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"description": "Suggested donation $2 if you think it's worth it.\n\nThis is the only direct sequel in the entire series, starting as it does with Ferrl's debrief from his first mission and continuing on to the second. The other stories are set between one and nine years after their preceding episode. Once again, for those who stumbled across this submission randomly without experience with the series as a whole, CHECK THE KEYWORDS. Yes it has a plot, but it involves things not everyone would care to read.\n\nIt's hard to summarize these things without giving away any spoilers... In brief, a deity has a foreboding vision of a calamity of sorts, and preemptively recruits someone Her vision suggested could do something about it. Sir Ferrl, Agent of the kingdom, is dispatched on a much longer journey than before, though the problem he's sent to address is far from the only complication that arises as he travels.",
"description_bbcode_parsed": "Suggested donation $2 if you think it's worth it.
This is the only direct sequel in the entire series, starting as it does with Ferrl's debrief from his first mission and continuing on to the second. The other stories are set between one and nine years after their preceding episode. Once again, for those who stumbled across this submission randomly without experience with the series as a whole, CHECK THE KEYWORDS. Yes it has a plot, but it involves things not everyone would care to read.
It's hard to summarize these things without giving away any spoilers... In brief, a deity has a foreboding vision of a calamity of sorts, and preemptively recruits someone Her vision suggested could do something about it. Sir Ferrl, Agent of the kingdom, is dispatched on a much longer journey than before, though the problem he's sent to address is far from the only complication that arises as he travels.",
"writing": "Fantasie Eviscerotique\n\nEpisode 2\n\nBy Adrian VanWormer (Kathalla at FA and IB)\n\nChapter 1\n\n\t“… so I set Rickar up as the new baron, found him a wife so the family I’m so impressed by can be continued, and came back home. The countess’ brother has by now been executed, which probably ends the actual threat to Lark’s Reach. One servant and a lower-level bureaucrat were nowhere to be found the morning after our Goddess dealt with Meka’s betrayal of his oaths so appropriately, and I brought back their names and descriptions to be relayed around the kingdom in case they resurface, but they were probably fairly unimportant to the conspiracy itself so I’m not wasting much worry on them,” the knight concluded his report.\n\n\tThe ‘coon nodded, “A… a safe enough a—aah!” and broke off, his head leaning back and his eyes closing as his rocking hips stilled, his muzzle locked into a grimace of ecstasy as the vixen straddling his lap dropped down as far as her scant depth would permit, her eyes slit in sultry pleasure as she felt his warm seed filling her. “Assumption!” he finally managed once his climax had passed, and he leaned down to give Ela a kiss on the cheek before grinning to her owner, “Mmm… that was very good. Thank you for letting me borrow her; I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone this tight before.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, chuckling, “Her hindside’s a lot deeper… but it’s so tight it nearly hurts. Now, is there any word from the investigative force?”\n\n\tAs his lapmate gave him one more nuzzle then climbed down, the prince nodded in return, “Yes, and it’s not quite as bad as we’d feared. The count himself was completely ignorant of the conspiracy… It was his wife that had set it up with her brother’s help. Had you not exposed him as a traitor and a murderer, Meka would have been the next baron, and he’d have signed onto an alliance that would have effectively put Stonecliff entirely in control of Lark’s Reach, which the countess had been planning to present to her husband as an anniversary gift. She’s been… dealt with.” Lifting himself off of his seat just enough to, he pulled up his satin pantaloons and refastened his belt.\n\n\tThe wolf chuckled, “That has a distinct ring of finality to it… Good. I’ll pass the news along to Verona if I see her before you do; she should be back within the next couple of days.” Unable to resist as his slave held up her arms and blinked her wide green eyes up at him, he lifted Ela into her preferred seat in his own lap, not minding the mingled fluids of fox and raccoon as they dampened his breeches.\n\n\tNodding once more, Lachier stood and stretched. “I don’t like to talk about it, for reasons that will eventually be obvious to you… but you can tell her that the countess received the same punishment that my mother did. If she’s got any remaining bloodlust lingering from the loss of her husband, that should satisfy her quite handily. In any case, my father and I are completely satisfied; you pulled off your first assignment as Agent in a fashion that exceeded all expectations, and you have our gratitude.”\n\n\tShifting his pet to straddle his left hip, Ferrl held her up with one arm as he rose as well and shook the prince’s hand with his right, “Alright, I’ll pass what you said about the countess on to Verona. I’ll be seeing you, your Highness.” With another nod apiece, they climbed the stairs out of the empty playclub and parted company by the light of the early summer’s day.\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe rest of Ferrl’s first day back in Fariach, once he’d dropped the written version of his report off at the office of the kingdom’s chief Agent, was spent re-establishing some sort of steady routine. His new horse helped reduce his travel time as he arranged his less frequent training sessions with Bakar, scheduled new lessons with the Mages’ Guild around those, and stopped by the university to fill a few gaps with scholastic house-calls, but he’d made sure to keep half each of three days a week free. One was for himself, just to have a little time to spend with Ela and his various friends, but he’d known when he bought Cherrah, his fine warhorse, that he’d need to spend a fair deal of time training with the stallion, horse and rider each needing to grow familiar with the other to truly function as a team.\n\n\t“I’ll be here the afternoons of the second and fifth days each week,” he told the master of the large stable just beyond the city’s northeast wall. “I’ll handle him myself those days, but he’ll need exercise over the rest of the week as well as your best-quality feed.”\n\n\tThe burly beastmaster, an equine himself if of the two-footed sort, nodded, “Of course! This is one of the finest animals I’ve seen in my career, and I’m glad that you understand how well such needs to be kept. Stabling with prime fodder will be five coppers a day and, so long as he’s not vicious enough to require special handling, regular light exercise on the lunge won’t add anything to that.”\n\n\tNodding, Ferrl did his math quickly, surprising himself with a thought of gratitude for the lessons he’d thought so boring just before his adventure in Lark’s Reach had begun, and fished a gold half-crown and two silver crowns out of his purse. “Here’s the first six weeks’ worth in advance, and I’ll see you… the day after tomorrow,” he said after another moment. With all of the excitement of late, he’d had trouble remembering today’s date. After sharing a handclasp to seal the bargain he gave Cherrah’s black shoulder an affectionate pat and let him be led into his new home.\n\n\tHoisting Ela up onto his shoulders, then, he started on the fairly long walk back to his house, musing to his pet along the way, “The block in the icebox could very well have melted while we were away… Since we can’t trust the freshness of our own kitchen, why don’t we go have supper at a decent tavern? The grain won’t have spoiled so there’ll be porridge for breakfast, and we can go shopping between my morning workout and lunch.”\n\n\tThe vixen’s belly answered for her with a gurgling rumble, and both of them laughed as they walked by the light of the setting sun.\n\n* * *\n\n\tKachaun had intercepted the young Agent on his way to the small classroom where he’d be having that afternoon’s lessons. “This is just for my own comfort,” he assured the wolf, “but I wanted to ask if the information you sent for proved useful.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “Extremely. Finding out who made the spellbreaker that was used in an ambush meant to end Baron Hellar’s line completely, even to the point of eliminating his widow though she had no title or authority of her own, was one of the crucial pieces of the puzzle. Without it, we’d have had an unknown wizard with far more experience than me messing things up the moment I started making accusations, and at the very minimum he’d have escaped. Now, though, your wayward former student is quite dead, and the barony’s back under the control of people we can trust.”\n\n\tThe fox nodded back, immediately looking more relaxed, “Good… It took a good chunk of our communal power pool, and three assistants to help channel the energies, to push even a simple illusion just over fifty miles. If you think it’s hard shoving energy through a remote point across the room, you should try that sometime! It’s much easier to use a pair of artifacts that feed off of each others’ power sources, distance meaning nothing to that sort of link, that can serve to relay at least verbal communication between them… but since you didn’t have anything of the sort, we had to do it the hard way. We don’t like using that sort of spell unless it’s necessary, but despite your inexperience I was certain you had a good reason for telling us to pull out all the stops and get the reply to you with no avoidable delays whatsoever. Confirmation’s a lot better than a feeling, though, so I’m very glad it was worth the effort.”\n\n\tThis fetched a chuckle and another nod, “Oh, it was. And that vixen you wanted to see? She happened to be a mortal incarnation of Roxanarra so, while I’ll put in a good word for you if I see Her again, it’s impossible to say for certain if or when that time will come, nor how She might take the request.”\n\n\tKachaun blinked, “Oh, my… I understand completely, sir knight, and I won’t get my hopes up. Enjoy your lesson then, for now; your report of the magics you used was quite satisfying, and we’ve decided to ramp up the complexity of things you’ll be learning as you’ve done so well at figuring out more advanced applications of what you already know.” With that, he turned and padded back toward his own office.\n\n\tAlong with his teacher Derru, a table laden with all sorts of odd things greeted Ferrl’s arrival in the small study-chamber. Most of them seemed to be crystals, two small boxes heaped high with chunks of quartz and agate, while individual pieces, all well-carved and polished though none were more than semiprecious, at least to glance at them, were set in neat rows on the table itself. About half of the ‘finished’ stones had clearly-visible magic within them, and Ferrl smiled, “Finally… I take it I’m to learn the basics of enchantment today.”\n\n\tThe rabbit nodded, “Simple enchantments, yes, but on the headmaster’s suggestion you’ll be free to try your hand at whatever others you can think of with the available materials afterwards.” He picked up two stubby cones of yellow-brown agate and brought their flat sides together, one starting to glow with a bright white light as soon as contact was made. “These are actually a bit more advanced than we usually start with, as they’re something that can be activated by a non-mage. Beginners’ first attempts at static spells bound to physical objects are traditionally of the sort that require a magical ‘nudge’ to evoke their effects or,” and he separated them, the glow vanishing, “to turn them off.”\n\n\tSettling himself into a chair with a creak of protest on the wood’s part, the wolf picked up a similar pair of pieces of quartz that looked like they’d once been one crystal. He mused as he examined them closely on an arcane level, “This would be a firestarter… I recognize the residues in a channel from the center to the tip of the pointed half, and the framework of the spell itself seems simple enough. It’s just one of those things that hadn’t occurred to me as being possible; the very act of gathering and pushing a line of my own magic seems to have been frozen into this stone. The other half is similar, its ‘act’ being the sort of restraint I learned for remote projection, and there’s a good bit of fire-energy trapped within that.”\n\n\tDerru nodded, smiling, “Quite right, and well described, too… You can project the movement or restraint of energy just as you would the energy itself, and if you do so with your focus being the physical structure of an object, and concentrate hard enough at the time, it remains as a permanent change to the way all physical matter reacts to energy of various types. That natural interaction is the basis for alchemy, some things being more attuned to storing or rejecting one energy type than another, but you’ve enough talent that we won’t be teaching you any more about that particular subject than you need to know to understand any alchemists you may work with or against. It’s not nearly as versatile as being able to precisely blend and project magic of your own. Now, pick some stones from the supplies and we’ll get to work. Be careful to check each one for flaws, though; we’ve included several that are quite ill-suited for enchantment, just to show you what a lack of care with your raw materials can do.”\n\n\tThe Agent didn’t quite repeat his unexpected performance from the first time he’d tried remote projections. His first attempt at making a lightstone and a separate power source didn’t take, the illuminated half still feeding off of his own power instead of the reservoir, and while he’d managed to redirect his second try to its correct source, he didn’t embed the channel for that power deeply enough into the crystal, one stone all aglow with a clear line linking it to the other even when they were several feet apart. The third pair he’d bent his will upon, however, seemed to work perfectly, though the glowing hemisphere of jade was uncomfortably warm, which he commented upon.\n\n\t“That,” his teacher explained, “is because there’s a slight flaw in the stone you chose. You know that light and heat are related, and that enough of either will evoke the other as a side-effect, and the flaw is absorbing enough of the light to heat up. You’d have noticed the reduction yourself, but you put enough strength into it that even the reduced output is still too bright to easily judge.”\n\n\tNodding, Ferrl considered this… and grinned as an alternate application suggested itself to him. Wrapping himself in a layer of physical protections, he told his teacher, “You might want to put up a shield for this… I think I’ve just come up with a weapon.” He chose two more stones from the boxes, halves of a crystal octahedron. One was as clear as fine glass and utterly flawless, while the other was marred within by a heavy white inclusion, the former being filled with a well-constrained reservoir of fire- and light-energy while its clouded mate received a truncated emission-channel for both, and he kept them well apart once he’d released his concentration and inspected his handiwork for imperfections.\n\n\tThe rabbit peered over his shoulder, analyzing the pattern of magic that was centered around the gross impurities in the crystal, and blanched. “Do not put those together in here! ‘A weapon’ is right; a few seconds of that kind of power through that flaw and we’d have to buy a new door, and woe betide anyone who may be walking down the hall at the moment! This isn’t a shielded practice room!”\n\n\tChuckling, his student dutifully tucked one half into his shirt pocket and the other into his breeches, “I think I’ll keep these, though… The use I have in mind would be to slap them together, use a little motion-magic to keep them that way, then throw them at an enemy… though, on second thought, they might also be useful for blasting apart an obstruction of some kind.”\n\n\tRelaxing a bit as the dangerous innovation was put away, Derru nodded, “Obstructions both two-legged and inanimate would find that little toy of yours to be a definite downturn to their day. We’ve had a few explosions of that sort occur accidentally, or as security features in things like Truthstones, but as far as I know you’re the first to try eliciting one on purpose as an artifact’s sole function, and it really is a remarkably effective-looking enchantment for all of its inherent simplicity.” Picking up another piece of unflawed quartz, he held it out, “Back to safer experiments… Static illusions are one of the more complicated things you can make, as every detail has to be impressed into the physical medium you’re working with, but that’s more a matter of time and effort than skilled subtlety. Let’s see if you can make a lightstone that projects a specific shape or color of light, or both, now that you’ve mastered basic, omnidirectional white.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tFerrl carefully replaced the frosted glass cover of one of his wall-mounted lamps, its brass oil reservoir discarded in favor of a large shard of quartz, and gave it a slight twist, smiling as it lit. “This,” he explained to Ela as she looked on with naked curiosity on her face, “is the most complex enchantment I managed in my lesson today… It’s two pieces like all the rest of my experiments were, but they have to be lined up a certain way rather than just touching, and it’s not the white light it looks like; rather, each of the stone’s six sides radiates a different color of the rainbow, and they all blend together into white.”\n\n\tThe vixen nodded, smiling, “I don’ understand much’a that… but I do knows that the next time we let th’fire burn out we won’t have’ta work as hard for light.”\n\n\tHer owner gave her headfur an affectionate ruffling, then decided that wasn’t enough so tweaked one of her tiny nipples hard enough to get a pleased yip for his troubles, and he grinned, “Hey, if I put the effort into it we could go the rest of our lives in this house without needing a single bit of flame. Magic lights, magic hearth, magic bath-boiler… it’s all pretty easy now that I know how, though it’d still be a lot of work to get it all set up the first time.”\n\n\tHis child-slave giggled, “But you’d have’ta keep ‘em recharged, an’ that might mean you’re too tired t’play…”\n\n\tFerrl smirked, “Oh, heavens forbid that… though it just might be you who’s too tired, some days. I was very proud of how you killed that soldier when we were ambushed, and I’ve been thinking of teaching you how to use even an ordinary knife for that sort of thing. Our Goddess loves us, but She and all other deities also want us to learn to take care of ourselves, so just to be nice to Her it would be good if, the next time something like that happened, She didn’t have to rip out your attacker’s soul for you.”\n\n\tEla’s smile at his praise faded to a distinct frown as she thought about that… “Slaves ain’t supposed to do that, though. If’n anyone else had seen me attackin’ a free man an’ told the constables, I’d be dead now.” She sighed, “That’s jus’ th’law. It don’ matter none that I was savin’ Verona’s life, but you’s bein’ an Agent might’a helped if someone had seen.”\n\n\tKneeling down to look her in the eye, the wolf squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, “Laws are a pain sometimes… but they’re there for a reason. I’ll do some research as time permits and see if I can’t find a solution to this little dilemma. My job is dangerous, but I don’t want to have to leave you behind just because you aren’t allowed to defend yourself, and the very fact that people would assume that you can’t could be a tactical advantage in some cases. That soldier certainly hadn’t expected a collared little girl to leap out at him; you can be wonderfully vicious when you put your mind to it… and just a tiny little moment of surprise can mean the difference between life and death. The fact that you’re alive and he’s not is proof enough of that!” Smiling then, he brought his hand up between her trim thighs to stroke a knuckle along her warm cleft, “Let’s go play a little, and then we’ll make dinner and play some more before bed. I’m still trying to make it up to you for all those busy days I had, and the fact that we hardly played at all during the mission itself… I have nothing else to do this evening, though, so we might as well spend it having sex.”\n\n\tThe naughty glint in her eyes and the naughtier flush of damp warmth that greeted his finger told well enough her opinion of that proposal.\n\n* * *\n\n\tUnder Bakar’s watchful gaze, Ferrl and Diral cautiously circled each other… then the mouse lunged, his hardwood practice sword weaving in a figure-eight to dodge the younger Agent’s blocking blade and then the small wooden buckler strapped to his arm, only a quick, back-arching twist avoiding the final thrust that whistled past his sweat-soaked shirt. The wolf brought his faux-sword around again in a downward slash, knocking the smaller man’s weapon wide for an opening to slam his shield into his sparring partner’s chest.\n\n\tThe ermine clapped for attention, his students each taking a step back to look up attentively, both of them panting hard though the smaller one’s breath was a tad pained. “I still wouldn’t care to wager against either of you in a fight against any of the regular guards I’ve trained,” the captain admitted, about as much praise as they were likely to get from the stoic old soldier, “but you, Diral, really should stop by for practice more often. You’re just as fast as ever, but the guile I remember teaching you seems to have faded with time. You used to be a lot more observant and able to change directions mid-swing to adapt to your opponent’s defense.” At the diminutive Agent’s grudging nod, he turned his attention on the wolf, “And you, sir knight… You should have been able to block his attack and counter with your own sword in the same overall stroke, without armor slowing you down. Your strength can be turned into speed, tempered with finesse, but it just wasn’t visible today, and the lack has me seriously reconsidering your proposed, lighter training regimen.”\n\n\tChuckling, Ferrl pulled back the sleeve over his sword-arm to shake the leather pouch of lead balls strapped there, “I know, I know… I did just that sort of thing when I was ambushed, but I didn’t want to get too used to working without weights. It was almost too easy when I was in a real fight, and I could fall into a habit of laziness unless I force myself not to.”\n\n\tHis armsmaster blinked, shaking his head, “I take back what I said then… I knew you were slower than you should be, but it wasn’t nearly so pronounced as I’d have expected had I known that you were wearing those. Take them off for now,” and he turned toward the rodent who was still catching his breath, “and we’ll see what you’re really capable of… Give me your sword and buckler, Diral; I find myself fancying a match of my own.”\n\n\t“No problem,” the mouse immediately agreed, unbuckling the thick circle of wood from his arm, and he grinned, “and my thanks for not making me keep fighting this brute once he’d admitted he was holding back!”\n\n\tThe ermine gave a particularly nasty grin in reply, “Well then, now would be a good time for him to learn just how much I was holding back the first time we fought when I tested him!”\n\n\tBakar didn’t waste any time circling or probing for weakness once the weighted pouches had fallen to the salle’s fragrant sawdust. He was on the big wolf in an instant, wood clacking as swords and shields met in a flurry of blows, only to pause as he leapt back, disengaging until he’d chosen his next angle to attack from. Ferrl defended himself as best he could, keeping his weight centered and mindful of the angles of his footing as he turned to meet each new attack, and he kept his own offensive strikes short and under control as he observed the whirlwind his friend and mentor had become. There were, of course, no overt gaps in the stocky mustelid's defense, and very few ways in which his student could think to make gaps, but he knew he had to try; even without the weights he was tired after an hour and more of practicing with them on, and his own body weighed enough to eventually wear him down if this kept up. His arms were already aching, and he chose to show it just a little, slowing only the slightest fraction and hoping it didn’t look suspicious…\n\n\tThe knight half-stumbled as his opponent leapt back from another disengage, his shield-arm dropping as if to catch himself, and Bakar pounced on the opening without waiting to circle, exactly as the wolf had hoped. The ‘tired’ bend of his knee suddenly straightened as he launched himself forward with all of his considerable strength, and the ermine found himself flying backwards as the blunt shaft of polished oak slammed into his shoulder, his own blade caught focused entirely on the attack and in no position to block. He lay on the dusty floor for a long moment, gasping and shaking his head to clear it after his impact with the wall, and slowly stood to nod respectfully to the student who’d gone back to the task of catching his own breath. “Very good, sir knight,” he conceded in a pained tone, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder with his other hand. “That very nearly broke a bone…” Shaking off the last of his dazedness, he looked to Diral, “I’ll see you two hours after dawn tomorrow. That was exactly the kind of successful feint I’d expected from you, and only an official mission will excuse you from your sorely-needed retraining.”\n\n\tThe mouse shook his head ruefully, “Great going, Ferrl… I hate mornings, which is probably part of why I’m such a good night-stalker, but now look what you’ve gotten me roped into!”\n\n\t“You’ll live,” his junior chuckled. “And if you are this out of practice, it’s better to find out about it like this than by finding yourself bleeding to death in a gutter because someone got through a defense you were more confident of than it really warranted.”\n\n\t“True enough, I suppose…”\n\nChapter 2\n\n\t“Ela?” Ferrl called as he hung up his sword and started taking off his sweaty practice-clothes. Her fingers were in her muzzle as she peeked around the side of the chair in the sitting room that had concealed her from sight, and he smiled, “Put away your book for now and get dressed… I got out of my training early as a bonus for kicking my teacher’s ass across the salle, so I thought we might go out for lunch as soon as I don’t smell so bad. This will also be my first afternoon of practice with Cherrah, and the book I read on warhorse training suggests that we just ride around the countryside for a bit at first, so you can come with me if you want to.”\n\n\tThe vixen nodded, closing the thin volume of erotic poetry she’d been passing the time with as she slipped out of the chair to scamper up the stairs, “I’ll get yer bath started, Master. The dress I put on this mornin’ is in the hamper from after I wet it, but there’s more in the bedroom.”\n\n\tBlinking a bit at a realization, he followed close behind, asking, “Have you been working on your speech, little one? The last few times we’ve talked, you’ve sounded a lot more like an adult.”\n\n\tThe tiny fox turned at the top of the stairs, at just the right level to leap into his arms and hug him tight, “You’s… you noticed! I’ve been tryin’, yeah. Th’books help me a lot, but it’s hard to remember to think about what I’m sayin’ before I opens my muzzle…”\n\n\tFerrl smiled, touched by the effort she was obviously putting into making him happy even beyond her… ‘bedroom athletics,’ he labeled with a mental snort of amusement. “I’ll have to find something to reward you with, then,” he told her as he carried her the rest of the way up then set her down just outside the bathroom. “You really are the best little girl I could possibly have hoped for…”\n\n\tWater trickled and splashed as the lithe shape of a female bat rose from the tub. “Oh, I’m sure I could find some way to reward her, sir knight,” the newcomer told the surprised pair with a grin.\n\n\t“Kathy!” Ela squealed, climbing up the side of the deep basin to give her playmate a tight hug.\n\n\tThe wolf smirked, “That you most certainly could, but I think I’ll still carry through with the plans I have; after all, it was to please me that she’s doing what we’re talking about rewarding her for.” Pausing only to discard his work clothes and city shoes, he stepped around the happy ladies and settled into the half of the tub still free, commenting, “I really do need to clean up right now, though, but would you like to go out to eat with us afterwards?”\n\n\t“I suppose I could be talked into it if you’re buying,” she mock-sighed, still holding the little slave as she stepped the rest of the way out of the tub to give him room. Reaching for the stack of towels with her free hand, she kissed Ela’s cheek with a grin, “Care to help me dry off? Even the parts that are never really dry?” The vixen snickered, licking her lips in anticipation.\n\n\tThe restaurant and tavern closest to Ferrl’s home was unremarkable, but the food was certainly decent; he’d made sure of that shortly after getting the house. The very fact that its ordinary, middle-class patrons didn’t notice anything unusual about the wolf, bat, and foxcub at a corner table was its own source of amusement though, the knight snickering softly as the meal was about halfway done, “I wonder if the others here would find us quite so uninteresting if they knew your outfit was just an illusion over bare fur and flesh, milady…”\n\n\tKathy’s muzzle twitched in a brief grin as she snagged another roll to dunk into her stew, murmuring back, “I learned long ago that making a body with an aptitude for mortal magic severely cut down on the number of minor miracles I had to perform while wandering among my flock, and it attracts much less attention than doing things ‘myself’ would. Every priest in the duchy felt the stir of darkness when I answered your call in Lark’s Reach, which wasn’t a problem then, but it’s not something I’d want to be a daily occurrence, either.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, his expression serious, “And I’m grateful you did answer… I’ve been finding out after the fact that some of my choices during that investigation caused inconvenience for others, but I don’t think I’d have done things any differently had I known. I was an Agent faced with active treason, and I did whatever it took to solve the problems I found.”\n\n\t“Exactly as you should have,” his companion nodded, “and precisely what an Agent is for, so I didn’t mean what I said as a criticism. If only for the pain he’d caused our dear friend Verona, I wanted that man’s soul, and thanks to you I got it.”\n\n\t“And my brother thanks you as well,” a new voice intruded.\n\n\tFerrl reflexively reached for his dagger; the mostly-black feline in light, feminine leather armor hadn’t been there a moment before, and he hadn’t heard or smelled her approach.\n\n\tGiggling softly, the cat shook her head as she reached for the table’s fourth chair, “Oh, do put that away, silly wolf. I’m not here to cause any harm.” Sitting, she gave Kathy an accusing look, “You and Roxy have been holding out on me for millennia! It wasn’t until I had cause to look in on your knightly friend that I finally figured out how you stay so discreet, sister.”\n\n\tThe bat snorted softly, smiling, “And now that you have there’s no telling when or where you’ll pop up… Oh well, I suppose it’s all good so long as we don’t let the menfolk of the family know the trick.”\n\n\tEla’s eyes were very wide, and her owner was looking none too calm himself as he sheathed his blade. “Please tell me,” he half-whispered, “that you’re not here to have sex. Do you know what the mortal ladies would do to me if word got out that I’d bedded every Goddess in the pantheon? I’d be dead within a week from sheer exhaustion!”\n\n\tMalia’s mortal semblance laughed brightly, “Oh, it’s a thought…” and she grinned, one brow arched, “but you’d have to beat me in a fair fight, first. You’re certainly cute, but that’s not enough to win my affections, no matter how well it worked on Roxy. If you think you’re good enough and want to try, though, just give me a call…” More seriously, she continued, “Tarragh’s gratitude is grudging on the best of days, but it exists, and He appreciates what you did about Hellar’s murderers. He’d still be a lot happier if you were a member of His own church, but where He’s involved I’ve learned that you take what you can get and be glad for it.”\n\n\tFinally relaxing somewhat, Ferrl nodded with a slight smile, “If He asks, feel free to tell Him that His own gruffness would probably dissuade me even if I didn’t already have a very rewarding relationship with Kathy here. I’m definitely unavailable, but if there were a choice to be made I’d pick you over Him in a heartbeat based solely on attitude.”\n\n\t“Such a nice boy…” Malia murmured to no one in particular with a fond smile. Frowning, then, she glanced around the tavern, a faint white glow filling the air that none of the other patrons seemed to notice. “That should keep anyone from overhearing us, or remembering it past the moment if they do…” She gave the wolf a hard look, “No one can tell the future, not even a God, but we do occasionally get brief hints and flashes of things that might happen. I’ve had one of these ‘hunches’ recently, and it was a strong one. Any warning of future calamity tends to also carry at least a hint of what might be done to address it, but the nature of those hints is something extremely difficult to put into mortal words so I can’t really tell you why… Whatever’s coming, though, I know that you, specifically, just might be able to help.”\n\n\tThe knight blinked, frowning as well, “In general principle, I can support the notion of averting calamity, but I don’t have the freedom to say in advance whether I’ll be able to provide the help you seek. You need to take it up with my king or my Goddess, as only they can command me, and even an order from that king might be insufficient if I see no sign that Kathy here at least tolerates my involvement. I’ll probably be almost exactly as willing to help as she is, so it’s her you should ask; my level of effort will be proportional to the degree of religious support your proposal has.”\n\n\tSighing, the feline nodded, the glow fading as she let her precautionary miracle lapse, “I could expect no less from you, as your faith is as firm as any of my own followers’.” Standing, she nodded to her ‘sister,’ “You and I will speak of this anon, once I know just what’s going on. For now… I think I’ll go step into an alley before vanishing; there’s no reason to frighten the Godless any more than I have to.”\n\n\tKathy chuckled, “Stop by my knight’s house sometime, though… There are many joys to be found in wearing a mortal body, and sampling his cooking is definitely one of them.”\n\n\t“I’ll consider it,” Malia promised with a smile then made her way out through the tavern’s bustling crowd.\n\n\tReaching for a chicken leg, the wolf shook his head in mild wonder, musing, “I’m going to have to come up with a few new awed curses… The word ‘Gods’ has just too much irony to be any good right now.”\n\n\tThe one sitting across from him simply smirked as his vixen giggled merrily.\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Wheeeeee!”\n\n\tThe sound of Ela’s happy squeal rose and faded as Kathy swooped by, the vixen clinging to her back between her wings, and Ferrl hunched over his saddle as Cherrah galloped hard in her wake. The bat had been combining the cub’s reward with the wolf’s need to practice with his horse, but they were finally heading back toward the city after an exciting chase. The strong stallion’s breathing was labored but he was still running with all his might, following the much-faster figure gliding a few yards above the wagon-trail serving the area’s farms.\n\n\tPulling up at the stables, the knight slid down from the saddle to give his panting horse an affectionate rub on the nose then pulled an apple out of his breeches’ pocket. “Greedy beast!” the wolf laughed as those strong teeth nearly took his hand off along with the treat, and he reached for a towel to start rubbing his lathered mount down as the equine plunged his head into the nearest trough and drank deeply.\n\n\t“But a good beast,” the stablemaster commented as he drew near. “That one would give you everything he has, running ‘til his heart burst if you but asked him to.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “I know… I hope it never comes to that, but it’s an immense comfort to me. To a knight, the quality of his horse can mean the difference between life and death, and I know that Cherrah’s as good an ally as I could hope for on the field of battle.” The warhorse picked up his head to glance back at the sound of his name, but went back to drinking soon enough.\n\n\tPicking up another towel, the horseman started rubbing down the other side as he nodded, “Indeed. My workers and I can see to his comfort for now, so you feel free to head off unless you just want to spend more time with the stallion here.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, glancing out to see his companions waiting just beyond the stable’s fenced yard, “You have a point… I do enjoy the time I spend with this fine animal, but my ladyfriends probably have other plans for me this evening and I must admit to liking them just the slightest bit more…”\n\n\tThe other man laughed, “I should take offense at that, given how often I tell others that there’s nothing better than a good horse, but I suppose I understand. They’re not the most comfortable creatures to invite into one’s bed… Enjoy your evening, sir knight.”\n\n\tKathy seemed to be in a hurry to get back to his house, and refused to answer when he asked her why… He lifted Ela onto his shoulders, then, and lengthened his stride so she had to scramble to keep up, and all was soon made clear. Already within shouting distance as he reached his own door, a familiar figure was coming up the street from the other direction. “Verona!” he called with a smile.\n\n\tThe grin on the lioness’ muzzle was broad as she hurried the last few yards, grabbing him into a tight hug, “Thick-wolf!”\n\n\tFerrl barked a laugh, “Sheesh! I’ve already told one fine lady today that I’m likely to die happy but exhausted if she encouraged that sort of reputation, and you’re not helping!” Smiling, he hugged her again, “Regardless, it’s good to see you again. Let’s go inside.”\n\n\tThe former baroness hung up her traveling cloak the moment the door was closed, the short skirt that was all she wore under it deposited on the next coat-hook, and stretched. “Goddess… it’s good to be off of a horse for a change,” she rumbled. Following her host and her other two friends into the sitting room, she sprawled gracelessly on a chair, “I’ve never been a good traveler; saddles chafe something fierce if I don’t wear anything, and I can never relax enough to ride comfortably when I’m dressed.”\n\n\tEla giggled, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “And you’d rather be under th’horse than on top of it, right?”\n\n\tThe feline smirked, “Or behind it if it’s a mare, my favorite little one…” Turning to arch a brow to Ferrl, she asked, “And who was this other ‘fine lady?’ Did you miss me so little that you couldn’t wait a few days for my return before branching out?”\n\n\t“It’s not that sort of relationship… yet,” he smirked. “Kathy’s sister, and not the vixen of the family, accosted me at lunch today. If you meet a black cat with a diamond of white on her forehead, try to be respectful. As far as I know she doesn’t have a nickname yet.”\n\n\tThe bat snickered as her worshiper’s eyes widened, “Her official name doesn’t lend itself well to shortening, no… I’ll confirm that the meeting was mostly just business, though, so you can forget all of those dirty thoughts that’re running through your head, kitten.”\n\n\tVerona shook her head with a quiet giggle, “I’m not sure I can… As devoted as She is to agility, I’d bet She’s damned limber in bed! But,” and she gave Ferrl a fulminating smirk, “I can definitely see your point about reputations… All three of Them? That would be an impressive claim for a mortal to be able to honestly make!”\n\n\tThe wolf chuckled, “You and I have both had the two… but the third attached the condition of beating Her in a fair fight to the possibility, so I doubt that either of us will be able to complete the set. Enough of such silliness, though; how did things go in Lark’s Reach?”\n\n\t“Wonderfully!” Verona rumbled, perking up instantly, though her ears dipped momentarily for just the beginning of her tale, “My husband’s funeral was very touching… Practically the entire city came, and hundreds more people from elsewhere in the barony attended, and most of them stayed for the wedding the next day. I checked, of course, and Rickar and Gabri were making some very interesting sounds in their room on their nuptial night… and if my nose isn’t deceiving me, unless they spend the next week celibate I’ll be a grandmother some three trimesters down the road. Her cycle was that close… My personal favorite of the flurry of events, though, was watching Salvor being strung up by his wizardbane collar while the castle guards used him for archery practice, but that’s just because I’m a vindictive bitch when someone seriously crosses me.”\n\n\tFerrl laughed, “I’ll bet that hurt… If they were at all careful about where they shot, a body can take a lot of arrows before dying. They don’t bleed much if they’re left stuck in.”\n\n\tThe former baroness nodded, “Thirty-seven, in his case, and I savored every one…” The vixen across from her gave a fierce little growl, and all three ladies grinned.\n\n\t“On the subject of consequences, and since you obviously just got back and haven’t been to the palace,” the wolf mused, “Lachier told me to tell you that the entire conspiracy was the brainchild of the Countess of Stonecliff, and that she received the same punishment that his mother did, though he wouldn’t elaborate on that point.”\n\n\tVerona blinked, a slow grin spreading across her muzzle to show every one of her fine, sharp teeth…\n\n\t“I take it that the punishment in question was particularly nasty…”\n\n\tThe lioness nodded emphatically, “It was about ten years ago, only a few after Princess Danique was born… Queen Jeruma had never liked the worship of the Fanged Goddess, and out of respect for that Burtak kept his personal rites well out of her sight. That wasn’t good enough for her, though. She started speaking out publicly on the subject, criticizing the royal family line prior to her arranged marriage into it and reviling the king in private… That would have been fine, too, but she just kept pushing! She progressed to making loud, dramatic scenes out of her personal criticism of that poor ‘coon in the middle of his court, and even went so far as to start organizing rallies among the commoners, trying to raise them against the ‘blood-sucking rapists and cannibals’ as she’d taken to calling us. That, though, was taking things a big step too far.”\n\n\tKathy nodded beside her, “Not to mention coming close to violating a covenant nearly as old as I am. My flock doesn’t prey on the devout of the other Gods, and They don’t let Their worshipers try to exterminate mine.”\n\n\t“So what’d the king do?” Ela asked, always interested in a good story.\n\n\t“Since she ignored first his warnings and then his orders to give it a rest,” Verona answered, “her rhetoric becoming ever more strident, she was made a public sacrifice. She was stripped naked, locked into the stocks in Audience Square with short-chained shackles on her ankles as well to keep her legs spread, and a bucket was placed beneath her… The king himself slit her belly to fill it, then left her there after issuing orders that any man, high-born or low, was free to make use of her as they saw fit, with guards posted to make sure none of the rabble she’d roused tried to stop anyone who took him up on his offer. As she slowly bled to death, Burtak naturally knowing how to gut a fine lady with a minimum of actual damage, everyone from the crudest dockworker to at least one reigning duke made use of her sex or ass depending on their preference. It took her nearly a day to die, and while relatively few men were involved compared to the total population of the city, there were enough to make her rape a constant, humiliating spectacle until she finally passed away. Not that her expiring stopped the last man before he’d had his fun, and one or two of those still waiting in line were content with the lukewarm corpse of a queen.” She grinned again, “And if that’s what happened to Countess Stonecliff for deciding to murder my husband, I am very, very satisfied.”\n\n\tFerrl adjusted his breeches, as they seemed uncomfortably tight after the mental images elicited by that tale, which fetched a giggle or two and several knowing smirks from his companions. “Before any of you voices the ‘offer to help’ I’m seeing in three sets of eyes right now,” he chided, waggling one finger at the ladies, “there are still a few things I’d like to talk about undistracted.” Turning to Verona, he mused, “When I first arrived, just prior to my knighting in fact, the king mentioned that rank means much in this land… Before you go back to the palace we should do something about yours. I know that the tradition of lands and titles going hand in hand is strong here, with ‘court’ nobles who hold a title and nothing else being all but unknown… but we really should see about getting you something of the sort regardless. The very fact that it would be necessary if they’re to maintain your ‘acquaintance’ should get most of the existing court to support the notion, but if that fails we can almost certainly talk Burtak into knighting you, and I’ll happily present you as you did me to satisfy that stuffy herald. If we don’t see about this you could find yourself excluded from virtually all of your former social circles, and I’d really rather not see that happen.”\n\n\tThe former baroness’ expression was serious as she nodded, considering his words… “True enough. I hadn’t even thought about that… but I’m glad you did. Without the social precedence of Hellar’s title behind me, and it just doesn’t work the same for the mother of the baron as it would for the wife, I couldn’t just waltz back in there, could I? But you’re also right about the support I could expect; there are dozens of nobles in there who’ll be quite distraught at the notion of never seeing me again…”\n\n\tKathy spoke up quietly, “Either ennoblement by acclamation or knighting by the king’s hand should work… but if neither is forthcoming I’ll do what I can to… ‘encourage’ some solution on the part of the royal family. You are one of the bright points of the court, bringing joy and simple pleasures to what is often a cesspool of back-biting intrigue… and I intend to see that you remain free to be so if you choose.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “Good… I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow morning until my math lessons a couple hours before lunch, so I should be able to head over to the palace and arrange something. Until then, as you have no official residence at the moment, I offer the humble shelter of my own domicile for this night, milady.”\n\n\t“My son has already assured me that the more-than-generous stipend Hellar always sent me will be continued, so it’s not like I couldn’t just buy a house of my own and live in the city,” she mused. “What I liked about living in the palace was that there was always someone available to share my bedchamber, from the stableboy on up. I get lonely easily, and I think it’s just going to be worse now that I’m a widow… I really don’t like to sleep alone.” She smiled, “None of that was meant to imply that there were alternatives to your offer that I might prefer; I was just thinking out loud. Of course I’ll stay here tonight, my handsome wolf, especially with your randy little vixen and our svelte bat for additional company.”\n\n\tSaid vixen grinned, but Kathy was shaking her head, “This is just one of my brief visits; I really only meant to join Ferrl once for lunch now that he’s back in town, and I extended those plans as a reward for Ela… I won’t be staying this time.”\n\n\tVixen’s and lioness’ ears drooped as the wolf nodded, “I understand… You’re always welcome here, but it’s a large world. Our situation is hardly in need of divine intervention, while there’s bound to be someone else out there who’s not so fortunate, so you just go where you’re needed.” He grinned, “We’ll always be here if you need a good meal or just a roll in the hay.”\n\n\t“Oh, I’ll be back for both eventually, you can be sure; you’re just so good at them!” the bat smiled back, then vanished.\n\n\tVerona’s belly chose that moment to rumble, and she grimaced, “At the risk of inflating your ego even further, I think my stomach agrees… Why don’t we move what’s left of this little reunion into the kitchen? It’s been a long ride since lunch at my son’s castle.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded and rose, “I’d been planning just that before your well-timed return. Let’s.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tIt was just past mid-morning as the knight stepped back into his house. Verona was sprawled lewdly on one of his chairs, her legs hanging over the cushioned arms as Ela knelt on the floor in front of her, muzzle-deep and only infrequently coming up for air as the lioness mewled and shuddered. Immediately shelving the news that had been on the tip of his tongue, Ferrl firmly closed and locked the door, unbelting his pants as he padded over to share a long kiss with the feline, not-quite-gently twisting her nipples as she muffledly keened her enjoyment. Releasing her dusky pink nubs after another pinch apiece, he settled in behind his slave, easing his scent-stimulated wolfhood between her rumpcheeks without preamble and pressing in… Her yip was even more muffled by the quavering passage around her muzzle than the older woman’s moan had been by the kiss, and she somehow kept some semblance of her tongue’s lapping rhythm even as she welcomed him into her vice-like grip, pushing back against his blunt head until her tiny anus spread and engulfed it.\n\n\tGrunting with something between pleasure and effort, he took a firm grip on her hips, his own rolling to push more of his length into her warm, slick passage. The vixen shivered with pleasure, her moans and occasional squeaks sometimes sending droplets of musky sweetness flying from her soaked muzzle, her young mind in its own kind of heaven as she was sandwiched between two willing, needy partners. Her first climax rolled through her almost before her owner had bottomed out, a thin stream of yellow spurting sporadically from between her thighs to form a small puddle on the varnished floor, but she hardly noticed in her lust-fogged haze. Verona’s nectar loaded her every gasping breath with such a dose of pheromones that her entire world was reduced to the puffy-fleshed charms in front of her, the almost too-thick shaft stretching her bowels so well, and the burning core between her own legs, even the faint brush of her Master’s fuzzy sac at the deepest part of each thrust enough to send jolts of pleasure through her and leave sparks dancing behind her tight-shut eyes.\n\n\tFerrl made no effort to draw things out, watching the beautiful sight of the feline’s engorged petals as they splayed around the invading muzzle and inhaling deeply of both females’ heated scents… He didn’t let himself be drawn so deeply into the shared pleasures that he forgot to murmur his Goddess’ name in a prayerful tone just prior, but it wasn’t long until he drove himself deeply into the child’s hindside once more with a barely-muted howl of ecstasy.\n\n\tStill panting softly herself, once she was sure his pleasure had played itself out, Verona gently pushed Ela’s face away from her sex but didn’t bother to close her legs before asking, “And how did things go at the palace, sir knight? Did the king make a decision?”\n\n\tEasing himself out of Ela gently, if more for his own post-climactic sensitivity than her comfort, he chuckled, “Oh, he made a ruling on that the moment I’d finished describing the problem to him… By royal decree, this day, you now possess the title, rank, and prerogatives formerly held by the Countess of Stonecliff, though completely separate from the Count of Stonecliff. He already has two fine sons to serve as heirs, and by that same decree he’s forbidden to remarry so it’s no great burden to either of you, but the king felt that he should at least have known that his wife was capable of what she did, so this will serve as a constant reminder of her treachery even if it doesn’t severely impact his life. You’ve got the social status you’d lost, and you have the authority to give orders within his county, but the only way you or your descendants will ever actually rule Stonecliff will be if he and all of his children somehow die before you do. A comment aside from the decree Burtak dictated to his scribe suggests that he considers the title to be in the same category as spoils of war, yours by right of vengeance and conquest.”\n\n\tBlinking a bit, the new countess nodded, “I suppose that works, though he could have picked a less… politically volatile way to solve this problem. If the specifics of my new title ever cause problems, I guess I’ll just deal with them when the time comes. Now, if that was so quick and easy, what filled the rest of your two hours at the palace?”\n\n\tFerrl eased himself into a seat of his own, looking down to smile at his slave… “I was solving a little problem for Ela. She pointed out to me that it had been technically illegal for her to defend you during that ambush, so I was researching the appropriate laws and legal processes… and I found a solution.” The vixen was blinking in mild confusion as she worked on licking as much of her muzzlefur clean as possible, his assertion conflicting with all she’d been told of her place as a slave. Pulling a thin, folded stack of parchment out of his tunic, the wolf held up one sheet, “Ela, my dear… this is your ownership document; not the copy I brought home with me from Owned Elegance, but rather the one originally filed in the palace archives shortly after your birth and then amended to mention me during a periodic update when the slave house sent their list of recent sales in to be recorded.” Crumpling it into a ball, he tossed the page toward the fireplace, a brief surge of power igniting it before it landed, and it was little more than ash when it actually struck.\n\n\tEla couldn’t believe her eyes, “Why’d you do that, Master? If’n they don’t have thats, we can’t prove that you owns me!”\n\n\tThe knight grinned, holding up the next piece of parchment, “But I don’t… Not anymore. How could I own my adopted daughter? You don’t own duly-registered citizens!” He chuckled at her look of outright disbelief, “Technically, I just broke two laws pertaining to incest and child molestation… but I wanted to do that to prove one thing to you beyond any possible doubt: unless you want it to, nothing has changed. Legally, you’re my daughter now, and if you want to be a ‘normal’ child you can be, but you can also still be my little pet and bedmate. I won’t even make you give up your collar if you want to keep wearing it; everything that happens to you from now on is your choice, including surrendering the right to make those choices to me if you still want or need a Master.”\n\n\tThe lioness took her stunned silence as a chance to comment, “You may have freed the vixen from being a pleasure slave… but you can’t take the pleasure slave out of the vixen. I doubt she’ll want to stop being what she’s enjoyed existing as for this long.”\n\n\tThere were tears in the vixen’s eyes as her emotions were whipsawed back and forth, some from joy and others from when she’d briefly thought that she was being rejected. Finally, she rose shakily to her feet and murmured, “Daddy?” as if trying a new word for the first time. Smiling, she tried again, “Daddy!” and leaped into his arms to hug him tightly and kiss him as deeply and passionately as her little muzzle allowed.\n\n\tVerona wiped her own eyes a little, chuckling softly, “An elegant solution indeed, my friend. Freedom may not mean much to someone who doesn’t particularly want to be free, but it will certainly matter to the authorities, giving you more leeway in what you can teach her and what she can do in your service.”\n\n\tWhen she’d finally released his tongue back into his control, though neither of them seemed willing to let go of the other at the moment, Ferrl nodded, “If you’re willing, there’s one place on the adoption paper that could use your signature as witness before I return it to the archives. I could technically sign that part too in my official alter ego as Agent, but I’d rather do this as properly as possible. Also, as an Agent, this gives me much more leeway in how and where I bring Ela along… Sometimes she’ll be my daughter, and at others she’ll be my slave; it all depends on the role I need to fit into or the customs of the land I’m visiting.”\n\n\t“I’ll always be both, Daddy,” the vixen insisted before the lioness could reply. “N’matter what that silly piece of parchment says, you’ll always be my Master, ‘cuz you’re th’best Master any vixen ever had!”\n\n\t“I’m glad you think so, dear, I truly am…”\n\nChapter 3\n\n\t“Why are you here, sir knight?” Bakar asked. “This is supposed to be your afternoon off.”\n\n\tThe wolf grinned, “I’m not here for practice, per se… just one sparring match. It’s why I’ve been training so hard this last week in a particular style. The lady who made the offer is probably even faster and more agile than you, and I’m pretty sure she prefers paired weapons, but that explains this,” and he tapped the single piece of his plate armor he was wearing, the bracer for his left forearm, and the medium-small metal shield that was strapped to it. “She’s probably strong, too, so the armor should spread out impacts all over my arm and keep them from adding up to outright injury.” For the rest of his body, he wore a tight-laced leather vest, snug, tanned breeches, and some durable shoes, with nothing loose to catch on things or otherwise hinder his movement.\n\n\tOne brow quirked, the captain shook his head, “Sounds like an extremely impressive lady… I’d like to meet her.”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled, “You know her already, actually… Do you shock easily? Would something completely alien to your world-view cause any trouble such as running or fainting?”\n\n\t“Hardly,” the ermine snorted. “I was once in the middle of a conversation with someone whose head unexpectedly exploded, and the assassin had been counting on people to be distracted by the spectacle long enough to tuck away his little magical weapon. His already-convincing ‘stunned and appalled’ act got a lot more genuine when I slipped around and surprised him with a sword through his spine.”\n\n\tHis student nodded as he made his final preparation, taking off his baldric and setting it aside to hold only his bare sword. “This is slightly different, as it will relate to you on a more personal level,” he mused, “but try to stay calm. I’m sure she likes you, but people falling down and blubbering is bound to get annoying at times.” Stepping out into the center of the practice yard, he called to the empty air, “Malia, I am ready.”\n\n\tHis expression, clearly conveying the thought that this mystery couldn’t possibly be that surprising, vanished instantly, and Bakar looked like someone had hit him in the face with a board as he blinked, mouthing his own Goddess’ name in stunned silence. The wolf was surprised his eyes didn’t fly right out of his skull with the reactive force of whipping his head around to stare at the lightly-armored feline who was calmly padding around the side of the armory.\n\n\tA pair of short swords were sheathed at her hips, that she hadn’t worn in the tavern, but she was still the same black-furred feline with an uneven patch of white on her forehead, and her expression was amused as she looked at ‘her’ ermine. “Oh, don’t be silly, Bakar,” she told him in her rich voice. “You’ve taught this wolf well enough to beat you, and no student can keep learning if they win all the time! Let me teach him a little humility, and then I’ll return him to your care.”\n\n\tThe stocky soldier could only nod helplessly, “By your will, m-my lady…”\n\n\tNodding as well, Ferrl gave her a friendly smile, “One question, though… wood or steel? That armory behind you has an impressive variety of shapes and lengths of hardwood, so we could both find matches for our preferred weapons.”\n\n\t“Oh, steel, definitely steel,” she chuckled back. “I’ll be sure not to inflict any injury I cannot heal, and it’s not like even the outright death of this particular body would actually inconvenience me. People tend to fight better when the weapons are real, anyway, as they know they’re in for more than bruises if someone gets through their defense.” She lifted one finger, her expression stern, “And while not quite a question, I do want to tell you that I’m expecting you to fight with just your weapons and body. No magic!”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded immediately, “I hadn’t even been thinking of that… Magic is a fair response when attacked by surprise by a force that vastly outnumbers me, but not for an honorable contest between two individuals.” He smirked slightly and raised a matching finger, “And no miracles, of course, except for the necessary healing after the fact.”\n\n\tMalia rolled her eyes, “At this point, were He here, my brother would thunder, ‘Seek not to bargain with Me, mortal!’ But I’m not Him… I think I like you, sir knight; we seem to have similar senses of propriety and measured response.” Drawing her swords, she stepped forward and planted her feet firmly in a defensive half-crouch, blades held loosely in front of her.\n\n\t“Now would probably be a good time to step back,” the knight mused to Bakar, then took up his own position, sword held at the ready. Ferrl normally preferred to let his opponent make the first move, but since a Goddess could very well know that already he didn’t wait any longer than it took the ermine to retreat, hoping to surprise her as he rushed forward to launch a short slash meant to bash one of her swords out of the way that could be easily turned into a hard thrust if she declined to engage his weapon. He kept his muscles tense and taut, his grip nearly as steely as his blade as he focused on keeping it an extension of his own arm as it was blocked, but he relaxed enough the next moment to let it be edged out of line with the feline’s body. Had he not, her second sword could have twisted it out of his grip entirely, the bright blade flicking in that direction to suggest that the same thought had occurred to his lithe foe, but she was nothing if not observant and quickly blended the failed disarm into a thrust of her own, ringing off of his shield with a force he’d actually hoped for, helping his feet to slow his aborted rush.\n\n\tHer riposte put him on the defensive, and he kept his weight centered throughout half-steps of retreat, her slashes alternating in a near blur as he parried, only to break the pattern at the apparently random point of the sixth swipe, the last sword to slash returning in a pumping double-thrust that sent him twisting to one side to dodge. That twist happened to turn him away from the blade she’d held in reserve, and the cat was quick to take advantage of the position she’d maneuvered him into, but the long hours he’d spent making his wrists ache served him in good stead, his grip surviving the awkward angle of the only block he could make before he leaped back out of range.\n\n\t“You’re better than you look,” Malia conceded. “Most followers of my brother would be missing their sword hand after that little trick.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, a brief smile flashing past his expression though he remained wary and observant, “It has to do with the way I was taught… Your follower started me on your brother’s path, but once the associated raw strength was obtained he showed me how to use it in a way more fitting to your own teachings. It’s a surprisingly effective combination at times,” and he abandoned words in favor of demonstration, his blade nearly as blurred as her much lighter weapons had been as he launched a series of overhead slashes. They bounced off of one sword after the other, his less muscular opponent needing to swing hard to counter his heavy blade’s inertia. She couldn’t keep that style of defense up forever, he knew, so he wasn’t surprised when she ducked out from under yet another slash, leaping forward and to his left, her paired blades flashing out at angles he couldn’t hope to intercept both of with his shield. Metal rang as he blocked the upper of the two, sucking in his gut and half-curling to dodge the second, and before she could bring her arms back together he lashed his foot out and caught her squarely in the belly.\n\n\tGrunting in surprise and pain, the feline retreated, blinking as she looked up to find him in a renewed defensive stance. “Why didn’t you follow up on that?” she asked, panting. “You could have had me with one slash.”\n\n\tBlinking some himself, the wolf shook his head, “Habit, I guess; I’m more used to practice than actual battles, having been in genuine combat all of once in my life, and it’s only polite to give someone a moment to recover when you’re just sparring.”\n\n\tThe mortal Goddess chuckled, “Understandable, I suppose… but don’t let it happen again; I certainly won’t if I get you into a similar position!” Shaking her head once more to clear it, she leaped forward, slashes and thrusts coming with no pattern that the wolf could discern as she attacked high and low, all of his attention occupied by watching those spinning blades and maneuvering his own steel to intercept. A lifted knee blocked a similar kick she’d obviously been counting on her weapons’ distracting effects to allow through, but even failure could be turned into its own advantage and she dodged to the far side, knowing he couldn’t turn well on one foot, a thrust landing a painful cut on his upper arm.\n\n\tThat was the only attack his momentary imbalance allowed, and he faced her firmly again as the range between them opened, holding his shield in front of his chest as he charged forward, sword poised for a thrust. Retreating half a step, she angled one sword to keep his engaged, the other cocked back to strike his shield hard enough to stop its anticipated bash, but both of those preparations drew her attention away from his feet, which came together in a sudden, skidding thrust of their own, the knight catching his fall on his sword-arm’s elbow as he knocked her nearer blade away with his shield, just before his legs collided with hers and she fell toward him, right onto the point of his weapon.\n\n\tFerrl couldn’t help but chuckle at the look of sheer surprise on the lovely feline’s face, as her arms lost their strength and her swords fell to the hard-packed dirt of the yard, and he gave her a light kiss on the pad of her nose as he extricated himself from beneath her. His own sword hit the ground a moment later as her body wavered and vanished, only the blood in the dust and on its blade left as evidence that she’d been there at all.\n\n\tTurning around at the sound of slow applause, he saw Malia clapping as she walked toward him, a smile on her face, “Oh, very well done, sir knight! The ‘right’ defense to that particular attack would have worked had that been the attack I actually faced, but it wasn’t and I paid the price for underestimating you.” Touching the chest of her intact leathers, she winced at the memory, “You know I only just learned to make this sort of body, and dying was rather unpleasant as new experiences go… but the entire fight taught me a lot about mortalkind that I’d simply guessed at before. It was worth learning to feel pain, as I’ll now have a firmer basis upon which to judge my followers’ claims of their triumphs and woes.” Padding the rest of the way over, she retrieved her swords and sheathed them in the empty scabbards at her hips.\n\n\tBakar shook his head to clear it after the dizzying fight and the shock of watching his own deity fall in battle. “I very nearly attacked you myself,” he admitted to the wolf, “when I saw your sword sticking out of my lady’s back… so it’s a good thing she returned so quickly.” He stepped closer, smiling to the feline, “It was an honor that I will likely cherish as the high point of my life, though, to see you in action myself. I will carry it in my heart until we meet again on the other side of death.”\n\n\tLaying one hand on his shoulder, Malia smiled affectionately, “You are a good and true follower of my ways, and my heaven awaits you… but don’t rush on my account. You have many years ahead of you, and if this wolf is typical of those you train then they will be well spent. Carry on with my blessing.”\n\n\tDipping his head in gratitude, the ermine chuckled, “He’s hardly typical… but you found that out for yourself. Nonetheless, I thank you for your blessing and your words.”\n\n\tShe gave him one more squeeze then turned back to the knight, taking a step over to lay her hand on the cut she’d inflicted, a white glow surrounding it as she mended the minor injury. “There,” she nodded matter-of-factly, “just as I promised. Though, I haven’t forgotten my other promise, or at least my strong hint at the possibility, back in the tavern…”\n\n\tFerrl smirked, “Oh, I remember,” then donned a less lecherous smile, “but I won’t hold you to it unless you insist. I took you up on your offer because it represented an irresistible challenge, rather than for any specific prize, and I’ve been well enough rewarded by that extremely stimulating match we just concluded. If you wish to be insistent, however, or to take your sister up on her suggestion where food’s concerned, you need but visit my home and we can work things out from there.”\n\n\tNodding, the feline giggled, “Fair enough… Did you have any plans for the rest of today?”\n\n\t“No,” the Agent blinked, “as a matter of fact my afternoon and evening are completely free, which is why I chose this day to pursue the self-indulgent pleasure of our little bout…”\n\n\tBakar was looking curious too, “What’s this about promises and food?”\n\n\tMalia arched a brow at the ermine, a very feline smirk on her muzzle, “For the latter, I’m told that your student is very nearly as good a cook as he is a warrior. For the former… well, that’s a personal matter between he and I.” Turning to start padding toward the gate of the guard compound, she called over her shoulder, “Clean your sword and come along, sir knight! You were right about the fight being stimulating, and I’d like to see the truth of the other forms of stimulation Kathy and Roxy have been raving about.”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Ela?” the wolf called as was his habit upon returning home.\n\n\tThe vixen bounded down the stairs and ran over to hug him, “Daddy! That didn’t take long…” Letting go of his waist, she leaned around him to blink at his companion, “An’ you brought the kitty from the tavern home… Did’ya—did you beat her?”\n\n\tMalia chuckled softly, “I made him work for it… but, yes, he pulled a dirty trick that ended up tripping me right onto his sword.” Frowning slightly, she asked the wolf, “Why isn’t this child wearing anything?”\n\n\tShrugging, he made the necessary introduction, “Malia, this is my daughter Ela. I only recently adopted her as such, and before that she was a pleasure slave.” He held up one hand at the deeper frown this fetched, “I know you don’t like that sort of thing… but she’s free now, and only maintains the manner of her former life because she chooses to. It’s part of the free will you and your family encourages, and by that will she follows the path that gives her the greatest satisfaction, which in this case happens to include a lot of the things your vulpine sister stands for.”\n\n\tThe nod he got in reply was grudging, “Alright… and I can also see that she belongs firmly to my other sister, so it’s not my place to judge regardless.”\n\n\tLeading the way toward the kitchen, Ferrl nodded back, “Ela, it’s a bit early for supper, but I had a light lunch anyway, so I’m going to fix a few snacks to introduce our guest to the delights of mortal cuisine. As far as I know, in several thousand years she’s never once eaten anything.” While his former pet giggled at that, he started opening cupboards and drawers, fetching meat, bread, and seasonings as he got to work.\n\n\tMalia watched with interest, sitting quietly on a stool as he combined thin strips of beef with thicker chunks of chicken in a simple mixture of garlic, onion, a few chopped chestnuts for texture, a small dab of butter, and a healthy sprinkling of sea salt to bring out the other flavors, sautéing them as he cut thick slices from the golden-brown loaf and then spooning the steaming, dripping mix onto the bread. “That can’t have been as easy as it looked,” the feline mused as two well-loaded slices were set before her. “It smells wonderful, but those who join my temples as artists, who choose to focus on culinary mastery, tend to take a lot longer to prepare their wonders.”\n\n\t“I already had the garlic and onion chopped,” the wolf shrugged, “as I use them so often, and I trim skin, fat, and tendons off of my meat as soon as I buy it… It doesn’t take long even then, but that slight investment in effort can significantly reduce the time needed to assemble the ingredients into a fresh meal, and I often make large batches of other things in advance that will stay fresh enough, if not quite this appealing, for several days at a time.” He smiled, loading another piece of bread for himself, “Go on, try it; it cools quickly once the drippings flow away, so it should be ready to eat now.”\n\n\tAs he worked on filling a half-slice for Ela, who’d had a bigger lunch already, the Goddess picked up one of her pieces, sniffed it, and took a nibble at a slice of beef hanging off of the edge… Blinking, she opened her mouth wide and took a big bite, eyes rolling skywards as she chewed. The bread and meat vanished as quickly as she could fill her muzzle, chew, and swallow, her tail lashing behind her. “Oh, my,” she purred as she reached for the second piece of bread, “I have been missing out! I’m going to have some very stern words with my sisters about keeping secrets; this sort of thing is just too good to wait for thousands of years for!”\n\n\tHer host grinned as she devoured the rest of what he’d served, and he poured a couple mugs of cider before tucking into his own repast. Around bites of food he found time to comment, “This isn’t my best, actually… I’m in between big batches of the better-seasoned things, and I didn’t want you to have to wait long enough for me to prepare something complicated. Kathy’s very first visit was specifically timed to get one of those batches while it was fresh, and it was worth that care.”\n\n\tEla, who’d already finished her small portion, grinned, “Y’mean the gooey-sweet beef? Yeah,” and she licked her muzzle, “that’s lots better.”\n\n\tMalia chewed her last bite a few times to savor it, then sighed as she picked up her mug to take a sip, “I’m definitely going to keep a divine ear out where you’re concerned… If you occasionally prepare meals that are even better than this, by all means call me for the next!”\n\n\t“Alright,” the wolf nodded, chuckling, “I’ll do that. And I’ll be doing the same, if with merely mortal senses, should that calamity you mentioned surface and you enlist Kathy’s cooperation. Just don’t use Tarragh for a messenger; I can just imagine Him yelling ‘heed My words mortal’ loud enough to knock my house down, and trying to get Him to buy me another would probably be truly futile.”\n\n\tThe feline cackled, “Oh, that’s so Him! No matter how much you may look like one of His flock, you’re right; you and He just wouldn’t get along, as both your mind and body are so much more agile than His preference for muscle-bound, nearly mindless followers of orders.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded once more, then tilted his head curiously… “This may seem completely unrelated, but… you don’t wear anything under that armor, do you?”\n\n\tBlinking, Malia shook her head, “No… should I?”\n\n\tThe wolf shrugged, “It’s not that… I’d simply been wondering why the vixen behind you was sniffing at skirt-level and looking interested.”\n\n\tThe feline managed a quarter-turn and an abbreviated, “What vix—” before squealing as Ela’s exploring fingertips gave her another completely-new experience in her mortal body.\n\n\tThe naughty child giggled as she danced away, licking her fingers, “Dunno whether it was th’fight or th’food, but you was kinda sticky down there… Tasty!”\n\n\tAs her host simply laughed, Malia shook her head with a grudging grin, “I guess I was warned about this one, and just didn’t pay enough heed…” Waggling her finger at the cub, she chuckled, “You did not beat me in a fight… You’re free to try when you’re older, but for now only your ‘daddy’ is permitted those sorts of liberties.”\n\n\tFerrl snickered softly, “She just might, you know… Now that I’ve adopted her and she’s no longer subject to the laws governing the behavior of slaves, I was planning to teach her to defend herself. If she’s got enough natural talent, or even close to it due to the benefits of teaching her so young, she could be as good as I am by the time she grows up.”\n\n\t“Good,” Malia asserted with a firm nod. “Everyone should have the right and ability to defend themselves from harm, and you’re certainly good enough to teach her.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded back, then addressed his daughter, “You go read or something, dear… As she seems intent upon fulfilling her half-promise even after the chances I’ve given her to honorably back out of it, I’m going to take the kitten here upstairs and do unto her as I did unto Roxy to that vixen’s profound satisfaction, and this is one of the few times you can’t join in. I’ve got a special treat in mind for you, though, to make up for it later.”\n\n\tThe ears that had drooped at the news of her exclusion perked right back up again at his promise, and Ela nodded, “Okay, Daddy!” then scampered out into the sitting room to pick a book.\n\n\tFerrl smiled to his divine guest, offering a hand. “The acts I referred to,” he assured her, “included none of the more painful examples of depravity that tend to be associated with my religion. If you would join me in my bedroom, I will happily introduce you to aspects of mortal life that should prove at least as sensual an experience as my cooking.”\n\n\tSlipping her warm hand into his, Malia nodded with a smile of her own, “I think I’ll enjoy this… Lead on, sir knight.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tIt was three more days before the wolf found enough free time to carry through with his planned treat for Ela. A few discreet inquiries while checking to make sure that Verona was settling into her new role as a countess in her own right, regarding just where the playclub obtained the more disposable members of their staff, had given him the last piece of information he’d needed, and he couldn’t help but grin to himself as he unlocked his door and called, “Ela? I’m home!” The vixen padded out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a rag as she walked, then stopped as she saw the stranger her father had led in by a leash. “This is Jol,” he introduced the buck deer once he’d closed the door, somewhere around ten or eleven years old by the look of him, “and he’ll be your playmate tonight. Put whatever you were working on in the icebox, as it might be a while before supper.” The young stag was busy looking the naked foxcub up and down, so he completely missed the ear slanted toward him while his new owner licked his teeth suggestively.\n\n\tEla giggled, “Yes, Master,” obviously deciding on the spur of the moment to give the impression that she was just another slave that the knight happened to already own.\n\n\t“And you,” he directed his recent purchase as he untied the simple leash he’d come with, “go upstairs and get ready. Use the privy and wash up, as my little vixen is likely to want to get to know every bit of you, and we wouldn’t want to offend her delicate nose, hmm?”\n\n\tNodding, the buck replied, “Yes, Master,” and glanced around to spot the staircase before following his orders.\n\n\tStepping into the kitchen, he found Ela loading a half-cleaned chicken into the insulated cupboard, and she looked up at him with a hopeful grin, murmuring quietly, “Are you really gonna let me kill him, Daddy?”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, teeth flashing in a grin of his own, “And carve him up to join that bird you were mangling, afterwards. He only cost a gold half-crown, but there’s more at stake than just the price of meat here… This will be your first real sacrifice to our winged friend, so we’ll see just how well you learned from your practice with Her mortal semblance. Remember, She likes there to be pleasure involved, too.” He tilted his head at a passing thought, “Don’t bring your knife, though… We don’t want to scare him. You can use mine, as it’s perfectly natural to have it nearby after I take off what he’s already seen me wearing, up there.”\n\n\tGiggling again, she gave her hands one more good wiping and followed him up to the bedroom.\n\n\tJol finished his cleanup and stepped out of the bathroom just as his owner was disrobing, but a grin and a wave toward the bed turned his attention to much more interesting things than a half-naked wolf. That cute vixen he’d seen was there, wearing no more than the collar that proclaimed her his equal, and he smiled as he climbed up beside her. “You’s the ‘treat’ Master has been promising me for a while,” she told him with a grin, “and I’s glad you’re older’n me. Means you should be nice an’ big.” He opened his muzzle to reply, then shut it, glancing worriedly at his owner, only to moan despite himself as the other child’s black-furred paw found his sheath and started to rhythmically squeeze…\n\n\t“Don’t worry yourself any,” Ferrl assured him as he tossed his clothes onto one corner of the bed and climbed up himself, “I’ve never been too picky about when my slaves are allowed to speak. Talk with her all you want.”\n\n\t“Yes, Master,” the stag immediately replied, then moaned again as a slender point of pink peeked out of his white-furred sheath. “Mmm, you’re good at that,” he told the fox more directly, his eyes half-closed as he relaxed into her touch.\n\n\tEla’s only reply was to dip her head down and take that tip into her muzzle, tongue swirling as she urged its further egress and cheeks hollowing with the occasional firm suckle. He was only a few inches long once he’d gotten as hard as he could, but fairly thick for his age, and he needed no further invitation when the vixen straightened up, leaned back, and spread her legs wide. Kneeling between her thighs, the buck gently gripped her hindside and lifted her enough to bring her tiny, glistening treasures into contact with his pointy-tipped staghood, a whimper of bliss escaping as he lowered her onto his length. “T-tight,” he rumbled with a shudder, his eyes scrunched closed as the slick heat gradually surrounded him, “and warm…”\n\n\tHis owner’s deep chuckle sounded to one side, “She is those, yes… but she’s also fully pleasure-trained. You don’t have to be quite so gentle; it’s not like she’s a virgin…”\n\n\tSmirking slightly, the older slave asked, “Then she’d like… this?” and jerked his hips forward, the tip of his sheath itself vanishing into the snug glove of flesh before him as he buried himself to the hilt. Ela’s happy squeal was answer enough, and she rocked her own hips to pull off of him then plunged back down. Following the rhythm as she set it, the stag thrust happily into the best lay of his young life; almost the only lay, but he’d had a few supervised sessions with older slavegirls as part of his training, just to get him used to the concept even if he wasn’t intended to specialize in sexual service himself.\n\n\tCrouching on the pillows, Ferrl scooted forward until his own shaft was within range, nudging his daughter’s muzzle with the tip. She didn’t even have to open her eyes; the familiar scent of her Master’s musk was enough, and she immediately engulfed his blunt head with her muzzle, tongue lapping happily away as she suckled. Her first climax made for a moment’s discomfort as her sharp little teeth clenched just enough to graze, and her smaller lover blinked a bit at the sudden increase in warm fluids that soaked his crotch, but there wasn’t enough in her bladder to seriously dissuade him and he was soon thrusting again with all of his previous vigor. His eyes opened to slits to watch as his Master playfully pinched and twisted the vixen’s tiny nipples, her squeals muffled by the thickness in her muzzle, but she evidently liked that, too, as it didn’t take long for the three-pronged assault to elicit another series of clenches, her depths’ renewed massage of his young shaft enough to send him over the edge and make him bleat his pleasure to the world, his hips still as a tiny jet or two of his immature fluids joined the slickness already surrounding him.\n\n\tWithdrawing himself from the cub’s muzzle, Ferrl climbed around to kneel behind Jol after a brief pause at his discarded clothes and belt, close enough that his still-engorged shaft touched the white underside of the buck’s tail. The older slave blinked as he came out of his pleasured haze, immediately guessing and dreading what his Master desired, but he also knew that it wasn’t his place to argue, and he did his best to stifle a sigh as he eased his softening boyhood out of his playmate. He supposed he could live with that sort of thing if it also meant getting to frequently help satisfy the horny little minx in front of him…\n\n\tEla levered herself up to a kneel of her own, then leaned forward, lapping at the retreating pink between Jol’s thighs. Her tongue was carefully gentle, its strokes soft enough not to hurt so soon after his own pleasure, and he giggled softly at her evident intent to keep playing. “That’s good,” he heard his Master encourage her, “get him hard again and you can go for another round… For now, though, I’m going to put all of that slickness you left me with to good use.”\n\n\tJol did his best not to tense up as his fears were confirmed, knowing that such would only make things hurt more… He focused on the black, white, and russet face at his groin to distract himself, smiling as she wrapped her lips around the tip that had stopped retreating to suckle encouragingly as it eased its way back toward firmness. He’d almost managed to forget the wolf behind him entirely when the cool moisture tipping his weighty shaft touched his anus, and he was surprised to find himself immensely grateful for the vixen’s efforts as her saliva did, indeed, help keep things slick enough that only the sheer girth of the flesh spreading and penetrating him caused any discomfort, as opposed to the near agony excessive friction would have elicited. The sting of his wide-stretched rump detracted, somewhat, from the more pleasant sensations before him, but he figured that if the cub wanted another stuffing of her own, that would only serve to help him last even longer, and making her happy was something he could indeed look forward to.\n\n\tFerrl rumbled happily as he buried himself in the young deer, almost half his length vanishing into the white cleft of those fawn-furred rumpcheeks before friction asserted itself, and he eased back, beginning a series of shallow thrusts to spread the boy’s own slickness as he worked gradually deeper. He felt the child’s start of surprise when he finally bottomed out, his knot pressed against the taut ring of muscle gripping him and his tip nudging something deep within that evidently caused some degree of pleasure, and he chuckled as his vixen looked up, a string of clear stickiness linking her lips to the shaft before her.\n\n\t“Dunno what you just did, Master, but it made ‘im squirt something!” she chirped, then went directly back to her ‘snack.’\n\n\tThe wolf shook his head, “I’d heard some comments to the effect that that was part of sodomy where males are concerned… but I hadn’t tried it myself ‘til today, nor have I ever been on the receiving end… Just enjoy yourself, dear, whatever happens.” Withdrawing a few inches, he thrust again with a bit more force, a half-pained bleat answering his efforts.\n\n\tEla resumed her sucking, cheeks hollowed as she bounced her muzzle up and down along the meaty length before her, her partner’s eyes scrunched shut but her own still open to slits as she happily worked her magic on him. Glancing to one side, she spotted the swirl-covered steel of the blade her owner-turned-father had set right next to the buck’s calf, and she redoubled her efforts at the sign that this second round was also meant to be the last, tongue slathering up and down his shaft with the occasional pause to focus entirely on its pointy tip, and Jol moaned his appreciation of her technique.\n\n\tTo his own surprise, as the strokes of the huge (to him) cylinder of maleness filling and emptying his bowels kept pistoning, its thrusts growing longer and stronger with each passing moment, that ‘torture’ he’d dreaded actually started to become a source of pleasure, even beyond the odd-feeling twinge each time its tip struck deep within. His own shaft was as hard as he could ever remember it being, and he thrust it eagerly time and time again into the hungry muzzle surrounding it. All of his estimates as to how his first climax or the pounding violation of his ass might postpone the second seemed to be falling to the wayside, and he gripped the back of his smaller lover’s head as a new peak drew near, his own lolling back as his panting grew steadily raspier…\n\n\tAs his bleat of triumph broke the air once more, a new rush of faintly-salty slickness filling her muzzle, Ela sank her sharp teeth into the pulsing meat between them, that bleat breaking off in a strangled gurgle before returning as a shriek of pain. Jol’s climax was still throbbing through his staghood as she chewed deeper, its steady pulse outpaced by that of his racing heart as spurts of blood met her tongue, and the pleasure mingled with his sudden agony had not quite passed into the purity of undiluted torment when the fox gave one last, strong jerk of her head and tore his shaft completely free, a grin on her bloodied muzzle as she swallowed it whole.\n\n\tFerrl released one of his hands from the grips he’d taken on Jol’s shoulders to make sure he stayed put, gesturing at the bat-hilted knife beside him, but had to leave it at that as his own climax neared, the hot passage surrounding him quivering in a most stimulating manner as the terrified child did his best to shit himself, but that’s why he’d made up an excuse to send the buck to the privy before any of this had started, so all the effort managed to do was tease his Master’s shaft into erupting with thick gouts of seed as the wolf threw back his head and howled. Renewed yelps and bleats of pain greeted his return to full consciousness, his vixen looking somewhat disheveled from several frantic blows on her playmate’s part, but she’d already taken steps to see that no more landed, both of Jol’s shoulders sporting short, spurting stumps and his arms laying still on the sheets to either side. “Good girl,” he nodded to Ela, still panting with a hint of the peak that had just passed. “I should have thought of that myself, and the next treat I buy you will have his or her arms tied up before things get this far.”\n\n\t“He didn’t hurt me much, daddy,” the vixen assured him, then took a firmer grip on the razor-sharp blade in her grasp, grinning, “Not nearly as much as this is gonna hurt him!” before raising it high and ramming it point-first through his breastbone, yanking it out just as quickly so she could bathe her face in the sudden gout of hot crimson. “Accept this sacrifice, Kathalla!” she cried happily, droplets of blood flying from her muzzle, then buried the folded-steel blade to its black-winged hilt in the buck’s belly for good measure, a couple inches off-center to make sure she didn’t nick the wolfhood still thrust into his guts. Jol gave one last, agonized twitch then slumped forward, the pulsing gushes from his chest slowing to a mere trickle as he finally died.\n\n\tEasing himself out of the boy’s hindside, the wolf laid him to one side on his back and mused, “These sheets are already ruined so we may as well just butcher him here… See if you can get his pelt off in as close to one piece as possible, and I’ll take it to be preserved and made into a garment of some sort. I kept a fluffy bunny-tail from my first sacrifice, and it’s only fair to give you a souvenir of your own from this one.”\n\n\tEla nodded, pulling the knife out of her ‘treat’s belly (after a bit of twisting to free its wicked hook) to more carefully apply its edge to the hollow of his throat, starting a neat, downward slice that made use of the slit already there just over his heart. “An’ we’ll be havin’ venison for days and days!” she grinned as she got to work.\n\n\t“Long enough to last us ‘til the next one,” the knight agreed. “While I was researching what I needed to do to adopt you, I noticed that we’ve almost got the same birthday… In about two weeks you’ll be turning seven, and I’ll be eighteen just four days later, so I was thinking of combining the celebration into one big party at the playclub. It’ll be fun for us, but somehow I doubt that the slaves we pick to ‘celebrate’ with there will be of the same opinion…” Her wicked grin of anticipation was every bit as predatory as his own.\n\nChapter 4\n\n\t“These aren’t really ‘magic words,’” Ferrl explained, his answer to Ela’s simple inquiry as to what he was reading having grown steadily more complex over the last several minutes. “In the stories, when a wizard is reciting an incantation as part of a spell, all he’s really doing is jogging his own memory. The ways in which the many types of magical energy can be blended, shaped, channeled, projected, restrained, filtered, concentrated, or otherwise made to do what the mage wants can be very complicated… so they work out the exact sequence of those things and what kinds of energy they do them to, and write down these words which were developed to precisely describe it all. By memorizing those words and reciting them back, they can remind themselves of exactly what they need to do to make the spell work.” He shook his head with a grimace, “I seem to have run out of ‘fun’ things to learn at the Guild… Now that I know the basic ways to do things, most of my remaining study involves learning what all of these strange-sounding words mean so I can understand complicated spells that others have written, or write down my own should I come up with something I want to remember how to duplicate. Then there are what my teachers call ‘second-tier’ techniques, covering advanced topics like the use of thought-energy or the sort of magical translocation that got me to this kingdom in the first place, but they won’t even discuss those until I’m judged a full master of the basic stuff.”\n\n\tThe vixen’s muzzle wrinkled as if she’d bitten into something sour, “Sounds borin’ alright… I’ll go back to readin’ ‘bout that wandering bard an’ the three shepherd’s daughters. You finally got somethin’ to study that I don’t wanna learn too.”\n\n\tChuckling softly, he gave her rump an affectionate pat and looked back to the tome in his lap. He was about halfway through the list of short sounds describing a particular level of an energy type, and he knew there’d be a test in the morning where his teacher would call out words assembled from those sounds and expect him to immediately project the correct balance of mixed energies.\n\n\tEla had stopped looking up each time he muttered something strange; the mostly-harmless energies he’d been projecting into the fireplace for practice had been interesting enough at first, but repetition had soon made them pale in comparison to the tale in her own book, rife with mingled juices, buggery, and the occasional indignity inflicted upon unsuspecting sheep. They both looked up, though, at the sound of a firm knocking at the door, and it was with a sense of relief that Ferrl closed his borrowed textbook and rose to answer it.\n\n\t“Kathy!” the wolf greeted with a smile, stepping out of the doorway so she could enter.\n\n\tThe bat shook her head grimly, remaining exactly where she stood. “I’m only here to tell you that Lachier’s on his way. You’re about to get another mission and it has my support. In the thousands of years since my own birth, I’ve never seen a Goddess on the spiritual plane, crying… but that’s exactly what Malia did, and it pertains to that problem She’d known was coming. She’d fill you in Herself, but I persuaded Her to wait until you’d gotten your marching orders and were well on your way, to absolutely minimize any delay in helping Her favorite children.”\n\n\tNodding, his expression serious, Ferrl turned toward the sitting room, “Ela? Go upstairs and start loading a knapsack with clothes for both of us as well as anything else that’s light and needed; if the situation’s this bad, I’ll want to be on the road as fast as conceivably possible if not faster.” When he turned back, the bat was gone. Closing the door, he opened his entryway’s closet and started loading pieces of his racked armor there into oiled bags.\n\n\tHe’d just filled one and was starting the next when the anticipated second knock came. Opening the door, he gestured for the ‘coon and his guards to enter, speaking before any of them could, “I’ve already been told something’s up, and Ela and I are already packing. Tell me what you need me to know and I’ll be on my way almost immediately.”\n\n\tThe prince blinked, then stepped inside. “That explains why my father was looking rather shaken when he gave me your orders to relay; our Goddess must be taking a direct hand in this.” Settling into a chair, he continued, “The basic issue is that a unicorn has been seen being led into a slave house in the duchy of Rajai. We have another Agent as close as Crisom, but for some reason Kathalla wants you to investigate the first appearance of a unicorn in nearly a thousand years.”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, but didn’t let his surprise slow his packing as he replied over the clatter of steel, “Unicorn Vale shares a border with Rajai… but according to my geography lessons, that border is enforced by Malia Herself. No one can cross it, in or out! That certainly explains why this is a major issue, if someone’s found a way to enter freely and is intent on reintroducing unicorns to the slave market.”\n\n\tLachier nodded, tossing a heavy pouch onto the end table beside him, then fished a roll of parchment out of his vest pocket. “Given the distance you’ll have to cover and the fact that you were just about to be paid on your regular schedule, your next two months’ wages have been added to your mission stipend, and to avoid unnecessary delays the king has issued a writ of free passage for you. Show it to any guards or militia you encounter, and they should let you pass without the troublesome business of having to authenticate your badge of office. He’s also provided written orders that will allow you to commandeer horses from royal courier stables in the event that your own is played out before you reach your goal, as well as a blank goldsmith’s draft on the royal account in case some major problem arises that can be easily solved with money.” He shook his head in mild wonder, “Our Goddess must have been quite emphatic with my father; never in my lifetime has so much care been taken on a single Agent’s behalf to ensure that they’ll be able to accomplish their mission… Still, make sure that there’s no other option before you use the draft, as you’ll only have one of them.”\n\n\tThe wolf pulled the last bag’s drawstring tight then fetched his and Ela’s main and spare cloaks from the closet, draping them over his arm. “I’ll be on my way immediately,” he told his oldest Drachathian friend. “I’ve been told that the fine details of what I’m to investigate and how I’m to use the information I gather will be provided to me by a higher authority on the way,” and he mimed a glance heavenwards for clarity, “but I’ve got nearly eight hundred miles to cover in a straight line, and no telling how much actual riding ahead of me, if I’m remembering my maps right, so I’d best start shortening that total as quickly as I can.” Frowning, he added, “There’s a spare key in the stand there; you might want to send a servant over to clean out my kitchen, as the food would cause quite a stench if it was left ‘til I got back.”\n\n\tNodding, the prince padded over to shake his hand, “I’ll do that, and see that someone keeps an eye on your garden as well. I understand the need for haste, though, and you’re reacting with remarkable professionalism given how sudden this all is. I’ll see you when you return, and we can belatedly celebrate your birthday then.”\n\n\t“And Ela’s,” Ferrl added with a grin, squeezing the ‘coon’s paw in return. “You should have seen what she did to her first sacrifice; I’m very glad I’m on her good side, and she’ll certainly be entertaining to watch with all of the club’s slaves to choose her next victim from!”\n\n\tLachier grinned back as he fetched the key from the drawer, “I’m looking forward to it,” and gave his friend a jaunty salute before taking his leave.\n\n\tThe door had hardly closed when Ela herself came scampering down the stairs, a good-sized knapsack bouncing behind her. “I got my knife and your spare money in here,” she reported. “Are we leaving now or do we have time to grab some of Jol for dinner?”\n\n\t“Just as soon as you put on your cloak and add our spares to that bag, we’re out of here; we’ll grab some meat pies or something from a vendor on our way out of the city,” her father decided as he stepped over to retrieve the pouch and papers from the table. “You’ll have to carry that as far as the stables; my armor and the big swords are all I can manage without dropping something.” As an afterthought, he picked up the book on magical description as well; he’d have lots of time to study on the trip ahead, after all.\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe sun was just starting to set as Ferrl leaned his clacking burdens against the stableyard fence and strode toward the building proper. Though he was looking for the equine who ran the place, the first person he saw and recognized was a feline coming up the road that led away from Fariach, so he quickly amended his plans. Spotting the burly stablemaster next, he cut off the other man’s greeting in his most businesslike tone, “I know you normally just shelter and exercise others’ mounts rather than sell them, but I have to ask if there are any to buy regardless. You know me as a knight, but I’m also an Agent, and the king has just given me a mission of the utmost urgency at the direct request of a Goddess. Cherrah cannot carry myself, my armor, my daughter, and an adult companion all at the same time, or at least not for any great distance, and I have to cross very nearly the entire kingdom.”\n\n\tBlinking, the beastmaster turned and yelled farther back into the stable, “Syran! Nushet! Saddle Cherrah and… Red, too. Quickly now!” Turning back to the wolf, he gave a rueful shake of his head, “I can think of several of the horses here whose owners might be willing to part with them, but none are of a temperament to forgive me for selling them without at least consulting them first, and it doesn’t sound like you’d be willing to wait that long. You take good care of your stallion, though, so I have to trust that you’d also treat my own mare right. I’ll miss her… but I know I’ll enjoy getting acquainted with whoever I buy to replace her once I’ve gotten over the loss. Give me your word as both knight and Agent that she’ll be well-kept, and she’s yours for four nobles, and that’s profit enough to cover the grain and waterskins I’m sure you were also planning to buy.” He paused to yell over his shoulder, “You hear that, you two? Load ‘em with fodder and water, and the good stuff!” The stableboys saddling the horses both called back their acknowledgment.\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “That request was to be the next thing I said, so instead I will give you my word of honor as knight and Agent of Drachath to treat your beloved Red as she deserves, and my thanks as a man for your actions this evening.” Dipping his fingers into his vest pocket, he passed over four of the large gold coins, a half-grin on his muzzle as he mused, “And for the supplies, my friend, keep the rest of the stabling time I paid for; it will have expired well before I could return, and I shall happily pay anew then. I cannot absolutely promise that return, as any Agent’s mission tends to involve at least some degree of danger, but know that only my death will prevent you from seeing me, and Cherrah and Red of course, once more.”\n\n\tThe equine snorted with a faint grin of his own as he pocketed the money, “There are many tales told around various hearths about the kingdom’s fabled Agents… but one thing they have in common is that such are notoriously difficult to kill. My Red is no warhorse, but she’s strong and swift, and I’m certain I’ll see both of you again.”\n\n\t“We can hope,” the Agent nodded, then tilted his head as a thought occurred, “Is Red’s cycle normal? If it’s off, that could be… inconvenient, should her season strike while traveling alongside a full stallion.”\n\n\tThe older man laughed, “And that just goes to prove my trust that you consider your mounts’ welfare as well as your own! No, her season passed with the spring, though I didn’t breed her this year.” The shadow of a fond memory crossed his eyes as he added with a chuckle, “At least, not to anything that could sire a foal on her… though I did what I could, personally, to ease the discomfort of estrus for her.” He turned to gesture at the pair of horses his assistants were leading out, “There she is, and Cherrah looks happy to see you… Take them with my blessing, and have a safe journey.”\n\n\tAfter spending a moment stroking noses and letting his hand be snuffled over, to greet the stallion and introduce himself to the mare, Ferrl gave the stablemaster a nod then took a set of reins in each hand to lead the beasts toward the ladies waiting for him just outside the yard.\n\n\t“You’ve acted with all the haste I could have hoped,” Malia murmured the moment he neared. “I’ve watched, and you haven’t spent a bit of time on anything that couldn’t be accurately termed ‘necessary.’ For that you have my deepest thanks…”\n\n\tThe wolf was already rigging the rope-linked cuffs to either side of Cherrah’s saddle to support his greatswords, and he nodded as he maneuvered the first one through the loops, “I don’t even know exactly where we’re going, and my knowledge of the history of unicorns is limited to a few sentences mentioned in passing several weeks ago, but details are strictly secondary in importance. I will need them eventually, but I had my Goddess’ statement of urgency, well-backed by my king’s obvious effort to support the mission, and those were all it took to get me started.”\n\n\tGlancing over what needed to be loaded, Malia hefted his rope-connected sacks of armor and set them over the red-brown mare’s back just behind her well-filled saddlebags. “We are going to the city of Chraf, seat of the Earldom of Wheathaven, in the northwest corner of the Duchy of Rajai. It borders the lands of… of my children…” and she had to pause to wipe fresh tears from her eyes. Ela stepped over and reached up, giving the cat a hard, comforting hug and not even attempting to feel her up through her light armor, the affection returned gratefully for the long moment it lasted.\n\nFerrl nodded, slid his second sword home, and picked up the bag of clothes and other necessities to sling over his black stallion’s rump, lacing a spare thong through the two bands of leather around the sack’s canvas to tie it down. “Tell me the rest once you’re mounted; whether you’re with us for the whole journey or not, that’s the main reason I bought the second horse, so we wouldn’t have to stand around while you told me what I need to know.” Lifting Ela up into Cherrah’s saddle, he followed to sit behind her. Only when the feline had recovered enough to mount as well and they’d started an easy trot westwards to reach the main road leading north did he continue, “Other than one unusually-long stretch where she lived with me for several weeks, Kathy comes and goes as she pleases, never staying for long, and Roxy’s no different. That’s why I ask: will you be remaining with us for the whole trip? You probably know the most efficient route to Chraf, and I wanted to see if your wisdom would be available to me before taking the time to obtain maps, as such might not be necessary depending on your answer.”\n\n\t“I haven’t gotten into Kathy’s or Roxy’s habit of dividing myself into several incarnations at once,” she answered with a shake of her head, “so there’s no need for me to take this one elsewhere… I’ll be happy to guide you, if for no other reason than to thank you for the hasteful foresight you’ve been showing from the moment my sister brought you word.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded again, “Fair enough. Now, what can you tell me about the situation as you know it in Wheathaven?” In front of him, sensing a story in the offing, Ela perked up her ears and listened attentively.\n\n\tA hint of sadness returned to the Goddess’ voice as she answered, “Too little, yet too much… I watch the border of the Vale constantly, repelling any attempt made to cross from without or gently guiding my children back toward their homes should any of them roam too far, and every one of the twelve thousand, four hundred and thirty-eight unicorns that live therein are ‘mine’ spiritually, the entire country effectively one big temple, so I should know if anything bad happened to any of them within it. I do know that exactly two hundred and eight children there have suffered scraped knees, jarred elbows, or other minor injuries painful enough to register on my consciousness this day, which just makes this all the more confusing! There should be seven more unicorns in that land than I said there were, but I never felt them leave. It wasn’t until one was seen among a line of new slaves being led into a branch of The Serving Man by one of my priests, who immediately knelt down and uttered a prayer that got my instant and undivided attention, that I knew anyone was gone to begin with! Two of those leading the new slaves had a blight upon their souls that was reported as well in that prayer, but Kathalla tells me that they were not Hers, and between two Goddesses in direct contact on the spiritual plane there can be no deception. As they lacked Sliisthar’s gift of concealing their darkness, I must conclude that they belonged to Karnaal.”\n\n\t“Other than the mystery of how they got them out in the first place, the involvement of those following the God of Thieves isn’t hard to comprehend,” Ferrl agreed. “After all these centuries under your protection, a unicorn would be considered an irresistibly valuable treasure if they could but steal one.” He frowned slightly, “Not that I’m all that clear on why they’re so special to begin with, though…”\n\n\tThe feline gave a wan smile, “Though not quite the innocents those same centuries have inflated the stories to describe them as, unicorns are… very trusting creatures. So long as it doesn’t conflict too starkly with whatever they’d previously been told, they’re very quick to learn new teachings, and can easily establish almost unbreakable habits related to what they’re taught. This is what led to my creating Unicorn Vale to begin with… They were in great demand as guards, servants, or,” and an edge of bitterness soured her tone, “slaves… Trained from an early enough age, they made some of the best warriors, artisans, cooks, and other laborers known in any kingdom, and they could also be taught that their ‘place’ was one of utterly submissive servitude in the case of those enslaved outright, but they’ve never been an extremely numerous species, and this popularity among the rich and powerful of other races had been spreading them farther and farther apart from one another. They were in danger of dying out completely, simply from being unable to find mates of their own kind, which is why I gathered them all together in the Vale, taking steps to make sure that no one could ever exploit them so again… or, at least, that had been my intent. Obviously, somehow I have failed in that goal…”\n\n\tThe Agent digested her tale as they turned northwards onto the road leading to Lark’s Reach, letting the horses settle into a canter that they could keep up for at least a few hours before tiring, but that he knew would quickly eat up the miles between them and their destination. He voiced his conclusions a few minutes later, “Finding out the ‘how’ of things shall be my first priority. I’ll ask a few questions in the last one or two major cities prior to Chraf itself, just in case any news, rumor, or actual unicorns have spread that far by the time we’re anywhere near the earldom, and what I find out will determine where to direct my efforts next. I believe that the role I’ll play will be that of a wealthy collector of the exotic, seeking to be one of the first in centuries to own a unicorn slave; the blank draft the king gave me should suffice… I’m far from being poor, myself, but they’re probably asking a good-sized fortune for something this rare and special, and I’ll almost certainly have to show them tangibly that I can afford it before they’d let me see the actual merchandise.”\n\n\tMalia nodded, “Distasteful as some aspects of that may be, the plan stands a good chance of success… If you can actually buy the unicorn, I’d be grateful; the freedom of any of my stolen children would be beyond price to me.”\n\n\tCasting a glance skywards, the wolf mused, “It doesn’t look like it will rain tonight, so we’ll go as far as we can and then camp out. It would be far too late to gain entry to Liyad without causing more trouble than I care to deal with while in a hurry, by the time we could get there, and it’s not going to hurt us any to sleep rough whenever a city isn’t convenient, though we should probably stop there in the morning to pick up some food.” Smiling down at the vixen seated before him, he directed, “Pass around the pies we grabbed on the way out; now that we’re underway it won’t slow us any to finally have supper.”\n\n\tEla smiled and reached for the grease-stained burlap pouch hanging from her sash by a piece of twine, “Yes, Daddy, and it’s about time! I’m hungry!”\n\n* * *\n\n\tThey made it within a few leagues of the city of Liyad before Ferrl called a halt, judging the horses too tired to continue safely in the dark even with the assistance of a magical light. The two-footed members of the party ate the last of the meat pies, half apiece having been saved for an after-midnight snack, but the horses were able to enjoy generous helpings of mixed oats, barley, and dried peas topped with small scoops of salt. They sniffed suspiciously at the invisible ‘bowl’ of motion-magic the wolf provided as a drinking trough at first, but slurped up the much-needed liquid eventually.\n\n\tHis next priority profoundly confused his poor daughter, but gained a look of strong approval from Malia once she realized what he was up to. “Tomorrow, and for the rest of the trip, I want you to spend as much time as you can stand holding these, or swinging them around,” he instructed the vixen as he held up one of the two rocks he’d found, chosen for their nearly identical weight at just over half a pound each. Confusion was gradually replaced with understanding as he explained further, “This is part of the self-defense I promised I’d teach you... Every few days, we’ll get a new pair of rocks that weigh just a little more, so you’ll get steadily stronger... Be careful how you hold and swing them, though; do not flail around as hard as you can, but always keep them under control. You see, the muscles that stop a swing are just as important as the ones that start it.”\n\n\tEla nodded, hefting one of the rocks experimentally before picking up its mate to pack into a saddlebag, while the cat to one side nodded and commented, “I’m glad to see that I was right about your qualifications to teach... Control is every bit as important as you suggested, but restraint is also needed to prevent injury to her still-growing joints.”\n\n\tNodding as he arranged a collection of gathered pine boughs into a marginally softer bed than the grassy turf and laid his spare cloak atop them to keep the needles from poking through, the knight asked Malia, “On another subject entirely, though, are you still harboring any reservations about the propriety of my relationship with Ela? I can tell you right now that if she’s forced to spend the entire trip celibate, she’s likely to get more than a little depressed. She has some very distinct needs that I’ve always done my best to fulfill, and going for too long without play is not the way to keep her happy.” He smiled a bit as he added, “And since buying her, I’ve gotten rather unfond of the notion of sleeping alone, myself…”\n\n\tHis feline companion frowned slightly, “I’ve always supported the notion that children are to be loved and protected, but your and her definition of ‘love’ doesn’t quite match the one I’ve always maintained. My interpretation has only allowed what you do with her to be defined as ‘rape,’ the difference being definitively implied by her age… but I also know, intellectually, that it’s not. It’s hard to break that sort of reflexive habit of thought after as long as I’ve held it… but the intellect really should overrule the emotions, or the very free will my kind gifted yours with is rendered moot, and you’d be little better than animals following their instincts.” Sighing, she nodded, “I will not be offended by simple sex where she’s concerned, as it’s obviously something she seeks and enjoys… and I may just suspend my whimsical requirement of combat where my own involvement is concerned, as there really are few things I enjoy seeing more than a happy child.”\n\n\tHaving listened with an expression of guarded hope while she was discussed, Ela scampered over to where the cat was building her own bedding to give her a big hug, “Thank you, ma’am! I’ll really be lots happier if I get to play, but we should only do that when th’horses are really tired. I don’t wanna slow us down in rescuin’ your kids.”\n\n\tMalia chuckled and kissed the vixen gently on her cheek, “For that consideration, you have my thanks. You go play with your ‘daddy’ for tonight, my dear, but the next time we stop… I may change my mind before then, because I’m still a little uncomfortable with the whole notion, but Roxy was telling me how another woman, or girl in your case, knows ways to please her own gender that men can only imperfectly emulate. I think I’d like to experience that for myself at some point…”\n\n\tThe cub nodding happily, grinning with anticipation, her father chuckled his agreement as he settled onto his crude bed, “There’s a lioness of our acquaintance who’s quite experienced herself, and she’s always found my little one’s efforts to be most satisfactory. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience, though make sure she waters a bush first if you want to taste a fellow female for yourself; she’s got this little problem with incontinence that could be an unpleasant surprise to those with less perverse expectations, though in my mind that’s just become one more aspect of her overall charm now that I’ve gotten used to it.” Grinning broadly at Ela’s naughty giggle and Malia’s blink of confusion, he crooked a finger in a come-hither gesture, “Join me, my dear one, and let me lick you for a while before we sleep. I’ve been meaning to do so without your first being rendered ‘safe’ for some time now, and just hadn’t gotten around to it, but tonight’s as good a night as any to see if my tolerance for salt is as high as I think.”\n\n\t“Okay, daddy!” she laughed merrily as she ran over to join him, “Get ready for a drink!”\n\nChapter 5\n\n\tThe border between the Barony of Lark’s Reach and the County of Stonecliff was marked, on just the far side, by two fair-sized stone buildings flanking the road, several horses picketed outside of one and four guards in evidence, though more emerged from the open doors of the structures as one called out at the sight of travelers.\n\n\t“This is likely to be a pain,” Ferrl muttered to his companions as they rode closer. “My geography teacher mentioned that the local count is very touchy about his holdings’ relative lack of prosperity, as the large orders for cut stone that they supply for new buildings are infrequent at best, so the guard force is known for badgering travelers to find out just how much they can be taken for in terms of taxes, some of which are pretty ridiculous.”\n\n\tMalia, astride Red with Ela seated before her, blinked with a frown, “We’ve got money, don’t we? We should be able to pay even silly taxes…” As soon as the buildings had come into view, she’d already had the cub put away her rocks to avoid odd questions.\n\n\tThe wolf shook his head, “Paying’s not the problem; it’s enduring the questions while they determine just what we need to pay for that could prove to be annoying.”\n\n\tThey reined in as a soldier with an officer’s badge called them to halt, and at his imperious gesture they had to dismount as well. “What are you carrying and what is your purpose for entering the County of Stonecliff?” he demanded in a gruff voice.\n\n\tLooking up at the sky, Ferrl started ticking off on his fingers, “We’ve got food for ourselves and our horses, the arms and armor that are my right as a knight, spare clothes, personal funds, a few more weapons of self-defense owned by my daughter and our companion, and a writ of free passage signed by King Burtak that you’d do well not to argue with. Our purpose here is simply to pass through, as this road is on the shortest route to the far end of the kingdom which is our goal. Does that cover everything, sir?”\n\n\tThe stocky canine scowled, “Do not take such a flippant tone with me, sir knight, or I’ll have my troop teach you some manners. We will examine this writ of yours, of course, but ‘free’ passage does not apply in a financial sense; you’ll still be liable for any taxes that are due to my honored lord.” Gesturing to one of his soldiers, he called, “Flarc, check them.”\n\n\tThe soldier who answered the call padded up to stop a few paces distant, holding a crystal of some sort that he pointed at each member of the party and their horses as well, pausing several times in the process. Turning to his captain, he reported, “There’s a fairly strong enchantment in each of the wolf’s belt-pouches, just a hint of such on his lapel pin, and something else faint in the stallion’s left saddlebag.”\n\n\t“Explain this,” the officer demanded. “Magic items are taxed as luxury goods, and if they’re offensive in nature they’re completely prohibited.”\n\n\tFerrl did his best not to frown as he shrugged, “That saddlebag contains my writ of passage and some other official documents, and the minor enchantments incorporated into their seals are meant to prove that they’re not forgeries, though the artifacts that verify them are probably too rare to be issued to a roadside guard post. My pin is similar, as it’s a badge of office. My belt pouches contain two halves of an enchantment I worked myself that was never intended to be considered salable merchandise, and it’s a one-time effect anyway so its value is highly debatable.”\n\n\tAfter a blink of confusion at the incongruity of a seeming warrior admitting to being a mage, the dog’s eyes lit with greed, “A wizard, eh? Your kind is also taxed, as there are any number of things you might do to earn money with your powers, regardless of your claim to merely be passing through.”\n\n\t“You question my word and my honor at your own peril,” the knight growled with one finger raised in warning. “You also delay me with these questions, and if doing so prevents me from carrying out the king’s orders such could even be called treasonous. If I told you truly the degree of authority I’m acting under, you’d probably throw me into the local hospice for the deranged… if I let you. I have no business within this county save to pass through, nor any grudge against the citizens or soldiery here, but you’re coming dangerously close to changing both of those circumstances for the worse, and those buildings aren’t big enough to hold enough troops to stop me if you really irritate me.”\n\n\tSeveral of the guards laid hands on their weapons, and their officer looked ready to attack with his own teeth and claws. “Threats are not the way to conclude these minor formalities, ‘sir knight,’ that all must undergo as a matter of law… You speak of treason, but attacking the lawful militia of the county for doing their duty would be no better. Now, surrender the enchantments you carry so they can be more closely evaluated or you will be placed under immediate arrest.”\n\n\tFerrl’s frown gradually evaporated, and he had to keep from smirking instead as he nodded, “As you wish, officer.” As he extracted the two crystalline pyramids from his pouches he murmured to his companions, “I’m starting to get tired of this… I’ll bind them in place and we’ll be on our way in just a moment.”\n\n\t“No whispering!” the captain barked.\n\n\tTossing the crystals into the road’s dirt between them, the wolf snorted, “If you wish to see what these do, just bring their square sides into contact with each other. As I said, it will only work once, but that also obviates the need to judge the spell’s retail value once your curiosity’s been satisfied... The effect should be obvious, even to so limited of mental gifts as your own, within a few seconds.” The man took a step forward with a growl at the insult, only to trip as the Agent lashed out with lines of force, binding the legs of every solder in sight. Lifting Ela into Cherrah’s saddle, then, he murmured conversationally to Malia, “Let’s go. These folks won’t bother us anymore.”\n\n\tThe soldiers were shouting for help as they struggled against their invisible bonds, but the troops that rushed out of the buildings in response found themselves similarly restrained as each appeared, tumbling into a pair of heaps at the two doorways. Both ladies giggling at the antics, the companions rode off, and Ferrl strained to maintain the lines of magic until they were well over the road’s next rise.\n\n\t“Won’t they just chase us?” Malia asked as she saw his look of concentration fade. “They have good horses, after all…”\n\n\tThe knight shook his head, “Without that asshole of a captain to lead them, I don’t think the rest will have the courage to pursue two armed people, one of whom they’ll know by then is a dangerous wizard. That stupid mutt’s bound to try those stones before following, and that will be that.”\n\n\tEla also looking curious, the feline asked with an arched brow, “And what do they do? You never got around to explaining that part…”\n\n\tFerrl opened his mouth to reply, then shut it with a grin as an explosion louder than thunder shook the air and ground behind them and startled both horses into a gallop. “That,” he answered once they’d gotten their steeds back under control. “Scratch one obstructionist official. Maybe he’ll learn some manners in his next life.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe buildings where the road crossed the far border of the county, later that same day, were physically identical to the last post, but the captain of the guard troop there was entirely different. He was obviously even less intelligent than the canine who’d gone so far out of his way to irritate the travelers, but far wiser because he actually knew his own weakness. “Tell me if this says what he said it does,” he told one of his troopers, passing over the writ Ferrl’d actually had a chance to present this time.\n\n\tThe feline squinted, working his way slowly through the ornate lettering as he mouthed the words to himself… “It says he can go anywhere, yeah, but what does ‘diplomatic immunity’ mean?”\n\n\tThe vulpine captain looked blank, and turned to the private who’d actually had a few years of schooling before joining the militia, “Leng? Do you know?”\n\n\tThe least soldier of the troop nodded, “It means that nobody can get in his way. He could walk right up to a complete stranger and chop their head off just for fun, and we couldn’t arrest him because the king’s reserved that right to himself. No one else in the entire kingdom can take him to account for his actions.”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, “I really should have read that… I have a very important mission, so I hurried on as fast as possible; I didn’t realize myself that I had that degree of support from my liege, but I guess that clears up my worries as to whether I’ll get in trouble for what I did at the last guard post… Like I said, I’m in a hurry, so when the captain there kept me waiting for too long and then tried to arrest me, I blew him into very, very small pieces. You might want to send a message to the city, as I’m not sure what’s left of his troop has the presence of mind to fetch a replacement on their own…”\n\n\tThe fox blinked back, then shook his head with a faint smile, “I know I’m not very smart… but there’s a difference between being a little thick and acting as dumb as that guy did! You don’t need to do that sort of thing this time, good traveler, and you’re free to go as soon as you’ve got your paper back.”\n\n\tThe bright private stepped up to relay the writ to the wolf, grinning as well, “He probably also didn’t recognize your badge, sir, but I do… and the troops at the other post will learn a good lesson as soon as I get a chance to explain it to them: you just don’t fuck with an Agent!” Behind him, roughly half the troop started blinking in confusion. The other half immediately snapped to attention with a mass clatter of arms and armor, and saluted.\n\n\t“Sound advice, my friend,” Ferrl laughed as he tucked the parchment back into his saddlebag and lifted Ela onto the horse. “I’m normally a pretty nice guy… but right now I’ve got a job to do, and anyone who tries to stop me will end up regretting it.” He fished a silver coin out of his vest and flipped it to the young mink, “Buy the troop a round of ale the next time you’re rotated off road duty; you all have my thanks for being much more reasonable than the last batch.”\n\n\tThis fetched a broad grin in return, “Technically we can’t accept anything but taxes from travelers… but your immunity also applies to charges of attempted bribery. I’ll do as you suggest, and we’ll all raise a mug to the kingdom’s fabled Agents in memory of this meeting.”\n\n\tAll of the travelers were mounted by that point so, with a nod and a jaunty salute of his own, Ferrl led them across the border and down the road. Once the horses had settled into their traveling pace, the wolf took some writing supplies out of his pack, carefully jotting a note to himself as Cherrah’s motion permitted. “I’m just making sure I remember Private Leng and his captain after the journey,” he answered Malia’s questioning look. “My instinct says he’s good officer material, so I’ll recommend that he be promoted and eventually commissioned, and for all of his lacks the captain’s a pretty decent sort too, so it couldn’t hurt to find him a position where decency’s a boon but amazing intelligence is unnecessary. One of the king’s advisers should know the holding well enough to say who we should ask to look into it, and orders from Verona will make it happen once I ask her to write them.”\n\n\tThe feline nodded with a smile, “Good… I agree on both counts, and this is an excellent case of mortals getting what their actions warrant. Politeness and businesslike competence should be rewarded, while overbearing arrogance… well, let’s just say that my only regret about the first guard post is that some of the common troopers may have been injured in the blast their officer brought upon himself. They deserve a little something bad for supporting his attitude problem in the first place, but nothing life-threatening…”\n\n\t“Even if one or two of them caught flying shards of crystal badly enough to be killed or crippled,” he pointed out, “that’s still better than what they’d have suffered had the captain succeeded in getting them to try arresting us. There wouldn’t have been many survivors at all if he’d forced the issue and gotten me really mad.”\n\n\tMalia nodded again, “Exactly, so my only regret isn’t much of one.” She took a moment to glance at the sun, “Neither of the posts really delayed us for very long… but it’ll still probably be too late to get into Tarox by the time we could reach it, and both of the other cities in Greenholt are too far off the main highway to bother with. Guess we’re camping out again, tonight…”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled, “We’ll live… and it’s really probably better that way. We picked up plenty of food this morning, so tomorrow we can go through Tarox quickly, before the business of the day crowds the streets enough to slow us down. Other than stops to replenish our supplies, it’s probably best to do that sort of thing whenever possible; adhering to the structured business-day of inns, and dealing with the traffic of city streets, would both cost us many small pieces of time that would quickly add up, and if a little discomfort here and there can save us that total sum then it’s worth it.”\n\n\tMalia shook her head, “I know, and it’s not the discomfort I’m thinking about… It’s the cold. I built this body a little too athletically; with short fur and almost no fat, even the summer evenings can get chilly.”\n\n\tThe wolf chuckled again, tucking his finished note into a pocket so he could pat Ela on the shoulder, “If your cloak’s not sufficing, then we’ll just grab the first blanket we see for sale on the way through town tomorrow, and for tonight you can borrow my nice, warm vixen.”\n\n\tThe cub giggled, a hint of mischief in her eyes as she asked, “But then how’ll she get any rest, daddy?”\n\n* * *\n\n\tFerrl woke to a light touch on his shoulder, dawn’s first light all but invisible through the inn’s window in contrast to the candle burning on the stand beside the bed, and nodded to Malia with a smile, “I’m quite glad you came along… A map could do the same job of guiding us, but it certainly couldn’t keep track of minor things such as what time it is while the rest of us sleep, and even that completely ignores the pleasure of your companionship.”\n\n\tThe cat nodded as she reached for her leathers to start dressing, “My body may need sleep, but the rest of me doesn’t; you’re right enough about that… Anyway, that storm we were trying to outrun seems to have passed during the night, and it’s still early enough that we can beat the crowds on our way out.” Tossing the vixen her dress as she finished her wake-up stretch, she grinned to the child, “Your clothes are the fastest to get into, so why don’t you go see if the stableboy’s up yet? We’ll be along in a minute or so.”\n\n\tNodding, Ela pulled on the rough cloth and stepped off the bed into her simple shoes, “Even if he isn’t, Cherrah knows me and Red’ll follow ‘im. I can get ‘em out myself if I have to, since we left ‘em saddled, but you two’ll have’ta load the bags. I ain’t tall enough, and they’re heavy.” Not wasting any more time with talk, the cub opened the door and scampered out.\n\n\tIt took more than a minute, of course, but less than three before the adults joined her. Malia’s leathers were meant for long-term use, and Ferrl had traded his dirty clothes for clean in his pack before going to bed, so all they had to do before departure was get dressed, use the privy, and grab the lone bag of clothes, money, and books. The armor and food had been left with the horses, and Ferrl distributed some of the latter once they were mounted and on their way toward the south gate of Petch. That gate was still closed, of course, as the sun hadn’t yet shown itself, so the knight held his writ at the ready as he approached the sleepy-looking night guard.\n\n\t“Didn’t you hear it?” the lion asked before the document or even a greeting could be offered, then yawned and shook his head to clear it.\n\n\tFerrl blinked, “Hear what?”\n\n\tThe man jerked one thumb over his shoulder, his other hand idly combing through his mane, “The roar, the crash… A flood took out the bridge a couple hours past midnight. You folks came in from the east just after I went on-shift last night, so you’re probably heading south or west, but there’s no way for you to get across the river.”\n\n\tMalia scowled, “And no way to get around it, either… unless we want to add at least three days to our trip; this part of the kingdom’s a pain to navigate at the best of times, as nothing’s really connected in a straight line. Hills, rivers, and a small mountain just aren’t cooperating…”\n\n\t“Calmly, dear, calmly,” Ferrl chuckled. “I can get us across the river, though it’ll be hard. I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough to carry one horse at a time… magically speaking,” he added quickly at the half-asleep guard’s surprised blink. “I’ll have to rest between each one, but this little disaster shouldn’t delay us by more than an hour.” He held out the parchment, folded to guard the ink from the morning’s damp air, “This is a writ of free passage signed by the king. I know it’s too early to open the gates, normally, but I’d appreciate it if you let us out anyway.”\n\n\tThe burly cat accepted the document just long enough to flip it open and glance at the imprinted seal, then handed it back with a shrug, “I can’t read, but that looks official enough. It’ll take some time to get enough help to open the gate, though; that bar weighs nearly as much as the stallion that you’re so confidently talking about picking up.”\n\n\t“Confidence can, sometimes, be justified,” the wolf assured him. “Would it break any local laws if I proved my claim by moving the bar myself?”\n\n\tThe guard just shrugged again, “Probably, but I’m too bloody tired to care. If you really can, go ahead.”\n\n\tThe ‘bar’ looked to be solid oak, a foot square in cross-section and ten feet wide, its iron supports heavily reinforced to hold its weight even under the strain of a battering ram. It probably did weigh nearly as much as Cherrah… and, on reflection, Ferrl wasn’t at all sure he could move two horses, three people, and that bar all on the same day. Nudging his mount to sidestep, he leaned over to murmur to Malia, “I don’t want to attract excess attention on any level… so could you ask your darker sister about that energy-mix She was offering me but didn’t get around to specifying? The one regarding flying, not obfuscation; She’ll understand what I’m talking about, and Her reply should be just a word or two you can relay without it really being divine intervention at all…”\n\n\tNodding, the feline looked slightly distant as she whispered back, “I’m tracking Her down now… and I’m glad you’re being discreet; there’s something about the timing of this flood I just don’t trust. I think there might be—ah! Found Her.” She muttered something not unlike an attempt to pronounce a random portion of the alphabet, then blinked, “Did I say that right? What did I just say?”\n\n\tSlipping down from the far side of the saddle, Ferrl grinned and answered simply, “This…” before turning to face the huge oaken beam. The mix her unpronounceable phrase described was mostly wind- and motion-magic, but there was just a hint of a few other elements as well, and it had ended in the suffix for total infusion. He reached out with one hand, fingers wide as he projected a diffuse line of force at the wood, letting the energies spread out to fill it from their point of contact, then raised his other arm, a single finger directing a line of pure motion as he wrapped it around the bar… It resisted his first attempt to lift it so he tried harder, having to push with most of his strength to budge the huge block; it still had a good few hundred pounds of apparent weight… but his might was sufficient for that much, at least, and with only a furrowed brow and a light sweat to mark his effort he lifted it free of its supports and leaned it gently against the gatehouse’s stone wall.\n\n\tThe hinges were well enough oiled that a motive nudge swung one half of the gate outwards with no need to lighten it. The guard peered out into the gloom of dawn’s first glow, yawned again, and shrugged, “Good enough; I don’t see any ravening barbarian hordes out there, so the city’ll survive being unlocked an hour or two before the day guards get here. Good luck with the river.”\n\n\tIt was about half a mile from the city walls to the swollen banks of the river, but even from that distance they could see the water rushing between the piles of tumbled stone that had been the ends and middle of a bridge. The wolf did his best to rest and relax for the few minutes it took them to reach the near side, intent on recovering what little strength he could in so short a time; the breadth of the gulf he’d have to somehow get his party across was looking more and more daunting with every step they took toward it. As much to distract himself from the task ahead as anything else, he asked Malia, “What were you saying about suspicions, dear?”\n\n\tThe feline shook her head grimly, “It’s another of those ‘hunches’ I get… I don’t know any specifics, because part of the hunch is that looking for specifics might tip someone off and change the situation for the worse, but I strongly suspect that the flood was deliberately caused. The storm that blew in could have been natural… but several aspects of it were just a little too perfect for my comfort. The wind coming off of the ocean was a few degrees off normal for the season, which could be random chance; it also lined up the clouds just over and east of the mountain this river comes from so the afternoon and evening sun could strike the snow unhindered… And finally, it started raining the moment it reached that mountain, while the rest of the weather seemed more inclined to hold back, giving us enough time to rush into town last night. I suspect just a faint nudge or two on the part of some God or another, though I won’t name any names of course, which could explain the unusual size of those boulders and logs I see where the bridge’s central support used to be.” Her brow furrowed in grim contemplation, “I don’t think it was aimed at us, specifically… My feeling is that someone with more than merely mortal intellect assumed some form of instant response from the capitol as soon as a unicorn was spotted in this kingdom, took a highly-educated guess at the most probable route to be followed, and timed an interruption to occur just a little sooner than any significant force could get this far. One individual changing horses in every city could have beaten it, or a lone wizard or small party of winged folk of some sort, but evidently those scenarios don’t qualify as a threat to this unnamed God’s plans. Given that the Vale’s near three other kingdoms as well, and the fact that there are now eight of my children missing, I wouldn’t be surprised if similarly inconvenient disasters have occurred just Vale-wards of other capitols, too. Drachath’s not the only potential market for whatever beasts have made a mocking lie of my oath to protect my children eternally, but it’s probably the best, as slavery’s illegal in Dengar and more restricted in Vivenge and Atheria.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded as he climbed down from his saddle to start removing bags and swords from his stallion. “You’re right in that it could be coincidence… but your divine hunches would be pretty useless if they twanged to every ‘maybe,’ so I’m going to assume that it’s not. Whatever God is playing with the weather also has worshipers, so we should keep an eye out for any living obstructions that might choose to throw themselves into our path as well as the inanimate. I’ll send you two across on Red first,” he explained as he unslung his armor bags from the mare, then lifted Ela across to sit in front of the feline, “then Cherrah and just his saddlebags, and I’ll follow with the rest of the gear as soon as I’m able. That spell you fetched from Kathy for me makes things lighter, but each of these loads will be pretty close to my limit even then, so I’ll have to rest in between ‘em.”\n\n\tThe Goddess nodded back, “We can deal with mortals easily enough, and whoever they serve is almost certainly expecting them to meet some resistance… I’m glad you asked me to relay your query to my sister; I’ve got this feeling that anything more direct would have called unwanted attention to the fact that at least one other divinity is opposing the God we face, and there’s no telling how He might adapt His tactics if He finds out that He’s up against me, not just my followers whom He has to assume I’m mobilizing to defend the unicorns.”\n\n\tFerrl paused in gathering his strength, his fingertips glowing faintly with restrained power as he asked, “Are you? Is there an army waiting for us in Wheathaven?”\n\n\t“No,” she chuckled, shaking her head, “nothing that major… I’ve had a couple of my temples near there move up the date of their harvest festival as an excuse to start gathering portions of my flock into larger groups, but that’s mostly a ruse. There’s no point in raising a significant force, pulling each individual away from their own lives and goals for an indefinite time, when I don’t have a target to send them against! No… if you need a few extra companions to fight at your side they’ll be available, but I really don’t think that this will be resolved by large clashes of arms.”\n\n\tNodding, the wolf unleashed his magic, infusing Red and her riders with lightening energy. “Get a good grip on Ela and hold Red’s barrel with your legs,” he warned as he gathered purer forces in his other hand, “as the horse might panic until she’s on solid ground again.”\n\n\tThe mare was already shuffling her hooves nervously at the unexpected sensation of her body and burden losing their apparent weight, and her legs reached vainly toward the ground as the broad, supporting bands of magic carefully lifted her away from it. Her head whipped back and forth as she looked around, eyes wide with fear; Malia immediately reached out to stroke her mane comfortingly with the hand that wasn’t hugging Ela against her chest, and her soft murmuring calmed the horse to relative stillness, but the red-rimmed whites of her eyes still showed as she started moving through the air over the rushing river. The farther away she and her passengers moved, the harder it was to keep them airborne, a fresh layer of chill sweat breaking out under Ferrl’s fur as they passed the midpoint of the river, and he urged them forward just a bit faster to make sure they’d reach the other side before his strength was completely played out. The very tip of the sun peeked over the eastern horizon as they reached the far bank, and he relaxed as Red’s hooves touched the sloped stones leading up to the bridge… then tensed again as the new light gleamed where it shouldn’t, among the trees lining the rushing water’s banks. The power he’d pulled back into himself was immediately used again, augmenting his voice as he called across the roar of the river, “’ware the trees! Ambush to the left!”\n\n\tMalia was off of the horse in an instant, her swords seeming to materialize in her hands without having to cover the distance between scabbards and paws. Even from across the nearly quarter-mile width of the river the twang of crossbows reached Ferrl a moment after their firing and, an instant later, the ring of steel on the same delay as light quarrels were deflected by precisely-positioned blades, and a rage that surprised even him woke within his soul. One of those bolts had been aimed at Ela, and he found himself stripping the leather loops off of one of his greatswords. Whoever had just shot at his daughter was going to regret it even if it meant exhausting his magic for the rest of the day. A hint of shouted instructions drew his gaze up once more, and he nodded to himself as the vixen slipped down to the ground, following close behind Malia where she could be protected as the cat charged the trees at a steady lope, closing with her attackers as quickly as she could while still leaving herself enough time to react to any more missiles and allowing for the child’s slower pace.\n\n\tThe wolf had barely begun gathering his focus for the remote-point projection he’d need to animate his sword over that distance when another twanging bowstring sounded, this time to his own left; it had barely registered before pain erupted in his shoulder, and the reflexes drilled into him by weeks of Bakar’s tutelage sent him rolling forward, three more steel shafts driving into the road’s dirt through the air where he had been. He wrenched his bastard sword from its sheath as he scrambled back to his feet and charged at a dead run toward his half of the ambush; there was no longer any time for magic, and he’d just have to trust in Malia’s own undeniable skill at arms to keep his daughter safe as he fought this battle alone… or maybe not so alone as he’d first thought. Even as he dodged another bolt from the one light crossbow that had been re-cocked in the time it took him to reach the trees, Cherrah’s hooves thundered behind him, a pointed reminder that his was a warhorse, and he grinned despite the shooting pains running down his left arm as nearly a ton of angry black equine crashed through the brush beside him.\n\n\tThe foes who met him with drawn steel obviously knew the business they were about; they were lightly armored to maximize their mobility, mostly in boiled leather but with one shirt of sturdy chainmail evident, and they’d immediately discarded their crossbows in favor of an assortment of sabers and swords. Several of them had a hint of darkness lingering about them, and it was most pronounced in the person of their better-armored evident leader; combined with their agility-oriented equipment, they almost had to be followers of Karnaal. Two fell before they could get their own weapons up, the knight throwing all of his strength behind the momentum of his charge in a lightning slash that cut through their rigid armor like so much damp parchment, and the moment’s shocked surprise that bought him was all he needed to whirl and slash at their chain-armored commander’s sword arm. The heavy steel links kept him from severing it completely, though they’d probably not have sufficed if he’d had two good arms to put behind the blow, but the crack of breaking bone was satisfyingly loud in the morning air.\n\n\tAs important as it was, taking the best-equipped attacker out of the fight turned him away from most of the others, and one was quick enough to take advantage of his distraction, lunging saber-first toward the wolf’s broad back. Cherrah was there, though, strong teeth clamping around the nape of the fellow’s neck and flinging him bodily into the nearest tree with bone-crushing force. “Good boy!” Ferrl called, then leapt for the remaining ambushers. They were ready for him this time, but the speed with which his large body and huge sword could move was more than they could handle, their blades knocked out of position or flung entirely from their grasps in blurring strokes that each ended in a thrust, and when he aimed for a man’s heart mere leather, however rigid, could not deny him. Only one of the half-dozen or so rough-looking fighters he faced even got close enough for his shorter blade to be a threat, and all it managed to accomplish was nick the leg that was lashing toward him, ribs crunching as the kick sent him flying to bounce off of another tree and lay still.\n\n\tOnly two attackers remained on their feet, a panicked glance between them showing that neither had the heart to keep fighting, and they bolted into the copse at a run in different directions. Catching Cherrah’s attention with a whistle, Ferrl pointed at one and snapped his fingers, the horse bounding off in pursuit. He dropped his sword, then, in favor of one of the fallen crossbows, muscles bunching as he set his foot in the iron loop at its tip and spanned its woven-metal string with one hand. Even he couldn’t have done that with any heavier a bow, but the light weapon was no arbalest, ordinary soldiers being able to cock it with a simple spanning lever. He grabbed a quarrel from a corpse’s quiver, set it into the groove, and took careful aim… Just as screams marked the meeting of steel-shod hooves with one man’s spine, he had the other in his sights and squeezed the trigger-bar, the silvery dart of the bolt licking out to catch his last foe through the neck.\n\n\tRetrieving his sword, Ferrl padded over to the armored form that lay curled around its shattered arm. The touch of steel to his throat roused the man’s attention, and he looked up into eyes devoid of mercy. “Tell me why your God sent you,” the wolf growled. “Neither the flood nor your presence here were a coincidence, so don’t bother trying to deny it.”\n\n\tThe slender stoat shivered, in fear as much as pain this time, and lowered his eyes from that burning gaze. “You’re right,” he rasped around his agony, “but we weren’t told very much… I don’t know why Kar—” and he broke off at a warning poke from the sword-tip. “I don’t know why my God,” he tried again, then continued at a nod from his captor, “wanted you stopped. My orders were simply to watch this bridge after the flood, and to attack anyone who seemed to be using… extraordinary measures to cross the river without it. On my word to any God you’d care to name, that’s all I know.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded grimly, “It’s not much… but it does serve to confirm some earlier speculations. Had you not been so forthcoming, you’d have died very, very slowly… but even as helpful as you’ve been I cannot let you live. You’ve my thanks, and it will be quick.” The man’s eyes widened in sudden fear as his attempt to buy survival came to naught, a plea leaping to his lips, but he never got another word out. Ferrl pierced his throat with a short, hard thrust, then turned away to find something to clean his blade with as the thief gurgled and thrashed, eventually to drown in his own blood.\n\nChapter 6\n\n\tDerru’s long-ago comment about the subtlety of effective magic had been no more than the simple truth. Given a few moments to think about it as he caught his breath after the short, savage fight, and a few more as he’d steeled himself to pull the crossbow bolt out of his shoulder and bandage the wound as well as he could one-handed, a line-based, temporary enchantment repeated for each of Cherrah’s four shoes proved much more effective, not to mention easier, than lifting him bodily across the river by brute strength. Suitably lightened first, of course, Ferrl simply rode across the river’s turbulent surface with the rest of his possessions, save for the two large bags he’d left behind.\n\n\tA similar scene of carnage to the one he’d left greeted him amidst the far trees, Malia arching one brow but not pausing in cleaning her bloodied swords as she mused, “I’ve never seen a horse do that before, sir knight…”\n\n\tThe wolf shrugged, “Neither had I, which is probably why I didn’t think of the possibility at first. If I had, we’d have been able to cross together; this technique is far easier to pull off, between the shorter range I’m projecting my power over and the fact that it only saps my strength during the moments of actual contact between hoof and water.”\n\n\tNodding, the feline slipped her second sword back into its sheath and stood, “Something to keep in mind for the future, then… but for this particular moment, let me heal that shoulder of yours.”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head firmly, and explained as she paused, “That wouldn’t be the best idea. I got confirmation of the involvement of the God of Thieves from the leader of those I fought before I killed him, and a miracle at this point would waste the trouble I went to in keeping him from saying his God’s name aloud. I wouldn’t mind a bit of help in rigging a better bandage, as you could use both hands for the task, but it’s just a flesh wound. It’s almost stopped bleeding already, and we can visit some mortal healers at the next city we come to; I picked up the nearest ambushers’ purses on general principle, not feeling like looking for the bodies Cherrah and I dealt with after they ran, so we’ll even show a profit after paying the medics.” Glancing around, he asked, “Where’s Ela?”\n\n\tStepping forward the rest of the way to start working on the crude knot securing the tattered cloth on his shoulder, Malia tilted an ear toward the bridge, “She’s back with Red. This sort of bloody mess isn’t something a child should be seeing too much of.”\n\n\tThe wolf chuckled, then hissed as the wad of cloth at his wound was pulled away. “She’d surprise you,” he managed once he had control of his voice again. “She is Kathallic, and has made her share of bloody messes. She also personally killed an armed man when I was ambushed on my last mission, too.”\n\n\tHis companion scowled as she gently probed his wound, checking for chipped or broken bones before fetching one of his clean shirts from the pack on Cherrah’s back to start tearing into bandages. “As much as I support self-defense,” she finally said, “I can’t be pleased that you’ve taught a child to kill for fun, no matter how sacred such an act may be to your Goddess. I can understand Roxanarra’s love of pleasure for its own sake, particularly now that I’ve experienced some of it for myself, but She decrees sharing that pleasure, not taking it at someone else’s expense. And especially not at the expense of their very life!” As offended as she was with him, Malia’s hands moved gently and surely, padding both ends of the hole in his shoulder with folded cloth then tying a longer strip around them both.\n\n\t“He didn’t teach me, though,” Ela piped up from where she’d been listening for several moments. “Kathy did, with her own self for practicin’ on.”\n\n\tMalia shook her head, pulling the last linen knot tight a with a little more force than she’d intended, “That doesn’t matter, little one… I don’t think I’ll ever agree with my sister’s idea of fun in that respect, so I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t bring the subject up in my presence ever again.”\n\n\tAs the vixen nodded with a chastened wince, her father spoke up, “Then it’s a good thing I’ve got another subject to speak of: this ambush. The very first thing you did when attacked was save my daughter’s life, and for that I’m more grateful than I can express. If there’s any way I can repay you for it, tell me and I’ll do so. At the very least, once we collect this batch’s purses as well, I’d like to find one of your poorer temples along our route and donate every last farthing these thieves had to them.”\n\n\t“Minus whatever it costs to get your shoulder and leg fixed,” the feline added wryly, managing to smile as matters distasteful to her faded in immediacy. She gave the bandages a gentle pat, “You were right that it’s only a flesh wound; all that muscle of yours is a bigger target than the bones beneath, so you should be alright soon enough. And, while I won’t turn down your offered donation and I’ve got a good place in mind to give it to, you’re only here because you’re trying to save my children. Protecting your own is the least I can do in return, and I did so gladly.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded with a smile of his own, “Fair enough, then… Ela? Start collecting any purses or jewelry these… people carried; their swords and crossbows are valuable too, but a bit bulky to transport if we’re still going to move quickly.” Turning back to Malia, he quirked a wry half-grin at her, “You probably noticed that Cherrah’s burden’s a little lighter than it should be… I’d brought my armor along without really thinking about it, because knights are supposed to have plate armor, but it would have taken far too long to get into and out of every day, so as it was it turned out to be so much useless junk.” He touched the bandages on his shoulder, “It certainly didn’t do me any good when I needed it… so I’m going to check in with the next few smiths we come across and buy some chainmail as soon as I find some in my size. I can shrug into something like that very quickly every morning, and Red won’t tire as readily without the sacks of plate; the time spent checking smithies will be more than made up for by the time we reach Rajai.”\n\n\tMalia considered his words for a moment, then nodded with a slight shrug, “It would be better than nothing if we’re attacked again, true enough, but it wouldn’t have stopped that slim-headed quarrel today.”\n\n\t“Maybe it wouldn’t under normal circumstances,” the wolf chuckled, “but it will by the time I’m done with it. That book of magical language I brought along also has an appendix of common enchantments, including those for arms and armor; the chain shirt or haubergeon I get will be much more resistant to penetration once I’ve had a few words with it! And if I can find a seller of semiprecious stones, I can also work something out to keep little Ela a bit safer, too.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe three travelers were accompanied by a large number of strangers as they rode through the gates of Ashenton, mostly merchants and the occasional itinerant worker who’d believed them when told of the bridge’s fate. Not all of those they’d met on the road were willing to take Ferrl’s unconfirmed word and turn back, though they’d see for themselves soon enough. The city guard, of course, couldn’t afford to be that trusting, though they did immediately dispatch a rider to determine the situation for certain.\n\n\tOnce free of the crowd of disappointed peddlers, the trio immediately sought out a healer, just one more shop among many along the city’s main commercial avenue. It was a new experience and then some, for Ferrl, as he’d been neither conscious nor in possession of arcane senses the only other time he’d received this sort of treatment, just after his initial interview with Bakar. For one thing, it hurt. Supernatural healing felt a lot like being on fire, but behind the pain his mind marveled at the flow of energy, its complexity beyond anything he’d ever seen as the flesh surrounding the hole in his shoulder was urged to regenerate itself at hundreds of times its normal rate, and he knew for certain that that was one form of magic he’d never be able to duplicate. Even though he was the one supplying the raw power, he only understood the tiniest fraction of what was actually going on, hints of motion- and fire-energy flickering to nudge things in the right direction or burn out the beginnings of infections before they could spread.\n\n\t“It’s our gift,” the middle-aged mouse answered his inquiries once he’d come out of his trance. “It requires far more study and training than conventional wizardry, I’m told… We have to learn, in detail, how the body works and how to repair impediments to that normal function… but our ‘magic’ is to make use of that knowledge without actually having to think about it. The specific technique varies somewhat from healer to healer, but I just go into a trance, allowing my mind to convert energy into action with no conscious direction, but shaped and controlled passively by the knowledge I spent so many years attaining. Normally, I have to use my own energy, which severely limits the extent of damages I can repair… but that’s why I love working with mages. What neither of our gifts could accomplish alone, together they make commonplace.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, feeling his shoulder carefully. Other than the missing patch of fur on either side and a faint, residual ache, it seemed as good as new, and though his magical contribution to the efforts left him feeling rather drained, it was nowhere near as bad as moving Red across the river had been. Smiling, he fished a gold noble out of his purse and pressed it into the healer’s hand, “Even if my own abilities eased your work as much as you say, take this with my thanks. I’m far too appreciative of being able to move without searing pain to take you up on your advertised discount just because I supplied the strength for your efforts.”\n\n\tChuckling, the rodent dropped the coin into the pocket of his robe, “I shouldn’t… but I don’t think you’d let me give this back. Instead, I’ll count it as credit for the next few people who need help but cannot afford to pay full price.”\n\n\t“That’ll do,” Ferrl nodded, and shook the healer’s paw again before stepping back out into the afternoon sun.\n\n\tMalia was frowning when he rejoined her, and said before he could inquire, “Let’s go find an inn… I’ve got some unpleasant news, but part of it implies that our frantic haste has been so much wasted effort, so we can afford to give the horses a good long rest after their days of faithful labor.”\n\n\tNodding, the Agent took Cherrah’s reins in hand and followed behind as she led Red through the street’s heavy foot-traffic.\n\n\tComfortably ensconced in a room at one of the better inns in town, Malia sat down on the bed and started explaining to her companions, “It’s taken us four days to get this far… and we could be in Wheathaven in another week or so, but there’d be little point. During our travels, my followers have been making inquiries of their own, and the level of discretion involved is why it’s taken this long to get a response… Using one of the true Godless as a middle-man, some of my flock indirectly hired a known follower of the God of Lies, who happily pocketed a significant portion of a temple’s donated gold in the course of trying to buy the unicorn that originally started this quest simply by being seen… The response they got was, in a word, firm. Until more time has been spent on her training, no one outside of The Serving Man will be allowed anywhere near that unicorn, and though her progress is reported as being astounding compared to the years it normally takes to fully teach a slave their place and necessary skills, even the most optimistic of her captors predicts a minimum of a month before the very remotest possibility of selling her might arise.” The feline’s mouth worked as if she’d tasted something unpleasant, and both of her companions nodded, understanding how little she’d enjoyed the news she’d just relayed.\n\n\t“Rescuing that particular filly was simply a secondary goal,” Ferrl mused. “What of the continuing predations? Wouldn’t haste still be warranted to investigate how those are taking place, to stop them?”\n\n\tThe cat shook her head ruefully, “Those have tapered off… There were several days with no new ones, and only one additional loss more recently, but the orders I’ve given to the herd leaders in the Vale seem to be forcing our enemies to operate more circumspectly. The unicorns know what’s happening now, and are patrolling their villages day and night. Hardly an hour goes by without any given individual being checked up on by an acquaintance, even when they’re sleeping, and it’s only when a mistake in communications arose, one house being skipped late at night because the watchman assigned to that street thought a comrade of his had already checked it, that another of my children vanished. Whoever’s doing this clearly needs time, undisturbed, to perpetrate each particular atrocity.”\n\n\tAfter a shared glance with his daughter, Ferrl nodded, “I can see that… The reduced urgency, though, is no cause to dawdle. Even if we don’t have to be there in a week, I’ll be disappointed if it takes us more than twelve days to get to Chraf. We can afford to eat and rest well, and deal with any other minor problems in an almost leisurely manner, and still make that sort of schedule.” He smiled faintly, “It’ll beat wearing our horses and ourselves down so far that we’re ineffective when we get there, in any case.”\n\n\tMalia nodded back, managing a bit of a smile as well, “That’s one of the things I’ve considered, yes. They’ve held up well so far, but I’m far from certain that Red and Cherrah can keep up the pace we’ve been making, and travel rations are only good for our bodies for so long. Jerky, hard rolls, and the occasional meat pie from a convenient vendor just aren’t as healthy in the long run as even the basic stew served in most inns.” She glanced between her companions once more, then nodded mostly to herself, “If you two want to go shopping for armor and spell components, that would be progress enough for my comfort this evening, and in the morning we can get moving again. The temple I want to visit mainly serves the smaller villages just west of here, and we can be there by noon on horseback for a good, nutritious lunch.”\n\n\tEla giggled, “But for now, shopping! I loves that… Makes me glad my daddy’s got money, ‘cuz he always finds fun stuff to buy!”\n\n\tSmiling some himself, Ferrl scooped the eagerly-grinning vixen up and settled her across his shoulders, then stood. “Watch your head, dear,” he warned as he padded toward the door, then paused to glance over at Malia. “Will you be coming with us? We should be back before supper time, if you’re not…”\n\n\tThe feline just shook her head with another smile, “I’m going to let this body rest while I double- and triple-check the patrol schedules in the Vale. That’s both the most and the least I can do to keep my children safe.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded solemnly, “I understand, and if I had any further advice to give, I would… but only you know the specifics, this time, so I’ll leave it in your capable hands.” His vixen’s chest flattened his ears as she ducked to clear the door’s frame, and with another wave from each of them the pair headed out to see what they could find.\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe temple, set a few hundred yards off of the main highway, resembled a fair-sized castle, a central keep and several outbuildings surrounded by a high, thick stone wall. For all of its strength, though, it was presently ill-suited for war; the moat was dry and overgrown, the drawbridge looked like it hadn’t been raised in decades, and the faded linen buntings hung from the battlements lent a splash of color that did much to soften the unforgiving contours of granite and basalt. The one guard at the gate wore an open priest’s robe over partial plate armor, and didn’t seem the least bit concerned over the weapons displayed by the travelers as they neared. “Hail and well met, friends,” he called as they reined in. “Welcome to the temples!”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, glancing over to Malia.\n\nThe feline grinned, easily guessing the question behind his look. “There is but one main building, with just one large hall for celebration and prayer, but two high priests. They and their congregations simply take turns.”\n\n\tThe robed bear nodded, “I see you’ve been here before, milady.” Grinning up at the wolf, he confirmed, “Both Tarragh and Malia are honored here, as the local towns can’t quite support two separate temples in anything approaching the style our Gods deserve, so we make this one the best we can and merely pretend it’s two, instead.” Stepping out of the way, he gestured them onwards, “Enter, please! We don’t get many visitors from outside of this area, and it’s always a pleasure to see fresh faces. In fact, I think one priest in particular will be happy to see you…”\n\n\tBlinking again, the wolf shrugged and nudged his horse into a walk toward the keep’s stable. “Do you have any idea what he could be talking about?” he asked Malia.\n\n\tThe cat shook her head with a mischievous grin, “Of course I do! I just can’t tell you… Sorry, but I promised Kathy and Roxy both.”\n\n\t“Goddesses… Can’t live with ‘em, and if you kill ‘em they just come back.”\n\n\tJust within the main building’s entrance, a wooden box with a slot in the top was bolted to the wall. At Malia’s nod, Ferrl took the belt pouch he’d filled from the ambushers’ purses and, with a smile, carefully poured the mass of copper, silver, and rare glints of gold into it. The sustained clatter of coins attracted the attention of several people in ecclesiastic garb, and he shrugged to the nearest one, still grinning, “I’m merely fulfilling a promise… and at no direct expense to myself, I should add. Every last farthing here was recovered from the bodies of bandits. They’ve already helped the world a lot simply by dying and ceasing to prey on the innocent, and now they can help even more in death.”\n\n\tA priest other than the one he’d addressed stepped forward, a wolf as well, to look the knight up and down… “You are a warrior of prowess and honor, it would seem,” he rumbled. “Tell me… are you married?”\n\n\tThe Agent blinked hard at the non sequitur, shaking his head, “No… Why in the world would you ask that?”\n\n\tAs he took another step closer, the way the other wolf’s muscles shifted under his robe reminded Ferrl of… himself, and then some. This man was strong… “I am Gerian, Knight Commander and High Priest of Tarragh for this temple,” he announced in grand tones, “and long have I despaired in finding someone worthy of the challenge and reward I offer!” He spared his fellow wolf one glance to see if he was sufficiently impressed, and evidently took his look of confused surprise as being close enough. “The challenge… is to defeat me in honorable combat,” he continued, “and the prize is the hand of my daughter, Danara! She is willful, disobedient… but she is also mine! Her husband must be strong, as no weak man could handle her, and he must be honorable, so as not to bring shame upon me or my only, precious child!” The other priests, one by one, started slipping off, those in lighter armor (and thus probably followers of Malia) rolling their eyes heavenwards at the commander’s familiar bluster.\n\n\tFerrl held up one hand, doing his best not to wince, “Wait, wait… I’m flattered, naturally, that you’d consider me for your daughter… but I’m not even sure if I can marry. It may be prohibited by my profession, and I’d have to make some inquiries to find out, but that’s still strictly secondary to the fact that I don’t even know this girl. I personally cannot and will not marry anyone who doesn’t choose me for herself, and I just don’t see how that’s possible until we’re well acquainted. I’d need time to talk to her and get to know her, and time’s just not something I have much of; I’m in the middle of an important mission right now.”\n\n\tThe older wolf held his gaze for several long moments, the faintest hint of displeasure on his muzzle… then finally nodded. “Some of your notions are nearly as misplaced as hers,” he mused, then grudgingly conceded, “but your adherence to your duty is only good and right. In a way it serves only to confirm that you are the sort of man I’m looking for, though in honor I cannot keep you from your tasks for long. Do you, at least, have time to spar? If you cannot prevail in the challenge, then the point is moot anyway and you needn’t worry about the girl’s will at all. You can leave your womenfolk here for the noon meal while we step out to the practice yard for more manly pursuits, and that sort of thing is best not done with a full belly regardless.”\n\n\tAn idea occurred to the Agent, and he nodded to Gerian, “I suppose that might work out… though I abandoned my heavy plate armor for the urgency of my mission as it was slowing me down. You and I are much alike in size, though, so if you have a shirt or suit of chain I could buy, that will do and I’ll give you the fight you seek merely in thanks.”\n\n\tThe priest blinked, then grinned, “Then you are a knight, too? Even better! A contest with a brother in arms is always to be sought, even with no stakes to be won but one’s pride! Come,” and he started down the stairs of the keep, gesturing airily to his rear, “send your women off and we’ll see what we can work out on the field of honor.”\n\n\tFerrl and Malia shared a glance, both imitating the other priests’ eye-roll, and he told her with a quiet chuckle, “You and Ela go eat; I’ll see if I can’t knock some sense into this buffoon’s skull… though if he’s managed to get as far as high priesthood, even of a minor temple, it’s probably far too late on that score.” At her smiling nod, he hurried down the steps to catch up with Gerian.\n\n\t“I can’t imagine what could be so urgent as to separate a knight from his armor,” the older wolf mused as they walked toward a small building with no windows, “but my spare haubergeon should fit you well enough. You must at least let me loan you a sturdy plate helm, though; with wooden practice blades, the worst either of us will inflict on the other is a broken bone, and you can travel with such an injury far enough to reach a good healer without losing time on your urgent mission. The exception to that, of course, is your skull, so let’s just make sure that that doesn’t get broken, shall we?”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, grinning, “I certainly can’t fault that goal at all; I like my brain in exactly the place and shape it’s in, thanks! Still… this will be my first bout with a follower of the War God. Are there any particular points of protocol or etiquette I should know?”\n\n\tGerian opened the door to the building, which proved to be the temple’s armory, and stepped inside to start rummaging about for the suit of chainmail, wooden swords, and metal shields he needed, musing, “Nothing that wouldn’t be obvious to a man of honor… No enchantments, no invocations of divine aid, and no assassin’s tricks. If this were strictly a temple to Tarragh, some might also insist that the Maliites’ disarms and feints fall into that last category, but we here have seen that for the lie it is. It’s not a warrior’s fault if they possess the agility and skill to fight in that manner, and it’s their opponent’s failing if they cannot deal with such.”\n\n\t“That, my friend, is an enormous relief to me,” Ferrl nodded. The other wolf looked up from where he’d set out a matched pair of five-foot hardwood shafts, simple guards affixed one foot up their lengths, and the Agent answered his unspoken question as he ducked through his baldric to set his real sword aside, “I know I look like I follow your God… but I was trained by one in the service of Malia. In all fairness and honor, I must tell you that before we fight, or the obvious assumption most would make from my physique would put you at an unfair disadvantage before we’d even begun. I’d rather not endure accusations of dishonor that a few words beforehand could easily prevent.”\n\n\tThe priest nodded, then held up a long, broad suit of chainmail, sufficient to cover either of the large wolves from neck to ankle, with long sleeves, plenty of room in the chest, and a skirt split for riding, “This is what I offer… and for your honesty, it is yours at no charge should you win, and a mere three nobles should you fall by my hand.”\n\n\tFerrl glanced down at his current garb, then nodded, “It’s not quite traditional padding, but what I’ve got on should survive one bout under that. I’ll get a proper gambeson at the next town I go through; tailors can easily adjust their wares for bodies such as ours, while a smith must have it in mind from the outset.”\n\n\tHis fellow wolf gave a knowing chuckle, “Indeed, sir knight… More than once have I seen an armorer come close to tears as I entered his shop, knowing well the weight of steel they’d need to cover muscles such as these!” He reached up to lift a shield down from the hooks dotting the rafters and offered it, his free hand gesturing at the longer-muzzled section of visored helmets, “Arm yourself, and we’ll see if you’ve the might and skill to match your honor, this day.”\n\n\tThe commander, when Ferrl stepped back out into the sunlight, still buckling his breeches’ belt over his new mail to cinch the waist, had discarded his robe, revealing the chain shirt, chain leggings, and breastplate he’d worn beneath. The sleeve on the left side of his armor ended at the elbow, allowing him to strap on his shield securely, it and the wooden sword in his other hand held with a confidence that labeled them as decades-long friends. Seeing his opponent similarly equipped, the priest nodded and eased his helmet over his head, giving it a shake to settle it before opening the visor. “First injury, or points by major impact?” he asked. “Among strangers the first is most common, as the second requires honor enough to acknowledge one’s own failure in the absence of proof, but I believe we are both honest enough of men for it to be an option.”\n\n\t“The second, and to three points,” Ferrl immediately agreed. “I’d rather see this day pass with no injury to either of us, and you’d not hold the rank you do if your honor were anything but unquestionable.”\n\n\tGerian nodded, “Done!” and slammed his visor closed. As soon as the younger wolf was in position, he called through the helm’s slits, “Guard yourself, and may Tarragh strengthen the righteous!” Wasting no more time with words, he charged, neither age nor the weight of his armor slowing him in the slightest.\n\n\tFerrl bashed an overhead chop aside with his own sword, then leapt backwards to avoid a whistling slash. This was the first time he’d fought against someone with a weapon as long as his own, and he’d never met, much less sparred with, anyone who could beat him in raw, physical strength, but the priest was clearly his superior in simple might. Metal squealed as he blocked a shield bash with one of his own, and his oaken sword clacked deafeningly as he parried around that point of joining. He was still learning the flow and balance of his new haubergeon, and he couldn’t trust the chest-kick he’d normally use to disengage with until he knew how the heavy steel links would settle, leaving him with no choice but to focus on defense until the commander broke away on his own accord.\n\n\tGray eyes peered through helm-slits as the older wolf circled, and the younger tried a charge of his own. Gerian’s attacks had, so far, been relatively straightforward, if arm-jarringly strong, and it was time to see what his defense was capable of… The Agent’s first thrust clanged off of his shield, then again as he twisted the deflection into a thigh-strike, and he was suddenly on the defensive once more, his shield arm subject to repeated shocks as he blocked a similar series of slashes up and down his left side. Curious, now, whether either of them could get through the other’s defense, Ferrl gathered his strength and launched the sort of assault that had won the day every time he’d been ambushed, his wooden blade a blur as it struck first the inner edge of the priest’s shield, then the opposing sword, and finally thrust viciously forward directly between them.\n\n\tGerian threw himself backwards, falling to one knee, but the tip of the practice weapon still clanged off of his breastplate hard enough that only his sheer mass kept him from being knocked flat on his back. “Point,” he acknowledged, his voice a bit ragged behind his helm.\n\n\tHis junior nodded, “Indeed… but it was hard-earned. You are by far the most proficient warrior I’ve ever fought, and the match is not decided yet!”\n\n\tThe commander barked a laugh, steel creaking as he nodded back, “True, true… Back to business!” On his feet once more, he pulled his shield in tight against his body, making use of his sword’s long reach as he slashed in sweeping arcs, each ending in a good position for the next.\n\n\tFerrl kept his distance, deflecting the wooden blade with light taps of his own, altering its inertia just enough to keep it out of line with his body… but his own training was at the forefront of his mind, reminding him that minimum-force fencing parries would only work as long as his foe chose to let them. Indeed, the thick muscles behind the weapon he faced, as he urged a lateral slash upwards, pressed down with a force very little could stop, his own blade twisted uselessly aside, and he brought his shield up hard, deflecting the overhead blow it had transitioned into. The opportunity was more sensed than seen, with his own shield complicating a view already restricted by his helm’s thin slits, but on instinct’s urging he thrust out again, feeling his weapon slide along Gerian’s shield to once again impact firmly on his breastplate.\n\n\t“Point,” the older wolf conceded, panting slightly with exertion.\n\n\tTaking a step back, the Agent lifted his visor, “Are you alright? I’m willing to let you at least catch your breath between points if you’d like.”\n\n\tThe priest shook his head, laughing again, “No, I’ll be fine… I’m just a little too used to lesser warriors than myself. Easy wins have made me lazy, but I’m far from dead yet!”\n\n\tNodding, Ferrl slapped his visor back down and resumed a guard position. Any hesitation on his part would touch unkindly on the pride of his opponent, so he didn’t delay his next attack. Borrowing one of Diral’s favorite tactics, he wove a figure-eight with his blade, keeping it angled enough that the seeming strikes at both sword and shield never quite touched their targets, a feint that could leave a foe severely out of position. The only real defense against it was to ignore the feint completely, keeping one’s defenses centered until the true point of attack manifested, and the younger wolf stifled a sigh as he saw Gerian’s shield move to intercept. His own rose to guard against the shaft his feint had left high, and he lunged forward in a thrust to finish the match…\n\n\tPain erupted in his left thigh as five feet of hardwood smashed the chainmail against his breeches, but almost simultaneously his arm was jarred with another impact of wood against steel. “Point!” both wolves called in unison.\n\n\tFerrl limped slightly as he stepped back, opening his visor again… and he shook his head with a rueful chuckle, “Your strike landed first, so the point is yours, my friend. I must admit that I never even saw that blow coming.”\n\n\t“No, yours should count too,” Gerian disagreed. “Were we using real blades, you’d be cut badly now, but you’d still have your leg; my strike was not strong enough to do more than wound through good chainmail… but all three of yours would have found my heart, even through plate armor! I stand well and honestly bested.”\n\n\tTucking the practice blade under his shield-arm, Ferrl nodded, extending his right hand, “It was a good match, though. It took every bit of my skill to beat you, and that’s far more than most I’ve faced could claim. Even the wound you would hypothetically have inflicted can only be matched by one other, and the honorless cur in question used a crossbow from hiding to inflict it.”\n\n\tThe priest shook his head in mild wonder, “You are indeed something else, my young friend, and if you find that it’s possible and you’re amenable to the concept, please, at least consider my daughter as a possibility. You’d make a fine in-law, and I would be proud to call you my son.” Tucking his own sword away, he reached out to accept the offered hand, then jerked his arm back as if burned by the first touch. “Darkness! What treachery is this?!? You have acted every inch the man of honor and a proper knight, but your soul is as black as the moonless night!”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, “I thought you knew… You’re a priest, and you should have seen it the first time you laid eyes on me… I serve Kathalla but, dark as She may be, Her path is not one without honor.”\n\n\tStill blinking, Gerian shook his head again, “I’ve never been very good at the ‘priestly’ aspects of my role, so that sort of insight can only be inferred by touch… but never have I heard honor and the Fanged One mentioned in the same breath! You have named Her, and thus I must accept your word… but that is the only thing you’ve said to me that I can take on faith; everything else you have said and done must now be deemed shadowed by the darkness you’ve admitted to!”\n\n\tA quiet whistle drew the Agent’s attention to a side-door of the main keep, and he smiled as his feline companion stepped into the dusty yard and drew near. Turning back to Gerian, he spoke softly, “Nothing I can say will ease your sense of betrayal or distrust… but there is one here who will set even your insoluble fears to rest.” He gestured at the cat as she drew near and held out her hand, “Touch her… and your worries will be resolved.”\n\n\tHesitantly, as if unsure of anything anymore, the wolf reached out to lightly brush a finger across the black-furred palm being offered to him. His eyes bulged in his visor’s shadow, and he sank to one knee with a rattle of armor, breathing prayerfully, “The light! Good Gods, the light!”\n\n\tDropping to his own knees, Ferrl laid a hand on the commander’s mailed shoulder, “Here is the simple truth… My name is Sir Ferrl, and the knighthood I received at King Burtak’s hands is the only rank I have. I am an Agent of Drachath, which is why I’m not sure I can marry, as my job could be considered too important to risk allowing others to influence me through the taking of beloved hostages. The little girl with me is a former slave who I’ve freed and adopted as my own daughter. This is Malia, at my side as a mortal as we journey to see who is kidnapping her chosen favorites, the unicorns. Yes, I serve a dark Goddess, but that does not mean my actions cannot be of the light. Can you think of any more worthy mission for a knight? Any more honorable task than to save an entire race of innocents from exploitation and eventual destruction?”\n\n\tGerian did his best merely to keep breathing as he gazed upon the nodding face of a well-known Goddess, confirming that even his own, initial judgment of the other wolf’s goodness had fallen short of the mark. Finally, he shook his head to clear it, his confusion fading the moment he sternly told himself to ignore the darkness he’d seen, everything else fitting into place without that jarring discrepancy. “No,” he answered, “I cannot. All you have told me can be naught but true.” He managed a wry half-smile, “Especially the part about your being an Agent. That explains rather handily how you were able to defeat me.”\n\n\tMalia chuckled softly, patting his other shoulder, “I brought my lunch outside so I could watch your fight… and it reminded me all too much of my own match against this wolf. Of course, we were using real swords then, so his blade did find my heart, but at least it only happened once.”\n\n\tIt had seemed that the priest’s eyes couldn’t get any wider, but somehow they did, “He beat you?!? How—” and he broke off as a memory surfaced. “Ferrl!” he exclaimed. “Sir Ferrl was the one who uncovered the honorless murderers of Baron Hellar!”\n\n\tThe Agent nodded grimly, “That I did… The baron followed your God, but died in the worst possible way. He deserved either death in combat or to pass away in his sleep, undefeated. I could not let that sort of thing go unpunished.”\n\n\tGerian shook his head, “In your place, neither could I. Your own Goddess was involved with that, wasn’t She? But on the side of the just, as the reports I read claimed…” He reached up to the gray-furred hand on his shoulder and, ignoring the darkness this time, clasped it firmly in both of his own, “I cannot claim to have ever known a more honorable man than you, including myself, nor one more worthy of my Danara. My old armor is yours, as it means nothing, and should you find yourself able and amenable, I beg you to take my daughter’s hand. Unless I receive word from you that the marriage would be completely impossible, I will entertain no other man’s suit.”\n\n\tFerrl shifted uncomfortably, “I’ll keep that in mind… and, should I live to do so, I will stop here again on my way back from my mission. I still must meet this precious child of yours, talk to her for a while, before I can even seriously consider accepting what you’re so willing to give me. After all the trouble I went to, finding Baron Rickar a bride he could truly love, could I settle for anything less, myself?”\n\n\tThe priest shook his head again, chuckling, “No, I suppose not… Arranged marriages may be the norm, but some men truly deserve better, and I number you and the new baron among them.”\n\nChapter 7\n\n\tThe seat of the county of Glenrose was the only real city in the holding, and set a good ten miles off of the highway, but the moment it came into view Ferrl was glad he’d suggested stopping there. His geography lessons had labeled it the largest city in the area, easily beating Lark’s Reach for sheer size, and as the local hub of trade it was bound to have the selection he’d been unable to find in Ashenton. Gerian had solved the earlier stop’s lack of armor handily, but he still wanted to pick up a supply of crystals to enchant, his last hunt for such having come up completely dry. It was also a good chance for a former farm hand to learn more of the generalities of cities; what was likely to differ between any two, what they had in common, and just what sort of assumptions he could afford to make even in a town he’d never seen before.\n\n\t“There,” he said, pointing. “That’s the second closest inn to the central market, so it’ll be convenient without costing a fortune, I hope.”\n\n\tMalia chuckled, shaking her head, “If I had a brass ha’penny for every time I’d figured something out logically only to sit back and watch mortals do the exact opposite, I could trade them in for platinum by now.”\n\n\tThe wolf thought for a moment, then shook his head with a wince, “That’s a lot of brass… Still, we’ve got to sleep somewhere, and even staying at the most expensive inn in every city between here and Chraf would add up to hardly more than Ela’s knife cost.”\n\n\t“Perhaps,” she conceded, then brightened, “Ooh… look at the sign! They’ve got a steady house minstrel, and I could use a little cheering up… Let’s stop here anyway; the music means more to me than shopping convenience or price.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, smiling as well, “Done, then, and I look forward to enjoying that as well once I’ve shopped.” He glanced down at Ela, walking between the two adults since they’d dropped their horses off at the nearest stable, “Do you want to come with me or keep Malia company?”\n\n\tThe vixen tilted her head, considering, then took the older woman’s hand in hers, “I haven’t gotten to listen t’much music, an’ I’d like to hear some.”\n\n\t“Alright, you two can arrange for our room, then. I’ll come back in time for a late dinner.”\n\n\tLeaving the two ladies to enter the inn after handing Malia the bag he’d been carrying, Ferrl walked onwards, watching both sides of the street for potentially useful shops. He hadn’t found any by the time the rain-dampened thoroughfare opened out onto the market square, so he pulled a copper out of his purse and flipped it, letting chance decide. King Lachier I’s portrait looked up at him, and he turned right, walking along the line of sturdy wooden stalls. The square was defined by several large buildings, most of them devoted to manufacture of some kind though a few were merely shops that had more inventory than any stall could hold. Flanking each one’s entrance were two or three smaller retailers per side, the rows broken by building entrances, frequent alleys, and the occasional actual street. Most of what was offered for sale directly related to city life; foods that needed preparation, candles and lamps, clothes, shoes and ankle boots, cheap clay dishes…\n\n\tThis hadn’t been such a good idea, the wolf realized as he found himself directly opposite the street he’d entered on; none of the open-air stalls held anything of sufficient value for a thief to risk an encounter with the guards flanking every entrance over. Cheap goods, few of which were marketed toward travelers, and definitely nothing like the stones he sought. Stopping at one of the few hot food stalls, he dropped five copper pennies on the counter and asked, “Could I get one of those meat rolls and some directions? I’m only here for one night, and I don’t really have time to run around figuring out where they hide the luxury goods in this town.”\n\n\tThe middle-aged vixen across the cheap pine planks from him blinked, scooping up the coins that should have bought at least a couple dozen of her rolls, and nodded, “Won’t hurt my business none… what’re you lookin’ for?”\n\n\tFerrl smiled, “That’s why I picked you to ask, ma’am. I’m looking for semiprecious stones. Quartz, agate, jade, maybe a little turquoise; not really gems but something a wizard or low-end jeweler might buy.”\n\n\t“Ah, that’s easy,” the fox demurred, slapping two of her freshest rolls onto a square of cheap burlap and sliding them over. “Turn right, skip the next street, and take the second alley. Most of the medium-fancy stuff is like that, just off the square where they can keep an eye on things. Th’really good stuff’s in the posh neighborhoods where you can’t get anywhere near ‘em if you look even a little bit shifty.”\n\n\tThe Agent nodded, grinning, “Thank you, ma’am.” Figuring that her life could use a little excitement, he waggled his fingers mock-dramatically at the rolls even as he extended a tendril of energy she couldn’t see, lifting them into the air to bob and weave a bit before falling neatly into his suddenly-upturned hands.\n\n\tBlinking, the vixen shook her head to clear it then barked a laugh, “That’d be why you want wizard-goods, obviously! You get goin’, youngster; I don’t want my other customers to think the food here’s bewitched… but… thanks for the show.”\n\n\tThe shops in the alley were varied, their signs lit by widely-spaced lamps, as this late in the evening very little of the sun’s light was reaching the cramped hollow between a leatherworks and a large-scale bakery. Built into the sides of the larger buildings, he could see a silversmith, two sellers of the sorts of stones he was looking for, and one retailer of cheap copper and tin jewelry set with the more gem-like of common minerals. As soon as he’d downed the first roll and tucked the other into a pocket, he flipped his coin again, getting the kingdom’s coat of arms circa Lachier I’s reign, and stepped into the mineral shop on the left.\n\n\tThere wasn’t much room in the small shop. The row of stubby barrels along one wall took almost half of the customers’ aisle, they and the two long shelves above them stocked with rough, almost natural-state shards of quartz, clusters of amethysts, and similar stones. Halfway to the back wall, the barrels stopped and only a single shelf lined the wall, the proprietor and his wooden chair blocking easy access to it, but the polished gleams there amidst swaths of black velvet immediately drew the wolf’s gaze.\n\n\t“Can I help you?” the well-dressed jaguar asked as he rose from his seat.\n\n\tFerrl nodded eagerly, pointing at the rear shelf, “I believe those are what I’ve been searching two cities for… I need good, unflawed stones suitable for enchantment, but not actual gems. A good-quality hunk of quartz will hold a spell exactly as well as a huge, priceless diamond, after all.”\n\n\tThe feline nodded, a broad smile stretching his muzzle, “That’s the sort of thing I like to hear! Most of the customers I get are just kids with a copper, wanting something pretty to coo over, and the bulk of the rest are artisans capable of refining my rougher pieces themselves. It’s not often I get someone who has any interest in my finer wares!” He backed up against the wall, pulling his chair alongside himself, “Please, look around all you want.”\n\n\tIt was a bit of a squeeze, even turned sideways, to fit his thick chest between the deep shelf and its owner, but the wolf managed easily enough. On general principle he asked, “I’ve got plenty of money and I’m willing to spend it on quality, but I’m also on a long journey so I should take a little care with my resources… Are there any basic enchantments you would like, that might barter away some of the monetary cost? The simple things, I can do right here before I leave, unless there’re any local laws restricting the use of magic.”\n\n\tThe shopkeeper shook his head, “No, no laws like that; if you make something and I sell it, I have to pay a little extra tax that goes to fund the inspectors who keep our local alchemists and healers honest, and one or two actual wizards who keep an eye out for greater abuses of power, but unless you do something flamboyant enough to attract their interest there aren’t any real restrictions. Hmm… you’re the first wizard to offer, not that you look anything like the others I’ve met, so I’m really not sure… what qualifies as ‘basic?’”\n\n\tFerrl shrugged, “Oh, things that project a single kind or homogeneous mix of energy… Lights, firestarters, bed warmers, maybe a levitating toy… I can also do a few other things that are more complicated, but I don’t remember many of those spells off the top of my head so your choices would be limited, and they’d also be a bit more expensive to recharge. One example of both of those concepts would be to take that jade paperweight there,” and he pointed at a polished green hemisphere, “and make it so any single object you set its flat against weighs less for a while. It’s complex because I’d need to give it a feedback-response feature to reduce its output to merely maintain the right level of infused energy once it’s reached, and other wizards would charge more to replenish it because the energy it uses is a subtle, specific blend that they’d have to work out the composition of before duplicating.”\n\n\tThe cat nodded, considering as much of that as he could comprehend… “I believe I know what you’re getting at,” he mused, “though naturally I didn’t understand every detail. How long would something like a light or bed warmer last before I had to take it to a mage for charging?”\n\n\t“That depends entirely on the stone you use… That sort of thing would actually use two stones, one to hold the power and the other to evoke its effect by touching it to the first one, and the unflawed volume of the one with the power defines how much it can hold.” From the same piece of velvet as the jade, that evidently being the section for paperweights, he picked up one of two larger hemispheres of leaded crystal, “These, for example… They’re heavy, and awkward to carry around as a portable light source, but they’re big enough that one could hold enough energy to make the other glow at just above reading-light levels for, oh, three or four weeks straight. The same stones as heaters would last maybe five continuous days, as noticeable warmth just takes a higher sustained energy flow than light does. You probably wouldn’t be using either one on a constant basis, though, so I’ll leave it to you to calculate their effective duration.”\n\n\tThe proprietor nodded again, a considering expression still on his muzzle as he asked, “And they’d only be using up their power when the two halves are together?”\n\n\t“If that’s the way you want them, yes. Another way to do it is to keep them together all the time, but require that things line up a certain way to make them work, so you’d just twist the one on top until it lit or warmed. It’s not even more complicated that way; I just stick the energy-channel on one side instead of in the middle.”\n\n\tThe jaguar couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head slowly, “And I always thought magic was mysterious! It may be something I’ll never really understand, but a lot of the details are just plain common sense, the way you explain them.” Glancing over his available selection, he eventually settled on the very stones that had been used as examples, “I would like a long-lasting light, thank you, and the jade that makes things lighter is probably something I could sell. Its recharge price wouldn’t matter much, as I’d bill it as a one-time effect to ease a particularly heavy load for someone, but there are any number of ways that could be useful.”\n\n\tNodding, Ferrl reached out and touched the clear crystals, focusing on the simpler enchantment of basic white light first, “I can believe that… I should warn you, though: it’ll only work on one object. If you put it on a cart loaded with produce, the cart bed would weigh less but the wheels and vegetables would be as heavy as ever. For transporting a sculpture to a rich person’s garden, or something like that, it’d be fine; the stone’s big enough to infuse, oh, maybe half a ton for half an hour, or ten stone for five hours, lightening each one by about half. So long as you’re honest with your customer regarding its capabilities, there shouldn’t be any problem. In fact, it might not be as hard for you to recharge as I thought. All I really need to do is write down the exact energy-blend, so you won’t have to pay extra for the labor of figuring it out.”\n\n\tHis host nodded enthusiastically, “That would be superb! For two reusable enchantments, I’ll give you as many of my finished stones as you can hold in two hands—yes, even hands as big as yours—and as many of the rough ones as you want. The roughs go for two to ten farthings, and the finished ones top out at a silver wheel, but I can expect a good few gold crowns for the enchantment I’ll sell, and my wife will absolutely adore having a light that doesn’t burn smelly oil or messy candles.”\n\n\t“Ah, domestic tranquility… A worthwhile goal for anyone,” the Agent chuckled. Picking up the piece of jade, he motioned toward the jaguar’s chair and asked, “May I? This one’s going to take a few minutes, and I’ll have to concentrate pretty hard to get it right.”\n\n\t“You mean you already…”\n\n\tFerrl just grinned, “Try ‘em for yourself,” and settled himself carefully onto the seat as its owner stepped back.\n\n\tA corner of his mind watched as the shopkeeper approached the stones with an almost child-like smile on his face. Turning one upside-down, he carefully balanced the other on top of it, the web of his thumb stretched to steady the base as his other hand slowly twisted the upper hemisphere. To his surprise, the one on the bottom lit, bathing his hand in light, but a moment’s fumbling got them re-aligned with the glowing one on top. Another twist turned it off for the moment, there being no reason to waste its energy even if it had plenty to spare, and he brushed the remaining paperweights off of the velvet, improvising a sling-bag out of it to carry his new toy home in.\n\n\tPatiently, the cat waited, watching the motionless wolf as he stared at some point within the hemisphere he held… When the mage finally relaxed and sat up, he held up his bag and asked, “Just on the off chance, would anything bad happen if these get broken? They’re round, and they’re easy to accidentally roll or drop…”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head, “Nah, you’re safe enough. I build good power pools, embedding ‘em deep into the stone so they’ll hold much and hold tightly. The worst that’ll happen is that you’ll get a bright flash along the actual fracture-planes; that’d be where a minute quantity of the material actually fell to powder, or close enough to it to lose its internal structuring and free a bit of harmless light-energy. If it all went up at once, sure, there’d be enough power there to start a fire or sunburn your ears, but the entire thing would have to be instantly crushed for that to happen. Here,” and he passed over the second enchantment, “press this against your chest and try jumping. Don’t worry, I’ve used it on living creatures before, including my own daughter, and the energy-mix is harmless.”\n\n\tThe jaguar had to hastily position his free arm to keep his head from hitting the ceiling.\n\n\tSmiling, Ferrl reached into the pouch he kept writing supplies in, “Seems to work alright… I’ll just jot down that little spell so I can start giving the rest of your goodies the attention they deserve.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe sun had just set when he stepped out of the store, a small canvas sack tied to his belt holding his new hoard of stones. It had taken a while to sort through the smaller, rough quartz crystals to find the least-flawed among them, and the oval of polished tiger’s-eye at the bottom of the bag would serve perfectly as the centerpiece of the defensive matrix they’d be supporting. He had plenty of other fine stones, too, in case of future need, so he didn’t bother with the other stores beyond taking a moment to look through their windows on the off chance something special caught his eye.\n\n\tAs he conducted his inspection of the silversmith’s wares, toward the rear of the alley where the light was dimmest, he heard a soft sound behind him, as of a body ending a fall on stealthy feet. That was all the warning he had, and the next thing he knew he’d been seized around his chest by a strong arm, a pair of legs wrapping around to hold his hands tight against his sides as the cold edge of a blade settled itself firmly against his throat.\n\n\t“I don’t care what my father says,” a voice hissed into his ear, “I am not marrying the first pile of brainless muscles to prove itself better at bashing heads than he is!”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, then chuckled, relaxing from his preparations to slam his attacker against the wall behind him as the mystery instantly evaporated, “Ah! You would be Danara, then; I’d been hoping to meet you eventually.”\n\n\tThe sharp knife at his throat pressed in harder, enough to break the skin. “‘Meet’ me!” she growled indignantly. “And then carry me off like a fresh-picked plum for your pleasure, no doubt! Well, you can stop planning your wedding right now, as you’ll never live to marry! I will not be taken as any man’s prize!” She didn’t give him even the briefest instant to reply; her dagger dug in, and she yanked it across his throat in one smooth slice.\n\n\tBlood splattered on the cobblestones as Ferrl grunted in sudden pain, but he forced the sensation aside, concentrating on the shapes of his severed veins… The spurting slowed to a trickle as he pressed in all around his throat with a solid layer of motion magic, then eased off entirely save for the residual dribbles still seeping through his fur to stain his shirt as he formed two invisible tubes of force to bridge the gaps her knife had carved. Coughing once, he shook his head, “Damn, girl, you don’t give a guy much of a chance to explain himself, now do you?” His voice was a little ragged from the gash in his windpipe, and he could almost feel the surprise radiating from the figure still clinging to his back. “I never said I’d accepted your father’s offer! My reason for wanting to meet you was to see if you could stand me! It was never my intention to steal your right to choose, and your willing acceptance was and remains the only way I’d allow Gerian’s intentions to be carried out.”\n\n\tThe legs gripping his sides withdrew, the arms around him following suit as Danara dropped lightly to the ground and started backing away, her dagger held warily at the ready as he finally turned to face her. She was dressed in dark clothing, with fur much closer to black than his own, so he couldn’t make out much of her appearance, but the nearest lamp’s reflection flickered in eyes of the purest gold. “What are you?” she asked, obviously shaken. “You should be dead or dying in the gutter; I know I slit deep enough!”\n\n\tSmirking faintly, the wolf bowed, “Sir Ferrl, Agent of the kingdom, at your service, and as an acquaintance phrased it to me once, such as I are notoriously difficult to kill. Yes, you struck perfectly, and almost anyone else would be dead, but it takes a bit more than a slit throat to seriously inconvenience me. I liked how you didn’t hesitate, though; it’s always good to see a girl who knows exactly what she wants and has the will to go about it properly.”\n\n\tDanara silently mouthed the word ‘Agent,’ then shook her head once, turned, and fled around the corner into the next alley.\n\n\tChuckling to himself, Ferrl looked down at his shirt, decided there wasn’t much he could do about the bloodstains, and started walking in the opposite direction. The forces keeping the rest of his blood on the inside didn’t take much effort to maintain, but he’d already invested a decent portion of his magical strength for the day over the course of bartering enchantments, so he figured he’d ask the militia where the nearest healer was on his way back to the inn. If he didn’t, they’d probably stop him anyway just for looking like he’d been involved in a murder, and it was always best to take the initiative, presenting the truth before some soldier’s imagination just made things worse.\n\n* * *\n\n\tA sound like none he’d heard before greeted Ferrl’s entrance as he stepped into the inn. The common room was packed to capacity, but dead silent save for the strummed chords of a lute and a voice straight out of the legends that spoke of angels. The crowd listened intently, not even lifting their tankards or eating their meals for fear that it might somehow break the spell of pure, lyrical beauty as Malia sang, her eyes closed and a smile of simple bliss on her muzzle. The wolf recognized the melody vaguely, having heard something similar the few times a minstrel had visited the tavern his mother had worked in when he was a cub back in Yelane, but he hadn’t realized there was a ballad to go with the tune, and it was obviously something from far away as he didn’t understand even a little of the language being sung.\n\n\tThe silence hung for several moments as the last verse’s words and the resonant chords in the body of the lute faded, before shattering instantly as the audience applauded with all their might. Conversations erupted all over the room, alike in subject as patrons strove to outdo each other in praising the performance, and dishes clattered as forgotten meals and drinks were rediscovered with gusto. After a nod to the red-clad mink who’d been playing the lute, Malia picked up Ela and carried her over to where Ferrl was waiting.\n\n\t“Daddy!” the vixen exclaimed, pointing at his bloody shirt, “You’re hurt!”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head, “It’s nothing, little one; I’m just fine.” Glancing to the feline, he asked, “Do we have a room?”\n\n\tMalia nodded, giving him an appraising glance of her own before stepping toward the stairs, “We do, and it looks like you need it to clean up in. What happened to you?”\n\n\tFollowing close behind, the wolf merely chuckled, “It seems that Danara didn’t take her father’s suggestion very well… She followed us all the way here from the temple, just to ambush me when she caught me alone in an alleyway, where she expressed her displeasure then punctuated it by slitting my throat.”\n\n\tHis daughter whimpered, as Malia shook her head in wonder, “A spirited lass, indeed! How did you respond?”\n\n\t“I didn’t return the favor, if that’s what you’re asking,” he replied as they stepped into the promised room and closed the door. “I rather like her, I think… I merely explained my side of the story, then visited a healer after she’d run off again. I was never in any particular danger, as it didn’t take much magic to patch my jugular veins temporarily, and the healer took care of the air bubbles in my blood before they could reach my heart, so I saw no cause to harm her at all.”\n\n\tThe feline chuckled, “Kathy and Roxy were right, then… You two will get along, eventually at least. It’s a bit late, but did you want to get dinner? The kitchen probably still has a few things.”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head, then started stripping off his bloodied shirt, “I picked up a couple meat rolls in the market, which should hold me ‘til I can get a large breakfast. I paid for the stones I needed in magical barter, so I’m tired enough that I’d rather go to bed… but my encounter with Danara was stimulating enough that there are a few other things I’d rather do first,” and he winked.\n\n\t“I see,” Malia replied, a grin slowly spreading across her muzzle, and she reached for her armor’s buckles. The leather fell easily from her form, sleekly muscled yet softly feminine in all the right places, and, bare save for her boots, she sat down on the edge of the bed to pull those off too.\n\n\tEla was grinning as well as she looked between the older woman and her Master, then scampered toward the door. “I’m gonna use the privy down the hall real quick,” she murred, opening it just enough to slip out without giving any other patrons a peek at the naked adults.\n\n\tFerrl chuckled as the latch clicked shut, “Ever the considerate child, she is… and she’s got a birthday coming up. I’ve already got an idea as to how to celebrate it, too… but those plans are for another city and another night.” He pulled his breeches off to join the pile of discarded clothing then slid onto the bed, giving Malia a gentle kiss as she laid out beside him, “For now, I have much more important matters to see to…”\n\n\tThe feline Goddess sighed happily and half-rolled to hold him close, “Mmm… indeed you do, my handsome knight.”\n\nChapter 8\n\n\tEven a day and a half later, Malia was still bursting into giggles at unpredictable intervals as the memory of the morning they left Glenrose kept resurfacing. The innkeeper had met them as they’d come down the stairs even as the sun rose, looking rather distressed by the dozen-plus other proprietors of inns and taverns that filled his common room, all of them immediately bursting into loud conversation as each of them struggled to one-up the next man in promising as much as they could, often more than they could really afford, if she’d only sign on with them as a steady singer. No matter the money, lodging, food, or other perks they offered, though, she had a mission to see to, and the travelers left the disappointed property owners in their wake as they journeyed onwards.\n\n\tThe intervening day and night had proven nearly as amusing to Ferrl, in their own way… A glance to their rear as they crested the highest hill in the area showed a dark figure on horseback several miles back, and as they set up camp that night a small fire flickered in the distance, spotted as he hunted for Ela’s next pair of exercise stones. He could only hope that, whatever her reasons for continuing to follow him, Danara had planned things well enough to carry some form of shelter such as the waxed canvas tarp they’d tacked up between two tree branches, as the downpour a few hours after sunset was the last he saw of her campfire, and even summer nights could chill.\n\n\tEntertaining as they were, such thoughts had to be set aside as they approached Gatuque, seat of the earldom and duchy of the same name. Though clearly as large as Glenrose, it took second place economically, as more of the city’s buildings and workforce was devoted to the clerical and bureaucratic functions of centralized authority. It was also, or so itinerant peddlers had assured Ferrl, more expensive to do business in, as the local tax code lacked the incentives Fariach maintained to encourage strictly local commerce and keep the basics of daily life affordable. As case in point, the ‘gatehouse’ piercing the high defensive walls of the city extended a good fifty yards along the road, and as they neared the travelers could see other prospective entrants being drawn into individual stalls beneath the shelter of its roof, their goods and persons being examined by a veritable army of clerks, guards, and other functionaries.\n\n\tThe seeming chaos was organized by a stocky feline wearing the insignia of a militia colonel and the crest of the duke’s service. His expression brooked no nonsense, promising ill for anyone who disrupted his command’s established, orderly procedures, but those who cooperated with the process were quickly and efficiently directed to the next stage of inspection once he’d personally categorized them. His questioning of Ferrl’s party was limited to one word, “Literate?”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, “Passably so, yes.”\n\n\tNodding in return, the cat pointed about halfway into the gatehouse on the left side, “Stall nine,” and immediately turned his attention back to the road and whoever might next seek entrance.\n\n\tA badger somewhat past middle age awaited them in the large stall, spacious enough for two good-sized carts plus room to at least partially unload them for examination. “Finally,” the clerk remarked, brushing his robes as he stood. “You’re the first people I’ve seen all day! I handle individuals and small groups, but for some reason today only the merchants have known how to read. So, this shouldn’t take long at all, as I won’t have to laboriously read and explain the lists of things that need to be taxed or declared to you.” He gestured at two large sheets of parchment hung from hooks flanking the closed shutters that could be used to air the stall on muggy days, “Read those if you will, while I take a quick glance through your saddlebags. If you see anything that matches your situation, let me know and we’ll calculate taxes or log a report as needed. Neglecting to mention something taxable, of course, results in a fine of ten times the usual assessment when it’s found out, or at least a few days in gaol if you decline to declare something the duke has decreed his government must remain aware of.”\n\n\t“I can already see one thing I’ll have to ask about exceptions for,” Ferrl nodded as he read his way down the lists. “Check the stallion’s left saddlebag first; the seals on those documents are technically magical, but there should be a difference between a salable enchantment and an anti-counterfeiting measure.”\n\n\tThe clerk read the papers quickly, both brows rising, “Oh, my… The king’s business? Diplomatic immunity?” He fished a small, oblong stone out of a pocket and ran it over the sheets, nodding as it glowed a faint green, “This isn’t a comprehensive Stone of Validation, but it at least confirms that these enchantments are of the general type used to sign official correspondence. Yes, those are excepted; we can’t go taxing every courier who bears a particularly important message.”\n\n\tPointing at an entry about halfway down the tax list, the wolf nodded in return before mentioning, “I don’t have any more common enchantments on me, but the other list says I need to declare myself as a mage. I’ve got the raw materials to make a few things that would be taxable, and I assert that it’s my intention to do so, but they won’t be offered for sale at this time. I’m merely passing through, remaining in Gatuque for two nights and one day, but other inspections I’ve endured on my journey involved officials who weren’t quite ready to accept my unsupported word on the subject, resulting in at least one death. I am indeed on the king’s business, and can brook no major delays.”\n\n\tThe badger cocked his head to one side, considering, then brightened and stepped toward a small writing-desk in one corner, “I believe that we can take your word for it, so long as an effort is made to verify it… Tell me which gate you’ll be leaving through, and we’ll draw up a basic inventory of these materials you mentioned. So long as, the day after tomorrow, you display your remaining supplies and whatever items you’ve crafted, and the totals add up, we’ll write it off as personal use just as you say, and no harm done.”\n\n\tOpening his right-hand saddlebag and withdrawing his pouch of stones, Ferrl nodded with a smile of his own, “That should suffice, and I promise you it will work out as you propose.”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“You skipped a declaration,” Malia commented once they’d passed the oversized gatehouse and were well on their way into the city proper.\n\n\tThe knight shook his head, “Not really; the very fact that it was on the list makes me glad you agreed to the delay for birthday celebrations… The duke here has no right to demand to be informed of Agents entering his capitol, as we serve the king directly and are answerable to no lesser authority, yet the very fact that he asked makes me suspicious. I’m going to have to pay the good duke a visit tomorrow morning, and try to find out why he’s chosen to overreach his authority in this respect.”\n\n\tHis companion nodded, her expression grim, “It’s such a little thing, on the surface… but its potential implications range from an honest mistake to outright treason. Take as much time as you need. If that turns out to be more than two days, we’ll rethink our travel plans and find a way to make up for it, but it’s definitely something that warrants investigation.”\n\n\tThe buildings just past the gate were obviously intended to cater to the desperate, the inexperienced, or the forgetful. There was a seller of travelers’ supplies and an overpriced-looking inn, while the rest of the short block was crammed with stalls and small shops selling food and drink. The only people patronizing these particular businesses were clearly non-locals, and Ferrl ignored them as well, though once the broad street opened into the city’s southernmost public square a unique sight made him pause… Several streets branched out around the burbling fountain in the center, one just as broad as the gate road and probably leading to the local warehouse district, its being wide enough for two large carts to pass each other obviously a necessity in such a circumstance. The second-widest street, though, heading straight and true for the ducal palace in the center of town, was flanked on one side by a booth whose sign proclaimed ‘Information and Messages’ under a larger question mark that even the illiterate should recognize. The wolf had never seen anything of the sort… but many people were stopping there, and it was staffed by what appeared to be an ordinary merchant, a clerk of some type, and a member of the city guard, so between them they could probably answer just about any likely query a traveler might have.\n\n\tMost of the other questioners, as Ferrl’s party waited in the short line, were asking very similar questions to those he had in mind. New it may have been, but this was certainly an innovation the knight could approve of, and the trio on the comfortable stools in the booth seemed to be doing a fairly brisk business at a copper penny per answer. When it was his turn, he took the lead while Malia held the horses’ reins, “Three questions… We need to know where there’s an inn with a decent minstrel or bard who wouldn’t mind a skilled singer who has no interest in sharing their tips, I could use directions to the local temple of Kathalla if the city has one, and I also need to know which, if any, audiences the duke holds would welcome a knight without sponsorship.”\n\n\tThe men across the counter from him exchanged a few glances, the soldier speaking up first, “I think that the Golden Lyre would welcome you, as inns go; the entertainer there is a full bard, but he’s getting old. He’s quite good with his instruments still, but his voice is starting to give out.”\n\n\tThe merchant nodded, “I was thinking the same thing; you can get there by going about a quarter-mile up the main road here, turning left at the fountain with three spitting dolphins, and watching for the sign with a yellow harp about four streets down. As for the temple, all of those sorts of buildings are just west of the center of town, and the Fanged Goddess has Her shrine alongside all the rest.”\n\n\t“I think that the morning court is fairly open,” the clerk mused last. “Our lord may be both duke and earl, but he’s not a king, so we don’t do things quite as formally as they probably insist on someplace like Fariach. I believe I’ve seen a few people there with no titles at all, though they were fairly high up in the unofficial ranks of the community at large. On any day but restdays, your ‘sir’ should suffice for entry.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, smiling, and fished a handful of coins out of his purse, picking out five coppers and sliding them across the counter, “Here… There may be a dark-furred young lady wolf asking about me, probably no later than this evening, so feel free to give her the same directions you gave us, pre-paid. If she shows up within the next hour or two, she can probably find me at the temple; otherwise it’d be the inn or morning court, depending.”\n\n\tThe vulpine merchant of the threesome nodded, “Is there any specific message you’d like to leave for her? That’d be at least another penny, for the record.”\n\n\tShaking his head, the wolf picked up Ela, “Nah… I’d like to leave a bit of mystery for her, as she seems to enjoy ferreting this sort of thing out.” The information-brokers merely chuckled, nodded, and turned their attention to the next person in line as Ferrl’s group reassembled and started walking down the suggested street.\n\n* * *\n\n\tOther than a momentary sense of déjà vu on the wolf’s part, meeting the bard had gone well. It wasn’t the graying tiger’s fault that he bore a passing resemblance to a wizard involved in treason and murder, and he was certainly willing enough to be drawn aside in between instrumental sets to listen to Malia’s proposal of musical collaboration.\n\n\t“Anything you can name,” the younger-looking feline answered his query as to her repertoire.\n\n\tThe bard chuckled faintly, “No matter how good you think you are, you should know better than to claim that… Nobody knows every song! For instance… I’m fairly certain you don’t know ‘The Widowed Rabbit’s Hunt.’”\n\n\tMalia smirked, “Trying to catch me out, hmm?” Her half-teasing query faded into a more tonal hum, and the bard jerked as he recognized the chorus of his own creation. Leaning closer, she murmured just loud enough for her companions to also hear, “I do know it… even though you only finished writing that song last week and had not yet performed it in public. I learned it when you prayed to thank me for inspiration, though it was your own gift that set that poor woman’s triumph to verse, not mine.”\n\n\tChuckling softly, the wolf mused to the stunned musician, “She’s implying exactly what you think she is, you know, and it’s true. You honestly have a partner, for a night or two, whose qualifications are literally unquestionable, and together you’ll make some of the best music of an already long and rewarding life. Are you truly fool enough to let this opportunity pass you by?”\n\n\t“No…” the old cat whispered, then straightened, giving his head a firmer shake, “no, I am not. My lady, I have been yours since I first felt the stirrings of music in my heart, some sixty years gone now, and there is nothing, can be nothing, more gratifying than to meet you at the end of my life… and to know you approve of how I spent it. I’d often daydreamed, these recent years, of possibly getting to sing and play at your side… but those dreams all assumed that such could happen only after my death. I still look forward to your heaven, but I accept your offer for this living day with all of my heart, and, aching joints or no, you shall get nothing less than the best performance I’ve ever given, to sing with.”\n\n\tA faint white glow surrounded Malia’s fingers as she took the tiger’s hands in hers, and his eyes widened as the slight swelling in his knuckles visibly decreased, hollows filled in, and chipped claws repaired themselves. The calluses at his fingertips remained, necessary to play comfortably for any length of time, but in every other respect his hands may as well have belonged to someone half his age. “Your life has, indeed, been a good and true one,” his Goddess murmured with an affectionate smile, “and my singing with you is not reward enough. I will not touch your own, failing voice, because the other mortals would ask too many questions that you could not answer… but take this as my true reward for your faith. No matter how much longer you may live, you will always be able to make beautiful music, and when you die, you will join me and we’ll sing together among the stars in voices time cannot touch.”\n\n\tTears seeped from the corners of the bard’s eyes, and he bowed his head in gratitude, fingers still clenching and relaxing in wonder. “Yes, my lady,” he replied simply, then reached for his harp to tune it.\n\n\tDrawing her gently aside for the moment, Ferrl spoke quietly, “I’m going to head to the temple for… a bit of consultation. I’ll be back briefly before supper time, but if my inquiries bear any fruit I’ll be eating elsewhere, and taking Ela with me at the time. It’s part of her birthday celebration, and something you don’t want to know a single specific of, much less participate in. Other than the morning audience at the ducal palace, I’ll be around for most of tomorrow, working on magic, and we should have everything finished and be ready to travel again by the next morning.”\n\n\tThe feline smirked faintly, “Unless the duke arrests you, or your prospective wife tries carving you up again… I’ll keep an eye on your little one for the afternoon, regardless; she really does seem to enjoy music, so this special performance should make a good birthday present too.”\n\n\tEla, however, looked a little torn between her options. “I’d have all day tomorrow to listen t’music,” she murmured, “and I kinda want to go to Kathy’s house. The old kitty’ll still be playin’ good later, right?”\n\n\tHer father nodded, Malia following suit a moment later, her muzzle pursed thoughtfully. “I guess you could go with him for now,” she agreed. “It would probably be safer than wandering around tomorrow, anyway, as there’s always a chance that our knight here is about to severely irritate the local gentry, but they won’t even know he’s here until after morning court. If you want to go to church, little one, now really is the best time.”\n\n\tThe vixen’s green eyes blinked hopefully up at her Master, and he smiled, nodding, “Alright. Let’s get everything settled in the rooms, and me out of this armor, and then we’ll be on our way. Let’s leave your collar behind for once, but you can wear that good dress we got back in Ashenton, and your knife too. You’re turning seven, and you deserve a few pretties to wear.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tTemple Row was a fairly impressive sight. Each of the major Gods and Goddesses had a building, all built to look ancient but with new, well-maintained materials, mostly marble, though no two quite matched in the specific color or pattern of stone they used. Naturally, the largest of the buildings were devoted to the God of Generosity and the Demigod of Commerce, as they had the most numerous congregations to hold during services, but Malia’s shrine wasn’t much smaller, and much better decorated due to the number of artisans who’d happily donated their time and effort to improve it. The only one missing was the temple to Roxanarra, but those tended to be located just outside of cities anyway, both to encourage the simple life that Goddess preferred in Her followers and to keep the Roxanites’ practice of exchanging pleasure for donations from drawing too much attention. The kingdom’s laws on religious freedom, though naturally those only applied to the faiths of light, could and did override any purely-local restrictions on prostitution, but the priests and priestesses saw no reason to rub the authorities’ noses in their excepted status.\n\n\tThe darker temples were, of course, quite a bit smaller, and set a bit apart from the rest, but the flow of street traffic didn’t seem to be shying away from them at all, a testament to the kingdom’s ideals where tolerance was concerned. Still, Ferrl couldn’t help but be curious. He stopped outside of the temple to Karnaal and asked the priest there, a brown-robed ermine leaning lazily against a pillar, “Do you get much business? One would think that folks might be… a little leery of openly walking into a place like this, because of what it would say about them to anyone who’s watching…”\n\n\tThe clergyman looked him up and down, then shrugged, “Not much, no, cousin.” That one word established himself as genuine, despite the relatively faint taint on his own soul, as he’d obviously identified the wolf’s inner darkness in that glance. The mustelid gestured across the street, where a couple of people were watching from an alley, “We just go through the motions here, having better places to meet for real worship, but enough fools and wannabes drop by to keep those plainclothes guards happy. That, in turn, keeps them from putting much effort into finding where the rest of us gather, and everybody’s satisfied.”\n\n\tFerrl couldn’t help but laugh, the vixen on his shoulders giggling too. “An equitable arrangement all around, it seems, and I apologize for my initial assumption of your foolishness for having an obvious temple in the first place. Good day.”\n\n\t“No offense taken,” the priest assured him with a grin as they moved on.\n\n\tTwo doors down, he stepped under the gleaming steel fangs marking Kathalla’s domain, dropped a gold crown into the donation box, and traversed a short hall to emerge in what he could only presume was another facsimile. There were two rows of four pews each, enough for a fairly decent congregation by Kathallic standards, but the far wall only held two more silvered teeth, and there was a pulpit besides. He’d only had a moment to frown faintly and lift Ela down when a chuckle from a black-curtained arch to one side drew his attention. “Another true believer,” the black-cowled priestess mused, her smile and voice both welcoming. “Oh… two, even! Come on, both of you; the real chapel is back here.” The lady was dressed just as the high priestess in Fariach had been, in a black robe fastened with a matching sash and a sacrificial dagger tucked in between, but her smile and the flicking, feline tail behind her both set her apart from the rather… opinionated vulpine in the capitol.\n\n\tThe chamber she led them to was almost identical to that other priestess’ domain, but this one’s keeper showed the differences again as she turned around, eying both of her visitors with a clear hint of hungry appreciation. “Welcome,” she purred. “It’s rare indeed for me to meet two more of our brethren who are so cute, if in different ways… I am Akani. How can the House of the Fanged One serve you?”\n\n\tFerrl settled onto one of the pews, his daughter climbing up beside him, and smiled back as he laid a hand on her shoulder, “My little one here is turning seven, so I was hoping for an opportunity to… celebrate. I know we’re far from Fariach and the king’s protection of his religion, but is there anything like the playclub they have there, in this town? Or at least some place we could take a cheap slave or two where the screaming won’t get us both arrested?”\n\n\tAkani’s grin broadened, “So my eyes weren’t deceiving me! I’ve never met a sister so young, but I suppose I wasn’t much older when I figured out that I liked the taste of blood… It just took a few years before I finally met that bat who told me what to do about it and introduced me to several new wonders over the course of making sure…”\n\n\tEla giggled, and the wolf arched his brows, “I think we may have a mutual acquaintance, then.” He inclined his head toward the obsidian portrait on the wall, “She doesn’t share that aspect of Herself with just everyone, I’ve found… but little Ela got her ‘introduction’ in much the same way that you did, I’d warrant.”\n\n\tThe priestess clapped her hands together and giggled as well, “So you know Kathy!” She scampered over with no trace of ‘priestly’ dignity and settled onto the bench next to the vixen, “She’s the one who set up the enchantment on the donation box, and I’d figured that someone special had shown up when the stone it’s linked to glowed gold… but I hadn’t expected as many delightful surprises as I got! There are only a few dozen Kathallics living in this city, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one among them who’s met our mortal lady.”\n\n\tThe vixen grinned as she climbed into Akani’s lap to hug her, “She’s fun! She taught me how t’kill, and what a girl feels like inside whether she’s bleedin’ or not, and other things too!”\n\n\tAs the priestess arched a brow, the wolf chuckled, “She was a good teacher, yes, and Ela was an apt pupil… which is why we’re looking for a place to play. We’re only in town for two nights, as I’m actually on a mission for Malia, but that’s no reason to forget our true calling.”\n\n\tThe feline blinked, “I’d thought I sensed a surge of the light’s power earlier today… but it wasn’t so profound as to suggest that a Goddess was visiting in person. What’s going on?”\n\n\tFerrl frowned faintly, choosing his words with care, “It seems that followers of… the temple two doors up the street have found a way into Unicorn Vale, and back out again, along with a number of the Vale’s residents, and the king has sent me to find out how they’re doing it and to stop them. She doesn’t have a nickname, but Malia learned Kathy’s trick, and that’s how she’s with us. The power you felt was probably when she gifted a particularly-faithful follower of hers, met by chance, with a small miracle... Back on the subject, though, not even she knows how these kidnappings are occurring, so it’s my job to find out and stop it if I can.”\n\n\t“A worthy goal,” Akani nodded, “and one I certainly have no objection to. They’d probably be tasty, but from all I know of the Vale, every single unicorn would be considered ‘devout,’ so I’d have to keep my paws off of them regardless.” She twitched, then, at something neither of her guests could sense, then frowned as she fished a round stone out of a pocket, its white surface swirling with a coppery distortion, “Now who could that be? Someone just dropped a farthing into the box… Wait here.” Pausing only to let Ela slip out of her lap, the priestess rose and padded back toward the hallway to the outer chapel, straightening her robes as she went.\n\n\tThe wolf answered his daughter’s curious blink, “I don’t know either… though I have a suspicion. Even if I’m right, I won’t let it disrupt our plans. Akani may not have told us where it is yet, but I find the fact that she hasn’t said there isn’t a playclub to be encouraging.”\n\n\tEla nodded, “Okies.”\n\n\tA seemingly random flicker of light glinting from Kathalla’s statue caught Ferrl’s attention at that point, though a glance at the skylights didn’t show any cause for it, leaving him wondering for just a moment before the approach of footsteps and voices drew his gaze back to the curtained entryway.\n\n\t“Don’t give me that crap,” a voice he’d heard only once before was exclaiming. “I grew up in a temple; deities don’t make this sort of decision for us! You made the right choice by letting me in so I can deal with that brute, but crediting your Goddess surpasses piety and enters the realm of stupidity!”\n\n\tAkani looked to be hanging onto her temper by a thread as she led Danara in, and pointed at her as she caught Ferrl’s eyes with her own, “She’s the one with the farthing, and some business with you to hear her tell it. I was all for having my ursine acolyte throw her back out, but Kathalla evidently has other ideas.”\n\n\tNow that she was finally in good light, Danara didn’t look nearly as intimidating as she’d managed to portray herself in that dark alley. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, and was rather slender for her age, though the firm shifting of muscle under her pelt suggested that she was probably a lot stronger than she looked, dressed all in black to match her very dark gray fur. A leather vest was laced to her neck, hugging a strictly modest bosom closely, but her dark breeches were a fair bit looser. Knives were tucked into her belt on both sides, and Ferrl would have been surprised if the two visible were the only ones she carried; her vest, the knapsack on her back, and her boots could all have concealed more. As she caught sight of the bigger wolf she stopped, hands on her hips and inches from her blades’ hilts, to glare at him, “Did you put her up to this? On and on about her Goddess! This lie’s so obvious that it’s not even funny anymore; you can’t have any business here, or you wouldn’t have my Knight Commander High Priest Father,” and she spat each audibly-capitalized word like poison, “prattling on about your honor ‘til he’s blue in the face and I’m ready to lose my lunch!” She paused for a moment, then snorted with just a hint of a smile, “Though your choice in hidey-holes could prove convenient… I don’t know how you survived a slit throat, but lose that big sword and I’ll put that altar to good use. Nobody’d mind a scream or two from here…”\n\n\tEla was growling and gripping her own knife, confronted with the one who’d hurt her wolf, and Akani’s hand never strayed far from her sacrificial blade. Rolling her eyes, the priestess asked, “Would someone please tell me who this bitch thinks she is? It sounds like the temple she claims to have been raised in must have been to Tarragh; any other would have at least taught her some manners!”\n\n\tAll eyes turned to the obsidian sculpture behind the altar as it animated, Kathalla’s ‘voice’ resonating against the assembled souls, *She thinks that she’s a woman refusing to be a victim, lashing out against an arranged marriage she assumes to be entirely the idea of her father and a lust-blinded stranger intent on reducing her to servile obedience. In reality, she is the victim of a conspiracy, but every mortal she blames is innocent. I, Roxanarra, Malia, Tarragh, and Shattrathin are the only ones at fault, and Our crime is that of finding her the most perfectly-suited husband she could ever hope to have, and incidentally saving her from a life that would be short and very ugly were she permitted to continue with her temper and uncertainties unchecked.*\n\n\tFerrl couldn’t help but laugh as Danara stared at the statue, looking like she’d been struck by lightning. Her fur was bristling, and she couldn’t seem to stop blinking… “Oh, my…” he finally managed, though chuckles still threatened with every breath he took. “Well, there you have it! Your father may be… a little overzealous, but he really is looking out for you in this case, if not in quite the way he thinks he is. And neither Akani here nor I have lied to you, either… The way she named Kathalla directly should have proven that in the first place, unless you’re forgetting your own temple’s basic lessons! I’m still not saying that you and I should hop into the sack immediately, or even formalize a betrothal, but would you please, finally, just talk to me? Have a little faith that a Goddess knows what She’s talking about! I already like your spunk and fire, and if She says that can eventually lead to love, I’m willing to believe Her. Just let me get to know you, and in return I’ll introduce you to this guy named Ferrl, who escaped from a life no better than yours by sheer luck and is perfectly willing to share a bit of that good fortune!” Pausing, he turned to the statue and asked, “You and the other Gods probably wouldn’t be scheming so hard if I couldn’t… but I need to be sure: can I marry?”\n\n\tKathalla chuckled softly, *There is no prohibition against Agents wedding, no. They’re urged to be careful about it… but I’m sure that anyone attempting to use Danara here as a bargaining chip would find that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. She is not your usual tame, scared hostage!* Her faceted eyes seemed to focus on Her priestess, *Akani… Tell My knight here where the club is and make the necessary arrangements; I’m granting Danara special dispensation to enter even if she’s not Mine. I think that she may become so, eventually, but it will take time, and there’s no sense denying her a bit of fun at this moment.*\n\n\tThe feline spread her robe and curtsied, “By Your will, my Goddess,” as the obsidian froze to immobility once more. Turning back to look at her guests, though the half-grimace she gave the younger wolf was still a trifle irritated, she explained, “Because there aren’t many people around who use it, the club normally only operates one night a week, and this isn’t it, but it can always be opened by special request. You aren’t the first to desire entertainment while passing through, so if you’ll give me a moment to change into something more suited for the street I’ll go get things set up. I’ll leave you a map, of course, but don’t let any non-Kathallics touch it or it’ll burst into flame. This isn’t a piece of information we want falling into unfriendly hands, after all.” Sparing one more pointed glance for the girl she didn’t yet trust, she curtsied again and disappeared through a black curtain.\n\n\tRising, his daughter slipping off of the pew beside him, Ferrl bowed to his prospective fiancée, “I assume you know what inn I’m staying at?”\n\n\t“I do,” Danara growled, frowning, “but you also seem to be assuming—”\n\n\tThe knight winced and held up his hands, “Please! Let’s not start this again… If you’d just allow me to finish what I mean to say for once, I was simply going to invite you to meet me there an hour before sunset. It’s entirely up to you, and I’d like to have that talk I mentioned while we make our way to wherever it is we’re going… but I also know, from personal experience, just how disturbing one’s first conversation with a deity can be, so I didn’t want to take advantage of your being off-balance or particularly easy to convince so soon afterwards. Rest, wander, think, and if you feel at all comfortable about it when the time comes, meet me at the Golden Lyre. Nobody’s going to try to rush or push you into anything, so just take all the time you need. If you choose not to join me, you’re free to head back to your father’s temple, try to ambush me again, or just get on your horse and ride off into a life of your own; neither I nor my Goddess will try to stop you.”\n\n\tThe young bitch frowned again, fingering the hilt of one of her knives… then shrugged, “I truly hate to do what any man suggests, but you’re so damned reasonable! I’ll get out of here while I still can, and just hope my sense returns before you leave town. If it turns out that, on reflection, I still need to kill you, it’ll be a lot easier to do so when you’re not standing there expecting it.” Turning on her heel, she stalked out through the curtains without another word.\n\n\tEla frowned, “Do we have to take her, daddy? She’s prob’ly gonna ruin my birthday party!”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled, “Oh, I’m sure things will work out… Kathy said you’d like the clubs, and she was right; we just have to have faith that she’s right this time, too. Just remember how much she loves us... She simply wouldn’t let this happen if it were likely to end badly.”\n\n\tThe vixen thought about that for a moment, then nodded, her frown evaporating.\n\nChapter 9\n\n\t“I was born in a town just a bit too small to call a city, two whole kingdoms south in Dachiland,” Ferrl mused conversationally as he walked down the busy street, Ela on his shoulders and a faint haze in the air marking the spell that would garble his words for anyone more than a few feet away. “My mother was a tavern wench, waiting tables by day and occasionally whoring by night if a customer looked like they had money to spare. She… wasn’t ready for a cub, and for most of my early years would frequently tell me that the only good I was to her was as a reminder to be a bit more careful in who she slept with during her cycle, and the obvious implications explain why I don’t have any idea who my father is. Hell, I’m not even sure she remembers anything about him other than the obvious that he was a wolf... I considered myself lucky, at the time, that after six or seven years she learned to accept me… but that eventually passed too. She had very little in terms of plans for a future, you see, and my place in them was waiting tables or possibly tending bar at the same tavern she worked in; she wouldn’t even entertain the possibility whenever I suggested doing something else with my life.”\n\n\tDanara nodded grudgingly, “I suppose we’re a bit more similar than I thought… I didn’t mind staying in the temple, but my father wouldn’t listen in the slightest when I suggested that I might make a good priestess. There are women who serve Tarragh, but he’s never completely approved of them, and he felt it would somehow impugn on his honor or faith if his offspring ended up choosing Malia instead. Thus, the only thing I could possibly be was a good little wife once I was old enough and he’d chosen someone for me.”\n\n\tHer companion chuckled sympathetically, “There are definite similarities, yes… though I can’t claim to have been quite as flamboyant about it as you, when I decided to rebel. When I was thirteen and just starting to get my final growth, I ran off and hired on as a field hand at a farm just outside of town, then again at one farther away when my mother found me and started pestering me to come back. They were the only jobs I could get, without any real education or experience, as I’d only managed to sneak off to the temple of Shattrathin often enough to learn basic reading and enough math to change coins. The closest thing to a plan that I had at the time was to work at the farm for a few years until I had my adult strength, then see if a mercenary troop would take me on as a trainee. Farm work, though, didn’t pay well enough for me to save up any money to speak of, and I knew that even the most generous band of fighters wouldn’t buy me the equipment I’d need. Training was truly the most I could hope for. The ironic part is that I was good at farm work; though it wasn’t reflected in my wages, I probably improved Raldon’s return on his business expenses by at least a quarter during my time there, finding ways to do more for less money.”\n\n\tThis fetched a more agreeable chuckle, “I can understand that! More than one artisan who’d come to pray to Malia at our temple told similar tales when I asked of life outside those walls, how they were hired for a specific task and paid fairly for it, but got nothing for spotting mistakes or offering financially-helpful suggestions while on the job. Still… you’re a bit far from that farm now, so something had to have happened…”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “That’s where the luck I mentioned came in… I was clearing a new field when a boar attacked, severely injuring one of the newer workers, and it turned out that he was Lachier, prince of this very kingdom, in exile for a short time after some sort of disgrace. I was given the magical transport-token he’d been sent with, mainly because my boss wanted someone other than himself to explain things and take the blame in case the prince died, but the end result was that I got a completely fresh start. People with no previous expectations at all got a chance to examine and test me, with orders from a king, of all people, to find me a fitting job. The consensus was that I had far more potential than farm life had been making use of, and they started training me to be an Agent. In fighting, I’m far more than I could have hoped to be as a common mercenary, and I’ve also been taught how to be a passable thief and even mage, along with more pure knowledge than I’d known existed, back in my former life. The financial aspects also brought their own sort of freedom… one of the best results of which is riding now on my shoulders. I bought Ela as a slave, but now she’s legally and emotionally my daughter. I can’t imagine life without her, and I look forward to watching her grow and learn as any parent would… though, hopefully, I won’t put quite the pressure on her that either of our parents did. I love her too much for that.”\n\n\tHe felt a brief shift as the vixen bent down to kiss him between his ears and murmur, “Thank you, Daddy.”\n\n\tThe knight leaned back to grin up at her, then looked back to Danara as he led them around another corner as the map he’d studied directed. “So,” he resumed, “that’s the basic story of my life, and you’ve given me enough of yours to be content… On to other questions, then, and please note that I won’t ask you a single thing that I wouldn’t be willing to answer in return. One good place to start getting a feel for your personality would be this: what’s the most exciting thing you can remember in your recent life?”\n\n\t“Not much of a choice there,” she admitted. “Given how dull I found temple life, the only excitement I’ve had lately was cutting your throat. Merely hunting for you had been amusing, I’ll admit, but it couldn’t compare to that... While it lasted it was the most intense thing I’d ever felt; my insides seemed to clench, I was hot and cold at the same time… and then you had to go and ruin the moment by not dying! That really pissed me off, you know… How about you?”\n\n\tFerrl pondered for a moment, then shrugged, “It’s a toss-up, really. The most intense moment I’ve had recently, emotionally at least, was the first time Ela called me ‘daddy.’ But when it comes to a pure, visceral jolt, it’d have to be the sight of my sword stuck between Malia’s perfect breasts, a good couple feet of it emerging from her back. I can’t even describe the look of sheer surprise she had on her face; it had been a stimulating fight, and that moment was very nearly climactic in more than one sense of the word.”\n\n\tDanara’s eyes were huge, “You can’t be talking about the Malia, can you?”\n\n\tThe bigger wolf smirked down at her, “Yes I can, and I am. As far as I know, none of the Gods of this world know how it’s done… but all of the Goddesses do. They can, and do, make completely mortal bodies to wander among us in, and it was through that medium that Malia indulged in a sparring match with me… and since she was honest enough to stick with the limits of that mortality, she lost. No wooden practice blades, either, as safety was hardly a concern; she immediately made another body, and healed the one cut she’d landed on me during the fight. She’s the cat I’ve been traveling with, who we left back at the inn.”\n\n\tThe bitch shook her head slowly, “Gods… No wonder you managed to beat the shit out of my father! I almost pity him, now…” Curious, she glanced up, “Ela? What’s your ‘most exciting memory?’ I suppose I could learn just as much from those around your big, lumpy father as I can from him, now that I think about it.”\n\n\tThe vixen giggled, then tilted her head to one side as she considered. “Killin’ Jol,” she finally answered. “He was a treat daddy bought me, an’ I fucked ‘im, an’ sucked ‘im, an’ cut his arms off, an’ rammed my daddy’s knife through ‘is heart.”\n\n\tFerrl had to wait for a long moment as Danara stopped dead in the middle of the street, blinking. As she slowly started walking again, he murmured, “You haven’t been told much about the worship of Kathalla, have you?”\n\n\t“No… The only things they had to say about Her at the temple were that She was the oldest of the Dark Gods, and the worst.”\n\n\t“Ah,” the wolf nodded. “Well, She’s rather fond of pain and death, but likes it best when there’s pleasure involved too, or even pleasure by itself. Following Her is a lot like following Roxanarra, or Roxy as She’s known when wandering as a mortal, but a lot… messier. If slitting my throat excited you more from the act than from the fact it was me you were doing it to, we’re going to the right place. In fact… there it is, that sign with the cup of suspiciously-red ‘ale.’ If you want to watch someone die tonight, you’ll definitely get your chance.”\n\n\tIt took Danara another moment to gather enough of her wits to follow him inside, by which time he’d spotted the curtained entrance to the average-looking tavern’s basement. There was a guard just within, and he immediately rose to stop her on seeing no darkness in her soul, but Ferrl paused in helping Ela out of her dress to assure him, “Kathalla gave special permission. She’s… a prospect, and I’m sure that our Goddess will keep her from doing anything rash if she doesn’t like what she sees down there.” Nodding, the armored rat sat down again and gestured toward the stairs. Candles spaced along the walls lit the long descent, and about halfway down a tingle of magic washed over the wolf’s skin even as the sounds from the common room above abruptly faded to silence. Given that barrier, then, it was no surprise to find that the door at the landing opened directly into the club with no need for a buffer-chamber.\n\n\tThe room beneath the earth was quite a bit smaller, and considerably less ornate, than the one in the capitol. There were only two good-sized tables and a slightly elevated wooden platform for a stage, the latter of which doubled as the place where the available slaves assembled to await selection if the long line of wear in the wood toward the back was any indication. The walls were paneled in oak, and shelves of wax candles in all four corners provided ample illumination. Only the floor was similar, tightly-fit squares of marble providing ease of cleaning and lending just a touch of class to the subterranean playroom. There was one door other than the entrance, clatters audible behind it suggesting a kitchen that was still being prepared for use, and a communal rack of blades and other implements was mounted on the wall opposite it.\n\n\t“Ferrl! Hi!” Akani called with a grin as she rose from the table she’d been sitting at. “I see your invitation was accepted… I wasn’t sure it would be, you know.” The priestess wore a short-skirted blue dress, a shade lighter than the one Ela had just relinquished, offering a much better view of her calico fur than her robes had, not to mention showing off her somewhat above-average rump and chest better than any ecclesiastical garb could.\n\n\tThe knight grinned as he pulled out a chair, gesturing for Danara to take it before claiming another for himself and pulling his daughter into his lap, “I think she’s still in shock… It wasn’t until we were almost here that I found out she had no idea what sort of ‘play’ our Goddess likes, and she hasn’t had much time to adjust to what I told her. She didn’t run away, which could be considered a good sign, but I’m starting to suspect that she’s a lot more innocent than she’s tried to make me think.”\n\n\t“I’m not…” the girl sputtered, then broke off, ears low. “I… didn’t think I was innocent,” she murmured a moment later, “but… I think there were a lot of things left out of my education. I’ve seen horses being bred, and read some of a romance story before my father found it and deemed it too dirty for a young woman, but… but I’m beginning to see that there were whole categories of concepts that I never knew existed!” She gestured at Ela, “Her, for one… I just found out that she has sex, and she’s obviously too small for what I’ve seen stallions do to mares! And what was that bit about ‘sucking,’ anyway?”\n\n\tThe priestess cackled, “Oh, my, you have been sheltered! I’d bet my admission fee you don’t even know how two women can share pleasure, often even better than they could with a man!” She glanced to the bigger wolf, “By the way, that fee’s a crown and a half, here; we don’t do enough business to get the bulk deals the club in the capitol enjoys. One or two of our other short-term guests were from Fariach, so I’ve learned to clarify that first as some of them complained at the surprise.”\n\n\tFerrl did his best to ignore the red burning through his companion’s earfur as he fished a noble and two crowns out of his purse and slid them across the table, “Now, now, we were all inexperienced at some point… A good part of why she’s here in the first place is to learn, and she can do that just by watching. I don’t want either of you more jaded ladies to try forcing her into anything she’s not ready and willing to accept.”\n\n\tDanara blushed even brighter for a moment, then blinked as she spotted the coins, “You’re… you’re paying a crown and a half in gold, just so I can watch? You could have half a dozen very good whores for that much! I’m… finding it hard to believe that you’re going to pay so much money and not expect more than… observation from me…”\n\n\t“Danara, I am a knight and a gentleman, and you are no whore,” the older wolf told her in tones that brooked no argument. He tilted his head, then, and smiled a bit, “Though, you’re obviously not quite as innocent as the priestess here thought, if you know how much a whore costs.”\n\n\tThe young bitch blushed again, looking away, “I… looked into it. When my father was being particularly oppressive, it almost seemed like a viable option, and I wanted to know if I could make enough to live on like that, or maybe even join a temple of Roxanarra if it turned out I liked it. It’s not like I’m ugly; if I’d had to, I probably could have…”\n\n\tAkani shook her head with a smile, “No, my dear, you most certainly aren’t ugly… a point which I’m quite sure our knight here has noticed.”\n\n\tIt was Ferrl’s turn to dip his ears, reddened at the tips, and he changed the subject quickly, “Now that we’re here and I’ve paid, what sort of selection were you able to rustle up for us? Though Ela’s is more important to me, I’ve got a birthday to celebrate as well, so I’m hoping we can find two decent playmates tonight. If we can’t, well, the prince has mentioned putting together a party of some sort on my behalf, once I’m back in Fariach…”\n\n\tThe feline grinned, “I ran into a familiar face while visiting the slave dealers… and Kathy herself picked out one for each of you. You, my dear wolf, get a charming young filly, while she assured me that the vixen would like a girl too this time, and pointed out a cute otteress who’d been having trouble in her domestic training because she felt convinced she’d make a better pleasure slave. For myself, I chose a nice fox; I love the knots, but wolves are just too big for me. The horse should suffice as far as…” and she broke off with a glance at Danara. “Did you tell her just what happens to our toys after play?”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head, “I did not… and it’s entirely too cruel a trick to surprise her with if she objects to the concept,” and he turned to face his dark-furred companion. “You don’t have to indulge if you don’t want to, and can even leave before it’s an issue… but in all honesty, there’s a kitchen on the far side of that door, and the living, thinking, feeling filly I’m about to sate my needs with then murder will be cooked up and served to all of us as a meal.”\n\n\tDanara closed her eyes tightly, leaning back in her seat as her mind translated his words into images, imagined sounds, and finally a hypothetical flavor… Panting slightly, she opened them to slits and growled, “I… think I’m sick or something… I feel… it’s like that weird clench I got in my belly when I cut you, but it’s worse! Lots worse…” She shifted uncomfortably on her seat, her lost-looking, golden eyes flitting from one face to the next, searching from guidance from those with more experience.\n\n\tAkani smiled, “That, my dear, is no illness at all… Judging by what little scent is escaping your breeches, if any of us were on touching terms with you I think we’d find you very warm and moist between your thighs. It’s not quite like the outright heat you’ve seen in mares, winking and clenching and dribbling before the stallion takes them, but it’s very similar. Some part of you likes the thought, and your body’s reacting in a natural way. I think that you’ll enjoy yourself, this night… You are a predator, and the slaves are your prey.” She glanced around, her smile broadening to a grin, “Our prey… We didn’t buy you a victim of your own, but now I’m thinking we should have.”\n\n\t“My… my own?” the girl gasped, the sensations just getting worse as she thought of herself doing these horrible things to another person though, as fevered as it was, her imagination couldn’t supply any specifics.\n\n\tThe priestess gave Ferrl a fulminating look, “A change of plans might be warranted… but don’t worry; it won’t affect you or Ela any. If she hasn’t run off by the time we get through all of our own playmates, I’ve got a way to get a fourth just for her, and the expense is already covered even if the one I’ve got in mind is worth more than the admission fee you fronted for your date. We don’t use it often… but there’s a fund in the temple accounts specifically for attracting new converts, and if things get that far, I’d stake my rank on this girl being a natural-born Kathallic. It is my hope to see her leave this room with a smile on her face and a blight on her soul… but we’ll just have to see how things turn out.” Leaning back in her seat, she gave a worn-looking spot on the wall behind her three firm thumps with a balled fist. “Simple things first,” she explained with a grin. “There’s a little door you probably didn’t notice at the foot of the stairs, and a basic set of signals for the one senior slave we keep. She’ll be sending in… ah, there he is!”\n\n\tThe average-looking young fox didn’t even wear a collar, but his stance was enough to convey his position. Keeping his eyes down, he closed the door behind him then stood facing the patrons, hands clasped behind his back as he awaited instruction.\n\n\tAkani stood up and pointed at her own seat, “Sit there, dear,” as she fetched a short length of rope from a shelf just under the blade-rack. “Arms behind you, and… there. Good boy.” The todd looked a bit nervous as she tied his hands behind the seat, a discreet tug or two suggesting that there was some sort of hook or ring back there specifically for such bonds, but his worries faded for the moment when she padded back in front of him and, gazing into his eyes, slipped her dress off of both shoulders to let it fall to the floor. Her breasts bobbed as she leaned forward to kiss him on the nose, purring, “Yes, you naughty little thing, I’m intending just what you’re probably thinking… but first,” and she glanced over, “Ela? Why don’t you show our newest prospect just what you mean by ‘sucking?’ She may or may not like it herself, but we should at least correct whatever oversight left her ignorant of the possibility!”\n\n\tGiggling, the vixen hopped up and scampered over, immediately leaning in and nuzzling at the fox’s white crotchfur. His sheath was already a little swollen from the implied promise he’d been given, and the sight of two naked females was the only bit extra he needed, his pointy tip peeking out only to disappear between Ela’s lips an instant later. Her cheeks hollowed once every few breaths, her tongue doing the rest of the work as she coaxed one inch after another into view. At four inches, she started bobbing her head, and at six her small hand came up to help work his sheath over the wider bulge of his barely-formed knot. Throughout it all, Danara just stared, her initial disappointment over the size of the first bare manhood she’d ever seen quickly fading. Counting that swelling near the base, the total was just over seven inches of glistening pink by the time the vixen decreed her job finished, and even if it couldn’t compare to the stallions she’d seen it was more than she could imagine fitting into herself.\n\n\t“If you’re just sucking for sucking’s sake as a one-sided gift of pleasure to your partner,” Akani mused, “you’d keep going until he spurts… but, as the little one knows, I have other plans for his seed. It remains a good way to get a guy fully hard, though.”\n\n\tAs Ela retreated to a chair of her own, nodding and licking her muzzle, the cat straddled the bound fox, her tail well out of the way to give a good view as she grasped the tapered shaft in one hand and slowly lowered herself onto it. She gasped softly as her rump met his thighs, then started pulling herself back up, pleasure saturating her tone as she continued in her role as ‘teacher,’ “You see… see that slickness? How he’s a lot shinier now? That’s not his doing; that’s mine… When a woman’s feeling good, she’s wet down there. Don’t you worry that anything’s wrong if your breeches feel damp; it’s perfectly natural, as the slickness is just nature’s way of making it easier for a man to get inside… and it shows up any time you’re aroused. It doesn’t matter whether you’re actually doing this or not; your body really only knows one way to show its readiness, even if it’s something else that your mind is looking forward to.”\n\n\tDanara glanced to both of the other observers, who were nodding their confirmation, then turned back to… well, maybe not enjoy the show; she wasn’t sure yet… but it was awfully hard not to stare, and the scents gradually suffusing the air seemed to be making her own groin even damper.\n\n\tThe slave’s eyes were closed to slits, and gradually clenched shut entirely as the varicolored feline’s tempo rose, her hands gripping his shoulders as she rode him with increasing vigor. Her breath was already emerging as little mewls, and they were working their way up toward full-throated yowls as her pleasure grew. Ferrl, deciding that speech was temporarily impossible for the priestess, supplied the next bit of instruction, “I don’t know if you got through enough of that romance book to learn such… but no matter how much a good cry of passion may sound like one of pain, our ladyfriend there is in no distress. I’d hazard that she’s feeling rather good, overall… and when she really cuts loose vocally, that’ll mark a climax, or peak in her pleasure, whichever you want to call it, though some teachers at the university refuse to use any term but ‘orgasm.’ That’s always sounded a little weird to me, though… In essence, it’s a fairly short burst of truly intense pleasure… and something that will eventually have you praising the Gods that you were born a woman. When a man has one, he has to stop playing for anywhere from a few minutes to the better part of an hour; he just goes soft and can’t get hard again until then, and it actually hurts if you try to rush him anyway. Women, though, can have climax after climax if their lover knows what they’re doing; some parts of them are a little sensitive after each one, and can hurt, but the insides aren’t one of them, and she can enjoy that fox for as long as he lasts.” He was interrupted by a protracted yowling on Akani’s part, her fingers digging into the fox’s shoulders hard enough for her claws to break skin as she shook, but a few breaths later she was riding him as vigorously as ever. “There, see? And there’s a lot more of that moisture she was talking about. Most guys, and quite a few girls, find that slickness to be quite tasty… so if you find an amenable partner, you can have a lot of fun just being licked there, for hours on end if you’ve got the stamina for it.”\n\n\tThe bitch giggled, ears flushing, and nodded, “It’s… something I’ll have to try, I guess. Not right now… but she certainly makes it look like fun! Say… why’s he getting thicker at the bottom like that?”\n\n\t“That’s his knot,” the knight explained with a grin. “It’s another leftover from our animal ancestors… Foxes, canids, and, yes, male wolves have them, and the ‘natural’ use is to stick it in while it’s still growing and just move it within the female… It depends on the size of the knot and how stretchy her sex is, though; his isn’t very big, and as you can see it’s not too much of a stretch for her to take the whole thing, over and over. She’s had a lot of practice, though, so I wouldn’t suggest you do the same just yet. Also, once the knot’s at its full size, you can be pretty sure that the male’s climax isn’t far behind. Let’s see if she does what I think she will when that happens…”\n\n\tEven as her second peak crashed through her, the feline managed to shoot him a knowing grin, and focused once more on her tied-down lover as the pleasure passed. She didn’t let up for a moment, taking the swollen bulb into herself and pulling back off of it in a hard, steady rhythm, all but ignoring the slave’s instinctive, jerking attempts to match her movements. His thighs thumped against the seat each time she bore down, and they couldn’t rise enough to keep her from pulling off when her hips retreated, but it didn’t take perfect coordination for him to feel her slick heat stroking his length. She hadn’t yet reached her third climax when a warning grunt signaled the onset of his, but that also marked the break between Ferrl’s expectations and the unfolding events. Even as the fox howled, she didn’t stop riding him, her gyrating hips spreading the rush of white along his shaft to mix with her own fluids, and as she bit down to cut off his final cry, she sank her teeth deep into his throat then wrenched her head back, tearing fur and flesh away to spit onto the floor. Leaning in, she lapped like a kitten at a bowl of cream at the spurting jets of crimson, her eyes wide and bright as she watched her dying lover.\n\n\tDanara moaned, shuddering as something inside her lower belly seemed to turn a back-flip, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the sight before her. It was like that brief moment when she’d held the knife and spilled the blood, but it lasted this time, and the scent hit her almost as hard as that of the lovemaking. “I’m… gonna have to change my underthings,” she gasped, though she couldn’t have said just who she thought she was addressing.\n\n\tAkani looked up with a very red grin, licking her muzzle, then dipped her head to mutter a short, quiet prayer as she eased herself off of the fox’s tip. “Any time they get too sticky for you,” she purred, “just slip on out of those stuffy breeches and relax. In a way, this room and those like it in other cities are some of the safest places you could possibly be naked around strangers in. There’s no shortage of other people for us to play with or victimize, so why go to the effort of abusing a non-slave who doesn’t want our attention? If we get too tempted, we can just buy a slave who looks like you and do whatever we please!”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, chuckling, “The very first slave I saw die… could have been a cousin of mine, if I had any that I knew of, and he suffered a very similar fate to that fox there. The lady who rode and killed him, though, ended up as one of my very best friends, and I’ve never for a moment feared that she’d treat me as she did him. We draw a clear line between ‘comrade’ and ‘victim,’ here. If we didn’t have legal, easily-obtained slaves in this kingdom, that might be different, as we’d have to draw our sacrifices from the general populace… but that’s just idle speculation. We do have easy access to victims, and there’s no point to forcing an unwilling citizen under the circumstances, though I suppose there might be folks out there who’re cruel enough to do so anyway... I’m glad to say that I’ve never personally met one, though.”\n\n\tAs he’d been speaking, the priestess had crossed the room to open the kitchen door, and a pair of collar-clad canids had entered at her call. They untied the fox’s arms, one of the pair carrying him out while the other mopped up the stray blood with some towels even as Akani applied another to her face and chest. “I’ll want a pint or so of him added to a skin of wine as usual,” she instructed once she was as clean as she could get without a bath, and the slave nodded before accepting her towel and departing. Sitting down, she grinned to the wolves, “That’s just a habit of mine… My personal favorite part of these sacrifices, above the sex and the killing, is the blood, and I like a glass of wine mixed with it as a treat before bed every night if I can get it.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded with a grin, and Danara just blinked and managed a shy smile, but it was little Ela who piped up, “C’n I go next? Blood’s neat, but I likes guts! All warm an’ slick an’ gooey…”\n\n\tThe feline merely smiled and stepped over to thump twice on the wall, then asked, “How do you want yours restrained? It may not look it at first glance, but this room’s really quite versatile for that sort of thing.”\n\n\tTilting her head as she considered, the vixen pointed at the table, “Couldya spread ‘er out there, facin’ up? I’s could get at everythin’ that way…”\n\n\tSmirking, the cat reached under the side of the round table and pressed up, a flattened cone of the wood popping into her other hand’s grasp and leaving a hole in its place. “Easily,” she replied. The door opened as she moved to pluck a second plug free, and the priestess nodded to the teenaged otter, “Come, dear… Climb up here and lay down; the little vixen there is having a birthday, and to celebrate she gets to have her way with you.”\n\n\tThe slender mustelid blinked, stepping forward and starting to climb up but, despite her ready obedience, asked with a hint of a grumble, “What can a kid that young know about pleasure? I’m supposed to be the slave, here, but it’s not gonna look very good if I have to give her instructions…”\n\n\tFerrl snorted, and rose to give the otter’s rump a stinging swat. Ignoring her yelp, he shook a warning finger at her, “The trainers at Owned Elegance would give you worse for questioning their competence… They specialize in pleasure slaves, and she’s from one of their prime product lines. She’s free now, but that doesn’t change the fact that she could probably out-fuck you and any three of your sisters and still be clamoring for more.”\n\n\tThe otteress blinked, then scrambled the rest of the way onto the table, laying down with an eager smile, “O. E.? I’m going to enjoy this!”\n\n\t“Better,” the wolf grunted, then took his seat with a grin of his own.\n\n\tAs soon as Akani had removed four of the plugs and tied the slave’s wrists and ankles to the table she helped Ela up, and the vixen spent a few moments just getting to know her playmate, scratching her ears, nuzzling her smallish breasts, and probing for ticklish spots down her long torso. The latter elicited squealing giggles until the older girl seemed on the verge of complaining again, only to relax back down with a smile as the cub finally settled between her thighs. Another squeal faded into a lusty moan as the otter felt four slender, tightly-grouped fingers nudge their tips between her petals and press inwards, twisting slowly… She wasn’t quite wet enough for that yet, but the steady, patient pressure and the teasing laps of a tongue at her hood quickly corrected that, and a muffled whimper from the direction of the seated wolfgirl punctuated the disappearance of Ela’s black-furred paw between the slave’s thighs.\n\n\t“Didn’t know that was possible either, hmmm?” Akani asked. “It’ll be a lot more work when she grows up… but, right now, her curled hand isn’t much thicker than, oh, your average wolf’s manhood… You’d best get used to the concept of fingers down there if you want to have fun, as I’m sure it’ll take a while before you’re ready to do what you’ve probably assumed was the only thing Ferrl could possibly want from you.”\n\n\tDanara blinked, looking between the shallowly-pumping arm that was gradually working itself deeper into the mustelid and her prospective mate, her eyes finally coming to rest on the bulge at his crotch.\n\n\tThe wolf coughed and shifted uncomfortably, “That’s… one reason I’ve been keeping my breeches on. I didn’t want to frighten you. In all honesty, I’m… a bit bigger than ‘average,’ even for a wolf. I’m good with my fingers and tongue, mind you, but… you really weren’t ready to accept suggestions of alternatives, the previous times we’d met.”\n\n\tThis fetched another blink or two, then a slow smile. “I think…” the girl mused, “that it’s time for states of dress to be equalized. My underdrawers really are getting uncomfortable, and… well, you’ve got me mostly convinced already, but no deal can be closed without actually getting a good look at the… merchandise. I’ve heard priestesses and female worshipers whispering about size before, and they tend to consider bigger to be better, so…” She was already unlacing her vest as she spoke, and finished with a half-grin and a shrug.\n\n\t“As you wish,” Ferrl chuckled, bowing from his seat, and he slipped his baldric off to start unbuttoning his blouse.\n\n\tEla looked up from her work to grin toothily at Danara and murr, “He’s big, yeah, but with practice even I c’n take ‘im. Not th’whole length, ‘course, but it’s th’thickness that y’gotta watch out for.” Looking back to her plaything, she gave her wrist a firm twist and pressed upwards, the otteress’ hips lifting from the table as she chittered loudly, her glistening brown lips contracting in visible spasms around the invading arm. She shot another grin at her former owner, “This’un’s almost worked up enough… Couldya pass me my toy when you’re nekkid, Daddy?”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled softly and nodded, “Alright… though are you sure that’s all you want to do to that girl first? By your usual standards, you’ve barely started…” Though he tried not to make an obvious production of the affair, he made sure Danara had a clear view as he gripped the sides of his breeches and peeled them down, the dusky red of his wolfhood bobbing up against his belly and firming up as it was freed, and the corner of his own vision noted with some satisfaction the way her eyes widened. There was really no comparing him to that fox; adding his blunt-headed shaft to the barely-formed swell of his knot, there was nearly a foot of thick flesh to be seen there.\n\n\t“Nah,” the child replied, grinning and shaking her head, “I don’t got no patience tonight. Don’t wanna wait on workin’ a hand into her butt too, this time.”\n\n\tThe wolfgirl opened her muzzle, blinked, and shut it, shaking her head and continuing to work her second boot off. “Do I want to know?” she asked Akani, as the cat was the least-busy of her companions just then.\n\n\t“You might,” the priestess purred. “Some women like it, others don’t… but I’m pretty sure the vixen there does. A little girl’s hindside is a lot deeper than her sex at that age. Try it with a tongue or finger first, and see; so long as the recipient uses the privy and cleans themselves first, it’s not nearly so disgusting an act as your first thought probably suggests, especially in places like this where we make sure that every slave who’s intended for use does just that before being offered to the patrons.”\n\n\tNodding, Danara set the thought aside and, gathering her courage, pulled down the breeches she’d untied and the frilly pink underdrawers she’d worn beneath in one smooth motion, kicking them off into the pile of other clothing and settling back into her seat. She immediately felt better, the much cooler air feeling nice against the soaking fur of her crotch, and that alone allowed her to ignore the parts of her mind that were completely aghast at being naked around other people.\n\n\tThe otteress blinked out of her pleasured haze at the sound of a metallic clatter, and she tried to get a look at what was going on. There was the foxcub, still almost elbow-deep inside her, and the big wolf was naked now… Her eyes widened as she got a good look at what was sticking up as he sat back down, and she started to voice a request for some form of interaction with that magnificent shaft, but the steely gleam of reflected candlelight distracted her, driving all thoughts of lust from her mind. What was the child doing with a long, wicked-looking knife in her other hand? “No, p-please,” she stammered, then whimpered as Ela simply grinned.\n\n\tWithdrawing her paw from the humid depths that had been massaging it, the vixen gave her fingers an absent lick as she crawled up to straddle the otter’s wide-spread thighs. “You’ve had your fun,” she murred, her young voice husky and her eyes bright, “an’ now it’s time for mine…” Ignoring the sudden struggle against the strong ropes binding her plaything to the table, she plunged the blade into one side of that trim, brown-furred belly, sawing it up and down as she cut deeply all the way to the other side. The slavegirl’s scream filled the musky air as her blood sprayed, places she didn’t know she had suddenly afire with agony beyond anything she’d ever imagined. The blade fell against the wood again as the child gripped the clean-cut sides of the broad gash she’d carved, yanking them apart, and the slicker of her two hands reached inside while the other rubbed at her own sex, her eyes slit in sultry pleasure as she explored the cut and gashed organs within. A severed chunk of liver emerged, dripping red, and Ela brought it to her muzzle, closing her eyes and nibbling it in tiny bites as her pleasure rose. Popping the last bite into her mouth, she leaned back, supporting herself on her bloodied hand as she chewed, and flecks of meat flew as she cried out, an uneven stream of gold arcing into and splashing around the otteress’ torn belly. The ragged scream that erupted from the poor teen’s muzzle as the salt struck her shredded innards showed that she’d only thought that the cut itself was the epitome of agony, and had just been proven wrong.\n\n\tThe ropes holding the slave spread-eagled on the table strained as her body tried instinctively to curl into a ball, and her cries quieted to sobs and whimpers as shock and blood loss effectively drove away any possibility of thought or conscious action. Ela straightened, surveying her work, and smiled, “Mmm… that was a good present. Thank you, Daddy.”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head in mild awe, smiling back. “I’d heard the phrase ‘pouring salt on the wound,’ before… but I never imagined it happening that way. I haven’t heard a scream like that since you tore that soldier’s soul out with your knife. Are you just going to let her die now?”\n\n\tThe vixen nodded, “Yes, Daddy. After that, nothin’ I could do could hurt more, an’ she ain’t in very good shape fer more pleasurin’. She won’t last long enough fer another try, either; I’ll just let ‘er bleed to death where she is.”\n\n\tRising shakily to her feet, Danara stepped closer, peering curiously at the shuddering form in a spreading pool of its own blood… “May I?” she asked and, at Ela’s nod, closed her eyes and reached into the girl’s opened belly. Her hand was surrounded by heat and wetness, strange, slick shapes greeting her fingers’ touch, and she shuddered, the thought that she was reaching into a living, thinking creature’s body running through her mind over and over… Opening her eyes just intensified the situation, seeing her wrist surrounded by a puddle of blood and the varicolored ends of torn organs, and a stronger shiver danced up and down her spine, a fresh rush of warmth suffusing her groin. Glancing up a bit, she noticed that the otter’s trim, perky breasts were still, and she pulled her hand out to touch the girl’s throat… where she could feel no hint of a pulse. “Dead… meat,” she breathed to herself with a smile, then staggered back to her seat to fall into it, panting.\n\nChapter 10\n\n\tFerrl considered the lovely young wolfess as she caught her breath, occasionally licking at her bloody hand… “You’re getting quite worked up by all of this,” he mused. “Would you like any of us to help you relax before we call the next slave in? It obviously wouldn’t take much; a few licks and a moment of blinding pleasure, and you’ll be able to think a lot more clearly.”\n\n\tDanara’s head shook, a bit convulsively, “No… just watching is giving me more intense sensations than I ever dreamed of; if anybody touches me, I’ll probably piss myself!”\n\n\tThe other wolf laughed, “As if that’s a problem? If you do end up spending your life at my side, you’ll be Ela’s mother… and you should know that what she did to that otter wasn’t quite as deliberate as it looked, pertaining as it does to a detail unique to her... Every time her pleasure peaks, she loses whatever’s in her bladder whether she wants to or not; it was simply ingenuity on her part that she chose to give herself pleasure at a time when its results could have other, useful effects. I’ve gotten quite used to the taste of salt from a lovely playmate’s loins…”\n\n\tThe bitch couldn’t help but laugh as well, though it was a bit ragged, “So that’s it… If you’d told me a few hours ago, I’d have been shocked and disgusted, but it’s really a rather minor thing compared to everything else I’ve seen! I… well, I still can’t really imagine it, but I think it’s something I might learn to tolerate, or maybe even like. Just let me keep taking things one step at a time; I’ve got a lot of ignorance I’m still making up for.” She grinned, giving Ferrl a very direct look, “And the next step, for now, should be to let me see you use that meaty bludgeon of yours like it was meant to be! Come on, call in the filly; I wanna see some stuffing!”\n\n\tAkani barked a laugh from where she was helping the slaves release and remove what was left of the otter, and gave the wall one kick without letting up in her toweling. “Use the other table,” she called. “This one’s still going to be a mess for a while... and on the subject of messes, don’t worry about your hand; we’ve got bathing and grooming supplies and facilities just off of the kitchen, which we can all use when the evening winds to a close to keep from looking or smelling strange once we’re back out in public.”\n\n\tDanara and Ela took new seats on the other side of the room, the former nodding and looking relieved, while Ferrl waited at the door for the moment it took the third slave to make her way inside. She was actually closer to being a mare, looking to be at least sixteen and quite well developed; full breasts were divided between a glossy chestnut and the broad line of creamy off-white that ran down her front, and her wide hips looked quite capable of passing a foal, though no hint of stretching marred her trim belly. The horse cast a nervous glance at the far table, noting the ropes and puddles of blood, but as the wolf took her hand and led her away from it she managed to relax a little. “How may I serve you, Master?” she asked.\n\n\tThe wolf smiled, “Well, I thought that, to start, you could bend over this table and enjoy a good tongue-lashing… and then I might administer a depth test of sorts.”\n\n\tBrows high, the filly giggled, parking her hips against the table’s edge and leaning over to support herself on bent arms, feet planted well apart, “Something like this, Master?”\n\n\tNodding, her temporary owner knelt down behind her, one hand squeezing her rump and finding its pliancy enjoyable as the other brushed her satin-like tail out of the way. “That’ll do,” he mused, then nuzzled in to plant a kiss on the protruding pucker between her cheeks. The mare gasped softly, shifting a little to be sure of her balance, then moaned as he kissed lower, her fleshy lips swelling under his touch. A chair scraped as Danara moved to get a better viewing angle, curious about all of the descriptions of tongue-play’s enjoyability she’d been given, and she did her best to imagine how it would feel if it were her loins under the knight’s affectionate assault. His teeth were gentle as they plucked at first one lip then the other, encouraging them to flower and part, and there was a noticeable glint of moisture along their inner surfaces by the time his tongue spread them and delved deep between. The horse moaned again as he moved the long laps of his broad tongue gradually lower, coming teasingly close to the firmer, sensitive ridge of her outer passage, but he didn’t touch it directly… until his hands came into play, fingertips pressing into her pronounced mound to either side to further spread her, where he lapped along her treasures’ full length, from core to crux with a flash of brighter pink in between where her dusky outer flesh faded to the trembling inner.\n\n\tHe kept up his generalized ministrations, even nudging higher from time to time to give her pucker a touch with his cold nose just to watch it clench, though only for so long as such gentleness sufficed to keep her pleasure rising. The moment its ascent seemed to level off, he dipped lower, pressing the upper half of his muzzle between and slightly into her lips, while his lower teeth grazed the start of her mound and his tongue lapped directly at the ridge that served equines as a clitoris. Her low moans broke off with a high-pitched whicker, and her hips thrust back at his welcome invasion, leaving him breathing through the corners of his mouth with his nose completely buried in twitching fillyhood. It wasn’t quite a peak in its own right, but it got there quickly enough as he lapped harder, the mare’s body quaking as she whinnied her ecstasy to the room’s warm air, eyes clenched shut and breasts quivering.\n\n\tThe moment her copious rush of sweet nectar started to subside, Ferrl took a good grip on her hips and stood, sparing a glance and a wink for Danara as he aimed his blunt head between moisture-streaked thighs. With one hard thrust, he was more than halfway in, the mare’s eyes flying open with a shouted, “Yes! Yes, Master!” as she dropped the rest of the way onto the table, blunt-nailed fingers scrabbling at the wood as the thickness filling her withdrew and plunged in again. Her hips rolled to meet it, her breath ragged as she surrendered herself utterly to the invasion, her insides fluttering delightfully around the shaft that stretched them so well. The wolf shifted one hand’s grip to the base of her tail, the other reaching down to stroke the very tip of her mound’s cleft and incidentally gather the steady dribbles of moisture flowing over it, though the caress itself was goal enough from the slave’s perspective, her breath catching only to burst forth in another loud cry as she reached and tumbled from a second peak.\n\n\tEven as it spasmed along with the rest of her treasures, he lifted his stroking finger to press instead against the center of her equine anus’ rounded protrusion, firmly enough to sink in to the first knuckle with the help of her sweetness soaking its short fur. “M-master?” the mare whickered through the flood of sensations wracking her form, “I… I’m a little s-sensitive there… The f-finger’s fine, but more w-would hurt…”\n\n\tHis own exertions and pleasure were interfering, but Ferrl’s voice was steadier than the filly’s as he glanced over and asked, “Danara? Your call… do I shove this beast of mine up her ass anyway?”\n\n\tThe wolfess chuckled as she eyed the thick knot splaying pinkish-brown flesh with each thrust, absently licking her lips… then shook her head. “Nah, I’m still ambiguous enough about that to want to see how it works with someone who likes it, first. Just… how spectacular can you make the end of things? One extreme I do want to see is the messiest possible end of this sort of… play.”\n\n\tThe glint in her golden eyes, the knight decided, was quite possibly the most wicked thing he’d ever seen, and his mind raced for a way to honor it. Grinning as an idea occurred, he pulled his hands away from tail and tailhole, slipping them under the mare’s arms to lift her against his chest… His continuing thrusts made her bosom heave and jiggle, and she turned her head to stroke her cheek against his muzzle as she acceded to his implied wishes, obviously misunderstanding the bitch’s words as having to do with the ‘mess’ of seed and fluids. Leaning back a bit, the wolf reached down again, muscles shifting as he lifted the horse’s legs to hold her completely off the floor, his hips still pistoning, and turned to face Danara directly. It was with the greatest difficulty he’d ever experienced that he gathered his magic, the filly’s third climax and its distracting internal clenches coming at a bad time for concentration, but he somehow managed to form and hold the shapes he needed in his mind… Just before his own rising pleasure could push things from merely ‘very difficult’ to truly impossible, he fed pure motion-magic along the mental paths he’d prepared, pulling bi-directionally along a razor-thin line then pushing with all his might.\n\n\tFrom Danara’s perspective, a blood-red line appeared down the equine’s front, from the hollow of her throat to the top of her mound, a line that spread almost instantly, opening her completely as the invisible pressure from within all but turned her inside-out. The slave’s eyes fluttered open in disbelief as her heart, lungs, and entire digestive tract flew from her body amidst a seeming river of blood, and she was dead within seconds, scattered over a broad front with several yards of intestine draped over a very surprised-looking wolfgirl, shadowed in reverse by the her-shaped clean spot on the wall behind her, the rest dotted liberally with red just like her fur. Within the hollow cavern of the mare’s belly, she could see the distended shape of the equine’s reproductive anatomy, still twitching as the shaft filling it throbbed and spurted, Ferrl’s grunt of pleasure almost calm-sounding after the protracted splash of flesh.\n\n\tPanting softly, the knight was the first to speak, asking, “Messy enough for you?”\n\n\tAkani and Ela both giggled, while Danara simply swallowed hard and nodded as she pushed the bulk of a liver off of her lap then started disentangling herself from the still-warm loops decorating her bloodied body, “Um… yes. The thought occurs that you could have done that to me as fair retaliation for slitting your throat, and I suddenly find it much more desirable to have you for a friend than an enemy.” She looked over the mess once more and grinned, “Desirable in more ways than one, even… I don’t think I’ll ever forget that sight, even if tamer things still have their appeal. Thank you.”\n\n\tReleasing the much-lightened corpse to fall to the floor, Ferrl nodded with a smile of his own, “Glad I could help… Oh, damn; I forgot to dedicate that… I know Ela didn’t need to as she used her special knife, but I should have known better, distracted or not.”\n\n\t“Don’t worry,” Kathy assured him with a grin from the corner she hadn’t been standing in a moment before. “I’ve been watching all night, and that was… truly a unique way to send a soul on its way to me. Not as painful as it looked, as it killed her almost instantly, but certainly tasty for its novelty value.” The bat glanced over at Ela, who waved, then grinned at the vixen and pulled a bundle out from behind her back. “Here,” she offered as she tossed it over, “and happy birthday. This morning the tanner dropped by your house back in Fariach and brought the vest he’d made from Jol’s hide; that was the only real appointment your sudden departure left hanging, so I took care of it, dear.”\n\n\tEla blinked, then giggled, hugging the burlap-wrapped bundle tight, “Thank you!”\n\n\tChuckling some himself, Ferrl nodded and made the necessary introductions, “Danara, meet Kathy, as she prefers to be called, the mortal incarnation of my Goddess. Kathy, as you undoubtedly know, this lovely girl is someone I’m finally comfortable calling my fiancée. The potential she’s shown this night is… extremely encouraging and, assuming we don’t encounter any difficulties that sour things, I’m very much looking forward to spending a lifetime with her.”\n\n\tRising from her seat after a glance at Ela’s present and a shrug, Danara padded to his side where she gave the nude bat a thorough look up and down, then nodded to herself, “I think I can deal with you like this; much more comfortably than I could an animated statue that shakes my bones just by talking.” She gave a second glance and licked her lips a little, “Now that I’ve been introduced to the concept of two women together, indeed… I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit better.” Turning, she reached up to wrap her arms around a rather surprised Ferrl’s chest, hugging him tightly, “And… yes. You may consider me yours. The worlds you’ve opened up for me to explore are second only to the surprising revelation that there are good and decent men out there, who’d listen to me and treat me as a person rather than a possession… and for that, I would willingly be your possession, but having you on an equal basis is even better.”\n\n\tBlushing faintly, the older wolf held her close with one hand and planted a gentle, faintly blood-tasting kiss on her damp forehead, “Thank you… We’ll probably have to wait until my current mission is over before we formalize things, particularly since I want you to have time to be sure this is what you want, but for now you can consider yourself betrothed.”\n\n\tAkani stepped away from the kitchen door as the two canids came back in, one carrying a shovel and a large bucket. “The cook’s going to be happy not to have to clean the filly much,” the priestess mused with a snicker, “but I’m going to have to do something to reward these two; we’re setting records tonight for the size and degree of messes they’ve had to clean up.” Turning her friendly grin on Danara, she asked, “Do you want to make one more mess while dinner’s cooking?”\n\n\tThe wolfess nodded eagerly, “Yes! I want to feel someone die and know that I’m the one who took their life. My future husband,” and she shared a grin with Ferrl at the irony of being able to say that without bitterness, “is no longer a target, and I want to finish what I was trying when our relationship first started.”\n\n\tNodding, the feline padded over to the special wall and thumped it soundly, four times.\n\n\tThe mouse, wearing only a black collar, who entered a few moments later was looking confused, and immediately addressed the priestess she knew ran the club, “Mistress? All of the temporaries you brought in for tonight are used up… was there something else you wanted?”\n\n\tAkani shook her head, “No, just you…” She gestured at the wolves, “The girl there is not Kathallic, and a virgin besides, but she’s expressed an interest in playing with a slave, so you’re needed in your capacity as an extra participant. I know it hasn’t happened often, but I’m sure you’ll satisfy her even without recent practice.”\n\n\tThe mousegirl nodded submissively, “Yes, Mistress,” then padded over to stand before Danara, eyes downcast. “Would ma’am prefer to remain physically virginal? I’ll only use my tongue if ma’am wants.” Around them, the bat, cat, vixen, and wolf took seats back at the first table they’d been at, giving the dogs room to keep cleaning and the final playmates of the evening space for whatever they worked out between them.\n\n\tDanara thought for a moment, looking down at the shorter, but probably older girl… “That depends on your own likes,” she decided. “After all I’ve seen tonight, I’m so tense inside that if you gave me my first taste of pleasure I’d probably pee all over you. If that’s not your thing, well, I wouldn’t mind licking you a bit.”\n\n\tThe rodent nodded again, still not looking up, “I… can tolerate that when I’m ordered to, ma’am, but I don’t enjoy it, no. You may do whatever you wish to my own body, though.”\n\n\t“Of course I can,” the bitch grinned. “That’s rather implied by my being ‘ma’am’ and your being the slave. Lay down on the stage there and… let me get to know you better.”\n\n\tFlushing at the reminder of her place, the mouse complied, sinking first to a kneel then stretching out to one side, rolling onto her back with her heels hanging just off of the raised platform’s edge. Without another word, the wolf nodded and knelt at her feet, reaching out and spreading them wide before leaning forward to get a better view. She’d never seen herself like this, and before tonight had never had any interest in examining another woman’s genitals, but all she had seen this evening gave her a fairly good idea of what she’d find and how it would react to her explorations. The mousegirl was gray with an off-white belly, the fur of her mound thinning around the tight-looking pink of her private flesh, and it was there the wolf paused, sniffing at the faint hint of moisture then taking a tentative lick. The taste was… novel; a bit sweet, a bit salty, and saturated with scents that screamed ‘female’ and ‘rodent’ to her forebrain even as they evoked the word ‘prey’ from some level of herself still ruled by animal instincts. She took a second, firmer lick, consciously parting the folds before her as she’d seen Ferrl do, and another lick followed, then another, as she explored the faint variations in the slickly-smooth texture just within the mouse’s passage.\n\n\t“Th-this is really her first t-time?” the slave asked with a shiver. “She’s… g-good so far!”\n\n\tDanara took one more lap then grinned up at the mouse, making eye contact just between her nipples, and remarked deadpan, “I’m a quick study. I’ve learned a lot in the last hour or so…” Any reply to be had was lost in a piercing squeak as she immediately got back to work, delving deeper in between exploratory licks around the puffy hood just above. Her only experience with the harder point that soft flesh concealed was the occasional accidental brush while in the bath, and those had only granted discomfort bordering on pain, so she had more than just her friends’ observed care to tell her of its sensitivity. The longer she lapped, the tenser the rodent’s muscles grew beneath the skin of her thighs, and as she tried working an experimental finger into the passage before her, marveling at the way the closed-looking flesh parted around the invasion, that tension broke with a protracted squeal, the older girl’s insides quivering along her finger’s length amidst a sudden increase in wetness. With one or two last laps to either side, the bitch decided that she was definitely learning to like the flavor of a woman, and she gently withdrew her finger as her first lover ever lay there panting.\n\n\t“Daddy?” she heard the vixen ask behind her. “You an’ Kathy were right. She’s good at that… can we keep her?”\n\n\t“Forever, dear… Forever.”\n\n\tA warm glow woke somewhere in the vicinity of Danara’s heart, but the fires already burning in her loins soon demanded her attention once more. Looming up over the smaller girl, she paused to lap curiously at one of her nipples, eyes widening a bit at the sensation of it stiffening against her tongue. With the hand that wasn’t holding her up, she gestured behind her, making what she hoped looked like stabbing motions even as she nuzzled the mouse’s neck and got a kiss on her cheek in return. One of her own daggers, still sheathed, landed to one side where someone had tossed it, and she straightened up, straddling the slave’s waist and keeping her pinned down as she retrieved and bared the blade.\n\n\tEyes suddenly wide, the rodent shook her head, squeaking out, “Mistress! You said she’s not Kathallic, and I’m valuable property!”\n\n\tAkani snorted from the table, “She isn’t, no… but she will be, and the price of your replacement will be covered by the temple’s recruitment fund. You’ve served me well, these last couple of years, and I thank you for that, but you’ve also been getting a little cheeky about your position of late... Senior though you may be, you’re still a slave. Goodbye, dear.”\n\n\t“Mistreeeesssss!”\n\n\tDanara was grinning at that final, desperate cry. She easily deflected a few desperate, unaimed blows as the mouse flailed, then grabbed her muzzle in one hand and drew her dagger slowly across the slave’s throat with the other, between her jaw and her collar, eyes intent on every inch and a shudder wracking her form at the first strong spurt of crimson. The scents of urine and a near-vegetarian’s dung mingled with that of the rushing surge of blood as the rodent’s fear got the best of her, but the wolfess remained where she was, watching the life pulse from the long slit she’d carved to trickle down and pool on the varnished hardwood. Her grip kept the girl’s muzzle closed, only faint whimpers emerging through her flared nostrils, and her green eyes held fear and pleading as she stared up at the woman who’d killed her.\n\n\tWhen the weakening trickles of red finally stopped and those lovely eyes dimmed, Danara sighed happily and wiped her knife on the fur of one pliant mouse-breast, retrieving its sheath as she rose to pad back to the table. “I enjoyed that, a lot,” she told her companions as she joined them. “Thank you all for teaching me, tonight…” Nodding to the bat, she mused, “Your priestess was right; I will serve and follow you, as willingly as I’ll marry your wolf here.”\n\n\t“But not tonight, or any time soon,” Kathy replied, her tone serious. At several confused blinks, she elaborated, “At the moment, my dear, you are Godless… and that is exactly how you need to remain for a time yet. Ferrl’s mission is Malia’s, but I’ve been doing what I can to help around the edges, and I’ve been getting a gradually-strengthening hunch that the cause will at some point require the aid of someone who cannot be identified as the devout of any God. My dispensation for you to enter places or events normally restricted to my flock shall remain for as long as it is needed, but we need your soul itself to remain unchanged for now.”\n\n\tStill a bit confused, the dark wolf nodded, “I suppose I can live with that… Would it also necessitate a delay in my wedding?”\n\n\tKathy tilted her head, considering… “When the feeling is true,” she mused, “there is an actual blending of souls… but I think that there’s a way to keep yours neutral regardless. The trick will be to have the ceremony performed by a priest or priestess of, and in the name of, a deity of light. There might still be a bit of a change, but it would take direct and careful examination by a God, not just one’s clergy, to detect it.”\n\n\tThe girl nodded once more, “Good,” and turned to her affianced. “This was one hell of a first date… but I want another. Screw ‘waiting to be sure I want this;’ as soon as we have the time and an available temple, you’re mine.”\n\n\tFerrl swallowed hard and nodded, “I’ll start shopping for rings.” Since she was still holding the dagger she’d just killed that mouse with, what else could he say?\n\n\tThe bat piped up again, “We’ve still got some time before that filly is served for dinner… so why don’t we have just a little more fun? I’m here, I’m wet, and we still haven’t touched any of the blades on that rack if there’s any bloodlust left among us; I’m sure someone can figure out a way to pass the time with that combination…”\n\n\tFour muzzles spread in toothy grins, the priestess quipping, “There’s always time for… religious services. Get up on this table and consider yourself an appetizer.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tFerrl cautiously tried the latch of the back door to the Golden Lyre… and relaxed as it opened. “I hope none of the other paying customers had evening business,” he mused. “That crowd listening from the street probably won’t break up until the bard can’t play any more.” No one was visible inside save for some cooks who didn’t even notice them, clustered as they were around the doorway to the common room.\n\n\tDanara shook her head with a happy sigh as they climbed the stairs leading from the kitchen to the guest rooms, “I can understand why they’re there, though… That music is beautiful! I can manage a few chords on a lute, just from what I picked up from the Maliites at the temple, but nothing I’ve ever heard, much less performed, can even come close to Malia herself and an expert instrumentalist.”\n\n\tHer ears perked curiously as they entered their room, Ela asked, “You c’n play music? That’s gonna make you an even better momma than I thoughts! I loves it…”\n\n\tThe wolfess chuckled and gave her soon-to-be daughter’s headfur a friendly ruffling, “A little… Nobody can grow up in the temple without learning at least a bit about it unless they’re completely tone-deaf, and if you like it that much I can always practice a bit more. I won’t ever be as good as whoever it is down there, but it wouldn’t take much to reach ‘passably decent.’”\n\n\t“Very few people could be that good,” her fiancé noted. “The bard playing the harp is somewhere around seventy years old, with decades of experience, but Malia restored his hands to youth. That’d be an awfully hard combination to beat.” Gesturing toward a pile of possessions, he suggested, “Drop your knapsack there… We’ll have to wait ‘til morning to transfer your horse to the same stable as ours, but I’m glad the storage shop was still open. Now, do you think we should get another room once the innkeeper’s reachable? That bed’s big, but it may be a little crowded with all four of us on it.”\n\n\tDanara shrugged, “It should suffice so long as nobody’s trying to make love in it…” At his half-confused, half-hurt blink she grinned, “Tradition, my love! I may have objected to being handed out as the prize in a fight, but there are still some customs I have no problem following… such as not sleeping with you until we’re well and truly married. Malia can sleep in the middle and act as a chaperon for however long it takes, but don’t you worry any. I’m in no mood to wait too long either, as after tonight I’ve quite a few things I’m looking forward to trying.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, then paused, head tilted curiously, “And what of the tradition of monogamy? I have… quite a few ladies who’ve become rather accustomed to having my affections from time to time, all of whom are quite special in their own way and, while I would always return to you were such dalliances permitted, it could cause problems if I’m suddenly and permanently unavailable to them.”\n\n\t“Hmmm… That’s a tricky one,” his betrothed mused. “Who are these other ladies? I certainly enjoyed licking that mousegirl, and tradition just doesn’t take that sort of thing into account; keeping you from seeing them would, in all fairness, prohibit me from trying them as well.”\n\n\tSitting on the corner of the bed, the wolf gazed up at the ceiling as he considered… “Well, mortal incarnations of every Goddess in the pantheon, for one group. You’ll probably be seeing Kathy fairly often, and Roxy will probably drop by at least once just to meet the one who caught me, as she’ll see it, and I don’t know whether Malia will visit or not once the mission’s over. On the other paw, I guess there’s only Countess Verona, the former baroness of Lark’s Reach, known as the slut of the court in Fariach so she’d share Roxy’s curiosity and want to try you herself, and Crown Princess Danique, though that’s not really your average boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. This is to be considered a state secret,” and, despite his light tone, his expression told her he meant that literally, “but she’s her brother’s slave when in private, and only gets anal sex from him to keep any chance of inbred children from being a factor, so when she’s particularly horny he sends her to me to see to her needs.”\n\n\tEla interrupted with a grin, “An’ she’s really tasty, as girls go.”\n\n\tHer father smirked, half-sighing, “That she is…” before glancing back to his betrothed, “Other than slaves, who don’t really count as they don’t survive the experience, and Ela of course, who comes part in parcel with me, that’s about it.”\n\n\tDanara smiled, sitting next to him and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, “I can live with that list. Don’t you worry yourself about it anymore, unless you plan on expanding it behind my back, of course.”\n\n\tFerrl shook his head, chuckling ruefully, “No chance of that! I know your temper, dear, and I’d prefer to save it for people I don’t like, just so I can sit back and enjoy the carnage.” Perking his ears, he noted, “It sounds like the gathering downstairs is breaking up. Malia should be here in a moment, so what do we tell her?”\n\n\t“Nothing, as her sister already passed along the good news,” the cat herself answered as she stepped in, closing the door behind her. “Congratulations, you two. We can stop by my temple sometime tomorrow and get the wedding out of the way, and I’ll perform the ceremony myself unless you want my mortal high priest to do it.”\n\n \tEla giggled, “’nless th’duke screws things up like you said he might.”\n\n\tMalia rolled her eyes, “That was just a joke, child! If he really does try anything he shouldn’t, he won’t be a duke anymore; one prayer-relayed message and the king will empty that throne even if it takes an army. Kings do not like it when their lesser nobles overstep their bounds! Now,” and she smiled, “let’s all get some sleep. Just sleep, as I’m sure you all had more than enough fun at the party, and we’ve a tradition to uphold.”\n\nChapter 11\n\n\t“It’s not your fault,” Ferrl assured his daughter. “You were grabbing clothes effectively at random, and neither of us could have foreseen the need for my fanciest outfits. These are certainly adequate,” and he gestured at the cream satin blouse, silver-edged gray doublet, and dark maroon hose he wore, “to get me where I need to go. I was planning to buy better things myself when we were a little farther along, so this ducal visit caught both of us off guard.”\n\n\tEla nodded and consciously perked her ears up from their half-droop.\n\n\tHe gave her headfur a ruffling with the hand that wasn’t adjusting his baldric, waved to the two ladies who were still getting dressed, then stepped out of the room. A crowd was already gathering in anticipation of the day’s music even though the bard was still sleeping, and the innkeeper looked very happy at the unprecedented number of breakfasts his kitchen was selling. Spotting Ferrl, the old ram rushed over, “Sir knight! Please, allow me to express my gratitude for choosing my humble establishment to patronize, and enjoy whatever you’d like to eat or drink this morning, on the house. It’s the very least I can do in return for the increase in business I’ve enjoyed throughout your stay.”\n\n\tGlancing around, the wolf drew the old sheep over to an unoccupied corner to whisper to him, “It’s not just for my stay, you know… While my companion’s voice my leave with me, a subtle miracle has taken place. Your bard’s hands, though only his hands, have been restored to youth, so the endurance and accuracy he showed last night shall remain. Given that, it might not hurt to seek another singer, perhaps even hiring one instead of simply allowing them to collect tips with the proviso that they give you half…” He chuckled at the older man’s blink, “I grew up in a tavern, my friend, so I know the customary arrangements with songsters. You’ve got an unusually good one in that bard, though, so you can afford to be a bit more generous than custom dictates, and still see an increase in your cashbox.”\n\n\tThe ram scratched at one of his horns thoughtfully, then nodded, “Perhaps room and board for the singer, and they, the bard, and I would split the tips three ways? That’s a bit better than most musicians would get, and the patronage would cover my loss in shared tips and the price of housing and feeding two people.”\n\n\t“And then some,” the knight nodded. “You should know that I’m technically a priest, too, and the Goddess who restored your biggest attraction’s ability to play would almost certainly be offended if you took excessive advantage of it. There’s a difference between accepting the fair profit from increased business and exploiting people out of greed but, following the way you just proposed, everyone should come out happy.”\n\n\tNodding once more, the innkeeper quirked a half-smile, “I guess I was letting my eagerness get the best of me… Your advice is sound, as no one but a fool irritates the Gods if he can avoid it, so I can probably add the health of my soul to what I owe you thanks for… and you still need breakfast. What’ll you have?”\n\n\tFerrl shrugged, “Got anything portable? I’ll be eating on my way to the palace, as it’s a fairly long walk and there are a few things I’ll want to look into before actually joining the court. If the nobles around here are anything like those in the capitol, ‘morning’ court probably starts at mid-morning at the earliest, but that should give me a little time for research, too.”\n\n\t“We have some good meat pies left from last night that can be eaten on the move, yes. I’ll get—say, I think that man’s looking for you,” and the sheep pointed at a large figure who’d entered, looked around, and started wading through the crowd in an undeviating line that patrons were scrambling to get out of the way of. “Try not to break too much of my furniture if he’s not a friend of yours; your breakfast may be free but that wouldn’t be.”\n\n\tAs the innkeeper prudently took his leave, Gerian stopped a few feet from Ferrl, folded his arms across his massive chest, and asked bluntly, “Where’s my daughter?”\n\n\tThe younger wolf stifled a chuckle that the other was probably in no mood for, replying as respectfully as he could, “I can answer that, and I promise that I will momentarily, but I’m curious… where do you think she is? You obviously have some clues you’re following, or you’d not have found me.”\n\n\tThe priest’s gaze intensified briefly to a glare, but he shook himself and, calmly enough, pulled over a nearby stool to settle onto with a creak of protesting wood, gesturing for his junior to do the same as he explained, “The morning after your visit, I woke to find Danara and my second best horse missing, along with one of our special saddle blankets that can double as a basic tent if the beast’s trained to tolerate its sides being tied off. Investigation of her room and the temple’s supplies showed that she’d taken very little else; a bit of food, very few of her clothes, some dinky little knives, and the handful of copper she had left from her allowance at the last festival… I know my own beasts well enough to identify their hoofprints, so I was able to determine that she’d headed in the same direction as you had, and my rank sufficed to get cooperation out of the officials in Glenrose. The only thing they could tell me about any wolves at all was that one matching your description had apparently been involved in some form of altercation that included spilled blood, and for your sake I can only hope it wasn’t my daughter’s. I continued along the path you were most likely following, and to my relief the information booth here confirmed that both you and Danara had also stopped to ask questions… My best steed is almost played out, though, so I’m glad I caught up with you in this city. Will you tell me where she is, now?”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “I will, after filling you in on the details you couldn’t have known… Danara was, to put it lightly, less than thrilled with the notion of being wedded to any stranger, and she followed me much as you did, but with the express intent of seeing me dead.” This fetched a raised brow in reply, and he grinned a bit, “Obviously she didn’t succeed. She grabbed me from behind in a dark alley, expressed her displeasure, then promptly slit my throat with one of those ‘dinky little knives.’”\n\n\tGerian couldn’t restrain himself, “What?!? I knew my daughter disagreed with me on many things, but I didn’t think I’d raised her with so little honor as to be an assassin! How is it that you still live?”\n\n\t“I didn’t employ that aspect of my skills when you and I fought,” the Agent explained, “as it wouldn’t have been honorable, but I’m also a mage. Magic sufficed to keep most of my blood inside, only the first few spurts staining my shirt and causing the report you heard of from the guards. Over the next couple of days, I spotted her a few times, still following me, and I specifically left directions at the information booth to allow her to catch up again… I finally convinced her to talk to me for a while, dispelling some of her misconceptions and introducing her to some things you’d kept her sheltered from… though not what you’re probably assuming!” he hastily amended at the priest’s scowl. “She’s still physically a virgin, though she’s looking forward to changing that once we’re suitably wed. Yes, she agreed to that too, and before this day is out I will call you father.”\n\n\tThe enormous wolf blinked, then blinked again. “I had no idea I’d engendered such bitterness in my little one… but the fact that you’ve turned her back onto a proper path, under the circumstances, is nothing short of miraculous! It is with even greater pride than I first suspected that I will call you son, and you have my eternal gratitude as well.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, a bit embarrassed, but his need to find some suitable reply was alleviated by an interruption from behind the larger knight, “Daddy?” Danara was clearly surprised to see her father here.\n\n\tGerian scrambled to his feet and turned around, blinking some more, “Danara? You… you haven’t called me ‘daddy’ since you were eight years old…”\n\n\tThe young wolfess smiled, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his waist, “That’s because that’s when you started trying to control what I did with my life… I’m where I want to be now, Daddy, and with who I want to spend that life with. It may not be exactly the life you had in mind for me, but it’s my life. I wish you could have understood that when I was younger… but it ended up working out well enough in the end, thanks to the meddling of more Gods than you’d probably believe. I can be… happy now, at Ferrl’s side.”\n\n\tGiving her one careful squeeze in return, the burly priest released his offspring and smiled, “I’m… glad for you. Now, what of the ceremony itself? I don’t want to seem like I’m still pressuring you, but now that you’ve finally accepted someone I hope you can understand that I’m a bit impatient to see things finalized…”\n\n\tFerrl glanced around to make sure no strangers were too close, those nearest having retreated when someone with Gerian’s size and weapons had started yelling, then murmured, “There’s more at work here than merely mortal concerns, and for reasons that would take a lot of explaining it’s important that we be married in the name of a God or Goddess of light. Malia herself has agreed to perform the ceremony, and we were planning to do so at her temple in this city as soon as I get back from the ducal palace. The lord here is over-reaching his authority on a minor point, demanding to be informed of any Agents entering his capitol, and I’m going to go ask him why, as there’s a good chance he’s trying to conceal something.”\n\n\tGerian blinked yet again, then looked thoughtful… “That’s a potentially serious matter, yes. Still… is there any reason it has to be Malia who joins you? Wouldn’t my God do just as well? I mean, I’d very much like to perform the ceremony myself. I am a high priest of Tarragh, after all…”\n\n\tDanara glanced around, then murmured, “Let’s just ask her; she’s right over there, and she won’t be busy until that bard gets through enough of his tea to wake up.”\n\n\tChuckling, the other two wolves nodded and followed her lead.\n\n* * *\n\n\tFerrl had only had half an hour to browse the public records of the duchy, and had found nothing obviously out of place… but he knew investigation wasn’t his strongest skill. There was some information he hadn’t been able to find in his brief search, and a suspicion nagged at the back of his mind regarding it, though he kept reminding himself that it could very well have been there and he just hadn’t looked for it long enough.\n\n\tHe waited until the morning audience’s usual participants had all been announced, freeing the herald for some consultation, then approached. “Name and titles?” the old feline asked first thing.\n\n\t“Sir Ferrl, knight of the kingdom,” the wolf replied. “I think there was something about ‘Savior of Lark’s Reach’ that’s been added to that, but I’m not sure it actually means anything.”\n\n\tThe announcer quirked a brow, “And your purpose for visiting our court? These morning gatherings are mainly social in nature, but the cliques and factions are well-established; it might be hard for a newcomer to break into any of them with that commonplace a set of credentials.”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled, “I need to ask the duke a question… He’s not going to like it, I can tell you that, but it has to be asked, and answered, or he runs the risk of losing his throne entirely.”\n\n\tThe herald nodded once more, looking surprisingly incurious, “That’s none of my rightful business, so I’ll announce you just as you’ve asked. You’ll need to leave that sword of yours behind, as long blades are prohibited in the throne room, so remember that it’s your own hide you’re risking by dabbling in politics.” Snapping his fingers to summon a page, he waited until the sword had been handed over before leading the wolf inside.\n\n\tLike most of what he’d found in Gatuque, the throne room was similar to that in Fariach but on a smaller, less ornate scale. Family members representing the various baronies, earldoms, and counties of the area predominated, along with the occasional actual lord or lady and the upper crust of the local peasantry. The buntings weren’t as bright, nor the windows as cunningly crafted, as the king could boast, and there were thankfully few people around the large, gilded chair that sported the ducal crest on its back and the middle-aged black mink therein.\n\n\tFollowing the plan he’d formed on his way here, Ferrl made his way down the broad carpet and paused at the periphery of those gathered around the throne, his thumbs in his belt and an expression of patient expectation on his face. The duke obviously noticed him, though didn’t spare him more than a glance at first. After ten minutes and three conversations, another glance was forthcoming, this one with a hint of curiosity, but the wolf suppressed his urge to smile, keeping his expression unchanged. Curiosity as to why he was still there was evidently building… and he wasn’t surprised in the least when the mustelid took advantage of a momentary break between conversations a short while later.\n\n\t“You,” he said, pointing at the newcomer. “Why do you wait there? You were announced as a knight, but I’ve not heard your name before, nor have I any notion of what business you may have in my court.”\n\n\tThe wolf finally allowed himself a faint smile as he bowed respectfully, “I do have a minor matter I wished to speak of with you… May I approach your person, your grace?”\n\n\tThe corners of mink’s graying muzzle twitched upwards in response as he nodded, “You have manners, at least… You may, though not too close. My guards can get a little twitchy around strangers.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded and stepped to the foot of the three stairs leading up to the throne’s dais, then plucked his badge out of his doublet pocket and pinned it to his collar without haste. “I simply wanted to ask you,” he mused conversationally, “why you wish to know of any Agents who enter your domain. To be rather frank about it, that particular piece of information is the king’s business, not yours.”\n\n\tThe duke’s eyes widened, and he shot a glance to a robed canine seated at one end of the dais. Magic flared for a moment, and the court wizard nodded, “The badge is real.”\n\n\tThe older man peered at the wolf for a long moment, then spoke slowly, evidently being careful about his word-choice, “You obviously saw fit to ignore that request… and, Agent or not, you are in violation of local law at this point. And again, Agent or not, by what authority do you seek to question my decisions and decrees on my very throne?”\n\n\tFerrl touched his badge with a fingertip, his eyes hard, “This is all the authority I need, though I’ve got a writ from the king specifying diplomatic immunity for me, under my doublet, that also protects me from any consequences of such minor infractions. It’s a fairly moot detail, though; I am a representative of the king and empowered to act in his interests even without it, and as his representative I have to tell you that your decree is… highly suspicious. I may not know what it is you don’t want an Agent to discover, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that there is something you don’t wish the king to know about, and I’m here to ask you to stop it before a more thorough investigation is warranted. My own reason for passing through is incidental; I’m on an unrelated mission already, though I can always look into things on my way back.”\n\n\tThe duke frowned and glanced pointedly at the armed and armored figures stationed at regular intervals along the room’s walls, “And, hypothetically of course, what if I didn’t want you to investigate… or carry any word of your suspicions out of my city at all?”\n\n\tThe wolf couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “Your grace, that would be an eminently unwise decision on your part. You see, I already have reported. Due to a few technicalities that surround the title, any Agent is also effectively a high-ranking clergyman, and I’ve already asked my Goddess to send word to another Agent, one who specializes in stealth and the uncovering of secrets. You’re right that you could imprison or even kill me if you were willing to lose enough guards in the process, but neither act would change the end result at all, and either would make the final judgment against you far worse. Consider my visit to be along the lines of friendly advice… Whatever you’re doing, stop it, and you won’t have any cause at all to worry about Agents anymore.”\n\n\tThe mink’s glare was angered for a long moment, making the Agent almost think he would try something… but he finally relented, slumping back in his seat and looking down. “You build a good argument,” he acknowledged. “Now that even the suspicion is loose, nothing I could do would cage it up again. It had been so convenient, though! The amalgamation of the duchy and earldom is still fairly recent, when the last Earl of Gatuque died childless, and it was so easy to let his personal holdings just… ‘fall off’ of the tax records for the duchy. No one questioned that the reports stopped coming, as he was dead and his title with him, and no one thought to verify that the correct totals were being added to my reports, and as a result I had a budget for public improvements such as I’d never before enjoyed! The aqueducts, the paving, expansion of the sewers into poorer areas… there just hadn’t seemed to be enough money to complete them, before, and here I had this untraceable surplus to work with… Can you really blame me for wanting the best for my subjects?”\n\n\tOffering a much friendlier, gentler smile, Ferrl shook his head, “I could not… and I don’t think the king could either. I suggest that you document the improvements and get at least a basic, neutral appraisal of what impact they’ve had, and let the king decide for himself. He obviously hasn’t been starved for tax revenues from this region, or you’d have had his representatives questioning you much earlier than now, so if you’re completely honest and forthcoming in just what you’ve been spending the money on, you may find that he actually approves; there’s a big difference, after all, between what you say you’ve been doing with the funds and just lining your own pockets with them. The crux of the matter remains, in any case, that it is his decision, not yours, in the end.”\n\n\tThe duke nodded solemnly and sighed, “And I suppose this other Agent you mentioned will still visit, if only to confirm the claims of my explanation?” At the wolf’s nod in return, he sighed again and shrugged, “That’s to be expected, I suppose… My seneschal and clerks won’t thank you for the rush of work they’re about to be handed… but I suppose I do. There are any number of independent actions you could have justified with your suspicions, and simply calling me verbally to task is the one most favorable to me, personally. You are free to go, and I wish you success on your mission, but please understand if I do not belabor my thanks for this bitter pill you’ve forced me to swallow.”\n\n\tBowing formally, Ferrl nodded once more, “I thank you, your grace, and I’m sure that my fiancée does too; I’m getting married this afternoon, and imprisoning me would have made a rather vengeful lady somewhat unhappy, possibly to such a degree that she’d storm your palace to rescue me. May your rule be long and wise.” Without another word, and ignoring the stares of several of the courtiers, he padded down the red carpet and left.\n\n* * *\n\n\tEla looked fairly silly, wearing nothing but a grid of interconnecting leather thongs, but she waited patiently as her father tied on the quartz crystals marking every junction and, between her shoulder blades, the flattened oval of tiger’s eye that housed the most complex of the enchantments he’d been concentrating on for several hours. “There,” he commented, patting her shoulder, “that’s the last of them. Now put on your old dress and we’ll test it; the grid’s too big for your vest and I don’t want to risk damaging your good gown. It’s the only real dress you’ve got, and we won’t get any more until we’re shopping for finery in Rajai.”\n\n\tThe vixen smiled and nodded, pulling her rough dress over the thin strips festooning her arms and torso.\n\n\t“How does that work?” Danara asked from where she sat, watching curiously.\n\n\tHer promised admitted with a chuckle, “I’m… not entirely sure. I followed the directions precisely, but reactive enchantments aren’t something my tutors have explained to me in any detail yet. The outer surface of the master stone, as I understand it, extends its own matrix of energies through whatever material is touching it, which I can see happening right now, and detects any attempt at penetration or any other contact that happens to be moving at a high enough speed, then hardens the area being attacked with simple planes of motion-magic as stored in the secondary crystals. Thus it will spread the impact of a blunt object, or render the dress impenetrable even to a slowly-pushed blade, though it can only protect one piece of clothing in that way at a time, and each specific place can only deflect half a dozen or so strikes before its corresponding crystal is drained. I’ll be making two more of them as we travel, so you’ll have some defense as well without having to give up wearing breeches, and possibly more to go under some sort of bonnets if things ever get bad enough to worry about people aiming for your or Ela’s heads.”\n\n\tThe wolfess nodded with a girlish giggle, patting her tanned leather pants, “I appreciate that… These are much more comfortable to ride in than the dresses my father insisted I wear. I only had these two pairs of breeches in my entire wardrobe, and only because I kept them hidden in the bottom drawer.”\n\n\t“Understandable,” Ferrl conceded with another chuckle. “For now… are you any good at throwing those knives of yours?” At her nod, he smiled, “See if you can hit Ela’s shoulder; I don’t want to use a more vital area for a test until we’re sure it works.”\n\n\tDanara looked dubious, but the vixen smiled and assured her as she stood straighter then very still, “It’s alright… I trust you, Momma, and daddy’s good at this.”\n\n\tFlushing faintly, as she still wasn’t used to considering herself anyone’s mother, the bitch nodded and drew a dagger. Gripping it by the blade, she took careful aim, then didn’t hold back, flinging it as hard as she could at the girl’s right shoulder. “Yesss…” she hissed, relief suffusing her entire being as the sharp point struck and bounced off.\n\n\tStepping closer to examine the point of impact, Ferrl nodded mostly to himself, “Just as I thought… There’s a tiny hole, so at least the penetration-detection part of the spell works. I’ll recharge the nearest quartz now, then try hitting her with a slim stick sometime to check the other half, but what we know works would certainly have deflected the crossbow bolt her last attacker fired.” He looked up and fixed his betrothed with a serious gaze, “You should know that followers of the God of Thieves have already tried once to stop us by force, and I doubt it will be their last attempt.”\n\n\tDanara nodded just as solemnly, “They can be fierce fighters when they want to be, yes… I learned a bit about them, as my own minor knacks at stealth and such had been leading me to consider their God for myself, once I’d disposed of you and gotten free of my father.”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled as he thought their whole situation through, “And now that same father is waiting to bind you to me for life, a life in which you will be aiding the enemies of your considered God, and he also thinks that you’re ready to settle down and behave like a ‘proper woman.’ Irony after irony… If he only knew how much fun we intend to have, doing things that would make him scream.”\n\n\tGrinning, the younger wolf stood up and stretched, then padded over to hug his arm to her chest, “Indeed… and imagining the look on his face if he ever knew, which of course he never will, has frequently boosted my spirits of late. Come on, it’s time for us to get dressed; it’s not quite a traditional wedding gown, but the best of the three dresses he brought along out of fear that I hadn’t taken enough clothes is good enough for me. It’ll just have to be good enough for everyone else, too.”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Do you, Ferrl, take Danara, daughter of Gerian and Belonna, to be your companion, mate, and wife? To love her, cherish her, and protect her for so long as you both shall live?”\n\n\tThe knight nodded solemnly, looking into Danara’s eyes as he slipped the ring onto her finger, “I do.” There hadn’t been enough time to actually shop for jewelry, nor could he afford much in the way of gemstones without severely depleting his funds, so they’d settled on the pair of rings he’d made with magic and three gold half-crowns. Their styling was plain but, visible only under very close examination, a single fur from each of their pelts formed the center-line of the inner surface of each, and both relished the symbolism of exchanging even that minor a part of their very selves as well as technically touching one another for as long as they wore the bands.\n\n\tGerian nodded as well, turning to address his daughter, “And do you, Danara, take Sir Ferrl, son of Jonia, knight and Agent of Drachath, Savior of Lark’s Reach, to be your companion, mate, and husband? To love him, cherish him, and serve him for so long as you both shall live?”\n\n\tSuppressing the urge to giggle, the girl in the green sundress nodded as she worked the larger of the gold bands onto her promised’s ring finger, “Yes, Daddy, I do.”\n\n\tThe disciplined knight commander, of course, had no trouble maintaining his own expression of solemn formality despite her minor break with the traditional script; that twitch at the corner of his muzzle must have been the happy couple’s imaginations. “Then by my authority as high priest of the God of War, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may seal your love with a kiss.”\n\n\tFerrl’s and Danara’s noses bumped as their muzzles neared and joined, exactly as they’d planned to keep anyone from figuring out where they’d been for that solid half-hour they’d spent hiding and tongue-wrestling. None of the small, applauding crowd looked suspicious, in any case.\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Your father… our father looked like he wished he could skip this part of our being married and still reap the other emotional benefits,” Ferrl mused as he pulled off the tanned breeches that had replaced his more courtly hose, the rest of his fine garb having sufficed for the ceremony.\n\n\tHis wife grinned toothily as she sat down on the edge of the small room’s rather narrow bed to start working her boots off, “Tough shit for him. Daddy’s little girl has to grow up sometime, doesn’t she?”\n\n\tThe Agent winced at her phrasing, “Funny you should mention little girls… Ela was asking me if she could find out if ‘grandpa’ was as thick as her own daddy. Think of how he’d have taken that request!”\n\n\tDanara giggled as she dropped her own clothing to join the heap of his, “Not as well as he took your refusal of a dowry… Are you really so rich that you can turn down that kind of money?”\n\n\tHer husband shook his head, “It’s not that… I’m not hurting for funds, even if I couldn’t afford diamonds for our rings, but I don’t go about refusing opportunities to increase them out of any false sense of security or pride either. My problem with dowries is the notion that I need to be paid to accept a mere female, when I have everything I could possibly ask for already in… you. The privilege of being yours is as much as any reasonable man should want, and accepting more would… cheapen you, in my eyes. I know, it doesn’t make any rational sense, but…”\n\n\tShe silenced him with a finger to his lips, “Shhh… It doesn’t have to make sense, my dear. Love rarely does. Now… I offer my maidenhead as a sacrifice to your Goddess. Will you take it for Her? Please?”\n\n\tFerrl smiled, easing her down onto the sheets where he stroked a palm over her soft, dark fur, “On one condition… that you finally let me lick you, first. Other women in my life have been tasty, but you’re my first bitch, and I’m told that the taste and smell of one’s own species is a whole different world.”\n\n\tThe younger wolf could already feel her loins heating in anticipation, “Mmm… yes, and gladly. Teach me, for real this time, what it means to be a woman.”\n\n\tHer husband replied only with an affectionate smile, crawling along the bed to crouch between her feet, his own calves hanging off the end; the inn’s bed really hadn’t been designed with this activity in mind. He gently spread her knees, nuzzling along her thigh before inhaling a deep breath of her scent… and everything he’d been told was confirmed in that instant. His vision seemed to acquire a red tint, the primal wolf within urging him to lunge upwards and immediately mount his chosen mate, but he ignored it, choosing instead to simply enjoy this new form of lust as it surged through his veins, his shaft immediately firming to rock-like hardness where it pressed into the featherbed. Some corner of his mind noted, with relieved satisfaction, that her scent, as much as it inflamed his very being, lacked the sharp muskiness of a woman in or near heat… so he needn’t worry about becoming a father himself, just yet. The relief, though, was less from the lack of a future burden, than from the knowledge that he needn’t interrupt or change his current, delicious situation or his plans for it at all.\n\n\tDanara, for her part, watched his muzzle near her treasures then quite deliberately closed her eyes, leaning back into her pillow. She was finding, much to her surprise, that she didn’t want control of the situation, or even to know what was going to happen before it did, her personality’s usual forcefulness giving full way for the moment to submission to her fate. She truly trusted this man, she was coming to realize; she’d already been at his mercy in that dark alley, and at his side, naked and effectively helpless in a room charged with murderous lust, where nobody would have stopped him or even known if he’d chosen to sate his dark desires with her… If she’d been safe with him then, nothing he could ask of her this night would ever harm her, though she knew that her own physical inexperience would probably result in some pain eventually. That was alright with her, though, and she’d just endure—her meandering speculations broke off with a whimper as his tongue finally brushed against her private flesh. The jolt of pleasure at that first touch made her eyes try to flutter open, but she forced them shut again, just in time for a second, firmer lap against her petals, a whine escaping her clenched muzzle as her imagination’s expectations fell to pieces. She’d envisioned a simple amplification of her earlier, ignorant lust, but the pure pleasure racing up her nerves as that broad, moist muscle stroked along her petals was literally without precedent in her sheltered experience. “Yes…” the bitch hissed, her intended request for more forgotten an instant later as it was given unasked, and she gripped the sheets as she felt herself being spread by the ever-firmer licks, her husband’s tongue delving gradually deeper into her virgin passage.\n\n\tFerrl’s eyes were closed to slits, but not so tightly that he couldn’t gaze appreciatively at the sight before them… The untried treasures that were flowering under his attentions were just past the halfway point of a cross between Ela’s immature charms and Verona’s or Kathy’s more experienced ones. The flexible barrier his delving tongue found and prodded was one indication, of course, but there was a… hesitancy, or something close to it, about the way the lips he’d spread puffed up, as if his lover’s body itself wasn’t sure of what to do. The specifics of the musky-sweet contours aside, the channel those lips guarded was also quite snug, far less so than Ela’s seven-year-old sex, perhaps, but, hymen or no, he was obviously the first person to explore these depths, including their owner.\n\n\tInexperienced or not, the flesh he gently supped upon was proving quite responsive… Danara’s quiet whimpers with each breath she took struck him as absolutely adorable, and if the tension in her thighs was any indication her pleasure was rising at least as fast as his other ladyfriends’ tended to. Spreading her mound with a finger to either side, he nudged a fingertip of his other hand up against the pink of her opening, lapping around it as he swirled it very gradually inwards, its short fur’s tactile contrast with his tongue eliciting a keening whine from his bitch. Not even the first knuckle had vanished into her at that slow pace when she threw her head back with a yelp, a strangled, “Oh, Gods!” escaping as she clenched at the sheets convulsively, her whole form shuddering as pleasure raced along her nerves like wildfire.\n\n\t“Not this time,” Ferrl lifted his damp muzzle to chuckle, “but I’m sure you’ll have a Goddess or two to compare me with eventually.” He kept his finger almost still, merely scratching lightly with its clawtip, as he watched the tremors fade from the folds surrounding it.\n\n\tStill panting hard, she blinked down at him between the swells of her breasts, shaking her head, “I can’t believe how that felt! I think I finally understand what Roxanarra stands for; how an entire religion could be focused on this sort of thing…” Stretching out her legs, which had pulled in tight during her climax and were threatening to cramp if she kept them there, she relaxed back onto the sheets, murmuring, “I will never again deny your request to lick me like that… Please, if you want to continue, do so, or just take me now. I… am yours,” she admitted her earlier thoughts with a nervous gulp. “Do with me as you please, and I will welcome it, my husband…”\n\n\tFerrl laughed softly, “Talk about your coincidences… Malia said almost the same thing about understanding Roxy; I was her first mortal lover, too.” He stretched himself out, stroking his muscular chest up her body as he leaned in close to kiss her, murmuring, “But she is not a wolf, nor is she my wife… Don’t ever think yourself inferior to my immortal lovers, as with them it’s always just something fun to do. With you, making love is no mere polite turn of phrase… it’s literal.”\n\n\tDanara didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his quiet, heartfelt words, so she just hugged him close, burying her misty-eyed face in the fur of his neck. An affectionate paw wormed its way into the embrace, fingertips brushing over her nipples, and she shivered happily at yet another new experience, “Mmm… that’s nice. They’ve never felt like that before…”\n\n\tHer love and lover merely chuckled again, “The mind is master of the body… Your body’s reaction to my touch is merely a sign of your mind’s desires, and that is why I could not take your father’s first offer. If you did not care for me as you do, all I’ve done and will do tonight would be meaningless, the sensations bland or even unpleasant. That said, are you truly ready for me, body and mind?”\n\n\tThe bitch could feel the rounded warmth of his manhood, nudging gently at her entrance, and shifted slightly until it felt right, her outer lips just barely spread around his tip. “Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes again, “I am ready.”\n\n\t“I believe you,” Ferrl whispered into her ear, freeing his hand to support himself above her, and pressed inwards with a murmured prayer of dedication. He went slowly, but with every bit of his strength behind his thrust, the thin barrier his tongue had probed no impediment at all. Her walls and hymen stretched, and the latter broke as he sank steadily deeper, and he didn’t stop until her warm petals were giving the top of his knot a moist kiss.\n\n\tDanara’s breath came out as an explosive moan as he stilled, having caught in her throat the moment she’d been sure he was really doing it this time, and she took another, sighing softly… “And it’s done,” she mused dreamily. “Virgin no more, child no more, at last a woman… and I love you for it. It hurts, it feels like I’m impaled on an enormous mace… but it’s you, and wonderful.”\n\n\tWithdrawing gently until his head’s slight flare tugged at her outer reaches, designed by nature to trap and hold an engorged knot, he pressed in anew, starting a slow, easy rhythm as he waited for her discomfort to pass. He could feel the thin shreds of her maidenhead, stark against the subtler textures of her depths as they caressed him, the coppery tang of blood blending into the scents of lupine arousal. She clung to him throughout, planting kisses on his shoulder, his neck, his throat, and her contented sighs soon gave way to low moans, then rose further in volume as her body grew used to the invasion and came to welcome it. Faint ripples started to shiver along her walls, echoed by stronger shudders through the rest of her body, fresh droplets of her dew moistening her thighs and the sheets. Her scent alone, had he let it, would have driven him to climax even when he’d just been licking her, and it was only though an act of iron will that he was holding off his pleasure, awaiting hers… and he didn’t have to wait long. Her shudders progressed to clenches, weak at first but quickly growing in strength, and as she buried her muzzle in his fur again to mute her cries, her peak neared and struck, her entire being seemingly lost in flaming bliss, only to redouble as she heard his own pillow-muffled howl, felt the throbbing of his thick wolfhood within her, the knowledge that he joined her in ecstasy fueling her own to unimaginable heights.\n\n\tShe wasn’t sure when the pleasure ended and the dreams began, reality itself seeming to have given way before her passion’s onslaught… It wasn’t until she opened her eyes to the sight of dawn’s light streaming through the shutters of the room’s small window, and heard the sound of distant birdsong and the rumble of a populous city rising to meet a new day, that she could be certain she was finally back in the real world… and the most real, most wonderful part of it was the muscular body that cradled hers, his fur still smelling of their shared pleasures as he held her close even in sleep.\n\nChapter 12\n\n\tThe rat in the gold-trimmed royal purple uniform blinked at the parchment in his hands, then looked up to examine his visitor’s mounts with a practiced eye. “You certainly have the authority you claimed,” he mused, “but your horses are in prime condition. Do you really need another, or are you just taking one of mine because you can?”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled softly, shaking his head, “I think you’d get along well with a stablemaster I know back in Fariach… You obviously know horses, but that’s its own sort of problem in this case; you’re not noticing the people! I wasn’t planning on it, I assure you, but along the way I seem to have picked up a wife, and leaving her behind is not an option. To continue my mission, I’ll need another riding beast, though endurance is more important than speed, so you needn’t surrender your very best. I made her give back the horse she… well, ‘borrowed without permission’ from her father, so it’s only fair that I replace it, and given the distance we’ve yet to cover I can’t take the chance of getting a bad one. Sure, my warhorse could carry both of us, even with me in this armor, but what if I need to fight on him? We’ve already been attacked once on this trip, and I’d be surprised if that’s the only battle my mission involves.”\n\n\tA similarly-uniformed stag with a bit more gold ornamentation shook his head with a quiet laugh, “He’s like this even to the couriers, sir knight… He’s the best stablemaster I’ve ever had, but he’s almost too good at some parts of his job.” Addressing the rodent, the officer instructed firmly, “The king’s orders don’t give us the option of saying no to this man, Godin. Give him one of our better long-haul steeds and let him go on his way.”\n\n\tSighing, the rat handed back the parchment and turned to pad sullenly into the stable with a muttered, “Yes, sir…”\n\n\tDanara took a few steps closer to muse to her husband, smiling, “You know, I could get used to this… I mean, being married to someone with your degree of authority. Most men, or so I feared at least, order their wives around just because they need to feel superior, but you are superior to most, so you can get that all out of your system outside of the bedroom.”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, then shrugged with a soft chuckle, “You may be right about male-kind in general… but I’ve never had any real craving for power. It doesn’t matter to me who’s giving the orders, so long as nobody tries to interfere with my life. If someone does anyway, regardless of any power differential I’d rather work around them than against them.”\n\n\tFrom where she stood holding the reins of their current horses, Malia commented, “That’s just part of why you’re so good at your job… Your authority is a tool you’ll use at need, but to many others their power becomes their identity. Without it they’d be lost, and only by continually exercising it can they feel whole.” She thrust her chin toward the stable, “Interesting as it can be to discuss philosophy and psychology, though, there’s your new horse. We should get back onto the road.”\n\n\tThe Agent nodded, and gestured toward the horse, already fitted with one of the courier service’s comfortable saddles, being led out by the courier stablemaster, “There you go, my love, a much more appropriate steed than your father’s huge stallion.” The mount in question probably only weighed half of what that big warhorse had, but was still well-muscled and sturdy, a gelding with a coat of glossy black save only for white socks on three of his legs.\n\n\t“This is Arbalest Nightstalker,” the rat announced, his pride in his charges momentarily overcoming his dislike of the prospect of losing one. “He may not be the very fastest horse here, but no one could call him slow, and he’s got endurance enough for any two more common mounts so long as he’s well cared-for.”\n\n\tDanara stepped closer to introduce herself, letting Arbalest sniff her palm before giving his nose a pet. “I think Arby and I will get along wonderfully… He’s beautiful; thank you for choosing him.”\n\n\tGodin winced at her choice of nickname, but a glance at his superior made him hold his tongue.\n\n\tThe officer sorted through the stack of parchment he was holding, then nodded to himself and held out one sheet, “Here’s ‘Arby’s’ ownership document; if you return him to courier service just pass this along as well, but if you don’t it should clear things up with any officials who recognize his brand.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “Thank you, and I’ll amend it on my own authority when I have the chance, but we’re in a hurry at the moment.” He folded the parchment as he padded back to remount Cherrah, waiting for the ladies to climb into their saddles before turning his steed back toward the road. “Come along, my dears,” he told his companions. “We’ve dallied long enough in this town, and it’s time to journey onwards.”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“There we are,” Ferrl mused two days after leaving Gatuque behind. “Foxwood… It may be on the small side, but we should be able to find you some more breeches and stock up on food, ours and the horses’ both. It also happens to be one of the most ironic names for a town in all of my geography lessons.” Ela and Danara both looked curious, so he continued with a grin and an expansive gesture, “Look around… do you see many trees? This was originally a logging and trapping town, but they were a little too good at their jobs. The forest is gone, and you probably won’t find a living fox of the four-legged sort for leagues around.”\n\n\tHis wife chuckled, nodding, “I see… Anyway, thank you for a chance to stop for clothes. Alternating pairs and rinsing them in the occasional stream has gone only so far; my current pants are starting to get a little rank. I understand the delay, though; we wouldn’t have gotten into Rugal before the gates closed that night if we’d stopped to shop first, and the timing was just as close last night too.”\n\n\tMalia chuckled softly, shaking her head, “So much for trying to give us all a break… Let this be a lesson, though naturally one I’d prefer not to have noised about: not even a deity can take everything into account. I simply hadn’t considered the spacing of convenient towns, those days ago when I said we didn’t have to push so hard in our travels.”\n\n\tA few more minutes’ riding saw them slowing their mounts to a walk as they neared the gates of the large village, and they dismounted just outside to lead the horses on foot. The flow of traffic and the main street’s relative narrowness gradually stretched them out into a long, single-file line, but the town’s central square allowed them to regroup once more. Spotting an inn and stable a bit farther up the road, the knight pointed, “There… I’ll see to the horses, and we can have lunch next door before we move on, but for now let’s get our shopping out of the way. Malia, if you’d care to focus on the supplies while the rest of us look for clothes, that’ll save us a bit of time before we all meet back at the inn.” He fished around in a pouch as he spoke, checking to make sure there were at least a couple glints of silver among the copper he’d retrieved, then nodded to himself and passed the coins over.\n\n\tThe feline tucked the money into one of the shallow pockets her light armor’s skirt-pleats concealed, nodding as well, “Alright; I’ll meet you three there.”\n\n\tEven if it couldn’t be rightly called a city, Foxwood’s position directly astride a well-traveled highway apparently had a positive impact on the number and variety of commercial ventures to be found. There were several tailor’s and seamstress’ shops to choose from, and Ferrl led his wife and daughter into the one displaying dresses of simple cut and sensible, durable fabrics after their mounts were stabled.\n\n\t“Can I help you find something?” the feline proprietress asked the knight, as his ladies were already distracted looking over the stacks and racks of garments.\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, offering a wry grin at her slight flusterment at being all but ignored by what she considered to be her real customers, “We’re mainly looking for breeches and maybe a couple extra shirts for my wife there. She’ll be traveling in them, which is why we didn’t bother with the fancier shops.”\n\n\tThe seamstress laughed, “Gods be praised, customers with some sense! I’ll just point her in the direction of what will fit, then.”\n\n\tDanara looked up from fingering some heavy linen pants, “Perhaps just a bit on the loose side, though… You see those lumps under the vixen’s dress?” At the cat’s half-confused nod, she smiled, “I’ll be getting something similar to wear under what we get here, and I don’t want it to chafe under too snug a fit. The simplest explanation is that your wares here will end up doubling as armor, with the help of a little magic.”\n\n\tThis fetched a startled blink, then the lady visibly shook off her confusion, “I never expected my weavings to be any good for that… but I suppose they’ll do. Magic changes all the rules, or so they say.” She gave the younger wolf a professional glance up and down, muttering a few numbers to herself, then pointed to the next stack over from the one Danara had been examining, “Let’s start with those; unfold one and hold it up to see if the arms match yours…”\n\n\tMalia, when they rejoined her at the inn, had Ferrl’s and Danara’s knapsacks next to her on the bench of the table that a pair of waiters were loading with their trays of food, and she nodded as they set their newly-bought burdens down alongside the somewhat deflated bags, “You seem to have gotten everything you were looking for… I thought you would, so I dropped all of your dirty clothes at a laundry; they should be ready in a bit more than an hour, as I had enough change left from buying supplies to pay for their rush service.”\n\n\tNodding, Danara glanced down at her current garb, “The next evening we end up between towns, then, I’ll just leave these breeches soaking in a stream overnight. If I’d known you’d be anticipating our needs so well, I’d have changed into that one dress I kept before we went to the shop so you could take these along with the rest, but that can’t be helped now.”\n\n\tThe feline shook her head with a smile, “No, it can’t… so let’s focus on what we can control: relaxing for a while, and enjoying this excellent meal.” All three of her companions laughed and nodded, settling onto the benches to do just that.\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe group took a few minutes extra to sort and redistribute their burdens, staying out of the way of traffic in a corner of the small square just inside the town’s north gate. Between gaining a new companion, a third horse, and a few bits of camping gear picked up as needed, and losing the bags of plate armor Ferrl had started the journey with, a bit of organization was certainly called for, and they could spare the time for it given the speed they’d been making over the last two days. Saddlebags stuffed randomly with clothes were emptied, each adult loading their own mount with their own possessions, Ela’s dresses joining the smock Malia had picked up to wear when having her armor cleaned as Red’s bags had the most space. The brownish mare was also loaded with the leather stew pot with collapsible iron legs that served to turn dried meat and hard rolls into something more palatable when camping out, while the rations themselves and a goodly chunk of their communal funds were divided evenly between the three mounts. Nothing had happened to seriously threaten the horses yet, but everyone agreed that a few precautions couldn’t hurt, and would be more than worth the investment of a few minutes’ time in case they lost a steed and its supplies somehow.\n\n\t“I think it’s a good idea to start making this sort of careful foresight a habit at this point,” Malia mused as she buckled the flap on one of Red’s bags. “We’ll be crossing from Gatuque to Rajai tonight, so our goal’s in sight even if Wheathaven itself is still days away. Now is not the time to play the role of ‘casual travelers’ too well…”\n\n\tThis fetched a nod from Ferrl, “Indeed… At the next major city we hit, I’ll use that draft and shop for what I need, on the subject of roles, to look like the collector I’m supposed to be by the time we reach Chraf.”\n\n\tDanara blinked, “Did you say Chraf? That’s what I get for not asking where we’re going, I guess...” She gave half apiece of a shrug and a smile at her companions’ evident confusion, “Chraf’s a big city, so the odds that we’ll run into her are on the low side... but I think that’s where my mother’s living these days. My grandfather on her side is a merchant, and she fell in love with a newly-anointed priest by the name of Gerian as her family’s caravan was stopping for the night... but as he got older and more set in his conservative ways, she eventually gave up on him and left. I was only three at the time, so I don’t remember much about her... but as it was explained to me once I was old enough to understand, my father convinced her to leave me with him because he had an established, steady position that could easily support a child, while she was heading back with no knowledge of how well or poorly her parents were doing, or whether they even had a position for her after all those years apart.”\n\n\tHer husband nodded again, smiling as well, “I wouldn’t mind meeting Belonna myself, if it does occur, but we’ll just let fate decide on that score, and concentrate our own plans and efforts on what we know is important.”\n\n\tShe chuckled softly, “Within those plans, I suppose I can live with looking like a rich man’s wife, at least for a while… I like my breeches, but I’m not so attached to them as to ruin your disguise, love; I’ll help however I can.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, but his affectionate reply emerged as a strained gurgle. His vision flashed with multi-hued sparks, bright enough to drown everything else out, his entire body tingling as if strong static discharges were somehow going off over every inch of his skin and a few places inside as well. He staggered back half a step, and the motion reintroduced him to the sort of vertigo he’d all but forgotten, back when he’d been transported into the outer gathering hall of the king’s palace, and that time he’d had an empty belly. He spat as his insides roiled, bringing up some of the excellent meal he’d just enjoyed, but even beneath the nausea he was feeling confusion more intensely than anything else. Poison? Some sort of magical attack?\n\n\t“Don’t move, any of you!” a gruff voice shouted, though he could barely make out the words through the distracting, dizzying sensations, and the last thing he heard was the twang of a crossbow before the iron ball tipping a stunner-bolt hit the back of his head and laid him out on the cobblestones.\n\n* * *\n\n\tA head that ached like he’d forgotten to wear a helmet to a mace-fight, a mouth that tasted like week-old bile, and splinters digging into his ass from whatever poorly-finished piece of wood he was laying on led Ferrl to decide that he must be awake, as even his nightmares had never contained this degree of discomfort. Opening his eyes didn’t help much, as the sparks he vaguely recalled had been replaced by bright, blurry rainbows, and he shut them again with a groan.\n\n \t“That confirms the report I read about the little show you put on at the riverbanks of Petch,” a voice mused to one side. The words were easy enough to make out, but somehow they seemed just a little on the blurry side themselves. “If you wish to see and hear clearly,” the stranger advised, “concentrate on damping down your magical perceptions. Wizardbane collars are always a bit... disorienting for the greatly-skilled, as they disrupt all aspects of your gifts, including those senses that are so often active unless you’re deliberately suppressing them.”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, concentrating for a moment to focus on mundanity before opening his eyes again, and took a glance around... He was evidently laying on the crude plank bench that was the only furnishing of a cell, walled entirely in stone with a narrow door of iron bars and no windows. The floor was surprisingly clean, and the only other thing in the tiny room was a bucket with a hinged cover, most likely intended as a chamberpot though the relatively scentless air suggested it was unused. Through the bars he could see another stone-walled room, lit by iron-grated windows, and one end of a desk, the chair to which had been pulled around so his captor could watch him more directly.\n\n\tThe uniform the skunk was wearing, Ferrl noted, wasn’t exactly standard-issue... It was the same cut and style of the other guards he’d seen among Foxwood’s militia, but probably cost several times as much, as the fabrics were finer, the colors brighter, and the garments themselves crisp and new. This was, perhaps, an unfortunate contrast, as midway through considering the implications of the mephit’s garb, Ferrl realized that he himself was completely naked save only for a tight band of some sort around his throat. “I wouldn’t do that,” the soldier cautioned as he reached up to touch the collar.\n\n\tFerrl blinked once, then nodded and lowered his hand, “Sorry, I was still a bit disoriented... It took me a moment to recall the portion of my legal training that covered magical crime and the punishments for such. So, as I’m obviously in gaol, would you mind telling me just what I’m charged with?”\n\n \tThe skunk chuckled, “Well, your arresting charge was the mass murder of a group of religious pilgrims, but we’ve added a few things since then...” He started ticking off on his fingers, “Impersonating an Agent of the kingdom, forgery of official documents, theft of a royal courier horse, intent for grand theft of official funds, conspiracy of some sort we’ve yet to decide upon, and soliciting an unlicensed prostitute.” The man’s smile was most unpleasant as he leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers before him, “The murder charge alone carries the death penalty, and normally we’d just leave it at that as we can only kill you once, but the sheer number and degree of your other crimes suggests that we... be creative in finding a few additional things to do to you. If for no other reason, we should make an example of you to keep from encouraging others who might think that the commission of one capital crime leaves them with nothing to lose, so they may as well compound it.”\n\n\tHis prisoner nodded, “In other words, one member of the group of thieves that ambushed me a week or two ago survived to give you a description of my party... and you’re happily twisting the truth and the laws to your own ends as a result. It was the one my horse trampled, wasn’t it?”\n\n \tThe militiaman blinked, “What? Well... yes, the pilgrim who survived had been trampled by a horse, and died shortly afterwards... but for the rest, I’m only doing my duty as the captain of Foxwood’s modest guard force, in strict compliance with established, kingdom-wide procedure...”\n\n \t“How convenient,” the wolf snorted. “I see what you’re talking about there, too... When a suspect is believed to be in possession of magical abilities or items, the use of a wide-aperture spellbreaker is dictated, which is where those ludicrous charges of forgery and impersonation came from, since you ruined the enchantments in my very, very real badge and documents over the course of apprehending me. So, now you’ve got me, with ‘proof’ of several major crimes that your own acts created... Where’s the rest of my party? I’ll warn you now, they’d better be safe and well-treated, or you won’t like what happens to you once I’m free of this web of lies...”\n\n\tHis jailer shook his head with a visible swallow, “There you go with those wild accusations again... In light of the clear-cut evidence found on your person and in your saddlebags, the town magistrate has already declared your guilt. There are no lies here, only facts!” He swallowed again at Ferrl’s raised brow and faint smirk, then shook himself and continued, “As for those you were traveling with... the cat and cub were also mentioned in the warrant we were executing when you were captured, and the cub ran off... No loss; she wasn’t actually charged with anything, though we did want her as a witness. The cat... well, that was where the unknown conspiracy charge came from; if she weren’t guilty of something of the sort, then why did she kill herself?”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, “Mal—ah, she’s dead?”\n\n\tThe skunk shrugged, “As of an hour ago, yes... I’ve never seen anything like it; the moment we brought her into this building, she collapsed... She wasn’t really unconscious, as her eyes were still open, but nothing we did could get any sort of response out of her, and after a while she just stopped breathing. No one else among us has ever seen the like either, but we’re pretty sure that it was some sort of poison, or possibly a concealed magic item that wipes the mind while leaving the body intact.”\n\n \tThough he tried to keep it from showing on his face, that was actually the first piece of news that managed to truly dismay the wolf. He’d heard of this sort of building, but didn’t think any of them existed anymore, as they were horrific in a way few structures could be and were routinely destroyed whenever found. For all its barely-regulated use in other respects, there was one form of magical energy that was illegal under all but the most rigidly-constrained of circumstances... and that was spirit-energy. There was only one source of literal souls, after all, and each individual had just so much; when it was used, it was gone, at the cost of not only their life but any hope for an afterlife as well. “Kathalla,” he murmured in a near-silent breath, “I think I could use some help here...”\n\n\tThe lack of anything resembling a response was confirmation enough... Even if he dared not look to verify it, with the collar blocking his arcane senses and equipped as well to severely punish any attempt to bypass it, he knew that the entire gaol was sheathed in a solid layer of spirit-energy, probably representing dozens of individual souls, blocking his prayer from being heard... and cutting off even the divine spirit that had animated Malia’s mortal semblance, leading to her body’s collapse and demise.\n\n\t“As for the fourth member of your group,” the soldier continued, and this time Ferrl had to keep from looking excited as he eagerly awaited news of his wife, “we let her go once she’d made it clear just how she’d come to be in your company. You should be ashamed of yourself... By the ring you were wearing you’re a married man, and there’s no excuse for what you were asking that poor woman, hardly more than a girl really, to do in return for a silver or two worth of clothes, a few meals, and a ride to the next city. The physical threats you made were even lower, in their own way... but they turned out to be to her benefit in the end. My bro—the magistrate and I were happy to not have to charge her with unlicensed prostitution, as your despicable duress was an extenuating circumstance.”\n\n \tFerrl did his best to look disappointed, even chagrined... but he muttered under his breath with a mental smile, “Smart girl...”\n\nChapter 13\n\n \tDanara did her best to maintain her expression of determination, tinged with injured pride, as she strode down the street, her over-full knapsack bouncing against her back. All she really wanted to do was to sit down and cry, but to do so would ruin everything, and she knew it. The cool metal of her wedding ring rubbed against her ankle as she moved, having ended up there after she’d dropped it down the breeches that were tucked into her boots, but she ignored it as best she could. The story she’d spun, about being a nearly penniless traveler who’d discovered that the ‘helpful’ couple she’d met simply wanted another sort of currency in return for their aid, would only hold up for as long as she kept her performance intact, and that meant not dwelling on the wolf she’d come to love or the memory of his unconscious body being collared and dragged away.\n\n \tShe blinked away the threat of tears as she pushed that thought out of her mind again, and looked around before turning down a side street, following the directions from one of the militia privates who’d helped her separate her possessions from the evidence he’d been impounding. Those guards were actually pretty decent sorts, but something was obviously rotten at the top of their command structure; the charges they’d read to Malia almost matched the tales they’d shared over the last two days’ long rides, but with just a few twists... The look in that mortal Goddess’ eyes had shown the dawning of a similar conclusion, and the young bitch guessed that that was why she’d surrendered without a fight, rather than visiting pain and death upon basically good people who were just doing what they saw as their duty while being slightly misled.\n\n \tSo, there she was, following the directions to the cheapest of the town’s three inns... The few coppers of her own she still had would suffice for a night or two of lodging there, presumably while she looked for either a job or an honest ride to visit her mother... according to the story she’d told the soldiers. In reality, all she wanted was a chance to think, to take stock of her situation after the chaos of the arrest and her frantic improvisation, then find some way to turn it into lasting freedom for her family and their feline companion.\n\n \tSeeing the room that five sixths of a penny could rent was enough to make her wonder if she should have told the truth and let the militia arrest her... Even a cell in the town gaol had to be better than this! The straw-filled canvas ‘mattress’ smelled like it had been there for years and never once been cleaned or re-stuffed, all the while suffering an endless series of sweaty, unwashed bodies, and the moment the ill-hung door was closed she kicked it into a heap in one corner. The floor wasn’t exactly pristine either, but at least it probably wasn’t infested with six-legged parasites. Opening her knapsack, she pulled out the dress she’d been married in and, firmly schooling her mind not to think about anything but the fact that it was her least-useful garment at the moment, used it to brush chips from the flaking plaster walls into another corner, clearing a space where she might, eventually, be able to sleep cleanly, if not comfortably. That done, she sat down in the middle of the clear space, and considered her options for her next step... or tried to. Without anything pressing to occupy her mind, and with her smudged dress still in her hands, the whole situation finally came crashing down on her, and a sob tore its way from her throat before she could stop it. A second threatened, and she fought to keep quiet even as tears burned behind her tight-shut eyes...\n\n\t“Momma?”\n\n\tDanara gasped, blotting her tears on a fold of her dress then jumping up to open the rickety shutters of the room’s small window. Looking out, she saw nothing but another building two feet away, before a small, black-furred hand reached up and gripped the sill. It was all she could do to keep from shouting, a bad idea with the inn’s thin walls, but she certainly whispered as loudly and enthusiastically as she could, “Ela!” She reached out and down, feeling the vixen’s other hand grip hers, and she just couldn’t keep the grin off of her muzzle as she lifted her daughter out of the alley and through the window.\n\n\tEla was teary-eyed but smiling as well as she hugged her mother tight. “I followed you,” she murred even as she clung, “but I didn’t know which window was yours ‘til I heard ya...”\n\n \tThe wolf gave her one more squeeze then let go, “I’m glad they didn’t get you... but what do we do now? We don’t have much, but we have to save Ferrl! Those lies they read off as charges... they’re going to kill him, once a few formalities have been satisfied.” Blinking as she noticed, she touched the short sleeve of the child’s dress where it was cut and a little bloodied, “Hey, you’re hurt...”\n\n\tHer daughter shook her head, “That’s jus’ a scratch; I was wonderin’ why Daddy didn’t use his magic, so I tested my crystals. I think they did somethin’ that ruined all our magic stuff right before they got ‘im.”\n\n\tDanara winced, “Damn... that means they’ve ruined his badge, too, and without that they can claim he’s lying... We have no magic, no money, and no allies but each other... This isn’t the best starting point for a rescue that I could wish for.”\n\n \tThe cub’s lips curled back from her sharp teeth as she surprised her mother with a fierce grin, “We have enough, Momma...” Reaching around behind herself, she pulled her sheathed dagger out of her dress’ matching sash, “We gots this... an’ this is Kathalla!”\n\n\tDanara blinked, “I still have my knives, too... but what do you mean, calling it that?”\n\n\tEla closed her eyes and tilted her head, seeming to listen to something, then nodded, “Here, She says She’ll tell ya, it’ll be faster.” This only fetched another blink from the confused wolf, even as the hilt of the dagger was pressed firmly into her hand...\n\n\t*No, it was not just a child’s affectation that led her to give My name to her blade... for it literally is an extension of My very being.*\n\n\tThe wolf would have dropped the dagger at the first word that so quietly shook her soul, but her hand was no longer under her control, gripping it painfully tight on its own. “H... how?”\n\n \t*How is not important right now,* the Goddess replied. *What matters is what we’re going to do... The situation is more complicated, and in some ways worse, than you realize. You see... I can no longer sense Ferrl. I believe that he remains alive,* and both mortal girls let out the breaths they’d been holding at that, *but there is a barrier of spirit blocking the bond I have to each and every member of My flock, in his case. I could, of course, breach it with hardly more effort than a thought... but not without drawing attention to Myself in ways that would do more harm than good, both for his mission and, eventually, his well-being. No... you two and I must find another way, some more subtle route, something within the capabilities of mortals.*\n\n\tDanara nodded, considering... “Can’t priests intervene in criminal cases like this? Couldn’t we get someone to appeal for amnesty of some degree?”\n\n \t*This town merely has a shrine to pray at, no real temple, and no priests.*\n\n\t“Damn,” Ela grumbled. “It was a good idea, momma, but I thinks we gotta do this with no magic an’ no Gods.”\n\n \tThe bitch nodded, still thinking, then paused... “You said it had to be within the capabilities of mortals,” she addressed the knife, “but... that’s a matter of perspective, isn’t it? In other words, appearances?” No verbal reply was forthcoming, but she could sense the curiosity radiating from the blade, and she grinned, “Well... one thing mortals are particularly good at... is making mistakes, or at least being made to look like they’ve made a mistake.” She held out the dagger, and her hand’s deathgrip eased the moment Ela reached to accept it. “We still need to work out a few of the details, but I think I’ve got the merest bit of a plan... or perhaps ‘sliver’ might be a better word. This is going to take some rather careful acting...”\n\n* * *\n\n \t“Well, brother,” the captain of the militia grinned as he clinked his wineglass against the other skunk’s, “here’s to a job well done... What Karnaal’s bunch couldn’t manage with a dozen fighters and a prepared ambush, we did with a tiny twist of the truth and a literal application of the very laws of the land. They’re going to owe us a lot for this...” \n\n\tThe magistrate frowned, whispering, “Keep that down... The bastard’s in the cell right over there; do you really want him to learn the truth?”\n\n \tHis brother chuckled, shaking his head, “He already knows, actually... Nobody told us he was smart, but when I told him the official situation he shot back with almost the exact truth of what we did and how we did it, justifications and all. He must still have Sliisthar’s own headache, but he put the pieces together within three minutes of waking up. It doesn’t matter... So long as we don’t let him out of this building, there’s nothing he can do, and come morning I’ll personally bring a crossbow to that cell and carry out the sentence you signed.”\n\n \tThe other skunk considered this for a long moment, then shrugged, “You decided to skip making an example of him? I guess it’ll work out, then. I hadn’t believed what I’d heard about Agents, but with what you say, I’m starting to. They’re supposed to be almost impossible to fool, and even harder to kill, so I’m actually not surprised that the direct attack failed, but all the fighting prowess in the world won’t do him any good when his sorry ass is locked up. Still, I’ll be a lot more comfortable once he’s safely dead...”\n\n\tThis fetched a nod in return, but the soldier’s actual reply was cut off as he heard a scuffling outside, both skunks turning to watch as the heavy door swung open.\n\n\t“Look what we found tryin’ to get at the saddlebags we impounded, chief,” the lupine guard sergeant rumbled as he half-dragged a disheveled and belligerent-looking Ela into the cell block.\n\n\tThe captain’s brows rose, “Ah, the one that got away! Any idea what she was after?”\n\n \t“Nah,” the wolf shrugged, “the bags were empty, or they wouldn’t have been out with the horses. Crime doesn’t come to Foxwood often, but we do know how to handle evidence, sir! Whatever she was looking for, we already—ow!” He jerked his arm back as the vixen twisted around enough to bite him, and backhanded her into the wall with a snarl, “You little bitch!”\n\n\tEla lifted herself off the floor enough to glare up at him, growling, “You hurt my daddy!”\n\n\tThe magistrate chuckled, “Not as much as we’re going to hurt him come morning, brat... We may not need you as a witness, with the verdict already settled, but you just assaulted a member of the militia... Sergeant, get that dress off of her to make sure she’s not hiding anything, then throw her into the other cell. I think she’s just earned a front row seat to tomorrow’s execution.”\n\n \t“What sort of monsters are you?!?” came the roar from down the hall. “Killing me on a trumped-up charge in support of slavers is bad enough, but making my daughter watch goes completely beyond the pale!”\n\n\tEla scrambled back to her feet, but didn’t make it two steps before the sergeant had grabbed her up again, pinning both her arms with a grip around her middle and keeping a close eye on her teeth, even as the cub called back, “Daddy!”\n\n \tPushing back his chair, the captain stood and directed, “Hold her, soldier... I think we’ll give this little family one last night together, but I’m taking no chances with the prisoner we’ve already got, so we’re going to make absolutely sure this kid isn’t hiding anything...”\n\n\tThe wolf nodded, firming his grip, and held Ela steady while his officer tore her dress off and ran his hands over every inch of her fur, checking for anything solid... Thumb and forefinger wedged painfully into the corners of her muzzle to keep it open, he ran a fingertip over her gums and under her tongue, ignoring her garbled yells of protest, then used the same moist digit to probe her sex and ass, his ungentle thrusts eliciting a loud yelp apiece. Gesturing for the trooper to follow, then, he called as he padded toward the cell, “So we’re monsters, eh? If it would make any difference, I’d add another charge to those already listed, because the cavity check mandated by law failed to find a hymen. She’s what, six? Seven? She’s obviously adopted, but even so, only a ‘monster’ would rape his daughter at that age! Now, get back against the far wall so we can open the door...” He lifted a loaded heavy crossbow down from its rack behind the desk, and he beckoned his brother over to grab the other, the two of them standing well apart to cover all angles before the sergeant reached for his key.\n\n \tFerrl’s gaze was murderous from where he stood, his back to the stone, and he noted in a voice of icy promise, “For touching my daughter in that fashion, your life is mine. Even if I have to pull the crossbow bolt of my own execution out of my heart and throw it back, you are a dead man.”\n\n\tThe captain blinked at the surge of his own fear, then shook it off, reminding himself just how helpless the prisoner was, and mused, “I’ll give you full credit for this much... You’re certainly the most intimidating criminal we’ve ever had, here! I don’t scare easily, but for a moment there I actually believed you. Throw ‘er in, sergeant.”\n\n\tStill standing against the far wall, the bigger wolf shook his head as the door was unlocked and opened just enough to thrust Ela through, “Believe it or don’t... it will happen.”\n\n\tThe vixen stood and brushed herself off as the door was re-locked behind her, “Aww... can’t I kill ‘im, Daddy? Why do you get to have all the fun?”\n\n\tFerrl chuckled softly, then finally took a step forward as the crossbows were put away, kneeling to pull her into a hug, “I never could say no to you, dear... Yes, you can kill him.”\n\n \t“Those two,” the sergeant noted to his superiors as they all stepped back toward the table down the hall, “are the weirdest family I’ve ever seen.”\n\n\tLeaning close, the wolf whispered into his child’s ear, “What are you doing here? I’m happy to see you, of course... but I was even happier when I knew that you and Danara had both escaped! This building’s... cut off from the world, spiritually; we can’t even pray in here. Oh, and don’t touch my collar; these things are booby-trapped to prevent removal.”\n\n\tEla murred quietly back with a smile, “I’m here ‘cuz Momma had an idea... I found ‘er, an’ I had my knife... which really is Kathy, y’know. That’s why I let ‘em catch me.”\n\n\t“Dear... you’re not making any sense.”\n\n\tGiggling, the vixen squirmed out of his grasp, then dug under the claw of her left index finger with her other hand, pulling out a bloody splinter of black wood. Lifting her father’s hand, she pressed it into his palm, then grinned at his surprised blink.\n\n\t“Darkness!” he breathed. “I can’t see magic anymore... but in this I see darkness!”\n\n\t*Of course you do,* a ‘voice’ he’d hadn’t dared hope to hear again replied at the spiritual equivalent of a whisper. *Now... think carefully. The same barrier that cuts your spirit off from Me will also mute anything I may do within it, but it could not conceal a full manifestation, so I’m limited in power to what I can channel through this sliver that is a tiny piece of Me. In terms of magic, if you had your powers back but restricted to the ‘uylf’ prefix of energy-levels, what would you do?*\n\n \tFerrl blinked, then smiled, “Plenty... Uylf is very nearly midrange, and far better than I was expecting when You were telling me how limited You’d be... I’m assuming that that’s not enough to get this collar off, though, or you’d have mentioned it; after all, what I’d like to do would be to drain the magic from this collar, and transfer it into the documents and badge they ruined, something that a Goddess’ intellect and skill would suffice for while using little actual power.”\n\n \tThere was no reply for a long moment, then the chip of wood spoke again, *I must admit... that I hadn’t thought of that. Overpowering your collar was beyond the limits of this medium, but taking its enchantment’s own energy and moving it elsewhere... is distinctly possible. Now be very careful; I need you to bring this sliver into contact with the leather, without touching it with your skin or even fur; if you can manage that, its defenses won’t react until it’s too late.*\n\n\tNodding, the wolf pressed a finger of his other hand hard against the rough stone floor, rubbing to sand off the tip of a claw until it was flattened, and he carefully balanced the splinter on that surface, leaning over it and gently, steadily lifting it toward his neck...\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Guards!”\n\n\tThe captain blinked as the call from the cell interrupted the terse reports he was taking from the troopers as the day shift as they traded off with the evening squad, and he rose from his desk and pointed at the crossbow rack, “Two of you grab those, then we’ll see what the criminal wants.”\n\n \tFerrl was standing at the door, his arms folded across his chest and Ela peeking out from behind his legs, his bearing showing none of the discomfort or uncertainty that it should for one in his situation. Naked, imprisoned, and apparently powerless, he still looked more like a ruling lord than a captive. “What I want,” he rumbled, “is to witness the verification of my badge and the official documents I carried. Does a town this small even have a Stone of Validation? If you plan to execute me based on the validity of signature enchantments or their lack, you’d better be sure...” His arcane senses had returned, confirming that the collar no longer worked, but he wanted to complete his plan without resorting to magic if he could, as it would have a much more lasting impact on the local authorities.\n\n\t“Out of the question,” the captain answered with a snort. “They’ve already been tested by myself and the magistrate.”\n\n\tThe wolf didn’t bat an eye at the flat denial, “Kingdom law requires a minimum of four witnesses to any verification of official magic, save only for confidential situations, and this isn’t a classified affair. Additionally, any use of such validation in the context of a criminal hearing or sentencing must be done in the presence of the accused; I may have been physically present at the time, but if so I was unconscious, and the Grand Magistrate ruling in the Year of Drachath four hundred and eighty-seven defined ‘presence’ to include ‘conscious and aware.’ By the laws you’re sworn to uphold, I demand this.”\n\n\tThe sergeant of the night watch coughed uncomfortably, “I don’t know things like ruling dates, sir, but the rest of what he said is in our rulebook... I think we’d better do as he says.”\n\n\tRolling his eyes in exasperation, the skunk sighed, “Very well...” and stepped around the desk to unlock a deep drawer with a key from his breeches’ pocket. Withdrawing a large leather envelope, he untied its flap and poured its contents onto the desk, “Here’s the forged documents and ‘badge,’ just a pretty pin really, that he’s talking about. Someone fetch my brother from his office and tell him to bring the rock.”\n\n\t“And the test-seal,” Ferrl added firmly. “All Stones of Validation are kept with a legitimate enchantment to make sure the Stones themselves work, and its verification is also within the rights someone accused of a crime is guaranteed.”\n\n \tThe captain scowled, “Alright already! We’ll jump through these hoops for you, but no more! After you’ve seen for yourself the proof of your crimes, you just be quiet, or else. Dawn executions are a tradition, but not required, and if you raise a second fuss we’ll just shoot you and be done with it.”\n\n\tHis brother looked none too happy about being dragged away from his supper as he carried a piece of parchment and a gray hemispherical rock in on the heels of a day watch private, “What’s this all about, anyway?”\n\n \t“Our prisoner,” the other skunk explained in tones of exaggerated patience, “is demanding his rights, so we have to put on a little show for him.” At another private’s pained cough, he shot the marten a glare, “You got a problem, soldier?”\n\n\tThe mustelid blinked, “Beggin’ the captain’s pardon, of course... but we’re gonna take this man’s life, and that’s nothin’ to be done lightly. Shouldn’t we do it as properly as possible, sir?”\n\n\tThe officer opened his mouth to fire back an angry retort, then shut it with a snap. “Just get it over with,” he grumbled at the others.\n\n\tNodding, the magistrate set his parchment on the desk and held the stone over it... “There we go, a nice green glow, so we see that it works... Someone else please change the items so we know there’s no trickery,” and he lifted the artifact until its glow faded entirely. The sergeant picked up the sheet, handed it to another trooper to hold, then put the Agent’s badge they’d confiscated in its place on the desktop. “Excellent, all good and proper,” the skunk nodded as he lowered the stone once more. “Now, as we see, there is no—what the hell is this?!?”\n\n\tThe green radiance of the stone shining like an accusation, Ferrl supplied, “It is a legitimate enchantment of verification incorporated into the badge of an Agent of Drachath and direct representative of King Burtak IV, whom you’ve seen fit to... irritate, as verified by an artifact with exceptionally stringent measures in place to counter having its judgment faked through external magic.”\n\n\tThe captain grabbed the crossbow out of the slack grasp of the nearest soldier, “This is some sort of trick; there’s no way that pin can be registering as enchanted after being hit with a spellbreaker! Your death warrant has been filed and signed, and I’m going to enforce it right now!”\n\n\t“No,” the Agent growled, “you will not... or have you already forgotten how you molested my daughter under the guise of a ‘search?’” The barely-related topic was surprising enough to make the soldier pause, blinking, and the Agent continued grimly, “You railed at me for her lack of a hymen, when your own finger would have broken it had there been one. Do you really think your men will support a captain who can do something like that, to the point of standing idly by while you murder a helpless prisoner who’d just been proven innocent?”\n\n\tThe point of the heavy steel bolt of the second crossbow, meant to pierce plate armor at a hundred yards, touched the side of the skunk’s head, and the trembling private holding the weapon instructed, “Stand down, sir. Don’t force me to shoot you.”\n\n\tAs the captain was relieved of his weapons, the day sergeant stepped up to unlock the cell door, asking, “What should we do now, sir?”\n\n\t“You should—” the well-dressed militiaman started, only to be cut off.\n\n \t“I was asking him,” the wolf growled, pointing at his former prisoner.\n\n \tFerrl chuckled as he stepped out of the cell, “Give me one moment and I’ll let you know...” He moved first to intercept the magistrate, who’d been edging his way toward the door for several moments, grasping his arm briefly. “Hold him,” he ordered the nearest trooper, then stepped over to touch the captain as well. “That confirms it... I happen to also be a priest, men, and I’ve just found the sort of hidden taint on both of these souls that can only mean that they follow the God of Lies. I’ll have to test the entire troop, of course, but unless I find any more vipers in this patch of grass, the sergeant with the most seniority will be promoted to captain, the private who was willing to take a stand against injustice will be granted the rank of sergeant, and the town of Foxwood can elect a new, hopefully honest magistrate. I’ll need my clothes and everything else that was impounded from me, including the horse I legally requisitioned from the couriers, and the keystone to this collar... Someone will need to go fetch my wife from room three at the Broken Bucket, and a messenger will need to be dispatched to the nearest branch of the Mages’ Guild to arrange a visit by a wizard qualified to counter necromancy, as this entire building is sheathed in a highly-illegal shroud of spirit energy.” The soldiers who’d been nodding at his logical sequence of orders paused, several of them blinking, at that. “Spirit energy is illegal because it’s souls,” he explained. “A large number of people were killed permanently, with no chance of rebirth or a heaven after death, to make it so prayers in this gaol went unheard. I don’t know whether the wizard you get will be able to free those souls to their proper destinations, but someone must at least try! And the shroud itself must be disposed of, because another of its effects is to allow anyone here to swear a false oath in any God’s name without retribution. In the meantime, though, make absolutely certain that these two skunks don’t leave the building, as you’re all now peripherally involved in a skirmish between several Gods, and they’re on the opposite side from that which our king has chosen. Allowing them to pray and warn their generals is not an option.”\n\n\tThe sergeant of the day watch held out his hand, “I’ve been on this force for a year longer than my night-time counterpart, so you’d better test me first if I’m about to take over the whole troop...”\n\n \tThe Agent nodded, reaching out to clasp the offered hand, and smiled, “Gray and Godless, Captain, and congratulations on your promotion. I could wish my companion didn’t have to die to accomplish it, but rooting out this sort of corruption and putting good men in its place is always for the better in the long run, and the long-term good of the kingdom is every Agent’s primary mission. Now... to be all self-centered and greedy for a moment, could someone please let me out of this collar and get me a pair of pants?!?”\n\n\tThe newly-made officer laughed and saluted, “Yes, sir!”\n\n* * *\n\n\tFerrl finished verifying the last of the guards, some of the day shift having relieved their evening counterparts long enough to send them to the station to ‘check in,’ not warning them that they were about to be tested... No more of Sliisthar’s flock were to be found, though one recently-hired private was relieved of his duties as soon as he came into view, and the new captain remarked that discovering that follower of Karnaal on the force did much to explain several thefts that had occurred recently. “I’ll want to search the residences of the former magistrate and captain, as well as that thieving private, before I leave town,” he mused as he padded out of the building’s front office. “It’s almost certain that they were using their official positions to line their pockets in some way, and if I can find their ill-gotten gains, I’ll be splitting them between the town treasury and my mission funds. I’m anticipating a need for a lot of money, which is why I’m carrying that goldsmith’s draft, but I’d rather these criminals supplied it than the king if I can arrange it.”\n\n\tThe captain nodded, “Yes, sir.”\n\n \tGazing up and down the dimly-lit street, the larger wolf mused, “My daughter has forgiven you for hitting her, as it was part of the ruse that got her in to see me, carrying a tiny sliver from a weapon blessed by my Goddess through the spirit-shroud here... That, for the record, is how the items of mine the old captain deliberately erased got their enchantments back. Their plan was very nearly perfect, foiled only by the bravery of a child... That aside, though, neither she nor I has forgiven him for touching her the way he did, so come morning I’m going to keep my promise to let her take his life. I hope that won’t be a problem...”\n\n \tThe soldier shook his head, “Sir... that man took an oath to uphold the law, even at the cost of his own life. The way I see it, dying will be the first time he’s actually kept that promise. He’d always struck me as just a little bit false; nothing overt, but I wasn’t particularly surprised when you exposed his religious leanings. Him and his brother both, you can have ‘em, and the town’ll be better off for it.”\n\n\t“Good man,” the Agent chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. He froze, then, sniffing at the night breeze, and turned around with a broad grin just in time to see a figure two buildings away break away from its militia escort and run toward him. “Danara!” he crowed as he grabbed her up and swung her bodily around.\n\n\tHis wife was laughing and crying at the same time as she held him fiercely, “Oh... it’s so good to see you safe! I guess the splinter idea worked...”\n\n\tFerrl blinked, then kissed his mate firmly on the lips before setting her down with a grin, “That was your idea? Yes, it did, and very well! What I was told of your subterfuge to keep from being imprisoned alongside me was also very good; you, my love, think very well on your feet, and I’m both proud of and grateful to you.”\n\n\tBlushing faintly, Danara held up her left hand to gaze at the gold around her finger, “The hardest part of that story I made up was taking off the ring you made... A week and a half ago, I may not have known you existed, but now the thought of losing you is more than I can bear.”\n\n\tThe former sergeant still standing nearby raised a brow, “Eh, what’s all this then?”\n\n\tFerrl slipped an arm around his bitch to keep her warmly close as he turned around with a grin, “I know how odd this must sound... She barely knows me, but now we’re married; we’re deeply in love, yet she managed to put on a convincing show of hatred on literally no notice... Well, no one ever said an Agent’s life was simple. Is it really all that surprising, when you think about it, that the wife of someone like me is also a bit on the extraordinary side?”\n\n\tThe older wolf shook his head, “Not really... Indeed, now that I’ve thought about it, all I can really do is envy you. With a wife that beautiful and resourceful, you’re a lucky man.”\n\n \t“Don’t get too jealous,” his junior advised with another smile, “as it’s not easy to win this sort of lady. The very first time we met, she slit my throat without even hesitating, and that’s probably what got me interested enough to pursue marriage with her in the first place. If you ever meet someone similar, you might not survive the experience.”\n\n \tDanara giggled wickedly, “Oh, I’m tame enough now... but only because I found a man who can handle me. I’m not sure anyone but an Agent could have ever qualified...”\n\n \tHer husband nodded, giving her another squeeze as he gestured toward the building, “C’mon, dear, let’s go pry Ela out of the armory and go have supper. I really need it, after the way that spellbreaker cost me my lunch.”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“Tell the smith to boil that lump I gave him for at least an hour,” Ferrl instructed the militia captain as he loaded the last of his clothes and supplies into his saddlebags beneath the noon sun. “There are actually two alchemical processes that can be used to make fake platinum, and those coins I found under the magistrate’s bed were produced with the cheaper one, so they’re toxic to handle for too long. Once the poisons have burned off, though, it’ll be perfectly good lead, and I’m sure he can find something to make out of it.”\n\n\tThe uniformed wolf nodded, “And what of the body of your companion? We’re a little light on messengers at the moment, after the others you had us send off, but if she’s got a family to notify we can probably manage something.”\n\n\tThe Agent shrugged, “Cremate her, and don’t worry about the rest... It’d take a lot of explaining, and touch on subjects that are meant to be kept secret even from some Gods, but... to be honest, she was never actually alive. Dispose of the corpse however is most convenient to you, as it’s just meaningless meat. Meanwhile... do you have any idea what the mayor plans to do with his half of the money I found? There was a lot more than even I expected, since I hadn’t even considered the possibility that those skunks were helping to smuggle dream-smoke and happy-dust along this highway...”\n\n\t“I think he’s got an idea or two,” the captain mused, “and I’ll offer a few suggestions if he doesn’t follow the route I’ve been contemplating... It’ll be put to two uses, I think. At the moment, most of Foxwood’s livelihood depends on the commerce of travelers passing through, but I believe we could do better than that. I’m hoping to see a couple of farms set up on the former forest-land first, then there’s the hills to the east where hints of tin ore have been found but never explored. The farms will support the additional population if mining works out, or we can always just sell the excess if it doesn’t.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “Good man; you seem to have a clear idea of how to make a town grow and prosper, so you might want to consider running for mayor yourself some day.”\n\n \tThe older wolf shook his head with a grin, “Nah, I’m not that good an administrator... Most of my family is involved in horse breeding, actually, and a good mine needs mules in the shafts and draft horses outside, and even my gifts are sufficient to realize that an extra farm or two would also be needed to support that sort of operation. I’m just looking out for my own in this world, as all men do, and this time it happens to have the potential to benefit others as well.”\n\n\tNodding again, the Agent gathered up Cherrah’s, Red’s, and Arby’s reins and led them out of the stable, the guardsman following along as he walked toward the north gate. “Any word on what Ela finally decided on?” Ferrl asked.\n\n\tThe other wolf shook his head, “No... Neither she nor Private L—that is, Sergeant Lanson would tell me what they worked out after searching the armory... but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. There, you can already see the traitor’s big tail from here, behind the stocks... but why are his feet on that box?”\n\n\tAnother crate had been set out behind the first, smaller one and, as they drew nearer, Ferrl could see his daughter climbing onto it, dragging a long, slender spear along with her. “Oh ho...” he chuckled. “I think... that for his shoving something unwelcome up her ass, she intends to return the favor. With interest.”\n\n \tThe captain winced, “She really is a little bitch, isn’t she? I don’t think I want to watch this... Good luck on your journey and your mission, sir, but I’ll be heading back to the guardhouse now.”\n\n\tA fair-sized crowd had shown up to watch the spectacle, so the wolf paused at its edge, holding the three horses... Danara was there too, as she’d demanded a role of her own in return for the unpleasantness of the previous day, and she started things off by grabbing the disgraced officer’s tail in one hand, one of her daggers in the other, and sawing it off at the base, relishing the screams of its owner. A local sheep herder stood nearby, and he accepted the bundle of fluff that she handed him, the shears in his other hand immediately setting about cutting off all that soft fur to stuff into a bag for her, even as she used her knife to split the seams of the sobbing skunk’s breeches, just beneath the special belt Ferrl’d made for him before letting him out in public. It was, by far, not his best magical work, as he had no experience in manipulating spirit-energy, but he’d managed to siphon off some of what surrounded the gaol to form a crude dome centered on the belt’s agate buckle, preventing its wearer from praying effectively. The man’s brother might, actually, be managing to inform Sliisthar of recent events, in person, but Ferrl didn’t know enough about the afterlife to even guess at how much interest a God would take in a newly-deceased worshiper’s spirit. Just before the stroke of midnight, the magistrate had asked for, and been granted, a knife with which to take his own life; it was only his lesser involvement in the plot that spared him from sharing his brother’s unfolding fate...\n\n \tThe two boxes Ela had requested put her chest, her victim’s hindside, and the head-hole of the stocks all on the same level, and she strained a bit to lift the eight-foot hardwood shaft of her borrowed spear. It’s sharp, leaf-shaped point elicited several yelps, echoed by laughs from the audience, as she probed for her target, a horrified shriek punctuating her finally finding it, and she gave the weapon a shove with a vicious grin. “Let’s see how you likes it!” she growled, firming her grip now that the far end’s weight was taken up by the soldier’s bleeding anus, and she braced her feet firmly on the rough crate that supported her. Between her size and the angles involved, each shove nearly tipped her box over as it sank the weapon another couple of inches deeper, and after the first foot she had to start pausing to catch her breath every other thrust. The skunk was screaming continuously as he was slowly impaled, even as the vixen thrust once more, a mark she’d drawn on the shaft finally reaching his bloody ass, and she stopped, letting go and climbing down. “That’s all, folks,” she growled happily. “Th’blade’s jus’ an inch ‘r so short of ‘is heart, an’ that’s enough fer me!”\n\n\tA guardsman was shaking his head as he stepped into the booth to one side of the gate and retrieved a crossbow. “Sorry, kid,” he commented, “but as much as he deserved it, we don’t go for torture in this town. He’s suffered enough.”\n\n\tThe barely-conscious convict’s eyes fluttered open as he felt the point of the bolt touch his forehead, and he managed an agony-wracked, “Th-thank you...” before his former subordinate nodded grimly and squeezed the trigger.\n\n\tEla pouted a bit, but sighed and nodded as she and Danara rejoined their wolf.\n\n \t“Mount up, ladies, and let’s get going... We’ve lost exactly one day, so let’s not waste any more of this one.” He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath at the way the crowd cleared their path to the gate. They’d heard of how the wolf had brought down the corrupt officials, but it was his women they were afraid of after that gruesome little show. As the murmurs of that audience faded behind them, he glanced over and asked his wife, “What are your plans for that guy’s fur?”\n\n\tDanara chuckled wickedly, “Oh, nothing too elaborate... That tail of his was just so big and plush, I thought I’d use it as stuffing for a nice, soft pillow.” Frowning slightly, then, she gestured at Red’s empty saddle and asked, “What happened to Malia? She’s a Goddess, of course, so nothing is likely to inconvenience Her for long... but I thought Her mortal incarnation was supposed to be with us for the whole trip.”\n\n \tSighing, Ferrl shook his head, “I’m not entirely sure... but several details have suggested that the Gods on the other side are getting very watchful. My guess is that She couldn’t exercise the power necessary to make another body without drawing more attention than She wanted. I’m half-afraid to even pray to Kathalla to ask about the subject, if things are that bad...”\n\n\tEla piped up from her seat in front of her mother, “Kathy says you’re right t’be that discreet... but she can still talk to me through my knife without anyone noticin’. Malia’s got another body, she says, but She had t’make it a long way away, an’ it’ll join us as soon as it can ride th’distance on normal horses.”\n\n \tNodding, the Agent considered for a moment, then noted, “In case either of you are curious, our half of the money I found while searching those homes this morning added up to about fifty gold nobles... and ten platinum, not counting the fake coins I gave to the smith to destroy.” Two pairs of eyes widened at the total, and he grinned, “When we reach the seat of Rajai, don’t either of you worry about the price of anything we shop for! We’ve got four or five pounds of gold in disposable assets, and that draft if we need more.”\n\nChapter 14\n\n\tBlinking awake at the twitter of birdsong, Ferrl took a long moment to indulge in a full-body stretch, then took his bearings. The novelty of almost never waking up in the same bed two days in a row was starting to wear on him, and he was looking forward to a chance to return home at a more leisurely pace once his mission was complete... and, more than returning for its own sake, sharing that home with his bride, he admitted to himself as he leaned close to lap at a nipple peeking out from beneath the sheet that covered her slumbering form. Her left ear twitched at the touch, and she murmured something in her sleep. Restraining a grin enough that he could still use the rest of his muzzle, he gently took that nubbin between two teeth and squeezed, lapping at its textured flesh in slow, patient strokes...\n\n\t“Mmmf?” Blinking sleep away herself, Danara’s eyes flicked wildly around for a moment before meeting his gaze, and she smiled, “Well, good morning you big lecher... Ravishing all the maidens of the village by the morning light, are we?”\n\n\tFerrl let go of her nipple to plant one last, firmer stroke of his tongue against her soft breast, then shook his head, “Nay, lass, just the one, and no maiden she... I’ve heard the ballad you’re quoting, and if the two of us even remotely resemble that couple, then the bards left a whole lot out of the story!” The song in question was among the more risqué that were still considered fit for ‘polite’ society, its hints and innuendo a far cry from their lovemaking the night before, where three of Ela’s slim fingers had been up her ass while he’d licked her to several peaks. He brushed the sheet down her chest to give her other breast a friendly squeeze on the way to reaching across her and shaking the young vixen’s shoulder, “Wake up, dear; it’s time for our last long ride before the city of Rajai, and we’ve got a special treat for breakfast, too!”\n\n\t“Mmmf,” the cub unintentionally echoed her mother as she opened her eyes and smacked her lips. Still blinking, she asked, “Who’re we eatin’?”\n\n\tThe wolf just shook his head as he sat up on his side of the bed and reached for the knapsack with his clothes for the day, “Nothing like that this time, sorry... but it’s the right time of summer for blackberries to be ripe, so I bribed the cook to have some tarts and cream ready for us this morning.”\n\n\tAs perverse as some of her other habits may have been, Ela was still just another little girl where sweets were concerned, and he had to catch the tip of her tail to keep her from dashing out naked to see if the treats were ready yet. They were all a bit berry-stained by the time they got back on the road, that morning.\n\n\tOver the last four and a half days, as they’d traveled, Ferrl had been filling the empty hours between towns and cities with tales of his life and education, combining passing along some of the benefits of his lessons from highly-paid tutors with a better understanding of his role and duties as an Agent, in the hopes that if Danara ever again found herself on her own like she had after his arrest she’d have a firmer foundation from which to improvise. She’d done very well that time, and he made sure she knew it, but he knew himself that she was in a very similar position to the one he’d been in upon first arriving in Drachath, thrust into a life which very little of her previous experience could prepare her to competently deal with.\n\n\tAs they paused by a fast-running stream for a lunch of biscuits with baked-in mutton and cold blackberry tarts, the younger wolf asked, “I’m starting to understand just what your job entails, as much as anyone can as even you don’t know until you get your actual orders... but I can’t figure out why you, an Agent, are doing this. Or even what you’re supposed to do. What do stolen unicorns have to do with the kingdom as a whole?”\n\n \t“Very little, on the surface,” Ferrl replied, “and I spent some time meditating on my purpose and duties myself, toward the beginning of this journey... There are two basic factors here, and I’ll cover the more ephemeral first as it’s simpler. Of the three dark deities in the pantheon, Kathalla’s the only one who makes any effort at all to get along with Her light-side counterparts, and if She succeeds in helping Malia in a significant way, there may be something along the lines of owed favors that will benefit all of Her worshipers, and since this kingdom’s the only one whose rulers openly worship a dark power, that may be significant. We don’t go out of our way to advertise Burtak’s leanings, but I’m certain they’re no secret to the rulers of other nations.\n\n \t“Related to that, we have the second reason, and that’s just a basic matter of military security. We’ve had more border skirmishes and small wars than most nations, most often because of our crown’s service to Kathalla. Our bordering towns and cities have to maintain fairly significant fighting forces for that reason, and even here toward the inner kingdom we have more soldiers than you’d find in other nations. Foxwood, for example, wouldn’t maintain a standing militia at its size in any other country; they’d have two or three constables, perhaps, but if they needed more than that they’d have to send word to the nearest army garrison. Unicorn Vale, however, is one border, small as it may be, where we’ve never had to worry about invasion, and not having to defend it has saved a lot of money and manpower over the years. If events have even a slight chance of changing that, we have to know about it as soon as possible, to make sure adequate defenses are in place before they’re actually needed.” He mock-panted for a moment after that speech, just to lighten things with a few giggles from the ladies, before renewing his assault on his lunch.\n\n\t“I suppose the gist of why I’m here,” he mused after washing down another bite of biscuit with clean water from the stream, “is to assess the situation. Something has changed; it doesn’t really matter what, but, whatever it is, it needs to be examined so we, and by ‘we’ I mean the king and his government as a whole, can adjust policies, borders, military dispositions, or anything else in response, if needed.”\n\n \tDanara spared a longing glance at the tart she’d set aside for dessert, but took a bite of her biscuit instead, figuring that as a married woman, now, she should try to show some semblance of adult self-control. “That doesn’t match up much with Malia’s reasons for this mission,” she noted after swallowing. “You’re also trying to stop the continuing theft of the Vale’s residents, and I can’t think of anything that has to do with the kingdom’s security.”\n\n \tHer husband shrugged, smiling, “You’re right, and it doesn’t, beyond the possible benefits of my and the king’s Goddess having better relations with Malia in return for helping... The kingdom’s security is, and always will be, my primary goal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do other things along the way, just because they’re good and right. There is a reason there that’s directly related to the kingdom and its laws, though it’s technically more under the jurisdiction of constables and magistrates than that of an Agent: slavers who capture and enslave free individuals have no place in this country. The vast majority of slaves are born and bred that way, and the circumstances under which anyone else can be enslaved are clearly defined under the law, but raiding across a border into a land not covered by those laws is no way to get around the existing rules. Still and all, no matter how officially accurate what I just said was, I want to stop this just because I feel it’s the right thing to do. I’ve never met a unicorn, but I’ve heard a few legends, and I dislike the concept of those tales being... fouled, by the reality of a helpless victim’s subjugation.”\n\n\t“In other words,” the bitch concluded with a toothy grin, “you’re just a big softy at heart.”\n\n\tFerrl snickered, “At heart, maybe... but, as you know, I can be quite a bit firmer, lower down,” and he winked.\n\n\tDanara reached over to hug an arm around Ela’s shoulders, a hint of blush showing at her eartips as she grinned, “For which, I assure you, we’re both profoundly appreciative.”\n\n* * *\n\n\tThe Agent made a mental comparison between the sight of Rajai and that of Fariach, from the perspective of nearby hills he’d seen the whole of both cities from, and decided that only the sea-side docks and warehouses made the capitol bigger. In terms of land-based population and commerce, this seat of a duchy that bordered two other kingdoms (three, if one counted the Vale), and also had easy access to the Inland Sea for transporting goods by ship, was just a bit larger than the city that was supposed to lead the nation. From that same hill, he’d gotten a good look at the center of town, and the palace and temples there looked to be at least as large and ornate as Fariach could boast... Having grown accustomed to the variety of shopping and entertainment available back home, and particularly after this long journey, he was very much looking forward to whatever time he could justify spending here.\n\n\tThey’d made good enough speed, that day, that neither supper nor gate-closure were particularly pressing of issues, so Ferrl decided to make his way around the outer walls and the clusters of crude houses and outlying businesses that surrounded the town, stabling the horses not far from the north gate and carrying everything except his greatswords into the city proper on foot. “I think we’re going to be here a few days,” he explained to his wife and daughter as they navigated the bustling crowds of a main thoroughfare, “and possibly moving around a bit... Stables by inns tend to only have enough room for their own customers’ beasts, and neither space nor staff to exercise those horses; I kept Cherrah at a similar business just outside of Fariach, as it’s generally the best for anything but overnight stops.”\n\n \tDanara quirked a brow, “And why are we sticking around for any length of time?”\n\n\tHer husband chuckled, “To investigate, of course. What time we’re not shopping will mostly be spent listening in various inns and taverns... and, toward that end, we’ll take supper at one of our usual, mid-range places, then spend the night at another after a few drinks in their common room. Tomorrow, we’ll shop, and then move into a fancier inn... If there’s any rumor to be had concerning... the missing people we’re looking for, whom I just realized we probably shouldn’t blatantly ask about, it’s likely to be among the wealthier end of the populace and the establishments which cater to them, but I don’t want to completely ignore the humbler folk and their gathering-places either.”\n\n\tThe bitch nodded, mindful of her head and the vixen straddling it to keep from being trod upon on the busy street, “Alright, though I’ll warn you I have no head for strong drink. Two glasses of wine and I can barely walk.”\n\n\t“Not a problem,” Ferrl shrugged. “I can put a serious dent in a barrel and stay standing if I need to, so you just sip whatever you’re having, and occasionally I’ll switch my glass or tankard with yours. That’s a trick normally used for business negotiations, to get the other guy drunk while keeping your own wits clear, but it’ll work here too.”\n\n\tDanara laughed, “Sneaky...” while their daughter giggled above her.\n\n \tThe Agent grinned, “I do occasionally try... Oh, while I’m thinking about it, keep an eye out for storage shops. Moving around so much, and with plans to shop for more stuff anyway, we should stash most of our clothes, my armor, and... no, let’s not store the food. We’ll keep it for now, and give it to a temple to pass along to the poor tomorrow; we’ll get better-quality rations before we leave, on the principle of making sure all details of our roles and disguises match.”\n\n* * *\n\n \tFerrl had been looking forward to lighter crowds, given the temples’ proximity to the ducal palace and the upper-class neighborhoods immediately adjacent to it, but the time he’d been spending on the road lately had left him a bit out of touch from the cycles of cities... It was a restday, and the religious center of a city this size was packed. It was with fairly great relief, as he navigated the throng around the temple of Shattrathin, that he noticed a useful side-effect of its sheer size: though worshipers and the like all used the main entrance, there was another on one side specifically for receiving donations of various sorts. He looked around for another moment to spot Danara and Ela, as they’d gotten separated a bit, and pointed at the relatively-unpopulated dark temples. He thumbed his own chest then, holding up the bag he carried, and pointed again at the donation line... His wife nodded, seeming to understand, and she carried Ela out of the tumult to wait for him.\n\n\tThe line of those more interested in expressing their generosity than hearing sermons about it moved along at a fairly brisk pace; there were two groups of priests and temple functionaries, one accepting the offerings and the other, apparently, present for the specific purpose of talking to anyone who wished to discuss their gifts or some other matter, letting those who wanted only to drop something off and be done with it leave freely. Ferrl’s only previous experience with those affiliated with the God of Generosity had been his lessons at the Yelane branch of their temples as a cub, and he’d thanked them for their tutoring then, so he decided there wasn’t any reason to stick around this time. “Travel rations my companions and I no longer require,” he told the lady acolyte who greeted him at the end of the line, “still reasonably fresh, to feed whoever needs them.”\n\n\tThe white-robed canid blinked with a faint frown as she accepted the bag, “We don’t often get gifts from those with a soul like yours... but we thank you anyway.”\n\n\t“I can understand that,” the Agent chuckled, “but what I do for fun or worship doesn’t mean I’m not basically a nice guy. Good restday to you, ma’am.” He turned to start working his way across the street through the crowd, which was finally thinning somewhat as the time for services drew near, and chuckled to himself; if the way that girl had held the bag as she carried it inside were any indication, she’d probably be checking the contents for poisons out of sheer nervousness.\n\n\tDanara moved a bit to intercept him where the traffic finally let him through, that point and his initial target having diverged somewhat over the width of the broad avenue, and spoke as he neared, “Ela was asking if we could attend services, since we’re right in front of your Goddess’ temple anyway... and that got me thinking about how many other people are doing that sort of thing right now. If we tried shopping instead, some of the stores we want would be closed until their owners get back from church, so we might as well.”\n\n\tHer mate nodded, “That sounds logical enough... Let’s go inside.” The bustling noise of the thinning, but still-significant crowds vanished with unnatural suddenness as the threesome stepped under the polished fangs of Kathalla’s front door, and he blinked, murmuring, “This may be more than just a sermon, if they’ve taken steps to muffle screams... Come on, let’s find the chapel; this could be fun...”\n\n* * *\n\n\t“... and this, too, is power, coming as it may from within and invisible to all but yourself, for, once again, the reality of power is not dependent on the perceptions of others if your own wisdom can recognize its truth. Follow the path of the Fanged One faithfully, and all that She promises is yours, yet worry not of unbelievers who call those things hollow, for they know Her not. Praise Her.”\n\n\t“Praise Her,” the small congregation echoed in unison, and as the priest’s bowed head rose again, the local Kathallics stood, stretched, and started filing out of the dimly-lit sanctuary. Ferrl rose as well, offering a hand each to his wife and daughter with a smile, only to be interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.\n\n\t“I’ll need a word with you before you leave,” the black-robed lion noted. The corners of his muzzle twitched in amusement, “I very nearly stumbled over the part of my sermon about the difference between shallow politics and a genuine cause, because She chose that moment to amend the rather simple plans I had for this restday before you three showed up.”\n\n\tDanara frowned slightly as she stood, releasing her mate’s hand to instead take Ela’s small paw in her own, and noted, “I hope it’s not about me... I know I technically don’t follow Her, but She told me Herself that that wouldn’t be a problem.”\n\n \tThe priest shook his head, smiling, “And She told me that you’d probably say something like that... No, you’re welcome enough here, as I know you’ll be among our brethren eventually, while even the true Godless are welcome on any day but a Solstice or Equinox celebratory sacrifice, and the summer holiday was just last week so it’d be a while before that could possibly be an issue.” More seriously, and to her husband, he said, “I was mainly asked to relay two messages... The first one is this: get your necessary work done quickly, and forget about the short vacation you were planning here.”\n\n \tFerrl snapped the fingers of the hand he hadn’t laid comfortingly on his bitch’s shoulder, “Damn... I like big cities like this one, and I’d been looking forward to spending time here... but if that’s not an option, well, that’s just the way things go. Judging by how many folks were just here, this city’s probably got a decent playclub, and I’d hoped to have a spare night for some fun there... We’ll live. Duty before pleasure, and all that... What was the other one?”\n\n\tThe lion frowned a bit, “She says that, right after this service, you need to visit the black cat’s house... I have no idea what She means, by that, though She assures me you will.”\n\n\t“Ah... yes, I do,” his guest nodded. “The fact that She phrased it that way, though, implies that the mystery is meant to remain, so I’m afraid I can’t explain it to you.”\n\n \tHis black cowl shifting with the bulk of his mane as he shook his head, the lion sighed, “I never thought the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’ was meant to apply to my noble breed... but I’m starting to understand it a bit better now. I guess I can live with this little mystery if I have to.”\n\n \tFerrl chuckled, patting the clergyman on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it... Just go about your duties, which you do very well, and consider that a life well lived. This is the first time I’ve attended one of our Goddess’ official services, I should note, and I had no idea what to expect... but your sermon was both entertaining and thought-provoking. I hadn’t realized that there were so many kinds of power, nor that those that are normally considered blatant could still be exercised subtly, and I’ll do my best to take your advice to heart should I see a situation in which it can apply. I definitely agree with your theme that confidence in one’s power means more than its visible display.”\n\n\tThe priest smiled back, “I’m disappointed, now, that you’ll have to leave so soon... Any devout Kathallic can, as I’m sure you know, see the basic light or darkness on another’s soul, but a high priest such as myself can also perceive additional depths, and I can see that you have a great deal of many of the forms of power of which I spoke. I’d very much like, should the opportunity arise, to discuss the topic of my sermon with you in more detail.”\n\n \tThe wolf nodded, “Well then... one of the things I’m pretty sure I can tell you is that the mission Kathalla’s urging me to expedite is very near its end, with any luck, and I shouldn’t be nearly so rushed once it’s over, so I’d be happy to come and discuss the practical philosophy of the many definitions of ‘power’ with you on my way back.”\n\n\tThe other man’s eyes gleamed in intellectual anticipation, and he nodded back, “Go with Her, and may your duties be discharged well and swiftly; I look forward to your return.” Half-grinning then, he added, “If you’ll excuse me for now, though, I’ve got a mouse tied up in my chambers whom I need to introduce to his afterlife as messily as I can.”\n\n\tEchoed by giggles from both of his ladies, the Agent chuckled, nodding, “Have fun!” before turning and leading them through the curtained archway that led back to the street.\n\n\t“We’re goin’ to Malia’s place, right?” Ela asked as she followed the wolves along the cobblestones. The various religions represented along the boulevard each had different average lengths for their services, so the traffic was much lighter as their congregations departed piecemeal rather than en masse.\n\n\tFerrl nodded, “That’s what Kathy’s message was about, yes; I certainly can’t think of any other black cats we’ve had anything to do with.”\n\n\tOne of the two figures on the marble steps of Malia’s temple, where the trickle of people on their way out suggested that services had ended already and only the stragglers with business there remained, was indeed a black feline, but clearly not the Goddess or Her mortal incarnation as he and his companion gazed up and down the street. The man in the leather-reinforced priest’s robe that could probably double as light armor was clearly, as they neared enough to make out more detail, a panther rather than the domestic cat most depictions of his Goddess entailed, and just as obviously waiting for someone. His ears perked up as he spotted them, and he murmured something to the rabbit at his side, both of them padding down the steps to better greet the trio.\n\n \t“Well met,” the priest began, his tone a bit amused. “I can see now why I was told to look for the largest blackness I’d ever seen... You are a big one, aren’t you?”\n\n\tFerrl’s muzzle twitched as he bowed, “I believe I’ve been told something of the sort, yes... You’re obviously here to meet me, and just as obviously the one I was sent to meet, but the message of my own Goddess that brought me here was a bit light on details. Was yours, as I’m hoping, any more forthcoming?”\n\n\tThe panther shook his head, “Not very... This is, I should note, very typical of the way the Gods guide us; They want neither slaves nor automatons, but if something’s important enough that They have a distinct interest in its outcome, They know exactly when, where, and how to give the single ‘nudge’ that will usually result in the outcome They seek, if we mortals can figure out what to do with it and then do our resulting duty right.” He lifted a hand to squeeze the shoulder of his companion, “Anyway... allow me to introduce the newest member of your traveling group. This is Dame Julara, a Maliite knight, the champion of this temple’s warriors, and a senior priestess of Malia.”\n\n\tThe fawn-and-white bunny blinked, turning to her superior with a surprised expression, “Priestess? But I’m—”\n\n \t“Receiving a promotion,” the cat finished for her with a grin. He fished a slender gold chain from a pocket of his robe, sporting for a pendant the face of Malia carved in loving detail from silver, and lifted her hand to drop it in, both of his closing around it, “You’d have finished your novitiate within another two or three weeks anyway... but if you carry out this service as our lady requests, you will more than earn your new status. Before you argue about the rank of acolyte that stands between novices and priests, remember that you’re also the champion. Exceptions to the usual rules can always be made in cases of unusual talent, and you have exactly that.”\n\n\tJulara nodded solemnly, “I don’t know anything about ‘talent,’ but I do know about practice and hard work... and upon those I claim my status. Now,” and she jerked a thumb at the knapsack on her back, “what’s the story behind this journey you had me pack for with no warning?”\n\n \tSmiling faintly at her phrasing, her superior replied, “The story is that you, no priestess or even novice but just another follower of our lady, have been independently hired as a mercenary bodyguard for this wealthy collector of the exotic, on his way north to attempt the purchase of a very special slave.”\n\n\tThe rabbit blinked, her muzzle working around a slight frown as she thought her way through that, then shrugged, “There’d better be a lot more to it than that... but, for public consumption, I think I can act well enough to pass in that role.”\n\n\tNodding, the priest released her hand and gestured toward the travelers, “There is more, but a public street is not the place to be discussing it. Join this fine family, and I’m sure they’ll explain everything you need to know when it’s safe and prudent to do so.”\n\n \tFerrl looked the rabbit over, considering... She was tall for a woman and, without a doubt, the strongest-looking bunny he’d ever seen, though the rounded bulk of hard muscle shifting beneath her skin also managed to look graceful and feminine. She also, somehow, had attained that strength while still keeping a fairly respectable bosom, the thick but flexible leather of her armor doing little to hide a very attractive set of curves. Even without the setting in which they’d met, he’d have dubbed her a follower of Malia at a glance as her weaponry was so diverse; a light battle-axe’s haft was cradled by loops affixed to her armor across her back, a longsword at her left hip was balanced by three daggers on the right, and a fan-shaped array of throwing knives was sheathed against her belly. A common fighter with no religious attachment to any particular philosophy, or a follower of Tarragh, would have focused on a less varied armament so they could master the specific weapon they’d chosen, while a true Maliite put less emphasis on the weapons themselves and more on their own body, developing the agility, coordination, and discipline to use whatever was available to good effect. All of her arms appeared to be well-made, though not particularly fancy.\n\n \t“Acting aside,” he noted as he finished his evaluating glance, “we were just about to go shopping for finery, and we’ll get one or two things for you while we’re at it. You look competent, as you are,” and he quirked half a grin at her raised brow, “but we also need you to look just a tad prosperous. A mercenary knight who can afford even a little decoration, a bauble or two with utterly no useful contribution to combat, is obviously doing fairly well... and they wouldn’t be, if they didn’t have skills the wise should be wary of. While it won’t mean much to those who don’t think things through, or are specifically after us regardless, a bit of jewelry or the like can actually prevent fights in some cases.”\n\n\tThe rabbit gave a grudging nod, “As much as I enjoy testing my prowess against others... a fight avoided with honor is at least as important as a battle won. Your proposal is acceptable.”\n\n\tAs the priest gave the group one more nod and started padding back up the marble steps, Ferrl gestured expansively along the street leading to the upper-class commercial district of the city, “Then let’s be on our way... Though avoiding real fights may be one of the motivations for our preparations, I’ll happily spar with you when we can do so discreetly to keep you from getting bored in your role, as it would ruin my image as a wealthy but basically useless fop if you’re as good as I think you are and we were observed. If you enjoy a challenge, though, we really should find some place to try it; you may just be surprised...”\n\n \tJulara took a moment before following along, blinking, “Am I correct in interpreting that to mean that you’re skilled enough, yourself, to stand a chance of beating the champion of a large branch of a martial order?”\n\n\t“I must answer your question, I’m afraid, with one of my own... How good are you at controlling the visible signs of surprise, with sufficient advance warning? For the sake of avoiding unwanted attention, if you can’t keep your expression calm, just say so and we’ll go find a private room to explain things in...”\n\n\tThe rabbit’s features stiffened, “My face says only what I tell it to...” and she softened enough to smile faintly, “but, I’ll admit, only if I have a chance to issue the orders beforehand. Please, tell me just what the hell’s going on.”\n\n \tFerrl nodded, “One moment, first...” and his brow furled in concentration as he walked. A haze hanging in the air around his party, then, he continued, “There, that’s a spell to avoid passers-by overhearing us. To outline the basic situation, I am an Agent of Drachath, operating under orders from King Burtak, Kathalla, and Malia. My former sparring partners include the captain of the palace guard, a high priest of Tarragh,” and he slipped an arm around Danara’s shoulders, “which happens to be how I won my wife’s hand, as he was her father, and Malia Herself in mortal form. The captain had decades of practice, the priest was stronger than I am, and Malia of course a good deal faster... but in all of those contests, I was the victor, so if I seem excessively confident about being able to give you a good fight, it’s justified. Our mission, and the reason for the disguises we’re in the process of creating, is to investigate just how Malia’s spiritual border around Unicorn Vale has been breached, as not even She knows, but someone has been kidnapping Her chosen favorites. We only know where one of the missing unicorns is, nine having been kidnapped at last count, and that’s the ‘special slave’ I’m going to be trying to buy once we reach Chraf. Involvement of the God of Thieves has been confirmed several times, and His followers are also getting assistance from the God of Lies, plus the complication that one or both of those deities is watching very closely for divine interference... so your Goddess and mine have both been getting steadily more careful about things, and at this point we mortals are very much on our own. A message to Her high priest in a large city was within normal bounds for Malia, which is how the orders that got you promoted and assigned to this mission were relayed, I’m assuming, but from here to Chraf we’ll probably have to work without overt guidance, though in a pinch Kathalla has a means of communicating with my daughter here that probably won’t alert whatever spiritual sentries may be watching. We can’t be absolutely certain about that, though, so we must proceed on our own as far as possible before resorting to divine aid or even advice.”\n\n \tThe bunny’s face was downright wooden by the time he’d finished, and she nodded stiffly, “That’s... certainly all news to me, but I’ll tell you here and now that you’ve got my unconditional support and cooperation. Even if a dark Goddess is involved... anything that can be done to help the unicorns is nothing less than my sworn duty.”\n\n\tDanara noted at that point, a wicked little smile playing about her muzzle, “I hope you can still say that after spending a few nights in our company... We’re... not your typical family, in some respects, and by the look on her face my daughter here is already speculating as to what you do or don’t wear under that armor.”\n\n \t“Nothing,” the champion immediately replied with a smirk of her own, “but that general concept happens to be at the core of why I joined Malia’s priesthood and worked so hard on my fighting skills.” Any trace of amusement slid off her expression the next moment, “When I was twelve, I had... an unpleasant experience, and I swore that day that never again would I be taken without my willing consent... I have never broken that oath, though more than one man has died in its keeping.”\n\n \tAll three of her companions nodded, Ferrl commenting, “I want you to know that I respect and admire that sort of determination. Ela? I know she looks tasty, but I expect you to honor her wishes on this whole subject; if you want to do anything, ask first.” Glancing at his newest companion, he smiled gently, “To expand on my wife’s warning, I think she just wanted you to know that traveling with us may, occasionally, cost you a bit of sleep, as we’re a very... affectionate trio, and it can get a little loud sometimes. Our daughter, I should note, was adopted after being bought as a pleasure slave then freed, so don’t be too surprised at her participation. Young or not, she’s... a vixen, and that pretty much sums it up all around.”\n\n \tJulara chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind. I may not generally like the reputation her kind and mine share, as it was probably involved in my being raped that one time, but I understand that it does have some basis in fact.” Her long ears dipped, then, a bit red at the tips, “To be equally honest, I’m not that far from being a stereotypical bunny, myself... so long as I get to choose who I be that way with. After going through what I did, some women either abandon the concept entirely or come to think that that’s all they’re good for, but I, personally, refuse to let one brutish pig of a rapist ruin my entire life.”\n\n\tMore nods and smiles answered her, and Ela piped up, “Good fer you!”\n\n* * *\n\n\tSomehow, after several hours of browsing shop windows and a break for lunch at an open-air restaurant whose prices for one meal would have fed them for at least a week on simpler fare, they’d ended up buying absolutely nothing... then staggered into an inn just as the sun set under the burden of bags and bundles of clothes and accessories anyway. Just outside of the poshest neighborhoods, they’d found the city’s highest-quality second-hand shop, one that would actually pay for good things in still-usable condition (though only a fraction of their value, of course) rather than scavenging outright discards. Several nobles had ended up being spent there, and nearly as many found their way into the hands of a good tailor and his three assistants, two of whom had to be paid extra to come in during their day off.\n\n\tThe bulk of the custom work had, of course, been to adjust various doublets, blouses, and tunics to accommodate Ferrl’s broad chest and above-average height. Pants, hose, and breeches couldn’t be lengthened as conveniently, of course, so his new wardrobe was limited in that department to things they’d found that already fit, but even there a few things that had been meant for tall but portly builds had been adaptable to tall and muscular instead. The second-hand store’s jewelry section, of course, was looking a little light by the time they were done with it, and the Agent was confident he’d be able to put on a gaudy, sparkling display so long as no one got close enough to see that he wore far more garnets than rubies and most of his gold was plated rather than solid. He wasn’t worried about being ‘found out’ for having cheap accessories, though; his very status as a traveler, even with a good guard, gave him the excuse that he’d left the bulk of his better things behind since the chances of being robbed were so much higher outside of the security of his own home.\n\n\tDanara had used most of her shopping time trying, and failing, to find elegant, feminine clothing that she could ride astride a horse in, and they finally decided as a group to pick up a sidesaddle on the way out of town the next morning, so the flowing green satin gown that complimented her slim figure so well, enhanced in turn by the necklaces and bracelets of pearls and pierced agates, could still be traveled in.\n\n \tThe jewelry Julara had been promised was chosen, once she’d volunteered the idea, to make her look more than merely ‘prosperous.’ Though the selection left once Ferrl had been through it made things a little challenging, they were able to find enough bracelets, bangles, and chains with distinctly masculine casts to them to deck her out as one of the few, and socially unacceptable, women who exclusively preferred the company of their own gender. Though the sexes were more equal in Drachath than under many other kingdoms’ laws, it was still a male-dominated society at its heart, and while there were few legislative blocks in place against lesbianism, that didn’t mean society had to like it. Someone looking like she did once they were done shopping would have trouble finding a job or even a room at an inn in particularly conservative towns, but that very prejudice had been integrated usefully into their overall disguise; not only were openly anti-male ladies rare enough to be ‘exotic,’ and thus attractive to her employer’s supposed persona, but natural gratitude for her position would give her an excuse to be very protective, even intrusively so, if needed.\n\n\tOf all the party, though, little Ela underwent the greatest transformation in terms of contrast with her general appearance over the bulk of their journey. The solid-gold monogram from her old slave collar had been freed and set into a torque of pure silver, three wide bands weaving amongst each other in a sinuous braid, and for all of its coverage the rest of her outfit could fit into a more average, practical pocket. A square yard of translucent, gauzy lavender silk had been obtained, cut into squares and rectangles, and hemmed with satin thread of a darker purple, the sections joined at their corners by tiny gold clasps, resulting in a loose, billowing ensemble with plenty of gaps and no modesty to speak of, as her young charms could be seen right through the light, thin material. A belt of gold-plated discs stamped with bas relief vines and a pair of thin leather sandals completed the ensemble, and she looked every inch the exotic, expensive child pleasure-slave.\n\nChapter 15\n\n\tTheir new finery packed into equally-fancy new saddlebags, the Agent and his companions rode with the setting sun to their left as, far behind them, the boom of Rajai’s closing gates rolled past to echo off of hills to either side. “I know we’re all tired,” Ferrl told the rest, “but these next few days aren’t going to be any easier. We’ll proceed until full dark, then break east cross-country for at least an hour, and the start of that will have to be by moonlight until we’re far enough from the highway to keep from being seen. I’ll conjure a light at that point, but I’m convinced at this moment that we need to throw whatever observers the other side has off of our trail. Over the course of the fairly slow detour needed to approach Chraf from the east, I’ll have a chance to work on a magical disguise for myself, create or just restore the armor-enchantments for my ladies, and give all of our ‘travel finery’ a chance to actually look like it’s been traveled in.”\n\n\tDame Julara nodded, “Between the light and the armor, you’re obviously a wizard of some degree... Do the enemies you’re trying to deceive know this?”\n\n\tThe larger knight nodded back, “I believe they do, which is one reason I want to be out of sight for even so simple an energy-projection as a light for our path. I intend, however, to be fairly conspicuous about finding a freelance wizard and paying them to recharge whatever enchantments I make along the way. If my false persona were even a marginally-gifted mage, it would be far more economical to do that himself, and passive arcane senses cannot be conveniently detected by another; so as long as I don’t do anything more active, mere ownership of magic shouldn’t directly associate me with the wizard they’re circulating reports of, who was strong enough to fly a horse across a river.”\n\n\tBoth lapine brows rose at that, “I’ve received my share of instruction on how to fight mages, which naturally covered the various types and degrees of talent I might encounter, and even so terse a description as you just gave puts you in a category that I wouldn’t want to mess with without a lot of backup.”\n\n\tChuckling softly, Ferrl mused, “I won’t be using magic for anything but light, later tonight, when we find somewhere to set up camp and spar... which reminds me. Ela? You don’t need to guide a horse in the dark, so see if you can get at your mother’s left saddlebag... There’s a pouch of honeycakes in there; some of us will really need the energy, and the rest of us could always use a treat, so pass them around.”\n\n\tJulara grinned at the young vixen’s sudden industry, her body draped over Danara’s tightly-clasped legs as she worked at the bag’s buckle, all but drooling. Only the wolf’s hand at her shoulder, in fact, kept her from falling off, the side-saddle’s design somewhat less than optimal for that sort of contortion.\n\n \tThe Agent kept his eyes on the road, barely lit now by the last sliver of setting sun, and maintained his casual tone as he added, “And Julara... in your left saddlebag is something I’ve been meaning to give you...”\n\n\tBlinking, his newest companion opened Red’s bag and reached in, feeling around past folded clothes and small pouches, guessing that whatever he was talking about was something more significant... Her ears perked up as her fingers reported a long bundle, cloth wrapped around something much harder, and she worked it free. A simple smock that looked a size or two too small for her was wrapped around a pair of short swords, and she frowned slightly as she unrolled the garment, muttering, “I’ve already got all the weapons I need, and these are too short for swordplay and too big for knifework...”\n\n\t“Just... look at them,” her putative employer directed.\n\n \tHer curiosity returning, the knight felt along the scabbard, musing, “This is certainly some of the best leatherwork I’ve seen, I’ll give them that much,” then tucked one of the pair back into the saddlebag so she could use both hands to draw the other. Her eyes widened as she lifted the blade to look closer, “The balance on this... I could throw this sword! And this edge... It’s a bit sharper than average, but it’s barely nicked; it’s clearly been used but the metal’s stood up to parrying far better than it should...” She lifted her head to issue a look that brooked no nonsense, “What are these?”\n\n \tFerrl smiled, “They are Malia’s own swords, formed by Her thought and power when She manifested as a mortal to ride at my side. If they seem small to you, they’re definitely too light of weapons for me to use, so I just packed them up until I could find someone worthy of them... as I believe I have, now.”\n\n \tA grin returning to her whiskered muzzle, Julara glanced at the sky, “You know that sparring match you wanted? It’s almost dark enough for our turn-off; let’s make sure we cover enough distance for privacy, because I really want to try these out!” She thumped her heels against Red’s sides, the mare obligingly moving into a canter, and her companions laughed behind her as they followed suit.\n\n* * *\n\n\t\n\n\tFerrl winced as his wife’s fingers carefully probed the surface of his skull. “No blood,” she reported, “and the lump’s only a little bigger than the one left over from that stunner bolt.”\n\n\tHe nodded carefully, his vision still swirling just a bit, and rumbled in Julara’s direction, “It still counts as the third point, even if it wasn’t inflicted by an official weapon of yours; I know you could have landed a telling blow in the time that branch left me dazed. It was an amazing shot, too, throwing even a short sword with enough force and accuracy to cut through the limb like that.”\n\n\tThe rabbit giggled, nodding back, “You scored two points of your own, though, and in all honesty I have to admit that you would have beaten me if you hadn’t volunteered to fight with a handicap. Even with it, I’d have had a damned hard time scoring any points at all if I’d used just one sword.”\n\n \t“I’m just getting what little practice I can for my role,” the larger knight shrugged, “even though I hope I won’t need it. It’d take far more rehearsal than we have time for, to develop a fighting style that looks like an incompetent dabbler but still manages to deflect a skilled foe’s blade just before it can land. At least half a dozen times that I could count, I had to move just a bit more expertly than I really wanted to, to stop you. You’re damned good...”\n\n\tJulara nodded, “I know, but I’m also professional enough to admit that you’re better. I could count the people I’ve met who qualify for that compliment on one hand, including you, and the others were all high priests or priestesses.”\n\n\tNodding in return, Ferrl picked up the branch that had struck him and took a firm grip, his arms bulging as he broke off the last foot of the thicker end. “The angle of your cut makes this good for digging a privy trench,” he mused, “and there’s brush enough around the tree it came from to offer privacy behind it.”\n\n\tThe rabbit chuckled as she took the stick, “And as the victor in our little match, I claim first use of the ‘facilities’ as my prize.”\n\n\t“Just a minute!” a piping voice called from beyond the range of the hovering sphere that lit the clearing. A few moments and a crackling rustle of brush later, Ela emerged from the bushes carrying the sword that had been thrown to end the sparring match. Holding it up in both hands, she smiled, her voice a bit sheepish as she explained, “I was already out lookin’ for this... an’ I kinda wanted to catch a peek of you doin’ your business, but I figured Daddy’s ‘don’t touch’ meant with my eyes, too.”\n\n\tJulara nodded, smiling affectionately as she accepted and sheathed the offered blade, “Thank you, dear. That’s quite an admission, and astounding restraint, coming from a child with a vixen’s libido...”\n\n\tHer father commented, “Even more than you might think... Her condition of liquid climactic incontinence has given her more tolerance, and possibly fascination, with excretory functions than is anywhere near ‘normal.’ Ela, dear, I’m proud of you for your honesty and respect, right now.”\n\n\tThe other knight blinked as she traded her weapons in at her saddlebag for one of the small cloths used by travelers for hygiene and the pouch used ones were stuffed into until they could be cleaned, “Huh... Well, I’m not sure what to say about that,” and she winked at the cub, “but I’d been about to point out that I tend to sleep naked, so no sneaking was really needed to get a look at my... ‘goodies.’ I’ve never been ashamed of how I look, between the luck of what I was born with and the results of my martial training. In fact, I rather enjoy the chance to brighten someone’s life with a good view, so long as unwanted touches aren’t a factor.” Setting the rag and bag aside for a moment, she stood and reached for her armor’s clasps, unbuckling two on each side of her chest then reaching behind herself for the button over her tail, her torso armor’s halves and her skirt falling to the grass with quiet thumps. Smiling, she ran her fingers through the fur of her belly and breasts to fluff it back up after its confinement under her snug leathers, then back down again to smooth things out, “There, little one, a reward for your virtue... Like what you see?”\n\n\tEla nodded vigorously, then stopped with a slight ear-splay to wipe her chin on the back of one hand, “Sorry... Can’t help th’droolin’; you’re cute! Really strong, but nice boobs an’ cunny too.”\n\n\tJulara glanced over at the other two pairs of eyes that were fixed on her, then chuckled to the cub, “I think your parents both agree... Well, I’ll make a deal with you: set out my bedroll while I’m ‘doing my business,’ and you can cuddle with me in it tonight.” Leaving the vixen blinking at her sudden good fortune, the rabbit picked up the digging-stick and rags again then sauntered around the edge of the bushes in nothing but her boots, one last glance over her shoulder catching the gazes locked on her muscular rump and tossing a smirk back at them.\n\n\t“I think I’m going to regret our reaching a city,” Danara commented. “I rather like having her around socially, and that just won’t be possible when she’s playing the dutiful guard.”\n\n\tFerrl nodded as he packed Malia’s folded smock into the sash from one of his wife’s dresses, then tied it around his head at an angle that would pad the bump he’d just received so he could sleep painlessly. “She’s certainly nice to look at,” he agreed as he finished his work, then waited for another minute or so until the bunny under discussion reappeared. “Julara? I need to be sure of one thing... are you expecting only to cuddle, or is your offer open to additional intimacy? If you truly expect Ela to sleep chastely with your bare body, you see, that would actually be moderately cruel rather than the generous gift you might think...”\n\n\tThe knight’s ears dipped as she considered that, then she shrugged, “I hadn’t actually thought that far into it... With your earlier warning, I think I’d have to insist that she use the privy trench too, first, but upon reflection I find myself... agreeable to the notion of doing somewhat more than just cuddling with someone who’s professionally trained in the arts of pleasure. It’s just her age that I’m having a bit of remaining intellectual difficulty with...”\n\n\tHer putative employer chuckled, “You needn’t worry about that, actually... When Her mortal semblance was traveling with us, your Goddess Herself played with Ela just a few times. You needn’t worry about the morality or propriety of the situation, if Malia didn’t.”\n\n \t“Ah!” nodded the rabbit, her ears immediately perking back up. “Most of my worries were, indeed, about whether She’d approve, and you’ve just answered that question!” She smiled over to the vixen who was putting the finishing touches on as comfortable a sleeping-space as the clearing’s features and their traveling gear could provide in concert, “It looks like you’ll get to touch all you want, Ela my dear... just use the trench first, and let me get some sleep tonight.”\n\n\tNodding, the vixen giggled as she patted over the rectangle of leaves and pine needles she’d made, compensating for the ground’s slight unevenness in the flattest place she could find. Rearranging just one more bit of natural padding, she unrolled a thickly-quilted sheet of durable cloth on top of it, then added a blanket and a canvas bag stuffed with spare clothes before doffing her dress and grabbing a wipe-rag to run off into the bushes with.\n\n\tFerrl and Danara used the facilities last, the larger wolf still unsteady enough on his feet to appreciate the help even if he and his wife kept their distance for a semblance of privacy. When they got back, Julara was already on her sleeproll with her muzzle pressed into her improvised pillow to muffle her gasps and quiet moans, her rump held high and her tail twitching as the vixen kneeling between her calves patiently licked. A louder squeak was heard, the rabbit’s ears shooting straight up, as Ela nosed higher, tongue probing to find then penetrate the tight, clean ring of her anus, and the lustful sigh that followed her surprise earned a chuckle from both wolves.\n\n\t“Guess that priestess was right about that spot,” Danara mused as she helped her husband down onto their larger shared sleeproll.\n\n\tNodding, he positioned their clothing-stuffed pillow as she followed him down, “She was... but I should note that the ‘some ladies’ she mentioned includes virtually all bunnies. No one’s sure why, but I’ve never met one who complained of attention there.”\n\n\tTheir lapine companion lifted her head to shoot them a look, “Well, I have... Complained, that is; I only like it if someone’s gentle, there... and, ooh, your vixen certainly is...”\n\n\tFerrl snorted, “ That’s rather neatly dodging the point... I don’t care what orifice on which gender, nor whether phallus or fingers are in use; shove anything somewhere unexpectedly, without welcome, and it ain’t gonna feel good. Gentleness, or at least consideration, is vital to the enjoyability of any form of physical intimacy you’d care to name. Those you complained about, I say, could use some... polish.”\n\n\t“Mind over body, didn’t you say, husband?” Danara chuckled. “Our long-eared companion knew what she was getting into, tonight, and looked forward to it, and thus ‘tis as pleasant as the oft-feared loss of maidenhead was to me, at your hands.”\n\n\tThe Agent half-rolled to hug her close, nuzzling at her neck then looking up with a grin and a glance to the far side of the ring of light as another high-pitched gasp emerged from their companion. “Our nuptial night was gratifying in ways I never told you,” he commented, fingers stroking strongly but gently through the fur of her back, “as no man can be certain of causing more pleasure than pain where virginity’s involved… but, for your sake, I’m endlessly glad that I succeeded in that respect.”\n\n\tA half-surprised, lapine yip distracted them both from the poignancy of the moment, echoed an instant later by a childish giggle, and the couple watched their adoptive daughter’s second slim finger disappear between fluffy rumpcheeks even as she directed her tongue’s attentions lower. “They’ll get along just fine,” Ferrl chuckled as he gradually dimmed the floating light. “Now, my dear… why don’t we do something similar before sleeping?”\n\n* * *\n\n\t\n\n\tJulara glanced back over her shoulder, then nodded to herself; from this distance the copse of trees completely concealed her companions, and she continued down the dirt path that had split off of the main road half a mile east of Chraf. The cluster of white-washed adobe cottages would have been fairly typical of a small farming village, farther out in the countryside, but there was no mistaking the larger structure they surrounded, the joined domes with rounded cupolas at their tops looking like nothing less than a gigantic pair of breasts poking out of the landscape, particularly with the setting sun almost directly behind them. The sight of that outline at a distance had given them pause, Ferrl immediately amending their plans to take advantage of the opportunity it represented. A few of the enclave’s inhabitants were still out and about at this hour, and she returned their nods politely as she passed, but kept her expression businesslike enough to discourage the sorts of invitations any number of them were obviously all too ready to give.\n\n\tThe door at the juncture of the enormous mounds was, of course, stylized, but its vaginal theme could only be taken so far if were still to serve its more mundane function. The outward curves of a vulva and thinner ridges of labia were splayed improbably wide, and the ring through the cast bronze clit peeking out from beneath its roundly-crinkled hood was much too low, just to keep it in reach. A hint of a blush colored the rabbit’s eartips as she took a firm grip and swung the ring against the door twice, though she’d felt no embarrassment over licking a tiny version of the same anatomy the night before, and she shook her head with a self-depreciating chuckle as she let go and fished her amulet out of her own cleavage.\n\n\tIn contrast to the off-white, homespun robes worn by those among the cottages, the acolyte who answered the door was dressed in fine, thin linen, more than a hint of translucency showing around the edges from the ample lighting within the temple. “Welcome to the House of Love,” the white feline greeted, all but purring as she looked her visitor up and down… Her necklace, Julara noticed, bore only a lifelike copper casting of a woman’s mound for a pendant. No mere decoration, she knew, but a statement of preference, there’d have been a phallus along side it if the cat had any liking for men, with differences in size between the pieces indicating degrees of bias.\n\n\t“I know I look like one of ‘yours,’” the bunny chuckled, “but I’m afraid I’m here on business.” She touched her own depiction of Malia with one finger, “I need to speak with your high priest or priestess, or one of their immediate subordinates, on official inter-faith matters… though, if the results of those discussions leave me time, I’ll happily let you satisfy the urge that’s got you drooling so badly.”\n\n\tBlushing faintly, the feline wiped her chin with one paw, “My apologies, priestess… I should have seen your pendant immediately, but the rest of your jewelry distracted me; I thought that the dessert of my dreams had shown up to spend the night! Please… you are welcome here, and I will immediately convey you to one of those with whom you must speak.”\n\n\tThe office Julara was left to briefly wait in was probably the most business-like room in the temple, but even that accomplishment couldn’t render it completely tame; her booted feet reported that the ordinary-looking carpet between the chairs and the desk was actually set into a slight depression in the floor over a spongy pad, rendering it comfortable, if not quite as soft as an actual bed, for impromptu loveplay. She only had a moment to make that assessment, though, before the door in the far wall opened and two figures walked in, unusual enough to fetch a surprised blink from the rabbit. Their silken, translucent robes were ordinary enough, combined with their solid-gold pendants of equal-sized male and female genitals; no one made it to high priesthood of a Roxanite temple without being thoroughly bisexual, after all. The fact that there were two of them, a man and a woman, was also only slightly divergent from strict averages, as priests of the Goddess of Love were permitted to marry without, if they so chose, any obligation for monogamy. A couple like this one, sharing the temple’s highest office, was actually the greatest culmination of the religion’s principles that could occur, though it was still rather rare. The most remarkable detail, to the visiting Maliite’s mind, was that the pair were examples of extremely uncommon, humanoid dragons, the man’s scales green and his wife’s a pleasant shade of blue, their leathery wings folded behind them.\n\n\t“Greetings, priestess,” the lady of the pair rumbled, her mate bowing beside her. “I am Ramarath and my partner is called Threstoral. Liestra, our acolyte, could offer no reason for your visit, but we’ve come to guess that it has something to do with the Blessed One currently hiding a quarter-mile from our humble village…”\n\n\tThe knight blinked, “Blessed One? My own classes, as a novice, covered the basics of your faith, but I can’t remember having heard that term before…”\n\n\tThrestoral chuckled, “It’s not a common title… but we immediately perceived, when investigating the dark soul that drew near, that the man you’ve been traveling with has bedded, and pleased, the mortal body of our Goddess… and yours, now that I think on it. The mark of Roxy was clear, but there was another that I’d found confusing until this moment, and a third…” He turned to his wife to blink, “You may have to give this man a try… I’d like to, too, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate the offer; the fact remains, though, that he’s made love to all of the Goddesses, and even our own lady’s high expectations were well met.”\n\n\tTheir guest chuckled at the way the dragoness’ eyes widened, the forked tip of her slim tongue easing out to lick her lips, then interrupted with a shake of her head, “You’d have to ask his new bride for permission… and even though she was eying me fairly hungrily, neither of them seemed inclined to do more than look, though I’d have welcomed any offer after how pleasant a time I had with their adoptive daughter.”\n\n\tThe green dragon nodded, chuckling again, “I’d seen that, in you, that you aren’t as biased as your garb and jewelry suggest… So, if you’re not a batch of potential, and very desirable, new lovers, what business does bring you to our temple?”\n\n\tJulara considered her phrasing for a moment, then shrugged, “It’s a bit complicated… but there’s something of a low-key religious war currently going on, and we think that the other side might not be paying much attention to the doings of Roxanarra and Her flock. Thus, we’d hoped for a bit of consultation before our next move, as we’re nearing the deciding point in this conflict. The course I was sent to propose was that, as soon as full darkness falls, my companions be allowed to discreetly join me here, and we’d all leave again well before dawn so we can approach the city openly without implicating your village to any observers.” \n\n\tAfter a glance shared with her mate, Ramarath nodded, “I believe we can do this… They have horses, which will need to be left in the patch of forest they’re hiding in, as our guest stables are well-lit and open-sided, and thus easily observed… We do, though, have one novice with a well-established habit of night-time wanderings, and we’ll send him out to bring them in. I’ll also send a priestess who can sense souls at a reasonable distance to take over door duty, so she can put out the lanterns in the entryway as they approach.”\n\n\tThe rabbit smiled gratefully, “Thank you… I know that Roxanarra doesn’t like to be involved in politics, even of the spiritual sort, so I and my companions do appreciate the risk you, and She, are taking by aiding us in this matter.”\n\n\tThrestoral nodded, then paused, his eyes unfocusing for a long moment… His mate glancing at him curiously, he shook his head and blinked a few times, “Oh, my… You’re right about our lady’s usual preferences, yes, but She just told me, roughly, ‘Oh, finally!’ Evidently She’s been wanting to help in this conflict of which you speak, and your coming here is the first real chance She’s had to do so.”\n\n\tThe blue dragoness blinked a time or two herself, then nodded to her mate, “Then it’s settled… I’ll prepare the guest-chamber we keep specifically for Blessed Ones, Roxy’s lovers always finding a welcome and as much love as they desire here without any sort of financial obligation, while you make the arrangements for our allies’ arrival…” Turning to the knight, she continued, “Priestess? You have at least half an hour, more likely closer to a whole, before your friends can be ushered in under cover of darkness, so if you’d care to step out into the hall and then through the second door on your right… I believe Liestra is there, waiting very hopefully on a bed… minus her robe.”\n\n\tJulara shifted in place, a trickle of anticipatory warmth flowing through her as her thighs stroked each other, and she smiled, “I think… that I’d enjoy that, and once more you have my thanks.”\n\n\tBoth dragons nodded, smiling affectionately, the green wishing her, “Lick well, priestess,” before the couple stepped out through another side door.\n\n* * *\n\n\tJulara lifted her head as the expected knock came on the door, calling, “I’ll be right out,” before turning back to her brief lover. Liestra’s eyes showed understanding and acceptance that she’d have to leave, but she leaned close for one more of the long, slow kisses that she and the lapine had been sharing for the last several minutes once their more immediate passions had been satisfied. “Thank you,” the Maliite murmured, “for a wonderful evening… If the local branch of my own temple has room for me, I just might be staying once this mission is complete, as serving the Goddess of the Arts has always been more important to me than any particular place, so there’s a chance we may see each other again…”\n\n\tThe feline acolyte nodded, a broad smile on her still-moist muzzle, “Mmm… I’d like that. You were every bit as delicious as I’d hoped when we first met, and much better with your tongue than I’d expected, once I’d learned that your lady-loving appearance was just a ruse.”\n\n\tHer guest chuckled as she climbed off of the bed, tossing her a wink, “I’ve had a bit of practice recently… though, please, don’t expect me to give up men! I enjoyed what we did, a lot, but I do, eventually, want a husband and family of my own.”\n\n\tThe cat merely nodded, still smiling, “I understand… now go do what you must! There’s more at stake than your love life, I know, so don’t keep your friends waiting.”\n\n\tWith a nod of her own, the knight glanced at her piled armor and weapons, shrugged, and opened the door. She still wore her priestess’ pendant, and in this particular temple that seemed, to her, to be dressed enough. The fox, in Roxanite robes, waiting for her in the hall, blinked a time or two at her nudity, but recovered quickly enough, smiling and gesturing w",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "Fantasie Eviscerotique
Episode 2
By Adrian VanWormer (Kathalla at FA and IB)
Chapter 1
\t“… so I set Rickar up as the new baron, found him a wife so the family I’m so impressed by can be continued, and came back home. The countess’ brother has by now been executed, which probably ends the actual threat to Lark’s Reach. One servant and a lower-level bureaucrat were nowhere to be found the morning after our Goddess dealt with Meka’s betrayal of his oaths so appropriately, and I brought back their names and descriptions to be relayed around the kingdom in case they resurface, but they were probably fairly unimportant to the conspiracy itself so I’m not wasting much worry on them,” the knight concluded his report.
\tThe ‘coon nodded, “A… a safe enough a—aah!” and broke off, his head leaning back and his eyes closing as his rocking hips stilled, his muzzle locked into a grimace of ecstasy as the vixen straddling his lap dropped down as far as her scant depth would permit, her eyes slit in sultry pleasure as she felt his warm seed filling her. “Assumption!” he finally managed once his climax had passed, and he leaned down to give Ela a kiss on the cheek before grinning to her owner, “Mmm… that was very good. Thank you for letting me borrow her; I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone this tight before.”
\tFerrl nodded, chuckling, “Her hindside’s a lot deeper… but it’s so tight it nearly hurts. Now, is there any word from the investigative force?”
\tAs his lapmate gave him one more nuzzle then climbed down, the prince nodded in return, “Yes, and it’s not quite as bad as we’d feared. The count himself was completely ignorant of the conspiracy… It was his wife that had set it up with her brother’s help. Had you not exposed him as a traitor and a murderer, Meka would have been the next baron, and he’d have signed onto an alliance that would have effectively put Stonecliff entirely in control of Lark’s Reach, which the countess had been planning to present to her husband as an anniversary gift. She’s been… dealt with.” Lifting himself off of his seat just enough to, he pulled up his satin pantaloons and refastened his belt.
\tThe wolf chuckled, “That has a distinct ring of finality to it… Good. I’ll pass the news along to Verona if I see her before you do; she should be back within the next couple of days.” Unable to resist as his slave held up her arms and blinked her wide green eyes up at him, he lifted Ela into her preferred seat in his own lap, not minding the mingled fluids of fox and raccoon as they dampened his breeches.
\tNodding once more, Lachier stood and stretched. “I don’t like to talk about it, for reasons that will eventually be obvious to you… but you can tell her that the countess received the same punishment that my mother did. If she’s got any remaining bloodlust lingering from the loss of her husband, that should satisfy her quite handily. In any case, my father and I are completely satisfied; you pulled off your first assignment as Agent in a fashion that exceeded all expectations, and you have our gratitude.”
\tShifting his pet to straddle his left hip, Ferrl held her up with one arm as he rose as well and shook the prince’s hand with his right, “Alright, I’ll pass what you said about the countess on to Verona. I’ll be seeing you, your Highness.” With another nod apiece, they climbed the stairs out of the empty playclub and parted company by the light of the early summer’s day.
* * *
\tThe rest of Ferrl’s first day back in Fariach, once he’d dropped the written version of his report off at the office of the kingdom’s chief Agent, was spent re-establishing some sort of steady routine. His new horse helped reduce his travel time as he arranged his less frequent training sessions with Bakar, scheduled new lessons with the Mages’ Guild around those, and stopped by the university to fill a few gaps with scholastic house-calls, but he’d made sure to keep half each of three days a week free. One was for himself, just to have a little time to spend with Ela and his various friends, but he’d known when he bought Cherrah, his fine warhorse, that he’d need to spend a fair deal of time training with the stallion, horse and rider each needing to grow familiar with the other to truly function as a team.
\t“I’ll be here the afternoons of the second and fifth days each week,” he told the master of the large stable just beyond the city’s northeast wall. “I’ll handle him myself those days, but he’ll need exercise over the rest of the week as well as your best-quality feed.”
\tThe burly beastmaster, an equine himself if of the two-footed sort, nodded, “Of course! This is one of the finest animals I’ve seen in my career, and I’m glad that you understand how well such needs to be kept. Stabling with prime fodder will be five coppers a day and, so long as he’s not vicious enough to require special handling, regular light exercise on the lunge won’t add anything to that.”
\tNodding, Ferrl did his math quickly, surprising himself with a thought of gratitude for the lessons he’d thought so boring just before his adventure in Lark’s Reach had begun, and fished a gold half-crown and two silver crowns out of his purse. “Here’s the first six weeks’ worth in advance, and I’ll see you… the day after tomorrow,” he said after another moment. With all of the excitement of late, he’d had trouble remembering today’s date. After sharing a handclasp to seal the bargain he gave Cherrah’s black shoulder an affectionate pat and let him be led into his new home.
\tHoisting Ela up onto his shoulders, then, he started on the fairly long walk back to his house, musing to his pet along the way, “The block in the icebox could very well have melted while we were away… Since we can’t trust the freshness of our own kitchen, why don’t we go have supper at a decent tavern? The grain won’t have spoiled so there’ll be porridge for breakfast, and we can go shopping between my morning workout and lunch.”
\tThe vixen’s belly answered for her with a gurgling rumble, and both of them laughed as they walked by the light of the setting sun.
* * *
\tKachaun had intercepted the young Agent on his way to the small classroom where he’d be having that afternoon’s lessons. “This is just for my own comfort,” he assured the wolf, “but I wanted to ask if the information you sent for proved useful.”
\tFerrl nodded, “Extremely. Finding out who made the spellbreaker that was used in an ambush meant to end Baron Hellar’s line completely, even to the point of eliminating his widow though she had no title or authority of her own, was one of the crucial pieces of the puzzle. Without it, we’d have had an unknown wizard with far more experience than me messing things up the moment I started making accusations, and at the very minimum he’d have escaped. Now, though, your wayward former student is quite dead, and the barony’s back under the control of people we can trust.”
\tThe fox nodded back, immediately looking more relaxed, “Good… It took a good chunk of our communal power pool, and three assistants to help channel the energies, to push even a simple illusion just over fifty miles. If you think it’s hard shoving energy through a remote point across the room, you should try that sometime! It’s much easier to use a pair of artifacts that feed off of each others’ power sources, distance meaning nothing to that sort of link, that can serve to relay at least verbal communication between them… but since you didn’t have anything of the sort, we had to do it the hard way. We don’t like using that sort of spell unless it’s necessary, but despite your inexperience I was certain you had a good reason for telling us to pull out all the stops and get the reply to you with no avoidable delays whatsoever. Confirmation’s a lot better than a feeling, though, so I’m very glad it was worth the effort.”
\tThis fetched a chuckle and another nod, “Oh, it was. And that vixen you wanted to see? She happened to be a mortal incarnation of Roxanarra so, while I’ll put in a good word for you if I see Her again, it’s impossible to say for certain if or when that time will come, nor how She might take the request.”
\tKachaun blinked, “Oh, my… I understand completely, sir knight, and I won’t get my hopes up. Enjoy your lesson then, for now; your report of the magics you used was quite satisfying, and we’ve decided to ramp up the complexity of things you’ll be learning as you’ve done so well at figuring out more advanced applications of what you already know.” With that, he turned and padded back toward his own office.
\tAlong with his teacher Derru, a table laden with all sorts of odd things greeted Ferrl’s arrival in the small study-chamber. Most of them seemed to be crystals, two small boxes heaped high with chunks of quartz and agate, while individual pieces, all well-carved and polished though none were more than semiprecious, at least to glance at them, were set in neat rows on the table itself. About half of the ‘finished’ stones had clearly-visible magic within them, and Ferrl smiled, “Finally… I take it I’m to learn the basics of enchantment today.”
\tThe rabbit nodded, “Simple enchantments, yes, but on the headmaster’s suggestion you’ll be free to try your hand at whatever others you can think of with the available materials afterwards.” He picked up two stubby cones of yellow-brown agate and brought their flat sides together, one starting to glow with a bright white light as soon as contact was made. “These are actually a bit more advanced than we usually start with, as they’re something that can be activated by a non-mage. Beginners’ first attempts at static spells bound to physical objects are traditionally of the sort that require a magical ‘nudge’ to evoke their effects or,” and he separated them, the glow vanishing, “to turn them off.”
\tSettling himself into a chair with a creak of protest on the wood’s part, the wolf picked up a similar pair of pieces of quartz that looked like they’d once been one crystal. He mused as he examined them closely on an arcane level, “This would be a firestarter… I recognize the residues in a channel from the center to the tip of the pointed half, and the framework of the spell itself seems simple enough. It’s just one of those things that hadn’t occurred to me as being possible; the very act of gathering and pushing a line of my own magic seems to have been frozen into this stone. The other half is similar, its ‘act’ being the sort of restraint I learned for remote projection, and there’s a good bit of fire-energy trapped within that.”
\tDerru nodded, smiling, “Quite right, and well described, too… You can project the movement or restraint of energy just as you would the energy itself, and if you do so with your focus being the physical structure of an object, and concentrate hard enough at the time, it remains as a permanent change to the way all physical matter reacts to energy of various types. That natural interaction is the basis for alchemy, some things being more attuned to storing or rejecting one energy type than another, but you’ve enough talent that we won’t be teaching you any more about that particular subject than you need to know to understand any alchemists you may work with or against. It’s not nearly as versatile as being able to precisely blend and project magic of your own. Now, pick some stones from the supplies and we’ll get to work. Be careful to check each one for flaws, though; we’ve included several that are quite ill-suited for enchantment, just to show you what a lack of care with your raw materials can do.”
\tThe Agent didn’t quite repeat his unexpected performance from the first time he’d tried remote projections. His first attempt at making a lightstone and a separate power source didn’t take, the illuminated half still feeding off of his own power instead of the reservoir, and while he’d managed to redirect his second try to its correct source, he didn’t embed the channel for that power deeply enough into the crystal, one stone all aglow with a clear line linking it to the other even when they were several feet apart. The third pair he’d bent his will upon, however, seemed to work perfectly, though the glowing hemisphere of jade was uncomfortably warm, which he commented upon.
\t“That,” his teacher explained, “is because there’s a slight flaw in the stone you chose. You know that light and heat are related, and that enough of either will evoke the other as a side-effect, and the flaw is absorbing enough of the light to heat up. You’d have noticed the reduction yourself, but you put enough strength into it that even the reduced output is still too bright to easily judge.”
\tNodding, Ferrl considered this… and grinned as an alternate application suggested itself to him. Wrapping himself in a layer of physical protections, he told his teacher, “You might want to put up a shield for this… I think I’ve just come up with a weapon.” He chose two more stones from the boxes, halves of a crystal octahedron. One was as clear as fine glass and utterly flawless, while the other was marred within by a heavy white inclusion, the former being filled with a well-constrained reservoir of fire- and light-energy while its clouded mate received a truncated emission-channel for both, and he kept them well apart once he’d released his concentration and inspected his handiwork for imperfections.
\tThe rabbit peered over his shoulder, analyzing the pattern of magic that was centered around the gross impurities in the crystal, and blanched. “Do not put those together in here! ‘A weapon’ is right; a few seconds of that kind of power through that flaw and we’d have to buy a new door, and woe betide anyone who may be walking down the hall at the moment! This isn’t a shielded practice room!”
\tChuckling, his student dutifully tucked one half into his shirt pocket and the other into his breeches, “I think I’ll keep these, though… The use I have in mind would be to slap them together, use a little motion-magic to keep them that way, then throw them at an enemy… though, on second thought, they might also be useful for blasting apart an obstruction of some kind.”
\tRelaxing a bit as the dangerous innovation was put away, Derru nodded, “Obstructions both two-legged and inanimate would find that little toy of yours to be a definite downturn to their day. We’ve had a few explosions of that sort occur accidentally, or as security features in things like Truthstones, but as far as I know you’re the first to try eliciting one on purpose as an artifact’s sole function, and it really is a remarkably effective-looking enchantment for all of its inherent simplicity.” Picking up another piece of unflawed quartz, he held it out, “Back to safer experiments… Static illusions are one of the more complicated things you can make, as every detail has to be impressed into the physical medium you’re working with, but that’s more a matter of time and effort than skilled subtlety. Let’s see if you can make a lightstone that projects a specific shape or color of light, or both, now that you’ve mastered basic, omnidirectional white.”
* * *
\tFerrl carefully replaced the frosted glass cover of one of his wall-mounted lamps, its brass oil reservoir discarded in favor of a large shard of quartz, and gave it a slight twist, smiling as it lit. “This,” he explained to Ela as she looked on with naked curiosity on her face, “is the most complex enchantment I managed in my lesson today… It’s two pieces like all the rest of my experiments were, but they have to be lined up a certain way rather than just touching, and it’s not the white light it looks like; rather, each of the stone’s six sides radiates a different color of the rainbow, and they all blend together into white.”
\tThe vixen nodded, smiling, “I don’ understand much’a that… but I do knows that the next time we let th’fire burn out we won’t have’ta work as hard for light.”
\tHer owner gave her headfur an affectionate ruffling, then decided that wasn’t enough so tweaked one of her tiny nipples hard enough to get a pleased yip for his troubles, and he grinned, “Hey, if I put the effort into it we could go the rest of our lives in this house without needing a single bit of flame. Magic lights, magic hearth, magic bath-boiler… it’s all pretty easy now that I know how, though it’d still be a lot of work to get it all set up the first time.”
\tHis child-slave giggled, “But you’d have’ta keep ‘em recharged, an’ that might mean you’re too tired t’play…”
\tFerrl smirked, “Oh, heavens forbid that… though it just might be you who’s too tired, some days. I was very proud of how you killed that soldier when we were ambushed, and I’ve been thinking of teaching you how to use even an ordinary knife for that sort of thing. Our Goddess loves us, but She and all other deities also want us to learn to take care of ourselves, so just to be nice to Her it would be good if, the next time something like that happened, She didn’t have to rip out your attacker’s soul for you.”
\tEla’s smile at his praise faded to a distinct frown as she thought about that… “Slaves ain’t supposed to do that, though. If’n anyone else had seen me attackin’ a free man an’ told the constables, I’d be dead now.” She sighed, “That’s jus’ th’law. It don’ matter none that I was savin’ Verona’s life, but you’s bein’ an Agent might’a helped if someone had seen.”
\tKneeling down to look her in the eye, the wolf squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, “Laws are a pain sometimes… but they’re there for a reason. I’ll do some research as time permits and see if I can’t find a solution to this little dilemma. My job is dangerous, but I don’t want to have to leave you behind just because you aren’t allowed to defend yourself, and the very fact that people would assume that you can’t could be a tactical advantage in some cases. That soldier certainly hadn’t expected a collared little girl to leap out at him; you can be wonderfully vicious when you put your mind to it… and just a tiny little moment of surprise can mean the difference between life and death. The fact that you’re alive and he’s not is proof enough of that!” Smiling then, he brought his hand up between her trim thighs to stroke a knuckle along her warm cleft, “Let’s go play a little, and then we’ll make dinner and play some more before bed. I’m still trying to make it up to you for all those busy days I had, and the fact that we hardly played at all during the mission itself… I have nothing else to do this evening, though, so we might as well spend it having sex.”
\tThe naughty glint in her eyes and the naughtier flush of damp warmth that greeted his finger told well enough her opinion of that proposal.
* * *
\tUnder Bakar’s watchful gaze, Ferrl and Diral cautiously circled each other… then the mouse lunged, his hardwood practice sword weaving in a figure-eight to dodge the younger Agent’s blocking blade and then the small wooden buckler strapped to his arm, only a quick, back-arching twist avoiding the final thrust that whistled past his sweat-soaked shirt. The wolf brought his faux-sword around again in a downward slash, knocking the smaller man’s weapon wide for an opening to slam his shield into his sparring partner’s chest.
\tThe ermine clapped for attention, his students each taking a step back to look up attentively, both of them panting hard though the smaller one’s breath was a tad pained. “I still wouldn’t care to wager against either of you in a fight against any of the regular guards I’ve trained,” the captain admitted, about as much praise as they were likely to get from the stoic old soldier, “but you, Diral, really should stop by for practice more often. You’re just as fast as ever, but the guile I remember teaching you seems to have faded with time. You used to be a lot more observant and able to change directions mid-swing to adapt to your opponent’s defense.” At the diminutive Agent’s grudging nod, he turned his attention on the wolf, “And you, sir knight… You should have been able to block his attack and counter with your own sword in the same overall stroke, without armor slowing you down. Your strength can be turned into speed, tempered with finesse, but it just wasn’t visible today, and the lack has me seriously reconsidering your proposed, lighter training regimen.”
\tChuckling, Ferrl pulled back the sleeve over his sword-arm to shake the leather pouch of lead balls strapped there, “I know, I know… I did just that sort of thing when I was ambushed, but I didn’t want to get too used to working without weights. It was almost too easy when I was in a real fight, and I could fall into a habit of laziness unless I force myself not to.”
\tHis armsmaster blinked, shaking his head, “I take back what I said then… I knew you were slower than you should be, but it wasn’t nearly so pronounced as I’d have expected had I known that you were wearing those. Take them off for now,” and he turned toward the rodent who was still catching his breath, “and we’ll see what you’re really capable of… Give me your sword and buckler, Diral; I find myself fancying a match of my own.”
\t“No problem,” the mouse immediately agreed, unbuckling the thick circle of wood from his arm, and he grinned, “and my thanks for not making me keep fighting this brute once he’d admitted he was holding back!”
\tThe ermine gave a particularly nasty grin in reply, “Well then, now would be a good time for him to learn just how much I was holding back the first time we fought when I tested him!”
\tBakar didn’t waste any time circling or probing for weakness once the weighted pouches had fallen to the salle’s fragrant sawdust. He was on the big wolf in an instant, wood clacking as swords and shields met in a flurry of blows, only to pause as he leapt back, disengaging until he’d chosen his next angle to attack from. Ferrl defended himself as best he could, keeping his weight centered and mindful of the angles of his footing as he turned to meet each new attack, and he kept his own offensive strikes short and under control as he observed the whirlwind his friend and mentor had become. There were, of course, no overt gaps in the stocky mustelid's defense, and very few ways in which his student could think to make gaps, but he knew he had to try; even without the weights he was tired after an hour and more of practicing with them on, and his own body weighed enough to eventually wear him down if this kept up. His arms were already aching, and he chose to show it just a little, slowing only the slightest fraction and hoping it didn’t look suspicious…
\tThe knight half-stumbled as his opponent leapt back from another disengage, his shield-arm dropping as if to catch himself, and Bakar pounced on the opening without waiting to circle, exactly as the wolf had hoped. The ‘tired’ bend of his knee suddenly straightened as he launched himself forward with all of his considerable strength, and the ermine found himself flying backwards as the blunt shaft of polished oak slammed into his shoulder, his own blade caught focused entirely on the attack and in no position to block. He lay on the dusty floor for a long moment, gasping and shaking his head to clear it after his impact with the wall, and slowly stood to nod respectfully to the student who’d gone back to the task of catching his own breath. “Very good, sir knight,” he conceded in a pained tone, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder with his other hand. “That very nearly broke a bone…” Shaking off the last of his dazedness, he looked to Diral, “I’ll see you two hours after dawn tomorrow. That was exactly the kind of successful feint I’d expected from you, and only an official mission will excuse you from your sorely-needed retraining.”
\tThe mouse shook his head ruefully, “Great going, Ferrl… I hate mornings, which is probably part of why I’m such a good night-stalker, but now look what you’ve gotten me roped into!”
\t“You’ll live,” his junior chuckled. “And if you are this out of practice, it’s better to find out about it like this than by finding yourself bleeding to death in a gutter because someone got through a defense you were more confident of than it really warranted.”
\t“True enough, I suppose…”
Chapter 2
\t“Ela?” Ferrl called as he hung up his sword and started taking off his sweaty practice-clothes. Her fingers were in her muzzle as she peeked around the side of the chair in the sitting room that had concealed her from sight, and he smiled, “Put away your book for now and get dressed… I got out of my training early as a bonus for kicking my teacher’s ass across the salle, so I thought we might go out for lunch as soon as I don’t smell so bad. This will also be my first afternoon of practice with Cherrah, and the book I read on warhorse training suggests that we just ride around the countryside for a bit at first, so you can come with me if you want to.”
\tThe vixen nodded, closing the thin volume of erotic poetry she’d been passing the time with as she slipped out of the chair to scamper up the stairs, “I’ll get yer bath started, Master. The dress I put on this mornin’ is in the hamper from after I wet it, but there’s more in the bedroom.”
\tBlinking a bit at a realization, he followed close behind, asking, “Have you been working on your speech, little one? The last few times we’ve talked, you’ve sounded a lot more like an adult.”
\tThe tiny fox turned at the top of the stairs, at just the right level to leap into his arms and hug him tight, “You’s… you noticed! I’ve been tryin’, yeah. Th’books help me a lot, but it’s hard to remember to think about what I’m sayin’ before I opens my muzzle…”
\tFerrl smiled, touched by the effort she was obviously putting into making him happy even beyond her… ‘bedroom athletics,’ he labeled with a mental snort of amusement. “I’ll have to find something to reward you with, then,” he told her as he carried her the rest of the way up then set her down just outside the bathroom. “You really are the best little girl I could possibly have hoped for…”
\tWater trickled and splashed as the lithe shape of a female bat rose from the tub. “Oh, I’m sure I could find some way to reward her, sir knight,” the newcomer told the surprised pair with a grin.
\t“Kathy!” Ela squealed, climbing up the side of the deep basin to give her playmate a tight hug.
\tThe wolf smirked, “That you most certainly could, but I think I’ll still carry through with the plans I have; after all, it was to please me that she’s doing what we’re talking about rewarding her for.” Pausing only to discard his work clothes and city shoes, he stepped around the happy ladies and settled into the half of the tub still free, commenting, “I really do need to clean up right now, though, but would you like to go out to eat with us afterwards?”
\t“I suppose I could be talked into it if you’re buying,” she mock-sighed, still holding the little slave as she stepped the rest of the way out of the tub to give him room. Reaching for the stack of towels with her free hand, she kissed Ela’s cheek with a grin, “Care to help me dry off? Even the parts that are never really dry?” The vixen snickered, licking her lips in anticipation.
\tThe restaurant and tavern closest to Ferrl’s home was unremarkable, but the food was certainly decent; he’d made sure of that shortly after getting the house. The very fact that its ordinary, middle-class patrons didn’t notice anything unusual about the wolf, bat, and foxcub at a corner table was its own source of amusement though, the knight snickering softly as the meal was about halfway done, “I wonder if the others here would find us quite so uninteresting if they knew your outfit was just an illusion over bare fur and flesh, milady…”
\tKathy’s muzzle twitched in a brief grin as she snagged another roll to dunk into her stew, murmuring back, “I learned long ago that making a body with an aptitude for mortal magic severely cut down on the number of minor miracles I had to perform while wandering among my flock, and it attracts much less attention than doing things ‘myself’ would. Every priest in the duchy felt the stir of darkness when I answered your call in Lark’s Reach, which wasn’t a problem then, but it’s not something I’d want to be a daily occurrence, either.”
\tThe wolf nodded, his expression serious, “And I’m grateful you did answer… I’ve been finding out after the fact that some of my choices during that investigation caused inconvenience for others, but I don’t think I’d have done things any differently had I known. I was an Agent faced with active treason, and I did whatever it took to solve the problems I found.”
\t“Exactly as you should have,” his companion nodded, “and precisely what an Agent is for, so I didn’t mean what I said as a criticism. If only for the pain he’d caused our dear friend Verona, I wanted that man’s soul, and thanks to you I got it.”
\t“And my brother thanks you as well,” a new voice intruded.
\tFerrl reflexively reached for his dagger; the mostly-black feline in light, feminine leather armor hadn’t been there a moment before, and he hadn’t heard or smelled her approach.
\tGiggling softly, the cat shook her head as she reached for the table’s fourth chair, “Oh, do put that away, silly wolf. I’m not here to cause any harm.” Sitting, she gave Kathy an accusing look, “You and Roxy have been holding out on me for millennia! It wasn’t until I had cause to look in on your knightly friend that I finally figured out how you stay so discreet, sister.”
\tThe bat snorted softly, smiling, “And now that you have there’s no telling when or where you’ll pop up… Oh well, I suppose it’s all good so long as we don’t let the menfolk of the family know the trick.”
\tEla’s eyes were very wide, and her owner was looking none too calm himself as he sheathed his blade. “Please tell me,” he half-whispered, “that you’re not here to have sex. Do you know what the mortal ladies would do to me if word got out that I’d bedded every Goddess in the pantheon? I’d be dead within a week from sheer exhaustion!”
\tMalia’s mortal semblance laughed brightly, “Oh, it’s a thought…” and she grinned, one brow arched, “but you’d have to beat me in a fair fight, first. You’re certainly cute, but that’s not enough to win my affections, no matter how well it worked on Roxy. If you think you’re good enough and want to try, though, just give me a call…” More seriously, she continued, “Tarragh’s gratitude is grudging on the best of days, but it exists, and He appreciates what you did about Hellar’s murderers. He’d still be a lot happier if you were a member of His own church, but where He’s involved I’ve learned that you take what you can get and be glad for it.”
\tFinally relaxing somewhat, Ferrl nodded with a slight smile, “If He asks, feel free to tell Him that His own gruffness would probably dissuade me even if I didn’t already have a very rewarding relationship with Kathy here. I’m definitely unavailable, but if there were a choice to be made I’d pick you over Him in a heartbeat based solely on attitude.”
\t“Such a nice boy…” Malia murmured to no one in particular with a fond smile. Frowning, then, she glanced around the tavern, a faint white glow filling the air that none of the other patrons seemed to notice. “That should keep anyone from overhearing us, or remembering it past the moment if they do…” She gave the wolf a hard look, “No one can tell the future, not even a God, but we do occasionally get brief hints and flashes of things that might happen. I’ve had one of these ‘hunches’ recently, and it was a strong one. Any warning of future calamity tends to also carry at least a hint of what might be done to address it, but the nature of those hints is something extremely difficult to put into mortal words so I can’t really tell you why… Whatever’s coming, though, I know that you, specifically, just might be able to help.”
\tThe knight blinked, frowning as well, “In general principle, I can support the notion of averting calamity, but I don’t have the freedom to say in advance whether I’ll be able to provide the help you seek. You need to take it up with my king or my Goddess, as only they can command me, and even an order from that king might be insufficient if I see no sign that Kathy here at least tolerates my involvement. I’ll probably be almost exactly as willing to help as she is, so it’s her you should ask; my level of effort will be proportional to the degree of religious support your proposal has.”
\tSighing, the feline nodded, the glow fading as she let her precautionary miracle lapse, “I could expect no less from you, as your faith is as firm as any of my own followers’.” Standing, she nodded to her ‘sister,’ “You and I will speak of this anon, once I know just what’s going on. For now… I think I’ll go step into an alley before vanishing; there’s no reason to frighten the Godless any more than I have to.”
\tKathy chuckled, “Stop by my knight’s house sometime, though… There are many joys to be found in wearing a mortal body, and sampling his cooking is definitely one of them.”
\t“I’ll consider it,” Malia promised with a smile then made her way out through the tavern’s bustling crowd.
\tReaching for a chicken leg, the wolf shook his head in mild wonder, musing, “I’m going to have to come up with a few new awed curses… The word ‘Gods’ has just too much irony to be any good right now.”
\tThe one sitting across from him simply smirked as his vixen giggled merrily.
* * *
\t“Wheeeeee!”
\tThe sound of Ela’s happy squeal rose and faded as Kathy swooped by, the vixen clinging to her back between her wings, and Ferrl hunched over his saddle as Cherrah galloped hard in her wake. The bat had been combining the cub’s reward with the wolf’s need to practice with his horse, but they were finally heading back toward the city after an exciting chase. The strong stallion’s breathing was labored but he was still running with all his might, following the much-faster figure gliding a few yards above the wagon-trail serving the area’s farms.
\tPulling up at the stables, the knight slid down from the saddle to give his panting horse an affectionate rub on the nose then pulled an apple out of his breeches’ pocket. “Greedy beast!” the wolf laughed as those strong teeth nearly took his hand off along with the treat, and he reached for a towel to start rubbing his lathered mount down as the equine plunged his head into the nearest trough and drank deeply.
\t“But a good beast,” the stablemaster commented as he drew near. “That one would give you everything he has, running ‘til his heart burst if you but asked him to.”
\tFerrl nodded, “I know… I hope it never comes to that, but it’s an immense comfort to me. To a knight, the quality of his horse can mean the difference between life and death, and I know that Cherrah’s as good an ally as I could hope for on the field of battle.” The warhorse picked up his head to glance back at the sound of his name, but went back to drinking soon enough.
\tPicking up another towel, the horseman started rubbing down the other side as he nodded, “Indeed. My workers and I can see to his comfort for now, so you feel free to head off unless you just want to spend more time with the stallion here.”
\tThe wolf nodded, glancing out to see his companions waiting just beyond the stable’s fenced yard, “You have a point… I do enjoy the time I spend with this fine animal, but my ladyfriends probably have other plans for me this evening and I must admit to liking them just the slightest bit more…”
\tThe other man laughed, “I should take offense at that, given how often I tell others that there’s nothing better than a good horse, but I suppose I understand. They’re not the most comfortable creatures to invite into one’s bed… Enjoy your evening, sir knight.”
\tKathy seemed to be in a hurry to get back to his house, and refused to answer when he asked her why… He lifted Ela onto his shoulders, then, and lengthened his stride so she had to scramble to keep up, and all was soon made clear. Already within shouting distance as he reached his own door, a familiar figure was coming up the street from the other direction. “Verona!” he called with a smile.
\tThe grin on the lioness’ muzzle was broad as she hurried the last few yards, grabbing him into a tight hug, “Thick-wolf!”
\tFerrl barked a laugh, “Sheesh! I’ve already told one fine lady today that I’m likely to die happy but exhausted if she encouraged that sort of reputation, and you’re not helping!” Smiling, he hugged her again, “Regardless, it’s good to see you again. Let’s go inside.”
\tThe former baroness hung up her traveling cloak the moment the door was closed, the short skirt that was all she wore under it deposited on the next coat-hook, and stretched. “Goddess… it’s good to be off of a horse for a change,” she rumbled. Following her host and her other two friends into the sitting room, she sprawled gracelessly on a chair, “I’ve never been a good traveler; saddles chafe something fierce if I don’t wear anything, and I can never relax enough to ride comfortably when I’m dressed.”
\tEla giggled, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “And you’d rather be under th’horse than on top of it, right?”
\tThe feline smirked, “Or behind it if it’s a mare, my favorite little one…” Turning to arch a brow to Ferrl, she asked, “And who was this other ‘fine lady?’ Did you miss me so little that you couldn’t wait a few days for my return before branching out?”
\t“It’s not that sort of relationship… yet,” he smirked. “Kathy’s sister, and not the vixen of the family, accosted me at lunch today. If you meet a black cat with a diamond of white on her forehead, try to be respectful. As far as I know she doesn’t have a nickname yet.”
\tThe bat snickered as her worshiper’s eyes widened, “Her official name doesn’t lend itself well to shortening, no… I’ll confirm that the meeting was mostly just business, though, so you can forget all of those dirty thoughts that’re running through your head, kitten.”
\tVerona shook her head with a quiet giggle, “I’m not sure I can… As devoted as She is to agility, I’d bet She’s damned limber in bed! But,” and she gave Ferrl a fulminating smirk, “I can definitely see your point about reputations… All three of Them? That would be an impressive claim for a mortal to be able to honestly make!”
\tThe wolf chuckled, “You and I have both had the two… but the third attached the condition of beating Her in a fair fight to the possibility, so I doubt that either of us will be able to complete the set. Enough of such silliness, though; how did things go in Lark’s Reach?”
\t“Wonderfully!” Verona rumbled, perking up instantly, though her ears dipped momentarily for just the beginning of her tale, “My husband’s funeral was very touching… Practically the entire city came, and hundreds more people from elsewhere in the barony attended, and most of them stayed for the wedding the next day. I checked, of course, and Rickar and Gabri were making some very interesting sounds in their room on their nuptial night… and if my nose isn’t deceiving me, unless they spend the next week celibate I’ll be a grandmother some three trimesters down the road. Her cycle was that close… My personal favorite of the flurry of events, though, was watching Salvor being strung up by his wizardbane collar while the castle guards used him for archery practice, but that’s just because I’m a vindictive bitch when someone seriously crosses me.”
\tFerrl laughed, “I’ll bet that hurt… If they were at all careful about where they shot, a body can take a lot of arrows before dying. They don’t bleed much if they’re left stuck in.”
\tThe former baroness nodded, “Thirty-seven, in his case, and I savored every one…” The vixen across from her gave a fierce little growl, and all three ladies grinned.
\t“On the subject of consequences, and since you obviously just got back and haven’t been to the palace,” the wolf mused, “Lachier told me to tell you that the entire conspiracy was the brainchild of the Countess of Stonecliff, and that she received the same punishment that his mother did, though he wouldn’t elaborate on that point.”
\tVerona blinked, a slow grin spreading across her muzzle to show every one of her fine, sharp teeth…
\t“I take it that the punishment in question was particularly nasty…”
\tThe lioness nodded emphatically, “It was about ten years ago, only a few after Princess Danique was born… Queen Jeruma had never liked the worship of the Fanged Goddess, and out of respect for that Burtak kept his personal rites well out of her sight. That wasn’t good enough for her, though. She started speaking out publicly on the subject, criticizing the royal family line prior to her arranged marriage into it and reviling the king in private… That would have been fine, too, but she just kept pushing! She progressed to making loud, dramatic scenes out of her personal criticism of that poor ‘coon in the middle of his court, and even went so far as to start organizing rallies among the commoners, trying to raise them against the ‘blood-sucking rapists and cannibals’ as she’d taken to calling us. That, though, was taking things a big step too far.”
\tKathy nodded beside her, “Not to mention coming close to violating a covenant nearly as old as I am. My flock doesn’t prey on the devout of the other Gods, and They don’t let Their worshipers try to exterminate mine.”
\t“So what’d the king do?” Ela asked, always interested in a good story.
\t“Since she ignored first his warnings and then his orders to give it a rest,” Verona answered, “her rhetoric becoming ever more strident, she was made a public sacrifice. She was stripped naked, locked into the stocks in Audience Square with short-chained shackles on her ankles as well to keep her legs spread, and a bucket was placed beneath her… The king himself slit her belly to fill it, then left her there after issuing orders that any man, high-born or low, was free to make use of her as they saw fit, with guards posted to make sure none of the rabble she’d roused tried to stop anyone who took him up on his offer. As she slowly bled to death, Burtak naturally knowing how to gut a fine lady with a minimum of actual damage, everyone from the crudest dockworker to at least one reigning duke made use of her sex or ass depending on their preference. It took her nearly a day to die, and while relatively few men were involved compared to the total population of the city, there were enough to make her rape a constant, humiliating spectacle until she finally passed away. Not that her expiring stopped the last man before he’d had his fun, and one or two of those still waiting in line were content with the lukewarm corpse of a queen.” She grinned again, “And if that’s what happened to Countess Stonecliff for deciding to murder my husband, I am very, very satisfied.”
\tFerrl adjusted his breeches, as they seemed uncomfortably tight after the mental images elicited by that tale, which fetched a giggle or two and several knowing smirks from his companions. “Before any of you voices the ‘offer to help’ I’m seeing in three sets of eyes right now,” he chided, waggling one finger at the ladies, “there are still a few things I’d like to talk about undistracted.” Turning to Verona, he mused, “When I first arrived, just prior to my knighting in fact, the king mentioned that rank means much in this land… Before you go back to the palace we should do something about yours. I know that the tradition of lands and titles going hand in hand is strong here, with ‘court’ nobles who hold a title and nothing else being all but unknown… but we really should see about getting you something of the sort regardless. The very fact that it would be necessary if they’re to maintain your ‘acquaintance’ should get most of the existing court to support the notion, but if that fails we can almost certainly talk Burtak into knighting you, and I’ll happily present you as you did me to satisfy that stuffy herald. If we don’t see about this you could find yourself excluded from virtually all of your former social circles, and I’d really rather not see that happen.”
\tThe former baroness’ expression was serious as she nodded, considering his words… “True enough. I hadn’t even thought about that… but I’m glad you did. Without the social precedence of Hellar’s title behind me, and it just doesn’t work the same for the mother of the baron as it would for the wife, I couldn’t just waltz back in there, could I? But you’re also right about the support I could expect; there are dozens of nobles in there who’ll be quite distraught at the notion of never seeing me again…”
\tKathy spoke up quietly, “Either ennoblement by acclamation or knighting by the king’s hand should work… but if neither is forthcoming I’ll do what I can to… ‘encourage’ some solution on the part of the royal family. You are one of the bright points of the court, bringing joy and simple pleasures to what is often a cesspool of back-biting intrigue… and I intend to see that you remain free to be so if you choose.”
\tFerrl nodded, “Good… I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow morning until my math lessons a couple hours before lunch, so I should be able to head over to the palace and arrange something. Until then, as you have no official residence at the moment, I offer the humble shelter of my own domicile for this night, milady.”
\t“My son has already assured me that the more-than-generous stipend Hellar always sent me will be continued, so it’s not like I couldn’t just buy a house of my own and live in the city,” she mused. “What I liked about living in the palace was that there was always someone available to share my bedchamber, from the stableboy on up. I get lonely easily, and I think it’s just going to be worse now that I’m a widow… I really don’t like to sleep alone.” She smiled, “None of that was meant to imply that there were alternatives to your offer that I might prefer; I was just thinking out loud. Of course I’ll stay here tonight, my handsome wolf, especially with your randy little vixen and our svelte bat for additional company.”
\tSaid vixen grinned, but Kathy was shaking her head, “This is just one of my brief visits; I really only meant to join Ferrl once for lunch now that he’s back in town, and I extended those plans as a reward for Ela… I won’t be staying this time.”
\tVixen’s and lioness’ ears drooped as the wolf nodded, “I understand… You’re always welcome here, but it’s a large world. Our situation is hardly in need of divine intervention, while there’s bound to be someone else out there who’s not so fortunate, so you just go where you’re needed.” He grinned, “We’ll always be here if you need a good meal or just a roll in the hay.”
\t“Oh, I’ll be back for both eventually, you can be sure; you’re just so good at them!” the bat smiled back, then vanished.
\tVerona’s belly chose that moment to rumble, and she grimaced, “At the risk of inflating your ego even further, I think my stomach agrees… Why don’t we move what’s left of this little reunion into the kitchen? It’s been a long ride since lunch at my son’s castle.”
\tFerrl nodded and rose, “I’d been planning just that before your well-timed return. Let’s.”
* * *
\tIt was just past mid-morning as the knight stepped back into his house. Verona was sprawled lewdly on one of his chairs, her legs hanging over the cushioned arms as Ela knelt on the floor in front of her, muzzle-deep and only infrequently coming up for air as the lioness mewled and shuddered. Immediately shelving the news that had been on the tip of his tongue, Ferrl firmly closed and locked the door, unbelting his pants as he padded over to share a long kiss with the feline, not-quite-gently twisting her nipples as she muffledly keened her enjoyment. Releasing her dusky pink nubs after another pinch apiece, he settled in behind his slave, easing his scent-stimulated wolfhood between her rumpcheeks without preamble and pressing in… Her yip was even more muffled by the quavering passage around her muzzle than the older woman’s moan had been by the kiss, and she somehow kept some semblance of her tongue’s lapping rhythm even as she welcomed him into her vice-like grip, pushing back against his blunt head until her tiny anus spread and engulfed it.
\tGrunting with something between pleasure and effort, he took a firm grip on her hips, his own rolling to push more of his length into her warm, slick passage. The vixen shivered with pleasure, her moans and occasional squeaks sometimes sending droplets of musky sweetness flying from her soaked muzzle, her young mind in its own kind of heaven as she was sandwiched between two willing, needy partners. Her first climax rolled through her almost before her owner had bottomed out, a thin stream of yellow spurting sporadically from between her thighs to form a small puddle on the varnished floor, but she hardly noticed in her lust-fogged haze. Verona’s nectar loaded her every gasping breath with such a dose of pheromones that her entire world was reduced to the puffy-fleshed charms in front of her, the almost too-thick shaft stretching her bowels so well, and the burning core between her own legs, even the faint brush of her Master’s fuzzy sac at the deepest part of each thrust enough to send jolts of pleasure through her and leave sparks dancing behind her tight-shut eyes.
\tFerrl made no effort to draw things out, watching the beautiful sight of the feline’s engorged petals as they splayed around the invading muzzle and inhaling deeply of both females’ heated scents… He didn’t let himself be drawn so deeply into the shared pleasures that he forgot to murmur his Goddess’ name in a prayerful tone just prior, but it wasn’t long until he drove himself deeply into the child’s hindside once more with a barely-muted howl of ecstasy.
\tStill panting softly herself, once she was sure his pleasure had played itself out, Verona gently pushed Ela’s face away from her sex but didn’t bother to close her legs before asking, “And how did things go at the palace, sir knight? Did the king make a decision?”
\tEasing himself out of Ela gently, if more for his own post-climactic sensitivity than her comfort, he chuckled, “Oh, he made a ruling on that the moment I’d finished describing the problem to him… By royal decree, this day, you now possess the title, rank, and prerogatives formerly held by the Countess of Stonecliff, though completely separate from the Count of Stonecliff. He already has two fine sons to serve as heirs, and by that same decree he’s forbidden to remarry so it’s no great burden to either of you, but the king felt that he should at least have known that his wife was capable of what she did, so this will serve as a constant reminder of her treachery even if it doesn’t severely impact his life. You’ve got the social status you’d lost, and you have the authority to give orders within his county, but the only way you or your descendants will ever actually rule Stonecliff will be if he and all of his children somehow die before you do. A comment aside from the decree Burtak dictated to his scribe suggests that he considers the title to be in the same category as spoils of war, yours by right of vengeance and conquest.”
\tBlinking a bit, the new countess nodded, “I suppose that works, though he could have picked a less… politically volatile way to solve this problem. If the specifics of my new title ever cause problems, I guess I’ll just deal with them when the time comes. Now, if that was so quick and easy, what filled the rest of your two hours at the palace?”
\tFerrl eased himself into a seat of his own, looking down to smile at his slave… “I was solving a little problem for Ela. She pointed out to me that it had been technically illegal for her to defend you during that ambush, so I was researching the appropriate laws and legal processes… and I found a solution.” The vixen was blinking in mild confusion as she worked on licking as much of her muzzlefur clean as possible, his assertion conflicting with all she’d been told of her place as a slave. Pulling a thin, folded stack of parchment out of his tunic, the wolf held up one sheet, “Ela, my dear… this is your ownership document; not the copy I brought home with me from Owned Elegance, but rather the one originally filed in the palace archives shortly after your birth and then amended to mention me during a periodic update when the slave house sent their list of recent sales in to be recorded.” Crumpling it into a ball, he tossed the page toward the fireplace, a brief surge of power igniting it before it landed, and it was little more than ash when it actually struck.
\tEla couldn’t believe her eyes, “Why’d you do that, Master? If’n they don’t have thats, we can’t prove that you owns me!”
\tThe knight grinned, holding up the next piece of parchment, “But I don’t… Not anymore. How could I own my adopted daughter? You don’t own duly-registered citizens!” He chuckled at her look of outright disbelief, “Technically, I just broke two laws pertaining to incest and child molestation… but I wanted to do that to prove one thing to you beyond any possible doubt: unless you want it to, nothing has changed. Legally, you’re my daughter now, and if you want to be a ‘normal’ child you can be, but you can also still be my little pet and bedmate. I won’t even make you give up your collar if you want to keep wearing it; everything that happens to you from now on is your choice, including surrendering the right to make those choices to me if you still want or need a Master.”
\tThe lioness took her stunned silence as a chance to comment, “You may have freed the vixen from being a pleasure slave… but you can’t take the pleasure slave out of the vixen. I doubt she’ll want to stop being what she’s enjoyed existing as for this long.”
\tThere were tears in the vixen’s eyes as her emotions were whipsawed back and forth, some from joy and others from when she’d briefly thought that she was being rejected. Finally, she rose shakily to her feet and murmured, “Daddy?” as if trying a new word for the first time. Smiling, she tried again, “Daddy!” and leaped into his arms to hug him tightly and kiss him as deeply and passionately as her little muzzle allowed.
\tVerona wiped her own eyes a little, chuckling softly, “An elegant solution indeed, my friend. Freedom may not mean much to someone who doesn’t particularly want to be free, but it will certainly matter to the authorities, giving you more leeway in what you can teach her and what she can do in your service.”
\tWhen she’d finally released his tongue back into his control, though neither of them seemed willing to let go of the other at the moment, Ferrl nodded, “If you’re willing, there’s one place on the adoption paper that could use your signature as witness before I return it to the archives. I could technically sign that part too in my official alter ego as Agent, but I’d rather do this as properly as possible. Also, as an Agent, this gives me much more leeway in how and where I bring Ela along… Sometimes she’ll be my daughter, and at others she’ll be my slave; it all depends on the role I need to fit into or the customs of the land I’m visiting.”
\t“I’ll always be both, Daddy,” the vixen insisted before the lioness could reply. “N’matter what that silly piece of parchment says, you’ll always be my Master, ‘cuz you’re th’best Master any vixen ever had!”
\t“I’m glad you think so, dear, I truly am…”
Chapter 3
\t“Why are you here, sir knight?” Bakar asked. “This is supposed to be your afternoon off.”
\tThe wolf grinned, “I’m not here for practice, per se… just one sparring match. It’s why I’ve been training so hard this last week in a particular style. The lady who made the offer is probably even faster and more agile than you, and I’m pretty sure she prefers paired weapons, but that explains this,” and he tapped the single piece of his plate armor he was wearing, the bracer for his left forearm, and the medium-small metal shield that was strapped to it. “She’s probably strong, too, so the armor should spread out impacts all over my arm and keep them from adding up to outright injury.” For the rest of his body, he wore a tight-laced leather vest, snug, tanned breeches, and some durable shoes, with nothing loose to catch on things or otherwise hinder his movement.
\tOne brow quirked, the captain shook his head, “Sounds like an extremely impressive lady… I’d like to meet her.”
\tFerrl chuckled, “You know her already, actually… Do you shock easily? Would something completely alien to your world-view cause any trouble such as running or fainting?”
\t“Hardly,” the ermine snorted. “I was once in the middle of a conversation with someone whose head unexpectedly exploded, and the assassin had been counting on people to be distracted by the spectacle long enough to tuck away his little magical weapon. His already-convincing ‘stunned and appalled’ act got a lot more genuine when I slipped around and surprised him with a sword through his spine.”
\tHis student nodded as he made his final preparation, taking off his baldric and setting it aside to hold only his bare sword. “This is slightly different, as it will relate to you on a more personal level,” he mused, “but try to stay calm. I’m sure she likes you, but people falling down and blubbering is bound to get annoying at times.” Stepping out into the center of the practice yard, he called to the empty air, “Malia, I am ready.”
\tHis expression, clearly conveying the thought that this mystery couldn’t possibly be that surprising, vanished instantly, and Bakar looked like someone had hit him in the face with a board as he blinked, mouthing his own Goddess’ name in stunned silence. The wolf was surprised his eyes didn’t fly right out of his skull with the reactive force of whipping his head around to stare at the lightly-armored feline who was calmly padding around the side of the armory.
\tA pair of short swords were sheathed at her hips, that she hadn’t worn in the tavern, but she was still the same black-furred feline with an uneven patch of white on her forehead, and her expression was amused as she looked at ‘her’ ermine. “Oh, don’t be silly, Bakar,” she told him in her rich voice. “You’ve taught this wolf well enough to beat you, and no student can keep learning if they win all the time! Let me teach him a little humility, and then I’ll return him to your care.”
\tThe stocky soldier could only nod helplessly, “By your will, m-my lady…”
\tNodding as well, Ferrl gave her a friendly smile, “One question, though… wood or steel? That armory behind you has an impressive variety of shapes and lengths of hardwood, so we could both find matches for our preferred weapons.”
\t“Oh, steel, definitely steel,” she chuckled back. “I’ll be sure not to inflict any injury I cannot heal, and it’s not like even the outright death of this particular body would actually inconvenience me. People tend to fight better when the weapons are real, anyway, as they know they’re in for more than bruises if someone gets through their defense.” She lifted one finger, her expression stern, “And while not quite a question, I do want to tell you that I’m expecting you to fight with just your weapons and body. No magic!”
\tThe wolf nodded immediately, “I hadn’t even been thinking of that… Magic is a fair response when attacked by surprise by a force that vastly outnumbers me, but not for an honorable contest between two individuals.” He smirked slightly and raised a matching finger, “And no miracles, of course, except for the necessary healing after the fact.”
\tMalia rolled her eyes, “At this point, were He here, my brother would thunder, ‘Seek not to bargain with Me, mortal!’ But I’m not Him… I think I like you, sir knight; we seem to have similar senses of propriety and measured response.” Drawing her swords, she stepped forward and planted her feet firmly in a defensive half-crouch, blades held loosely in front of her.
\t“Now would probably be a good time to step back,” the knight mused to Bakar, then took up his own position, sword held at the ready. Ferrl normally preferred to let his opponent make the first move, but since a Goddess could very well know that already he didn’t wait any longer than it took the ermine to retreat, hoping to surprise her as he rushed forward to launch a short slash meant to bash one of her swords out of the way that could be easily turned into a hard thrust if she declined to engage his weapon. He kept his muscles tense and taut, his grip nearly as steely as his blade as he focused on keeping it an extension of his own arm as it was blocked, but he relaxed enough the next moment to let it be edged out of line with the feline’s body. Had he not, her second sword could have twisted it out of his grip entirely, the bright blade flicking in that direction to suggest that the same thought had occurred to his lithe foe, but she was nothing if not observant and quickly blended the failed disarm into a thrust of her own, ringing off of his shield with a force he’d actually hoped for, helping his feet to slow his aborted rush.
\tHer riposte put him on the defensive, and he kept his weight centered throughout half-steps of retreat, her slashes alternating in a near blur as he parried, only to break the pattern at the apparently random point of the sixth swipe, the last sword to slash returning in a pumping double-thrust that sent him twisting to one side to dodge. That twist happened to turn him away from the blade she’d held in reserve, and the cat was quick to take advantage of the position she’d maneuvered him into, but the long hours he’d spent making his wrists ache served him in good stead, his grip surviving the awkward angle of the only block he could make before he leaped back out of range.
\t“You’re better than you look,” Malia conceded. “Most followers of my brother would be missing their sword hand after that little trick.”
\tFerrl nodded, a brief smile flashing past his expression though he remained wary and observant, “It has to do with the way I was taught… Your follower started me on your brother’s path, but once the associated raw strength was obtained he showed me how to use it in a way more fitting to your own teachings. It’s a surprisingly effective combination at times,” and he abandoned words in favor of demonstration, his blade nearly as blurred as her much lighter weapons had been as he launched a series of overhead slashes. They bounced off of one sword after the other, his less muscular opponent needing to swing hard to counter his heavy blade’s inertia. She couldn’t keep that style of defense up forever, he knew, so he wasn’t surprised when she ducked out from under yet another slash, leaping forward and to his left, her paired blades flashing out at angles he couldn’t hope to intercept both of with his shield. Metal rang as he blocked the upper of the two, sucking in his gut and half-curling to dodge the second, and before she could bring her arms back together he lashed his foot out and caught her squarely in the belly.
\tGrunting in surprise and pain, the feline retreated, blinking as she looked up to find him in a renewed defensive stance. “Why didn’t you follow up on that?” she asked, panting. “You could have had me with one slash.”
\tBlinking some himself, the wolf shook his head, “Habit, I guess; I’m more used to practice than actual battles, having been in genuine combat all of once in my life, and it’s only polite to give someone a moment to recover when you’re just sparring.”
\tThe mortal Goddess chuckled, “Understandable, I suppose… but don’t let it happen again; I certainly won’t if I get you into a similar position!” Shaking her head once more to clear it, she leaped forward, slashes and thrusts coming with no pattern that the wolf could discern as she attacked high and low, all of his attention occupied by watching those spinning blades and maneuvering his own steel to intercept. A lifted knee blocked a similar kick she’d obviously been counting on her weapons’ distracting effects to allow through, but even failure could be turned into its own advantage and she dodged to the far side, knowing he couldn’t turn well on one foot, a thrust landing a painful cut on his upper arm.
\tThat was the only attack his momentary imbalance allowed, and he faced her firmly again as the range between them opened, holding his shield in front of his chest as he charged forward, sword poised for a thrust. Retreating half a step, she angled one sword to keep his engaged, the other cocked back to strike his shield hard enough to stop its anticipated bash, but both of those preparations drew her attention away from his feet, which came together in a sudden, skidding thrust of their own, the knight catching his fall on his sword-arm’s elbow as he knocked her nearer blade away with his shield, just before his legs collided with hers and she fell toward him, right onto the point of his weapon.
\tFerrl couldn’t help but chuckle at the look of sheer surprise on the lovely feline’s face, as her arms lost their strength and her swords fell to the hard-packed dirt of the yard, and he gave her a light kiss on the pad of her nose as he extricated himself from beneath her. His own sword hit the ground a moment later as her body wavered and vanished, only the blood in the dust and on its blade left as evidence that she’d been there at all.
\tTurning around at the sound of slow applause, he saw Malia clapping as she walked toward him, a smile on her face, “Oh, very well done, sir knight! The ‘right’ defense to that particular attack would have worked had that been the attack I actually faced, but it wasn’t and I paid the price for underestimating you.” Touching the chest of her intact leathers, she winced at the memory, “You know I only just learned to make this sort of body, and dying was rather unpleasant as new experiences go… but the entire fight taught me a lot about mortalkind that I’d simply guessed at before. It was worth learning to feel pain, as I’ll now have a firmer basis upon which to judge my followers’ claims of their triumphs and woes.” Padding the rest of the way over, she retrieved her swords and sheathed them in the empty scabbards at her hips.
\tBakar shook his head to clear it after the dizzying fight and the shock of watching his own deity fall in battle. “I very nearly attacked you myself,” he admitted to the wolf, “when I saw your sword sticking out of my lady’s back… so it’s a good thing she returned so quickly.” He stepped closer, smiling to the feline, “It was an honor that I will likely cherish as the high point of my life, though, to see you in action myself. I will carry it in my heart until we meet again on the other side of death.”
\tLaying one hand on his shoulder, Malia smiled affectionately, “You are a good and true follower of my ways, and my heaven awaits you… but don’t rush on my account. You have many years ahead of you, and if this wolf is typical of those you train then they will be well spent. Carry on with my blessing.”
\tDipping his head in gratitude, the ermine chuckled, “He’s hardly typical… but you found that out for yourself. Nonetheless, I thank you for your blessing and your words.”
\tShe gave him one more squeeze then turned back to the knight, taking a step over to lay her hand on the cut she’d inflicted, a white glow surrounding it as she mended the minor injury. “There,” she nodded matter-of-factly, “just as I promised. Though, I haven’t forgotten my other promise, or at least my strong hint at the possibility, back in the tavern…”
\tFerrl smirked, “Oh, I remember,” then donned a less lecherous smile, “but I won’t hold you to it unless you insist. I took you up on your offer because it represented an irresistible challenge, rather than for any specific prize, and I’ve been well enough rewarded by that extremely stimulating match we just concluded. If you wish to be insistent, however, or to take your sister up on her suggestion where food’s concerned, you need but visit my home and we can work things out from there.”
\tNodding, the feline giggled, “Fair enough… Did you have any plans for the rest of today?”
\t“No,” the Agent blinked, “as a matter of fact my afternoon and evening are completely free, which is why I chose this day to pursue the self-indulgent pleasure of our little bout…”
\tBakar was looking curious too, “What’s this about promises and food?”
\tMalia arched a brow at the ermine, a very feline smirk on her muzzle, “For the latter, I’m told that your student is very nearly as good a cook as he is a warrior. For the former… well, that’s a personal matter between he and I.” Turning to start padding toward the gate of the guard compound, she called over her shoulder, “Clean your sword and come along, sir knight! You were right about the fight being stimulating, and I’d like to see the truth of the other forms of stimulation Kathy and Roxy have been raving about.”
* * *
\t“Ela?” the wolf called as was his habit upon returning home.
\tThe vixen bounded down the stairs and ran over to hug him, “Daddy! That didn’t take long…” Letting go of his waist, she leaned around him to blink at his companion, “An’ you brought the kitty from the tavern home… Did’ya—did you beat her?”
\tMalia chuckled softly, “I made him work for it… but, yes, he pulled a dirty trick that ended up tripping me right onto his sword.” Frowning slightly, she asked the wolf, “Why isn’t this child wearing anything?”
\tShrugging, he made the necessary introduction, “Malia, this is my daughter Ela. I only recently adopted her as such, and before that she was a pleasure slave.” He held up one hand at the deeper frown this fetched, “I know you don’t like that sort of thing… but she’s free now, and only maintains the manner of her former life because she chooses to. It’s part of the free will you and your family encourages, and by that will she follows the path that gives her the greatest satisfaction, which in this case happens to include a lot of the things your vulpine sister stands for.”
\tThe nod he got in reply was grudging, “Alright… and I can also see that she belongs firmly to my other sister, so it’s not my place to judge regardless.”
\tLeading the way toward the kitchen, Ferrl nodded back, “Ela, it’s a bit early for supper, but I had a light lunch anyway, so I’m going to fix a few snacks to introduce our guest to the delights of mortal cuisine. As far as I know, in several thousand years she’s never once eaten anything.” While his former pet giggled at that, he started opening cupboards and drawers, fetching meat, bread, and seasonings as he got to work.
\tMalia watched with interest, sitting quietly on a stool as he combined thin strips of beef with thicker chunks of chicken in a simple mixture of garlic, onion, a few chopped chestnuts for texture, a small dab of butter, and a healthy sprinkling of sea salt to bring out the other flavors, sautéing them as he cut thick slices from the golden-brown loaf and then spooning the steaming, dripping mix onto the bread. “That can’t have been as easy as it looked,” the feline mused as two well-loaded slices were set before her. “It smells wonderful, but those who join my temples as artists, who choose to focus on culinary mastery, tend to take a lot longer to prepare their wonders.”
\t“I already had the garlic and onion chopped,” the wolf shrugged, “as I use them so often, and I trim skin, fat, and tendons off of my meat as soon as I buy it… It doesn’t take long even then, but that slight investment in effort can significantly reduce the time needed to assemble the ingredients into a fresh meal, and I often make large batches of other things in advance that will stay fresh enough, if not quite this appealing, for several days at a time.” He smiled, loading another piece of bread for himself, “Go on, try it; it cools quickly once the drippings flow away, so it should be ready to eat now.”
\tAs he worked on filling a half-slice for Ela, who’d had a bigger lunch already, the Goddess picked up one of her pieces, sniffed it, and took a nibble at a slice of beef hanging off of the edge… Blinking, she opened her mouth wide and took a big bite, eyes rolling skywards as she chewed. The bread and meat vanished as quickly as she could fill her muzzle, chew, and swallow, her tail lashing behind her. “Oh, my,” she purred as she reached for the second piece of bread, “I have been missing out! I’m going to have some very stern words with my sisters about keeping secrets; this sort of thing is just too good to wait for thousands of years for!”
\tHer host grinned as she devoured the rest of what he’d served, and he poured a couple mugs of cider before tucking into his own repast. Around bites of food he found time to comment, “This isn’t my best, actually… I’m in between big batches of the better-seasoned things, and I didn’t want you to have to wait long enough for me to prepare something complicated. Kathy’s very first visit was specifically timed to get one of those batches while it was fresh, and it was worth that care.”
\tEla, who’d already finished her small portion, grinned, “Y’mean the gooey-sweet beef? Yeah,” and she licked her muzzle, “that’s lots better.”
\tMalia chewed her last bite a few times to savor it, then sighed as she picked up her mug to take a sip, “I’m definitely going to keep a divine ear out where you’re concerned… If you occasionally prepare meals that are even better than this, by all means call me for the next!”
\t“Alright,” the wolf nodded, chuckling, “I’ll do that. And I’ll be doing the same, if with merely mortal senses, should that calamity you mentioned surface and you enlist Kathy’s cooperation. Just don’t use Tarragh for a messenger; I can just imagine Him yelling ‘heed My words mortal’ loud enough to knock my house down, and trying to get Him to buy me another would probably be truly futile.”
\tThe feline cackled, “Oh, that’s so Him! No matter how much you may look like one of His flock, you’re right; you and He just wouldn’t get along, as both your mind and body are so much more agile than His preference for muscle-bound, nearly mindless followers of orders.”
\tFerrl nodded once more, then tilted his head curiously… “This may seem completely unrelated, but… you don’t wear anything under that armor, do you?”
\tBlinking, Malia shook her head, “No… should I?”
\tThe wolf shrugged, “It’s not that… I’d simply been wondering why the vixen behind you was sniffing at skirt-level and looking interested.”
\tThe feline managed a quarter-turn and an abbreviated, “What vix—” before squealing as Ela’s exploring fingertips gave her another completely-new experience in her mortal body.
\tThe naughty child giggled as she danced away, licking her fingers, “Dunno whether it was th’fight or th’food, but you was kinda sticky down there… Tasty!”
\tAs her host simply laughed, Malia shook her head with a grudging grin, “I guess I was warned about this one, and just didn’t pay enough heed…” Waggling her finger at the cub, she chuckled, “You did not beat me in a fight… You’re free to try when you’re older, but for now only your ‘daddy’ is permitted those sorts of liberties.”
\tFerrl snickered softly, “She just might, you know… Now that I’ve adopted her and she’s no longer subject to the laws governing the behavior of slaves, I was planning to teach her to defend herself. If she’s got enough natural talent, or even close to it due to the benefits of teaching her so young, she could be as good as I am by the time she grows up.”
\t“Good,” Malia asserted with a firm nod. “Everyone should have the right and ability to defend themselves from harm, and you’re certainly good enough to teach her.”
\tThe wolf nodded back, then addressed his daughter, “You go read or something, dear… As she seems intent upon fulfilling her half-promise even after the chances I’ve given her to honorably back out of it, I’m going to take the kitten here upstairs and do unto her as I did unto Roxy to that vixen’s profound satisfaction, and this is one of the few times you can’t join in. I’ve got a special treat in mind for you, though, to make up for it later.”
\tThe ears that had drooped at the news of her exclusion perked right back up again at his promise, and Ela nodded, “Okay, Daddy!” then scampered out into the sitting room to pick a book.
\tFerrl smiled to his divine guest, offering a hand. “The acts I referred to,” he assured her, “included none of the more painful examples of depravity that tend to be associated with my religion. If you would join me in my bedroom, I will happily introduce you to aspects of mortal life that should prove at least as sensual an experience as my cooking.”
\tSlipping her warm hand into his, Malia nodded with a smile of her own, “I think I’ll enjoy this… Lead on, sir knight.”
* * *
\tIt was three more days before the wolf found enough free time to carry through with his planned treat for Ela. A few discreet inquiries while checking to make sure that Verona was settling into her new role as a countess in her own right, regarding just where the playclub obtained the more disposable members of their staff, had given him the last piece of information he’d needed, and he couldn’t help but grin to himself as he unlocked his door and called, “Ela? I’m home!” The vixen padded out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a rag as she walked, then stopped as she saw the stranger her father had led in by a leash. “This is Jol,” he introduced the buck deer once he’d closed the door, somewhere around ten or eleven years old by the look of him, “and he’ll be your playmate tonight. Put whatever you were working on in the icebox, as it might be a while before supper.” The young stag was busy looking the naked foxcub up and down, so he completely missed the ear slanted toward him while his new owner licked his teeth suggestively.
\tEla giggled, “Yes, Master,” obviously deciding on the spur of the moment to give the impression that she was just another slave that the knight happened to already own.
\t“And you,” he directed his recent purchase as he untied the simple leash he’d come with, “go upstairs and get ready. Use the privy and wash up, as my little vixen is likely to want to get to know every bit of you, and we wouldn’t want to offend her delicate nose, hmm?”
\tNodding, the buck replied, “Yes, Master,” and glanced around to spot the staircase before following his orders.
\tStepping into the kitchen, he found Ela loading a half-cleaned chicken into the insulated cupboard, and she looked up at him with a hopeful grin, murmuring quietly, “Are you really gonna let me kill him, Daddy?”
\tFerrl nodded, teeth flashing in a grin of his own, “And carve him up to join that bird you were mangling, afterwards. He only cost a gold half-crown, but there’s more at stake than just the price of meat here… This will be your first real sacrifice to our winged friend, so we’ll see just how well you learned from your practice with Her mortal semblance. Remember, She likes there to be pleasure involved, too.” He tilted his head at a passing thought, “Don’t bring your knife, though… We don’t want to scare him. You can use mine, as it’s perfectly natural to have it nearby after I take off what he’s already seen me wearing, up there.”
\tGiggling again, she gave her hands one more good wiping and followed him up to the bedroom.
\tJol finished his cleanup and stepped out of the bathroom just as his owner was disrobing, but a grin and a wave toward the bed turned his attention to much more interesting things than a half-naked wolf. That cute vixen he’d seen was there, wearing no more than the collar that proclaimed her his equal, and he smiled as he climbed up beside her. “You’s the ‘treat’ Master has been promising me for a while,” she told him with a grin, “and I’s glad you’re older’n me. Means you should be nice an’ big.” He opened his muzzle to reply, then shut it, glancing worriedly at his owner, only to moan despite himself as the other child’s black-furred paw found his sheath and started to rhythmically squeeze…
\t“Don’t worry yourself any,” Ferrl assured him as he tossed his clothes onto one corner of the bed and climbed up himself, “I’ve never been too picky about when my slaves are allowed to speak. Talk with her all you want.”
\t“Yes, Master,” the stag immediately replied, then moaned again as a slender point of pink peeked out of his white-furred sheath. “Mmm, you’re good at that,” he told the fox more directly, his eyes half-closed as he relaxed into her touch.
\tEla’s only reply was to dip her head down and take that tip into her muzzle, tongue swirling as she urged its further egress and cheeks hollowing with the occasional firm suckle. He was only a few inches long once he’d gotten as hard as he could, but fairly thick for his age, and he needed no further invitation when the vixen straightened up, leaned back, and spread her legs wide. Kneeling between her thighs, the buck gently gripped her hindside and lifted her enough to bring her tiny, glistening treasures into contact with his pointy-tipped staghood, a whimper of bliss escaping as he lowered her onto his length. “T-tight,” he rumbled with a shudder, his eyes scrunched closed as the slick heat gradually surrounded him, “and warm…”
\tHis owner’s deep chuckle sounded to one side, “She is those, yes… but she’s also fully pleasure-trained. You don’t have to be quite so gentle; it’s not like she’s a virgin…”
\tSmirking slightly, the older slave asked, “Then she’d like… this?” and jerked his hips forward, the tip of his sheath itself vanishing into the snug glove of flesh before him as he buried himself to the hilt. Ela’s happy squeal was answer enough, and she rocked her own hips to pull off of him then plunged back down. Following the rhythm as she set it, the stag thrust happily into the best lay of his young life; almost the only lay, but he’d had a few supervised sessions with older slavegirls as part of his training, just to get him used to the concept even if he wasn’t intended to specialize in sexual service himself.
\tCrouching on the pillows, Ferrl scooted forward until his own shaft was within range, nudging his daughter’s muzzle with the tip. She didn’t even have to open her eyes; the familiar scent of her Master’s musk was enough, and she immediately engulfed his blunt head with her muzzle, tongue lapping happily away as she suckled. Her first climax made for a moment’s discomfort as her sharp little teeth clenched just enough to graze, and her smaller lover blinked a bit at the sudden increase in warm fluids that soaked his crotch, but there wasn’t enough in her bladder to seriously dissuade him and he was soon thrusting again with all of his previous vigor. His eyes opened to slits to watch as his Master playfully pinched and twisted the vixen’s tiny nipples, her squeals muffled by the thickness in her muzzle, but she evidently liked that, too, as it didn’t take long for the three-pronged assault to elicit another series of clenches, her depths’ renewed massage of his young shaft enough to send him over the edge and make him bleat his pleasure to the world, his hips still as a tiny jet or two of his immature fluids joined the slickness already surrounding him.
\tWithdrawing himself from the cub’s muzzle, Ferrl climbed around to kneel behind Jol after a brief pause at his discarded clothes and belt, close enough that his still-engorged shaft touched the white underside of the buck’s tail. The older slave blinked as he came out of his pleasured haze, immediately guessing and dreading what his Master desired, but he also knew that it wasn’t his place to argue, and he did his best to stifle a sigh as he eased his softening boyhood out of his playmate. He supposed he could live with that sort of thing if it also meant getting to frequently help satisfy the horny little minx in front of him…
\tEla levered herself up to a kneel of her own, then leaned forward, lapping at the retreating pink between Jol’s thighs. Her tongue was carefully gentle, its strokes soft enough not to hurt so soon after his own pleasure, and he giggled softly at her evident intent to keep playing. “That’s good,” he heard his Master encourage her, “get him hard again and you can go for another round… For now, though, I’m going to put all of that slickness you left me with to good use.”
\tJol did his best not to tense up as his fears were confirmed, knowing that such would only make things hurt more… He focused on the black, white, and russet face at his groin to distract himself, smiling as she wrapped her lips around the tip that had stopped retreating to suckle encouragingly as it eased its way back toward firmness. He’d almost managed to forget the wolf behind him entirely when the cool moisture tipping his weighty shaft touched his anus, and he was surprised to find himself immensely grateful for the vixen’s efforts as her saliva did, indeed, help keep things slick enough that only the sheer girth of the flesh spreading and penetrating him caused any discomfort, as opposed to the near agony excessive friction would have elicited. The sting of his wide-stretched rump detracted, somewhat, from the more pleasant sensations before him, but he figured that if the cub wanted another stuffing of her own, that would only serve to help him last even longer, and making her happy was something he could indeed look forward to.
\tFerrl rumbled happily as he buried himself in the young deer, almost half his length vanishing into the white cleft of those fawn-furred rumpcheeks before friction asserted itself, and he eased back, beginning a series of shallow thrusts to spread the boy’s own slickness as he worked gradually deeper. He felt the child’s start of surprise when he finally bottomed out, his knot pressed against the taut ring of muscle gripping him and his tip nudging something deep within that evidently caused some degree of pleasure, and he chuckled as his vixen looked up, a string of clear stickiness linking her lips to the shaft before her.
\t“Dunno what you just did, Master, but it made ‘im squirt something!” she chirped, then went directly back to her ‘snack.’
\tThe wolf shook his head, “I’d heard some comments to the effect that that was part of sodomy where males are concerned… but I hadn’t tried it myself ‘til today, nor have I ever been on the receiving end… Just enjoy yourself, dear, whatever happens.” Withdrawing a few inches, he thrust again with a bit more force, a half-pained bleat answering his efforts.
\tEla resumed her sucking, cheeks hollowed as she bounced her muzzle up and down along the meaty length before her, her partner’s eyes scrunched shut but her own still open to slits as she happily worked her magic on him. Glancing to one side, she spotted the swirl-covered steel of the blade her owner-turned-father had set right next to the buck’s calf, and she redoubled her efforts at the sign that this second round was also meant to be the last, tongue slathering up and down his shaft with the occasional pause to focus entirely on its pointy tip, and Jol moaned his appreciation of her technique.
\tTo his own surprise, as the strokes of the huge (to him) cylinder of maleness filling and emptying his bowels kept pistoning, its thrusts growing longer and stronger with each passing moment, that ‘torture’ he’d dreaded actually started to become a source of pleasure, even beyond the odd-feeling twinge each time its tip struck deep within. His own shaft was as hard as he could ever remember it being, and he thrust it eagerly time and time again into the hungry muzzle surrounding it. All of his estimates as to how his first climax or the pounding violation of his ass might postpone the second seemed to be falling to the wayside, and he gripped the back of his smaller lover’s head as a new peak drew near, his own lolling back as his panting grew steadily raspier…
\tAs his bleat of triumph broke the air once more, a new rush of faintly-salty slickness filling her muzzle, Ela sank her sharp teeth into the pulsing meat between them, that bleat breaking off in a strangled gurgle before returning as a shriek of pain. Jol’s climax was still throbbing through his staghood as she chewed deeper, its steady pulse outpaced by that of his racing heart as spurts of blood met her tongue, and the pleasure mingled with his sudden agony had not quite passed into the purity of undiluted torment when the fox gave one last, strong jerk of her head and tore his shaft completely free, a grin on her bloodied muzzle as she swallowed it whole.
\tFerrl released one of his hands from the grips he’d taken on Jol’s shoulders to make sure he stayed put, gesturing at the bat-hilted knife beside him, but had to leave it at that as his own climax neared, the hot passage surrounding him quivering in a most stimulating manner as the terrified child did his best to shit himself, but that’s why he’d made up an excuse to send the buck to the privy before any of this had started, so all the effort managed to do was tease his Master’s shaft into erupting with thick gouts of seed as the wolf threw back his head and howled. Renewed yelps and bleats of pain greeted his return to full consciousness, his vixen looking somewhat disheveled from several frantic blows on her playmate’s part, but she’d already taken steps to see that no more landed, both of Jol’s shoulders sporting short, spurting stumps and his arms laying still on the sheets to either side. “Good girl,” he nodded to Ela, still panting with a hint of the peak that had just passed. “I should have thought of that myself, and the next treat I buy you will have his or her arms tied up before things get this far.”
\t“He didn’t hurt me much, daddy,” the vixen assured him, then took a firmer grip on the razor-sharp blade in her grasp, grinning, “Not nearly as much as this is gonna hurt him!” before raising it high and ramming it point-first through his breastbone, yanking it out just as quickly so she could bathe her face in the sudden gout of hot crimson. “Accept this sacrifice, Kathalla!” she cried happily, droplets of blood flying from her muzzle, then buried the folded-steel blade to its black-winged hilt in the buck’s belly for good measure, a couple inches off-center to make sure she didn’t nick the wolfhood still thrust into his guts. Jol gave one last, agonized twitch then slumped forward, the pulsing gushes from his chest slowing to a mere trickle as he finally died.
\tEasing himself out of the boy’s hindside, the wolf laid him to one side on his back and mused, “These sheets are already ruined so we may as well just butcher him here… See if you can get his pelt off in as close to one piece as possible, and I’ll take it to be preserved and made into a garment of some sort. I kept a fluffy bunny-tail from my first sacrifice, and it’s only fair to give you a souvenir of your own from this one.”
\tEla nodded, pulling the knife out of her ‘treat’s belly (after a bit of twisting to free its wicked hook) to more carefully apply its edge to the hollow of his throat, starting a neat, downward slice that made use of the slit already there just over his heart. “An’ we’ll be havin’ venison for days and days!” she grinned as she got to work.
\t“Long enough to last us ‘til the next one,” the knight agreed. “While I was researching what I needed to do to adopt you, I noticed that we’ve almost got the same birthday… In about two weeks you’ll be turning seven, and I’ll be eighteen just four days later, so I was thinking of combining the celebration into one big party at the playclub. It’ll be fun for us, but somehow I doubt that the slaves we pick to ‘celebrate’ with there will be of the same opinion…” Her wicked grin of anticipation was every bit as predatory as his own.
Chapter 4
\t“These aren’t really ‘magic words,’” Ferrl explained, his answer to Ela’s simple inquiry as to what he was reading having grown steadily more complex over the last several minutes. “In the stories, when a wizard is reciting an incantation as part of a spell, all he’s really doing is jogging his own memory. The ways in which the many types of magical energy can be blended, shaped, channeled, projected, restrained, filtered, concentrated, or otherwise made to do what the mage wants can be very complicated… so they work out the exact sequence of those things and what kinds of energy they do them to, and write down these words which were developed to precisely describe it all. By memorizing those words and reciting them back, they can remind themselves of exactly what they need to do to make the spell work.” He shook his head with a grimace, “I seem to have run out of ‘fun’ things to learn at the Guild… Now that I know the basic ways to do things, most of my remaining study involves learning what all of these strange-sounding words mean so I can understand complicated spells that others have written, or write down my own should I come up with something I want to remember how to duplicate. Then there are what my teachers call ‘second-tier’ techniques, covering advanced topics like the use of thought-energy or the sort of magical translocation that got me to this kingdom in the first place, but they won’t even discuss those until I’m judged a full master of the basic stuff.”
\tThe vixen’s muzzle wrinkled as if she’d bitten into something sour, “Sounds borin’ alright… I’ll go back to readin’ ‘bout that wandering bard an’ the three shepherd’s daughters. You finally got somethin’ to study that I don’t wanna learn too.”
\tChuckling softly, he gave her rump an affectionate pat and looked back to the tome in his lap. He was about halfway through the list of short sounds describing a particular level of an energy type, and he knew there’d be a test in the morning where his teacher would call out words assembled from those sounds and expect him to immediately project the correct balance of mixed energies.
\tEla had stopped looking up each time he muttered something strange; the mostly-harmless energies he’d been projecting into the fireplace for practice had been interesting enough at first, but repetition had soon made them pale in comparison to the tale in her own book, rife with mingled juices, buggery, and the occasional indignity inflicted upon unsuspecting sheep. They both looked up, though, at the sound of a firm knocking at the door, and it was with a sense of relief that Ferrl closed his borrowed textbook and rose to answer it.
\t“Kathy!” the wolf greeted with a smile, stepping out of the doorway so she could enter.
\tThe bat shook her head grimly, remaining exactly where she stood. “I’m only here to tell you that Lachier’s on his way. You’re about to get another mission and it has my support. In the thousands of years since my own birth, I’ve never seen a Goddess on the spiritual plane, crying… but that’s exactly what Malia did, and it pertains to that problem She’d known was coming. She’d fill you in Herself, but I persuaded Her to wait until you’d gotten your marching orders and were well on your way, to absolutely minimize any delay in helping Her favorite children.”
\tNodding, his expression serious, Ferrl turned toward the sitting room, “Ela? Go upstairs and start loading a knapsack with clothes for both of us as well as anything else that’s light and needed; if the situation’s this bad, I’ll want to be on the road as fast as conceivably possible if not faster.” When he turned back, the bat was gone. Closing the door, he opened his entryway’s closet and started loading pieces of his racked armor there into oiled bags.
\tHe’d just filled one and was starting the next when the anticipated second knock came. Opening the door, he gestured for the ‘coon and his guards to enter, speaking before any of them could, “I’ve already been told something’s up, and Ela and I are already packing. Tell me what you need me to know and I’ll be on my way almost immediately.”
\tThe prince blinked, then stepped inside. “That explains why my father was looking rather shaken when he gave me your orders to relay; our Goddess must be taking a direct hand in this.” Settling into a chair, he continued, “The basic issue is that a unicorn has been seen being led into a slave house in the duchy of Rajai. We have another Agent as close as Crisom, but for some reason Kathalla wants you to investigate the first appearance of a unicorn in nearly a thousand years.”
\tFerrl blinked, but didn’t let his surprise slow his packing as he replied over the clatter of steel, “Unicorn Vale shares a border with Rajai… but according to my geography lessons, that border is enforced by Malia Herself. No one can cross it, in or out! That certainly explains why this is a major issue, if someone’s found a way to enter freely and is intent on reintroducing unicorns to the slave market.”
\tLachier nodded, tossing a heavy pouch onto the end table beside him, then fished a roll of parchment out of his vest pocket. “Given the distance you’ll have to cover and the fact that you were just about to be paid on your regular schedule, your next two months’ wages have been added to your mission stipend, and to avoid unnecessary delays the king has issued a writ of free passage for you. Show it to any guards or militia you encounter, and they should let you pass without the troublesome business of having to authenticate your badge of office. He’s also provided written orders that will allow you to commandeer horses from royal courier stables in the event that your own is played out before you reach your goal, as well as a blank goldsmith’s draft on the royal account in case some major problem arises that can be easily solved with money.” He shook his head in mild wonder, “Our Goddess must have been quite emphatic with my father; never in my lifetime has so much care been taken on a single Agent’s behalf to ensure that they’ll be able to accomplish their mission… Still, make sure that there’s no other option before you use the draft, as you’ll only have one of them.”
\tThe wolf pulled the last bag’s drawstring tight then fetched his and Ela’s main and spare cloaks from the closet, draping them over his arm. “I’ll be on my way immediately,” he told his oldest Drachathian friend. “I’ve been told that the fine details of what I’m to investigate and how I’m to use the information I gather will be provided to me by a higher authority on the way,” and he mimed a glance heavenwards for clarity, “but I’ve got nearly eight hundred miles to cover in a straight line, and no telling how much actual riding ahead of me, if I’m remembering my maps right, so I’d best start shortening that total as quickly as I can.” Frowning, he added, “There’s a spare key in the stand there; you might want to send a servant over to clean out my kitchen, as the food would cause quite a stench if it was left ‘til I got back.”
\tNodding, the prince padded over to shake his hand, “I’ll do that, and see that someone keeps an eye on your garden as well. I understand the need for haste, though, and you’re reacting with remarkable professionalism given how sudden this all is. I’ll see you when you return, and we can belatedly celebrate your birthday then.”
\t“And Ela’s,” Ferrl added with a grin, squeezing the ‘coon’s paw in return. “You should have seen what she did to her first sacrifice; I’m very glad I’m on her good side, and she’ll certainly be entertaining to watch with all of the club’s slaves to choose her next victim from!”
\tLachier grinned back as he fetched the key from the drawer, “I’m looking forward to it,” and gave his friend a jaunty salute before taking his leave.
\tThe door had hardly closed when Ela herself came scampering down the stairs, a good-sized knapsack bouncing behind her. “I got my knife and your spare money in here,” she reported. “Are we leaving now or do we have time to grab some of Jol for dinner?”
\t“Just as soon as you put on your cloak and add our spares to that bag, we’re out of here; we’ll grab some meat pies or something from a vendor on our way out of the city,” her father decided as he stepped over to retrieve the pouch and papers from the table. “You’ll have to carry that as far as the stables; my armor and the big swords are all I can manage without dropping something.” As an afterthought, he picked up the book on magical description as well; he’d have lots of time to study on the trip ahead, after all.
* * *
\tThe sun was just starting to set as Ferrl leaned his clacking burdens against the stableyard fence and strode toward the building proper. Though he was looking for the equine who ran the place, the first person he saw and recognized was a feline coming up the road that led away from Fariach, so he quickly amended his plans. Spotting the burly stablemaster next, he cut off the other man’s greeting in his most businesslike tone, “I know you normally just shelter and exercise others’ mounts rather than sell them, but I have to ask if there are any to buy regardless. You know me as a knight, but I’m also an Agent, and the king has just given me a mission of the utmost urgency at the direct request of a Goddess. Cherrah cannot carry myself, my armor, my daughter, and an adult companion all at the same time, or at least not for any great distance, and I have to cross very nearly the entire kingdom.”
\tBlinking, the beastmaster turned and yelled farther back into the stable, “Syran! Nushet! Saddle Cherrah and… Red, too. Quickly now!” Turning back to the wolf, he gave a rueful shake of his head, “I can think of several of the horses here whose owners might be willing to part with them, but none are of a temperament to forgive me for selling them without at least consulting them first, and it doesn’t sound like you’d be willing to wait that long. You take good care of your stallion, though, so I have to trust that you’d also treat my own mare right. I’ll miss her… but I know I’ll enjoy getting acquainted with whoever I buy to replace her once I’ve gotten over the loss. Give me your word as both knight and Agent that she’ll be well-kept, and she’s yours for four nobles, and that’s profit enough to cover the grain and waterskins I’m sure you were also planning to buy.” He paused to yell over his shoulder, “You hear that, you two? Load ‘em with fodder and water, and the good stuff!” The stableboys saddling the horses both called back their acknowledgment.
\tFerrl nodded, “That request was to be the next thing I said, so instead I will give you my word of honor as knight and Agent of Drachath to treat your beloved Red as she deserves, and my thanks as a man for your actions this evening.” Dipping his fingers into his vest pocket, he passed over four of the large gold coins, a half-grin on his muzzle as he mused, “And for the supplies, my friend, keep the rest of the stabling time I paid for; it will have expired well before I could return, and I shall happily pay anew then. I cannot absolutely promise that return, as any Agent’s mission tends to involve at least some degree of danger, but know that only my death will prevent you from seeing me, and Cherrah and Red of course, once more.”
\tThe equine snorted with a faint grin of his own as he pocketed the money, “There are many tales told around various hearths about the kingdom’s fabled Agents… but one thing they have in common is that such are notoriously difficult to kill. My Red is no warhorse, but she’s strong and swift, and I’m certain I’ll see both of you again.”
\t“We can hope,” the Agent nodded, then tilted his head as a thought occurred, “Is Red’s cycle normal? If it’s off, that could be… inconvenient, should her season strike while traveling alongside a full stallion.”
\tThe older man laughed, “And that just goes to prove my trust that you consider your mounts’ welfare as well as your own! No, her season passed with the spring, though I didn’t breed her this year.” The shadow of a fond memory crossed his eyes as he added with a chuckle, “At least, not to anything that could sire a foal on her… though I did what I could, personally, to ease the discomfort of estrus for her.” He turned to gesture at the pair of horses his assistants were leading out, “There she is, and Cherrah looks happy to see you… Take them with my blessing, and have a safe journey.”
\tAfter spending a moment stroking noses and letting his hand be snuffled over, to greet the stallion and introduce himself to the mare, Ferrl gave the stablemaster a nod then took a set of reins in each hand to lead the beasts toward the ladies waiting for him just outside the yard.
\t“You’ve acted with all the haste I could have hoped,” Malia murmured the moment he neared. “I’ve watched, and you haven’t spent a bit of time on anything that couldn’t be accurately termed ‘necessary.’ For that you have my deepest thanks…”
\tThe wolf was already rigging the rope-linked cuffs to either side of Cherrah’s saddle to support his greatswords, and he nodded as he maneuvered the first one through the loops, “I don’t even know exactly where we’re going, and my knowledge of the history of unicorns is limited to a few sentences mentioned in passing several weeks ago, but details are strictly secondary in importance. I will need them eventually, but I had my Goddess’ statement of urgency, well-backed by my king’s obvious effort to support the mission, and those were all it took to get me started.”
\tGlancing over what needed to be loaded, Malia hefted his rope-connected sacks of armor and set them over the red-brown mare’s back just behind her well-filled saddlebags. “We are going to the city of Chraf, seat of the Earldom of Wheathaven, in the northwest corner of the Duchy of Rajai. It borders the lands of… of my children…” and she had to pause to wipe fresh tears from her eyes. Ela stepped over and reached up, giving the cat a hard, comforting hug and not even attempting to feel her up through her light armor, the affection returned gratefully for the long moment it lasted.
Ferrl nodded, slid his second sword home, and picked up the bag of clothes and other necessities to sling over his black stallion’s rump, lacing a spare thong through the two bands of leather around the sack’s canvas to tie it down. “Tell me the rest once you’re mounted; whether you’re with us for the whole journey or not, that’s the main reason I bought the second horse, so we wouldn’t have to stand around while you told me what I need to know.” Lifting Ela up into Cherrah’s saddle, he followed to sit behind her. Only when the feline had recovered enough to mount as well and they’d started an easy trot westwards to reach the main road leading north did he continue, “Other than one unusually-long stretch where she lived with me for several weeks, Kathy comes and goes as she pleases, never staying for long, and Roxy’s no different. That’s why I ask: will you be remaining with us for the whole trip? You probably know the most efficient route to Chraf, and I wanted to see if your wisdom would be available to me before taking the time to obtain maps, as such might not be necessary depending on your answer.”
\t“I haven’t gotten into Kathy’s or Roxy’s habit of dividing myself into several incarnations at once,” she answered with a shake of her head, “so there’s no need for me to take this one elsewhere… I’ll be happy to guide you, if for no other reason than to thank you for the hasteful foresight you’ve been showing from the moment my sister brought you word.”
\tThe wolf nodded again, “Fair enough. Now, what can you tell me about the situation as you know it in Wheathaven?” In front of him, sensing a story in the offing, Ela perked up her ears and listened attentively.
\tA hint of sadness returned to the Goddess’ voice as she answered, “Too little, yet too much… I watch the border of the Vale constantly, repelling any attempt made to cross from without or gently guiding my children back toward their homes should any of them roam too far, and every one of the twelve thousand, four hundred and thirty-eight unicorns that live therein are ‘mine’ spiritually, the entire country effectively one big temple, so I should know if anything bad happened to any of them within it. I do know that exactly two hundred and eight children there have suffered scraped knees, jarred elbows, or other minor injuries painful enough to register on my consciousness this day, which just makes this all the more confusing! There should be seven more unicorns in that land than I said there were, but I never felt them leave. It wasn’t until one was seen among a line of new slaves being led into a branch of The Serving Man by one of my priests, who immediately knelt down and uttered a prayer that got my instant and undivided attention, that I knew anyone was gone to begin with! Two of those leading the new slaves had a blight upon their souls that was reported as well in that prayer, but Kathalla tells me that they were not Hers, and between two Goddesses in direct contact on the spiritual plane there can be no deception. As they lacked Sliisthar’s gift of concealing their darkness, I must conclude that they belonged to Karnaal.”
\t“Other than the mystery of how they got them out in the first place, the involvement of those following the God of Thieves isn’t hard to comprehend,” Ferrl agreed. “After all these centuries under your protection, a unicorn would be considered an irresistibly valuable treasure if they could but steal one.” He frowned slightly, “Not that I’m all that clear on why they’re so special to begin with, though…”
\tThe feline gave a wan smile, “Though not quite the innocents those same centuries have inflated the stories to describe them as, unicorns are… very trusting creatures. So long as it doesn’t conflict too starkly with whatever they’d previously been told, they’re very quick to learn new teachings, and can easily establish almost unbreakable habits related to what they’re taught. This is what led to my creating Unicorn Vale to begin with… They were in great demand as guards, servants, or,” and an edge of bitterness soured her tone, “slaves… Trained from an early enough age, they made some of the best warriors, artisans, cooks, and other laborers known in any kingdom, and they could also be taught that their ‘place’ was one of utterly submissive servitude in the case of those enslaved outright, but they’ve never been an extremely numerous species, and this popularity among the rich and powerful of other races had been spreading them farther and farther apart from one another. They were in danger of dying out completely, simply from being unable to find mates of their own kind, which is why I gathered them all together in the Vale, taking steps to make sure that no one could ever exploit them so again… or, at least, that had been my intent. Obviously, somehow I have failed in that goal…”
\tThe Agent digested her tale as they turned northwards onto the road leading to Lark’s Reach, letting the horses settle into a canter that they could keep up for at least a few hours before tiring, but that he knew would quickly eat up the miles between them and their destination. He voiced his conclusions a few minutes later, “Finding out the ‘how’ of things shall be my first priority. I’ll ask a few questions in the last one or two major cities prior to Chraf itself, just in case any news, rumor, or actual unicorns have spread that far by the time we’re anywhere near the earldom, and what I find out will determine where to direct my efforts next. I believe that the role I’ll play will be that of a wealthy collector of the exotic, seeking to be one of the first in centuries to own a unicorn slave; the blank draft the king gave me should suffice… I’m far from being poor, myself, but they’re probably asking a good-sized fortune for something this rare and special, and I’ll almost certainly have to show them tangibly that I can afford it before they’d let me see the actual merchandise.”
\tMalia nodded, “Distasteful as some aspects of that may be, the plan stands a good chance of success… If you can actually buy the unicorn, I’d be grateful; the freedom of any of my stolen children would be beyond price to me.”
\tCasting a glance skywards, the wolf mused, “It doesn’t look like it will rain tonight, so we’ll go as far as we can and then camp out. It would be far too late to gain entry to Liyad without causing more trouble than I care to deal with while in a hurry, by the time we could get there, and it’s not going to hurt us any to sleep rough whenever a city isn’t convenient, though we should probably stop there in the morning to pick up some food.” Smiling down at the vixen seated before him, he directed, “Pass around the pies we grabbed on the way out; now that we’re underway it won’t slow us any to finally have supper.”
\tEla smiled and reached for the grease-stained burlap pouch hanging from her sash by a piece of twine, “Yes, Daddy, and it’s about time! I’m hungry!”
* * *
\tThey made it within a few leagues of the city of Liyad before Ferrl called a halt, judging the horses too tired to continue safely in the dark even with the assistance of a magical light. The two-footed members of the party ate the last of the meat pies, half apiece having been saved for an after-midnight snack, but the horses were able to enjoy generous helpings of mixed oats, barley, and dried peas topped with small scoops of salt. They sniffed suspiciously at the invisible ‘bowl’ of motion-magic the wolf provided as a drinking trough at first, but slurped up the much-needed liquid eventually.
\tHis next priority profoundly confused his poor daughter, but gained a look of strong approval from Malia once she realized what he was up to. “Tomorrow, and for the rest of the trip, I want you to spend as much time as you can stand holding these, or swinging them around,” he instructed the vixen as he held up one of the two rocks he’d found, chosen for their nearly identical weight at just over half a pound each. Confusion was gradually replaced with understanding as he explained further, “This is part of the self-defense I promised I’d teach you... Every few days, we’ll get a new pair of rocks that weigh just a little more, so you’ll get steadily stronger... Be careful how you hold and swing them, though; do not flail around as hard as you can, but always keep them under control. You see, the muscles that stop a swing are just as important as the ones that start it.”
\tEla nodded, hefting one of the rocks experimentally before picking up its mate to pack into a saddlebag, while the cat to one side nodded and commented, “I’m glad to see that I was right about your qualifications to teach... Control is every bit as important as you suggested, but restraint is also needed to prevent injury to her still-growing joints.”
\tNodding as he arranged a collection of gathered pine boughs into a marginally softer bed than the grassy turf and laid his spare cloak atop them to keep the needles from poking through, the knight asked Malia, “On another subject entirely, though, are you still harboring any reservations about the propriety of my relationship with Ela? I can tell you right now that if she’s forced to spend the entire trip celibate, she’s likely to get more than a little depressed. She has some very distinct needs that I’ve always done my best to fulfill, and going for too long without play is not the way to keep her happy.” He smiled a bit as he added, “And since buying her, I’ve gotten rather unfond of the notion of sleeping alone, myself…”
\tHis feline companion frowned slightly, “I’ve always supported the notion that children are to be loved and protected, but your and her definition of ‘love’ doesn’t quite match the one I’ve always maintained. My interpretation has only allowed what you do with her to be defined as ‘rape,’ the difference being definitively implied by her age… but I also know, intellectually, that it’s not. It’s hard to break that sort of reflexive habit of thought after as long as I’ve held it… but the intellect really should overrule the emotions, or the very free will my kind gifted yours with is rendered moot, and you’d be little better than animals following their instincts.” Sighing, she nodded, “I will not be offended by simple sex where she’s concerned, as it’s obviously something she seeks and enjoys… and I may just suspend my whimsical requirement of combat where my own involvement is concerned, as there really are few things I enjoy seeing more than a happy child.”
\tHaving listened with an expression of guarded hope while she was discussed, Ela scampered over to where the cat was building her own bedding to give her a big hug, “Thank you, ma’am! I’ll really be lots happier if I get to play, but we should only do that when th’horses are really tired. I don’t wanna slow us down in rescuin’ your kids.”
\tMalia chuckled and kissed the vixen gently on her cheek, “For that consideration, you have my thanks. You go play with your ‘daddy’ for tonight, my dear, but the next time we stop… I may change my mind before then, because I’m still a little uncomfortable with the whole notion, but Roxy was telling me how another woman, or girl in your case, knows ways to please her own gender that men can only imperfectly emulate. I think I’d like to experience that for myself at some point…”
\tThe cub nodding happily, grinning with anticipation, her father chuckled his agreement as he settled onto his crude bed, “There’s a lioness of our acquaintance who’s quite experienced herself, and she’s always found my little one’s efforts to be most satisfactory. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience, though make sure she waters a bush first if you want to taste a fellow female for yourself; she’s got this little problem with incontinence that could be an unpleasant surprise to those with less perverse expectations, though in my mind that’s just become one more aspect of her overall charm now that I’ve gotten used to it.” Grinning broadly at Ela’s naughty giggle and Malia’s blink of confusion, he crooked a finger in a come-hither gesture, “Join me, my dear one, and let me lick you for a while before we sleep. I’ve been meaning to do so without your first being rendered ‘safe’ for some time now, and just hadn’t gotten around to it, but tonight’s as good a night as any to see if my tolerance for salt is as high as I think.”
\t“Okay, daddy!” she laughed merrily as she ran over to join him, “Get ready for a drink!”
Chapter 5
\tThe border between the Barony of Lark’s Reach and the County of Stonecliff was marked, on just the far side, by two fair-sized stone buildings flanking the road, several horses picketed outside of one and four guards in evidence, though more emerged from the open doors of the structures as one called out at the sight of travelers.
\t“This is likely to be a pain,” Ferrl muttered to his companions as they rode closer. “My geography teacher mentioned that the local count is very touchy about his holdings’ relative lack of prosperity, as the large orders for cut stone that they supply for new buildings are infrequent at best, so the guard force is known for badgering travelers to find out just how much they can be taken for in terms of taxes, some of which are pretty ridiculous.”
\tMalia, astride Red with Ela seated before her, blinked with a frown, “We’ve got money, don’t we? We should be able to pay even silly taxes…” As soon as the buildings had come into view, she’d already had the cub put away her rocks to avoid odd questions.
\tThe wolf shook his head, “Paying’s not the problem; it’s enduring the questions while they determine just what we need to pay for that could prove to be annoying.”
\tThey reined in as a soldier with an officer’s badge called them to halt, and at his imperious gesture they had to dismount as well. “What are you carrying and what is your purpose for entering the County of Stonecliff?” he demanded in a gruff voice.
\tLooking up at the sky, Ferrl started ticking off on his fingers, “We’ve got food for ourselves and our horses, the arms and armor that are my right as a knight, spare clothes, personal funds, a few more weapons of self-defense owned by my daughter and our companion, and a writ of free passage signed by King Burtak that you’d do well not to argue with. Our purpose here is simply to pass through, as this road is on the shortest route to the far end of the kingdom which is our goal. Does that cover everything, sir?”
\tThe stocky canine scowled, “Do not take such a flippant tone with me, sir knight, or I’ll have my troop teach you some manners. We will examine this writ of yours, of course, but ‘free’ passage does not apply in a financial sense; you’ll still be liable for any taxes that are due to my honored lord.” Gesturing to one of his soldiers, he called, “Flarc, check them.”
\tThe soldier who answered the call padded up to stop a few paces distant, holding a crystal of some sort that he pointed at each member of the party and their horses as well, pausing several times in the process. Turning to his captain, he reported, “There’s a fairly strong enchantment in each of the wolf’s belt-pouches, just a hint of such on his lapel pin, and something else faint in the stallion’s left saddlebag.”
\t“Explain this,” the officer demanded. “Magic items are taxed as luxury goods, and if they’re offensive in nature they’re completely prohibited.”
\tFerrl did his best not to frown as he shrugged, “That saddlebag contains my writ of passage and some other official documents, and the minor enchantments incorporated into their seals are meant to prove that they’re not forgeries, though the artifacts that verify them are probably too rare to be issued to a roadside guard post. My pin is similar, as it’s a badge of office. My belt pouches contain two halves of an enchantment I worked myself that was never intended to be considered salable merchandise, and it’s a one-time effect anyway so its value is highly debatable.”
\tAfter a blink of confusion at the incongruity of a seeming warrior admitting to being a mage, the dog’s eyes lit with greed, “A wizard, eh? Your kind is also taxed, as there are any number of things you might do to earn money with your powers, regardless of your claim to merely be passing through.”
\t“You question my word and my honor at your own peril,” the knight growled with one finger raised in warning. “You also delay me with these questions, and if doing so prevents me from carrying out the king’s orders such could even be called treasonous. If I told you truly the degree of authority I’m acting under, you’d probably throw me into the local hospice for the deranged… if I let you. I have no business within this county save to pass through, nor any grudge against the citizens or soldiery here, but you’re coming dangerously close to changing both of those circumstances for the worse, and those buildings aren’t big enough to hold enough troops to stop me if you really irritate me.”
\tSeveral of the guards laid hands on their weapons, and their officer looked ready to attack with his own teeth and claws. “Threats are not the way to conclude these minor formalities, ‘sir knight,’ that all must undergo as a matter of law… You speak of treason, but attacking the lawful militia of the county for doing their duty would be no better. Now, surrender the enchantments you carry so they can be more closely evaluated or you will be placed under immediate arrest.”
\tFerrl’s frown gradually evaporated, and he had to keep from smirking instead as he nodded, “As you wish, officer.” As he extracted the two crystalline pyramids from his pouches he murmured to his companions, “I’m starting to get tired of this… I’ll bind them in place and we’ll be on our way in just a moment.”
\t“No whispering!” the captain barked.
\tTossing the crystals into the road’s dirt between them, the wolf snorted, “If you wish to see what these do, just bring their square sides into contact with each other. As I said, it will only work once, but that also obviates the need to judge the spell’s retail value once your curiosity’s been satisfied... The effect should be obvious, even to so limited of mental gifts as your own, within a few seconds.” The man took a step forward with a growl at the insult, only to trip as the Agent lashed out with lines of force, binding the legs of every solder in sight. Lifting Ela into Cherrah’s saddle, then, he murmured conversationally to Malia, “Let’s go. These folks won’t bother us anymore.”
\tThe soldiers were shouting for help as they struggled against their invisible bonds, but the troops that rushed out of the buildings in response found themselves similarly restrained as each appeared, tumbling into a pair of heaps at the two doorways. Both ladies giggling at the antics, the companions rode off, and Ferrl strained to maintain the lines of magic until they were well over the road’s next rise.
\t“Won’t they just chase us?” Malia asked as she saw his look of concentration fade. “They have good horses, after all…”
\tThe knight shook his head, “Without that asshole of a captain to lead them, I don’t think the rest will have the courage to pursue two armed people, one of whom they’ll know by then is a dangerous wizard. That stupid mutt’s bound to try those stones before following, and that will be that.”
\tEla also looking curious, the feline asked with an arched brow, “And what do they do? You never got around to explaining that part…”
\tFerrl opened his mouth to reply, then shut it with a grin as an explosion louder than thunder shook the air and ground behind them and startled both horses into a gallop. “That,” he answered once they’d gotten their steeds back under control. “Scratch one obstructionist official. Maybe he’ll learn some manners in his next life.”
* * *
\tThe buildings where the road crossed the far border of the county, later that same day, were physically identical to the last post, but the captain of the guard troop there was entirely different. He was obviously even less intelligent than the canine who’d gone so far out of his way to irritate the travelers, but far wiser because he actually knew his own weakness. “Tell me if this says what he said it does,” he told one of his troopers, passing over the writ Ferrl’d actually had a chance to present this time.
\tThe feline squinted, working his way slowly through the ornate lettering as he mouthed the words to himself… “It says he can go anywhere, yeah, but what does ‘diplomatic immunity’ mean?”
\tThe vulpine captain looked blank, and turned to the private who’d actually had a few years of schooling before joining the militia, “Leng? Do you know?”
\tThe least soldier of the troop nodded, “It means that nobody can get in his way. He could walk right up to a complete stranger and chop their head off just for fun, and we couldn’t arrest him because the king’s reserved that right to himself. No one else in the entire kingdom can take him to account for his actions.”
\tFerrl blinked, “I really should have read that… I have a very important mission, so I hurried on as fast as possible; I didn’t realize myself that I had that degree of support from my liege, but I guess that clears up my worries as to whether I’ll get in trouble for what I did at the last guard post… Like I said, I’m in a hurry, so when the captain there kept me waiting for too long and then tried to arrest me, I blew him into very, very small pieces. You might want to send a message to the city, as I’m not sure what’s left of his troop has the presence of mind to fetch a replacement on their own…”
\tThe fox blinked back, then shook his head with a faint smile, “I know I’m not very smart… but there’s a difference between being a little thick and acting as dumb as that guy did! You don’t need to do that sort of thing this time, good traveler, and you’re free to go as soon as you’ve got your paper back.”
\tThe bright private stepped up to relay the writ to the wolf, grinning as well, “He probably also didn’t recognize your badge, sir, but I do… and the troops at the other post will learn a good lesson as soon as I get a chance to explain it to them: you just don’t fuck with an Agent!” Behind him, roughly half the troop started blinking in confusion. The other half immediately snapped to attention with a mass clatter of arms and armor, and saluted.
\t“Sound advice, my friend,” Ferrl laughed as he tucked the parchment back into his saddlebag and lifted Ela onto the horse. “I’m normally a pretty nice guy… but right now I’ve got a job to do, and anyone who tries to stop me will end up regretting it.” He fished a silver coin out of his vest and flipped it to the young mink, “Buy the troop a round of ale the next time you’re rotated off road duty; you all have my thanks for being much more reasonable than the last batch.”
\tThis fetched a broad grin in return, “Technically we can’t accept anything but taxes from travelers… but your immunity also applies to charges of attempted bribery. I’ll do as you suggest, and we’ll all raise a mug to the kingdom’s fabled Agents in memory of this meeting.”
\tAll of the travelers were mounted by that point so, with a nod and a jaunty salute of his own, Ferrl led them across the border and down the road. Once the horses had settled into their traveling pace, the wolf took some writing supplies out of his pack, carefully jotting a note to himself as Cherrah’s motion permitted. “I’m just making sure I remember Private Leng and his captain after the journey,” he answered Malia’s questioning look. “My instinct says he’s good officer material, so I’ll recommend that he be promoted and eventually commissioned, and for all of his lacks the captain’s a pretty decent sort too, so it couldn’t hurt to find him a position where decency’s a boon but amazing intelligence is unnecessary. One of the king’s advisers should know the holding well enough to say who we should ask to look into it, and orders from Verona will make it happen once I ask her to write them.”
\tThe feline nodded with a smile, “Good… I agree on both counts, and this is an excellent case of mortals getting what their actions warrant. Politeness and businesslike competence should be rewarded, while overbearing arrogance… well, let’s just say that my only regret about the first guard post is that some of the common troopers may have been injured in the blast their officer brought upon himself. They deserve a little something bad for supporting his attitude problem in the first place, but nothing life-threatening…”
\t“Even if one or two of them caught flying shards of crystal badly enough to be killed or crippled,” he pointed out, “that’s still better than what they’d have suffered had the captain succeeded in getting them to try arresting us. There wouldn’t have been many survivors at all if he’d forced the issue and gotten me really mad.”
\tMalia nodded again, “Exactly, so my only regret isn’t much of one.” She took a moment to glance at the sun, “Neither of the posts really delayed us for very long… but it’ll still probably be too late to get into Tarox by the time we could reach it, and both of the other cities in Greenholt are too far off the main highway to bother with. Guess we’re camping out again, tonight…”
\tFerrl chuckled, “We’ll live… and it’s really probably better that way. We picked up plenty of food this morning, so tomorrow we can go through Tarox quickly, before the business of the day crowds the streets enough to slow us down. Other than stops to replenish our supplies, it’s probably best to do that sort of thing whenever possible; adhering to the structured business-day of inns, and dealing with the traffic of city streets, would both cost us many small pieces of time that would quickly add up, and if a little discomfort here and there can save us that total sum then it’s worth it.”
\tMalia shook her head, “I know, and it’s not the discomfort I’m thinking about… It’s the cold. I built this body a little too athletically; with short fur and almost no fat, even the summer evenings can get chilly.”
\tThe wolf chuckled again, tucking his finished note into a pocket so he could pat Ela on the shoulder, “If your cloak’s not sufficing, then we’ll just grab the first blanket we see for sale on the way through town tomorrow, and for tonight you can borrow my nice, warm vixen.”
\tThe cub giggled, a hint of mischief in her eyes as she asked, “But then how’ll she get any rest, daddy?”
* * *
\tFerrl woke to a light touch on his shoulder, dawn’s first light all but invisible through the inn’s window in contrast to the candle burning on the stand beside the bed, and nodded to Malia with a smile, “I’m quite glad you came along… A map could do the same job of guiding us, but it certainly couldn’t keep track of minor things such as what time it is while the rest of us sleep, and even that completely ignores the pleasure of your companionship.”
\tThe cat nodded as she reached for her leathers to start dressing, “My body may need sleep, but the rest of me doesn’t; you’re right enough about that… Anyway, that storm we were trying to outrun seems to have passed during the night, and it’s still early enough that we can beat the crowds on our way out.” Tossing the vixen her dress as she finished her wake-up stretch, she grinned to the child, “Your clothes are the fastest to get into, so why don’t you go see if the stableboy’s up yet? We’ll be along in a minute or so.”
\tNodding, Ela pulled on the rough cloth and stepped off the bed into her simple shoes, “Even if he isn’t, Cherrah knows me and Red’ll follow ‘im. I can get ‘em out myself if I have to, since we left ‘em saddled, but you two’ll have’ta load the bags. I ain’t tall enough, and they’re heavy.” Not wasting any more time with talk, the cub opened the door and scampered out.
\tIt took more than a minute, of course, but less than three before the adults joined her. Malia’s leathers were meant for long-term use, and Ferrl had traded his dirty clothes for clean in his pack before going to bed, so all they had to do before departure was get dressed, use the privy, and grab the lone bag of clothes, money, and books. The armor and food had been left with the horses, and Ferrl distributed some of the latter once they were mounted and on their way toward the south gate of Petch. That gate was still closed, of course, as the sun hadn’t yet shown itself, so the knight held his writ at the ready as he approached the sleepy-looking night guard.
\t“Didn’t you hear it?” the lion asked before the document or even a greeting could be offered, then yawned and shook his head to clear it.
\tFerrl blinked, “Hear what?”
\tThe man jerked one thumb over his shoulder, his other hand idly combing through his mane, “The roar, the crash… A flood took out the bridge a couple hours past midnight. You folks came in from the east just after I went on-shift last night, so you’re probably heading south or west, but there’s no way for you to get across the river.”
\tMalia scowled, “And no way to get around it, either… unless we want to add at least three days to our trip; this part of the kingdom’s a pain to navigate at the best of times, as nothing’s really connected in a straight line. Hills, rivers, and a small mountain just aren’t cooperating…”
\t“Calmly, dear, calmly,” Ferrl chuckled. “I can get us across the river, though it’ll be hard. I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough to carry one horse at a time… magically speaking,” he added quickly at the half-asleep guard’s surprised blink. “I’ll have to rest between each one, but this little disaster shouldn’t delay us by more than an hour.” He held out the parchment, folded to guard the ink from the morning’s damp air, “This is a writ of free passage signed by the king. I know it’s too early to open the gates, normally, but I’d appreciate it if you let us out anyway.”
\tThe burly cat accepted the document just long enough to flip it open and glance at the imprinted seal, then handed it back with a shrug, “I can’t read, but that looks official enough. It’ll take some time to get enough help to open the gate, though; that bar weighs nearly as much as the stallion that you’re so confidently talking about picking up.”
\t“Confidence can, sometimes, be justified,” the wolf assured him. “Would it break any local laws if I proved my claim by moving the bar myself?”
\tThe guard just shrugged again, “Probably, but I’m too bloody tired to care. If you really can, go ahead.”
\tThe ‘bar’ looked to be solid oak, a foot square in cross-section and ten feet wide, its iron supports heavily reinforced to hold its weight even under the strain of a battering ram. It probably did weigh nearly as much as Cherrah… and, on reflection, Ferrl wasn’t at all sure he could move two horses, three people, and that bar all on the same day. Nudging his mount to sidestep, he leaned over to murmur to Malia, “I don’t want to attract excess attention on any level… so could you ask your darker sister about that energy-mix She was offering me but didn’t get around to specifying? The one regarding flying, not obfuscation; She’ll understand what I’m talking about, and Her reply should be just a word or two you can relay without it really being divine intervention at all…”
\tNodding, the feline looked slightly distant as she whispered back, “I’m tracking Her down now… and I’m glad you’re being discreet; there’s something about the timing of this flood I just don’t trust. I think there might be—ah! Found Her.” She muttered something not unlike an attempt to pronounce a random portion of the alphabet, then blinked, “Did I say that right? What did I just say?”
\tSlipping down from the far side of the saddle, Ferrl grinned and answered simply, “This…” before turning to face the huge oaken beam. The mix her unpronounceable phrase described was mostly wind- and motion-magic, but there was just a hint of a few other elements as well, and it had ended in the suffix for total infusion. He reached out with one hand, fingers wide as he projected a diffuse line of force at the wood, letting the energies spread out to fill it from their point of contact, then raised his other arm, a single finger directing a line of pure motion as he wrapped it around the bar… It resisted his first attempt to lift it so he tried harder, having to push with most of his strength to budge the huge block; it still had a good few hundred pounds of apparent weight… but his might was sufficient for that much, at least, and with only a furrowed brow and a light sweat to mark his effort he lifted it free of its supports and leaned it gently against the gatehouse’s stone wall.
\tThe hinges were well enough oiled that a motive nudge swung one half of the gate outwards with no need to lighten it. The guard peered out into the gloom of dawn’s first glow, yawned again, and shrugged, “Good enough; I don’t see any ravening barbarian hordes out there, so the city’ll survive being unlocked an hour or two before the day guards get here. Good luck with the river.”
\tIt was about half a mile from the city walls to the swollen banks of the river, but even from that distance they could see the water rushing between the piles of tumbled stone that had been the ends and middle of a bridge. The wolf did his best to rest and relax for the few minutes it took them to reach the near side, intent on recovering what little strength he could in so short a time; the breadth of the gulf he’d have to somehow get his party across was looking more and more daunting with every step they took toward it. As much to distract himself from the task ahead as anything else, he asked Malia, “What were you saying about suspicions, dear?”
\tThe feline shook her head grimly, “It’s another of those ‘hunches’ I get… I don’t know any specifics, because part of the hunch is that looking for specifics might tip someone off and change the situation for the worse, but I strongly suspect that the flood was deliberately caused. The storm that blew in could have been natural… but several aspects of it were just a little too perfect for my comfort. The wind coming off of the ocean was a few degrees off normal for the season, which could be random chance; it also lined up the clouds just over and east of the mountain this river comes from so the afternoon and evening sun could strike the snow unhindered… And finally, it started raining the moment it reached that mountain, while the rest of the weather seemed more inclined to hold back, giving us enough time to rush into town last night. I suspect just a faint nudge or two on the part of some God or another, though I won’t name any names of course, which could explain the unusual size of those boulders and logs I see where the bridge’s central support used to be.” Her brow furrowed in grim contemplation, “I don’t think it was aimed at us, specifically… My feeling is that someone with more than merely mortal intellect assumed some form of instant response from the capitol as soon as a unicorn was spotted in this kingdom, took a highly-educated guess at the most probable route to be followed, and timed an interruption to occur just a little sooner than any significant force could get this far. One individual changing horses in every city could have beaten it, or a lone wizard or small party of winged folk of some sort, but evidently those scenarios don’t qualify as a threat to this unnamed God’s plans. Given that the Vale’s near three other kingdoms as well, and the fact that there are now eight of my children missing, I wouldn’t be surprised if similarly inconvenient disasters have occurred just Vale-wards of other capitols, too. Drachath’s not the only potential market for whatever beasts have made a mocking lie of my oath to protect my children eternally, but it’s probably the best, as slavery’s illegal in Dengar and more restricted in Vivenge and Atheria.”
\tFerrl nodded as he climbed down from his saddle to start removing bags and swords from his stallion. “You’re right in that it could be coincidence… but your divine hunches would be pretty useless if they twanged to every ‘maybe,’ so I’m going to assume that it’s not. Whatever God is playing with the weather also has worshipers, so we should keep an eye out for any living obstructions that might choose to throw themselves into our path as well as the inanimate. I’ll send you two across on Red first,” he explained as he unslung his armor bags from the mare, then lifted Ela across to sit in front of the feline, “then Cherrah and just his saddlebags, and I’ll follow with the rest of the gear as soon as I’m able. That spell you fetched from Kathy for me makes things lighter, but each of these loads will be pretty close to my limit even then, so I’ll have to rest in between ‘em.”
\tThe Goddess nodded back, “We can deal with mortals easily enough, and whoever they serve is almost certainly expecting them to meet some resistance… I’m glad you asked me to relay your query to my sister; I’ve got this feeling that anything more direct would have called unwanted attention to the fact that at least one other divinity is opposing the God we face, and there’s no telling how He might adapt His tactics if He finds out that He’s up against me, not just my followers whom He has to assume I’m mobilizing to defend the unicorns.”
\tFerrl paused in gathering his strength, his fingertips glowing faintly with restrained power as he asked, “Are you? Is there an army waiting for us in Wheathaven?”
\t“No,” she chuckled, shaking her head, “nothing that major… I’ve had a couple of my temples near there move up the date of their harvest festival as an excuse to start gathering portions of my flock into larger groups, but that’s mostly a ruse. There’s no point in raising a significant force, pulling each individual away from their own lives and goals for an indefinite time, when I don’t have a target to send them against! No… if you need a few extra companions to fight at your side they’ll be available, but I really don’t think that this will be resolved by large clashes of arms.”
\tNodding, the wolf unleashed his magic, infusing Red and her riders with lightening energy. “Get a good grip on Ela and hold Red’s barrel with your legs,” he warned as he gathered purer forces in his other hand, “as the horse might panic until she’s on solid ground again.”
\tThe mare was already shuffling her hooves nervously at the unexpected sensation of her body and burden losing their apparent weight, and her legs reached vainly toward the ground as the broad, supporting bands of magic carefully lifted her away from it. Her head whipped back and forth as she looked around, eyes wide with fear; Malia immediately reached out to stroke her mane comfortingly with the hand that wasn’t hugging Ela against her chest, and her soft murmuring calmed the horse to relative stillness, but the red-rimmed whites of her eyes still showed as she started moving through the air over the rushing river. The farther away she and her passengers moved, the harder it was to keep them airborne, a fresh layer of chill sweat breaking out under Ferrl’s fur as they passed the midpoint of the river, and he urged them forward just a bit faster to make sure they’d reach the other side before his strength was completely played out. The very tip of the sun peeked over the eastern horizon as they reached the far bank, and he relaxed as Red’s hooves touched the sloped stones leading up to the bridge… then tensed again as the new light gleamed where it shouldn’t, among the trees lining the rushing water’s banks. The power he’d pulled back into himself was immediately used again, augmenting his voice as he called across the roar of the river, “’ware the trees! Ambush to the left!”
\tMalia was off of the horse in an instant, her swords seeming to materialize in her hands without having to cover the distance between scabbards and paws. Even from across the nearly quarter-mile width of the river the twang of crossbows reached Ferrl a moment after their firing and, an instant later, the ring of steel on the same delay as light quarrels were deflected by precisely-positioned blades, and a rage that surprised even him woke within his soul. One of those bolts had been aimed at Ela, and he found himself stripping the leather loops off of one of his greatswords. Whoever had just shot at his daughter was going to regret it even if it meant exhausting his magic for the rest of the day. A hint of shouted instructions drew his gaze up once more, and he nodded to himself as the vixen slipped down to the ground, following close behind Malia where she could be protected as the cat charged the trees at a steady lope, closing with her attackers as quickly as she could while still leaving herself enough time to react to any more missiles and allowing for the child’s slower pace.
\tThe wolf had barely begun gathering his focus for the remote-point projection he’d need to animate his sword over that distance when another twanging bowstring sounded, this time to his own left; it had barely registered before pain erupted in his shoulder, and the reflexes drilled into him by weeks of Bakar’s tutelage sent him rolling forward, three more steel shafts driving into the road’s dirt through the air where he had been. He wrenched his bastard sword from its sheath as he scrambled back to his feet and charged at a dead run toward his half of the ambush; there was no longer any time for magic, and he’d just have to trust in Malia’s own undeniable skill at arms to keep his daughter safe as he fought this battle alone… or maybe not so alone as he’d first thought. Even as he dodged another bolt from the one light crossbow that had been re-cocked in the time it took him to reach the trees, Cherrah’s hooves thundered behind him, a pointed reminder that his was a warhorse, and he grinned despite the shooting pains running down his left arm as nearly a ton of angry black equine crashed through the brush beside him.
\tThe foes who met him with drawn steel obviously knew the business they were about; they were lightly armored to maximize their mobility, mostly in boiled leather but with one shirt of sturdy chainmail evident, and they’d immediately discarded their crossbows in favor of an assortment of sabers and swords. Several of them had a hint of darkness lingering about them, and it was most pronounced in the person of their better-armored evident leader; combined with their agility-oriented equipment, they almost had to be followers of Karnaal. Two fell before they could get their own weapons up, the knight throwing all of his strength behind the momentum of his charge in a lightning slash that cut through their rigid armor like so much damp parchment, and the moment’s shocked surprise that bought him was all he needed to whirl and slash at their chain-armored commander’s sword arm. The heavy steel links kept him from severing it completely, though they’d probably not have sufficed if he’d had two good arms to put behind the blow, but the crack of breaking bone was satisfyingly loud in the morning air.
\tAs important as it was, taking the best-equipped attacker out of the fight turned him away from most of the others, and one was quick enough to take advantage of his distraction, lunging saber-first toward the wolf’s broad back. Cherrah was there, though, strong teeth clamping around the nape of the fellow’s neck and flinging him bodily into the nearest tree with bone-crushing force. “Good boy!” Ferrl called, then leapt for the remaining ambushers. They were ready for him this time, but the speed with which his large body and huge sword could move was more than they could handle, their blades knocked out of position or flung entirely from their grasps in blurring strokes that each ended in a thrust, and when he aimed for a man’s heart mere leather, however rigid, could not deny him. Only one of the half-dozen or so rough-looking fighters he faced even got close enough for his shorter blade to be a threat, and all it managed to accomplish was nick the leg that was lashing toward him, ribs crunching as the kick sent him flying to bounce off of another tree and lay still.
\tOnly two attackers remained on their feet, a panicked glance between them showing that neither had the heart to keep fighting, and they bolted into the copse at a run in different directions. Catching Cherrah’s attention with a whistle, Ferrl pointed at one and snapped his fingers, the horse bounding off in pursuit. He dropped his sword, then, in favor of one of the fallen crossbows, muscles bunching as he set his foot in the iron loop at its tip and spanned its woven-metal string with one hand. Even he couldn’t have done that with any heavier a bow, but the light weapon was no arbalest, ordinary soldiers being able to cock it with a simple spanning lever. He grabbed a quarrel from a corpse’s quiver, set it into the groove, and took careful aim… Just as screams marked the meeting of steel-shod hooves with one man’s spine, he had the other in his sights and squeezed the trigger-bar, the silvery dart of the bolt licking out to catch his last foe through the neck.
\tRetrieving his sword, Ferrl padded over to the armored form that lay curled around its shattered arm. The touch of steel to his throat roused the man’s attention, and he looked up into eyes devoid of mercy. “Tell me why your God sent you,” the wolf growled. “Neither the flood nor your presence here were a coincidence, so don’t bother trying to deny it.”
\tThe slender stoat shivered, in fear as much as pain this time, and lowered his eyes from that burning gaze. “You’re right,” he rasped around his agony, “but we weren’t told very much… I don’t know why Kar—” and he broke off at a warning poke from the sword-tip. “I don’t know why my God,” he tried again, then continued at a nod from his captor, “wanted you stopped. My orders were simply to watch this bridge after the flood, and to attack anyone who seemed to be using… extraordinary measures to cross the river without it. On my word to any God you’d care to name, that’s all I know.”
\tThe wolf nodded grimly, “It’s not much… but it does serve to confirm some earlier speculations. Had you not been so forthcoming, you’d have died very, very slowly… but even as helpful as you’ve been I cannot let you live. You’ve my thanks, and it will be quick.” The man’s eyes widened in sudden fear as his attempt to buy survival came to naught, a plea leaping to his lips, but he never got another word out. Ferrl pierced his throat with a short, hard thrust, then turned away to find something to clean his blade with as the thief gurgled and thrashed, eventually to drown in his own blood.
Chapter 6
\tDerru’s long-ago comment about the subtlety of effective magic had been no more than the simple truth. Given a few moments to think about it as he caught his breath after the short, savage fight, and a few more as he’d steeled himself to pull the crossbow bolt out of his shoulder and bandage the wound as well as he could one-handed, a line-based, temporary enchantment repeated for each of Cherrah’s four shoes proved much more effective, not to mention easier, than lifting him bodily across the river by brute strength. Suitably lightened first, of course, Ferrl simply rode across the river’s turbulent surface with the rest of his possessions, save for the two large bags he’d left behind.
\tA similar scene of carnage to the one he’d left greeted him amidst the far trees, Malia arching one brow but not pausing in cleaning her bloodied swords as she mused, “I’ve never seen a horse do that before, sir knight…”
\tThe wolf shrugged, “Neither had I, which is probably why I didn’t think of the possibility at first. If I had, we’d have been able to cross together; this technique is far easier to pull off, between the shorter range I’m projecting my power over and the fact that it only saps my strength during the moments of actual contact between hoof and water.”
\tNodding, the feline slipped her second sword back into its sheath and stood, “Something to keep in mind for the future, then… but for this particular moment, let me heal that shoulder of yours.”
\tFerrl shook his head firmly, and explained as she paused, “That wouldn’t be the best idea. I got confirmation of the involvement of the God of Thieves from the leader of those I fought before I killed him, and a miracle at this point would waste the trouble I went to in keeping him from saying his God’s name aloud. I wouldn’t mind a bit of help in rigging a better bandage, as you could use both hands for the task, but it’s just a flesh wound. It’s almost stopped bleeding already, and we can visit some mortal healers at the next city we come to; I picked up the nearest ambushers’ purses on general principle, not feeling like looking for the bodies Cherrah and I dealt with after they ran, so we’ll even show a profit after paying the medics.” Glancing around, he asked, “Where’s Ela?”
\tStepping forward the rest of the way to start working on the crude knot securing the tattered cloth on his shoulder, Malia tilted an ear toward the bridge, “She’s back with Red. This sort of bloody mess isn’t something a child should be seeing too much of.”
\tThe wolf chuckled, then hissed as the wad of cloth at his wound was pulled away. “She’d surprise you,” he managed once he had control of his voice again. “She is Kathallic, and has made her share of bloody messes. She also personally killed an armed man when I was ambushed on my last mission, too.”
\tHis companion scowled as she gently probed his wound, checking for chipped or broken bones before fetching one of his clean shirts from the pack on Cherrah’s back to start tearing into bandages. “As much as I support self-defense,” she finally said, “I can’t be pleased that you’ve taught a child to kill for fun, no matter how sacred such an act may be to your Goddess. I can understand Roxanarra’s love of pleasure for its own sake, particularly now that I’ve experienced some of it for myself, but She decrees sharing that pleasure, not taking it at someone else’s expense. And especially not at the expense of their very life!” As offended as she was with him, Malia’s hands moved gently and surely, padding both ends of the hole in his shoulder with folded cloth then tying a longer strip around them both.
\t“He didn’t teach me, though,” Ela piped up from where she’d been listening for several moments. “Kathy did, with her own self for practicin’ on.”
\tMalia shook her head, pulling the last linen knot tight a with a little more force than she’d intended, “That doesn’t matter, little one… I don’t think I’ll ever agree with my sister’s idea of fun in that respect, so I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t bring the subject up in my presence ever again.”
\tAs the vixen nodded with a chastened wince, her father spoke up, “Then it’s a good thing I’ve got another subject to speak of: this ambush. The very first thing you did when attacked was save my daughter’s life, and for that I’m more grateful than I can express. If there’s any way I can repay you for it, tell me and I’ll do so. At the very least, once we collect this batch’s purses as well, I’d like to find one of your poorer temples along our route and donate every last farthing these thieves had to them.”
\t“Minus whatever it costs to get your shoulder and leg fixed,” the feline added wryly, managing to smile as matters distasteful to her faded in immediacy. She gave the bandages a gentle pat, “You were right that it’s only a flesh wound; all that muscle of yours is a bigger target than the bones beneath, so you should be alright soon enough. And, while I won’t turn down your offered donation and I’ve got a good place in mind to give it to, you’re only here because you’re trying to save my children. Protecting your own is the least I can do in return, and I did so gladly.”
\tFerrl nodded with a smile of his own, “Fair enough, then… Ela? Start collecting any purses or jewelry these… people carried; their swords and crossbows are valuable too, but a bit bulky to transport if we’re still going to move quickly.” Turning back to Malia, he quirked a wry half-grin at her, “You probably noticed that Cherrah’s burden’s a little lighter than it should be… I’d brought my armor along without really thinking about it, because knights are supposed to have plate armor, but it would have taken far too long to get into and out of every day, so as it was it turned out to be so much useless junk.” He touched the bandages on his shoulder, “It certainly didn’t do me any good when I needed it… so I’m going to check in with the next few smiths we come across and buy some chainmail as soon as I find some in my size. I can shrug into something like that very quickly every morning, and Red won’t tire as readily without the sacks of plate; the time spent checking smithies will be more than made up for by the time we reach Rajai.”
\tMalia considered his words for a moment, then nodded with a slight shrug, “It would be better than nothing if we’re attacked again, true enough, but it wouldn’t have stopped that slim-headed quarrel today.”
\t“Maybe it wouldn’t under normal circumstances,” the wolf chuckled, “but it will by the time I’m done with it. That book of magical language I brought along also has an appendix of common enchantments, including those for arms and armor; the chain shirt or haubergeon I get will be much more resistant to penetration once I’ve had a few words with it! And if I can find a seller of semiprecious stones, I can also work something out to keep little Ela a bit safer, too.”
* * *
\tThe three travelers were accompanied by a large number of strangers as they rode through the gates of Ashenton, mostly merchants and the occasional itinerant worker who’d believed them when told of the bridge’s fate. Not all of those they’d met on the road were willing to take Ferrl’s unconfirmed word and turn back, though they’d see for themselves soon enough. The city guard, of course, couldn’t afford to be that trusting, though they did immediately dispatch a rider to determine the situation for certain.
\tOnce free of the crowd of disappointed peddlers, the trio immediately sought out a healer, just one more shop among many along the city’s main commercial avenue. It was a new experience and then some, for Ferrl, as he’d been neither conscious nor in possession of arcane senses the only other time he’d received this sort of treatment, just after his initial interview with Bakar. For one thing, it hurt. Supernatural healing felt a lot like being on fire, but behind the pain his mind marveled at the flow of energy, its complexity beyond anything he’d ever seen as the flesh surrounding the hole in his shoulder was urged to regenerate itself at hundreds of times its normal rate, and he knew for certain that that was one form of magic he’d never be able to duplicate. Even though he was the one supplying the raw power, he only understood the tiniest fraction of what was actually going on, hints of motion- and fire-energy flickering to nudge things in the right direction or burn out the beginnings of infections before they could spread.
\t“It’s our gift,” the middle-aged mouse answered his inquiries once he’d come out of his trance. “It requires far more study and training than conventional wizardry, I’m told… We have to learn, in detail, how the body works and how to repair impediments to that normal function… but our ‘magic’ is to make use of that knowledge without actually having to think about it. The specific technique varies somewhat from healer to healer, but I just go into a trance, allowing my mind to convert energy into action with no conscious direction, but shaped and controlled passively by the knowledge I spent so many years attaining. Normally, I have to use my own energy, which severely limits the extent of damages I can repair… but that’s why I love working with mages. What neither of our gifts could accomplish alone, together they make commonplace.”
\tThe wolf nodded, feeling his shoulder carefully. Other than the missing patch of fur on either side and a faint, residual ache, it seemed as good as new, and though his magical contribution to the efforts left him feeling rather drained, it was nowhere near as bad as moving Red across the river had been. Smiling, he fished a gold noble out of his purse and pressed it into the healer’s hand, “Even if my own abilities eased your work as much as you say, take this with my thanks. I’m far too appreciative of being able to move without searing pain to take you up on your advertised discount just because I supplied the strength for your efforts.”
\tChuckling, the rodent dropped the coin into the pocket of his robe, “I shouldn’t… but I don’t think you’d let me give this back. Instead, I’ll count it as credit for the next few people who need help but cannot afford to pay full price.”
\t“That’ll do,” Ferrl nodded, and shook the healer’s paw again before stepping back out into the afternoon sun.
\tMalia was frowning when he rejoined her, and said before he could inquire, “Let’s go find an inn… I’ve got some unpleasant news, but part of it implies that our frantic haste has been so much wasted effort, so we can afford to give the horses a good long rest after their days of faithful labor.”
\tNodding, the Agent took Cherrah’s reins in hand and followed behind as she led Red through the street’s heavy foot-traffic.
\tComfortably ensconced in a room at one of the better inns in town, Malia sat down on the bed and started explaining to her companions, “It’s taken us four days to get this far… and we could be in Wheathaven in another week or so, but there’d be little point. During our travels, my followers have been making inquiries of their own, and the level of discretion involved is why it’s taken this long to get a response… Using one of the true Godless as a middle-man, some of my flock indirectly hired a known follower of the God of Lies, who happily pocketed a significant portion of a temple’s donated gold in the course of trying to buy the unicorn that originally started this quest simply by being seen… The response they got was, in a word, firm. Until more time has been spent on her training, no one outside of The Serving Man will be allowed anywhere near that unicorn, and though her progress is reported as being astounding compared to the years it normally takes to fully teach a slave their place and necessary skills, even the most optimistic of her captors predicts a minimum of a month before the very remotest possibility of selling her might arise.” The feline’s mouth worked as if she’d tasted something unpleasant, and both of her companions nodded, understanding how little she’d enjoyed the news she’d just relayed.
\t“Rescuing that particular filly was simply a secondary goal,” Ferrl mused. “What of the continuing predations? Wouldn’t haste still be warranted to investigate how those are taking place, to stop them?”
\tThe cat shook her head ruefully, “Those have tapered off… There were several days with no new ones, and only one additional loss more recently, but the orders I’ve given to the herd leaders in the Vale seem to be forcing our enemies to operate more circumspectly. The unicorns know what’s happening now, and are patrolling their villages day and night. Hardly an hour goes by without any given individual being checked up on by an acquaintance, even when they’re sleeping, and it’s only when a mistake in communications arose, one house being skipped late at night because the watchman assigned to that street thought a comrade of his had already checked it, that another of my children vanished. Whoever’s doing this clearly needs time, undisturbed, to perpetrate each particular atrocity.”
\tAfter a shared glance with his daughter, Ferrl nodded, “I can see that… The reduced urgency, though, is no cause to dawdle. Even if we don’t have to be there in a week, I’ll be disappointed if it takes us more than twelve days to get to Chraf. We can afford to eat and rest well, and deal with any other minor problems in an almost leisurely manner, and still make that sort of schedule.” He smiled faintly, “It’ll beat wearing our horses and ourselves down so far that we’re ineffective when we get there, in any case.”
\tMalia nodded back, managing a bit of a smile as well, “That’s one of the things I’ve considered, yes. They’ve held up well so far, but I’m far from certain that Red and Cherrah can keep up the pace we’ve been making, and travel rations are only good for our bodies for so long. Jerky, hard rolls, and the occasional meat pie from a convenient vendor just aren’t as healthy in the long run as even the basic stew served in most inns.” She glanced between her companions once more, then nodded mostly to herself, “If you two want to go shopping for armor and spell components, that would be progress enough for my comfort this evening, and in the morning we can get moving again. The temple I want to visit mainly serves the smaller villages just west of here, and we can be there by noon on horseback for a good, nutritious lunch.”
\tEla giggled, “But for now, shopping! I loves that… Makes me glad my daddy’s got money, ‘cuz he always finds fun stuff to buy!”
\tSmiling some himself, Ferrl scooped the eagerly-grinning vixen up and settled her across his shoulders, then stood. “Watch your head, dear,” he warned as he padded toward the door, then paused to glance over at Malia. “Will you be coming with us? We should be back before supper time, if you’re not…”
\tThe feline just shook her head with another smile, “I’m going to let this body rest while I double- and triple-check the patrol schedules in the Vale. That’s both the most and the least I can do to keep my children safe.”
\tThe wolf nodded solemnly, “I understand, and if I had any further advice to give, I would… but only you know the specifics, this time, so I’ll leave it in your capable hands.” His vixen’s chest flattened his ears as she ducked to clear the door’s frame, and with another wave from each of them the pair headed out to see what they could find.
* * *
\tThe temple, set a few hundred yards off of the main highway, resembled a fair-sized castle, a central keep and several outbuildings surrounded by a high, thick stone wall. For all of its strength, though, it was presently ill-suited for war; the moat was dry and overgrown, the drawbridge looked like it hadn’t been raised in decades, and the faded linen buntings hung from the battlements lent a splash of color that did much to soften the unforgiving contours of granite and basalt. The one guard at the gate wore an open priest’s robe over partial plate armor, and didn’t seem the least bit concerned over the weapons displayed by the travelers as they neared. “Hail and well met, friends,” he called as they reined in. “Welcome to the temples!”
\tFerrl blinked, glancing over to Malia.
The feline grinned, easily guessing the question behind his look. “There is but one main building, with just one large hall for celebration and prayer, but two high priests. They and their congregations simply take turns.”
\tThe robed bear nodded, “I see you’ve been here before, milady.” Grinning up at the wolf, he confirmed, “Both Tarragh and Malia are honored here, as the local towns can’t quite support two separate temples in anything approaching the style our Gods deserve, so we make this one the best we can and merely pretend it’s two, instead.” Stepping out of the way, he gestured them onwards, “Enter, please! We don’t get many visitors from outside of this area, and it’s always a pleasure to see fresh faces. In fact, I think one priest in particular will be happy to see you…”
\tBlinking again, the wolf shrugged and nudged his horse into a walk toward the keep’s stable. “Do you have any idea what he could be talking about?” he asked Malia.
\tThe cat shook her head with a mischievous grin, “Of course I do! I just can’t tell you… Sorry, but I promised Kathy and Roxy both.”
\t“Goddesses… Can’t live with ‘em, and if you kill ‘em they just come back.”
\tJust within the main building’s entrance, a wooden box with a slot in the top was bolted to the wall. At Malia’s nod, Ferrl took the belt pouch he’d filled from the ambushers’ purses and, with a smile, carefully poured the mass of copper, silver, and rare glints of gold into it. The sustained clatter of coins attracted the attention of several people in ecclesiastic garb, and he shrugged to the nearest one, still grinning, “I’m merely fulfilling a promise… and at no direct expense to myself, I should add. Every last farthing here was recovered from the bodies of bandits. They’ve already helped the world a lot simply by dying and ceasing to prey on the innocent, and now they can help even more in death.”
\tA priest other than the one he’d addressed stepped forward, a wolf as well, to look the knight up and down… “You are a warrior of prowess and honor, it would seem,” he rumbled. “Tell me… are you married?”
\tThe Agent blinked hard at the non sequitur, shaking his head, “No… Why in the world would you ask that?”
\tAs he took another step closer, the way the other wolf’s muscles shifted under his robe reminded Ferrl of… himself, and then some. This man was strong… “I am Gerian, Knight Commander and High Priest of Tarragh for this temple,” he announced in grand tones, “and long have I despaired in finding someone worthy of the challenge and reward I offer!” He spared his fellow wolf one glance to see if he was sufficiently impressed, and evidently took his look of confused surprise as being close enough. “The challenge… is to defeat me in honorable combat,” he continued, “and the prize is the hand of my daughter, Danara! She is willful, disobedient… but she is also mine! Her husband must be strong, as no weak man could handle her, and he must be honorable, so as not to bring shame upon me or my only, precious child!” The other priests, one by one, started slipping off, those in lighter armor (and thus probably followers of Malia) rolling their eyes heavenwards at the commander’s familiar bluster.
\tFerrl held up one hand, doing his best not to wince, “Wait, wait… I’m flattered, naturally, that you’d consider me for your daughter… but I’m not even sure if I can marry. It may be prohibited by my profession, and I’d have to make some inquiries to find out, but that’s still strictly secondary to the fact that I don’t even know this girl. I personally cannot and will not marry anyone who doesn’t choose me for herself, and I just don’t see how that’s possible until we’re well acquainted. I’d need time to talk to her and get to know her, and time’s just not something I have much of; I’m in the middle of an important mission right now.”
\tThe older wolf held his gaze for several long moments, the faintest hint of displeasure on his muzzle… then finally nodded. “Some of your notions are nearly as misplaced as hers,” he mused, then grudgingly conceded, “but your adherence to your duty is only good and right. In a way it serves only to confirm that you are the sort of man I’m looking for, though in honor I cannot keep you from your tasks for long. Do you, at least, have time to spar? If you cannot prevail in the challenge, then the point is moot anyway and you needn’t worry about the girl’s will at all. You can leave your womenfolk here for the noon meal while we step out to the practice yard for more manly pursuits, and that sort of thing is best not done with a full belly regardless.”
\tAn idea occurred to the Agent, and he nodded to Gerian, “I suppose that might work out… though I abandoned my heavy plate armor for the urgency of my mission as it was slowing me down. You and I are much alike in size, though, so if you have a shirt or suit of chain I could buy, that will do and I’ll give you the fight you seek merely in thanks.”
\tThe priest blinked, then grinned, “Then you are a knight, too? Even better! A contest with a brother in arms is always to be sought, even with no stakes to be won but one’s pride! Come,” and he started down the stairs of the keep, gesturing airily to his rear, “send your women off and we’ll see what we can work out on the field of honor.”
\tFerrl and Malia shared a glance, both imitating the other priests’ eye-roll, and he told her with a quiet chuckle, “You and Ela go eat; I’ll see if I can’t knock some sense into this buffoon’s skull… though if he’s managed to get as far as high priesthood, even of a minor temple, it’s probably far too late on that score.” At her smiling nod, he hurried down the steps to catch up with Gerian.
\t“I can’t imagine what could be so urgent as to separate a knight from his armor,” the older wolf mused as they walked toward a small building with no windows, “but my spare haubergeon should fit you well enough. You must at least let me loan you a sturdy plate helm, though; with wooden practice blades, the worst either of us will inflict on the other is a broken bone, and you can travel with such an injury far enough to reach a good healer without losing time on your urgent mission. The exception to that, of course, is your skull, so let’s just make sure that that doesn’t get broken, shall we?”
\tFerrl nodded, grinning, “I certainly can’t fault that goal at all; I like my brain in exactly the place and shape it’s in, thanks! Still… this will be my first bout with a follower of the War God. Are there any particular points of protocol or etiquette I should know?”
\tGerian opened the door to the building, which proved to be the temple’s armory, and stepped inside to start rummaging about for the suit of chainmail, wooden swords, and metal shields he needed, musing, “Nothing that wouldn’t be obvious to a man of honor… No enchantments, no invocations of divine aid, and no assassin’s tricks. If this were strictly a temple to Tarragh, some might also insist that the Maliites’ disarms and feints fall into that last category, but we here have seen that for the lie it is. It’s not a warrior’s fault if they possess the agility and skill to fight in that manner, and it’s their opponent’s failing if they cannot deal with such.”
\t“That, my friend, is an enormous relief to me,” Ferrl nodded. The other wolf looked up from where he’d set out a matched pair of five-foot hardwood shafts, simple guards affixed one foot up their lengths, and the Agent answered his unspoken question as he ducked through his baldric to set his real sword aside, “I know I look like I follow your God… but I was trained by one in the service of Malia. In all fairness and honor, I must tell you that before we fight, or the obvious assumption most would make from my physique would put you at an unfair disadvantage before we’d even begun. I’d rather not endure accusations of dishonor that a few words beforehand could easily prevent.”
\tThe priest nodded, then held up a long, broad suit of chainmail, sufficient to cover either of the large wolves from neck to ankle, with long sleeves, plenty of room in the chest, and a skirt split for riding, “This is what I offer… and for your honesty, it is yours at no charge should you win, and a mere three nobles should you fall by my hand.”
\tFerrl glanced down at his current garb, then nodded, “It’s not quite traditional padding, but what I’ve got on should survive one bout under that. I’ll get a proper gambeson at the next town I go through; tailors can easily adjust their wares for bodies such as ours, while a smith must have it in mind from the outset.”
\tHis fellow wolf gave a knowing chuckle, “Indeed, sir knight… More than once have I seen an armorer come close to tears as I entered his shop, knowing well the weight of steel they’d need to cover muscles such as these!” He reached up to lift a shield down from the hooks dotting the rafters and offered it, his free hand gesturing at the longer-muzzled section of visored helmets, “Arm yourself, and we’ll see if you’ve the might and skill to match your honor, this day.”
\tThe commander, when Ferrl stepped back out into the sunlight, still buckling his breeches’ belt over his new mail to cinch the waist, had discarded his robe, revealing the chain shirt, chain leggings, and breastplate he’d worn beneath. The sleeve on the left side of his armor ended at the elbow, allowing him to strap on his shield securely, it and the wooden sword in his other hand held with a confidence that labeled them as decades-long friends. Seeing his opponent similarly equipped, the priest nodded and eased his helmet over his head, giving it a shake to settle it before opening the visor. “First injury, or points by major impact?” he asked. “Among strangers the first is most common, as the second requires honor enough to acknowledge one’s own failure in the absence of proof, but I believe we are both honest enough of men for it to be an option.”
\t“The second, and to three points,” Ferrl immediately agreed. “I’d rather see this day pass with no injury to either of us, and you’d not hold the rank you do if your honor were anything but unquestionable.”
\tGerian nodded, “Done!” and slammed his visor closed. As soon as the younger wolf was in position, he called through the helm’s slits, “Guard yourself, and may Tarragh strengthen the righteous!” Wasting no more time with words, he charged, neither age nor the weight of his armor slowing him in the slightest.
\tFerrl bashed an overhead chop aside with his own sword, then leapt backwards to avoid a whistling slash. This was the first time he’d fought against someone with a weapon as long as his own, and he’d never met, much less sparred with, anyone who could beat him in raw, physical strength, but the priest was clearly his superior in simple might. Metal squealed as he blocked a shield bash with one of his own, and his oaken sword clacked deafeningly as he parried around that point of joining. He was still learning the flow and balance of his new haubergeon, and he couldn’t trust the chest-kick he’d normally use to disengage with until he knew how the heavy steel links would settle, leaving him with no choice but to focus on defense until the commander broke away on his own accord.
\tGray eyes peered through helm-slits as the older wolf circled, and the younger tried a charge of his own. Gerian’s attacks had, so far, been relatively straightforward, if arm-jarringly strong, and it was time to see what his defense was capable of… The Agent’s first thrust clanged off of his shield, then again as he twisted the deflection into a thigh-strike, and he was suddenly on the defensive once more, his shield arm subject to repeated shocks as he blocked a similar series of slashes up and down his left side. Curious, now, whether either of them could get through the other’s defense, Ferrl gathered his strength and launched the sort of assault that had won the day every time he’d been ambushed, his wooden blade a blur as it struck first the inner edge of the priest’s shield, then the opposing sword, and finally thrust viciously forward directly between them.
\tGerian threw himself backwards, falling to one knee, but the tip of the practice weapon still clanged off of his breastplate hard enough that only his sheer mass kept him from being knocked flat on his back. “Point,” he acknowledged, his voice a bit ragged behind his helm.
\tHis junior nodded, “Indeed… but it was hard-earned. You are by far the most proficient warrior I’ve ever fought, and the match is not decided yet!”
\tThe commander barked a laugh, steel creaking as he nodded back, “True, true… Back to business!” On his feet once more, he pulled his shield in tight against his body, making use of his sword’s long reach as he slashed in sweeping arcs, each ending in a good position for the next.
\tFerrl kept his distance, deflecting the wooden blade with light taps of his own, altering its inertia just enough to keep it out of line with his body… but his own training was at the forefront of his mind, reminding him that minimum-force fencing parries would only work as long as his foe chose to let them. Indeed, the thick muscles behind the weapon he faced, as he urged a lateral slash upwards, pressed down with a force very little could stop, his own blade twisted uselessly aside, and he brought his shield up hard, deflecting the overhead blow it had transitioned into. The opportunity was more sensed than seen, with his own shield complicating a view already restricted by his helm’s thin slits, but on instinct’s urging he thrust out again, feeling his weapon slide along Gerian’s shield to once again impact firmly on his breastplate.
\t“Point,” the older wolf conceded, panting slightly with exertion.
\tTaking a step back, the Agent lifted his visor, “Are you alright? I’m willing to let you at least catch your breath between points if you’d like.”
\tThe priest shook his head, laughing again, “No, I’ll be fine… I’m just a little too used to lesser warriors than myself. Easy wins have made me lazy, but I’m far from dead yet!”
\tNodding, Ferrl slapped his visor back down and resumed a guard position. Any hesitation on his part would touch unkindly on the pride of his opponent, so he didn’t delay his next attack. Borrowing one of Diral’s favorite tactics, he wove a figure-eight with his blade, keeping it angled enough that the seeming strikes at both sword and shield never quite touched their targets, a feint that could leave a foe severely out of position. The only real defense against it was to ignore the feint completely, keeping one’s defenses centered until the true point of attack manifested, and the younger wolf stifled a sigh as he saw Gerian’s shield move to intercept. His own rose to guard against the shaft his feint had left high, and he lunged forward in a thrust to finish the match…
\tPain erupted in his left thigh as five feet of hardwood smashed the chainmail against his breeches, but almost simultaneously his arm was jarred with another impact of wood against steel. “Point!” both wolves called in unison.
\tFerrl limped slightly as he stepped back, opening his visor again… and he shook his head with a rueful chuckle, “Your strike landed first, so the point is yours, my friend. I must admit that I never even saw that blow coming.”
\t“No, yours should count too,” Gerian disagreed. “Were we using real blades, you’d be cut badly now, but you’d still have your leg; my strike was not strong enough to do more than wound through good chainmail… but all three of yours would have found my heart, even through plate armor! I stand well and honestly bested.”
\tTucking the practice blade under his shield-arm, Ferrl nodded, extending his right hand, “It was a good match, though. It took every bit of my skill to beat you, and that’s far more than most I’ve faced could claim. Even the wound you would hypothetically have inflicted can only be matched by one other, and the honorless cur in question used a crossbow from hiding to inflict it.”
\tThe priest shook his head in mild wonder, “You are indeed something else, my young friend, and if you find that it’s possible and you’re amenable to the concept, please, at least consider my daughter as a possibility. You’d make a fine in-law, and I would be proud to call you my son.” Tucking his own sword away, he reached out to accept the offered hand, then jerked his arm back as if burned by the first touch. “Darkness! What treachery is this?!? You have acted every inch the man of honor and a proper knight, but your soul is as black as the moonless night!”
\tFerrl blinked, “I thought you knew… You’re a priest, and you should have seen it the first time you laid eyes on me… I serve Kathalla but, dark as She may be, Her path is not one without honor.”
\tStill blinking, Gerian shook his head again, “I’ve never been very good at the ‘priestly’ aspects of my role, so that sort of insight can only be inferred by touch… but never have I heard honor and the Fanged One mentioned in the same breath! You have named Her, and thus I must accept your word… but that is the only thing you’ve said to me that I can take on faith; everything else you have said and done must now be deemed shadowed by the darkness you’ve admitted to!”
\tA quiet whistle drew the Agent’s attention to a side-door of the main keep, and he smiled as his feline companion stepped into the dusty yard and drew near. Turning back to Gerian, he spoke softly, “Nothing I can say will ease your sense of betrayal or distrust… but there is one here who will set even your insoluble fears to rest.” He gestured at the cat as she drew near and held out her hand, “Touch her… and your worries will be resolved.”
\tHesitantly, as if unsure of anything anymore, the wolf reached out to lightly brush a finger across the black-furred palm being offered to him. His eyes bulged in his visor’s shadow, and he sank to one knee with a rattle of armor, breathing prayerfully, “The light! Good Gods, the light!”
\tDropping to his own knees, Ferrl laid a hand on the commander’s mailed shoulder, “Here is the simple truth… My name is Sir Ferrl, and the knighthood I received at King Burtak’s hands is the only rank I have. I am an Agent of Drachath, which is why I’m not sure I can marry, as my job could be considered too important to risk allowing others to influence me through the taking of beloved hostages. The little girl with me is a former slave who I’ve freed and adopted as my own daughter. This is Malia, at my side as a mortal as we journey to see who is kidnapping her chosen favorites, the unicorns. Yes, I serve a dark Goddess, but that does not mean my actions cannot be of the light. Can you think of any more worthy mission for a knight? Any more honorable task than to save an entire race of innocents from exploitation and eventual destruction?”
\tGerian did his best merely to keep breathing as he gazed upon the nodding face of a well-known Goddess, confirming that even his own, initial judgment of the other wolf’s goodness had fallen short of the mark. Finally, he shook his head to clear it, his confusion fading the moment he sternly told himself to ignore the darkness he’d seen, everything else fitting into place without that jarring discrepancy. “No,” he answered, “I cannot. All you have told me can be naught but true.” He managed a wry half-smile, “Especially the part about your being an Agent. That explains rather handily how you were able to defeat me.”
\tMalia chuckled softly, patting his other shoulder, “I brought my lunch outside so I could watch your fight… and it reminded me all too much of my own match against this wolf. Of course, we were using real swords then, so his blade did find my heart, but at least it only happened once.”
\tIt had seemed that the priest’s eyes couldn’t get any wider, but somehow they did, “He beat you?!? How—” and he broke off as a memory surfaced. “Ferrl!” he exclaimed. “Sir Ferrl was the one who uncovered the honorless murderers of Baron Hellar!”
\tThe Agent nodded grimly, “That I did… The baron followed your God, but died in the worst possible way. He deserved either death in combat or to pass away in his sleep, undefeated. I could not let that sort of thing go unpunished.”
\tGerian shook his head, “In your place, neither could I. Your own Goddess was involved with that, wasn’t She? But on the side of the just, as the reports I read claimed…” He reached up to the gray-furred hand on his shoulder and, ignoring the darkness this time, clasped it firmly in both of his own, “I cannot claim to have ever known a more honorable man than you, including myself, nor one more worthy of my Danara. My old armor is yours, as it means nothing, and should you find yourself able and amenable, I beg you to take my daughter’s hand. Unless I receive word from you that the marriage would be completely impossible, I will entertain no other man’s suit.”
\tFerrl shifted uncomfortably, “I’ll keep that in mind… and, should I live to do so, I will stop here again on my way back from my mission. I still must meet this precious child of yours, talk to her for a while, before I can even seriously consider accepting what you’re so willing to give me. After all the trouble I went to, finding Baron Rickar a bride he could truly love, could I settle for anything less, myself?”
\tThe priest shook his head again, chuckling, “No, I suppose not… Arranged marriages may be the norm, but some men truly deserve better, and I number you and the new baron among them.”
Chapter 7
\tThe seat of the county of Glenrose was the only real city in the holding, and set a good ten miles off of the highway, but the moment it came into view Ferrl was glad he’d suggested stopping there. His geography lessons had labeled it the largest city in the area, easily beating Lark’s Reach for sheer size, and as the local hub of trade it was bound to have the selection he’d been unable to find in Ashenton. Gerian had solved the earlier stop’s lack of armor handily, but he still wanted to pick up a supply of crystals to enchant, his last hunt for such having come up completely dry. It was also a good chance for a former farm hand to learn more of the generalities of cities; what was likely to differ between any two, what they had in common, and just what sort of assumptions he could afford to make even in a town he’d never seen before.
\t“There,” he said, pointing. “That’s the second closest inn to the central market, so it’ll be convenient without costing a fortune, I hope.”
\tMalia chuckled, shaking her head, “If I had a brass ha’penny for every time I’d figured something out logically only to sit back and watch mortals do the exact opposite, I could trade them in for platinum by now.”
\tThe wolf thought for a moment, then shook his head with a wince, “That’s a lot of brass… Still, we’ve got to sleep somewhere, and even staying at the most expensive inn in every city between here and Chraf would add up to hardly more than Ela’s knife cost.”
\t“Perhaps,” she conceded, then brightened, “Ooh… look at the sign! They’ve got a steady house minstrel, and I could use a little cheering up… Let’s stop here anyway; the music means more to me than shopping convenience or price.”
\tFerrl nodded, smiling as well, “Done, then, and I look forward to enjoying that as well once I’ve shopped.” He glanced down at Ela, walking between the two adults since they’d dropped their horses off at the nearest stable, “Do you want to come with me or keep Malia company?”
\tThe vixen tilted her head, considering, then took the older woman’s hand in hers, “I haven’t gotten to listen t’much music, an’ I’d like to hear some.”
\t“Alright, you two can arrange for our room, then. I’ll come back in time for a late dinner.”
\tLeaving the two ladies to enter the inn after handing Malia the bag he’d been carrying, Ferrl walked onwards, watching both sides of the street for potentially useful shops. He hadn’t found any by the time the rain-dampened thoroughfare opened out onto the market square, so he pulled a copper out of his purse and flipped it, letting chance decide. King Lachier I’s portrait looked up at him, and he turned right, walking along the line of sturdy wooden stalls. The square was defined by several large buildings, most of them devoted to manufacture of some kind though a few were merely shops that had more inventory than any stall could hold. Flanking each one’s entrance were two or three smaller retailers per side, the rows broken by building entrances, frequent alleys, and the occasional actual street. Most of what was offered for sale directly related to city life; foods that needed preparation, candles and lamps, clothes, shoes and ankle boots, cheap clay dishes…
\tThis hadn’t been such a good idea, the wolf realized as he found himself directly opposite the street he’d entered on; none of the open-air stalls held anything of sufficient value for a thief to risk an encounter with the guards flanking every entrance over. Cheap goods, few of which were marketed toward travelers, and definitely nothing like the stones he sought. Stopping at one of the few hot food stalls, he dropped five copper pennies on the counter and asked, “Could I get one of those meat rolls and some directions? I’m only here for one night, and I don’t really have time to run around figuring out where they hide the luxury goods in this town.”
\tThe middle-aged vixen across the cheap pine planks from him blinked, scooping up the coins that should have bought at least a couple dozen of her rolls, and nodded, “Won’t hurt my business none… what’re you lookin’ for?”
\tFerrl smiled, “That’s why I picked you to ask, ma’am. I’m looking for semiprecious stones. Quartz, agate, jade, maybe a little turquoise; not really gems but something a wizard or low-end jeweler might buy.”
\t“Ah, that’s easy,” the fox demurred, slapping two of her freshest rolls onto a square of cheap burlap and sliding them over. “Turn right, skip the next street, and take the second alley. Most of the medium-fancy stuff is like that, just off the square where they can keep an eye on things. Th’really good stuff’s in the posh neighborhoods where you can’t get anywhere near ‘em if you look even a little bit shifty.”
\tThe Agent nodded, grinning, “Thank you, ma’am.” Figuring that her life could use a little excitement, he waggled his fingers mock-dramatically at the rolls even as he extended a tendril of energy she couldn’t see, lifting them into the air to bob and weave a bit before falling neatly into his suddenly-upturned hands.
\tBlinking, the vixen shook her head to clear it then barked a laugh, “That’d be why you want wizard-goods, obviously! You get goin’, youngster; I don’t want my other customers to think the food here’s bewitched… but… thanks for the show.”
\tThe shops in the alley were varied, their signs lit by widely-spaced lamps, as this late in the evening very little of the sun’s light was reaching the cramped hollow between a leatherworks and a large-scale bakery. Built into the sides of the larger buildings, he could see a silversmith, two sellers of the sorts of stones he was looking for, and one retailer of cheap copper and tin jewelry set with the more gem-like of common minerals. As soon as he’d downed the first roll and tucked the other into a pocket, he flipped his coin again, getting the kingdom’s coat of arms circa Lachier I’s reign, and stepped into the mineral shop on the left.
\tThere wasn’t much room in the small shop. The row of stubby barrels along one wall took almost half of the customers’ aisle, they and the two long shelves above them stocked with rough, almost natural-state shards of quartz, clusters of amethysts, and similar stones. Halfway to the back wall, the barrels stopped and only a single shelf lined the wall, the proprietor and his wooden chair blocking easy access to it, but the polished gleams there amidst swaths of black velvet immediately drew the wolf’s gaze.
\t“Can I help you?” the well-dressed jaguar asked as he rose from his seat.
\tFerrl nodded eagerly, pointing at the rear shelf, “I believe those are what I’ve been searching two cities for… I need good, unflawed stones suitable for enchantment, but not actual gems. A good-quality hunk of quartz will hold a spell exactly as well as a huge, priceless diamond, after all.”
\tThe feline nodded, a broad smile stretching his muzzle, “That’s the sort of thing I like to hear! Most of the customers I get are just kids with a copper, wanting something pretty to coo over, and the bulk of the rest are artisans capable of refining my rougher pieces themselves. It’s not often I get someone who has any interest in my finer wares!” He backed up against the wall, pulling his chair alongside himself, “Please, look around all you want.”
\tIt was a bit of a squeeze, even turned sideways, to fit his thick chest between the deep shelf and its owner, but the wolf managed easily enough. On general principle he asked, “I’ve got plenty of money and I’m willing to spend it on quality, but I’m also on a long journey so I should take a little care with my resources… Are there any basic enchantments you would like, that might barter away some of the monetary cost? The simple things, I can do right here before I leave, unless there’re any local laws restricting the use of magic.”
\tThe shopkeeper shook his head, “No, no laws like that; if you make something and I sell it, I have to pay a little extra tax that goes to fund the inspectors who keep our local alchemists and healers honest, and one or two actual wizards who keep an eye out for greater abuses of power, but unless you do something flamboyant enough to attract their interest there aren’t any real restrictions. Hmm… you’re the first wizard to offer, not that you look anything like the others I’ve met, so I’m really not sure… what qualifies as ‘basic?’”
\tFerrl shrugged, “Oh, things that project a single kind or homogeneous mix of energy… Lights, firestarters, bed warmers, maybe a levitating toy… I can also do a few other things that are more complicated, but I don’t remember many of those spells off the top of my head so your choices would be limited, and they’d also be a bit more expensive to recharge. One example of both of those concepts would be to take that jade paperweight there,” and he pointed at a polished green hemisphere, “and make it so any single object you set its flat against weighs less for a while. It’s complex because I’d need to give it a feedback-response feature to reduce its output to merely maintain the right level of infused energy once it’s reached, and other wizards would charge more to replenish it because the energy it uses is a subtle, specific blend that they’d have to work out the composition of before duplicating.”
\tThe cat nodded, considering as much of that as he could comprehend… “I believe I know what you’re getting at,” he mused, “though naturally I didn’t understand every detail. How long would something like a light or bed warmer last before I had to take it to a mage for charging?”
\t“That depends entirely on the stone you use… That sort of thing would actually use two stones, one to hold the power and the other to evoke its effect by touching it to the first one, and the unflawed volume of the one with the power defines how much it can hold.” From the same piece of velvet as the jade, that evidently being the section for paperweights, he picked up one of two larger hemispheres of leaded crystal, “These, for example… They’re heavy, and awkward to carry around as a portable light source, but they’re big enough that one could hold enough energy to make the other glow at just above reading-light levels for, oh, three or four weeks straight. The same stones as heaters would last maybe five continuous days, as noticeable warmth just takes a higher sustained energy flow than light does. You probably wouldn’t be using either one on a constant basis, though, so I’ll leave it to you to calculate their effective duration.”
\tThe proprietor nodded again, a considering expression still on his muzzle as he asked, “And they’d only be using up their power when the two halves are together?”
\t“If that’s the way you want them, yes. Another way to do it is to keep them together all the time, but require that things line up a certain way to make them work, so you’d just twist the one on top until it lit or warmed. It’s not even more complicated that way; I just stick the energy-channel on one side instead of in the middle.”
\tThe jaguar couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head slowly, “And I always thought magic was mysterious! It may be something I’ll never really understand, but a lot of the details are just plain common sense, the way you explain them.” Glancing over his available selection, he eventually settled on the very stones that had been used as examples, “I would like a long-lasting light, thank you, and the jade that makes things lighter is probably something I could sell. Its recharge price wouldn’t matter much, as I’d bill it as a one-time effect to ease a particularly heavy load for someone, but there are any number of ways that could be useful.”
\tNodding, Ferrl reached out and touched the clear crystals, focusing on the simpler enchantment of basic white light first, “I can believe that… I should warn you, though: it’ll only work on one object. If you put it on a cart loaded with produce, the cart bed would weigh less but the wheels and vegetables would be as heavy as ever. For transporting a sculpture to a rich person’s garden, or something like that, it’d be fine; the stone’s big enough to infuse, oh, maybe half a ton for half an hour, or ten stone for five hours, lightening each one by about half. So long as you’re honest with your customer regarding its capabilities, there shouldn’t be any problem. In fact, it might not be as hard for you to recharge as I thought. All I really need to do is write down the exact energy-blend, so you won’t have to pay extra for the labor of figuring it out.”
\tHis host nodded enthusiastically, “That would be superb! For two reusable enchantments, I’ll give you as many of my finished stones as you can hold in two hands—yes, even hands as big as yours—and as many of the rough ones as you want. The roughs go for two to ten farthings, and the finished ones top out at a silver wheel, but I can expect a good few gold crowns for the enchantment I’ll sell, and my wife will absolutely adore having a light that doesn’t burn smelly oil or messy candles.”
\t“Ah, domestic tranquility… A worthwhile goal for anyone,” the Agent chuckled. Picking up the piece of jade, he motioned toward the jaguar’s chair and asked, “May I? This one’s going to take a few minutes, and I’ll have to concentrate pretty hard to get it right.”
\t“You mean you already…”
\tFerrl just grinned, “Try ‘em for yourself,” and settled himself carefully onto the seat as its owner stepped back.
\tA corner of his mind watched as the shopkeeper approached the stones with an almost child-like smile on his face. Turning one upside-down, he carefully balanced the other on top of it, the web of his thumb stretched to steady the base as his other hand slowly twisted the upper hemisphere. To his surprise, the one on the bottom lit, bathing his hand in light, but a moment’s fumbling got them re-aligned with the glowing one on top. Another twist turned it off for the moment, there being no reason to waste its energy even if it had plenty to spare, and he brushed the remaining paperweights off of the velvet, improvising a sling-bag out of it to carry his new toy home in.
\tPatiently, the cat waited, watching the motionless wolf as he stared at some point within the hemisphere he held… When the mage finally relaxed and sat up, he held up his bag and asked, “Just on the off chance, would anything bad happen if these get broken? They’re round, and they’re easy to accidentally roll or drop…”
\tFerrl shook his head, “Nah, you’re safe enough. I build good power pools, embedding ‘em deep into the stone so they’ll hold much and hold tightly. The worst that’ll happen is that you’ll get a bright flash along the actual fracture-planes; that’d be where a minute quantity of the material actually fell to powder, or close enough to it to lose its internal structuring and free a bit of harmless light-energy. If it all went up at once, sure, there’d be enough power there to start a fire or sunburn your ears, but the entire thing would have to be instantly crushed for that to happen. Here,” and he passed over the second enchantment, “press this against your chest and try jumping. Don’t worry, I’ve used it on living creatures before, including my own daughter, and the energy-mix is harmless.”
\tThe jaguar had to hastily position his free arm to keep his head from hitting the ceiling.
\tSmiling, Ferrl reached into the pouch he kept writing supplies in, “Seems to work alright… I’ll just jot down that little spell so I can start giving the rest of your goodies the attention they deserve.”
* * *
\tThe sun had just set when he stepped out of the store, a small canvas sack tied to his belt holding his new hoard of stones. It had taken a while to sort through the smaller, rough quartz crystals to find the least-flawed among them, and the oval of polished tiger’s-eye at the bottom of the bag would serve perfectly as the centerpiece of the defensive matrix they’d be supporting. He had plenty of other fine stones, too, in case of future need, so he didn’t bother with the other stores beyond taking a moment to look through their windows on the off chance something special caught his eye.
\tAs he conducted his inspection of the silversmith’s wares, toward the rear of the alley where the light was dimmest, he heard a soft sound behind him, as of a body ending a fall on stealthy feet. That was all the warning he had, and the next thing he knew he’d been seized around his chest by a strong arm, a pair of legs wrapping around to hold his hands tight against his sides as the cold edge of a blade settled itself firmly against his throat.
\t“I don’t care what my father says,” a voice hissed into his ear, “I am not marrying the first pile of brainless muscles to prove itself better at bashing heads than he is!”
\tFerrl blinked, then chuckled, relaxing from his preparations to slam his attacker against the wall behind him as the mystery instantly evaporated, “Ah! You would be Danara, then; I’d been hoping to meet you eventually.”
\tThe sharp knife at his throat pressed in harder, enough to break the skin. “‘Meet’ me!” she growled indignantly. “And then carry me off like a fresh-picked plum for your pleasure, no doubt! Well, you can stop planning your wedding right now, as you’ll never live to marry! I will not be taken as any man’s prize!” She didn’t give him even the briefest instant to reply; her dagger dug in, and she yanked it across his throat in one smooth slice.
\tBlood splattered on the cobblestones as Ferrl grunted in sudden pain, but he forced the sensation aside, concentrating on the shapes of his severed veins… The spurting slowed to a trickle as he pressed in all around his throat with a solid layer of motion magic, then eased off entirely save for the residual dribbles still seeping through his fur to stain his shirt as he formed two invisible tubes of force to bridge the gaps her knife had carved. Coughing once, he shook his head, “Damn, girl, you don’t give a guy much of a chance to explain himself, now do you?” His voice was a little ragged from the gash in his windpipe, and he could almost feel the surprise radiating from the figure still clinging to his back. “I never said I’d accepted your father’s offer! My reason for wanting to meet you was to see if you could stand me! It was never my intention to steal your right to choose, and your willing acceptance was and remains the only way I’d allow Gerian’s intentions to be carried out.”
\tThe legs gripping his sides withdrew, the arms around him following suit as Danara dropped lightly to the ground and started backing away, her dagger held warily at the ready as he finally turned to face her. She was dressed in dark clothing, with fur much closer to black than his own, so he couldn’t make out much of her appearance, but the nearest lamp’s reflection flickered in eyes of the purest gold. “What are you?” she asked, obviously shaken. “You should be dead or dying in the gutter; I know I slit deep enough!”
\tSmirking faintly, the wolf bowed, “Sir Ferrl, Agent of the kingdom, at your service, and as an acquaintance phrased it to me once, such as I are notoriously difficult to kill. Yes, you struck perfectly, and almost anyone else would be dead, but it takes a bit more than a slit throat to seriously inconvenience me. I liked how you didn’t hesitate, though; it’s always good to see a girl who knows exactly what she wants and has the will to go about it properly.”
\tDanara silently mouthed the word ‘Agent,’ then shook her head once, turned, and fled around the corner into the next alley.
\tChuckling to himself, Ferrl looked down at his shirt, decided there wasn’t much he could do about the bloodstains, and started walking in the opposite direction. The forces keeping the rest of his blood on the inside didn’t take much effort to maintain, but he’d already invested a decent portion of his magical strength for the day over the course of bartering enchantments, so he figured he’d ask the militia where the nearest healer was on his way back to the inn. If he didn’t, they’d probably stop him anyway just for looking like he’d been involved in a murder, and it was always best to take the initiative, presenting the truth before some soldier’s imagination just made things worse.
* * *
\tA sound like none he’d heard before greeted Ferrl’s entrance as he stepped into the inn. The common room was packed to capacity, but dead silent save for the strummed chords of a lute and a voice straight out of the legends that spoke of angels. The crowd listened intently, not even lifting their tankards or eating their meals for fear that it might somehow break the spell of pure, lyrical beauty as Malia sang, her eyes closed and a smile of simple bliss on her muzzle. The wolf recognized the melody vaguely, having heard something similar the few times a minstrel had visited the tavern his mother had worked in when he was a cub back in Yelane, but he hadn’t realized there was a ballad to go with the tune, and it was obviously something from far away as he didn’t understand even a little of the language being sung.
\tThe silence hung for several moments as the last verse’s words and the resonant chords in the body of the lute faded, before shattering instantly as the audience applauded with all their might. Conversations erupted all over the room, alike in subject as patrons strove to outdo each other in praising the performance, and dishes clattered as forgotten meals and drinks were rediscovered with gusto. After a nod to the red-clad mink who’d been playing the lute, Malia picked up Ela and carried her over to where Ferrl was waiting.
\t“Daddy!” the vixen exclaimed, pointing at his bloody shirt, “You’re hurt!”
\tFerrl shook his head, “It’s nothing, little one; I’m just fine.” Glancing to the feline, he asked, “Do we have a room?”
\tMalia nodded, giving him an appraising glance of her own before stepping toward the stairs, “We do, and it looks like you need it to clean up in. What happened to you?”
\tFollowing close behind, the wolf merely chuckled, “It seems that Danara didn’t take her father’s suggestion very well… She followed us all the way here from the temple, just to ambush me when she caught me alone in an alleyway, where she expressed her displeasure then punctuated it by slitting my throat.”
\tHis daughter whimpered, as Malia shook her head in wonder, “A spirited lass, indeed! How did you respond?”
\t“I didn’t return the favor, if that’s what you’re asking,” he replied as they stepped into the promised room and closed the door. “I rather like her, I think… I merely explained my side of the story, then visited a healer after she’d run off again. I was never in any particular danger, as it didn’t take much magic to patch my jugular veins temporarily, and the healer took care of the air bubbles in my blood before they could reach my heart, so I saw no cause to harm her at all.”
\tThe feline chuckled, “Kathy and Roxy were right, then… You two will get along, eventually at least. It’s a bit late, but did you want to get dinner? The kitchen probably still has a few things.”
\tFerrl shook his head, then started stripping off his bloodied shirt, “I picked up a couple meat rolls in the market, which should hold me ‘til I can get a large breakfast. I paid for the stones I needed in magical barter, so I’m tired enough that I’d rather go to bed… but my encounter with Danara was stimulating enough that there are a few other things I’d rather do first,” and he winked.
\t“I see,” Malia replied, a grin slowly spreading across her muzzle, and she reached for her armor’s buckles. The leather fell easily from her form, sleekly muscled yet softly feminine in all the right places, and, bare save for her boots, she sat down on the edge of the bed to pull those off too.
\tEla was grinning as well as she looked between the older woman and her Master, then scampered toward the door. “I’m gonna use the privy down the hall real quick,” she murred, opening it just enough to slip out without giving any other patrons a peek at the naked adults.
\tFerrl chuckled as the latch clicked shut, “Ever the considerate child, she is… and she’s got a birthday coming up. I’ve already got an idea as to how to celebrate it, too… but those plans are for another city and another night.” He pulled his breeches off to join the pile of discarded clothing then slid onto the bed, giving Malia a gentle kiss as she laid out beside him, “For now, I have much more important matters to see to…”
\tThe feline Goddess sighed happily and half-rolled to hold him close, “Mmm… indeed you do, my handsome knight.”
Chapter 8
\tEven a day and a half later, Malia was still bursting into giggles at unpredictable intervals as the memory of the morning they left Glenrose kept resurfacing. The innkeeper had met them as they’d come down the stairs even as the sun rose, looking rather distressed by the dozen-plus other proprietors of inns and taverns that filled his common room, all of them immediately bursting into loud conversation as each of them struggled to one-up the next man in promising as much as they could, often more than they could really afford, if she’d only sign on with them as a steady singer. No matter the money, lodging, food, or other perks they offered, though, she had a mission to see to, and the travelers left the disappointed property owners in their wake as they journeyed onwards.
\tThe intervening day and night had proven nearly as amusing to Ferrl, in their own way… A glance to their rear as they crested the highest hill in the area showed a dark figure on horseback several miles back, and as they set up camp that night a small fire flickered in the distance, spotted as he hunted for Ela’s next pair of exercise stones. He could only hope that, whatever her reasons for continuing to follow him, Danara had planned things well enough to carry some form of shelter such as the waxed canvas tarp they’d tacked up between two tree branches, as the downpour a few hours after sunset was the last he saw of her campfire, and even summer nights could chill.
\tEntertaining as they were, such thoughts had to be set aside as they approached Gatuque, seat of the earldom and duchy of the same name. Though clearly as large as Glenrose, it took second place economically, as more of the city’s buildings and workforce was devoted to the clerical and bureaucratic functions of centralized authority. It was also, or so itinerant peddlers had assured Ferrl, more expensive to do business in, as the local tax code lacked the incentives Fariach maintained to encourage strictly local commerce and keep the basics of daily life affordable. As case in point, the ‘gatehouse’ piercing the high defensive walls of the city extended a good fifty yards along the road, and as they neared the travelers could see other prospective entrants being drawn into individual stalls beneath the shelter of its roof, their goods and persons being examined by a veritable army of clerks, guards, and other functionaries.
\tThe seeming chaos was organized by a stocky feline wearing the insignia of a militia colonel and the crest of the duke’s service. His expression brooked no nonsense, promising ill for anyone who disrupted his command’s established, orderly procedures, but those who cooperated with the process were quickly and efficiently directed to the next stage of inspection once he’d personally categorized them. His questioning of Ferrl’s party was limited to one word, “Literate?”
\tThe wolf nodded, “Passably so, yes.”
\tNodding in return, the cat pointed about halfway into the gatehouse on the left side, “Stall nine,” and immediately turned his attention back to the road and whoever might next seek entrance.
\tA badger somewhat past middle age awaited them in the large stall, spacious enough for two good-sized carts plus room to at least partially unload them for examination. “Finally,” the clerk remarked, brushing his robes as he stood. “You’re the first people I’ve seen all day! I handle individuals and small groups, but for some reason today only the merchants have known how to read. So, this shouldn’t take long at all, as I won’t have to laboriously read and explain the lists of things that need to be taxed or declared to you.” He gestured at two large sheets of parchment hung from hooks flanking the closed shutters that could be used to air the stall on muggy days, “Read those if you will, while I take a quick glance through your saddlebags. If you see anything that matches your situation, let me know and we’ll calculate taxes or log a report as needed. Neglecting to mention something taxable, of course, results in a fine of ten times the usual assessment when it’s found out, or at least a few days in gaol if you decline to declare something the duke has decreed his government must remain aware of.”
\t“I can already see one thing I’ll have to ask about exceptions for,” Ferrl nodded as he read his way down the lists. “Check the stallion’s left saddlebag first; the seals on those documents are technically magical, but there should be a difference between a salable enchantment and an anti-counterfeiting measure.”
\tThe clerk read the papers quickly, both brows rising, “Oh, my… The king’s business? Diplomatic immunity?” He fished a small, oblong stone out of a pocket and ran it over the sheets, nodding as it glowed a faint green, “This isn’t a comprehensive Stone of Validation, but it at least confirms that these enchantments are of the general type used to sign official correspondence. Yes, those are excepted; we can’t go taxing every courier who bears a particularly important message.”
\tPointing at an entry about halfway down the tax list, the wolf nodded in return before mentioning, “I don’t have any more common enchantments on me, but the other list says I need to declare myself as a mage. I’ve got the raw materials to make a few things that would be taxable, and I assert that it’s my intention to do so, but they won’t be offered for sale at this time. I’m merely passing through, remaining in Gatuque for two nights and one day, but other inspections I’ve endured on my journey involved officials who weren’t quite ready to accept my unsupported word on the subject, resulting in at least one death. I am indeed on the king’s business, and can brook no major delays.”
\tThe badger cocked his head to one side, considering, then brightened and stepped toward a small writing-desk in one corner, “I believe that we can take your word for it, so long as an effort is made to verify it… Tell me which gate you’ll be leaving through, and we’ll draw up a basic inventory of these materials you mentioned. So long as, the day after tomorrow, you display your remaining supplies and whatever items you’ve crafted, and the totals add up, we’ll write it off as personal use just as you say, and no harm done.”
\tOpening his right-hand saddlebag and withdrawing his pouch of stones, Ferrl nodded with a smile of his own, “That should suffice, and I promise you it will work out as you propose.”
* * *
\t“You skipped a declaration,” Malia commented once they’d passed the oversized gatehouse and were well on their way into the city proper.
\tThe knight shook his head, “Not really; the very fact that it was on the list makes me glad you agreed to the delay for birthday celebrations… The duke here has no right to demand to be informed of Agents entering his capitol, as we serve the king directly and are answerable to no lesser authority, yet the very fact that he asked makes me suspicious. I’m going to have to pay the good duke a visit tomorrow morning, and try to find out why he’s chosen to overreach his authority in this respect.”
\tHis companion nodded, her expression grim, “It’s such a little thing, on the surface… but its potential implications range from an honest mistake to outright treason. Take as much time as you need. If that turns out to be more than two days, we’ll rethink our travel plans and find a way to make up for it, but it’s definitely something that warrants investigation.”
\tThe buildings just past the gate were obviously intended to cater to the desperate, the inexperienced, or the forgetful. There was a seller of travelers’ supplies and an overpriced-looking inn, while the rest of the short block was crammed with stalls and small shops selling food and drink. The only people patronizing these particular businesses were clearly non-locals, and Ferrl ignored them as well, though once the broad street opened into the city’s southernmost public square a unique sight made him pause… Several streets branched out around the burbling fountain in the center, one just as broad as the gate road and probably leading to the local warehouse district, its being wide enough for two large carts to pass each other obviously a necessity in such a circumstance. The second-widest street, though, heading straight and true for the ducal palace in the center of town, was flanked on one side by a booth whose sign proclaimed ‘Information and Messages’ under a larger question mark that even the illiterate should recognize. The wolf had never seen anything of the sort… but many people were stopping there, and it was staffed by what appeared to be an ordinary merchant, a clerk of some type, and a member of the city guard, so between them they could probably answer just about any likely query a traveler might have.
\tMost of the other questioners, as Ferrl’s party waited in the short line, were asking very similar questions to those he had in mind. New it may have been, but this was certainly an innovation the knight could approve of, and the trio on the comfortable stools in the booth seemed to be doing a fairly brisk business at a copper penny per answer. When it was his turn, he took the lead while Malia held the horses’ reins, “Three questions… We need to know where there’s an inn with a decent minstrel or bard who wouldn’t mind a skilled singer who has no interest in sharing their tips, I could use directions to the local temple of Kathalla if the city has one, and I also need to know which, if any, audiences the duke holds would welcome a knight without sponsorship.”
\tThe men across the counter from him exchanged a few glances, the soldier speaking up first, “I think that the Golden Lyre would welcome you, as inns go; the entertainer there is a full bard, but he’s getting old. He’s quite good with his instruments still, but his voice is starting to give out.”
\tThe merchant nodded, “I was thinking the same thing; you can get there by going about a quarter-mile up the main road here, turning left at the fountain with three spitting dolphins, and watching for the sign with a yellow harp about four streets down. As for the temple, all of those sorts of buildings are just west of the center of town, and the Fanged Goddess has Her shrine alongside all the rest.”
\t“I think that the morning court is fairly open,” the clerk mused last. “Our lord may be both duke and earl, but he’s not a king, so we don’t do things quite as formally as they probably insist on someplace like Fariach. I believe I’ve seen a few people there with no titles at all, though they were fairly high up in the unofficial ranks of the community at large. On any day but restdays, your ‘sir’ should suffice for entry.”
\tFerrl nodded, smiling, and fished a handful of coins out of his purse, picking out five coppers and sliding them across the counter, “Here… There may be a dark-furred young lady wolf asking about me, probably no later than this evening, so feel free to give her the same directions you gave us, pre-paid. If she shows up within the next hour or two, she can probably find me at the temple; otherwise it’d be the inn or morning court, depending.”
\tThe vulpine merchant of the threesome nodded, “Is there any specific message you’d like to leave for her? That’d be at least another penny, for the record.”
\tShaking his head, the wolf picked up Ela, “Nah… I’d like to leave a bit of mystery for her, as she seems to enjoy ferreting this sort of thing out.” The information-brokers merely chuckled, nodded, and turned their attention to the next person in line as Ferrl’s group reassembled and started walking down the suggested street.
* * *
\tOther than a momentary sense of déjà vu on the wolf’s part, meeting the bard had gone well. It wasn’t the graying tiger’s fault that he bore a passing resemblance to a wizard involved in treason and murder, and he was certainly willing enough to be drawn aside in between instrumental sets to listen to Malia’s proposal of musical collaboration.
\t“Anything you can name,” the younger-looking feline answered his query as to her repertoire.
\tThe bard chuckled faintly, “No matter how good you think you are, you should know better than to claim that… Nobody knows every song! For instance… I’m fairly certain you don’t know ‘The Widowed Rabbit’s Hunt.’”
\tMalia smirked, “Trying to catch me out, hmm?” Her half-teasing query faded into a more tonal hum, and the bard jerked as he recognized the chorus of his own creation. Leaning closer, she murmured just loud enough for her companions to also hear, “I do know it… even though you only finished writing that song last week and had not yet performed it in public. I learned it when you prayed to thank me for inspiration, though it was your own gift that set that poor woman’s triumph to verse, not mine.”
\tChuckling softly, the wolf mused to the stunned musician, “She’s implying exactly what you think she is, you know, and it’s true. You honestly have a partner, for a night or two, whose qualifications are literally unquestionable, and together you’ll make some of the best music of an already long and rewarding life. Are you truly fool enough to let this opportunity pass you by?”
\t“No…” the old cat whispered, then straightened, giving his head a firmer shake, “no, I am not. My lady, I have been yours since I first felt the stirrings of music in my heart, some sixty years gone now, and there is nothing, can be nothing, more gratifying than to meet you at the end of my life… and to know you approve of how I spent it. I’d often daydreamed, these recent years, of possibly getting to sing and play at your side… but those dreams all assumed that such could happen only after my death. I still look forward to your heaven, but I accept your offer for this living day with all of my heart, and, aching joints or no, you shall get nothing less than the best performance I’ve ever given, to sing with.”
\tA faint white glow surrounded Malia’s fingers as she took the tiger’s hands in hers, and his eyes widened as the slight swelling in his knuckles visibly decreased, hollows filled in, and chipped claws repaired themselves. The calluses at his fingertips remained, necessary to play comfortably for any length of time, but in every other respect his hands may as well have belonged to someone half his age. “Your life has, indeed, been a good and true one,” his Goddess murmured with an affectionate smile, “and my singing with you is not reward enough. I will not touch your own, failing voice, because the other mortals would ask too many questions that you could not answer… but take this as my true reward for your faith. No matter how much longer you may live, you will always be able to make beautiful music, and when you die, you will join me and we’ll sing together among the stars in voices time cannot touch.”
\tTears seeped from the corners of the bard’s eyes, and he bowed his head in gratitude, fingers still clenching and relaxing in wonder. “Yes, my lady,” he replied simply, then reached for his harp to tune it.
\tDrawing her gently aside for the moment, Ferrl spoke quietly, “I’m going to head to the temple for… a bit of consultation. I’ll be back briefly before supper time, but if my inquiries bear any fruit I’ll be eating elsewhere, and taking Ela with me at the time. It’s part of her birthday celebration, and something you don’t want to know a single specific of, much less participate in. Other than the morning audience at the ducal palace, I’ll be around for most of tomorrow, working on magic, and we should have everything finished and be ready to travel again by the next morning.”
\tThe feline smirked faintly, “Unless the duke arrests you, or your prospective wife tries carving you up again… I’ll keep an eye on your little one for the afternoon, regardless; she really does seem to enjoy music, so this special performance should make a good birthday present too.”
\tEla, however, looked a little torn between her options. “I’d have all day tomorrow to listen t’music,” she murmured, “and I kinda want to go to Kathy’s house. The old kitty’ll still be playin’ good later, right?”
\tHer father nodded, Malia following suit a moment later, her muzzle pursed thoughtfully. “I guess you could go with him for now,” she agreed. “It would probably be safer than wandering around tomorrow, anyway, as there’s always a chance that our knight here is about to severely irritate the local gentry, but they won’t even know he’s here until after morning court. If you want to go to church, little one, now really is the best time.”
\tThe vixen’s green eyes blinked hopefully up at her Master, and he smiled, nodding, “Alright. Let’s get everything settled in the rooms, and me out of this armor, and then we’ll be on our way. Let’s leave your collar behind for once, but you can wear that good dress we got back in Ashenton, and your knife too. You’re turning seven, and you deserve a few pretties to wear.”
* * *
\tTemple Row was a fairly impressive sight. Each of the major Gods and Goddesses had a building, all built to look ancient but with new, well-maintained materials, mostly marble, though no two quite matched in the specific color or pattern of stone they used. Naturally, the largest of the buildings were devoted to the God of Generosity and the Demigod of Commerce, as they had the most numerous congregations to hold during services, but Malia’s shrine wasn’t much smaller, and much better decorated due to the number of artisans who’d happily donated their time and effort to improve it. The only one missing was the temple to Roxanarra, but those tended to be located just outside of cities anyway, both to encourage the simple life that Goddess preferred in Her followers and to keep the Roxanites’ practice of exchanging pleasure for donations from drawing too much attention. The kingdom’s laws on religious freedom, though naturally those only applied to the faiths of light, could and did override any purely-local restrictions on prostitution, but the priests and priestesses saw no reason to rub the authorities’ noses in their excepted status.
\tThe darker temples were, of course, quite a bit smaller, and set a bit apart from the rest, but the flow of street traffic didn’t seem to be shying away from them at all, a testament to the kingdom’s ideals where tolerance was concerned. Still, Ferrl couldn’t help but be curious. He stopped outside of the temple to Karnaal and asked the priest there, a brown-robed ermine leaning lazily against a pillar, “Do you get much business? One would think that folks might be… a little leery of openly walking into a place like this, because of what it would say about them to anyone who’s watching…”
\tThe clergyman looked him up and down, then shrugged, “Not much, no, cousin.” That one word established himself as genuine, despite the relatively faint taint on his own soul, as he’d obviously identified the wolf’s inner darkness in that glance. The mustelid gestured across the street, where a couple of people were watching from an alley, “We just go through the motions here, having better places to meet for real worship, but enough fools and wannabes drop by to keep those plainclothes guards happy. That, in turn, keeps them from putting much effort into finding where the rest of us gather, and everybody’s satisfied.”
\tFerrl couldn’t help but laugh, the vixen on his shoulders giggling too. “An equitable arrangement all around, it seems, and I apologize for my initial assumption of your foolishness for having an obvious temple in the first place. Good day.”
\t“No offense taken,” the priest assured him with a grin as they moved on.
\tTwo doors down, he stepped under the gleaming steel fangs marking Kathalla’s domain, dropped a gold crown into the donation box, and traversed a short hall to emerge in what he could only presume was another facsimile. There were two rows of four pews each, enough for a fairly decent congregation by Kathallic standards, but the far wall only held two more silvered teeth, and there was a pulpit besides. He’d only had a moment to frown faintly and lift Ela down when a chuckle from a black-curtained arch to one side drew his attention. “Another true believer,” the black-cowled priestess mused, her smile and voice both welcoming. “Oh… two, even! Come on, both of you; the real chapel is back here.” The lady was dressed just as the high priestess in Fariach had been, in a black robe fastened with a matching sash and a sacrificial dagger tucked in between, but her smile and the flicking, feline tail behind her both set her apart from the rather… opinionated vulpine in the capitol.
\tThe chamber she led them to was almost identical to that other priestess’ domain, but this one’s keeper showed the differences again as she turned around, eying both of her visitors with a clear hint of hungry appreciation. “Welcome,” she purred. “It’s rare indeed for me to meet two more of our brethren who are so cute, if in different ways… I am Akani. How can the House of the Fanged One serve you?”
\tFerrl settled onto one of the pews, his daughter climbing up beside him, and smiled back as he laid a hand on her shoulder, “My little one here is turning seven, so I was hoping for an opportunity to… celebrate. I know we’re far from Fariach and the king’s protection of his religion, but is there anything like the playclub they have there, in this town? Or at least some place we could take a cheap slave or two where the screaming won’t get us both arrested?”
\tAkani’s grin broadened, “So my eyes weren’t deceiving me! I’ve never met a sister so young, but I suppose I wasn’t much older when I figured out that I liked the taste of blood… It just took a few years before I finally met that bat who told me what to do about it and introduced me to several new wonders over the course of making sure…”
\tEla giggled, and the wolf arched his brows, “I think we may have a mutual acquaintance, then.” He inclined his head toward the obsidian portrait on the wall, “She doesn’t share that aspect of Herself with just everyone, I’ve found… but little Ela got her ‘introduction’ in much the same way that you did, I’d warrant.”
\tThe priestess clapped her hands together and giggled as well, “So you know Kathy!” She scampered over with no trace of ‘priestly’ dignity and settled onto the bench next to the vixen, “She’s the one who set up the enchantment on the donation box, and I’d figured that someone special had shown up when the stone it’s linked to glowed gold… but I hadn’t expected as many delightful surprises as I got! There are only a few dozen Kathallics living in this city, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one among them who’s met our mortal lady.”
\tThe vixen grinned as she climbed into Akani’s lap to hug her, “She’s fun! She taught me how t’kill, and what a girl feels like inside whether she’s bleedin’ or not, and other things too!”
\tAs the priestess arched a brow, the wolf chuckled, “She was a good teacher, yes, and Ela was an apt pupil… which is why we’re looking for a place to play. We’re only in town for two nights, as I’m actually on a mission for Malia, but that’s no reason to forget our true calling.”
\tThe feline blinked, “I’d thought I sensed a surge of the light’s power earlier today… but it wasn’t so profound as to suggest that a Goddess was visiting in person. What’s going on?”
\tFerrl frowned faintly, choosing his words with care, “It seems that followers of… the temple two doors up the street have found a way into Unicorn Vale, and back out again, along with a number of the Vale’s residents, and the king has sent me to find out how they’re doing it and to stop them. She doesn’t have a nickname, but Malia learned Kathy’s trick, and that’s how she’s with us. The power you felt was probably when she gifted a particularly-faithful follower of hers, met by chance, with a small miracle... Back on the subject, though, not even she knows how these kidnappings are occurring, so it’s my job to find out and stop it if I can.”
\t“A worthy goal,” Akani nodded, “and one I certainly have no objection to. They’d probably be tasty, but from all I know of the Vale, every single unicorn would be considered ‘devout,’ so I’d have to keep my paws off of them regardless.” She twitched, then, at something neither of her guests could sense, then frowned as she fished a round stone out of a pocket, its white surface swirling with a coppery distortion, “Now who could that be? Someone just dropped a farthing into the box… Wait here.” Pausing only to let Ela slip out of her lap, the priestess rose and padded back toward the hallway to the outer chapel, straightening her robes as she went.
\tThe wolf answered his daughter’s curious blink, “I don’t know either… though I have a suspicion. Even if I’m right, I won’t let it disrupt our plans. Akani may not have told us where it is yet, but I find the fact that she hasn’t said there isn’t a playclub to be encouraging.”
\tEla nodded, “Okies.”
\tA seemingly random flicker of light glinting from Kathalla’s statue caught Ferrl’s attention at that point, though a glance at the skylights didn’t show any cause for it, leaving him wondering for just a moment before the approach of footsteps and voices drew his gaze back to the curtained entryway.
\t“Don’t give me that crap,” a voice he’d heard only once before was exclaiming. “I grew up in a temple; deities don’t make this sort of decision for us! You made the right choice by letting me in so I can deal with that brute, but crediting your Goddess surpasses piety and enters the realm of stupidity!”
\tAkani looked to be hanging onto her temper by a thread as she led Danara in, and pointed at her as she caught Ferrl’s eyes with her own, “She’s the one with the farthing, and some business with you to hear her tell it. I was all for having my ursine acolyte throw her back out, but Kathalla evidently has other ideas.”
\tNow that she was finally in good light, Danara didn’t look nearly as intimidating as she’d managed to portray herself in that dark alley. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, and was rather slender for her age, though the firm shifting of muscle under her pelt suggested that she was probably a lot stronger than she looked, dressed all in black to match her very dark gray fur. A leather vest was laced to her neck, hugging a strictly modest bosom closely, but her dark breeches were a fair bit looser. Knives were tucked into her belt on both sides, and Ferrl would have been surprised if the two visible were the only ones she carried; her vest, the knapsack on her back, and her boots could all have concealed more. As she caught sight of the bigger wolf she stopped, hands on her hips and inches from her blades’ hilts, to glare at him, “Did you put her up to this? On and on about her Goddess! This lie’s so obvious that it’s not even funny anymore; you can’t have any business here, or you wouldn’t have my Knight Commander High Priest Father,” and she spat each audibly-capitalized word like poison, “prattling on about your honor ‘til he’s blue in the face and I’m ready to lose my lunch!” She paused for a moment, then snorted with just a hint of a smile, “Though your choice in hidey-holes could prove convenient… I don’t know how you survived a slit throat, but lose that big sword and I’ll put that altar to good use. Nobody’d mind a scream or two from here…”
\tEla was growling and gripping her own knife, confronted with the one who’d hurt her wolf, and Akani’s hand never strayed far from her sacrificial blade. Rolling her eyes, the priestess asked, “Would someone please tell me who this bitch thinks she is? It sounds like the temple she claims to have been raised in must have been to Tarragh; any other would have at least taught her some manners!”
\tAll eyes turned to the obsidian sculpture behind the altar as it animated, Kathalla’s ‘voice’ resonating against the assembled souls, *She thinks that she’s a woman refusing to be a victim, lashing out against an arranged marriage she assumes to be entirely the idea of her father and a lust-blinded stranger intent on reducing her to servile obedience. In reality, she is the victim of a conspiracy, but every mortal she blames is innocent. I, Roxanarra, Malia, Tarragh, and Shattrathin are the only ones at fault, and Our crime is that of finding her the most perfectly-suited husband she could ever hope to have, and incidentally saving her from a life that would be short and very ugly were she permitted to continue with her temper and uncertainties unchecked.*
\tFerrl couldn’t help but laugh as Danara stared at the statue, looking like she’d been struck by lightning. Her fur was bristling, and she couldn’t seem to stop blinking… “Oh, my…” he finally managed, though chuckles still threatened with every breath he took. “Well, there you have it! Your father may be… a little overzealous, but he really is looking out for you in this case, if not in quite the way he thinks he is. And neither Akani here nor I have lied to you, either… The way she named Kathalla directly should have proven that in the first place, unless you’re forgetting your own temple’s basic lessons! I’m still not saying that you and I should hop into the sack immediately, or even formalize a betrothal, but would you please, finally, just talk to me? Have a little faith that a Goddess knows what She’s talking about! I already like your spunk and fire, and if She says that can eventually lead to love, I’m willing to believe Her. Just let me get to know you, and in return I’ll introduce you to this guy named Ferrl, who escaped from a life no better than yours by sheer luck and is perfectly willing to share a bit of that good fortune!” Pausing, he turned to the statue and asked, “You and the other Gods probably wouldn’t be scheming so hard if I couldn’t… but I need to be sure: can I marry?”
\tKathalla chuckled softly, *There is no prohibition against Agents wedding, no. They’re urged to be careful about it… but I’m sure that anyone attempting to use Danara here as a bargaining chip would find that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. She is not your usual tame, scared hostage!* Her faceted eyes seemed to focus on Her priestess, *Akani… Tell My knight here where the club is and make the necessary arrangements; I’m granting Danara special dispensation to enter even if she’s not Mine. I think that she may become so, eventually, but it will take time, and there’s no sense denying her a bit of fun at this moment.*
\tThe feline spread her robe and curtsied, “By Your will, my Goddess,” as the obsidian froze to immobility once more. Turning back to look at her guests, though the half-grimace she gave the younger wolf was still a trifle irritated, she explained, “Because there aren’t many people around who use it, the club normally only operates one night a week, and this isn’t it, but it can always be opened by special request. You aren’t the first to desire entertainment while passing through, so if you’ll give me a moment to change into something more suited for the street I’ll go get things set up. I’ll leave you a map, of course, but don’t let any non-Kathallics touch it or it’ll burst into flame. This isn’t a piece of information we want falling into unfriendly hands, after all.” Sparing one more pointed glance for the girl she didn’t yet trust, she curtsied again and disappeared through a black curtain.
\tRising, his daughter slipping off of the pew beside him, Ferrl bowed to his prospective fiancée, “I assume you know what inn I’m staying at?”
\t“I do,” Danara growled, frowning, “but you also seem to be assuming—”
\tThe knight winced and held up his hands, “Please! Let’s not start this again… If you’d just allow me to finish what I mean to say for once, I was simply going to invite you to meet me there an hour before sunset. It’s entirely up to you, and I’d like to have that talk I mentioned while we make our way to wherever it is we’re going… but I also know, from personal experience, just how disturbing one’s first conversation with a deity can be, so I didn’t want to take advantage of your being off-balance or particularly easy to convince so soon afterwards. Rest, wander, think, and if you feel at all comfortable about it when the time comes, meet me at the Golden Lyre. Nobody’s going to try to rush or push you into anything, so just take all the time you need. If you choose not to join me, you’re free to head back to your father’s temple, try to ambush me again, or just get on your horse and ride off into a life of your own; neither I nor my Goddess will try to stop you.”
\tThe young bitch frowned again, fingering the hilt of one of her knives… then shrugged, “I truly hate to do what any man suggests, but you’re so damned reasonable! I’ll get out of here while I still can, and just hope my sense returns before you leave town. If it turns out that, on reflection, I still need to kill you, it’ll be a lot easier to do so when you’re not standing there expecting it.” Turning on her heel, she stalked out through the curtains without another word.
\tEla frowned, “Do we have to take her, daddy? She’s prob’ly gonna ruin my birthday party!”
\tFerrl chuckled, “Oh, I’m sure things will work out… Kathy said you’d like the clubs, and she was right; we just have to have faith that she’s right this time, too. Just remember how much she loves us... She simply wouldn’t let this happen if it were likely to end badly.”
\tThe vixen thought about that for a moment, then nodded, her frown evaporating.
Chapter 9
\t“I was born in a town just a bit too small to call a city, two whole kingdoms south in Dachiland,” Ferrl mused conversationally as he walked down the busy street, Ela on his shoulders and a faint haze in the air marking the spell that would garble his words for anyone more than a few feet away. “My mother was a tavern wench, waiting tables by day and occasionally whoring by night if a customer looked like they had money to spare. She… wasn’t ready for a cub, and for most of my early years would frequently tell me that the only good I was to her was as a reminder to be a bit more careful in who she slept with during her cycle, and the obvious implications explain why I don’t have any idea who my father is. Hell, I’m not even sure she remembers anything about him other than the obvious that he was a wolf... I considered myself lucky, at the time, that after six or seven years she learned to accept me… but that eventually passed too. She had very little in terms of plans for a future, you see, and my place in them was waiting tables or possibly tending bar at the same tavern she worked in; she wouldn’t even entertain the possibility whenever I suggested doing something else with my life.”
\tDanara nodded grudgingly, “I suppose we’re a bit more similar than I thought… I didn’t mind staying in the temple, but my father wouldn’t listen in the slightest when I suggested that I might make a good priestess. There are women who serve Tarragh, but he’s never completely approved of them, and he felt it would somehow impugn on his honor or faith if his offspring ended up choosing Malia instead. Thus, the only thing I could possibly be was a good little wife once I was old enough and he’d chosen someone for me.”
\tHer companion chuckled sympathetically, “There are definite similarities, yes… though I can’t claim to have been quite as flamboyant about it as you, when I decided to rebel. When I was thirteen and just starting to get my final growth, I ran off and hired on as a field hand at a farm just outside of town, then again at one farther away when my mother found me and started pestering me to come back. They were the only jobs I could get, without any real education or experience, as I’d only managed to sneak off to the temple of Shattrathin often enough to learn basic reading and enough math to change coins. The closest thing to a plan that I had at the time was to work at the farm for a few years until I had my adult strength, then see if a mercenary troop would take me on as a trainee. Farm work, though, didn’t pay well enough for me to save up any money to speak of, and I knew that even the most generous band of fighters wouldn’t buy me the equipment I’d need. Training was truly the most I could hope for. The ironic part is that I was good at farm work; though it wasn’t reflected in my wages, I probably improved Raldon’s return on his business expenses by at least a quarter during my time there, finding ways to do more for less money.”
\tThis fetched a more agreeable chuckle, “I can understand that! More than one artisan who’d come to pray to Malia at our temple told similar tales when I asked of life outside those walls, how they were hired for a specific task and paid fairly for it, but got nothing for spotting mistakes or offering financially-helpful suggestions while on the job. Still… you’re a bit far from that farm now, so something had to have happened…”
\tFerrl nodded, “That’s where the luck I mentioned came in… I was clearing a new field when a boar attacked, severely injuring one of the newer workers, and it turned out that he was Lachier, prince of this very kingdom, in exile for a short time after some sort of disgrace. I was given the magical transport-token he’d been sent with, mainly because my boss wanted someone other than himself to explain things and take the blame in case the prince died, but the end result was that I got a completely fresh start. People with no previous expectations at all got a chance to examine and test me, with orders from a king, of all people, to find me a fitting job. The consensus was that I had far more potential than farm life had been making use of, and they started training me to be an Agent. In fighting, I’m far more than I could have hoped to be as a common mercenary, and I’ve also been taught how to be a passable thief and even mage, along with more pure knowledge than I’d known existed, back in my former life. The financial aspects also brought their own sort of freedom… one of the best results of which is riding now on my shoulders. I bought Ela as a slave, but now she’s legally and emotionally my daughter. I can’t imagine life without her, and I look forward to watching her grow and learn as any parent would… though, hopefully, I won’t put quite the pressure on her that either of our parents did. I love her too much for that.”
\tHe felt a brief shift as the vixen bent down to kiss him between his ears and murmur, “Thank you, Daddy.”
\tThe knight leaned back to grin up at her, then looked back to Danara as he led them around another corner as the map he’d studied directed. “So,” he resumed, “that’s the basic story of my life, and you’ve given me enough of yours to be content… On to other questions, then, and please note that I won’t ask you a single thing that I wouldn’t be willing to answer in return. One good place to start getting a feel for your personality would be this: what’s the most exciting thing you can remember in your recent life?”
\t“Not much of a choice there,” she admitted. “Given how dull I found temple life, the only excitement I’ve had lately was cutting your throat. Merely hunting for you had been amusing, I’ll admit, but it couldn’t compare to that... While it lasted it was the most intense thing I’d ever felt; my insides seemed to clench, I was hot and cold at the same time… and then you had to go and ruin the moment by not dying! That really pissed me off, you know… How about you?”
\tFerrl pondered for a moment, then shrugged, “It’s a toss-up, really. The most intense moment I’ve had recently, emotionally at least, was the first time Ela called me ‘daddy.’ But when it comes to a pure, visceral jolt, it’d have to be the sight of my sword stuck between Malia’s perfect breasts, a good couple feet of it emerging from her back. I can’t even describe the look of sheer surprise she had on her face; it had been a stimulating fight, and that moment was very nearly climactic in more than one sense of the word.”
\tDanara’s eyes were huge, “You can’t be talking about the Malia, can you?”
\tThe bigger wolf smirked down at her, “Yes I can, and I am. As far as I know, none of the Gods of this world know how it’s done… but all of the Goddesses do. They can, and do, make completely mortal bodies to wander among us in, and it was through that medium that Malia indulged in a sparring match with me… and since she was honest enough to stick with the limits of that mortality, she lost. No wooden practice blades, either, as safety was hardly a concern; she immediately made another body, and healed the one cut she’d landed on me during the fight. She’s the cat I’ve been traveling with, who we left back at the inn.”
\tThe bitch shook her head slowly, “Gods… No wonder you managed to beat the shit out of my father! I almost pity him, now…” Curious, she glanced up, “Ela? What’s your ‘most exciting memory?’ I suppose I could learn just as much from those around your big, lumpy father as I can from him, now that I think about it.”
\tThe vixen giggled, then tilted her head to one side as she considered. “Killin’ Jol,” she finally answered. “He was a treat daddy bought me, an’ I fucked ‘im, an’ sucked ‘im, an’ cut his arms off, an’ rammed my daddy’s knife through ‘is heart.”
\tFerrl had to wait for a long moment as Danara stopped dead in the middle of the street, blinking. As she slowly started walking again, he murmured, “You haven’t been told much about the worship of Kathalla, have you?”
\t“No… The only things they had to say about Her at the temple were that She was the oldest of the Dark Gods, and the worst.”
\t“Ah,” the wolf nodded. “Well, She’s rather fond of pain and death, but likes it best when there’s pleasure involved too, or even pleasure by itself. Following Her is a lot like following Roxanarra, or Roxy as She’s known when wandering as a mortal, but a lot… messier. If slitting my throat excited you more from the act than from the fact it was me you were doing it to, we’re going to the right place. In fact… there it is, that sign with the cup of suspiciously-red ‘ale.’ If you want to watch someone die tonight, you’ll definitely get your chance.”
\tIt took Danara another moment to gather enough of her wits to follow him inside, by which time he’d spotted the curtained entrance to the average-looking tavern’s basement. There was a guard just within, and he immediately rose to stop her on seeing no darkness in her soul, but Ferrl paused in helping Ela out of her dress to assure him, “Kathalla gave special permission. She’s… a prospect, and I’m sure that our Goddess will keep her from doing anything rash if she doesn’t like what she sees down there.” Nodding, the armored rat sat down again and gestured toward the stairs. Candles spaced along the walls lit the long descent, and about halfway down a tingle of magic washed over the wolf’s skin even as the sounds from the common room above abruptly faded to silence. Given that barrier, then, it was no surprise to find that the door at the landing opened directly into the club with no need for a buffer-chamber.
\tThe room beneath the earth was quite a bit smaller, and considerably less ornate, than the one in the capitol. There were only two good-sized tables and a slightly elevated wooden platform for a stage, the latter of which doubled as the place where the available slaves assembled to await selection if the long line of wear in the wood toward the back was any indication. The walls were paneled in oak, and shelves of wax candles in all four corners provided ample illumination. Only the floor was similar, tightly-fit squares of marble providing ease of cleaning and lending just a touch of class to the subterranean playroom. There was one door other than the entrance, clatters audible behind it suggesting a kitchen that was still being prepared for use, and a communal rack of blades and other implements was mounted on the wall opposite it.
\t“Ferrl! Hi!” Akani called with a grin as she rose from the table she’d been sitting at. “I see your invitation was accepted… I wasn’t sure it would be, you know.” The priestess wore a short-skirted blue dress, a shade lighter than the one Ela had just relinquished, offering a much better view of her calico fur than her robes had, not to mention showing off her somewhat above-average rump and chest better than any ecclesiastical garb could.
\tThe knight grinned as he pulled out a chair, gesturing for Danara to take it before claiming another for himself and pulling his daughter into his lap, “I think she’s still in shock… It wasn’t until we were almost here that I found out she had no idea what sort of ‘play’ our Goddess likes, and she hasn’t had much time to adjust to what I told her. She didn’t run away, which could be considered a good sign, but I’m starting to suspect that she’s a lot more innocent than she’s tried to make me think.”
\t“I’m not…” the girl sputtered, then broke off, ears low. “I… didn’t think I was innocent,” she murmured a moment later, “but… I think there were a lot of things left out of my education. I’ve seen horses being bred, and read some of a romance story before my father found it and deemed it too dirty for a young woman, but… but I’m beginning to see that there were whole categories of concepts that I never knew existed!” She gestured at Ela, “Her, for one… I just found out that she has sex, and she’s obviously too small for what I’ve seen stallions do to mares! And what was that bit about ‘sucking,’ anyway?”
\tThe priestess cackled, “Oh, my, you have been sheltered! I’d bet my admission fee you don’t even know how two women can share pleasure, often even better than they could with a man!” She glanced to the bigger wolf, “By the way, that fee’s a crown and a half, here; we don’t do enough business to get the bulk deals the club in the capitol enjoys. One or two of our other short-term guests were from Fariach, so I’ve learned to clarify that first as some of them complained at the surprise.”
\tFerrl did his best to ignore the red burning through his companion’s earfur as he fished a noble and two crowns out of his purse and slid them across the table, “Now, now, we were all inexperienced at some point… A good part of why she’s here in the first place is to learn, and she can do that just by watching. I don’t want either of you more jaded ladies to try forcing her into anything she’s not ready and willing to accept.”
\tDanara blushed even brighter for a moment, then blinked as she spotted the coins, “You’re… you’re paying a crown and a half in gold, just so I can watch? You could have half a dozen very good whores for that much! I’m… finding it hard to believe that you’re going to pay so much money and not expect more than… observation from me…”
\t“Danara, I am a knight and a gentleman, and you are no whore,” the older wolf told her in tones that brooked no argument. He tilted his head, then, and smiled a bit, “Though, you’re obviously not quite as innocent as the priestess here thought, if you know how much a whore costs.”
\tThe young bitch blushed again, looking away, “I… looked into it. When my father was being particularly oppressive, it almost seemed like a viable option, and I wanted to know if I could make enough to live on like that, or maybe even join a temple of Roxanarra if it turned out I liked it. It’s not like I’m ugly; if I’d had to, I probably could have…”
\tAkani shook her head with a smile, “No, my dear, you most certainly aren’t ugly… a point which I’m quite sure our knight here has noticed.”
\tIt was Ferrl’s turn to dip his ears, reddened at the tips, and he changed the subject quickly, “Now that we’re here and I’ve paid, what sort of selection were you able to rustle up for us? Though Ela’s is more important to me, I’ve got a birthday to celebrate as well, so I’m hoping we can find two decent playmates tonight. If we can’t, well, the prince has mentioned putting together a party of some sort on my behalf, once I’m back in Fariach…”
\tThe feline grinned, “I ran into a familiar face while visiting the slave dealers… and Kathy herself picked out one for each of you. You, my dear wolf, get a charming young filly, while she assured me that the vixen would like a girl too this time, and pointed out a cute otteress who’d been having trouble in her domestic training because she felt convinced she’d make a better pleasure slave. For myself, I chose a nice fox; I love the knots, but wolves are just too big for me. The horse should suffice as far as…” and she broke off with a glance at Danara. “Did you tell her just what happens to our toys after play?”
\tFerrl shook his head, “I did not… and it’s entirely too cruel a trick to surprise her with if she objects to the concept,” and he turned to face his dark-furred companion. “You don’t have to indulge if you don’t want to, and can even leave before it’s an issue… but in all honesty, there’s a kitchen on the far side of that door, and the living, thinking, feeling filly I’m about to sate my needs with then murder will be cooked up and served to all of us as a meal.”
\tDanara closed her eyes tightly, leaning back in her seat as her mind translated his words into images, imagined sounds, and finally a hypothetical flavor… Panting slightly, she opened them to slits and growled, “I… think I’m sick or something… I feel… it’s like that weird clench I got in my belly when I cut you, but it’s worse! Lots worse…” She shifted uncomfortably on her seat, her lost-looking, golden eyes flitting from one face to the next, searching from guidance from those with more experience.
\tAkani smiled, “That, my dear, is no illness at all… Judging by what little scent is escaping your breeches, if any of us were on touching terms with you I think we’d find you very warm and moist between your thighs. It’s not quite like the outright heat you’ve seen in mares, winking and clenching and dribbling before the stallion takes them, but it’s very similar. Some part of you likes the thought, and your body’s reacting in a natural way. I think that you’ll enjoy yourself, this night… You are a predator, and the slaves are your prey.” She glanced around, her smile broadening to a grin, “Our prey… We didn’t buy you a victim of your own, but now I’m thinking we should have.”
\t“My… my own?” the girl gasped, the sensations just getting worse as she thought of herself doing these horrible things to another person though, as fevered as it was, her imagination couldn’t supply any specifics.
\tThe priestess gave Ferrl a fulminating look, “A change of plans might be warranted… but don’t worry; it won’t affect you or Ela any. If she hasn’t run off by the time we get through all of our own playmates, I’ve got a way to get a fourth just for her, and the expense is already covered even if the one I’ve got in mind is worth more than the admission fee you fronted for your date. We don’t use it often… but there’s a fund in the temple accounts specifically for attracting new converts, and if things get that far, I’d stake my rank on this girl being a natural-born Kathallic. It is my hope to see her leave this room with a smile on her face and a blight on her soul… but we’ll just have to see how things turn out.” Leaning back in her seat, she gave a worn-looking spot on the wall behind her three firm thumps with a balled fist. “Simple things first,” she explained with a grin. “There’s a little door you probably didn’t notice at the foot of the stairs, and a basic set of signals for the one senior slave we keep. She’ll be sending in… ah, there he is!”
\tThe average-looking young fox didn’t even wear a collar, but his stance was enough to convey his position. Keeping his eyes down, he closed the door behind him then stood facing the patrons, hands clasped behind his back as he awaited instruction.
\tAkani stood up and pointed at her own seat, “Sit there, dear,” as she fetched a short length of rope from a shelf just under the blade-rack. “Arms behind you, and… there. Good boy.” The todd looked a bit nervous as she tied his hands behind the seat, a discreet tug or two suggesting that there was some sort of hook or ring back there specifically for such bonds, but his worries faded for the moment when she padded back in front of him and, gazing into his eyes, slipped her dress off of both shoulders to let it fall to the floor. Her breasts bobbed as she leaned forward to kiss him on the nose, purring, “Yes, you naughty little thing, I’m intending just what you’re probably thinking… but first,” and she glanced over, “Ela? Why don’t you show our newest prospect just what you mean by ‘sucking?’ She may or may not like it herself, but we should at least correct whatever oversight left her ignorant of the possibility!”
\tGiggling, the vixen hopped up and scampered over, immediately leaning in and nuzzling at the fox’s white crotchfur. His sheath was already a little swollen from the implied promise he’d been given, and the sight of two naked females was the only bit extra he needed, his pointy tip peeking out only to disappear between Ela’s lips an instant later. Her cheeks hollowed once every few breaths, her tongue doing the rest of the work as she coaxed one inch after another into view. At four inches, she started bobbing her head, and at six her small hand came up to help work his sheath over the wider bulge of his barely-formed knot. Throughout it all, Danara just stared, her initial disappointment over the size of the first bare manhood she’d ever seen quickly fading. Counting that swelling near the base, the total was just over seven inches of glistening pink by the time the vixen decreed her job finished, and even if it couldn’t compare to the stallions she’d seen it was more than she could imagine fitting into herself.
\t“If you’re just sucking for sucking’s sake as a one-sided gift of pleasure to your partner,” Akani mused, “you’d keep going until he spurts… but, as the little one knows, I have other plans for his seed. It remains a good way to get a guy fully hard, though.”
\tAs Ela retreated to a chair of her own, nodding and licking her muzzle, the cat straddled the bound fox, her tail well out of the way to give a good view as she grasped the tapered shaft in one hand and slowly lowered herself onto it. She gasped softly as her rump met his thighs, then started pulling herself back up, pleasure saturating her tone as she continued in her role as ‘teacher,’ “You see… see that slickness? How he’s a lot shinier now? That’s not his doing; that’s mine… When a woman’s feeling good, she’s wet down there. Don’t you worry that anything’s wrong if your breeches feel damp; it’s perfectly natural, as the slickness is just nature’s way of making it easier for a man to get inside… and it shows up any time you’re aroused. It doesn’t matter whether you’re actually doing this or not; your body really only knows one way to show its readiness, even if it’s something else that your mind is looking forward to.”
\tDanara glanced to both of the other observers, who were nodding their confirmation, then turned back to… well, maybe not enjoy the show; she wasn’t sure yet… but it was awfully hard not to stare, and the scents gradually suffusing the air seemed to be making her own groin even damper.
\tThe slave’s eyes were closed to slits, and gradually clenched shut entirely as the varicolored feline’s tempo rose, her hands gripping his shoulders as she rode him with increasing vigor. Her breath was already emerging as little mewls, and they were working their way up toward full-throated yowls as her pleasure grew. Ferrl, deciding that speech was temporarily impossible for the priestess, supplied the next bit of instruction, “I don’t know if you got through enough of that romance book to learn such… but no matter how much a good cry of passion may sound like one of pain, our ladyfriend there is in no distress. I’d hazard that she’s feeling rather good, overall… and when she really cuts loose vocally, that’ll mark a climax, or peak in her pleasure, whichever you want to call it, though some teachers at the university refuse to use any term but ‘orgasm.’ That’s always sounded a little weird to me, though… In essence, it’s a fairly short burst of truly intense pleasure… and something that will eventually have you praising the Gods that you were born a woman. When a man has one, he has to stop playing for anywhere from a few minutes to the better part of an hour; he just goes soft and can’t get hard again until then, and it actually hurts if you try to rush him anyway. Women, though, can have climax after climax if their lover knows what they’re doing; some parts of them are a little sensitive after each one, and can hurt, but the insides aren’t one of them, and she can enjoy that fox for as long as he lasts.” He was interrupted by a protracted yowling on Akani’s part, her fingers digging into the fox’s shoulders hard enough for her claws to break skin as she shook, but a few breaths later she was riding him as vigorously as ever. “There, see? And there’s a lot more of that moisture she was talking about. Most guys, and quite a few girls, find that slickness to be quite tasty… so if you find an amenable partner, you can have a lot of fun just being licked there, for hours on end if you’ve got the stamina for it.”
\tThe bitch giggled, ears flushing, and nodded, “It’s… something I’ll have to try, I guess. Not right now… but she certainly makes it look like fun! Say… why’s he getting thicker at the bottom like that?”
\t“That’s his knot,” the knight explained with a grin. “It’s another leftover from our animal ancestors… Foxes, canids, and, yes, male wolves have them, and the ‘natural’ use is to stick it in while it’s still growing and just move it within the female… It depends on the size of the knot and how stretchy her sex is, though; his isn’t very big, and as you can see it’s not too much of a stretch for her to take the whole thing, over and over. She’s had a lot of practice, though, so I wouldn’t suggest you do the same just yet. Also, once the knot’s at its full size, you can be pretty sure that the male’s climax isn’t far behind. Let’s see if she does what I think she will when that happens…”
\tEven as her second peak crashed through her, the feline managed to shoot him a knowing grin, and focused once more on her tied-down lover as the pleasure passed. She didn’t let up for a moment, taking the swollen bulb into herself and pulling back off of it in a hard, steady rhythm, all but ignoring the slave’s instinctive, jerking attempts to match her movements. His thighs thumped against the seat each time she bore down, and they couldn’t rise enough to keep her from pulling off when her hips retreated, but it didn’t take perfect coordination for him to feel her slick heat stroking his length. She hadn’t yet reached her third climax when a warning grunt signaled the onset of his, but that also marked the break between Ferrl’s expectations and the unfolding events. Even as the fox howled, she didn’t stop riding him, her gyrating hips spreading the rush of white along his shaft to mix with her own fluids, and as she bit down to cut off his final cry, she sank her teeth deep into his throat then wrenched her head back, tearing fur and flesh away to spit onto the floor. Leaning in, she lapped like a kitten at a bowl of cream at the spurting jets of crimson, her eyes wide and bright as she watched her dying lover.
\tDanara moaned, shuddering as something inside her lower belly seemed to turn a back-flip, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the sight before her. It was like that brief moment when she’d held the knife and spilled the blood, but it lasted this time, and the scent hit her almost as hard as that of the lovemaking. “I’m… gonna have to change my underthings,” she gasped, though she couldn’t have said just who she thought she was addressing.
\tAkani looked up with a very red grin, licking her muzzle, then dipped her head to mutter a short, quiet prayer as she eased herself off of the fox’s tip. “Any time they get too sticky for you,” she purred, “just slip on out of those stuffy breeches and relax. In a way, this room and those like it in other cities are some of the safest places you could possibly be naked around strangers in. There’s no shortage of other people for us to play with or victimize, so why go to the effort of abusing a non-slave who doesn’t want our attention? If we get too tempted, we can just buy a slave who looks like you and do whatever we please!”
\tFerrl nodded, chuckling, “The very first slave I saw die… could have been a cousin of mine, if I had any that I knew of, and he suffered a very similar fate to that fox there. The lady who rode and killed him, though, ended up as one of my very best friends, and I’ve never for a moment feared that she’d treat me as she did him. We draw a clear line between ‘comrade’ and ‘victim,’ here. If we didn’t have legal, easily-obtained slaves in this kingdom, that might be different, as we’d have to draw our sacrifices from the general populace… but that’s just idle speculation. We do have easy access to victims, and there’s no point to forcing an unwilling citizen under the circumstances, though I suppose there might be folks out there who’re cruel enough to do so anyway... I’m glad to say that I’ve never personally met one, though.”
\tAs he’d been speaking, the priestess had crossed the room to open the kitchen door, and a pair of collar-clad canids had entered at her call. They untied the fox’s arms, one of the pair carrying him out while the other mopped up the stray blood with some towels even as Akani applied another to her face and chest. “I’ll want a pint or so of him added to a skin of wine as usual,” she instructed once she was as clean as she could get without a bath, and the slave nodded before accepting her towel and departing. Sitting down, she grinned to the wolves, “That’s just a habit of mine… My personal favorite part of these sacrifices, above the sex and the killing, is the blood, and I like a glass of wine mixed with it as a treat before bed every night if I can get it.”
\tFerrl nodded with a grin, and Danara just blinked and managed a shy smile, but it was little Ela who piped up, “C’n I go next? Blood’s neat, but I likes guts! All warm an’ slick an’ gooey…”
\tThe feline merely smiled and stepped over to thump twice on the wall, then asked, “How do you want yours restrained? It may not look it at first glance, but this room’s really quite versatile for that sort of thing.”
\tTilting her head as she considered, the vixen pointed at the table, “Couldya spread ‘er out there, facin’ up? I’s could get at everythin’ that way…”
\tSmirking, the cat reached under the side of the round table and pressed up, a flattened cone of the wood popping into her other hand’s grasp and leaving a hole in its place. “Easily,” she replied. The door opened as she moved to pluck a second plug free, and the priestess nodded to the teenaged otter, “Come, dear… Climb up here and lay down; the little vixen there is having a birthday, and to celebrate she gets to have her way with you.”
\tThe slender mustelid blinked, stepping forward and starting to climb up but, despite her ready obedience, asked with a hint of a grumble, “What can a kid that young know about pleasure? I’m supposed to be the slave, here, but it’s not gonna look very good if I have to give her instructions…”
\tFerrl snorted, and rose to give the otter’s rump a stinging swat. Ignoring her yelp, he shook a warning finger at her, “The trainers at Owned Elegance would give you worse for questioning their competence… They specialize in pleasure slaves, and she’s from one of their prime product lines. She’s free now, but that doesn’t change the fact that she could probably out-fuck you and any three of your sisters and still be clamoring for more.”
\tThe otteress blinked, then scrambled the rest of the way onto the table, laying down with an eager smile, “O. E.? I’m going to enjoy this!”
\t“Better,” the wolf grunted, then took his seat with a grin of his own.
\tAs soon as Akani had removed four of the plugs and tied the slave’s wrists and ankles to the table she helped Ela up, and the vixen spent a few moments just getting to know her playmate, scratching her ears, nuzzling her smallish breasts, and probing for ticklish spots down her long torso. The latter elicited squealing giggles until the older girl seemed on the verge of complaining again, only to relax back down with a smile as the cub finally settled between her thighs. Another squeal faded into a lusty moan as the otter felt four slender, tightly-grouped fingers nudge their tips between her petals and press inwards, twisting slowly… She wasn’t quite wet enough for that yet, but the steady, patient pressure and the teasing laps of a tongue at her hood quickly corrected that, and a muffled whimper from the direction of the seated wolfgirl punctuated the disappearance of Ela’s black-furred paw between the slave’s thighs.
\t“Didn’t know that was possible either, hmmm?” Akani asked. “It’ll be a lot more work when she grows up… but, right now, her curled hand isn’t much thicker than, oh, your average wolf’s manhood… You’d best get used to the concept of fingers down there if you want to have fun, as I’m sure it’ll take a while before you’re ready to do what you’ve probably assumed was the only thing Ferrl could possibly want from you.”
\tDanara blinked, looking between the shallowly-pumping arm that was gradually working itself deeper into the mustelid and her prospective mate, her eyes finally coming to rest on the bulge at his crotch.
\tThe wolf coughed and shifted uncomfortably, “That’s… one reason I’ve been keeping my breeches on. I didn’t want to frighten you. In all honesty, I’m… a bit bigger than ‘average,’ even for a wolf. I’m good with my fingers and tongue, mind you, but… you really weren’t ready to accept suggestions of alternatives, the previous times we’d met.”
\tThis fetched another blink or two, then a slow smile. “I think…” the girl mused, “that it’s time for states of dress to be equalized. My underdrawers really are getting uncomfortable, and… well, you’ve got me mostly convinced already, but no deal can be closed without actually getting a good look at the… merchandise. I’ve heard priestesses and female worshipers whispering about size before, and they tend to consider bigger to be better, so…” She was already unlacing her vest as she spoke, and finished with a half-grin and a shrug.
\t“As you wish,” Ferrl chuckled, bowing from his seat, and he slipped his baldric off to start unbuttoning his blouse.
\tEla looked up from her work to grin toothily at Danara and murr, “He’s big, yeah, but with practice even I c’n take ‘im. Not th’whole length, ‘course, but it’s th’thickness that y’gotta watch out for.” Looking back to her plaything, she gave her wrist a firm twist and pressed upwards, the otteress’ hips lifting from the table as she chittered loudly, her glistening brown lips contracting in visible spasms around the invading arm. She shot another grin at her former owner, “This’un’s almost worked up enough… Couldya pass me my toy when you’re nekkid, Daddy?”
\tFerrl chuckled softly and nodded, “Alright… though are you sure that’s all you want to do to that girl first? By your usual standards, you’ve barely started…” Though he tried not to make an obvious production of the affair, he made sure Danara had a clear view as he gripped the sides of his breeches and peeled them down, the dusky red of his wolfhood bobbing up against his belly and firming up as it was freed, and the corner of his own vision noted with some satisfaction the way her eyes widened. There was really no comparing him to that fox; adding his blunt-headed shaft to the barely-formed swell of his knot, there was nearly a foot of thick flesh to be seen there.
\t“Nah,” the child replied, grinning and shaking her head, “I don’t got no patience tonight. Don’t wanna wait on workin’ a hand into her butt too, this time.”
\tThe wolfgirl opened her muzzle, blinked, and shut it, shaking her head and continuing to work her second boot off. “Do I want to know?” she asked Akani, as the cat was the least-busy of her companions just then.
\t“You might,” the priestess purred. “Some women like it, others don’t… but I’m pretty sure the vixen there does. A little girl’s hindside is a lot deeper than her sex at that age. Try it with a tongue or finger first, and see; so long as the recipient uses the privy and cleans themselves first, it’s not nearly so disgusting an act as your first thought probably suggests, especially in places like this where we make sure that every slave who’s intended for use does just that before being offered to the patrons.”
\tNodding, Danara set the thought aside and, gathering her courage, pulled down the breeches she’d untied and the frilly pink underdrawers she’d worn beneath in one smooth motion, kicking them off into the pile of other clothing and settling back into her seat. She immediately felt better, the much cooler air feeling nice against the soaking fur of her crotch, and that alone allowed her to ignore the parts of her mind that were completely aghast at being naked around other people.
\tThe otteress blinked out of her pleasured haze at the sound of a metallic clatter, and she tried to get a look at what was going on. There was the foxcub, still almost elbow-deep inside her, and the big wolf was naked now… Her eyes widened as she got a good look at what was sticking up as he sat back down, and she started to voice a request for some form of interaction with that magnificent shaft, but the steely gleam of reflected candlelight distracted her, driving all thoughts of lust from her mind. What was the child doing with a long, wicked-looking knife in her other hand? “No, p-please,” she stammered, then whimpered as Ela simply grinned.
\tWithdrawing her paw from the humid depths that had been massaging it, the vixen gave her fingers an absent lick as she crawled up to straddle the otter’s wide-spread thighs. “You’ve had your fun,” she murred, her young voice husky and her eyes bright, “an’ now it’s time for mine…” Ignoring the sudden struggle against the strong ropes binding her plaything to the table, she plunged the blade into one side of that trim, brown-furred belly, sawing it up and down as she cut deeply all the way to the other side. The slavegirl’s scream filled the musky air as her blood sprayed, places she didn’t know she had suddenly afire with agony beyond anything she’d ever imagined. The blade fell against the wood again as the child gripped the clean-cut sides of the broad gash she’d carved, yanking them apart, and the slicker of her two hands reached inside while the other rubbed at her own sex, her eyes slit in sultry pleasure as she explored the cut and gashed organs within. A severed chunk of liver emerged, dripping red, and Ela brought it to her muzzle, closing her eyes and nibbling it in tiny bites as her pleasure rose. Popping the last bite into her mouth, she leaned back, supporting herself on her bloodied hand as she chewed, and flecks of meat flew as she cried out, an uneven stream of gold arcing into and splashing around the otteress’ torn belly. The ragged scream that erupted from the poor teen’s muzzle as the salt struck her shredded innards showed that she’d only thought that the cut itself was the epitome of agony, and had just been proven wrong.
\tThe ropes holding the slave spread-eagled on the table strained as her body tried instinctively to curl into a ball, and her cries quieted to sobs and whimpers as shock and blood loss effectively drove away any possibility of thought or conscious action. Ela straightened, surveying her work, and smiled, “Mmm… that was a good present. Thank you, Daddy.”
\tFerrl shook his head in mild awe, smiling back. “I’d heard the phrase ‘pouring salt on the wound,’ before… but I never imagined it happening that way. I haven’t heard a scream like that since you tore that soldier’s soul out with your knife. Are you just going to let her die now?”
\tThe vixen nodded, “Yes, Daddy. After that, nothin’ I could do could hurt more, an’ she ain’t in very good shape fer more pleasurin’. She won’t last long enough fer another try, either; I’ll just let ‘er bleed to death where she is.”
\tRising shakily to her feet, Danara stepped closer, peering curiously at the shuddering form in a spreading pool of its own blood… “May I?” she asked and, at Ela’s nod, closed her eyes and reached into the girl’s opened belly. Her hand was surrounded by heat and wetness, strange, slick shapes greeting her fingers’ touch, and she shuddered, the thought that she was reaching into a living, thinking creature’s body running through her mind over and over… Opening her eyes just intensified the situation, seeing her wrist surrounded by a puddle of blood and the varicolored ends of torn organs, and a stronger shiver danced up and down her spine, a fresh rush of warmth suffusing her groin. Glancing up a bit, she noticed that the otter’s trim, perky breasts were still, and she pulled her hand out to touch the girl’s throat… where she could feel no hint of a pulse. “Dead… meat,” she breathed to herself with a smile, then staggered back to her seat to fall into it, panting.
Chapter 10
\tFerrl considered the lovely young wolfess as she caught her breath, occasionally licking at her bloody hand… “You’re getting quite worked up by all of this,” he mused. “Would you like any of us to help you relax before we call the next slave in? It obviously wouldn’t take much; a few licks and a moment of blinding pleasure, and you’ll be able to think a lot more clearly.”
\tDanara’s head shook, a bit convulsively, “No… just watching is giving me more intense sensations than I ever dreamed of; if anybody touches me, I’ll probably piss myself!”
\tThe other wolf laughed, “As if that’s a problem? If you do end up spending your life at my side, you’ll be Ela’s mother… and you should know that what she did to that otter wasn’t quite as deliberate as it looked, pertaining as it does to a detail unique to her... Every time her pleasure peaks, she loses whatever’s in her bladder whether she wants to or not; it was simply ingenuity on her part that she chose to give herself pleasure at a time when its results could have other, useful effects. I’ve gotten quite used to the taste of salt from a lovely playmate’s loins…”
\tThe bitch couldn’t help but laugh as well, though it was a bit ragged, “So that’s it… If you’d told me a few hours ago, I’d have been shocked and disgusted, but it’s really a rather minor thing compared to everything else I’ve seen! I… well, I still can’t really imagine it, but I think it’s something I might learn to tolerate, or maybe even like. Just let me keep taking things one step at a time; I’ve got a lot of ignorance I’m still making up for.” She grinned, giving Ferrl a very direct look, “And the next step, for now, should be to let me see you use that meaty bludgeon of yours like it was meant to be! Come on, call in the filly; I wanna see some stuffing!”
\tAkani barked a laugh from where she was helping the slaves release and remove what was left of the otter, and gave the wall one kick without letting up in her toweling. “Use the other table,” she called. “This one’s still going to be a mess for a while... and on the subject of messes, don’t worry about your hand; we’ve got bathing and grooming supplies and facilities just off of the kitchen, which we can all use when the evening winds to a close to keep from looking or smelling strange once we’re back out in public.”
\tDanara and Ela took new seats on the other side of the room, the former nodding and looking relieved, while Ferrl waited at the door for the moment it took the third slave to make her way inside. She was actually closer to being a mare, looking to be at least sixteen and quite well developed; full breasts were divided between a glossy chestnut and the broad line of creamy off-white that ran down her front, and her wide hips looked quite capable of passing a foal, though no hint of stretching marred her trim belly. The horse cast a nervous glance at the far table, noting the ropes and puddles of blood, but as the wolf took her hand and led her away from it she managed to relax a little. “How may I serve you, Master?” she asked.
\tThe wolf smiled, “Well, I thought that, to start, you could bend over this table and enjoy a good tongue-lashing… and then I might administer a depth test of sorts.”
\tBrows high, the filly giggled, parking her hips against the table’s edge and leaning over to support herself on bent arms, feet planted well apart, “Something like this, Master?”
\tNodding, her temporary owner knelt down behind her, one hand squeezing her rump and finding its pliancy enjoyable as the other brushed her satin-like tail out of the way. “That’ll do,” he mused, then nuzzled in to plant a kiss on the protruding pucker between her cheeks. The mare gasped softly, shifting a little to be sure of her balance, then moaned as he kissed lower, her fleshy lips swelling under his touch. A chair scraped as Danara moved to get a better viewing angle, curious about all of the descriptions of tongue-play’s enjoyability she’d been given, and she did her best to imagine how it would feel if it were her loins under the knight’s affectionate assault. His teeth were gentle as they plucked at first one lip then the other, encouraging them to flower and part, and there was a noticeable glint of moisture along their inner surfaces by the time his tongue spread them and delved deep between. The horse moaned again as he moved the long laps of his broad tongue gradually lower, coming teasingly close to the firmer, sensitive ridge of her outer passage, but he didn’t touch it directly… until his hands came into play, fingertips pressing into her pronounced mound to either side to further spread her, where he lapped along her treasures’ full length, from core to crux with a flash of brighter pink in between where her dusky outer flesh faded to the trembling inner.
\tHe kept up his generalized ministrations, even nudging higher from time to time to give her pucker a touch with his cold nose just to watch it clench, though only for so long as such gentleness sufficed to keep her pleasure rising. The moment its ascent seemed to level off, he dipped lower, pressing the upper half of his muzzle between and slightly into her lips, while his lower teeth grazed the start of her mound and his tongue lapped directly at the ridge that served equines as a clitoris. Her low moans broke off with a high-pitched whicker, and her hips thrust back at his welcome invasion, leaving him breathing through the corners of his mouth with his nose completely buried in twitching fillyhood. It wasn’t quite a peak in its own right, but it got there quickly enough as he lapped harder, the mare’s body quaking as she whinnied her ecstasy to the room’s warm air, eyes clenched shut and breasts quivering.
\tThe moment her copious rush of sweet nectar started to subside, Ferrl took a good grip on her hips and stood, sparing a glance and a wink for Danara as he aimed his blunt head between moisture-streaked thighs. With one hard thrust, he was more than halfway in, the mare’s eyes flying open with a shouted, “Yes! Yes, Master!” as she dropped the rest of the way onto the table, blunt-nailed fingers scrabbling at the wood as the thickness filling her withdrew and plunged in again. Her hips rolled to meet it, her breath ragged as she surrendered herself utterly to the invasion, her insides fluttering delightfully around the shaft that stretched them so well. The wolf shifted one hand’s grip to the base of her tail, the other reaching down to stroke the very tip of her mound’s cleft and incidentally gather the steady dribbles of moisture flowing over it, though the caress itself was goal enough from the slave’s perspective, her breath catching only to burst forth in another loud cry as she reached and tumbled from a second peak.
\tEven as it spasmed along with the rest of her treasures, he lifted his stroking finger to press instead against the center of her equine anus’ rounded protrusion, firmly enough to sink in to the first knuckle with the help of her sweetness soaking its short fur. “M-master?” the mare whickered through the flood of sensations wracking her form, “I… I’m a little s-sensitive there… The f-finger’s fine, but more w-would hurt…”
\tHis own exertions and pleasure were interfering, but Ferrl’s voice was steadier than the filly’s as he glanced over and asked, “Danara? Your call… do I shove this beast of mine up her ass anyway?”
\tThe wolfess chuckled as she eyed the thick knot splaying pinkish-brown flesh with each thrust, absently licking her lips… then shook her head. “Nah, I’m still ambiguous enough about that to want to see how it works with someone who likes it, first. Just… how spectacular can you make the end of things? One extreme I do want to see is the messiest possible end of this sort of… play.”
\tThe glint in her golden eyes, the knight decided, was quite possibly the most wicked thing he’d ever seen, and his mind raced for a way to honor it. Grinning as an idea occurred, he pulled his hands away from tail and tailhole, slipping them under the mare’s arms to lift her against his chest… His continuing thrusts made her bosom heave and jiggle, and she turned her head to stroke her cheek against his muzzle as she acceded to his implied wishes, obviously misunderstanding the bitch’s words as having to do with the ‘mess’ of seed and fluids. Leaning back a bit, the wolf reached down again, muscles shifting as he lifted the horse’s legs to hold her completely off the floor, his hips still pistoning, and turned to face Danara directly. It was with the greatest difficulty he’d ever experienced that he gathered his magic, the filly’s third climax and its distracting internal clenches coming at a bad time for concentration, but he somehow managed to form and hold the shapes he needed in his mind… Just before his own rising pleasure could push things from merely ‘very difficult’ to truly impossible, he fed pure motion-magic along the mental paths he’d prepared, pulling bi-directionally along a razor-thin line then pushing with all his might.
\tFrom Danara’s perspective, a blood-red line appeared down the equine’s front, from the hollow of her throat to the top of her mound, a line that spread almost instantly, opening her completely as the invisible pressure from within all but turned her inside-out. The slave’s eyes fluttered open in disbelief as her heart, lungs, and entire digestive tract flew from her body amidst a seeming river of blood, and she was dead within seconds, scattered over a broad front with several yards of intestine draped over a very surprised-looking wolfgirl, shadowed in reverse by the her-shaped clean spot on the wall behind her, the rest dotted liberally with red just like her fur. Within the hollow cavern of the mare’s belly, she could see the distended shape of the equine’s reproductive anatomy, still twitching as the shaft filling it throbbed and spurted, Ferrl’s grunt of pleasure almost calm-sounding after the protracted splash of flesh.
\tPanting softly, the knight was the first to speak, asking, “Messy enough for you?”
\tAkani and Ela both giggled, while Danara simply swallowed hard and nodded as she pushed the bulk of a liver off of her lap then started disentangling herself from the still-warm loops decorating her bloodied body, “Um… yes. The thought occurs that you could have done that to me as fair retaliation for slitting your throat, and I suddenly find it much more desirable to have you for a friend than an enemy.” She looked over the mess once more and grinned, “Desirable in more ways than one, even… I don’t think I’ll ever forget that sight, even if tamer things still have their appeal. Thank you.”
\tReleasing the much-lightened corpse to fall to the floor, Ferrl nodded with a smile of his own, “Glad I could help… Oh, damn; I forgot to dedicate that… I know Ela didn’t need to as she used her special knife, but I should have known better, distracted or not.”
\t“Don’t worry,” Kathy assured him with a grin from the corner she hadn’t been standing in a moment before. “I’ve been watching all night, and that was… truly a unique way to send a soul on its way to me. Not as painful as it looked, as it killed her almost instantly, but certainly tasty for its novelty value.” The bat glanced over at Ela, who waved, then grinned at the vixen and pulled a bundle out from behind her back. “Here,” she offered as she tossed it over, “and happy birthday. This morning the tanner dropped by your house back in Fariach and brought the vest he’d made from Jol’s hide; that was the only real appointment your sudden departure left hanging, so I took care of it, dear.”
\tEla blinked, then giggled, hugging the burlap-wrapped bundle tight, “Thank you!”
\tChuckling some himself, Ferrl nodded and made the necessary introductions, “Danara, meet Kathy, as she prefers to be called, the mortal incarnation of my Goddess. Kathy, as you undoubtedly know, this lovely girl is someone I’m finally comfortable calling my fiancée. The potential she’s shown this night is… extremely encouraging and, assuming we don’t encounter any difficulties that sour things, I’m very much looking forward to spending a lifetime with her.”
\tRising from her seat after a glance at Ela’s present and a shrug, Danara padded to his side where she gave the nude bat a thorough look up and down, then nodded to herself, “I think I can deal with you like this; much more comfortably than I could an animated statue that shakes my bones just by talking.” She gave a second glance and licked her lips a little, “Now that I’ve been introduced to the concept of two women together, indeed… I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit better.” Turning, she reached up to wrap her arms around a rather surprised Ferrl’s chest, hugging him tightly, “And… yes. You may consider me yours. The worlds you’ve opened up for me to explore are second only to the surprising revelation that there are good and decent men out there, who’d listen to me and treat me as a person rather than a possession… and for that, I would willingly be your possession, but having you on an equal basis is even better.”
\tBlushing faintly, the older wolf held her close with one hand and planted a gentle, faintly blood-tasting kiss on her damp forehead, “Thank you… We’ll probably have to wait until my current mission is over before we formalize things, particularly since I want you to have time to be sure this is what you want, but for now you can consider yourself betrothed.”
\tAkani stepped away from the kitchen door as the two canids came back in, one carrying a shovel and a large bucket. “The cook’s going to be happy not to have to clean the filly much,” the priestess mused with a snicker, “but I’m going to have to do something to reward these two; we’re setting records tonight for the size and degree of messes they’ve had to clean up.” Turning her friendly grin on Danara, she asked, “Do you want to make one more mess while dinner’s cooking?”
\tThe wolfess nodded eagerly, “Yes! I want to feel someone die and know that I’m the one who took their life. My future husband,” and she shared a grin with Ferrl at the irony of being able to say that without bitterness, “is no longer a target, and I want to finish what I was trying when our relationship first started.”
\tNodding, the feline padded over to the special wall and thumped it soundly, four times.
\tThe mouse, wearing only a black collar, who entered a few moments later was looking confused, and immediately addressed the priestess she knew ran the club, “Mistress? All of the temporaries you brought in for tonight are used up… was there something else you wanted?”
\tAkani shook her head, “No, just you…” She gestured at the wolves, “The girl there is not Kathallic, and a virgin besides, but she’s expressed an interest in playing with a slave, so you’re needed in your capacity as an extra participant. I know it hasn’t happened often, but I’m sure you’ll satisfy her even without recent practice.”
\tThe mousegirl nodded submissively, “Yes, Mistress,” then padded over to stand before Danara, eyes downcast. “Would ma’am prefer to remain physically virginal? I’ll only use my tongue if ma’am wants.” Around them, the bat, cat, vixen, and wolf took seats back at the first table they’d been at, giving the dogs room to keep cleaning and the final playmates of the evening space for whatever they worked out between them.
\tDanara thought for a moment, looking down at the shorter, but probably older girl… “That depends on your own likes,” she decided. “After all I’ve seen tonight, I’m so tense inside that if you gave me my first taste of pleasure I’d probably pee all over you. If that’s not your thing, well, I wouldn’t mind licking you a bit.”
\tThe rodent nodded again, still not looking up, “I… can tolerate that when I’m ordered to, ma’am, but I don’t enjoy it, no. You may do whatever you wish to my own body, though.”
\t“Of course I can,” the bitch grinned. “That’s rather implied by my being ‘ma’am’ and your being the slave. Lay down on the stage there and… let me get to know you better.”
\tFlushing at the reminder of her place, the mouse complied, sinking first to a kneel then stretching out to one side, rolling onto her back with her heels hanging just off of the raised platform’s edge. Without another word, the wolf nodded and knelt at her feet, reaching out and spreading them wide before leaning forward to get a better view. She’d never seen herself like this, and before tonight had never had any interest in examining another woman’s genitals, but all she had seen this evening gave her a fairly good idea of what she’d find and how it would react to her explorations. The mousegirl was gray with an off-white belly, the fur of her mound thinning around the tight-looking pink of her private flesh, and it was there the wolf paused, sniffing at the faint hint of moisture then taking a tentative lick. The taste was… novel; a bit sweet, a bit salty, and saturated with scents that screamed ‘female’ and ‘rodent’ to her forebrain even as they evoked the word ‘prey’ from some level of herself still ruled by animal instincts. She took a second, firmer lick, consciously parting the folds before her as she’d seen Ferrl do, and another lick followed, then another, as she explored the faint variations in the slickly-smooth texture just within the mouse’s passage.
\t“Th-this is really her first t-time?” the slave asked with a shiver. “She’s… g-good so far!”
\tDanara took one more lap then grinned up at the mouse, making eye contact just between her nipples, and remarked deadpan, “I’m a quick study. I’ve learned a lot in the last hour or so…” Any reply to be had was lost in a piercing squeak as she immediately got back to work, delving deeper in between exploratory licks around the puffy hood just above. Her only experience with the harder point that soft flesh concealed was the occasional accidental brush while in the bath, and those had only granted discomfort bordering on pain, so she had more than just her friends’ observed care to tell her of its sensitivity. The longer she lapped, the tenser the rodent’s muscles grew beneath the skin of her thighs, and as she tried working an experimental finger into the passage before her, marveling at the way the closed-looking flesh parted around the invasion, that tension broke with a protracted squeal, the older girl’s insides quivering along her finger’s length amidst a sudden increase in wetness. With one or two last laps to either side, the bitch decided that she was definitely learning to like the flavor of a woman, and she gently withdrew her finger as her first lover ever lay there panting.
\t“Daddy?” she heard the vixen ask behind her. “You an’ Kathy were right. She’s good at that… can we keep her?”
\t“Forever, dear… Forever.”
\tA warm glow woke somewhere in the vicinity of Danara’s heart, but the fires already burning in her loins soon demanded her attention once more. Looming up over the smaller girl, she paused to lap curiously at one of her nipples, eyes widening a bit at the sensation of it stiffening against her tongue. With the hand that wasn’t holding her up, she gestured behind her, making what she hoped looked like stabbing motions even as she nuzzled the mouse’s neck and got a kiss on her cheek in return. One of her own daggers, still sheathed, landed to one side where someone had tossed it, and she straightened up, straddling the slave’s waist and keeping her pinned down as she retrieved and bared the blade.
\tEyes suddenly wide, the rodent shook her head, squeaking out, “Mistress! You said she’s not Kathallic, and I’m valuable property!”
\tAkani snorted from the table, “She isn’t, no… but she will be, and the price of your replacement will be covered by the temple’s recruitment fund. You’ve served me well, these last couple of years, and I thank you for that, but you’ve also been getting a little cheeky about your position of late... Senior though you may be, you’re still a slave. Goodbye, dear.”
\t“Mistreeeesssss!”
\tDanara was grinning at that final, desperate cry. She easily deflected a few desperate, unaimed blows as the mouse flailed, then grabbed her muzzle in one hand and drew her dagger slowly across the slave’s throat with the other, between her jaw and her collar, eyes intent on every inch and a shudder wracking her form at the first strong spurt of crimson. The scents of urine and a near-vegetarian’s dung mingled with that of the rushing surge of blood as the rodent’s fear got the best of her, but the wolfess remained where she was, watching the life pulse from the long slit she’d carved to trickle down and pool on the varnished hardwood. Her grip kept the girl’s muzzle closed, only faint whimpers emerging through her flared nostrils, and her green eyes held fear and pleading as she stared up at the woman who’d killed her.
\tWhen the weakening trickles of red finally stopped and those lovely eyes dimmed, Danara sighed happily and wiped her knife on the fur of one pliant mouse-breast, retrieving its sheath as she rose to pad back to the table. “I enjoyed that, a lot,” she told her companions as she joined them. “Thank you all for teaching me, tonight…” Nodding to the bat, she mused, “Your priestess was right; I will serve and follow you, as willingly as I’ll marry your wolf here.”
\t“But not tonight, or any time soon,” Kathy replied, her tone serious. At several confused blinks, she elaborated, “At the moment, my dear, you are Godless… and that is exactly how you need to remain for a time yet. Ferrl’s mission is Malia’s, but I’ve been doing what I can to help around the edges, and I’ve been getting a gradually-strengthening hunch that the cause will at some point require the aid of someone who cannot be identified as the devout of any God. My dispensation for you to enter places or events normally restricted to my flock shall remain for as long as it is needed, but we need your soul itself to remain unchanged for now.”
\tStill a bit confused, the dark wolf nodded, “I suppose I can live with that… Would it also necessitate a delay in my wedding?”
\tKathy tilted her head, considering… “When the feeling is true,” she mused, “there is an actual blending of souls… but I think that there’s a way to keep yours neutral regardless. The trick will be to have the ceremony performed by a priest or priestess of, and in the name of, a deity of light. There might still be a bit of a change, but it would take direct and careful examination by a God, not just one’s clergy, to detect it.”
\tThe girl nodded once more, “Good,” and turned to her affianced. “This was one hell of a first date… but I want another. Screw ‘waiting to be sure I want this;’ as soon as we have the time and an available temple, you’re mine.”
\tFerrl swallowed hard and nodded, “I’ll start shopping for rings.” Since she was still holding the dagger she’d just killed that mouse with, what else could he say?
\tThe bat piped up again, “We’ve still got some time before that filly is served for dinner… so why don’t we have just a little more fun? I’m here, I’m wet, and we still haven’t touched any of the blades on that rack if there’s any bloodlust left among us; I’m sure someone can figure out a way to pass the time with that combination…”
\tFour muzzles spread in toothy grins, the priestess quipping, “There’s always time for… religious services. Get up on this table and consider yourself an appetizer.”
* * *
\tFerrl cautiously tried the latch of the back door to the Golden Lyre… and relaxed as it opened. “I hope none of the other paying customers had evening business,” he mused. “That crowd listening from the street probably won’t break up until the bard can’t play any more.” No one was visible inside save for some cooks who didn’t even notice them, clustered as they were around the doorway to the common room.
\tDanara shook her head with a happy sigh as they climbed the stairs leading from the kitchen to the guest rooms, “I can understand why they’re there, though… That music is beautiful! I can manage a few chords on a lute, just from what I picked up from the Maliites at the temple, but nothing I’ve ever heard, much less performed, can even come close to Malia herself and an expert instrumentalist.”
\tHer ears perked curiously as they entered their room, Ela asked, “You c’n play music? That’s gonna make you an even better momma than I thoughts! I loves it…”
\tThe wolfess chuckled and gave her soon-to-be daughter’s headfur a friendly ruffling, “A little… Nobody can grow up in the temple without learning at least a bit about it unless they’re completely tone-deaf, and if you like it that much I can always practice a bit more. I won’t ever be as good as whoever it is down there, but it wouldn’t take much to reach ‘passably decent.’”
\t“Very few people could be that good,” her fiancé noted. “The bard playing the harp is somewhere around seventy years old, with decades of experience, but Malia restored his hands to youth. That’d be an awfully hard combination to beat.” Gesturing toward a pile of possessions, he suggested, “Drop your knapsack there… We’ll have to wait ‘til morning to transfer your horse to the same stable as ours, but I’m glad the storage shop was still open. Now, do you think we should get another room once the innkeeper’s reachable? That bed’s big, but it may be a little crowded with all four of us on it.”
\tDanara shrugged, “It should suffice so long as nobody’s trying to make love in it…” At his half-confused, half-hurt blink she grinned, “Tradition, my love! I may have objected to being handed out as the prize in a fight, but there are still some customs I have no problem following… such as not sleeping with you until we’re well and truly married. Malia can sleep in the middle and act as a chaperon for however long it takes, but don’t you worry any. I’m in no mood to wait too long either, as after tonight I’ve quite a few things I’m looking forward to trying.”
\tFerrl nodded, then paused, head tilted curiously, “And what of the tradition of monogamy? I have… quite a few ladies who’ve become rather accustomed to having my affections from time to time, all of whom are quite special in their own way and, while I would always return to you were such dalliances permitted, it could cause problems if I’m suddenly and permanently unavailable to them.”
\t“Hmmm… That’s a tricky one,” his betrothed mused. “Who are these other ladies? I certainly enjoyed licking that mousegirl, and tradition just doesn’t take that sort of thing into account; keeping you from seeing them would, in all fairness, prohibit me from trying them as well.”
\tSitting on the corner of the bed, the wolf gazed up at the ceiling as he considered… “Well, mortal incarnations of every Goddess in the pantheon, for one group. You’ll probably be seeing Kathy fairly often, and Roxy will probably drop by at least once just to meet the one who caught me, as she’ll see it, and I don’t know whether Malia will visit or not once the mission’s over. On the other paw, I guess there’s only Countess Verona, the former baroness of Lark’s Reach, known as the slut of the court in Fariach so she’d share Roxy’s curiosity and want to try you herself, and Crown Princess Danique, though that’s not really your average boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. This is to be considered a state secret,” and, despite his light tone, his expression told her he meant that literally, “but she’s her brother’s slave when in private, and only gets anal sex from him to keep any chance of inbred children from being a factor, so when she’s particularly horny he sends her to me to see to her needs.”
\tEla interrupted with a grin, “An’ she’s really tasty, as girls go.”
\tHer father smirked, half-sighing, “That she is…” before glancing back to his betrothed, “Other than slaves, who don’t really count as they don’t survive the experience, and Ela of course, who comes part in parcel with me, that’s about it.”
\tDanara smiled, sitting next to him and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, “I can live with that list. Don’t you worry yourself about it anymore, unless you plan on expanding it behind my back, of course.”
\tFerrl shook his head, chuckling ruefully, “No chance of that! I know your temper, dear, and I’d prefer to save it for people I don’t like, just so I can sit back and enjoy the carnage.” Perking his ears, he noted, “It sounds like the gathering downstairs is breaking up. Malia should be here in a moment, so what do we tell her?”
\t“Nothing, as her sister already passed along the good news,” the cat herself answered as she stepped in, closing the door behind her. “Congratulations, you two. We can stop by my temple sometime tomorrow and get the wedding out of the way, and I’ll perform the ceremony myself unless you want my mortal high priest to do it.”
\tEla giggled, “’nless th’duke screws things up like you said he might.”
\tMalia rolled her eyes, “That was just a joke, child! If he really does try anything he shouldn’t, he won’t be a duke anymore; one prayer-relayed message and the king will empty that throne even if it takes an army. Kings do not like it when their lesser nobles overstep their bounds! Now,” and she smiled, “let’s all get some sleep. Just sleep, as I’m sure you all had more than enough fun at the party, and we’ve a tradition to uphold.”
Chapter 11
\t“It’s not your fault,” Ferrl assured his daughter. “You were grabbing clothes effectively at random, and neither of us could have foreseen the need for my fanciest outfits. These are certainly adequate,” and he gestured at the cream satin blouse, silver-edged gray doublet, and dark maroon hose he wore, “to get me where I need to go. I was planning to buy better things myself when we were a little farther along, so this ducal visit caught both of us off guard.”
\tEla nodded and consciously perked her ears up from their half-droop.
\tHe gave her headfur a ruffling with the hand that wasn’t adjusting his baldric, waved to the two ladies who were still getting dressed, then stepped out of the room. A crowd was already gathering in anticipation of the day’s music even though the bard was still sleeping, and the innkeeper looked very happy at the unprecedented number of breakfasts his kitchen was selling. Spotting Ferrl, the old ram rushed over, “Sir knight! Please, allow me to express my gratitude for choosing my humble establishment to patronize, and enjoy whatever you’d like to eat or drink this morning, on the house. It’s the very least I can do in return for the increase in business I’ve enjoyed throughout your stay.”
\tGlancing around, the wolf drew the old sheep over to an unoccupied corner to whisper to him, “It’s not just for my stay, you know… While my companion’s voice my leave with me, a subtle miracle has taken place. Your bard’s hands, though only his hands, have been restored to youth, so the endurance and accuracy he showed last night shall remain. Given that, it might not hurt to seek another singer, perhaps even hiring one instead of simply allowing them to collect tips with the proviso that they give you half…” He chuckled at the older man’s blink, “I grew up in a tavern, my friend, so I know the customary arrangements with songsters. You’ve got an unusually good one in that bard, though, so you can afford to be a bit more generous than custom dictates, and still see an increase in your cashbox.”
\tThe ram scratched at one of his horns thoughtfully, then nodded, “Perhaps room and board for the singer, and they, the bard, and I would split the tips three ways? That’s a bit better than most musicians would get, and the patronage would cover my loss in shared tips and the price of housing and feeding two people.”
\t“And then some,” the knight nodded. “You should know that I’m technically a priest, too, and the Goddess who restored your biggest attraction’s ability to play would almost certainly be offended if you took excessive advantage of it. There’s a difference between accepting the fair profit from increased business and exploiting people out of greed but, following the way you just proposed, everyone should come out happy.”
\tNodding once more, the innkeeper quirked a half-smile, “I guess I was letting my eagerness get the best of me… Your advice is sound, as no one but a fool irritates the Gods if he can avoid it, so I can probably add the health of my soul to what I owe you thanks for… and you still need breakfast. What’ll you have?”
\tFerrl shrugged, “Got anything portable? I’ll be eating on my way to the palace, as it’s a fairly long walk and there are a few things I’ll want to look into before actually joining the court. If the nobles around here are anything like those in the capitol, ‘morning’ court probably starts at mid-morning at the earliest, but that should give me a little time for research, too.”
\t“We have some good meat pies left from last night that can be eaten on the move, yes. I’ll get—say, I think that man’s looking for you,” and the sheep pointed at a large figure who’d entered, looked around, and started wading through the crowd in an undeviating line that patrons were scrambling to get out of the way of. “Try not to break too much of my furniture if he’s not a friend of yours; your breakfast may be free but that wouldn’t be.”
\tAs the innkeeper prudently took his leave, Gerian stopped a few feet from Ferrl, folded his arms across his massive chest, and asked bluntly, “Where’s my daughter?”
\tThe younger wolf stifled a chuckle that the other was probably in no mood for, replying as respectfully as he could, “I can answer that, and I promise that I will momentarily, but I’m curious… where do you think she is? You obviously have some clues you’re following, or you’d not have found me.”
\tThe priest’s gaze intensified briefly to a glare, but he shook himself and, calmly enough, pulled over a nearby stool to settle onto with a creak of protesting wood, gesturing for his junior to do the same as he explained, “The morning after your visit, I woke to find Danara and my second best horse missing, along with one of our special saddle blankets that can double as a basic tent if the beast’s trained to tolerate its sides being tied off. Investigation of her room and the temple’s supplies showed that she’d taken very little else; a bit of food, very few of her clothes, some dinky little knives, and the handful of copper she had left from her allowance at the last festival… I know my own beasts well enough to identify their hoofprints, so I was able to determine that she’d headed in the same direction as you had, and my rank sufficed to get cooperation out of the officials in Glenrose. The only thing they could tell me about any wolves at all was that one matching your description had apparently been involved in some form of altercation that included spilled blood, and for your sake I can only hope it wasn’t my daughter’s. I continued along the path you were most likely following, and to my relief the information booth here confirmed that both you and Danara had also stopped to ask questions… My best steed is almost played out, though, so I’m glad I caught up with you in this city. Will you tell me where she is, now?”
\tFerrl nodded, “I will, after filling you in on the details you couldn’t have known… Danara was, to put it lightly, less than thrilled with the notion of being wedded to any stranger, and she followed me much as you did, but with the express intent of seeing me dead.” This fetched a raised brow in reply, and he grinned a bit, “Obviously she didn’t succeed. She grabbed me from behind in a dark alley, expressed her displeasure, then promptly slit my throat with one of those ‘dinky little knives.’”
\tGerian couldn’t restrain himself, “What?!? I knew my daughter disagreed with me on many things, but I didn’t think I’d raised her with so little honor as to be an assassin! How is it that you still live?”
\t“I didn’t employ that aspect of my skills when you and I fought,” the Agent explained, “as it wouldn’t have been honorable, but I’m also a mage. Magic sufficed to keep most of my blood inside, only the first few spurts staining my shirt and causing the report you heard of from the guards. Over the next couple of days, I spotted her a few times, still following me, and I specifically left directions at the information booth to allow her to catch up again… I finally convinced her to talk to me for a while, dispelling some of her misconceptions and introducing her to some things you’d kept her sheltered from… though not what you’re probably assuming!” he hastily amended at the priest’s scowl. “She’s still physically a virgin, though she’s looking forward to changing that once we’re suitably wed. Yes, she agreed to that too, and before this day is out I will call you father.”
\tThe enormous wolf blinked, then blinked again. “I had no idea I’d engendered such bitterness in my little one… but the fact that you’ve turned her back onto a proper path, under the circumstances, is nothing short of miraculous! It is with even greater pride than I first suspected that I will call you son, and you have my eternal gratitude as well.”
\tFerrl nodded, a bit embarrassed, but his need to find some suitable reply was alleviated by an interruption from behind the larger knight, “Daddy?” Danara was clearly surprised to see her father here.
\tGerian scrambled to his feet and turned around, blinking some more, “Danara? You… you haven’t called me ‘daddy’ since you were eight years old…”
\tThe young wolfess smiled, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his waist, “That’s because that’s when you started trying to control what I did with my life… I’m where I want to be now, Daddy, and with who I want to spend that life with. It may not be exactly the life you had in mind for me, but it’s my life. I wish you could have understood that when I was younger… but it ended up working out well enough in the end, thanks to the meddling of more Gods than you’d probably believe. I can be… happy now, at Ferrl’s side.”
\tGiving her one careful squeeze in return, the burly priest released his offspring and smiled, “I’m… glad for you. Now, what of the ceremony itself? I don’t want to seem like I’m still pressuring you, but now that you’ve finally accepted someone I hope you can understand that I’m a bit impatient to see things finalized…”
\tFerrl glanced around to make sure no strangers were too close, those nearest having retreated when someone with Gerian’s size and weapons had started yelling, then murmured, “There’s more at work here than merely mortal concerns, and for reasons that would take a lot of explaining it’s important that we be married in the name of a God or Goddess of light. Malia herself has agreed to perform the ceremony, and we were planning to do so at her temple in this city as soon as I get back from the ducal palace. The lord here is over-reaching his authority on a minor point, demanding to be informed of any Agents entering his capitol, and I’m going to go ask him why, as there’s a good chance he’s trying to conceal something.”
\tGerian blinked yet again, then looked thoughtful… “That’s a potentially serious matter, yes. Still… is there any reason it has to be Malia who joins you? Wouldn’t my God do just as well? I mean, I’d very much like to perform the ceremony myself. I am a high priest of Tarragh, after all…”
\tDanara glanced around, then murmured, “Let’s just ask her; she’s right over there, and she won’t be busy until that bard gets through enough of his tea to wake up.”
\tChuckling, the other two wolves nodded and followed her lead.
* * *
\tFerrl had only had half an hour to browse the public records of the duchy, and had found nothing obviously out of place… but he knew investigation wasn’t his strongest skill. There was some information he hadn’t been able to find in his brief search, and a suspicion nagged at the back of his mind regarding it, though he kept reminding himself that it could very well have been there and he just hadn’t looked for it long enough.
\tHe waited until the morning audience’s usual participants had all been announced, freeing the herald for some consultation, then approached. “Name and titles?” the old feline asked first thing.
\t“Sir Ferrl, knight of the kingdom,” the wolf replied. “I think there was something about ‘Savior of Lark’s Reach’ that’s been added to that, but I’m not sure it actually means anything.”
\tThe announcer quirked a brow, “And your purpose for visiting our court? These morning gatherings are mainly social in nature, but the cliques and factions are well-established; it might be hard for a newcomer to break into any of them with that commonplace a set of credentials.”
\tFerrl chuckled, “I need to ask the duke a question… He’s not going to like it, I can tell you that, but it has to be asked, and answered, or he runs the risk of losing his throne entirely.”
\tThe herald nodded once more, looking surprisingly incurious, “That’s none of my rightful business, so I’ll announce you just as you’ve asked. You’ll need to leave that sword of yours behind, as long blades are prohibited in the throne room, so remember that it’s your own hide you’re risking by dabbling in politics.” Snapping his fingers to summon a page, he waited until the sword had been handed over before leading the wolf inside.
\tLike most of what he’d found in Gatuque, the throne room was similar to that in Fariach but on a smaller, less ornate scale. Family members representing the various baronies, earldoms, and counties of the area predominated, along with the occasional actual lord or lady and the upper crust of the local peasantry. The buntings weren’t as bright, nor the windows as cunningly crafted, as the king could boast, and there were thankfully few people around the large, gilded chair that sported the ducal crest on its back and the middle-aged black mink therein.
\tFollowing the plan he’d formed on his way here, Ferrl made his way down the broad carpet and paused at the periphery of those gathered around the throne, his thumbs in his belt and an expression of patient expectation on his face. The duke obviously noticed him, though didn’t spare him more than a glance at first. After ten minutes and three conversations, another glance was forthcoming, this one with a hint of curiosity, but the wolf suppressed his urge to smile, keeping his expression unchanged. Curiosity as to why he was still there was evidently building… and he wasn’t surprised in the least when the mustelid took advantage of a momentary break between conversations a short while later.
\t“You,” he said, pointing at the newcomer. “Why do you wait there? You were announced as a knight, but I’ve not heard your name before, nor have I any notion of what business you may have in my court.”
\tThe wolf finally allowed himself a faint smile as he bowed respectfully, “I do have a minor matter I wished to speak of with you… May I approach your person, your grace?”
\tThe corners of mink’s graying muzzle twitched upwards in response as he nodded, “You have manners, at least… You may, though not too close. My guards can get a little twitchy around strangers.”
\tFerrl nodded and stepped to the foot of the three stairs leading up to the throne’s dais, then plucked his badge out of his doublet pocket and pinned it to his collar without haste. “I simply wanted to ask you,” he mused conversationally, “why you wish to know of any Agents who enter your domain. To be rather frank about it, that particular piece of information is the king’s business, not yours.”
\tThe duke’s eyes widened, and he shot a glance to a robed canine seated at one end of the dais. Magic flared for a moment, and the court wizard nodded, “The badge is real.”
\tThe older man peered at the wolf for a long moment, then spoke slowly, evidently being careful about his word-choice, “You obviously saw fit to ignore that request… and, Agent or not, you are in violation of local law at this point. And again, Agent or not, by what authority do you seek to question my decisions and decrees on my very throne?”
\tFerrl touched his badge with a fingertip, his eyes hard, “This is all the authority I need, though I’ve got a writ from the king specifying diplomatic immunity for me, under my doublet, that also protects me from any consequences of such minor infractions. It’s a fairly moot detail, though; I am a representative of the king and empowered to act in his interests even without it, and as his representative I have to tell you that your decree is… highly suspicious. I may not know what it is you don’t want an Agent to discover, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that there is something you don’t wish the king to know about, and I’m here to ask you to stop it before a more thorough investigation is warranted. My own reason for passing through is incidental; I’m on an unrelated mission already, though I can always look into things on my way back.”
\tThe duke frowned and glanced pointedly at the armed and armored figures stationed at regular intervals along the room’s walls, “And, hypothetically of course, what if I didn’t want you to investigate… or carry any word of your suspicions out of my city at all?”
\tThe wolf couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “Your grace, that would be an eminently unwise decision on your part. You see, I already have reported. Due to a few technicalities that surround the title, any Agent is also effectively a high-ranking clergyman, and I’ve already asked my Goddess to send word to another Agent, one who specializes in stealth and the uncovering of secrets. You’re right that you could imprison or even kill me if you were willing to lose enough guards in the process, but neither act would change the end result at all, and either would make the final judgment against you far worse. Consider my visit to be along the lines of friendly advice… Whatever you’re doing, stop it, and you won’t have any cause at all to worry about Agents anymore.”
\tThe mink’s glare was angered for a long moment, making the Agent almost think he would try something… but he finally relented, slumping back in his seat and looking down. “You build a good argument,” he acknowledged. “Now that even the suspicion is loose, nothing I could do would cage it up again. It had been so convenient, though! The amalgamation of the duchy and earldom is still fairly recent, when the last Earl of Gatuque died childless, and it was so easy to let his personal holdings just… ‘fall off’ of the tax records for the duchy. No one questioned that the reports stopped coming, as he was dead and his title with him, and no one thought to verify that the correct totals were being added to my reports, and as a result I had a budget for public improvements such as I’d never before enjoyed! The aqueducts, the paving, expansion of the sewers into poorer areas… there just hadn’t seemed to be enough money to complete them, before, and here I had this untraceable surplus to work with… Can you really blame me for wanting the best for my subjects?”
\tOffering a much friendlier, gentler smile, Ferrl shook his head, “I could not… and I don’t think the king could either. I suggest that you document the improvements and get at least a basic, neutral appraisal of what impact they’ve had, and let the king decide for himself. He obviously hasn’t been starved for tax revenues from this region, or you’d have had his representatives questioning you much earlier than now, so if you’re completely honest and forthcoming in just what you’ve been spending the money on, you may find that he actually approves; there’s a big difference, after all, between what you say you’ve been doing with the funds and just lining your own pockets with them. The crux of the matter remains, in any case, that it is his decision, not yours, in the end.”
\tThe duke nodded solemnly and sighed, “And I suppose this other Agent you mentioned will still visit, if only to confirm the claims of my explanation?” At the wolf’s nod in return, he sighed again and shrugged, “That’s to be expected, I suppose… My seneschal and clerks won’t thank you for the rush of work they’re about to be handed… but I suppose I do. There are any number of independent actions you could have justified with your suspicions, and simply calling me verbally to task is the one most favorable to me, personally. You are free to go, and I wish you success on your mission, but please understand if I do not belabor my thanks for this bitter pill you’ve forced me to swallow.”
\tBowing formally, Ferrl nodded once more, “I thank you, your grace, and I’m sure that my fiancée does too; I’m getting married this afternoon, and imprisoning me would have made a rather vengeful lady somewhat unhappy, possibly to such a degree that she’d storm your palace to rescue me. May your rule be long and wise.” Without another word, and ignoring the stares of several of the courtiers, he padded down the red carpet and left.
* * *
\tEla looked fairly silly, wearing nothing but a grid of interconnecting leather thongs, but she waited patiently as her father tied on the quartz crystals marking every junction and, between her shoulder blades, the flattened oval of tiger’s eye that housed the most complex of the enchantments he’d been concentrating on for several hours. “There,” he commented, patting her shoulder, “that’s the last of them. Now put on your old dress and we’ll test it; the grid’s too big for your vest and I don’t want to risk damaging your good gown. It’s the only real dress you’ve got, and we won’t get any more until we’re shopping for finery in Rajai.”
\tThe vixen smiled and nodded, pulling her rough dress over the thin strips festooning her arms and torso.
\t“How does that work?” Danara asked from where she sat, watching curiously.
\tHer promised admitted with a chuckle, “I’m… not entirely sure. I followed the directions precisely, but reactive enchantments aren’t something my tutors have explained to me in any detail yet. The outer surface of the master stone, as I understand it, extends its own matrix of energies through whatever material is touching it, which I can see happening right now, and detects any attempt at penetration or any other contact that happens to be moving at a high enough speed, then hardens the area being attacked with simple planes of motion-magic as stored in the secondary crystals. Thus it will spread the impact of a blunt object, or render the dress impenetrable even to a slowly-pushed blade, though it can only protect one piece of clothing in that way at a time, and each specific place can only deflect half a dozen or so strikes before its corresponding crystal is drained. I’ll be making two more of them as we travel, so you’ll have some defense as well without having to give up wearing breeches, and possibly more to go under some sort of bonnets if things ever get bad enough to worry about people aiming for your or Ela’s heads.”
\tThe wolfess nodded with a girlish giggle, patting her tanned leather pants, “I appreciate that… These are much more comfortable to ride in than the dresses my father insisted I wear. I only had these two pairs of breeches in my entire wardrobe, and only because I kept them hidden in the bottom drawer.”
\t“Understandable,” Ferrl conceded with another chuckle. “For now… are you any good at throwing those knives of yours?” At her nod, he smiled, “See if you can hit Ela’s shoulder; I don’t want to use a more vital area for a test until we’re sure it works.”
\tDanara looked dubious, but the vixen smiled and assured her as she stood straighter then very still, “It’s alright… I trust you, Momma, and daddy’s good at this.”
\tFlushing faintly, as she still wasn’t used to considering herself anyone’s mother, the bitch nodded and drew a dagger. Gripping it by the blade, she took careful aim, then didn’t hold back, flinging it as hard as she could at the girl’s right shoulder. “Yesss…” she hissed, relief suffusing her entire being as the sharp point struck and bounced off.
\tStepping closer to examine the point of impact, Ferrl nodded mostly to himself, “Just as I thought… There’s a tiny hole, so at least the penetration-detection part of the spell works. I’ll recharge the nearest quartz now, then try hitting her with a slim stick sometime to check the other half, but what we know works would certainly have deflected the crossbow bolt her last attacker fired.” He looked up and fixed his betrothed with a serious gaze, “You should know that followers of the God of Thieves have already tried once to stop us by force, and I doubt it will be their last attempt.”
\tDanara nodded just as solemnly, “They can be fierce fighters when they want to be, yes… I learned a bit about them, as my own minor knacks at stealth and such had been leading me to consider their God for myself, once I’d disposed of you and gotten free of my father.”
\tFerrl chuckled as he thought their whole situation through, “And now that same father is waiting to bind you to me for life, a life in which you will be aiding the enemies of your considered God, and he also thinks that you’re ready to settle down and behave like a ‘proper woman.’ Irony after irony… If he only knew how much fun we intend to have, doing things that would make him scream.”
\tGrinning, the younger wolf stood up and stretched, then padded over to hug his arm to her chest, “Indeed… and imagining the look on his face if he ever knew, which of course he never will, has frequently boosted my spirits of late. Come on, it’s time for us to get dressed; it’s not quite a traditional wedding gown, but the best of the three dresses he brought along out of fear that I hadn’t taken enough clothes is good enough for me. It’ll just have to be good enough for everyone else, too.”
* * *
\t“Do you, Ferrl, take Danara, daughter of Gerian and Belonna, to be your companion, mate, and wife? To love her, cherish her, and protect her for so long as you both shall live?”
\tThe knight nodded solemnly, looking into Danara’s eyes as he slipped the ring onto her finger, “I do.” There hadn’t been enough time to actually shop for jewelry, nor could he afford much in the way of gemstones without severely depleting his funds, so they’d settled on the pair of rings he’d made with magic and three gold half-crowns. Their styling was plain but, visible only under very close examination, a single fur from each of their pelts formed the center-line of the inner surface of each, and both relished the symbolism of exchanging even that minor a part of their very selves as well as technically touching one another for as long as they wore the bands.
\tGerian nodded as well, turning to address his daughter, “And do you, Danara, take Sir Ferrl, son of Jonia, knight and Agent of Drachath, Savior of Lark’s Reach, to be your companion, mate, and husband? To love him, cherish him, and serve him for so long as you both shall live?”
\tSuppressing the urge to giggle, the girl in the green sundress nodded as she worked the larger of the gold bands onto her promised’s ring finger, “Yes, Daddy, I do.”
\tThe disciplined knight commander, of course, had no trouble maintaining his own expression of solemn formality despite her minor break with the traditional script; that twitch at the corner of his muzzle must have been the happy couple’s imaginations. “Then by my authority as high priest of the God of War, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may seal your love with a kiss.”
\tFerrl’s and Danara’s noses bumped as their muzzles neared and joined, exactly as they’d planned to keep anyone from figuring out where they’d been for that solid half-hour they’d spent hiding and tongue-wrestling. None of the small, applauding crowd looked suspicious, in any case.
* * *
\t“Your father… our father looked like he wished he could skip this part of our being married and still reap the other emotional benefits,” Ferrl mused as he pulled off the tanned breeches that had replaced his more courtly hose, the rest of his fine garb having sufficed for the ceremony.
\tHis wife grinned toothily as she sat down on the edge of the small room’s rather narrow bed to start working her boots off, “Tough shit for him. Daddy’s little girl has to grow up sometime, doesn’t she?”
\tThe Agent winced at her phrasing, “Funny you should mention little girls… Ela was asking me if she could find out if ‘grandpa’ was as thick as her own daddy. Think of how he’d have taken that request!”
\tDanara giggled as she dropped her own clothing to join the heap of his, “Not as well as he took your refusal of a dowry… Are you really so rich that you can turn down that kind of money?”
\tHer husband shook his head, “It’s not that… I’m not hurting for funds, even if I couldn’t afford diamonds for our rings, but I don’t go about refusing opportunities to increase them out of any false sense of security or pride either. My problem with dowries is the notion that I need to be paid to accept a mere female, when I have everything I could possibly ask for already in… you. The privilege of being yours is as much as any reasonable man should want, and accepting more would… cheapen you, in my eyes. I know, it doesn’t make any rational sense, but…”
\tShe silenced him with a finger to his lips, “Shhh… It doesn’t have to make sense, my dear. Love rarely does. Now… I offer my maidenhead as a sacrifice to your Goddess. Will you take it for Her? Please?”
\tFerrl smiled, easing her down onto the sheets where he stroked a palm over her soft, dark fur, “On one condition… that you finally let me lick you, first. Other women in my life have been tasty, but you’re my first bitch, and I’m told that the taste and smell of one’s own species is a whole different world.”
\tThe younger wolf could already feel her loins heating in anticipation, “Mmm… yes, and gladly. Teach me, for real this time, what it means to be a woman.”
\tHer husband replied only with an affectionate smile, crawling along the bed to crouch between her feet, his own calves hanging off the end; the inn’s bed really hadn’t been designed with this activity in mind. He gently spread her knees, nuzzling along her thigh before inhaling a deep breath of her scent… and everything he’d been told was confirmed in that instant. His vision seemed to acquire a red tint, the primal wolf within urging him to lunge upwards and immediately mount his chosen mate, but he ignored it, choosing instead to simply enjoy this new form of lust as it surged through his veins, his shaft immediately firming to rock-like hardness where it pressed into the featherbed. Some corner of his mind noted, with relieved satisfaction, that her scent, as much as it inflamed his very being, lacked the sharp muskiness of a woman in or near heat… so he needn’t worry about becoming a father himself, just yet. The relief, though, was less from the lack of a future burden, than from the knowledge that he needn’t interrupt or change his current, delicious situation or his plans for it at all.
\tDanara, for her part, watched his muzzle near her treasures then quite deliberately closed her eyes, leaning back into her pillow. She was finding, much to her surprise, that she didn’t want control of the situation, or even to know what was going to happen before it did, her personality’s usual forcefulness giving full way for the moment to submission to her fate. She truly trusted this man, she was coming to realize; she’d already been at his mercy in that dark alley, and at his side, naked and effectively helpless in a room charged with murderous lust, where nobody would have stopped him or even known if he’d chosen to sate his dark desires with her… If she’d been safe with him then, nothing he could ask of her this night would ever harm her, though she knew that her own physical inexperience would probably result in some pain eventually. That was alright with her, though, and she’d just endure—her meandering speculations broke off with a whimper as his tongue finally brushed against her private flesh. The jolt of pleasure at that first touch made her eyes try to flutter open, but she forced them shut again, just in time for a second, firmer lap against her petals, a whine escaping her clenched muzzle as her imagination’s expectations fell to pieces. She’d envisioned a simple amplification of her earlier, ignorant lust, but the pure pleasure racing up her nerves as that broad, moist muscle stroked along her petals was literally without precedent in her sheltered experience. “Yes…” the bitch hissed, her intended request for more forgotten an instant later as it was given unasked, and she gripped the sheets as she felt herself being spread by the ever-firmer licks, her husband’s tongue delving gradually deeper into her virgin passage.
\tFerrl’s eyes were closed to slits, but not so tightly that he couldn’t gaze appreciatively at the sight before them… The untried treasures that were flowering under his attentions were just past the halfway point of a cross between Ela’s immature charms and Verona’s or Kathy’s more experienced ones. The flexible barrier his delving tongue found and prodded was one indication, of course, but there was a… hesitancy, or something close to it, about the way the lips he’d spread puffed up, as if his lover’s body itself wasn’t sure of what to do. The specifics of the musky-sweet contours aside, the channel those lips guarded was also quite snug, far less so than Ela’s seven-year-old sex, perhaps, but, hymen or no, he was obviously the first person to explore these depths, including their owner.
\tInexperienced or not, the flesh he gently supped upon was proving quite responsive… Danara’s quiet whimpers with each breath she took struck him as absolutely adorable, and if the tension in her thighs was any indication her pleasure was rising at least as fast as his other ladyfriends’ tended to. Spreading her mound with a finger to either side, he nudged a fingertip of his other hand up against the pink of her opening, lapping around it as he swirled it very gradually inwards, its short fur’s tactile contrast with his tongue eliciting a keening whine from his bitch. Not even the first knuckle had vanished into her at that slow pace when she threw her head back with a yelp, a strangled, “Oh, Gods!” escaping as she clenched at the sheets convulsively, her whole form shuddering as pleasure raced along her nerves like wildfire.
\t“Not this time,” Ferrl lifted his damp muzzle to chuckle, “but I’m sure you’ll have a Goddess or two to compare me with eventually.” He kept his finger almost still, merely scratching lightly with its clawtip, as he watched the tremors fade from the folds surrounding it.
\tStill panting hard, she blinked down at him between the swells of her breasts, shaking her head, “I can’t believe how that felt! I think I finally understand what Roxanarra stands for; how an entire religion could be focused on this sort of thing…” Stretching out her legs, which had pulled in tight during her climax and were threatening to cramp if she kept them there, she relaxed back onto the sheets, murmuring, “I will never again deny your request to lick me like that… Please, if you want to continue, do so, or just take me now. I… am yours,” she admitted her earlier thoughts with a nervous gulp. “Do with me as you please, and I will welcome it, my husband…”
\tFerrl laughed softly, “Talk about your coincidences… Malia said almost the same thing about understanding Roxy; I was her first mortal lover, too.” He stretched himself out, stroking his muscular chest up her body as he leaned in close to kiss her, murmuring, “But she is not a wolf, nor is she my wife… Don’t ever think yourself inferior to my immortal lovers, as with them it’s always just something fun to do. With you, making love is no mere polite turn of phrase… it’s literal.”
\tDanara didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his quiet, heartfelt words, so she just hugged him close, burying her misty-eyed face in the fur of his neck. An affectionate paw wormed its way into the embrace, fingertips brushing over her nipples, and she shivered happily at yet another new experience, “Mmm… that’s nice. They’ve never felt like that before…”
\tHer love and lover merely chuckled again, “The mind is master of the body… Your body’s reaction to my touch is merely a sign of your mind’s desires, and that is why I could not take your father’s first offer. If you did not care for me as you do, all I’ve done and will do tonight would be meaningless, the sensations bland or even unpleasant. That said, are you truly ready for me, body and mind?”
\tThe bitch could feel the rounded warmth of his manhood, nudging gently at her entrance, and shifted slightly until it felt right, her outer lips just barely spread around his tip. “Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes again, “I am ready.”
\t“I believe you,” Ferrl whispered into her ear, freeing his hand to support himself above her, and pressed inwards with a murmured prayer of dedication. He went slowly, but with every bit of his strength behind his thrust, the thin barrier his tongue had probed no impediment at all. Her walls and hymen stretched, and the latter broke as he sank steadily deeper, and he didn’t stop until her warm petals were giving the top of his knot a moist kiss.
\tDanara’s breath came out as an explosive moan as he stilled, having caught in her throat the moment she’d been sure he was really doing it this time, and she took another, sighing softly… “And it’s done,” she mused dreamily. “Virgin no more, child no more, at last a woman… and I love you for it. It hurts, it feels like I’m impaled on an enormous mace… but it’s you, and wonderful.”
\tWithdrawing gently until his head’s slight flare tugged at her outer reaches, designed by nature to trap and hold an engorged knot, he pressed in anew, starting a slow, easy rhythm as he waited for her discomfort to pass. He could feel the thin shreds of her maidenhead, stark against the subtler textures of her depths as they caressed him, the coppery tang of blood blending into the scents of lupine arousal. She clung to him throughout, planting kisses on his shoulder, his neck, his throat, and her contented sighs soon gave way to low moans, then rose further in volume as her body grew used to the invasion and came to welcome it. Faint ripples started to shiver along her walls, echoed by stronger shudders through the rest of her body, fresh droplets of her dew moistening her thighs and the sheets. Her scent alone, had he let it, would have driven him to climax even when he’d just been licking her, and it was only though an act of iron will that he was holding off his pleasure, awaiting hers… and he didn’t have to wait long. Her shudders progressed to clenches, weak at first but quickly growing in strength, and as she buried her muzzle in his fur again to mute her cries, her peak neared and struck, her entire being seemingly lost in flaming bliss, only to redouble as she heard his own pillow-muffled howl, felt the throbbing of his thick wolfhood within her, the knowledge that he joined her in ecstasy fueling her own to unimaginable heights.
\tShe wasn’t sure when the pleasure ended and the dreams began, reality itself seeming to have given way before her passion’s onslaught… It wasn’t until she opened her eyes to the sight of dawn’s light streaming through the shutters of the room’s small window, and heard the sound of distant birdsong and the rumble of a populous city rising to meet a new day, that she could be certain she was finally back in the real world… and the most real, most wonderful part of it was the muscular body that cradled hers, his fur still smelling of their shared pleasures as he held her close even in sleep.
Chapter 12
\tThe rat in the gold-trimmed royal purple uniform blinked at the parchment in his hands, then looked up to examine his visitor’s mounts with a practiced eye. “You certainly have the authority you claimed,” he mused, “but your horses are in prime condition. Do you really need another, or are you just taking one of mine because you can?”
\tFerrl chuckled softly, shaking his head, “I think you’d get along well with a stablemaster I know back in Fariach… You obviously know horses, but that’s its own sort of problem in this case; you’re not noticing the people! I wasn’t planning on it, I assure you, but along the way I seem to have picked up a wife, and leaving her behind is not an option. To continue my mission, I’ll need another riding beast, though endurance is more important than speed, so you needn’t surrender your very best. I made her give back the horse she… well, ‘borrowed without permission’ from her father, so it’s only fair that I replace it, and given the distance we’ve yet to cover I can’t take the chance of getting a bad one. Sure, my warhorse could carry both of us, even with me in this armor, but what if I need to fight on him? We’ve already been attacked once on this trip, and I’d be surprised if that’s the only battle my mission involves.”
\tA similarly-uniformed stag with a bit more gold ornamentation shook his head with a quiet laugh, “He’s like this even to the couriers, sir knight… He’s the best stablemaster I’ve ever had, but he’s almost too good at some parts of his job.” Addressing the rodent, the officer instructed firmly, “The king’s orders don’t give us the option of saying no to this man, Godin. Give him one of our better long-haul steeds and let him go on his way.”
\tSighing, the rat handed back the parchment and turned to pad sullenly into the stable with a muttered, “Yes, sir…”
\tDanara took a few steps closer to muse to her husband, smiling, “You know, I could get used to this… I mean, being married to someone with your degree of authority. Most men, or so I feared at least, order their wives around just because they need to feel superior, but you are superior to most, so you can get that all out of your system outside of the bedroom.”
\tFerrl blinked, then shrugged with a soft chuckle, “You may be right about male-kind in general… but I’ve never had any real craving for power. It doesn’t matter to me who’s giving the orders, so long as nobody tries to interfere with my life. If someone does anyway, regardless of any power differential I’d rather work around them than against them.”
\tFrom where she stood holding the reins of their current horses, Malia commented, “That’s just part of why you’re so good at your job… Your authority is a tool you’ll use at need, but to many others their power becomes their identity. Without it they’d be lost, and only by continually exercising it can they feel whole.” She thrust her chin toward the stable, “Interesting as it can be to discuss philosophy and psychology, though, there’s your new horse. We should get back onto the road.”
\tThe Agent nodded, and gestured toward the horse, already fitted with one of the courier service’s comfortable saddles, being led out by the courier stablemaster, “There you go, my love, a much more appropriate steed than your father’s huge stallion.” The mount in question probably only weighed half of what that big warhorse had, but was still well-muscled and sturdy, a gelding with a coat of glossy black save only for white socks on three of his legs.
\t“This is Arbalest Nightstalker,” the rat announced, his pride in his charges momentarily overcoming his dislike of the prospect of losing one. “He may not be the very fastest horse here, but no one could call him slow, and he’s got endurance enough for any two more common mounts so long as he’s well cared-for.”
\tDanara stepped closer to introduce herself, letting Arbalest sniff her palm before giving his nose a pet. “I think Arby and I will get along wonderfully… He’s beautiful; thank you for choosing him.”
\tGodin winced at her choice of nickname, but a glance at his superior made him hold his tongue.
\tThe officer sorted through the stack of parchment he was holding, then nodded to himself and held out one sheet, “Here’s ‘Arby’s’ ownership document; if you return him to courier service just pass this along as well, but if you don’t it should clear things up with any officials who recognize his brand.”
\tFerrl nodded, “Thank you, and I’ll amend it on my own authority when I have the chance, but we’re in a hurry at the moment.” He folded the parchment as he padded back to remount Cherrah, waiting for the ladies to climb into their saddles before turning his steed back toward the road. “Come along, my dears,” he told his companions. “We’ve dallied long enough in this town, and it’s time to journey onwards.”
* * *
\t“There we are,” Ferrl mused two days after leaving Gatuque behind. “Foxwood… It may be on the small side, but we should be able to find you some more breeches and stock up on food, ours and the horses’ both. It also happens to be one of the most ironic names for a town in all of my geography lessons.” Ela and Danara both looked curious, so he continued with a grin and an expansive gesture, “Look around… do you see many trees? This was originally a logging and trapping town, but they were a little too good at their jobs. The forest is gone, and you probably won’t find a living fox of the four-legged sort for leagues around.”
\tHis wife chuckled, nodding, “I see… Anyway, thank you for a chance to stop for clothes. Alternating pairs and rinsing them in the occasional stream has gone only so far; my current pants are starting to get a little rank. I understand the delay, though; we wouldn’t have gotten into Rugal before the gates closed that night if we’d stopped to shop first, and the timing was just as close last night too.”
\tMalia chuckled softly, shaking her head, “So much for trying to give us all a break… Let this be a lesson, though naturally one I’d prefer not to have noised about: not even a deity can take everything into account. I simply hadn’t considered the spacing of convenient towns, those days ago when I said we didn’t have to push so hard in our travels.”
\tA few more minutes’ riding saw them slowing their mounts to a walk as they neared the gates of the large village, and they dismounted just outside to lead the horses on foot. The flow of traffic and the main street’s relative narrowness gradually stretched them out into a long, single-file line, but the town’s central square allowed them to regroup once more. Spotting an inn and stable a bit farther up the road, the knight pointed, “There… I’ll see to the horses, and we can have lunch next door before we move on, but for now let’s get our shopping out of the way. Malia, if you’d care to focus on the supplies while the rest of us look for clothes, that’ll save us a bit of time before we all meet back at the inn.” He fished around in a pouch as he spoke, checking to make sure there were at least a couple glints of silver among the copper he’d retrieved, then nodded to himself and passed the coins over.
\tThe feline tucked the money into one of the shallow pockets her light armor’s skirt-pleats concealed, nodding as well, “Alright; I’ll meet you three there.”
\tEven if it couldn’t be rightly called a city, Foxwood’s position directly astride a well-traveled highway apparently had a positive impact on the number and variety of commercial ventures to be found. There were several tailor’s and seamstress’ shops to choose from, and Ferrl led his wife and daughter into the one displaying dresses of simple cut and sensible, durable fabrics after their mounts were stabled.
\t“Can I help you find something?” the feline proprietress asked the knight, as his ladies were already distracted looking over the stacks and racks of garments.
\tThe wolf nodded, offering a wry grin at her slight flusterment at being all but ignored by what she considered to be her real customers, “We’re mainly looking for breeches and maybe a couple extra shirts for my wife there. She’ll be traveling in them, which is why we didn’t bother with the fancier shops.”
\tThe seamstress laughed, “Gods be praised, customers with some sense! I’ll just point her in the direction of what will fit, then.”
\tDanara looked up from fingering some heavy linen pants, “Perhaps just a bit on the loose side, though… You see those lumps under the vixen’s dress?” At the cat’s half-confused nod, she smiled, “I’ll be getting something similar to wear under what we get here, and I don’t want it to chafe under too snug a fit. The simplest explanation is that your wares here will end up doubling as armor, with the help of a little magic.”
\tThis fetched a startled blink, then the lady visibly shook off her confusion, “I never expected my weavings to be any good for that… but I suppose they’ll do. Magic changes all the rules, or so they say.” She gave the younger wolf a professional glance up and down, muttering a few numbers to herself, then pointed to the next stack over from the one Danara had been examining, “Let’s start with those; unfold one and hold it up to see if the arms match yours…”
\tMalia, when they rejoined her at the inn, had Ferrl’s and Danara’s knapsacks next to her on the bench of the table that a pair of waiters were loading with their trays of food, and she nodded as they set their newly-bought burdens down alongside the somewhat deflated bags, “You seem to have gotten everything you were looking for… I thought you would, so I dropped all of your dirty clothes at a laundry; they should be ready in a bit more than an hour, as I had enough change left from buying supplies to pay for their rush service.”
\tNodding, Danara glanced down at her current garb, “The next evening we end up between towns, then, I’ll just leave these breeches soaking in a stream overnight. If I’d known you’d be anticipating our needs so well, I’d have changed into that one dress I kept before we went to the shop so you could take these along with the rest, but that can’t be helped now.”
\tThe feline shook her head with a smile, “No, it can’t… so let’s focus on what we can control: relaxing for a while, and enjoying this excellent meal.” All three of her companions laughed and nodded, settling onto the benches to do just that.
* * *
\tThe group took a few minutes extra to sort and redistribute their burdens, staying out of the way of traffic in a corner of the small square just inside the town’s north gate. Between gaining a new companion, a third horse, and a few bits of camping gear picked up as needed, and losing the bags of plate armor Ferrl had started the journey with, a bit of organization was certainly called for, and they could spare the time for it given the speed they’d been making over the last two days. Saddlebags stuffed randomly with clothes were emptied, each adult loading their own mount with their own possessions, Ela’s dresses joining the smock Malia had picked up to wear when having her armor cleaned as Red’s bags had the most space. The brownish mare was also loaded with the leather stew pot with collapsible iron legs that served to turn dried meat and hard rolls into something more palatable when camping out, while the rations themselves and a goodly chunk of their communal funds were divided evenly between the three mounts. Nothing had happened to seriously threaten the horses yet, but everyone agreed that a few precautions couldn’t hurt, and would be more than worth the investment of a few minutes’ time in case they lost a steed and its supplies somehow.
\t“I think it’s a good idea to start making this sort of careful foresight a habit at this point,” Malia mused as she buckled the flap on one of Red’s bags. “We’ll be crossing from Gatuque to Rajai tonight, so our goal’s in sight even if Wheathaven itself is still days away. Now is not the time to play the role of ‘casual travelers’ too well…”
\tThis fetched a nod from Ferrl, “Indeed… At the next major city we hit, I’ll use that draft and shop for what I need, on the subject of roles, to look like the collector I’m supposed to be by the time we reach Chraf.”
\tDanara blinked, “Did you say Chraf? That’s what I get for not asking where we’re going, I guess...” She gave half apiece of a shrug and a smile at her companions’ evident confusion, “Chraf’s a big city, so the odds that we’ll run into her are on the low side... but I think that’s where my mother’s living these days. My grandfather on her side is a merchant, and she fell in love with a newly-anointed priest by the name of Gerian as her family’s caravan was stopping for the night... but as he got older and more set in his conservative ways, she eventually gave up on him and left. I was only three at the time, so I don’t remember much about her... but as it was explained to me once I was old enough to understand, my father convinced her to leave me with him because he had an established, steady position that could easily support a child, while she was heading back with no knowledge of how well or poorly her parents were doing, or whether they even had a position for her after all those years apart.”
\tHer husband nodded again, smiling as well, “I wouldn’t mind meeting Belonna myself, if it does occur, but we’ll just let fate decide on that score, and concentrate our own plans and efforts on what we know is important.”
\tShe chuckled softly, “Within those plans, I suppose I can live with looking like a rich man’s wife, at least for a while… I like my breeches, but I’m not so attached to them as to ruin your disguise, love; I’ll help however I can.”
\tFerrl nodded, but his affectionate reply emerged as a strained gurgle. His vision flashed with multi-hued sparks, bright enough to drown everything else out, his entire body tingling as if strong static discharges were somehow going off over every inch of his skin and a few places inside as well. He staggered back half a step, and the motion reintroduced him to the sort of vertigo he’d all but forgotten, back when he’d been transported into the outer gathering hall of the king’s palace, and that time he’d had an empty belly. He spat as his insides roiled, bringing up some of the excellent meal he’d just enjoyed, but even beneath the nausea he was feeling confusion more intensely than anything else. Poison? Some sort of magical attack?
\t“Don’t move, any of you!” a gruff voice shouted, though he could barely make out the words through the distracting, dizzying sensations, and the last thing he heard was the twang of a crossbow before the iron ball tipping a stunner-bolt hit the back of his head and laid him out on the cobblestones.
* * *
\tA head that ached like he’d forgotten to wear a helmet to a mace-fight, a mouth that tasted like week-old bile, and splinters digging into his ass from whatever poorly-finished piece of wood he was laying on led Ferrl to decide that he must be awake, as even his nightmares had never contained this degree of discomfort. Opening his eyes didn’t help much, as the sparks he vaguely recalled had been replaced by bright, blurry rainbows, and he shut them again with a groan.
\t“That confirms the report I read about the little show you put on at the riverbanks of Petch,” a voice mused to one side. The words were easy enough to make out, but somehow they seemed just a little on the blurry side themselves. “If you wish to see and hear clearly,” the stranger advised, “concentrate on damping down your magical perceptions. Wizardbane collars are always a bit... disorienting for the greatly-skilled, as they disrupt all aspects of your gifts, including those senses that are so often active unless you’re deliberately suppressing them.”
\tThe wolf nodded, concentrating for a moment to focus on mundanity before opening his eyes again, and took a glance around... He was evidently laying on the crude plank bench that was the only furnishing of a cell, walled entirely in stone with a narrow door of iron bars and no windows. The floor was surprisingly clean, and the only other thing in the tiny room was a bucket with a hinged cover, most likely intended as a chamberpot though the relatively scentless air suggested it was unused. Through the bars he could see another stone-walled room, lit by iron-grated windows, and one end of a desk, the chair to which had been pulled around so his captor could watch him more directly.
\tThe uniform the skunk was wearing, Ferrl noted, wasn’t exactly standard-issue... It was the same cut and style of the other guards he’d seen among Foxwood’s militia, but probably cost several times as much, as the fabrics were finer, the colors brighter, and the garments themselves crisp and new. This was, perhaps, an unfortunate contrast, as midway through considering the implications of the mephit’s garb, Ferrl realized that he himself was completely naked save only for a tight band of some sort around his throat. “I wouldn’t do that,” the soldier cautioned as he reached up to touch the collar.
\tFerrl blinked once, then nodded and lowered his hand, “Sorry, I was still a bit disoriented... It took me a moment to recall the portion of my legal training that covered magical crime and the punishments for such. So, as I’m obviously in gaol, would you mind telling me just what I’m charged with?”
\tThe skunk chuckled, “Well, your arresting charge was the mass murder of a group of religious pilgrims, but we’ve added a few things since then...” He started ticking off on his fingers, “Impersonating an Agent of the kingdom, forgery of official documents, theft of a royal courier horse, intent for grand theft of official funds, conspiracy of some sort we’ve yet to decide upon, and soliciting an unlicensed prostitute.” The man’s smile was most unpleasant as he leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers before him, “The murder charge alone carries the death penalty, and normally we’d just leave it at that as we can only kill you once, but the sheer number and degree of your other crimes suggests that we... be creative in finding a few additional things to do to you. If for no other reason, we should make an example of you to keep from encouraging others who might think that the commission of one capital crime leaves them with nothing to lose, so they may as well compound it.”
\tHis prisoner nodded, “In other words, one member of the group of thieves that ambushed me a week or two ago survived to give you a description of my party... and you’re happily twisting the truth and the laws to your own ends as a result. It was the one my horse trampled, wasn’t it?”
\tThe militiaman blinked, “What? Well... yes, the pilgrim who survived had been trampled by a horse, and died shortly afterwards... but for the rest, I’m only doing my duty as the captain of Foxwood’s modest guard force, in strict compliance with established, kingdom-wide procedure...”
\t“How convenient,” the wolf snorted. “I see what you’re talking about there, too... When a suspect is believed to be in possession of magical abilities or items, the use of a wide-aperture spellbreaker is dictated, which is where those ludicrous charges of forgery and impersonation came from, since you ruined the enchantments in my very, very real badge and documents over the course of apprehending me. So, now you’ve got me, with ‘proof’ of several major crimes that your own acts created... Where’s the rest of my party? I’ll warn you now, they’d better be safe and well-treated, or you won’t like what happens to you once I’m free of this web of lies...”
\tHis jailer shook his head with a visible swallow, “There you go with those wild accusations again... In light of the clear-cut evidence found on your person and in your saddlebags, the town magistrate has already declared your guilt. There are no lies here, only facts!” He swallowed again at Ferrl’s raised brow and faint smirk, then shook himself and continued, “As for those you were traveling with... the cat and cub were also mentioned in the warrant we were executing when you were captured, and the cub ran off... No loss; she wasn’t actually charged with anything, though we did want her as a witness. The cat... well, that was where the unknown conspiracy charge came from; if she weren’t guilty of something of the sort, then why did she kill herself?”
\tFerrl blinked, “Mal—ah, she’s dead?”
\tThe skunk shrugged, “As of an hour ago, yes... I’ve never seen anything like it; the moment we brought her into this building, she collapsed... She wasn’t really unconscious, as her eyes were still open, but nothing we did could get any sort of response out of her, and after a while she just stopped breathing. No one else among us has ever seen the like either, but we’re pretty sure that it was some sort of poison, or possibly a concealed magic item that wipes the mind while leaving the body intact.”
\tThough he tried to keep it from showing on his face, that was actually the first piece of news that managed to truly dismay the wolf. He’d heard of this sort of building, but didn’t think any of them existed anymore, as they were horrific in a way few structures could be and were routinely destroyed whenever found. For all its barely-regulated use in other respects, there was one form of magical energy that was illegal under all but the most rigidly-constrained of circumstances... and that was spirit-energy. There was only one source of literal souls, after all, and each individual had just so much; when it was used, it was gone, at the cost of not only their life but any hope for an afterlife as well. “Kathalla,” he murmured in a near-silent breath, “I think I could use some help here...”
\tThe lack of anything resembling a response was confirmation enough... Even if he dared not look to verify it, with the collar blocking his arcane senses and equipped as well to severely punish any attempt to bypass it, he knew that the entire gaol was sheathed in a solid layer of spirit-energy, probably representing dozens of individual souls, blocking his prayer from being heard... and cutting off even the divine spirit that had animated Malia’s mortal semblance, leading to her body’s collapse and demise.
\t“As for the fourth member of your group,” the soldier continued, and this time Ferrl had to keep from looking excited as he eagerly awaited news of his wife, “we let her go once she’d made it clear just how she’d come to be in your company. You should be ashamed of yourself... By the ring you were wearing you’re a married man, and there’s no excuse for what you were asking that poor woman, hardly more than a girl really, to do in return for a silver or two worth of clothes, a few meals, and a ride to the next city. The physical threats you made were even lower, in their own way... but they turned out to be to her benefit in the end. My bro—the magistrate and I were happy to not have to charge her with unlicensed prostitution, as your despicable duress was an extenuating circumstance.”
\tFerrl did his best to look disappointed, even chagrined... but he muttered under his breath with a mental smile, “Smart girl...”
Chapter 13
\tDanara did her best to maintain her expression of determination, tinged with injured pride, as she strode down the street, her over-full knapsack bouncing against her back. All she really wanted to do was to sit down and cry, but to do so would ruin everything, and she knew it. The cool metal of her wedding ring rubbed against her ankle as she moved, having ended up there after she’d dropped it down the breeches that were tucked into her boots, but she ignored it as best she could. The story she’d spun, about being a nearly penniless traveler who’d discovered that the ‘helpful’ couple she’d met simply wanted another sort of currency in return for their aid, would only hold up for as long as she kept her performance intact, and that meant not dwelling on the wolf she’d come to love or the memory of his unconscious body being collared and dragged away.
\tShe blinked away the threat of tears as she pushed that thought out of her mind again, and looked around before turning down a side street, following the directions from one of the militia privates who’d helped her separate her possessions from the evidence he’d been impounding. Those guards were actually pretty decent sorts, but something was obviously rotten at the top of their command structure; the charges they’d read to Malia almost matched the tales they’d shared over the last two days’ long rides, but with just a few twists... The look in that mortal Goddess’ eyes had shown the dawning of a similar conclusion, and the young bitch guessed that that was why she’d surrendered without a fight, rather than visiting pain and death upon basically good people who were just doing what they saw as their duty while being slightly misled.
\tSo, there she was, following the directions to the cheapest of the town’s three inns... The few coppers of her own she still had would suffice for a night or two of lodging there, presumably while she looked for either a job or an honest ride to visit her mother... according to the story she’d told the soldiers. In reality, all she wanted was a chance to think, to take stock of her situation after the chaos of the arrest and her frantic improvisation, then find some way to turn it into lasting freedom for her family and their feline companion.
\tSeeing the room that five sixths of a penny could rent was enough to make her wonder if she should have told the truth and let the militia arrest her... Even a cell in the town gaol had to be better than this! The straw-filled canvas ‘mattress’ smelled like it had been there for years and never once been cleaned or re-stuffed, all the while suffering an endless series of sweaty, unwashed bodies, and the moment the ill-hung door was closed she kicked it into a heap in one corner. The floor wasn’t exactly pristine either, but at least it probably wasn’t infested with six-legged parasites. Opening her knapsack, she pulled out the dress she’d been married in and, firmly schooling her mind not to think about anything but the fact that it was her least-useful garment at the moment, used it to brush chips from the flaking plaster walls into another corner, clearing a space where she might, eventually, be able to sleep cleanly, if not comfortably. That done, she sat down in the middle of the clear space, and considered her options for her next step... or tried to. Without anything pressing to occupy her mind, and with her smudged dress still in her hands, the whole situation finally came crashing down on her, and a sob tore its way from her throat before she could stop it. A second threatened, and she fought to keep quiet even as tears burned behind her tight-shut eyes...
\t“Momma?”
\tDanara gasped, blotting her tears on a fold of her dress then jumping up to open the rickety shutters of the room’s small window. Looking out, she saw nothing but another building two feet away, before a small, black-furred hand reached up and gripped the sill. It was all she could do to keep from shouting, a bad idea with the inn’s thin walls, but she certainly whispered as loudly and enthusiastically as she could, “Ela!” She reached out and down, feeling the vixen’s other hand grip hers, and she just couldn’t keep the grin off of her muzzle as she lifted her daughter out of the alley and through the window.
\tEla was teary-eyed but smiling as well as she hugged her mother tight. “I followed you,” she murred even as she clung, “but I didn’t know which window was yours ‘til I heard ya...”
\tThe wolf gave her one more squeeze then let go, “I’m glad they didn’t get you... but what do we do now? We don’t have much, but we have to save Ferrl! Those lies they read off as charges... they’re going to kill him, once a few formalities have been satisfied.” Blinking as she noticed, she touched the short sleeve of the child’s dress where it was cut and a little bloodied, “Hey, you’re hurt...”
\tHer daughter shook her head, “That’s jus’ a scratch; I was wonderin’ why Daddy didn’t use his magic, so I tested my crystals. I think they did somethin’ that ruined all our magic stuff right before they got ‘im.”
\tDanara winced, “Damn... that means they’ve ruined his badge, too, and without that they can claim he’s lying... We have no magic, no money, and no allies but each other... This isn’t the best starting point for a rescue that I could wish for.”
\tThe cub’s lips curled back from her sharp teeth as she surprised her mother with a fierce grin, “We have enough, Momma...” Reaching around behind herself, she pulled her sheathed dagger out of her dress’ matching sash, “We gots this... an’ this is Kathalla!”
\tDanara blinked, “I still have my knives, too... but what do you mean, calling it that?”
\tEla closed her eyes and tilted her head, seeming to listen to something, then nodded, “Here, She says She’ll tell ya, it’ll be faster.” This only fetched another blink from the confused wolf, even as the hilt of the dagger was pressed firmly into her hand...
\t*No, it was not just a child’s affectation that led her to give My name to her blade... for it literally is an extension of My very being.*
\tThe wolf would have dropped the dagger at the first word that so quietly shook her soul, but her hand was no longer under her control, gripping it painfully tight on its own. “H... how?”
\t*How is not important right now,* the Goddess replied. *What matters is what we’re going to do... The situation is more complicated, and in some ways worse, than you realize. You see... I can no longer sense Ferrl. I believe that he remains alive,* and both mortal girls let out the breaths they’d been holding at that, *but there is a barrier of spirit blocking the bond I have to each and every member of My flock, in his case. I could, of course, breach it with hardly more effort than a thought... but not without drawing attention to Myself in ways that would do more harm than good, both for his mission and, eventually, his well-being. No... you two and I must find another way, some more subtle route, something within the capabilities of mortals.*
\tDanara nodded, considering... “Can’t priests intervene in criminal cases like this? Couldn’t we get someone to appeal for amnesty of some degree?”
\t*This town merely has a shrine to pray at, no real temple, and no priests.*
\t“Damn,” Ela grumbled. “It was a good idea, momma, but I thinks we gotta do this with no magic an’ no Gods.”
\tThe bitch nodded, still thinking, then paused... “You said it had to be within the capabilities of mortals,” she addressed the knife, “but... that’s a matter of perspective, isn’t it? In other words, appearances?” No verbal reply was forthcoming, but she could sense the curiosity radiating from the blade, and she grinned, “Well... one thing mortals are particularly good at... is making mistakes, or at least being made to look like they’ve made a mistake.” She held out the dagger, and her hand’s deathgrip eased the moment Ela reached to accept it. “We still need to work out a few of the details, but I think I’ve got the merest bit of a plan... or perhaps ‘sliver’ might be a better word. This is going to take some rather careful acting...”
* * *
\t“Well, brother,” the captain of the militia grinned as he clinked his wineglass against the other skunk’s, “here’s to a job well done... What Karnaal’s bunch couldn’t manage with a dozen fighters and a prepared ambush, we did with a tiny twist of the truth and a literal application of the very laws of the land. They’re going to owe us a lot for this...”
\tThe magistrate frowned, whispering, “Keep that down... The bastard’s in the cell right over there; do you really want him to learn the truth?”
\tHis brother chuckled, shaking his head, “He already knows, actually... Nobody told us he was smart, but when I told him the official situation he shot back with almost the exact truth of what we did and how we did it, justifications and all. He must still have Sliisthar’s own headache, but he put the pieces together within three minutes of waking up. It doesn’t matter... So long as we don’t let him out of this building, there’s nothing he can do, and come morning I’ll personally bring a crossbow to that cell and carry out the sentence you signed.”
\tThe other skunk considered this for a long moment, then shrugged, “You decided to skip making an example of him? I guess it’ll work out, then. I hadn’t believed what I’d heard about Agents, but with what you say, I’m starting to. They’re supposed to be almost impossible to fool, and even harder to kill, so I’m actually not surprised that the direct attack failed, but all the fighting prowess in the world won’t do him any good when his sorry ass is locked up. Still, I’ll be a lot more comfortable once he’s safely dead...”
\tThis fetched a nod in return, but the soldier’s actual reply was cut off as he heard a scuffling outside, both skunks turning to watch as the heavy door swung open.
\t“Look what we found tryin’ to get at the saddlebags we impounded, chief,” the lupine guard sergeant rumbled as he half-dragged a disheveled and belligerent-looking Ela into the cell block.
\tThe captain’s brows rose, “Ah, the one that got away! Any idea what she was after?”
\t“Nah,” the wolf shrugged, “the bags were empty, or they wouldn’t have been out with the horses. Crime doesn’t come to Foxwood often, but we do know how to handle evidence, sir! Whatever she was looking for, we already—ow!” He jerked his arm back as the vixen twisted around enough to bite him, and backhanded her into the wall with a snarl, “You little bitch!”
\tEla lifted herself off the floor enough to glare up at him, growling, “You hurt my daddy!”
\tThe magistrate chuckled, “Not as much as we’re going to hurt him come morning, brat... We may not need you as a witness, with the verdict already settled, but you just assaulted a member of the militia... Sergeant, get that dress off of her to make sure she’s not hiding anything, then throw her into the other cell. I think she’s just earned a front row seat to tomorrow’s execution.”
\t“What sort of monsters are you?!?” came the roar from down the hall. “Killing me on a trumped-up charge in support of slavers is bad enough, but making my daughter watch goes completely beyond the pale!”
\tEla scrambled back to her feet, but didn’t make it two steps before the sergeant had grabbed her up again, pinning both her arms with a grip around her middle and keeping a close eye on her teeth, even as the cub called back, “Daddy!”
\tPushing back his chair, the captain stood and directed, “Hold her, soldier... I think we’ll give this little family one last night together, but I’m taking no chances with the prisoner we’ve already got, so we’re going to make absolutely sure this kid isn’t hiding anything...”
\tThe wolf nodded, firming his grip, and held Ela steady while his officer tore her dress off and ran his hands over every inch of her fur, checking for anything solid... Thumb and forefinger wedged painfully into the corners of her muzzle to keep it open, he ran a fingertip over her gums and under her tongue, ignoring her garbled yells of protest, then used the same moist digit to probe her sex and ass, his ungentle thrusts eliciting a loud yelp apiece. Gesturing for the trooper to follow, then, he called as he padded toward the cell, “So we’re monsters, eh? If it would make any difference, I’d add another charge to those already listed, because the cavity check mandated by law failed to find a hymen. She’s what, six? Seven? She’s obviously adopted, but even so, only a ‘monster’ would rape his daughter at that age! Now, get back against the far wall so we can open the door...” He lifted a loaded heavy crossbow down from its rack behind the desk, and he beckoned his brother over to grab the other, the two of them standing well apart to cover all angles before the sergeant reached for his key.
\tFerrl’s gaze was murderous from where he stood, his back to the stone, and he noted in a voice of icy promise, “For touching my daughter in that fashion, your life is mine. Even if I have to pull the crossbow bolt of my own execution out of my heart and throw it back, you are a dead man.”
\tThe captain blinked at the surge of his own fear, then shook it off, reminding himself just how helpless the prisoner was, and mused, “I’ll give you full credit for this much... You’re certainly the most intimidating criminal we’ve ever had, here! I don’t scare easily, but for a moment there I actually believed you. Throw ‘er in, sergeant.”
\tStill standing against the far wall, the bigger wolf shook his head as the door was unlocked and opened just enough to thrust Ela through, “Believe it or don’t... it will happen.”
\tThe vixen stood and brushed herself off as the door was re-locked behind her, “Aww... can’t I kill ‘im, Daddy? Why do you get to have all the fun?”
\tFerrl chuckled softly, then finally took a step forward as the crossbows were put away, kneeling to pull her into a hug, “I never could say no to you, dear... Yes, you can kill him.”
\t“Those two,” the sergeant noted to his superiors as they all stepped back toward the table down the hall, “are the weirdest family I’ve ever seen.”
\tLeaning close, the wolf whispered into his child’s ear, “What are you doing here? I’m happy to see you, of course... but I was even happier when I knew that you and Danara had both escaped! This building’s... cut off from the world, spiritually; we can’t even pray in here. Oh, and don’t touch my collar; these things are booby-trapped to prevent removal.”
\tEla murred quietly back with a smile, “I’m here ‘cuz Momma had an idea... I found ‘er, an’ I had my knife... which really is Kathy, y’know. That’s why I let ‘em catch me.”
\t“Dear... you’re not making any sense.”
\tGiggling, the vixen squirmed out of his grasp, then dug under the claw of her left index finger with her other hand, pulling out a bloody splinter of black wood. Lifting her father’s hand, she pressed it into his palm, then grinned at his surprised blink.
\t“Darkness!” he breathed. “I can’t see magic anymore... but in this I see darkness!”
\t*Of course you do,* a ‘voice’ he’d hadn’t dared hope to hear again replied at the spiritual equivalent of a whisper. *Now... think carefully. The same barrier that cuts your spirit off from Me will also mute anything I may do within it, but it could not conceal a full manifestation, so I’m limited in power to what I can channel through this sliver that is a tiny piece of Me. In terms of magic, if you had your powers back but restricted to the ‘uylf’ prefix of energy-levels, what would you do?*
\tFerrl blinked, then smiled, “Plenty... Uylf is very nearly midrange, and far better than I was expecting when You were telling me how limited You’d be... I’m assuming that that’s not enough to get this collar off, though, or you’d have mentioned it; after all, what I’d like to do would be to drain the magic from this collar, and transfer it into the documents and badge they ruined, something that a Goddess’ intellect and skill would suffice for while using little actual power.”
\tThere was no reply for a long moment, then the chip of wood spoke again, *I must admit... that I hadn’t thought of that. Overpowering your collar was beyond the limits of this medium, but taking its enchantment’s own energy and moving it elsewhere... is distinctly possible. Now be very careful; I need you to bring this sliver into contact with the leather, without touching it with your skin or even fur; if you can manage that, its defenses won’t react until it’s too late.*
\tNodding, the wolf pressed a finger of his other hand hard against the rough stone floor, rubbing to sand off the tip of a claw until it was flattened, and he carefully balanced the splinter on that surface, leaning over it and gently, steadily lifting it toward his neck...
* * *
\t“Guards!”
\tThe captain blinked as the call from the cell interrupted the terse reports he was taking from the troopers as the day shift as they traded off with the evening squad, and he rose from his desk and pointed at the crossbow rack, “Two of you grab those, then we’ll see what the criminal wants.”
\tFerrl was standing at the door, his arms folded across his chest and Ela peeking out from behind his legs, his bearing showing none of the discomfort or uncertainty that it should for one in his situation. Naked, imprisoned, and apparently powerless, he still looked more like a ruling lord than a captive. “What I want,” he rumbled, “is to witness the verification of my badge and the official documents I carried. Does a town this small even have a Stone of Validation? If you plan to execute me based on the validity of signature enchantments or their lack, you’d better be sure...” His arcane senses had returned, confirming that the collar no longer worked, but he wanted to complete his plan without resorting to magic if he could, as it would have a much more lasting impact on the local authorities.
\t“Out of the question,” the captain answered with a snort. “They’ve already been tested by myself and the magistrate.”
\tThe wolf didn’t bat an eye at the flat denial, “Kingdom law requires a minimum of four witnesses to any verification of official magic, save only for confidential situations, and this isn’t a classified affair. Additionally, any use of such validation in the context of a criminal hearing or sentencing must be done in the presence of the accused; I may have been physically present at the time, but if so I was unconscious, and the Grand Magistrate ruling in the Year of Drachath four hundred and eighty-seven defined ‘presence’ to include ‘conscious and aware.’ By the laws you’re sworn to uphold, I demand this.”
\tThe sergeant of the night watch coughed uncomfortably, “I don’t know things like ruling dates, sir, but the rest of what he said is in our rulebook... I think we’d better do as he says.”
\tRolling his eyes in exasperation, the skunk sighed, “Very well...” and stepped around the desk to unlock a deep drawer with a key from his breeches’ pocket. Withdrawing a large leather envelope, he untied its flap and poured its contents onto the desk, “Here’s the forged documents and ‘badge,’ just a pretty pin really, that he’s talking about. Someone fetch my brother from his office and tell him to bring the rock.”
\t“And the test-seal,” Ferrl added firmly. “All Stones of Validation are kept with a legitimate enchantment to make sure the Stones themselves work, and its verification is also within the rights someone accused of a crime is guaranteed.”
\tThe captain scowled, “Alright already! We’ll jump through these hoops for you, but no more! After you’ve seen for yourself the proof of your crimes, you just be quiet, or else. Dawn executions are a tradition, but not required, and if you raise a second fuss we’ll just shoot you and be done with it.”
\tHis brother looked none too happy about being dragged away from his supper as he carried a piece of parchment and a gray hemispherical rock in on the heels of a day watch private, “What’s this all about, anyway?”
\t“Our prisoner,” the other skunk explained in tones of exaggerated patience, “is demanding his rights, so we have to put on a little show for him.” At another private’s pained cough, he shot the marten a glare, “You got a problem, soldier?”
\tThe mustelid blinked, “Beggin’ the captain’s pardon, of course... but we’re gonna take this man’s life, and that’s nothin’ to be done lightly. Shouldn’t we do it as properly as possible, sir?”
\tThe officer opened his mouth to fire back an angry retort, then shut it with a snap. “Just get it over with,” he grumbled at the others.
\tNodding, the magistrate set his parchment on the desk and held the stone over it... “There we go, a nice green glow, so we see that it works... Someone else please change the items so we know there’s no trickery,” and he lifted the artifact until its glow faded entirely. The sergeant picked up the sheet, handed it to another trooper to hold, then put the Agent’s badge they’d confiscated in its place on the desktop. “Excellent, all good and proper,” the skunk nodded as he lowered the stone once more. “Now, as we see, there is no—what the hell is this?!?”
\tThe green radiance of the stone shining like an accusation, Ferrl supplied, “It is a legitimate enchantment of verification incorporated into the badge of an Agent of Drachath and direct representative of King Burtak IV, whom you’ve seen fit to... irritate, as verified by an artifact with exceptionally stringent measures in place to counter having its judgment faked through external magic.”
\tThe captain grabbed the crossbow out of the slack grasp of the nearest soldier, “This is some sort of trick; there’s no way that pin can be registering as enchanted after being hit with a spellbreaker! Your death warrant has been filed and signed, and I’m going to enforce it right now!”
\t“No,” the Agent growled, “you will not... or have you already forgotten how you molested my daughter under the guise of a ‘search?’” The barely-related topic was surprising enough to make the soldier pause, blinking, and the Agent continued grimly, “You railed at me for her lack of a hymen, when your own finger would have broken it had there been one. Do you really think your men will support a captain who can do something like that, to the point of standing idly by while you murder a helpless prisoner who’d just been proven innocent?”
\tThe point of the heavy steel bolt of the second crossbow, meant to pierce plate armor at a hundred yards, touched the side of the skunk’s head, and the trembling private holding the weapon instructed, “Stand down, sir. Don’t force me to shoot you.”
\tAs the captain was relieved of his weapons, the day sergeant stepped up to unlock the cell door, asking, “What should we do now, sir?”
\t“You should—” the well-dressed militiaman started, only to be cut off.
\t“I was asking him,” the wolf growled, pointing at his former prisoner.
\tFerrl chuckled as he stepped out of the cell, “Give me one moment and I’ll let you know...” He moved first to intercept the magistrate, who’d been edging his way toward the door for several moments, grasping his arm briefly. “Hold him,” he ordered the nearest trooper, then stepped over to touch the captain as well. “That confirms it... I happen to also be a priest, men, and I’ve just found the sort of hidden taint on both of these souls that can only mean that they follow the God of Lies. I’ll have to test the entire troop, of course, but unless I find any more vipers in this patch of grass, the sergeant with the most seniority will be promoted to captain, the private who was willing to take a stand against injustice will be granted the rank of sergeant, and the town of Foxwood can elect a new, hopefully honest magistrate. I’ll need my clothes and everything else that was impounded from me, including the horse I legally requisitioned from the couriers, and the keystone to this collar... Someone will need to go fetch my wife from room three at the Broken Bucket, and a messenger will need to be dispatched to the nearest branch of the Mages’ Guild to arrange a visit by a wizard qualified to counter necromancy, as this entire building is sheathed in a highly-illegal shroud of spirit energy.” The soldiers who’d been nodding at his logical sequence of orders paused, several of them blinking, at that. “Spirit energy is illegal because it’s souls,” he explained. “A large number of people were killed permanently, with no chance of rebirth or a heaven after death, to make it so prayers in this gaol went unheard. I don’t know whether the wizard you get will be able to free those souls to their proper destinations, but someone must at least try! And the shroud itself must be disposed of, because another of its effects is to allow anyone here to swear a false oath in any God’s name without retribution. In the meantime, though, make absolutely certain that these two skunks don’t leave the building, as you’re all now peripherally involved in a skirmish between several Gods, and they’re on the opposite side from that which our king has chosen. Allowing them to pray and warn their generals is not an option.”
\tThe sergeant of the day watch held out his hand, “I’ve been on this force for a year longer than my night-time counterpart, so you’d better test me first if I’m about to take over the whole troop...”
\tThe Agent nodded, reaching out to clasp the offered hand, and smiled, “Gray and Godless, Captain, and congratulations on your promotion. I could wish my companion didn’t have to die to accomplish it, but rooting out this sort of corruption and putting good men in its place is always for the better in the long run, and the long-term good of the kingdom is every Agent’s primary mission. Now... to be all self-centered and greedy for a moment, could someone please let me out of this collar and get me a pair of pants?!?”
\tThe newly-made officer laughed and saluted, “Yes, sir!”
* * *
\tFerrl finished verifying the last of the guards, some of the day shift having relieved their evening counterparts long enough to send them to the station to ‘check in,’ not warning them that they were about to be tested... No more of Sliisthar’s flock were to be found, though one recently-hired private was relieved of his duties as soon as he came into view, and the new captain remarked that discovering that follower of Karnaal on the force did much to explain several thefts that had occurred recently. “I’ll want to search the residences of the former magistrate and captain, as well as that thieving private, before I leave town,” he mused as he padded out of the building’s front office. “It’s almost certain that they were using their official positions to line their pockets in some way, and if I can find their ill-gotten gains, I’ll be splitting them between the town treasury and my mission funds. I’m anticipating a need for a lot of money, which is why I’m carrying that goldsmith’s draft, but I’d rather these criminals supplied it than the king if I can arrange it.”
\tThe captain nodded, “Yes, sir.”
\tGazing up and down the dimly-lit street, the larger wolf mused, “My daughter has forgiven you for hitting her, as it was part of the ruse that got her in to see me, carrying a tiny sliver from a weapon blessed by my Goddess through the spirit-shroud here... That, for the record, is how the items of mine the old captain deliberately erased got their enchantments back. Their plan was very nearly perfect, foiled only by the bravery of a child... That aside, though, neither she nor I has forgiven him for touching her the way he did, so come morning I’m going to keep my promise to let her take his life. I hope that won’t be a problem...”
\tThe soldier shook his head, “Sir... that man took an oath to uphold the law, even at the cost of his own life. The way I see it, dying will be the first time he’s actually kept that promise. He’d always struck me as just a little bit false; nothing overt, but I wasn’t particularly surprised when you exposed his religious leanings. Him and his brother both, you can have ‘em, and the town’ll be better off for it.”
\t“Good man,” the Agent chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. He froze, then, sniffing at the night breeze, and turned around with a broad grin just in time to see a figure two buildings away break away from its militia escort and run toward him. “Danara!” he crowed as he grabbed her up and swung her bodily around.
\tHis wife was laughing and crying at the same time as she held him fiercely, “Oh... it’s so good to see you safe! I guess the splinter idea worked...”
\tFerrl blinked, then kissed his mate firmly on the lips before setting her down with a grin, “That was your idea? Yes, it did, and very well! What I was told of your subterfuge to keep from being imprisoned alongside me was also very good; you, my love, think very well on your feet, and I’m both proud of and grateful to you.”
\tBlushing faintly, Danara held up her left hand to gaze at the gold around her finger, “The hardest part of that story I made up was taking off the ring you made... A week and a half ago, I may not have known you existed, but now the thought of losing you is more than I can bear.”
\tThe former sergeant still standing nearby raised a brow, “Eh, what’s all this then?”
\tFerrl slipped an arm around his bitch to keep her warmly close as he turned around with a grin, “I know how odd this must sound... She barely knows me, but now we’re married; we’re deeply in love, yet she managed to put on a convincing show of hatred on literally no notice... Well, no one ever said an Agent’s life was simple. Is it really all that surprising, when you think about it, that the wife of someone like me is also a bit on the extraordinary side?”
\tThe older wolf shook his head, “Not really... Indeed, now that I’ve thought about it, all I can really do is envy you. With a wife that beautiful and resourceful, you’re a lucky man.”
\t“Don’t get too jealous,” his junior advised with another smile, “as it’s not easy to win this sort of lady. The very first time we met, she slit my throat without even hesitating, and that’s probably what got me interested enough to pursue marriage with her in the first place. If you ever meet someone similar, you might not survive the experience.”
\tDanara giggled wickedly, “Oh, I’m tame enough now... but only because I found a man who can handle me. I’m not sure anyone but an Agent could have ever qualified...”
\tHer husband nodded, giving her another squeeze as he gestured toward the building, “C’mon, dear, let’s go pry Ela out of the armory and go have supper. I really need it, after the way that spellbreaker cost me my lunch.”
* * *
\t“Tell the smith to boil that lump I gave him for at least an hour,” Ferrl instructed the militia captain as he loaded the last of his clothes and supplies into his saddlebags beneath the noon sun. “There are actually two alchemical processes that can be used to make fake platinum, and those coins I found under the magistrate’s bed were produced with the cheaper one, so they’re toxic to handle for too long. Once the poisons have burned off, though, it’ll be perfectly good lead, and I’m sure he can find something to make out of it.”
\tThe uniformed wolf nodded, “And what of the body of your companion? We’re a little light on messengers at the moment, after the others you had us send off, but if she’s got a family to notify we can probably manage something.”
\tThe Agent shrugged, “Cremate her, and don’t worry about the rest... It’d take a lot of explaining, and touch on subjects that are meant to be kept secret even from some Gods, but... to be honest, she was never actually alive. Dispose of the corpse however is most convenient to you, as it’s just meaningless meat. Meanwhile... do you have any idea what the mayor plans to do with his half of the money I found? There was a lot more than even I expected, since I hadn’t even considered the possibility that those skunks were helping to smuggle dream-smoke and happy-dust along this highway...”
\t“I think he’s got an idea or two,” the captain mused, “and I’ll offer a few suggestions if he doesn’t follow the route I’ve been contemplating... It’ll be put to two uses, I think. At the moment, most of Foxwood’s livelihood depends on the commerce of travelers passing through, but I believe we could do better than that. I’m hoping to see a couple of farms set up on the former forest-land first, then there’s the hills to the east where hints of tin ore have been found but never explored. The farms will support the additional population if mining works out, or we can always just sell the excess if it doesn’t.”
\tFerrl nodded, “Good man; you seem to have a clear idea of how to make a town grow and prosper, so you might want to consider running for mayor yourself some day.”
\tThe older wolf shook his head with a grin, “Nah, I’m not that good an administrator... Most of my family is involved in horse breeding, actually, and a good mine needs mules in the shafts and draft horses outside, and even my gifts are sufficient to realize that an extra farm or two would also be needed to support that sort of operation. I’m just looking out for my own in this world, as all men do, and this time it happens to have the potential to benefit others as well.”
\tNodding again, the Agent gathered up Cherrah’s, Red’s, and Arby’s reins and led them out of the stable, the guardsman following along as he walked toward the north gate. “Any word on what Ela finally decided on?” Ferrl asked.
\tThe other wolf shook his head, “No... Neither she nor Private L—that is, Sergeant Lanson would tell me what they worked out after searching the armory... but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. There, you can already see the traitor’s big tail from here, behind the stocks... but why are his feet on that box?”
\tAnother crate had been set out behind the first, smaller one and, as they drew nearer, Ferrl could see his daughter climbing onto it, dragging a long, slender spear along with her. “Oh ho...” he chuckled. “I think... that for his shoving something unwelcome up her ass, she intends to return the favor. With interest.”
\tThe captain winced, “She really is a little bitch, isn’t she? I don’t think I want to watch this... Good luck on your journey and your mission, sir, but I’ll be heading back to the guardhouse now.”
\tA fair-sized crowd had shown up to watch the spectacle, so the wolf paused at its edge, holding the three horses... Danara was there too, as she’d demanded a role of her own in return for the unpleasantness of the previous day, and she started things off by grabbing the disgraced officer’s tail in one hand, one of her daggers in the other, and sawing it off at the base, relishing the screams of its owner. A local sheep herder stood nearby, and he accepted the bundle of fluff that she handed him, the shears in his other hand immediately setting about cutting off all that soft fur to stuff into a bag for her, even as she used her knife to split the seams of the sobbing skunk’s breeches, just beneath the special belt Ferrl’d made for him before letting him out in public. It was, by far, not his best magical work, as he had no experience in manipulating spirit-energy, but he’d managed to siphon off some of what surrounded the gaol to form a crude dome centered on the belt’s agate buckle, preventing its wearer from praying effectively. The man’s brother might, actually, be managing to inform Sliisthar of recent events, in person, but Ferrl didn’t know enough about the afterlife to even guess at how much interest a God would take in a newly-deceased worshiper’s spirit. Just before the stroke of midnight, the magistrate had asked for, and been granted, a knife with which to take his own life; it was only his lesser involvement in the plot that spared him from sharing his brother’s unfolding fate...
\tThe two boxes Ela had requested put her chest, her victim’s hindside, and the head-hole of the stocks all on the same level, and she strained a bit to lift the eight-foot hardwood shaft of her borrowed spear. It’s sharp, leaf-shaped point elicited several yelps, echoed by laughs from the audience, as she probed for her target, a horrified shriek punctuating her finally finding it, and she gave the weapon a shove with a vicious grin. “Let’s see how you likes it!” she growled, firming her grip now that the far end’s weight was taken up by the soldier’s bleeding anus, and she braced her feet firmly on the rough crate that supported her. Between her size and the angles involved, each shove nearly tipped her box over as it sank the weapon another couple of inches deeper, and after the first foot she had to start pausing to catch her breath every other thrust. The skunk was screaming continuously as he was slowly impaled, even as the vixen thrust once more, a mark she’d drawn on the shaft finally reaching his bloody ass, and she stopped, letting go and climbing down. “That’s all, folks,” she growled happily. “Th’blade’s jus’ an inch ‘r so short of ‘is heart, an’ that’s enough fer me!”
\tA guardsman was shaking his head as he stepped into the booth to one side of the gate and retrieved a crossbow. “Sorry, kid,” he commented, “but as much as he deserved it, we don’t go for torture in this town. He’s suffered enough.”
\tThe barely-conscious convict’s eyes fluttered open as he felt the point of the bolt touch his forehead, and he managed an agony-wracked, “Th-thank you...” before his former subordinate nodded grimly and squeezed the trigger.
\tEla pouted a bit, but sighed and nodded as she and Danara rejoined their wolf.
\t“Mount up, ladies, and let’s get going... We’ve lost exactly one day, so let’s not waste any more of this one.” He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath at the way the crowd cleared their path to the gate. They’d heard of how the wolf had brought down the corrupt officials, but it was his women they were afraid of after that gruesome little show. As the murmurs of that audience faded behind them, he glanced over and asked his wife, “What are your plans for that guy’s fur?”
\tDanara chuckled wickedly, “Oh, nothing too elaborate... That tail of his was just so big and plush, I thought I’d use it as stuffing for a nice, soft pillow.” Frowning slightly, then, she gestured at Red’s empty saddle and asked, “What happened to Malia? She’s a Goddess, of course, so nothing is likely to inconvenience Her for long... but I thought Her mortal incarnation was supposed to be with us for the whole trip.”
\tSighing, Ferrl shook his head, “I’m not entirely sure... but several details have suggested that the Gods on the other side are getting very watchful. My guess is that She couldn’t exercise the power necessary to make another body without drawing more attention than She wanted. I’m half-afraid to even pray to Kathalla to ask about the subject, if things are that bad...”
\tEla piped up from her seat in front of her mother, “Kathy says you’re right t’be that discreet... but she can still talk to me through my knife without anyone noticin’. Malia’s got another body, she says, but She had t’make it a long way away, an’ it’ll join us as soon as it can ride th’distance on normal horses.”
\tNodding, the Agent considered for a moment, then noted, “In case either of you are curious, our half of the money I found while searching those homes this morning added up to about fifty gold nobles... and ten platinum, not counting the fake coins I gave to the smith to destroy.” Two pairs of eyes widened at the total, and he grinned, “When we reach the seat of Rajai, don’t either of you worry about the price of anything we shop for! We’ve got four or five pounds of gold in disposable assets, and that draft if we need more.”
Chapter 14
\tBlinking awake at the twitter of birdsong, Ferrl took a long moment to indulge in a full-body stretch, then took his bearings. The novelty of almost never waking up in the same bed two days in a row was starting to wear on him, and he was looking forward to a chance to return home at a more leisurely pace once his mission was complete... and, more than returning for its own sake, sharing that home with his bride, he admitted to himself as he leaned close to lap at a nipple peeking out from beneath the sheet that covered her slumbering form. Her left ear twitched at the touch, and she murmured something in her sleep. Restraining a grin enough that he could still use the rest of his muzzle, he gently took that nubbin between two teeth and squeezed, lapping at its textured flesh in slow, patient strokes...
\t“Mmmf?” Blinking sleep away herself, Danara’s eyes flicked wildly around for a moment before meeting his gaze, and she smiled, “Well, good morning you big lecher... Ravishing all the maidens of the village by the morning light, are we?”
\tFerrl let go of her nipple to plant one last, firmer stroke of his tongue against her soft breast, then shook his head, “Nay, lass, just the one, and no maiden she... I’ve heard the ballad you’re quoting, and if the two of us even remotely resemble that couple, then the bards left a whole lot out of the story!” The song in question was among the more risqué that were still considered fit for ‘polite’ society, its hints and innuendo a far cry from their lovemaking the night before, where three of Ela’s slim fingers had been up her ass while he’d licked her to several peaks. He brushed the sheet down her chest to give her other breast a friendly squeeze on the way to reaching across her and shaking the young vixen’s shoulder, “Wake up, dear; it’s time for our last long ride before the city of Rajai, and we’ve got a special treat for breakfast, too!”
\t“Mmmf,” the cub unintentionally echoed her mother as she opened her eyes and smacked her lips. Still blinking, she asked, “Who’re we eatin’?”
\tThe wolf just shook his head as he sat up on his side of the bed and reached for the knapsack with his clothes for the day, “Nothing like that this time, sorry... but it’s the right time of summer for blackberries to be ripe, so I bribed the cook to have some tarts and cream ready for us this morning.”
\tAs perverse as some of her other habits may have been, Ela was still just another little girl where sweets were concerned, and he had to catch the tip of her tail to keep her from dashing out naked to see if the treats were ready yet. They were all a bit berry-stained by the time they got back on the road, that morning.
\tOver the last four and a half days, as they’d traveled, Ferrl had been filling the empty hours between towns and cities with tales of his life and education, combining passing along some of the benefits of his lessons from highly-paid tutors with a better understanding of his role and duties as an Agent, in the hopes that if Danara ever again found herself on her own like she had after his arrest she’d have a firmer foundation from which to improvise. She’d done very well that time, and he made sure she knew it, but he knew himself that she was in a very similar position to the one he’d been in upon first arriving in Drachath, thrust into a life which very little of her previous experience could prepare her to competently deal with.
\tAs they paused by a fast-running stream for a lunch of biscuits with baked-in mutton and cold blackberry tarts, the younger wolf asked, “I’m starting to understand just what your job entails, as much as anyone can as even you don’t know until you get your actual orders... but I can’t figure out why you, an Agent, are doing this. Or even what you’re supposed to do. What do stolen unicorns have to do with the kingdom as a whole?”
\t“Very little, on the surface,” Ferrl replied, “and I spent some time meditating on my purpose and duties myself, toward the beginning of this journey... There are two basic factors here, and I’ll cover the more ephemeral first as it’s simpler. Of the three dark deities in the pantheon, Kathalla’s the only one who makes any effort at all to get along with Her light-side counterparts, and if She succeeds in helping Malia in a significant way, there may be something along the lines of owed favors that will benefit all of Her worshipers, and since this kingdom’s the only one whose rulers openly worship a dark power, that may be significant. We don’t go out of our way to advertise Burtak’s leanings, but I’m certain they’re no secret to the rulers of other nations.
\t“Related to that, we have the second reason, and that’s just a basic matter of military security. We’ve had more border skirmishes and small wars than most nations, most often because of our crown’s service to Kathalla. Our bordering towns and cities have to maintain fairly significant fighting forces for that reason, and even here toward the inner kingdom we have more soldiers than you’d find in other nations. Foxwood, for example, wouldn’t maintain a standing militia at its size in any other country; they’d have two or three constables, perhaps, but if they needed more than that they’d have to send word to the nearest army garrison. Unicorn Vale, however, is one border, small as it may be, where we’ve never had to worry about invasion, and not having to defend it has saved a lot of money and manpower over the years. If events have even a slight chance of changing that, we have to know about it as soon as possible, to make sure adequate defenses are in place before they’re actually needed.” He mock-panted for a moment after that speech, just to lighten things with a few giggles from the ladies, before renewing his assault on his lunch.
\t“I suppose the gist of why I’m here,” he mused after washing down another bite of biscuit with clean water from the stream, “is to assess the situation. Something has changed; it doesn’t really matter what, but, whatever it is, it needs to be examined so we, and by ‘we’ I mean the king and his government as a whole, can adjust policies, borders, military dispositions, or anything else in response, if needed.”
\tDanara spared a longing glance at the tart she’d set aside for dessert, but took a bite of her biscuit instead, figuring that as a married woman, now, she should try to show some semblance of adult self-control. “That doesn’t match up much with Malia’s reasons for this mission,” she noted after swallowing. “You’re also trying to stop the continuing theft of the Vale’s residents, and I can’t think of anything that has to do with the kingdom’s security.”
\tHer husband shrugged, smiling, “You’re right, and it doesn’t, beyond the possible benefits of my and the king’s Goddess having better relations with Malia in return for helping... The kingdom’s security is, and always will be, my primary goal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do other things along the way, just because they’re good and right. There is a reason there that’s directly related to the kingdom and its laws, though it’s technically more under the jurisdiction of constables and magistrates than that of an Agent: slavers who capture and enslave free individuals have no place in this country. The vast majority of slaves are born and bred that way, and the circumstances under which anyone else can be enslaved are clearly defined under the law, but raiding across a border into a land not covered by those laws is no way to get around the existing rules. Still and all, no matter how officially accurate what I just said was, I want to stop this just because I feel it’s the right thing to do. I’ve never met a unicorn, but I’ve heard a few legends, and I dislike the concept of those tales being... fouled, by the reality of a helpless victim’s subjugation.”
\t“In other words,” the bitch concluded with a toothy grin, “you’re just a big softy at heart.”
\tFerrl snickered, “At heart, maybe... but, as you know, I can be quite a bit firmer, lower down,” and he winked.
\tDanara reached over to hug an arm around Ela’s shoulders, a hint of blush showing at her eartips as she grinned, “For which, I assure you, we’re both profoundly appreciative.”
* * *
\tThe Agent made a mental comparison between the sight of Rajai and that of Fariach, from the perspective of nearby hills he’d seen the whole of both cities from, and decided that only the sea-side docks and warehouses made the capitol bigger. In terms of land-based population and commerce, this seat of a duchy that bordered two other kingdoms (three, if one counted the Vale), and also had easy access to the Inland Sea for transporting goods by ship, was just a bit larger than the city that was supposed to lead the nation. From that same hill, he’d gotten a good look at the center of town, and the palace and temples there looked to be at least as large and ornate as Fariach could boast... Having grown accustomed to the variety of shopping and entertainment available back home, and particularly after this long journey, he was very much looking forward to whatever time he could justify spending here.
\tThey’d made good enough speed, that day, that neither supper nor gate-closure were particularly pressing of issues, so Ferrl decided to make his way around the outer walls and the clusters of crude houses and outlying businesses that surrounded the town, stabling the horses not far from the north gate and carrying everything except his greatswords into the city proper on foot. “I think we’re going to be here a few days,” he explained to his wife and daughter as they navigated the bustling crowds of a main thoroughfare, “and possibly moving around a bit... Stables by inns tend to only have enough room for their own customers’ beasts, and neither space nor staff to exercise those horses; I kept Cherrah at a similar business just outside of Fariach, as it’s generally the best for anything but overnight stops.”
\tDanara quirked a brow, “And why are we sticking around for any length of time?”
\tHer husband chuckled, “To investigate, of course. What time we’re not shopping will mostly be spent listening in various inns and taverns... and, toward that end, we’ll take supper at one of our usual, mid-range places, then spend the night at another after a few drinks in their common room. Tomorrow, we’ll shop, and then move into a fancier inn... If there’s any rumor to be had concerning... the missing people we’re looking for, whom I just realized we probably shouldn’t blatantly ask about, it’s likely to be among the wealthier end of the populace and the establishments which cater to them, but I don’t want to completely ignore the humbler folk and their gathering-places either.”
\tThe bitch nodded, mindful of her head and the vixen straddling it to keep from being trod upon on the busy street, “Alright, though I’ll warn you I have no head for strong drink. Two glasses of wine and I can barely walk.”
\t“Not a problem,” Ferrl shrugged. “I can put a serious dent in a barrel and stay standing if I need to, so you just sip whatever you’re having, and occasionally I’ll switch my glass or tankard with yours. That’s a trick normally used for business negotiations, to get the other guy drunk while keeping your own wits clear, but it’ll work here too.”
\tDanara laughed, “Sneaky...” while their daughter giggled above her.
\tThe Agent grinned, “I do occasionally try... Oh, while I’m thinking about it, keep an eye out for storage shops. Moving around so much, and with plans to shop for more stuff anyway, we should stash most of our clothes, my armor, and... no, let’s not store the food. We’ll keep it for now, and give it to a temple to pass along to the poor tomorrow; we’ll get better-quality rations before we leave, on the principle of making sure all details of our roles and disguises match.”
* * *
\tFerrl had been looking forward to lighter crowds, given the temples’ proximity to the ducal palace and the upper-class neighborhoods immediately adjacent to it, but the time he’d been spending on the road lately had left him a bit out of touch from the cycles of cities... It was a restday, and the religious center of a city this size was packed. It was with fairly great relief, as he navigated the throng around the temple of Shattrathin, that he noticed a useful side-effect of its sheer size: though worshipers and the like all used the main entrance, there was another on one side specifically for receiving donations of various sorts. He looked around for another moment to spot Danara and Ela, as they’d gotten separated a bit, and pointed at the relatively-unpopulated dark temples. He thumbed his own chest then, holding up the bag he carried, and pointed again at the donation line... His wife nodded, seeming to understand, and she carried Ela out of the tumult to wait for him.
\tThe line of those more interested in expressing their generosity than hearing sermons about it moved along at a fairly brisk pace; there were two groups of priests and temple functionaries, one accepting the offerings and the other, apparently, present for the specific purpose of talking to anyone who wished to discuss their gifts or some other matter, letting those who wanted only to drop something off and be done with it leave freely. Ferrl’s only previous experience with those affiliated with the God of Generosity had been his lessons at the Yelane branch of their temples as a cub, and he’d thanked them for their tutoring then, so he decided there wasn’t any reason to stick around this time. “Travel rations my companions and I no longer require,” he told the lady acolyte who greeted him at the end of the line, “still reasonably fresh, to feed whoever needs them.”
\tThe white-robed canid blinked with a faint frown as she accepted the bag, “We don’t often get gifts from those with a soul like yours... but we thank you anyway.”
\t“I can understand that,” the Agent chuckled, “but what I do for fun or worship doesn’t mean I’m not basically a nice guy. Good restday to you, ma’am.” He turned to start working his way across the street through the crowd, which was finally thinning somewhat as the time for services drew near, and chuckled to himself; if the way that girl had held the bag as she carried it inside were any indication, she’d probably be checking the contents for poisons out of sheer nervousness.
\tDanara moved a bit to intercept him where the traffic finally let him through, that point and his initial target having diverged somewhat over the width of the broad avenue, and spoke as he neared, “Ela was asking if we could attend services, since we’re right in front of your Goddess’ temple anyway... and that got me thinking about how many other people are doing that sort of thing right now. If we tried shopping instead, some of the stores we want would be closed until their owners get back from church, so we might as well.”
\tHer mate nodded, “That sounds logical enough... Let’s go inside.” The bustling noise of the thinning, but still-significant crowds vanished with unnatural suddenness as the threesome stepped under the polished fangs of Kathalla’s front door, and he blinked, murmuring, “This may be more than just a sermon, if they’ve taken steps to muffle screams... Come on, let’s find the chapel; this could be fun...”
* * *
\t“... and this, too, is power, coming as it may from within and invisible to all but yourself, for, once again, the reality of power is not dependent on the perceptions of others if your own wisdom can recognize its truth. Follow the path of the Fanged One faithfully, and all that She promises is yours, yet worry not of unbelievers who call those things hollow, for they know Her not. Praise Her.”
\t“Praise Her,” the small congregation echoed in unison, and as the priest’s bowed head rose again, the local Kathallics stood, stretched, and started filing out of the dimly-lit sanctuary. Ferrl rose as well, offering a hand each to his wife and daughter with a smile, only to be interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.
\t“I’ll need a word with you before you leave,” the black-robed lion noted. The corners of his muzzle twitched in amusement, “I very nearly stumbled over the part of my sermon about the difference between shallow politics and a genuine cause, because She chose that moment to amend the rather simple plans I had for this restday before you three showed up.”
\tDanara frowned slightly as she stood, releasing her mate’s hand to instead take Ela’s small paw in her own, and noted, “I hope it’s not about me... I know I technically don’t follow Her, but She told me Herself that that wouldn’t be a problem.”
\tThe priest shook his head, smiling, “And She told me that you’d probably say something like that... No, you’re welcome enough here, as I know you’ll be among our brethren eventually, while even the true Godless are welcome on any day but a Solstice or Equinox celebratory sacrifice, and the summer holiday was just last week so it’d be a while before that could possibly be an issue.” More seriously, and to her husband, he said, “I was mainly asked to relay two messages... The first one is this: get your necessary work done quickly, and forget about the short vacation you were planning here.”
\tFerrl snapped the fingers of the hand he hadn’t laid comfortingly on his bitch’s shoulder, “Damn... I like big cities like this one, and I’d been looking forward to spending time here... but if that’s not an option, well, that’s just the way things go. Judging by how many folks were just here, this city’s probably got a decent playclub, and I’d hoped to have a spare night for some fun there... We’ll live. Duty before pleasure, and all that... What was the other one?”
\tThe lion frowned a bit, “She says that, right after this service, you need to visit the black cat’s house... I have no idea what She means, by that, though She assures me you will.”
\t“Ah... yes, I do,” his guest nodded. “The fact that She phrased it that way, though, implies that the mystery is meant to remain, so I’m afraid I can’t explain it to you.”
\tHis black cowl shifting with the bulk of his mane as he shook his head, the lion sighed, “I never thought the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’ was meant to apply to my noble breed... but I’m starting to understand it a bit better now. I guess I can live with this little mystery if I have to.”
\tFerrl chuckled, patting the clergyman on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it... Just go about your duties, which you do very well, and consider that a life well lived. This is the first time I’ve attended one of our Goddess’ official services, I should note, and I had no idea what to expect... but your sermon was both entertaining and thought-provoking. I hadn’t realized that there were so many kinds of power, nor that those that are normally considered blatant could still be exercised subtly, and I’ll do my best to take your advice to heart should I see a situation in which it can apply. I definitely agree with your theme that confidence in one’s power means more than its visible display.”
\tThe priest smiled back, “I’m disappointed, now, that you’ll have to leave so soon... Any devout Kathallic can, as I’m sure you know, see the basic light or darkness on another’s soul, but a high priest such as myself can also perceive additional depths, and I can see that you have a great deal of many of the forms of power of which I spoke. I’d very much like, should the opportunity arise, to discuss the topic of my sermon with you in more detail.”
\tThe wolf nodded, “Well then... one of the things I’m pretty sure I can tell you is that the mission Kathalla’s urging me to expedite is very near its end, with any luck, and I shouldn’t be nearly so rushed once it’s over, so I’d be happy to come and discuss the practical philosophy of the many definitions of ‘power’ with you on my way back.”
\tThe other man’s eyes gleamed in intellectual anticipation, and he nodded back, “Go with Her, and may your duties be discharged well and swiftly; I look forward to your return.” Half-grinning then, he added, “If you’ll excuse me for now, though, I’ve got a mouse tied up in my chambers whom I need to introduce to his afterlife as messily as I can.”
\tEchoed by giggles from both of his ladies, the Agent chuckled, nodding, “Have fun!” before turning and leading them through the curtained archway that led back to the street.
\t“We’re goin’ to Malia’s place, right?” Ela asked as she followed the wolves along the cobblestones. The various religions represented along the boulevard each had different average lengths for their services, so the traffic was much lighter as their congregations departed piecemeal rather than en masse.
\tFerrl nodded, “That’s what Kathy’s message was about, yes; I certainly can’t think of any other black cats we’ve had anything to do with.”
\tOne of the two figures on the marble steps of Malia’s temple, where the trickle of people on their way out suggested that services had ended already and only the stragglers with business there remained, was indeed a black feline, but clearly not the Goddess or Her mortal incarnation as he and his companion gazed up and down the street. The man in the leather-reinforced priest’s robe that could probably double as light armor was clearly, as they neared enough to make out more detail, a panther rather than the domestic cat most depictions of his Goddess entailed, and just as obviously waiting for someone. His ears perked up as he spotted them, and he murmured something to the rabbit at his side, both of them padding down the steps to better greet the trio.
\t“Well met,” the priest began, his tone a bit amused. “I can see now why I was told to look for the largest blackness I’d ever seen... You are a big one, aren’t you?”
\tFerrl’s muzzle twitched as he bowed, “I believe I’ve been told something of the sort, yes... You’re obviously here to meet me, and just as obviously the one I was sent to meet, but the message of my own Goddess that brought me here was a bit light on details. Was yours, as I’m hoping, any more forthcoming?”
\tThe panther shook his head, “Not very... This is, I should note, very typical of the way the Gods guide us; They want neither slaves nor automatons, but if something’s important enough that They have a distinct interest in its outcome, They know exactly when, where, and how to give the single ‘nudge’ that will usually result in the outcome They seek, if we mortals can figure out what to do with it and then do our resulting duty right.” He lifted a hand to squeeze the shoulder of his companion, “Anyway... allow me to introduce the newest member of your traveling group. This is Dame Julara, a Maliite knight, the champion of this temple’s warriors, and a senior priestess of Malia.”
\tThe fawn-and-white bunny blinked, turning to her superior with a surprised expression, “Priestess? But I’m—”
\t“Receiving a promotion,” the cat finished for her with a grin. He fished a slender gold chain from a pocket of his robe, sporting for a pendant the face of Malia carved in loving detail from silver, and lifted her hand to drop it in, both of his closing around it, “You’d have finished your novitiate within another two or three weeks anyway... but if you carry out this service as our lady requests, you will more than earn your new status. Before you argue about the rank of acolyte that stands between novices and priests, remember that you’re also the champion. Exceptions to the usual rules can always be made in cases of unusual talent, and you have exactly that.”
\tJulara nodded solemnly, “I don’t know anything about ‘talent,’ but I do know about practice and hard work... and upon those I claim my status. Now,” and she jerked a thumb at the knapsack on her back, “what’s the story behind this journey you had me pack for with no warning?”
\tSmiling faintly at her phrasing, her superior replied, “The story is that you, no priestess or even novice but just another follower of our lady, have been independently hired as a mercenary bodyguard for this wealthy collector of the exotic, on his way north to attempt the purchase of a very special slave.”
\tThe rabbit blinked, her muzzle working around a slight frown as she thought her way through that, then shrugged, “There’d better be a lot more to it than that... but, for public consumption, I think I can act well enough to pass in that role.”
\tNodding, the priest released her hand and gestured toward the travelers, “There is more, but a public street is not the place to be discussing it. Join this fine family, and I’m sure they’ll explain everything you need to know when it’s safe and prudent to do so.”
\tFerrl looked the rabbit over, considering... She was tall for a woman and, without a doubt, the strongest-looking bunny he’d ever seen, though the rounded bulk of hard muscle shifting beneath her skin also managed to look graceful and feminine. She also, somehow, had attained that strength while still keeping a fairly respectable bosom, the thick but flexible leather of her armor doing little to hide a very attractive set of curves. Even without the setting in which they’d met, he’d have dubbed her a follower of Malia at a glance as her weaponry was so diverse; a light battle-axe’s haft was cradled by loops affixed to her armor across her back, a longsword at her left hip was balanced by three daggers on the right, and a fan-shaped array of throwing knives was sheathed against her belly. A common fighter with no religious attachment to any particular philosophy, or a follower of Tarragh, would have focused on a less varied armament so they could master the specific weapon they’d chosen, while a true Maliite put less emphasis on the weapons themselves and more on their own body, developing the agility, coordination, and discipline to use whatever was available to good effect. All of her arms appeared to be well-made, though not particularly fancy.
\t“Acting aside,” he noted as he finished his evaluating glance, “we were just about to go shopping for finery, and we’ll get one or two things for you while we’re at it. You look competent, as you are,” and he quirked half a grin at her raised brow, “but we also need you to look just a tad prosperous. A mercenary knight who can afford even a little decoration, a bauble or two with utterly no useful contribution to combat, is obviously doing fairly well... and they wouldn’t be, if they didn’t have skills the wise should be wary of. While it won’t mean much to those who don’t think things through, or are specifically after us regardless, a bit of jewelry or the like can actually prevent fights in some cases.”
\tThe rabbit gave a grudging nod, “As much as I enjoy testing my prowess against others... a fight avoided with honor is at least as important as a battle won. Your proposal is acceptable.”
\tAs the priest gave the group one more nod and started padding back up the marble steps, Ferrl gestured expansively along the street leading to the upper-class commercial district of the city, “Then let’s be on our way... Though avoiding real fights may be one of the motivations for our preparations, I’ll happily spar with you when we can do so discreetly to keep you from getting bored in your role, as it would ruin my image as a wealthy but basically useless fop if you’re as good as I think you are and we were observed. If you enjoy a challenge, though, we really should find some place to try it; you may just be surprised...”
\tJulara took a moment before following along, blinking, “Am I correct in interpreting that to mean that you’re skilled enough, yourself, to stand a chance of beating the champion of a large branch of a martial order?”
\t“I must answer your question, I’m afraid, with one of my own... How good are you at controlling the visible signs of surprise, with sufficient advance warning? For the sake of avoiding unwanted attention, if you can’t keep your expression calm, just say so and we’ll go find a private room to explain things in...”
\tThe rabbit’s features stiffened, “My face says only what I tell it to...” and she softened enough to smile faintly, “but, I’ll admit, only if I have a chance to issue the orders beforehand. Please, tell me just what the hell’s going on.”
\tFerrl nodded, “One moment, first...” and his brow furled in concentration as he walked. A haze hanging in the air around his party, then, he continued, “There, that’s a spell to avoid passers-by overhearing us. To outline the basic situation, I am an Agent of Drachath, operating under orders from King Burtak, Kathalla, and Malia. My former sparring partners include the captain of the palace guard, a high priest of Tarragh,” and he slipped an arm around Danara’s shoulders, “which happens to be how I won my wife’s hand, as he was her father, and Malia Herself in mortal form. The captain had decades of practice, the priest was stronger than I am, and Malia of course a good deal faster... but in all of those contests, I was the victor, so if I seem excessively confident about being able to give you a good fight, it’s justified. Our mission, and the reason for the disguises we’re in the process of creating, is to investigate just how Malia’s spiritual border around Unicorn Vale has been breached, as not even She knows, but someone has been kidnapping Her chosen favorites. We only know where one of the missing unicorns is, nine having been kidnapped at last count, and that’s the ‘special slave’ I’m going to be trying to buy once we reach Chraf. Involvement of the God of Thieves has been confirmed several times, and His followers are also getting assistance from the God of Lies, plus the complication that one or both of those deities is watching very closely for divine interference... so your Goddess and mine have both been getting steadily more careful about things, and at this point we mortals are very much on our own. A message to Her high priest in a large city was within normal bounds for Malia, which is how the orders that got you promoted and assigned to this mission were relayed, I’m assuming, but from here to Chraf we’ll probably have to work without overt guidance, though in a pinch Kathalla has a means of communicating with my daughter here that probably won’t alert whatever spiritual sentries may be watching. We can’t be absolutely certain about that, though, so we must proceed on our own as far as possible before resorting to divine aid or even advice.”
\tThe bunny’s face was downright wooden by the time he’d finished, and she nodded stiffly, “That’s... certainly all news to me, but I’ll tell you here and now that you’ve got my unconditional support and cooperation. Even if a dark Goddess is involved... anything that can be done to help the unicorns is nothing less than my sworn duty.”
\tDanara noted at that point, a wicked little smile playing about her muzzle, “I hope you can still say that after spending a few nights in our company... We’re... not your typical family, in some respects, and by the look on her face my daughter here is already speculating as to what you do or don’t wear under that armor.”
\t“Nothing,” the champion immediately replied with a smirk of her own, “but that general concept happens to be at the core of why I joined Malia’s priesthood and worked so hard on my fighting skills.” Any trace of amusement slid off her expression the next moment, “When I was twelve, I had... an unpleasant experience, and I swore that day that never again would I be taken without my willing consent... I have never broken that oath, though more than one man has died in its keeping.”
\tAll three of her companions nodded, Ferrl commenting, “I want you to know that I respect and admire that sort of determination. Ela? I know she looks tasty, but I expect you to honor her wishes on this whole subject; if you want to do anything, ask first.” Glancing at his newest companion, he smiled gently, “To expand on my wife’s warning, I think she just wanted you to know that traveling with us may, occasionally, cost you a bit of sleep, as we’re a very... affectionate trio, and it can get a little loud sometimes. Our daughter, I should note, was adopted after being bought as a pleasure slave then freed, so don’t be too surprised at her participation. Young or not, she’s... a vixen, and that pretty much sums it up all around.”
\tJulara chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind. I may not generally like the reputation her kind and mine share, as it was probably involved in my being raped that one time, but I understand that it does have some basis in fact.” Her long ears dipped, then, a bit red at the tips, “To be equally honest, I’m not that far from being a stereotypical bunny, myself... so long as I get to choose who I be that way with. After going through what I did, some women either abandon the concept entirely or come to think that that’s all they’re good for, but I, personally, refuse to let one brutish pig of a rapist ruin my entire life.”
\tMore nods and smiles answered her, and Ela piped up, “Good fer you!”
* * *
\tSomehow, after several hours of browsing shop windows and a break for lunch at an open-air restaurant whose prices for one meal would have fed them for at least a week on simpler fare, they’d ended up buying absolutely nothing... then staggered into an inn just as the sun set under the burden of bags and bundles of clothes and accessories anyway. Just outside of the poshest neighborhoods, they’d found the city’s highest-quality second-hand shop, one that would actually pay for good things in still-usable condition (though only a fraction of their value, of course) rather than scavenging outright discards. Several nobles had ended up being spent there, and nearly as many found their way into the hands of a good tailor and his three assistants, two of whom had to be paid extra to come in during their day off.
\tThe bulk of the custom work had, of course, been to adjust various doublets, blouses, and tunics to accommodate Ferrl’s broad chest and above-average height. Pants, hose, and breeches couldn’t be lengthened as conveniently, of course, so his new wardrobe was limited in that department to things they’d found that already fit, but even there a few things that had been meant for tall but portly builds had been adaptable to tall and muscular instead. The second-hand store’s jewelry section, of course, was looking a little light by the time they were done with it, and the Agent was confident he’d be able to put on a gaudy, sparkling display so long as no one got close enough to see that he wore far more garnets than rubies and most of his gold was plated rather than solid. He wasn’t worried about being ‘found out’ for having cheap accessories, though; his very status as a traveler, even with a good guard, gave him the excuse that he’d left the bulk of his better things behind since the chances of being robbed were so much higher outside of the security of his own home.
\tDanara had used most of her shopping time trying, and failing, to find elegant, feminine clothing that she could ride astride a horse in, and they finally decided as a group to pick up a sidesaddle on the way out of town the next morning, so the flowing green satin gown that complimented her slim figure so well, enhanced in turn by the necklaces and bracelets of pearls and pierced agates, could still be traveled in.
\tThe jewelry Julara had been promised was chosen, once she’d volunteered the idea, to make her look more than merely ‘prosperous.’ Though the selection left once Ferrl had been through it made things a little challenging, they were able to find enough bracelets, bangles, and chains with distinctly masculine casts to them to deck her out as one of the few, and socially unacceptable, women who exclusively preferred the company of their own gender. Though the sexes were more equal in Drachath than under many other kingdoms’ laws, it was still a male-dominated society at its heart, and while there were few legislative blocks in place against lesbianism, that didn’t mean society had to like it. Someone looking like she did once they were done shopping would have trouble finding a job or even a room at an inn in particularly conservative towns, but that very prejudice had been integrated usefully into their overall disguise; not only were openly anti-male ladies rare enough to be ‘exotic,’ and thus attractive to her employer’s supposed persona, but natural gratitude for her position would give her an excuse to be very protective, even intrusively so, if needed.
\tOf all the party, though, little Ela underwent the greatest transformation in terms of contrast with her general appearance over the bulk of their journey. The solid-gold monogram from her old slave collar had been freed and set into a torque of pure silver, three wide bands weaving amongst each other in a sinuous braid, and for all of its coverage the rest of her outfit could fit into a more average, practical pocket. A square yard of translucent, gauzy lavender silk had been obtained, cut into squares and rectangles, and hemmed with satin thread of a darker purple, the sections joined at their corners by tiny gold clasps, resulting in a loose, billowing ensemble with plenty of gaps and no modesty to speak of, as her young charms could be seen right through the light, thin material. A belt of gold-plated discs stamped with bas relief vines and a pair of thin leather sandals completed the ensemble, and she looked every inch the exotic, expensive child pleasure-slave.
Chapter 15
\tTheir new finery packed into equally-fancy new saddlebags, the Agent and his companions rode with the setting sun to their left as, far behind them, the boom of Rajai’s closing gates rolled past to echo off of hills to either side. “I know we’re all tired,” Ferrl told the rest, “but these next few days aren’t going to be any easier. We’ll proceed until full dark, then break east cross-country for at least an hour, and the start of that will have to be by moonlight until we’re far enough from the highway to keep from being seen. I’ll conjure a light at that point, but I’m convinced at this moment that we need to throw whatever observers the other side has off of our trail. Over the course of the fairly slow detour needed to approach Chraf from the east, I’ll have a chance to work on a magical disguise for myself, create or just restore the armor-enchantments for my ladies, and give all of our ‘travel finery’ a chance to actually look like it’s been traveled in.”
\tDame Julara nodded, “Between the light and the armor, you’re obviously a wizard of some degree... Do the enemies you’re trying to deceive know this?”
\tThe larger knight nodded back, “I believe they do, which is one reason I want to be out of sight for even so simple an energy-projection as a light for our path. I intend, however, to be fairly conspicuous about finding a freelance wizard and paying them to recharge whatever enchantments I make along the way. If my false persona were even a marginally-gifted mage, it would be far more economical to do that himself, and passive arcane senses cannot be conveniently detected by another; so as long as I don’t do anything more active, mere ownership of magic shouldn’t directly associate me with the wizard they’re circulating reports of, who was strong enough to fly a horse across a river.”
\tBoth lapine brows rose at that, “I’ve received my share of instruction on how to fight mages, which naturally covered the various types and degrees of talent I might encounter, and even so terse a description as you just gave puts you in a category that I wouldn’t want to mess with without a lot of backup.”
\tChuckling softly, Ferrl mused, “I won’t be using magic for anything but light, later tonight, when we find somewhere to set up camp and spar... which reminds me. Ela? You don’t need to guide a horse in the dark, so see if you can get at your mother’s left saddlebag... There’s a pouch of honeycakes in there; some of us will really need the energy, and the rest of us could always use a treat, so pass them around.”
\tJulara grinned at the young vixen’s sudden industry, her body draped over Danara’s tightly-clasped legs as she worked at the bag’s buckle, all but drooling. Only the wolf’s hand at her shoulder, in fact, kept her from falling off, the side-saddle’s design somewhat less than optimal for that sort of contortion.
\tThe Agent kept his eyes on the road, barely lit now by the last sliver of setting sun, and maintained his casual tone as he added, “And Julara... in your left saddlebag is something I’ve been meaning to give you...”
\tBlinking, his newest companion opened Red’s bag and reached in, feeling around past folded clothes and small pouches, guessing that whatever he was talking about was something more significant... Her ears perked up as her fingers reported a long bundle, cloth wrapped around something much harder, and she worked it free. A simple smock that looked a size or two too small for her was wrapped around a pair of short swords, and she frowned slightly as she unrolled the garment, muttering, “I’ve already got all the weapons I need, and these are too short for swordplay and too big for knifework...”
\t“Just... look at them,” her putative employer directed.
\tHer curiosity returning, the knight felt along the scabbard, musing, “This is certainly some of the best leatherwork I’ve seen, I’ll give them that much,” then tucked one of the pair back into the saddlebag so she could use both hands to draw the other. Her eyes widened as she lifted the blade to look closer, “The balance on this... I could throw this sword! And this edge... It’s a bit sharper than average, but it’s barely nicked; it’s clearly been used but the metal’s stood up to parrying far better than it should...” She lifted her head to issue a look that brooked no nonsense, “What are these?”
\tFerrl smiled, “They are Malia’s own swords, formed by Her thought and power when She manifested as a mortal to ride at my side. If they seem small to you, they’re definitely too light of weapons for me to use, so I just packed them up until I could find someone worthy of them... as I believe I have, now.”
\tA grin returning to her whiskered muzzle, Julara glanced at the sky, “You know that sparring match you wanted? It’s almost dark enough for our turn-off; let’s make sure we cover enough distance for privacy, because I really want to try these out!” She thumped her heels against Red’s sides, the mare obligingly moving into a canter, and her companions laughed behind her as they followed suit.
* * *
\t
\tFerrl winced as his wife’s fingers carefully probed the surface of his skull. “No blood,” she reported, “and the lump’s only a little bigger than the one left over from that stunner bolt.”
\tHe nodded carefully, his vision still swirling just a bit, and rumbled in Julara’s direction, “It still counts as the third point, even if it wasn’t inflicted by an official weapon of yours; I know you could have landed a telling blow in the time that branch left me dazed. It was an amazing shot, too, throwing even a short sword with enough force and accuracy to cut through the limb like that.”
\tThe rabbit giggled, nodding back, “You scored two points of your own, though, and in all honesty I have to admit that you would have beaten me if you hadn’t volunteered to fight with a handicap. Even with it, I’d have had a damned hard time scoring any points at all if I’d used just one sword.”
\t“I’m just getting what little practice I can for my role,” the larger knight shrugged, “even though I hope I won’t need it. It’d take far more rehearsal than we have time for, to develop a fighting style that looks like an incompetent dabbler but still manages to deflect a skilled foe’s blade just before it can land. At least half a dozen times that I could count, I had to move just a bit more expertly than I really wanted to, to stop you. You’re damned good...”
\tJulara nodded, “I know, but I’m also professional enough to admit that you’re better. I could count the people I’ve met who qualify for that compliment on one hand, including you, and the others were all high priests or priestesses.”
\tNodding in return, Ferrl picked up the branch that had struck him and took a firm grip, his arms bulging as he broke off the last foot of the thicker end. “The angle of your cut makes this good for digging a privy trench,” he mused, “and there’s brush enough around the tree it came from to offer privacy behind it.”
\tThe rabbit chuckled as she took the stick, “And as the victor in our little match, I claim first use of the ‘facilities’ as my prize.”
\t“Just a minute!” a piping voice called from beyond the range of the hovering sphere that lit the clearing. A few moments and a crackling rustle of brush later, Ela emerged from the bushes carrying the sword that had been thrown to end the sparring match. Holding it up in both hands, she smiled, her voice a bit sheepish as she explained, “I was already out lookin’ for this... an’ I kinda wanted to catch a peek of you doin’ your business, but I figured Daddy’s ‘don’t touch’ meant with my eyes, too.”
\tJulara nodded, smiling affectionately as she accepted and sheathed the offered blade, “Thank you, dear. That’s quite an admission, and astounding restraint, coming from a child with a vixen’s libido...”
\tHer father commented, “Even more than you might think... Her condition of liquid climactic incontinence has given her more tolerance, and possibly fascination, with excretory functions than is anywhere near ‘normal.’ Ela, dear, I’m proud of you for your honesty and respect, right now.”
\tThe other knight blinked as she traded her weapons in at her saddlebag for one of the small cloths used by travelers for hygiene and the pouch used ones were stuffed into until they could be cleaned, “Huh... Well, I’m not sure what to say about that,” and she winked at the cub, “but I’d been about to point out that I tend to sleep naked, so no sneaking was really needed to get a look at my... ‘goodies.’ I’ve never been ashamed of how I look, between the luck of what I was born with and the results of my martial training. In fact, I rather enjoy the chance to brighten someone’s life with a good view, so long as unwanted touches aren’t a factor.” Setting the rag and bag aside for a moment, she stood and reached for her armor’s clasps, unbuckling two on each side of her chest then reaching behind herself for the button over her tail, her torso armor’s halves and her skirt falling to the grass with quiet thumps. Smiling, she ran her fingers through the fur of her belly and breasts to fluff it back up after its confinement under her snug leathers, then back down again to smooth things out, “There, little one, a reward for your virtue... Like what you see?”
\tEla nodded vigorously, then stopped with a slight ear-splay to wipe her chin on the back of one hand, “Sorry... Can’t help th’droolin’; you’re cute! Really strong, but nice boobs an’ cunny too.”
\tJulara glanced over at the other two pairs of eyes that were fixed on her, then chuckled to the cub, “I think your parents both agree... Well, I’ll make a deal with you: set out my bedroll while I’m ‘doing my business,’ and you can cuddle with me in it tonight.” Leaving the vixen blinking at her sudden good fortune, the rabbit picked up the digging-stick and rags again then sauntered around the edge of the bushes in nothing but her boots, one last glance over her shoulder catching the gazes locked on her muscular rump and tossing a smirk back at them.
\t“I think I’m going to regret our reaching a city,” Danara commented. “I rather like having her around socially, and that just won’t be possible when she’s playing the dutiful guard.”
\tFerrl nodded as he packed Malia’s folded smock into the sash from one of his wife’s dresses, then tied it around his head at an angle that would pad the bump he’d just received so he could sleep painlessly. “She’s certainly nice to look at,” he agreed as he finished his work, then waited for another minute or so until the bunny under discussion reappeared. “Julara? I need to be sure of one thing... are you expecting only to cuddle, or is your offer open to additional intimacy? If you truly expect Ela to sleep chastely with your bare body, you see, that would actually be moderately cruel rather than the generous gift you might think...”
\tThe knight’s ears dipped as she considered that, then she shrugged, “I hadn’t actually thought that far into it... With your earlier warning, I think I’d have to insist that she use the privy trench too, first, but upon reflection I find myself... agreeable to the notion of doing somewhat more than just cuddling with someone who’s professionally trained in the arts of pleasure. It’s just her age that I’m having a bit of remaining intellectual difficulty with...”
\tHer putative employer chuckled, “You needn’t worry about that, actually... When Her mortal semblance was traveling with us, your Goddess Herself played with Ela just a few times. You needn’t worry about the morality or propriety of the situation, if Malia didn’t.”
\t“Ah!” nodded the rabbit, her ears immediately perking back up. “Most of my worries were, indeed, about whether She’d approve, and you’ve just answered that question!” She smiled over to the vixen who was putting the finishing touches on as comfortable a sleeping-space as the clearing’s features and their traveling gear could provide in concert, “It looks like you’ll get to touch all you want, Ela my dear... just use the trench first, and let me get some sleep tonight.”
\tNodding, the vixen giggled as she patted over the rectangle of leaves and pine needles she’d made, compensating for the ground’s slight unevenness in the flattest place she could find. Rearranging just one more bit of natural padding, she unrolled a thickly-quilted sheet of durable cloth on top of it, then added a blanket and a canvas bag stuffed with spare clothes before doffing her dress and grabbing a wipe-rag to run off into the bushes with.
\tFerrl and Danara used the facilities last, the larger wolf still unsteady enough on his feet to appreciate the help even if he and his wife kept their distance for a semblance of privacy. When they got back, Julara was already on her sleeproll with her muzzle pressed into her improvised pillow to muffle her gasps and quiet moans, her rump held high and her tail twitching as the vixen kneeling between her calves patiently licked. A louder squeak was heard, the rabbit’s ears shooting straight up, as Ela nosed higher, tongue probing to find then penetrate the tight, clean ring of her anus, and the lustful sigh that followed her surprise earned a chuckle from both wolves.
\t“Guess that priestess was right about that spot,” Danara mused as she helped her husband down onto their larger shared sleeproll.
\tNodding, he positioned their clothing-stuffed pillow as she followed him down, “She was... but I should note that the ‘some ladies’ she mentioned includes virtually all bunnies. No one’s sure why, but I’ve never met one who complained of attention there.”
\tTheir lapine companion lifted her head to shoot them a look, “Well, I have... Complained, that is; I only like it if someone’s gentle, there... and, ooh, your vixen certainly is...”
\tFerrl snorted, “ That’s rather neatly dodging the point... I don’t care what orifice on which gender, nor whether phallus or fingers are in use; shove anything somewhere unexpectedly, without welcome, and it ain’t gonna feel good. Gentleness, or at least consideration, is vital to the enjoyability of any form of physical intimacy you’d care to name. Those you complained about, I say, could use some... polish.”
\t“Mind over body, didn’t you say, husband?” Danara chuckled. “Our long-eared companion knew what she was getting into, tonight, and looked forward to it, and thus ‘tis as pleasant as the oft-feared loss of maidenhead was to me, at your hands.”
\tThe Agent half-rolled to hug her close, nuzzling at her neck then looking up with a grin and a glance to the far side of the ring of light as another high-pitched gasp emerged from their companion. “Our nuptial night was gratifying in ways I never told you,” he commented, fingers stroking strongly but gently through the fur of her back, “as no man can be certain of causing more pleasure than pain where virginity’s involved… but, for your sake, I’m endlessly glad that I succeeded in that respect.”
\tA half-surprised, lapine yip distracted them both from the poignancy of the moment, echoed an instant later by a childish giggle, and the couple watched their adoptive daughter’s second slim finger disappear between fluffy rumpcheeks even as she directed her tongue’s attentions lower. “They’ll get along just fine,” Ferrl chuckled as he gradually dimmed the floating light. “Now, my dear… why don’t we do something similar before sleeping?”
* * *
\t
\tJulara glanced back over her shoulder, then nodded to herself; from this distance the copse of trees completely concealed her companions, and she continued down the dirt path that had split off of the main road half a mile east of Chraf. The cluster of white-washed adobe cottages would have been fairly typical of a small farming village, farther out in the countryside, but there was no mistaking the larger structure they surrounded, the joined domes with rounded cupolas at their tops looking like nothing less than a gigantic pair of breasts poking out of the landscape, particularly with the setting sun almost directly behind them. The sight of that outline at a distance had given them pause, Ferrl immediately amending their plans to take advantage of the opportunity it represented. A few of the enclave’s inhabitants were still out and about at this hour, and she returned their nods politely as she passed, but kept her expression businesslike enough to discourage the sorts of invitations any number of them were obviously all too ready to give.
\tThe door at the juncture of the enormous mounds was, of course, stylized, but its vaginal theme could only be taken so far if were still to serve its more mundane function. The outward curves of a vulva and thinner ridges of labia were splayed improbably wide, and the ring through the cast bronze clit peeking out from beneath its roundly-crinkled hood was much too low, just to keep it in reach. A hint of a blush colored the rabbit’s eartips as she took a firm grip and swung the ring against the door twice, though she’d felt no embarrassment over licking a tiny version of the same anatomy the night before, and she shook her head with a self-depreciating chuckle as she let go and fished her amulet out of her own cleavage.
\tIn contrast to the off-white, homespun robes worn by those among the cottages, the acolyte who answered the door was dressed in fine, thin linen, more than a hint of translucency showing around the edges from the ample lighting within the temple. “Welcome to the House of Love,” the white feline greeted, all but purring as she looked her visitor up and down… Her necklace, Julara noticed, bore only a lifelike copper casting of a woman’s mound for a pendant. No mere decoration, she knew, but a statement of preference, there’d have been a phallus along side it if the cat had any liking for men, with differences in size between the pieces indicating degrees of bias.
\t“I know I look like one of ‘yours,’” the bunny chuckled, “but I’m afraid I’m here on business.” She touched her own depiction of Malia with one finger, “I need to speak with your high priest or priestess, or one of their immediate subordinates, on official inter-faith matters… though, if the results of those discussions leave me time, I’ll happily let you satisfy the urge that’s got you drooling so badly.”
\tBlushing faintly, the feline wiped her chin with one paw, “My apologies, priestess… I should have seen your pendant immediately, but the rest of your jewelry distracted me; I thought that the dessert of my dreams had shown up to spend the night! Please… you are welcome here, and I will immediately convey you to one of those with whom you must speak.”
\tThe office Julara was left to briefly wait in was probably the most business-like room in the temple, but even that accomplishment couldn’t render it completely tame; her booted feet reported that the ordinary-looking carpet between the chairs and the desk was actually set into a slight depression in the floor over a spongy pad, rendering it comfortable, if not quite as soft as an actual bed, for impromptu loveplay. She only had a moment to make that assessment, though, before the door in the far wall opened and two figures walked in, unusual enough to fetch a surprised blink from the rabbit. Their silken, translucent robes were ordinary enough, combined with their solid-gold pendants of equal-sized male and female genitals; no one made it to high priesthood of a Roxanite temple without being thoroughly bisexual, after all. The fact that there were two of them, a man and a woman, was also only slightly divergent from strict averages, as priests of the Goddess of Love were permitted to marry without, if they so chose, any obligation for monogamy. A couple like this one, sharing the temple’s highest office, was actually the greatest culmination of the religion’s principles that could occur, though it was still rather rare. The most remarkable detail, to the visiting Maliite’s mind, was that the pair were examples of extremely uncommon, humanoid dragons, the man’s scales green and his wife’s a pleasant shade of blue, their leathery wings folded behind them.
\t“Greetings, priestess,” the lady of the pair rumbled, her mate bowing beside her. “I am Ramarath and my partner is called Threstoral. Liestra, our acolyte, could offer no reason for your visit, but we’ve come to guess that it has something to do with the Blessed One currently hiding a quarter-mile from our humble village…”
\tThe knight blinked, “Blessed One? My own classes, as a novice, covered the basics of your faith, but I can’t remember having heard that term before…”
\tThrestoral chuckled, “It’s not a common title… but we immediately perceived, when investigating the dark soul that drew near, that the man you’ve been traveling with has bedded, and pleased, the mortal body of our Goddess… and yours, now that I think on it. The mark of Roxy was clear, but there was another that I’d found confusing until this moment, and a third…” He turned to his wife to blink, “You may have to give this man a try… I’d like to, too, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate the offer; the fact remains, though, that he’s made love to all of the Goddesses, and even our own lady’s high expectations were well met.”
\tTheir guest chuckled at the way the dragoness’ eyes widened, the forked tip of her slim tongue easing out to lick her lips, then interrupted with a shake of her head, “You’d have to ask his new bride for permission… and even though she was eying me fairly hungrily, neither of them seemed inclined to do more than look, though I’d have welcomed any offer after how pleasant a time I had with their adoptive daughter.”
\tThe green dragon nodded, chuckling again, “I’d seen that, in you, that you aren’t as biased as your garb and jewelry suggest… So, if you’re not a batch of potential, and very desirable, new lovers, what business does bring you to our temple?”
\tJulara considered her phrasing for a moment, then shrugged, “It’s a bit complicated… but there’s something of a low-key religious war currently going on, and we think that the other side might not be paying much attention to the doings of Roxanarra and Her flock. Thus, we’d hoped for a bit of consultation before our next move, as we’re nearing the deciding point in this conflict. The course I was sent to propose was that, as soon as full darkness falls, my companions be allowed to discreetly join me here, and we’d all leave again well before dawn so we can approach the city openly without implicating your village to any observers.”
\tAfter a glance shared with her mate, Ramarath nodded, “I believe we can do this… They have horses, which will need to be left in the patch of forest they’re hiding in, as our guest stables are well-lit and open-sided, and thus easily observed… We do, though, have one novice with a well-established habit of night-time wanderings, and we’ll send him out to bring them in. I’ll also send a priestess who can sense souls at a reasonable distance to take over door duty, so she can put out the lanterns in the entryway as they approach.”
\tThe rabbit smiled gratefully, “Thank you… I know that Roxanarra doesn’t like to be involved in politics, even of the spiritual sort, so I and my companions do appreciate the risk you, and She, are taking by aiding us in this matter.”
\tThrestoral nodded, then paused, his eyes unfocusing for a long moment… His mate glancing at him curiously, he shook his head and blinked a few times, “Oh, my… You’re right about our lady’s usual preferences, yes, but She just told me, roughly, ‘Oh, finally!’ Evidently She’s been wanting to help in this conflict of which you speak, and your coming here is the first real chance She’s had to do so.”
\tThe blue dragoness blinked a time or two herself, then nodded to her mate, “Then it’s settled… I’ll prepare the guest-chamber we keep specifically for Blessed Ones, Roxy’s lovers always finding a welcome and as much love as they desire here without any sort of financial obligation, while you make the arrangements for our allies’ arrival…” Turning to the knight, she continued, “Priestess? You have at least half an hour, more likely closer to a whole, before your friends can be ushered in under cover of darkness, so if you’d care to step out into the hall and then through the second door on your right… I believe Liestra is there, waiting very hopefully on a bed… minus her robe.”
\tJulara shifted in place, a trickle of anticipatory warmth flowing through her as her thighs stroked each other, and she smiled, “I think… that I’d enjoy that, and once more you have my thanks.”
\tBoth dragons nodded, smiling affectionately, the green wishing her, “Lick well, priestess,” before the couple stepped out through another side door.
* * *
\tJulara lifted her head as the expected knock came on the door, calling, “I’ll be right out,” before turning back to her brief lover. Liestra’s eyes showed understanding and acceptance that she’d have to leave, but she leaned close for one more of the long, slow kisses that she and the lapine had been sharing for the last several minutes once their more immediate passions had been satisfied. “Thank you,” the Maliite murmured, “for a wonderful evening… If the local branch of my own temple has room for me, I just might be staying once this mission is complete, as serving the Goddess of the Arts has always been more important to me than any particular place, so there’s a chance we may see each other again…”
\tThe feline acolyte nodded, a broad smile on her still-moist muzzle, “Mmm… I’d like that. You were every bit as delicious as I’d hoped when we first met, and much better with your tongue than I’d expected, once I’d learned that your lady-loving appearance was just a ruse.”
\tHer guest chuckled as she climbed off of the bed, tossing her a wink, “I’ve had a bit of practice recently… though, please, don’t expect me to give up men! I enjoyed what we did, a lot, but I do, eventually, want a husband and family of my own.”
\tThe cat merely nodded, still smiling, “I understand… now go do what you must! There’s more at stake than your love life, I know, so don’t keep your friends waiting.”
\tWith a nod of her own, the knight glanced at her piled armor and weapons, shrugged, and opened the door. She still wore her priestess’ pendant, and in this particular temple that seemed, to her, to be dressed enough. The fox, in Roxanite robes, waiting for her in the hall, blinked a time or two at her nudity, but recovered quickly enough, smiling and gesturing w",
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