no suitors, no friends; a lonely existence for one determined to both deny her mate and win his affection simultaneously. Lord Talanth was Shreniel’s entire world for the greater part of her life, her pursuit of various distractions simply a way to pass time until the moment of thrill when she acquiesced to his will or strove to deny him. The birth of their first (and only) child, Ardia, shifted the make-up of Shreniel’s existence. Doting on Ardia, the new mother quickly became enthralled by this tiny child, someone to shape as she herself wished she had been molded. Her compassionate father again spared no expense in procuring excellent tutors and luxurious appointments for the child. |
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