Vespasian watched as Celestia slowly undressed herself and he noted with raised eyebrows at the beauty of her naked form. Her face was flushed red with blush and embarrassment and he guessed she had never revealed herself naked to anyone before. A virgin, he guessed, and he couldn’t help but smile widely at the prospect. He sure was a lucky man, he congratulated himself quietly. Standing in front of her, he traced the side of her body with a finger while he looked her in the eye. “You have a lot of nerve to be asking for something in return.” He said in quiet tones, his eyes now falling to inspect her body. “There will be plenty of time for rest but I acknowledge there will be plenty of time for fun as well. Go and rest.” He said abruptly, gesturing to the bed, “I have some matters I must attend to. You will behave like the good, little girl that you are while I’m away, right?” Looking back to her face with a smile, his hand traced around her body and came to her breast, and he gave a painful pinch and tug of one of her nipples before striding away.
He scooped up the remnants of her clothing, and with a smirk, tossed it into a dry fireplace full of ash and dust. “Fuel for the fire.” He muttered, taking up some flint and a stone and quickly had the entire pit in flames. A small funnel allowed the smoke to escape through the side of the ship. A small luxury for a modest prince. Turning around, he no doubt saw that Celestia would be in shock from this action, now being forced into what she would assume as perpetual nakedness for the rest of the journey. He stood silently, staring at her with a teasing smile before he shrugged and strode out of the room.
Outside, the deck was a bustle of activity as sailors and crew members ran hither and fro in their routines. The ship was very large and a crew of over a hundred, not to mention the garrison of soldiers and royal guard that accompanied the Prince. Vespasian quickly went about his inspection, speaking with the ship captain about the weather and course, and with his Guard Captain, Tiberias, about the men and their rations. This whole process took over an hour before he finally went down to the storeroom. There, he collected a bundle of plain, cotton clothing, and went back to his quarters. He was serious when he meant that misbehaviour on Celestia’s part would render her without clothes, but she had not really offended him yet. He simply wanted to exchange her local clothing for more Cornealian-style robes. As part of her conditioning in her new life, any links to her past would need to be destroyed.
