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Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 01

By: TaLtos6



***I don't suppose that you really NEED to, but if you don't follow my work, it might help to read "The Smoke-Girl & her Northern Ghost" for a bit of background on Gunnar.

If it helps, this is set about 983AD.

Louhi is the name of a powerful witch out of Finnish mythology, also known as the Mistress of the North. She is the inspiration for the protagonist's name. I don't speak the languages, but I'd bet that Louhi is pronounced in 2 syllables: 'Lou-hi' (Loo-hee). If you know better, let me know in a comment and I'll correct in Chapter 2. Sorry if you read one-handed, but there's no real sex in this until the next chapter. 

This is just about a really remarkable girl. 0_o

---------------

She sat obligingly in the laundry tub of her bath, her long white hair hanging down around her wetly as she asked questions. Her mother sighed and struggled on as best she could. 

Margit had been at this stage of the game with her little daughter for a time now and no matter what was asked and how well she'd answered; her little girl always had more questions. 

Margit didn't mind that part of it so much, but the language was not her own. She could speak to her man easily enough and she'd taught some of her mother tongue to her children. She'd learned enough Swedish to be able to make herself understood by even most Swedes -- the ones who passed through, that is. 

For everyday conversation hereabouts -- where it was often necessary to manage a little of everything, she was fine. She could even manage some words of the neighboring dialects in her way, since given where she was from, she'd become a bit of a small-scale celebrity in the area. Her skill with and on horses had become a little legendary and it was fairly often when she'd hear a knock at the door and find someone there who had made the trip to meet the woman who had come from the southlands as the wife of Gunnar Fornjot. Gunnar himself loved her bit of fame and was proud of her whenever someone came to his lovely wife to find a way with some problem or matter pertaining to horses.

But Finnish -- real and proper Suomi as it was known and all by itself -- that was a hell of a thing to her. She tried, oh how she tried, but it was a bitch of a thing to learn and keep straight in her mind.

And that was the tongue that her little Louhi asked so often to hear from her, wasn't it?

It went on and on until Margit would at last tell Louhi that she was at her wit's end for that evening. Her little girl would nod to her with a look that might have meant that she didn't believe her mother, but a birch switch was not a thing to be tempted lightly, after all, so she'd 'allow' her mother to speak in any of the other languages where they could understand each other.

But nothing stopped the questions.

Margit would look at the rafters then, knowing that she herself had been every bit as precocious and more in her time as a girl. Worse, she'd been a khan's daughter and, ... well a lot of those days and the scrapes that she'd gotten into in her father's name were best not ever mentioned to Louhi .

The door opened then and Gunnar came in, hanging his cloak up on the peg and working his boots off in the entrance hall. He looked up and saw Margit looking at him as though something was his fault.

"What is it Margit?" he asked, but she smirked at him then and hugged him tightly.

"What do you think, husband?" she chuckled, "It is your daughter again. It's always your daughter."

"My uh, my daughter, is she?" he asked and Margit laughed, shaking her head, "No. I bear half of the blame as well. 

I never have a hint of trouble with our son. Koten learns anything quickly and he is often helpful. He eats his dinner and gives me no trouble with his bath and he is already fast asleep, while Louhi asks me things which make me want to tear out my hair -- which I must remember not to ever do in front of her. If she saw me do anything like that it would only give her another thing to ask me for."

She kissed Gunnar and hugged him, "Please, Gunnar, finish this bath business with her tonight. I want nothing more than to sit down now in a bit of peace with a bowl of broth and a little bread."

Gunnar nodded and went to where the laundry tub sat. After a long day caring for the animals and the things of his farm, Gunnar wanted a bath himself now, but he guessed that he would have to wait. He walked in and seeing the water already poured for him in the basin, he stripped to the waist and began to wash in the cold water.

He thought that it was a little odd, but Louhi sounded just fine in her greeting to him, if just a little too cheery and perky for a five year-old at this time of night. He turned as if he'd been surprised to look around the room for a moment before settling his gaze on the tub.

"Hah!" he exclaimed, "Why look here. A pink frog in the laundry tub."

"Pink frog?" Louhi repeated, "I'm no pink frog! I'm not even a frog at all."

Gunnar's eyes widened as he stared, "And it talks!"

The little girl looked at him suspiciously and he looked back innocently, as though waiting to hear some sort of wisdom.

"Well?" he asked, "Are you going to give me three wishes?"

The little one shook her head, "I cannot give you three wishes, Father. I have nothing like that to give."

"Yes you do," he smiled as he reached to lift her out of the tub. She instantly hugged him as tightly as she could in her slippery happiness.

"You gave me the first wish on the night that you were born," he said, "the other two will take some time, that is all."

"What must I do?" she asked, and he laughed with the sound that she loved to hear from him.

"For the second wish, you must learn all that you can, and for the third, ..."

"Yes?" She asked, "What?"

"Stop making strange requests of your mother. You wish to speak in Suomi? You wish to know things? Ask me, little frog, and I will help you."

Margit walked in with a pot of hot water, "To heat up the pond again for the little pink frog," she said as she smirked and rolled her eyes, and after that, Gunnar sat his little girl back in.

"What do you want to know, Louhi?"

She moved to the closer side of the tub and looked at her father for a moment.

"I am different and I wish to know why."

"Different?" he asked as he looked at her, "You are no different to me than any other pink frog in a tub, but I think that I know what you ask."

"Different," she repeated, nodding, "Other children sometimes stay away from me. Only Annikki plays with me always when we can. The other ones say that I am a witcher's daughter. They say that I look strange. I am strange, Father. I am a stick and too long in some ways, but, ..."

"But not big enough in others, being only a little girl, even for a witcher's daughter. I know."

He leaned forward and dipped his hand into the tub. Bringing it back out, he extended his index finger and pointed to it with his other hand. Louhi stared at the drop of water which formed there. He looked at her eyes and she stared at the drop. When she looked at his eyes, the drop fell.

"What was that?" she asked.

He shrugged, "A missed chance."

He dipped his finger again and said, "This time, try to catch the drop in your hand."

The little girl nodded and watched the drop intently, holding up her open hand in readiness.

The drop fell and Louhi missed, but she stared at her hand as it was held in his. She hadn't seen him move. They smiled at each other.

"Again?" he asked and she nodded, getting a little lower and onto her knees in the bath to prepare. He looked at her face and saw the concentration there and it was all that he could do not to hug her to him once more right then.

This time, she had it, though she looked disappointed, "I have no way to show that I caught it."

Gunnar smiled, "That is the way of witchery, Louhi. One does what one needs and the best proof is none at all. I saw that you caught it, have no fear."

He dipped his finger again and she prepared again. "Try to be ready for something, ..."

She looked as though her concentration was about to boil the drop dry where it hung.

Then the drop ran to the top of his finger and stood up.

"Different," he smiled and the drop flew upwards, but Louhi's little hand flew past and they both knew that she'd caught it in her fist.

"Are you -- Am I really the -"

He raised his eyebrows, "The daughter of a witcher?" 

He smiled, "That is too strong a word for a girl of five to know and throw around, Louhi. Have you ever heard your mother call me that?"

"No, I --"

"Have you ever heard me tell anyone that is what I am or anything like that?" he asked as he reached for a towel to dry his hands.

"No."

He looked at her. "Why do you think that is? People are a superstitious lot and talk like that does no one any good. I often help with the hard birth of a calf or I heal someone who is ill, if it is not too bad. Some people come to me for help in things like that, but no one says that word -- if they wish for my help.

You should not say it either. What is clear need only be spoken out loud by a fool."

He looked over at her, "Your mother's lovely skin is different to mine. My hair is different to hers. Our eyes are the same. Why do you suppose that is?"

"I don't know," the girl said.

He shrugged, "Because we are different.

Your brother and you have gotten different gifts from us when you were made, nothing more. So you have her lovely skin and you have my hair, and your eyes are from us both.

What else do you think that you might have gotten?"

Louhi thought for a moment and then she lifted her wet finger to point toward the ceiling.

Gunnar said nothing. He only watched.

The little girl had to wet her hand twice more since the water ran down and left her nothing to work with.

The third time, however, she stared at the droplet there on her own fingertip as it quivered and wiggled and very slowly rose up to strain toward the vaulted ceiling high above.

Then it was gone, falling upwards.

Louhi gasped and then the droplet was gone just as the door opened and Margit told Gunnar that Louhi would shrivel up since she'd been in the tub for so long.

He nodded and said that he'd get her to bed quickly. She nodded and left.

"Where did the drop go?" Louhi asked in a whisper.

Gunnar shrugged, "Somewhere."

He opened his hand and his daughter gasped to see the droplet there on his dry palm. She leaned closer to stare at it and he told her to open her hand next to his.

"How did you catch it, Father?" she whispered, "I didn't see you move."

He smiled as the droplet leapt from his palm to hers where it ran off in the wetness there.

"You did not see me move," he whispered back, "Does that mean that I did not?"

She thought about it and whispered her reply, "I think that it means that I didn't see you move, nothing more."

"Nothing more," Gunnar nodded. 

"Now, little frog," he said, "Feel my hand and tell me what you feel there."

Louhi reached out and slid her palm against his for a moment, "I feel roughness, Father."

He nodded, "My hands are rough from work every day. Your mother tells me that you insist to her that you are old enough to wash yourself. I need to know if this is so or if it is the sound of a girl who does not think that she has to do what her mother tells her."

Louhi looked down, "I try."

"Trying is not the same as washing," he said.

She stood up and stepped to the side of the tub holding out her arms.

Gunnar nodded, rather thankful that she hadn't tried to push her fib on any farther and he allowed her to hold onto his neck as he washed her, being very careful because of his rough hands. He'd washed her as an infant when Margit had her hands full with their colicky son and he'd washed either or both of their children as the need arose for one reason or another. He didn't mind.

He refilled the basin with cold water from a bucket and Louhi sat fascinated as he heated it to warm enough to wash her hair in minutes with his hands and then of course, he washed her hair, though he was certain that his wife did a better job. And finally he told her that she was done.

Louhi shook her head and laughed as she sat back in the now-dirty water to raise her feet and wiggle her toes.

Gunnar did his best, but even so, there were a few squeals of laughter no matter what he did before he lifted her out and dried her with a towel while Margit held out the 'little pink frog's' shift for her so that he could put her to bed.

--------------------------

She was ten years old and struggling with her wooden sword out in the barn with Gunnar. She'd learned to ride from her mother and she'd also learned how to fight in her mother's way. A larger lanky thing now, she was growing frustrated in the mock battles with her father.

"My name," she said, "Grandmother told me of it, but I never got any understanding from what was said."

He side-stepped her thrust and shrugged, "Think of what you are. Your grandmother wanted a far different name for me, but my father wanted to give me his own father's name.

And so I am Gunnar. When your brother was born, your mother had a name for him. But it often happens that a parent might have a name ready for their child, but once the babe is born and you hold him or her, you find that the name might not fit or feel right, so you must choose another."

She took two steps forward and slashed at him, but he wasn't there when her stroke came.

"I did nothing but see what you wanted to do," he said, "and so I took a step myself. Slow down and begin again -- and try to keep your eyes on the bottom of my throat, Louhi. For such a plain place, there is much to see if you look."

They stepped apart and she renewed her attack.

"As he came forth, your mother saw at once that her name for him was the perfect one to her, so there was no difficulty. But when you were born, ..."

"Difficulty?" she asked and he nodded.

"I had wanted to name you Tarja, but though it was a little correct, it would not do for a good first name once I held you. I was stuck until I thought of my mother and the old ways. So you became Louhi Tarja Fornjot."

She dashed in again and she clipped him on the arm and they both knew that it was from answering her question so they went right on.

"I know two other girls named Tarja, though neither is from our village," she said.

"I have never even heard of another Louhi."

"Then it is a good name," Gunnar grinned.

"It is the name of a witch," Louhi hissed as she swung again and her wooden sword bit only air.

They stopped then and he asked her what was wrong.

She shook her head, "I do not know. I had trouble fighting in the dresses that girls are supposed to wear. It was impossible until you helped and Mother made me these." Her arms swept downward to indicate the pants which she wore.

"That has helped me. I am hot in here and I cannot move freely in this heavy shirt. You wear no shirt."

Gunnar thought about it. "Did you have trouble when you were small and I bathed you? Do you have trouble in the sauna when we are there?" 

He shrugged. "We are fighting here and I am your father. I was there when you were born. I don't care what you wear for this -- only that you take something away as a lesson every day. Shut the doors and take it off if you think that it will help, so long as we get past the trouble.

But there is more wrong here, Louhi. You carry the name of a witch. Not all witches are old and ugly. They might get that way, but ... 

Is this a part of the trouble?"

She nodded and he said, "The next time that you see Grandmother, ask her for a clear meaning to the name. What you hear will surprise you, and if you still cannot see it, then ask me again and we will set aside time for it, though her tale will be better to hear.

Margit walked in then with small food and tankards of water and Louhi asked her. 

Margit nodded, "You need to move freely, Louhi. But you cannot just throw everything off in a fight. Try if you think it will help, and I will make you something looser, such as is worn by girls of my tribe -- those who can fight. For today, try. Your father tries not to see what you wish to grow there on your chest, you may rest assured."

Louhi tried it and decided that she wanted the larger shirt, but for this time, it helped. Margit walked away and closed the doors.

"Better," Gunnar nodded, "but there is still something. I have watched this come a little more every time and now I see you struggle so hard. I want to teach you another way."

He began to show her other moves, ones which held little of her mother's way of fighting or his normal style, for that matter. The movements came to her naturally and in minutes each time, she had whatever was shown, both in the attacks and the defense. More importantly, it came to Gunnar finally what his daughter's trouble was and it made him laugh.

"From what I see, this has been trying to get out of you for all of this time. You feel better fighting like this, don't you, Louhi?"

The long whitish hair on her head almost flew as she nodded with a happy grin and he walked with her to a pile of neatly stacked planking. He took one thick plank and stood it on end leaning against a thick wooden column.

Walking back, he got to one knee beside her and pointed.

"This will be like the little frog's droplet," he said, "Do you think that your sword can cut that plank in two?"

She looked at her wooden sword, then at the plank, and then back at him before she shook her head.

He sighed, "Then it cannot."

He started to get to his feet again, but Louhi just knew what he was trying to teach her and so she put her arm around his neck so that he'd stay.

"Wait," she said as she stared once more and considered. 

Gunnar stayed and said nothing.

Louhi took her arm from his shoulders and began to step forward a little slowly, shifting her wooden blade to her right hand as she walked. She took three steps, reaching with her other hand to double her grip and then she was beside him again, her arm back on his shoulders and the sword in her left hand again before the two pieces had come to rest on the floor.

As the last of the pieces bounced once and laid still, she spoke quietly, but he heard her.

"Nothing more."

She hugged him and he laughed, "We come to a point where you can no longer -- or should no longer use wooden swords. When we begin to use the steel and not the wood, you will need to be stronger and faster and you will not be able to fight me dressed as you now are."

He indicated the places on his own chest which showed the near passage of a blade in his time.

And one day, you will be big enough to learn to forge your own blades."

He drew his head back and looked at her, "As well, there is the matter of how it is to be done and for the next steps on the path. It will not be for a month or two before we begin the first of it, but, ..."

He looked at her in her pants and bare chest with the whitish hair that they shared spilling over her and she knew what had to come next so she nodded.

"I have learned some things from Grandmother, so I had warning. I learned things today. I know what we are and all of it, but for the teachings that will come. You are my father and I am still a little pink frog. I will do as you say because I want to learn all that I can."

He nodded, "I can teach most and Grandmother can teach the rest, but one thing, Louhi. 

There will come a time when boys become important to a young girl. The teaching is longer than that. How you make time to help your mother and learn about boys and what you wish to learn will be a hard task -- and still it is no one's affair what you are. Remember that."

"I am a witcher's daughter," she said, "There is no more important thing that this."


Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 01



She hugged him for a moment and then he waited while she pulled on her heavy shirt and they walked outside to eat.

When she walked into the house, she told her brother Kotan that it was time for his lesson and he nodded. When he was gone, Louhi began to help her mother with the preparations for the evening meal and she told Margit what had happened.

"I always knew that you were the one who would learn to walk the witcher's path." She sighed and hugged her daughter for a moment, "I have taught you what I could, Louhi. Now you must learn the rest, if it is what you truly want to know."

------------------------

The animal was grazing as cautiously as always. The heavy snow over the night hadn't made things any easier as it nudged its nose along, seeking for a bit of moss.

The young buck raised his head then, pausing to look and smell -- and listen.

Off to his side only yards away, Louhi stood at the edge of the trees, with her bow just slightly drawn, willing her breathing a little stiller. His last bit of careful hopping through the drifts at the edge of the woods and into the clearing had required her own quiet attempt at pursuit and for a twelve year-old girl, the snow was deep.

She wanted to sigh and give this up. Looking at the animal, she didn't think that she had the power in her draw to do much more than strike his shoulder with her arrow, never mind wound him anywhere near fatally.

But they needed the meat.

She waited a little longer, her will and her thoughts having a calming effect on her breathing. The reindeer lowered his head and began to eat.

Louhi drew her bow back all the way and before the skittish buck could form another worried thought, she released.

Her arrow hit the buck, who bunched his leg muscles tightly in the beginnings of his crouch to spring away, but another arrow sailed past the girl and thudded in just behind the shoulder and the buck dropped to his knees and rolled onto his side a moment later.

Louhi watched the fog of his breath and after two; there were no more puffs of it.

She looked behind her to see Gunnar striding over through the drifts as he came from a slightly different direction.

Louhi stood up straight, "I don't have enough in this bow. Not in my arm either. I would have only hurt him."

"That was not what this was for," her father smiled, "There was nothing wrong with your hunt -- and that was the important thing."

He looked around the clearing and saw the eyes of the other predators looking back. "Come. Stand by me while I butcher enough to feed us. We will have to leave something for those ones to eat so that we are left alone. We have all the wolf pelts that we need in what we wear and the ones in the tent."

While Gunnar worked and explained the method to his girl, Louhi paid attention and asked questions. She also devoted some of her awareness to the other animals around them. Once or twice, she noted the hunger there as a drive, and she sent other drives to those ones. The pack diminished in size each time, several individuals peeling off to bound away shaking their heads in confusion.

After several long minutes of working at it, Gunnar hefted the carcass over his shoulders and they walked off. Their sudden absence brought the pack out of hiding to trot over and sniff at the tracks which ended abruptly and went no further. It lasted only a moment and then the first of the snarling growls broke out among them as their pack structure was enforced and the weaker and lower ones drifted off a little, hoping that there might be something left for them out of the little meat and guts which remained to be fought over.

Miles away, Gunnar's mother clapped her aged hands together in happiness that their hunt had gone well. Hours later, Louhi sat in her simple clothes as the elder witch began to teach her more.

"Your father and I have a gift for you, granddaughter," she smiled a time later, as she produced a bag made of rawhide out of the air of the shadows. Louhi thanked them as her hand closed over the small bag which hung there before her.

Opening it and reaching in, Louhi smiled and drew out several pieces of the two sets within. Bits of polished bone and a few rounded pebbles from a stream bed lay in her hand. Each one had a symbol carved or scratched into its surface with great care. 

Her grandmother moved her head to toss her long white hair over her shoulders a little as she smiled, "It is time for you to learn of the ways to know."

Louhi smiled happily as she felt her grandmother's arms around her and she leaned back a little as the old woman reached around to order the pieces of one set, explaining the significance and reason for each one and kissing Louhi's cheek now and then as she went.

As the two females sat together and the old woman began the lesson, Gunnar got up and lifted the tent flap to step outside into the darkness. He looked around a little and then he looked up at the stars and the flicker of the aurora there above him. After a moment, he walked over to a tree and urinated before he walked back into the tent and it sank into a pit of utter and impermeable blackness which covered and surrounded the tent and the horses who were long past asleep.

Gunnar was troubled over something which he could do nothing about, and so, after another cup of mead, he lay down and went to sleep.

----------------------

Things had changed during the intervening years in the village. Gunnar's sister had become a widow and there were rumblings in the village as lines were drawn. They were invisible lines, to be sure, but they were still there and every bit as real as though they'd been drawn in blood.

The long and inexorable coming and entrenchment of Christianity had always been a bit of a concern to any who still kept to the old ways, but that in itself hadn't been the issue. What caused the lines to be drawn was the ever-present and constant preaching to the new faithful. By itself, it was no trouble to anyone, but it was never kept to just the preaching and the parables. 

Almost from the beginning -- and it had been a couple of centuries now, and there had always been a certain part of the content which taught that the old ways were evil and wrong. 

Pagan was one thing, Gunnar thought. 

Wrong was something else.

It had been easy to think of these things as absurd at the onset. But as time went on, the message began to sink in and the message then took a turn from what was a guide on how to live one's life to what was wrong and bad about what had gone before.

As often happens, the flock swallow what is made easily swallowed and no one stops their nodding to consider just who might have something to gain in what -- if the flock was stirred enough, would amount to theft and destruction of a neighbor's property.

With no clear lord in the area, other than one young son of Gunnar's sister, there was a power struggle in the offing at some point. Olaf was an old man, but he drew his men together and had them build a wall around his home, Gunnar's and the hall of Gunnar's sister.

By now, Louhi was a tall and willowy young woman of eighteen. That summer, Gunnar had taken his girl to learn a little more at the hands of his mother, whose health was beginning to fail her. They spent a week there in the tent at her summer home and then she passed.

As Louhi wept, Gunnar looked after everything and a few days later, the pair rode on to the woman's winter home farther on and closer to Lapland than Sweden.

The old village lay abandoned from long before, but that had been the home of Gunnar's mother and her people from ages past and it had been the home in later years to her and her husband, before he'd passed on some years before.

"Why do we go?" Louhi asked, from the back of her horse.

"There are things to be done there," Gunnar said.

At the old homestead, Gunnar got their horses settled and he looked at the supply of wood. Not liking what he saw, he began to cut more and Louhi helped him, learning the most economical ways to do it in terms of effort and time.

That night, as Louhi began to feel the stiffness in her arms beginning, she was thankful that there was now enough wood for a sauna after the meal. To Gunnar's people, this was a way to sweat out one's weariness and living as simply as they did, it was a familial thing a lot of the time. As such, it was a sexless place and time. As they sat or reclined on the birchwood benches in the hut, Gunnar considered that he now didn't like his beard and the bits of bark which it had gathered during the work of the day.

After a long while at it, they stepped outside and cooled off a little, before jumping into the small lake there for a brief swim together.

"I have questions," she said as they sat on the little dock-like affair and Gunnar rolled his eyes.

"Your entire life," he said quietly," you have had questions. I think that most children learn to speak so that they might get by in the world with others. In your case Daughter, I believe that you learned to speak so that you could ask things." 

He smiled and sighed, "Ask me then."

"I wish to know about loving."

It came out of her like a statement, just as many of her requests came on most any topic. Gunnar looked over, "Has your mother not spoken of this to you at all? I thought that she had."

"She did," Louhi nodded as she looked back, "but still -- "

He sighed, "But still you need to know more. I know you, Louhi. Well, I cannot show you, so if there is something which you must know to feed your never-ending curiosity, then ask and I will do my best."

Her specific questions had more to do with a few mechanics and also a little about emotions. Gunnar was a little surprised, but then he told himself that in the framework of what she asked, it was much the same as any other topic and they spoke of things until the time when the mosquitoes drove them inside.

"Try to get some sleep, little frog," he smiled as they parted, "Tomorrow, the work begins anew."

The next morning, she found her father outside in the shed which was the forge. Gunnar was looking through some piles of metal, separating out what was only iron from what was steel. After that, he went further, carefully examining the steel and discarding a lot of it.

"Light the forge," he said quietly and he kept looking.

Louhi was willowy, but it wasn't all gentle curves. Her life had always been an active one and she was a very strong girl, though much of her strength lay hidden. She got to work, knowing somehow that this was important to her in some as-yet unspoken way. 

When she told him that she had a bed of hot coals prepared and banked, he stood up and turned to her as he lay some pieces down on the anvil.

"You can wear what you like for this, Daughter, but no matter what, there will be sweat in the mix."

Louhi nodded and gave it a thought before she went back inside and came back wearing an old and too-small pair of pants. She tied her long white hair back and nodded that she was ready. Gunnar laid a few pieces into a crucible and swung it out over the center of the coals.

He pointed to the bellows, "The work begins now."

He helped things along with a few quiet words and the steel began to glow and soften in the crucible a few minutes later.

As his daughter worked, he went outside and drew some water and told her that she should use some of it to cool off a little while he took over for her at the bellows.

They spoke a little of what was to be done and Gunnar watched as Louhi washed her face and ran as much of the cold water over her neck, throat and breasts as she could in imitation of what he'd done.

"More on your neck," he said, "Front and back. There are thick veins there and they lie close to the skin. Cool them down and you help yourself a lot."

When she was ready, Gunnar took up a few forms and looked them over. There was one which he sought to see more than any other and he finally found it and saw that it needed only a little more casting sand added. The bag of it felt cool to his fingers and he was thankful that it hadn't dried out, because if it had, then they might as well stop now.

With a lot of care, he moved the form onto the bench and he began to caution her about working with molten steel.

Louhi nodded as she listened. But when he was done, she only said that she'd seen him work steel and iron all of her life. She only needed the experience of having done it; that was all. "I know that seeing it and doing it is another thing completely, "she said.

"Can I try first with a smaller form?"

He nodded and added a second form to the bench. "This one first, Louhi."

He brought the crucible to the bench and stepped back, ready to help, but his daughter picked it up, her biceps swelling as she did and she carefully poured out the metal.

"Is it enough?" she asked and he nodded, taking the crucible and placing it back over the forge. He found a second crucible and threw pieces into that so that there would be enough later on. Then he joined Louhi, who had already begun her quiet prayers over the red steel in the first mold.

With the second crucible's contents melted beside the first, Gunnar carefully poured one into the other and came back.

"These have never been used before," he said quietly, "I made them last year for you while you were with my mother. They were made for this time, Louhi."

She nodded and asked for him to bring the large crucible over so that the second pour could be done.

With two hot molds on the bench, the pair stood and chanted n the old way as it slowly began to harden.

The next day, they took turns, beating out the blades for the first time. After a lot of talk between them, he kept the stone turning as Louhi began the grinding for the overall shape.

It took a lot of time, but the two of them worked side-by-side together, stripped to the waist in the heat as she shaped the steel to his demands and then beat it out a time or two afterwards for each blade with several quenchings in the large trough.

Gradually, Louhi began to see just a hint of a sparkle to the metal and Gunnar nodded, saying that the process was going well.

"It is a bit early for my taste," he said, "but you have followed the path with each step and never faltered, so it is time for this."

There wasn't much beauty to them. Everything had been done out of a sense of purpose and efficiency of use. As she stood looking at them lying there together there on the anvil that evening, she made a quiet comment about it.

"Most of what men carry is made pretty," he said, "shiny and gleaming. I have blades like that as well. I think that a lot of time is spent to make them so by the craftsmen, so that they will sell, after all."

She leaned against him a little and thanked him. As he put his arm around his daughter's shoulders, Gunnar grinned, "Now that you know all of my secrets, you can make all of the pretty ones that you like."

As they sat on the dock that night in the darkness after the sauna, she turned to him.

"One day, Father, I will want to seek for a man."

Gunnar's eyes opened and he choked slightly on the week beer that he was sipping, but he recovered and nodded, "Yes, of course. Go on."

"The trouble is that I do not wish for any of the usual fools," she said.

He asked her to explain and she said that there had been times when she'd liked a boy in her time, and it had happened a few times already, but in every case, it had eventually come down to the same thing every time.

"I am different to them," she said, "I see a boy who I might like for me and each one sees only that I am the witcher's girl. 

My hair is too light they say-- and that comes from the mouths of some fairly tow-headed fools, but they see enough of a difference to remark on it. My skin is a little darker and it is another thing to remark upon, though in the light of day, it is almost nothing."

Louhi snorted, "One fool even told me that my eyes were the trouble, being too light for his taste.

I told him that he was getting too much light in his eyes, and then I closed one of the problems for him with my fist.

Twice I tried to go on regardless and what I found was that some boys like to hit a girl. It is not something which makes sense, if you consider that I might have wanted them enough at some point down the path to please them."

She sighed, "I have not done anything yet, and already I feel as though I waste my time."

Gunnar turned, "You say that someone hit you?"

She nodded, "It began well enough, I guess. But after a time, I could tell that he wanted everything and right then. I refused, pushing him away. 

Two different boys, at different times. Each one, they slapped me."

Gunnar's eyebrows rose at that. "What, ... what happened then?"

She shrugged, "No one hits the witcher's girl," she said, "They had little in the way of minds to begin with." 

She shrugged, "I took the rest."

He suddenly remembered the two instances in the area back home where a young lad had become suddenly catatonic and had died a few days later.

She sighed heavily, "What I want is, ... "

She looked at him, "What I wish to find for me is a man who is gentle and kind and who might love me for who I am. I only know of one such man, Father, and that cannot be, obviously. I asked Mother about it and she told me that it was not uncommon in her time long ago to find that a man wants to slap a girl. She told me that it was a problem for her, though she killed most of them.

Is that true, what she said?"

He nodded, "Your mother has killed men before. She has never told you, since the knowing of it would have done neither of you any good when you were little, but she was born the daughter of one of their leaders in her clan. He was the king of their tribe and she could do as she wished a lot of the time."

Louhi looked sad to him and he knew why, so he held her and offered the best 'wisdom' that he thought he could. "I know what you would want. My want is that you are happy. All that I can tell you is that it might be a long hunt."

He kissed her head and looked down toward where her face was against his chest, "Perhaps what is needed is that you find someone -- anyone just for the purpose of learning what it is that you would have at the end of the hunt, but I cannot say."

She nodded, "You always give good counsel, Father. I cannot even say that it is worth the effort and the misgivings otherwise. Can I have a chance if I find someone for it?"

He nodded, "It is your choice, but if anyone hits you, there will be blood."

-----------------

Margit slammed the door, furious.

Her son came to her, asking what was the matter.

"I have just heard demands from an idiot," she seethed, "He came to tell me that since we are not of the same faith as everyone -- which is almost a falsehood -- that we must leave the land since we do not belong."

She turned to him and said, "Go and prepare a few of the horses. We will leave this night with only a few things and ride to where your grandmother lives."

Kotan stood dumbfounded, a fit and strong young man of almost twenty winters. "Why?"

Margit wanted to spit. "Because there were more than twenty of them here on my doorstep, Kotan. Can you fight twenty men alone? I cannot.

It is not the worst of things, son. They are cowards and they will not do a thing to us here and now, where Olaf's men would kill them without a thought.

But if there are twenty at the least, there are more and they will return after dark. I choke to have to lose my home, but I will not lose my son over something stupid. 

I will talk to Olaf," she said, "you do as I have said."

For the second time in her life, Margit ran from stupid men that afternoon. She and her son rode off quickly with only a few of their belongings to their names.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 01



Night found them still riding very late on, since there was a bright moon. Margit planned to stop only once for a few hours before morning.

Nothing happened that night. 

But the next, as she and her son were many leagues away and still riding on late into the night, the sky near the small village was aglow with the flames of their burning home and Olaf lay dead in his hall as did Gunnar's sister and her family.

--------------------

Gunnar and his daughter rode on, working their way slowly back home when Louhi sat up in her saddle a little more to look ahead.

Her quiet phrase startled Gunnar, but he looked over and nodded when he heard her say it.

"That one."

------------------------

The young man looked amazed at what he saw as the young girl pulled her hood back to look at him. Her light blue eyes seemed to lock onto his own in some way and he thought that they could almost send their thoughts to each other. 

He was incorrect. Her eyes locked onto his and decided that though there wasn't much in there, he could likely do what was required and then hopefully become instantly forgettable afterward.

He looked with a bit of nervousness at the hooded old man who sat on a horse a little ahead of the one which the light-headed apparition rode. The old man shrugged and looked away.

The young man looked back toward the girl and she spoke to him.

"Did you not hear me?"

"Yes, ... " the young man nodded, "I heard what you said."

"Are we in agreement then?" she asked him and he nodded slowly, not quite believing his luck.

"Yes," he said.

The white-haired man in the cloak dismounted to pitch a tent without a word.

----------------------

At some point during the early morning, the old man awoke and got up from under the blanket outside the tent where he'd lain to put on his cloak once more to walk down to the river nearby for some water. 

Next to the tent once more, he hung a piece of smoked glass on the small branch formed by the little feeler that the tree put out just at a convenient height for him. He shrugged at his reflection and pulled back his hood, holding up the spring scissors that he'd crafted for the purpose a few days before. He looked a little sceptical but he began to work them into his beard.

After a minute, he turned to look behind him as the young woman walked out of the tent to go to the river herself to wash. As she threw off her loose-fitting garment, the young man emerged from the tent and stood watching as he tucked his shirt into his pants.

"Well, that was a night to remember," he said a little cockily as he smiled, "I have a hope that you'll settle nearby, old man. That girl is a wonder.

Is she a slave to you or, ... do you sell her sometimes?"

The older man grunted, but said nothing as he kept at the hedge-trimming under his chin.

His companion found the silence to be a little uncomfortable and so he kept his gaze on the girl, since she was so sweet to look at, but gradually, the silence grew to bother him, so he said, "You're being a bit rude, you old goat. I was just trying to be pleasant."

The man looked at his cropped beard and reached to grab the young man without a word. He said nothing for the moment as he looked at the tree and reached with his free hand to snap off a branch which looked as though the torn-off end would be sufficient. Satisfied, he hung the young man up by the collar of his heavy wool shirt.

The hanging man could do little but struggle a bit while he tried to see what the old man was doing. All that he could see in his field of view were the large hands which now laid a large bowl on the boulder in front of the tree. The hands went onto the bowl, and the water began to steam not long afterwards.

Then the man was bending over to wet his face in the water. When he stood up, he remembered his cloak and removed it, setting it aside before he faced the fool hanging from the tree.

He straightened fully and produced a dagger, shiny and wicked-looking in its efficient simplicity. Dipping it into the bowl, he began to shave.

"That girl," he said in a low and menacing voice, "is my daughter."

The young man began to offer his sincere apologies in as quick and heartfelt a manner as he could while he looked at the large and obviously battle-scarred man who now worked at shaving as best he could while thinking about killing someone at the same time.

Well he didn't want to cut himself.

The one who dangled wondered how it could have been that he hadn't noticed the giant before this. He'd looked like only an old and wizened man the evening before.

Because of what he was, Gunnar could easily see the thoughts of the young man and said only, "You were looking at nothing other than her. I have not changed in my size of the way that I look."

Gunnar didn't so much mind the growing of a beard, for all of its itching as it began. He was just shaving it off, and the truth be told, he was late with it this year, with winter long past.

He held up his hand to the babbling idiot.

"Tell me," he said quietly, "What is the purpose of your rambling apology? What I hear from you now is the sound that a fool makes when he realizes that he has released the arrow and it has hit a person who was not the target."

He turned, "But I was the target of your Ill-chosen spittle, wasn't I?"

He went on shaving and the man with the dangling feet said nothing as he tried to get free.

When Gunnar was finished, he picked up the bowl and threw the contents into the young man's face.

Then he looked over and smiled, "Oh, Sorry. 

I guess that now we stand on even ground, since I have made it all better with my apology.

I think that it would be best for you to keep what happened last night as a pleasant memory. You were chosen because my girl there wanted a man, and being her father, I cannot help her for reasons that I would hope would seem obvious to you, ..."

He leaned a little closer and the man whimpered as he watched that face draw nearer still as Gunnar finished his thought. 

"Goat-herd."

Louhi walked up the bank naked with her sleeping shift over her arm and looked at the man hanging there for a moment. Then she shrugged and went back inside the tent.

Gunnar turned his gaze back to the fool, "From what she tells me, she is not fertile yet this month, so there will likely not be any little pink fools for me to have to get to know in my old age.

You were chosen only for her pleasure. Your own pleasure is not important to me, so do not tell me that she is a wonder as though we are talking about a tavern wench. Do not try to move or try to speak anymore nonsense until she and I are about to leave. I will let you down then."

He kept staring into the young man's eyes until he saw the shaky nod. He walked away then.

It seemed like only minutes before the two travelers were ready to depart. In that time, Louhi had pulled on her trousers and a simple light shirt and walked past her lover from the night before maybe half a dozen times to tie things onto her horse and that of her father.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" he asked her once as she went by.

"No," she said as she disappeared into the tent to roll up the bedding, but her voice continued, "Last night was only an agreement between us and it ended with the dawn. This was only a fuck and nothing more," she said, "No doubt the best one that you have ever had from your noises, but even though you were the first male that I have ever lain with, It was little more to me than a disappointment in some ways."

She walked out of the tent and on her way back from her horse; she helped her father with the folding of the tent.

"Well don't you want to know --"

She had gone from standing a little bent over and folding a tent to standing right in front of him in less time than it took to blink. 

Which the young man did quite a bit of then.

He felt the slowness of his nervous swallow from the way that she gripped his throat tightly.

"You have already gone against my father's instructions to you by even speaking to me. You were told that you would be let down if you could remain still and not speak.

Do not speak your name to me. I have no wish to hear it and I would only do my best to forget it as quickly as possible anyway. Do you finally understand?"

He nodded, and swallowed, "Thank you," he said softly.

Louhi groaned and slapped her forehead as she turned back and helped to get the tent onto the pack horse.

They saddled up and turned their horses away. Gunnar waved his hand and the young man fell down onto his backside a little heavily, the side of the boulder leaving a long deep scratch up his back.

As they sidled their horses back toward the road, Louhi groaned again as the young man appeared beside her horse, beseeching her.

"Please," he began, "please don't go, young Mistress. I want to know about you. I wish to, ... I would do anything to - "

Louhi looked down at him. She couldn't believe this. "There is nothing between us," she said, "Please go back to your herd. I wish to leave. Please go."

He wouldn't give up and reached for the bridle on her horse.

When he had it in his hand, she found her gone from the saddle. He let go of the bridle and stood looking confused and very startled as she spun him around from behind him.

"You are making this worse," she said, "A fuck is not a love. Leave me alone. I have no wish to harm you."

"But I'll do anything," he said, "I'll beg if I have to -- " 

He shut up then, seeing that Gunnar had stopped his horse and was looking back darkly.

"I don't care," the boy said, "I'll take care of you for all of your life, Mistress. I'll do anything. Please!"

"Anything?" Louhi asked as though she were suddenly interested.

He nodded, "Yes. Yes, anything."

She shook her head as he suddenly saw the glittering edge of a black blade spinning once in her overhand grip as she regarded him coldly, "Then leave me alone while you still have your life inside of you."

He backed away then.

She turned and ran, moving faster than anyone that he'd ever seen in his life for a little distance until she seemed to jump into the very air to sail ahead and land on the back of her horse. The two riders spurred their horses gently and the young man was alone.

"Did you find out what you wished to learn?" Gunnar asked after several minutes of silence.

Louhi looked at her father, "Yes, no, and I cannot say for certain," she said, "I hope there are better men out there somewhere than that one. Why was he like that? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Gunnar said, "you have left a young fool behind, that is all.

He looked away for a moment, "And like any young fool, it is hard for him to keep his mind on any one thing for long, and even more difficult to keep his jaws from flapping. 

For perhaps the first time in his life, he has had his balls emptied well, and like about ANY other young fool - and even many older ones in that circumstance -- he now sees love where there is none for him and no matter what is said or how vehemently it is shown to him otherwise and that it cannot ever be, THAT is what he carries in his heart, a non-existing hope at love where there never was any.

The only cure is time - or having his balls emptied once more, so long as the girl is willing and a little pretty to look at in the dark."

She nodded and they rode on.

"I would like to offer you the advice that the next young fool that you choose for this, ... 

Try to pick one who smells a little better."

Louhi grinned a little and nodded, "Yes."

"You should look for fleas at some point." He said, looking off in another direction.

She laughed then, which was the reason why he'd made the remark.

-----------------

They met Margit and Kotan late that afternoon, and it was a tearful meeting as she explained what had happened as well as what she feared had happened afterward.

Gunnar sat with his head bowed and thought about it for a moment. When he raised his head, he saw the first of Louhi's tears as they both realized that Olaf and his people were dead as well as many of their kin.

"Our home still smokes from the burning!" Louhi wailed as she hung in her brother's embrace. 

There was not much of a meal for the family that evening since no one wanted to eat much of anything.

As Margit thought to try to get a little sleep that night but knew that it was unlikely, Gunnar looked and saw into his daughter's eyes again and even he was surprised at how they glittered to him.

"My friends," she seethed in a low tone, "my childhood friends and playmates and our neighbors have killed my family." 

She held up her open hands then. "See how many cousins my own age and younger now lie dead from what I know. There are almost that many again who were older and were killed. I want the score settled; the one who taught love and yet preached hate on the pile also."

Their talk between them lasted an hour and then they tried for a little sleep themselves.

----------------------------

In the morning, Gunnar advised Margit to head on for his mother's home with Kotan and they'd meet up there.

He saw her worried and questioning look and shrugged. 

"Louhi would seek vengeance, Margit, and I would advise her against the attempt, but for our kind neighbors and their love for me and mine. All these years and I have never harmed anyone. How many have I helped for nothing more than the quiet asking and a word of thanks? 

My sister lies dead in her hall as well, and Olaf, ..."

He hung his head, "My old friend, who stood in the way and caught arrows himself more than once which had been sent for me.

How can I preach calm and reason when my own heart yearns for the slaughter? At the least, I will find what is left of them and I will build their pyres and light them in the old way."

That day, Margit and her son rode on and were at a safe place inside of two more days. 

Louhi wore a pair of heavy pants which allowed free movement while giving some protection as well. Her travels with her father had shown her the obvious need for some sort of substantial footwear as well and she'd had boots made for the purpose. They were soft where comfort was needed, but on the outside they were all just rough and stiff leather. 

Over her upper body, she wore a shirt which had been made using a sort of leather breastplate for the foundation piece and over that, she wore thin fitted shoulder pads which were surfaced with steel. It all weighed a bit, but it would go a ways toward keeping her from looking quite as scarred as her father did.

Gunnar and Louhi began to ride in the opposite direction and after a few minutes of it, a shroud of blackness descended over them and their mounts. Less than seven hours later, they were tying up their mounts who looked around themselves in a little wonder for a pair of horses who found themselves in a familiar place and were not tired in the least.

Nothing happened until after nightfall, and the first things to be noticed were the funeral pyres as they burned near to a village where no one burned their dead any longer. Several people ventured over to look past the burned poles of the barricade fence at the pyres there inside the walls, and never returned.

The witcher and his daughter knew at a glance who had been involved and who had only nodded at the things thrown to them from the pulpit. 

Homes burst into flame.

Animals had their tethers cut so that they could be led away into the darkness before the barns and stables exploded.

People who were not involved slunk back into the darkness of their rooms and crossed themselves, muttering prayers when they saw a white-haired young witch prowl down the middle of the narrow streets with tears streaming from her lovely eyes as they looked out from under her eyebrows.

She walked with a blade in each hand looking for someone. 

When she found one, there were screams from out in the street. She walked past the innocents without a sound.

And over fifty people from goons to the plotters hung from hooks to shriek and wail piteously for as long as their bodies could survive with their skin and hair burned off in one single moment.

The witcher had raised his hand in answer to what had been done.

She came around one corner of the inn close to the marketsquare and found herself forced to either slow down in her stride or change her course to avoid tripping over the legs and feet which were hastily pulled out of the way as much as they could be . Louhi looked down into the shadows at the terrified eyes which looked up at her face, knowing that here was someone to avoid and that it was already long past too late for it and there was nowhere to run and no further darkness to pull back into.

She heard a thin gasp and Louhi stopped to stand in place looking for the moment to get a sense of who was there.

After a few seconds had passed, she heard an even thinner and terrified shuddering exhalation when the breath couldn't be held any longer.

What she saw was a little dirty, lost and miserable -- and plainly in fear of her life, but Louhi knew this person.

"Annikki?"

There was another gasp then and the unfortunate leaned forward a little, trying to draw courage from it from the only gods knew where.

The light gray eyes nodded and Louhi bent down a little and helped the poor girl up.

The illegitimate child of one of the men that Olaf had brought with him as he'd traveled through Germania and a servant girl, Annikki had been perhaps Louhi's only true friend and playmate long before, when there had ever been any time for play between them. Annikki's trouble then stemmed from the same cause as Louhi's, but for a different reason. She wasn't anything to the other children, their parents making it clear that she was nothing and no one to them.

They'd spent even less time together since Louhi had made her choice to follow the path and had seen each other only rarely, perhaps in moments where Annikki had seen Louhi as she rode off with her father someplace.

Louhi knew at a glance that the past days had been a form of hell for the thin girl.

"What are you doing here?" she asked and Annikki looked around furtively, "I was sent on an errand to buy a little wine for lord Olaf. He gave me a few silvers, but that is enough to buy wine by the cask and he only wanted two skins filled. I didn't understand, but he told me to hurry, so I left.

But as I left the gate, I saw many men. I could hear them talking and one said to some others that it was too soon and to leave me alone. I ran to seek the wine merchant, but before I got there, I heard it beginning. They were forcing the gate, Louhi! Then I, ... then,..."

She drew a breath, willing herself to keep a measure of control, "Everyone is dead inside the walls. I have been hiding here because I have nowhere to go. I have hidden for days, but tonight, ... " She looked around again, "Something walks the streets this night and it kills everyone."

"Come on," Louhi said in a low voice before Annikki had much more time to test the limits of whatever slight courage that she might have left, "This is no place for any friend of mine anymore. There is nothing here but death, though it is not quite enough yet for my taste. I am the thing which walks this night and kills -- one of them anyway. 

As silly as it sounds to me to say it -- and if you can believe me, you are safe with me."

She put her left arm around the girl and they began to walk, though Louhi had to remember to be mindful of Annikki's shorter stride. That came from her fear and uncertainty as well as the difference in their statures. Annikki stood maybe five feet, three inches and Louhi was as tall as her mother and a little more at just over five, nine.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 01



After a short distance with Annikki almost cowering at Louhi's side, they saw a figure walking toward them, and in the glow of the flames reflected down from the clouds, Louhi knew who it was. Juhani was the son of the wealthiest landowner in the region, and this night he walked in a little confusion and some anger.

"Where is that priest?" he grumbled to himself, "It wasn't to have gone this way." He looked off to his right, "IF I knew where the priest was, I'd know where Father was, wouldn't I? I can't find ANYone here tonight."

Louhi felt Annikki trembling against her and she pushed the girl behind herself, pointing to the shadows of an overhang. Annikki wanted to tell Louhi that she knew that Juhani almost always wore armor of some sort as he swaggered around bullying people.

As Annikkii tried to slip away unnoticed, the motion caught Juhani's attention and he looked over. He recognized who it was who tried to get out of sight and he would have made a comment, but for the other figure standing there in the middle of the street.

He stared, trying to get a better look, not really believing what he saw there.

"There you are," he sneered, "the witcher's girl. Always gone and never brave enough to take what a man can give you. 

Well? Do you like what was done? You and your kind are not welcome here, you barbaric she-beast. It was long past time to drive your kind away."

"You look for your father?" Louhi asked wanting to make it clear that there was no victory here for anyone without a cost. 

She smiled, "He hangs from a hook at the butcher's place and flops like a caught fish."

"Here? 

Here, Juhani? 

Where is here? What is here anymore now? I did not come tonight to look at anything." 

Her eyes began to glitter, "I came to take from you and others what was taken from me. I came to avenge the ones who were killed for little more than your cursed father's greed and your need to feel like a man when you stroke yourself."

She stepped forward and threw back her cloak so that the oaf saw the armor and the sword there. 

"I have come to close your other eye for you this night, you stupid troll."

She pointed to the sky behind him and Juhani spun around as he saw the brighter glow. He gasped as a large fireball lofted away into the sky with a whooshing roar. He was still staring at it when he heard her cold voice again.

"Tell me, Juhani, where do you think that will come down? You are about to lose the very same things that I have lost."

The man spun around, "If that hits our home, witch," he said threateningly.

But Louhi laughed and tilted her head, "IF?

You look at me as though I send that. I do not. That comes from my father, who helped you when you were slow to walk and your mother grew concerned enough to bring you to him.

He told her that you would walk and talk when you were ready and that it would not be long. She was still worried and he made a tincture for you to sip.

You walked the next day. And yet, your mother has been one of the loudest voices to steal our land while calling it another thing. I can almost hear her from here. She hangs next to your father.

But I am not here for that."

She walked forward and her blade rang as she drew it. The long dagger came to her other hand the instant afterward.

"I came to test your sword arm."

Juhani spun again and tried to run, but after a few steps, he found that his armor had grown much heavier to him. He looked down, thinking to tear the chestpiece off, but he found that it had become a much thicker and heavier thing. He gasped and looked lower, seeing the heavy splint armor that he now wore instead of the studded leather. This was armor which even a wealthy man in a small place could not hope to afford to buy for his brute of a son. 

There were no heavy plates, other than the breastplate. Everything else was protected by mail which covered the metal splints and gave the type its name. The full clanking suits were another few hundred years away yet.

All the same, it was heavy, and the mail which hung from the metal skullcap on his head caught his hair.

"Save your strength for me," Louhi said as she stepped forward again, "My gift to you takes much to move in and you waste what you have trying to run in something which was made to only walk in. Only a man can run for a short time in that. You do not fit the word."

He stopped and stared at her as she picked up a stone from the dirt.

"That is very fine armor," she said, "and it befits a true lord but not a churl such as you."

She flung the stone and Juhani flinched for no reason since the breastplate protected him easily.

"But see? You are no lord, for you quail." She walked up and held out her blade.

"Fight me, Juhani. Show me what little stones that you have and I might spare you alone out of all of the dead here. Your home is crushed now and what remains is burning. You have nothing now but what you wear and," she looked around, "no friends to laugh along while you bully people."

He raised his sword and Louhi stood to watch him.

"Too heavy, lord Juhani?" she asked mockingly.

"Try anyway. Your life hangs in my balance, merchant's son. You should try hard to make it good."

He raised his sword then and he swung, his eyes filled with rage.

She struck him three times before he'd even gotten his stroke stopped to try to swing again. She was careful though. She wanted to drive him by his false pride first. She blocked two of his strokes and each time, she slapped the mail which hung from his head with the flat of her dagger -- hard.

When the last of his little common sense left him, and before his bullishness did, he swung once more with all that he had behind it.

But Louhi danced back and the stroke almost passed by.

As it retreated away from her, her own blade took the sword and his new gauntlet and the mail glove and his wrist in one blow.

Juhani stared at the spurting mess where his hand had been and when he looked at Louhi, he found her a little closer with her hand held just a little away from his breastplate.

The breastplate began to glow and in a second, the rest of his armor began to glow with it.

Juhani screamed in pain and dropped to his knees before he toppled over backwards, a shrieking man burning alive inside a melting suit of mail.

Louhi looked for a moment until Juhani's struggled weakened and then turned even before the life was gone from the mess in the road.

Annikki looked just as frightened as she had cowering in the dark corner.

She held out her hand, "My only friend need not fear me, Annikki."

The girl nodded and looked to be having some trouble trying to get her legs to obey her mind for a moment, but at last she managed to stand and step out to come to Louhi's side.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked with a light quaver in her voice as they walked off.

"Nowhere that you do not wish to go, Annikki," Louhi said. "My horse is this way and it is time to leave. Unless I am wrong, you have even less here than I anymore, but I will share what I have with you."

They walked on past the burned wall and the flaming pyres until they came to the place where the horses were tied and Louhi handed her the spare cloak which she always traveled with in case it turned cold, and she offered her some meat and a crust of bread. The way that Annikki looked at what was held out to her, it was as though she couldn't believe what she saw. She took it and tried not to look too greedy as she began to eat.

"Why did you not buy some food with the silvers that Uncle Olaf gave you? I think that I would have at least done that."

The girl shook her head, "No one would sell me anything, Louhi. They said that I belonged with the others, dead inside the walls. One merchant said that he would sell me food, but when I handed him a silver, he forced my hand open and took everything and gave me no food. This is the first time that I have eaten anything since the night before this began." 

She looked around in the darkness and appeared to be speaking to herself, "I do not know where to go now."

Louhi knelt before her friend, "You will come with me. I have little, but I have enough. I go to my grandmother's home. My mother and brother will be there in a day or so. Come with me, Annikki."

Annikki nodded, "Alright. I think that anything or anywhere must be better than here now."

"I think that it always has been,"Louhi said, "At least for the last few years."

When Gunnar walked to them out of the darkness, he was surprised, but very pleased that someone had survived who was known to him. Louhi explained that she was taking Annikki away and would reach his mother's place in a day or so, depending on how frightened the girl was over the ride. She turned then, "Do you know how to ride, Annikki? I ask because I cannot think of a time when I ever saw you on a horse."

"I never had a reason to get on a horse, Louhi, "she said with a shrug, "I was only a servant girl there. What will I do where we go?"

"Well, you will not be a servant girl," Gunnar said, "but at least you will be there and not here anymore."

He nodded to his daughter, "Go when you want to. I will follow in the morning."

He didn't need to say it, and his daughter knew what it was that he would remain there over the night to do. 

There was no point in saying anything to the poor girl, but Gunnar intended to gather the bodies that he could to make one last pyre.

-----------------------

It was a frightening thing for Annikki to think of getting onto a horse, but with gentle coaxing, Louhi managed to get her onto hers before she swung up behind her. 

"Do not be afraid," she said quietly into Annikki's ear, "I will not let you fall off. Hold your cloak closed tightly to keep out the damp of the night."

When Annikki thought that she could gather up enough courage to try to leave while sitting nervously on the back of a large horse, she nodded and they plodded off into the night.

But as they went and as the smaller girl grew used to the motions, Louhi told her that they were going to go a little faster and not to worry. Annikki grew fearful regardless until she felt Louhi's arm around her as the pace quickened.

Annikki wondered why it was that they could go at such a pace -- which was not a walk to the horse, but also far from a gallop. It was just more of a jogging canter, but she didn't know how it was possible, since she could look away and stare all that she wanted to, but she could see nothing but black night around them.

----------------

The next day, a pall of smoke hung over the village as the dogs and the wolves began to prowl through, looking for a meal.

After a long look around, Gunnar left and was in Northern Finland in seven hours.

-------------

Not long before the dawn, Annikki was nodding out of weariness and it wasn't that Louhi held her tightly to reassure her friend or to keep her from slipping off. It was that she now needed to almost hold her up because she was losing the fight to her weariness. Since there was light outside of what they traveled through, Louhi caused it to thin and pass from sight a little slowly and by seven or so, she sidled her horse along and around a small lake to the opposite shore.

Annikki woke up then, "Where are we?"

"I do not know," Louhi smiled, "but I have seen no people for a little while now and I think you need a better place to sleep than me."

She told the girl to sit still and then she swung out of the saddle to stretch a moment before she helped Annikki down.

Annikki groaned as she stood a little unsteadily for a moment. "Thank you for all of this, Louhi. I cannot feel a thing between my legs and farther back, I can feel far too much, but thank you."

When they could manage it, the girls sat down under a tree and shared the rest of anything that there was to eat , but as much as Annikki seemed to want to appear pleased and chipper, Louhi thought that she had a notion of what had to lie not far below and so she was careful to allow Annikki only so much carefree attitude and joking.

Near noon, it grew warmer and they went for a short swim, mostly to get clean again. As they sat together on the bank afterwards combing out each other's hair with Louhi's comb, that was when Annikki's dam burst and she began to cry.

She wept over the deaths of her parents, mostly her mother; since she'd raised her and always loved her one mistake, as she told herself silently. Annikki wept for her father, because she knew that he'd loved her and had always sought to provide what he could for her and her mother. She wept for the others who had been cut down and murdered and she wept for lord Olaf, who had never been a real lord, though everyone saw him that way.

When she thought of how he'd sent her away to buy some wine - when Annikki knew that he never drank the stuff and only drank beer and ale - just to have an excuse for her to be away from what he must by then have known to be only an uncertain length of time away, Annikki bawled and couldn't stop.

Louhi was weeping herself, but she looked behind her at the tree there, so she reached for Annikki and pulled her close before she leaned back. The two held each other and cried for a long time.

When Louhi awoke, Annikki had slipped down a little and her face was against Louhi's breasts. Louhi eased her head back against the tree, not wanting to wake Annikki since she didn't know if her old friend had truly cried herself out yet. She only hoped that she had, but Louhi wasn't even sure of herself at that point.

But after some minutes, she felt Annikki's soft kisses there and she raised her head again.

"What are you doing, Annikki?"

The words came to her very quietly, "I am at least a little content," she sighed, "I owe you very much, since no matter how I think of it, you saved me last night. I do not know what will come now, but I feel some comfort like this, Louhi. Is it alright?" 

Louhi sighed and nodded a little, "It is fine, Annikki, " she said as she raised her arms to hold Annikki and touch her head, "It makes me feel better too."

Annikki didn't want to move, and she didn't know what would be permitted, so she gently snuggled her head a bit more and she opened her mouth to take her friend's nipple in and suckle very gently for a few minutes.

They drew apart after a while and Annikki lifted herself up high enough to look into Louhi's eyes before she kissed her very softly, "Thank you for everything."

Louhi smiled and kissed Annikki back, "Thank you for what you did as well. We should leave soon, unless you wish to lie here with me forever."

Annikki shook her head, "Not forever, but it is a very nice thought all the same."

"Have you ever done anything with a boy?" Louhi asked and Annikki nodded, "Well, I have never done anything with a boy so much as I have had something done to me. I tried always to be quick, but even someone as small and fast as I am gets caught now and then. It felt nice sometimes, but not ever long enough for me, and anyway, I am just someone for them to catch and use. Then I must worry until I bleed again. That is how my mother came to have me.

I have fumbled a little with another girl, though," she admitted, "I liked it better. Girls seem to know that they want it to last at least a little longer. There is no big thing to stab you, but it is nice.

Have you? Ever been with a boy, I mean? Well, or a girl, now that we talk of it."

Louhi nodded, "Never with a girl, but I spent one night at it with an idiot a few days ago and it cannot have been very far from here at all -- since there he is there wanting to come over."

Annikki looked over and saw the young man, "He looks to be alright for it, I'll grant you, though he does not look to be too smart all the same."

Louhi sighed as she sat up a little more. Annikki was about to get off, but found Louhi's arm around her to keep her there.

"That one is not smart enough by half," she said, "I only picked him because I wanted to try to fuck with a man once. It was alright, but he thought it was the best thing and now when I thought that I was rid of him, he is back like housefly and about only as bright as he needs to be to keep me annoyed."

"There you are!" The fool began, "I thought it was you. And you have brought a frie-"

There was a flash from Louhi's palm and the man tumbled backward to land in a heap, mostly on his face.

"What was that?" Annikki asked in a startled voice as she looked around.

"Nothing more than my careful warning," Louhi smiled, "I reason that if I hurt him a little more each time, he will learn from it and leave me alone. Or maybe I should just kill him and have the trouble gone.

Could you, ... could you please kiss me again, Annikki? I liked it very much."

Hours later, after perhaps the most pleasant education that Louhi thought that she could ever imagine at Annikki's hands, they washed again and got dressed. Annikki had admitted to being very new to it as well, but she demonstrated that she had a very fertile imagination and anything that either one thought of was tried on them both.

They were about to leave when Annikki reminded Louhi about the young man who still lay in a pile on his face. She walked over and knelt to look at him.

He stared as she fitted the breastplate onto herself and fastened the closures.

"I, ... can't, ... move," he groaned into the grass.

Louhi nodded, "But at least you can breathe and you still live.

Now, fool, do you see at last how much I care for you? Is it enough to keep you away from me -- even if I am unlucky enough to be seen by you?"

"Was I that bad?" he asked the buttercup there in his field of view.

"No," she said, "not really. You were only selfish and you knew little more than I. 

I made a bad choice in you, that is all. Now, please, ... try to find yourself a girl who might want you, and the next time -- if you ever have that much luck again, think to ask her what she would like. Learn of it that way, and you might become known as the sort of man that a girl might get to want in her bed quite a lot.

Oh, and bathe more often as well

Do not try to get up until you can no longer hear my horse's hooves, yes?

And if you cannot even get this one simple thing right, I will kill you, because I have no use for the useless." 

She walked away to her horse and after getting Annikki up and then swinging up after her, Louhi called back.

"If you really cannot get me out of your mind, then try with one of your goats if you must."

He lay listening for a time and then he tried to move. The best that he could do at first was to lie on his front. After a while, he rolled over and began to pleasure himself, but by then, Louhi and Annikki were almost a league away.

------------------

The next day, they all met up at the winter house and sat over a good meal to decide things. Gunnar and Margit wanted to go back to the mountains where they'd wintered for a few years long before, but Louhi had other plans, wanting only to see a little of the world. 

Annikki said that although she had no value as anything anymore and certainly not a voice in their decision, she wanted to go with Louhi -- since she obviously felt that she owed her life to her in no small measure.

Louhi wept a little when she left her family three days later, expressing her desire to see them again one day.

Over the time and the traveling, Annikki learned to ride a horse and Louhi taught her what she could of fighting and - to their amazement and quite by accident (in a moment of panic), Annikki was found to have at least a little magical ability. 

Which she'd demonstrated unwittingly by killing an assailant with a rock to the head from thirty yards moved by her fear and desperation alone. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 01



After that, Annikki became Louhi's student. Somewhere in there as well, Annikki became 'Nikki' to Louhi as a pet name (and to cut down on syllables during intimate play between them).

They had a thought to go to Iceland, but found themselves in England after a time a year later as they tried to learn the language while working their way generally northward.

The travelers found themselves staying in an inn one night and having already been there for a few days and liking it, they held a whispered discussion and Annikki approached the barman with a quiet request.

Their English was admittedly rough and it was no help to them to find that the language seemed to shift and change under their feet the farther that they went.

The barman said that he knew of someone and he pointed the man out as he walked in. Louhi nodded when Annikki looked back at her and laid down her coins, taking two mugs of ale back to their room.

There was a knock at the door a little while later and when she answered it; Louhi was looking into a pair of soft gray eyes in a handsome face topped by reddish brown hair and a fortnight's growth of beard.

He was tall, muscled and handsome. 

Slightly confused-looking by his expression, but very definitely handsome.

When she heard him speak, Louhi didn't know whether to curse her luck or kill him where he stood.

She was finally starting to get the drift of the speech in this place and could even begin to relate how the different sounds could fit words which she already knew from before in her travels in this damned land.

And here she was, hopeful to have a handsome man in their bed at last -- 

And she could barely understand a word that he said in another language entirely by the sound of it.

Annikki was already sitting cross-legged on the bed, but now she crawled closer to the end in amazement at the man this close up.

He stammered looking at their beauty, while he wondered why they'd have the need to want to ask about hiring him. As far as he could tell, there ought to be a long line of hopefuls trailing behind this pair everywhere that they went. Then again, maybe he might just have his instructions wrong again; the ones where someone wanted him for his size and strength to get some work done because it was obvious that he was just a dumb brute. That was what usually happened, but there had been times where he could have sworn that he was there to ...

Louhi stuttered in her halting way - with many periods of silence as she worked through what he said and what it might mean. She saw in an instant that he had a wife and children and had been about to push him out, but in that instant where they'd looked into each other's eyes; she saw his profound sadness and grief. In that instant she knew that it was a part of his life which had been taken from him as she saw his young family dead.

In the next moment, she saw what had brought him here, a man with some of the same ability that she had and far from his ancestral home.

He tried to back away, but she pulled him in.

He tried to apologize for his mistake, from what he could tell, but she pulled him inside of the room and closed the door.

He tried to ...

He tried ...

He saw in her eyes that she knew of his sorrow and he saw just a little of her own. 

She pulled him onto the bed.



Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 02



***This chapter will need to be read a little slowly, since what happened in the past is presented from two POVs. One is by the man who it happened to, and the other is what Louhi learns. 

If it all gets to be a little too much, her explanation to him near the end ought to clear it up. I uh, ... hope.

I always learn a hell of a lot when I write anything with toeholds in history. That being said, I was STILL very hesitant with this one since there's a lot of the period where Scotland was formed in this - and THAT my friend can be a rather prickly thing to get close to, never mind the thistles.

There's an actual place mentioned in this as a temple. I doubt that it was that at all, but it makes for a good yarn. It's an archeological site on the island known as 'Mainland' in the Shetland Islands group called 'Jarlshof'. Check it out if you like. If you find a photo of the 'wheelhouse', that's where Taran wakes up.

As far as I've been able to learn, the Shetlands were once under the control of the Caitts or Catts, a fierce tribe of the legendarily fierce Picts. Picts appear in a few films such as 'Centurion' and 'Ninth Legion', portrayed as what they were, badass and blue, fighting for their turf like anybody else there back then. 

The Shetlands were known then as the 'Isles of the Cats'. The last Caitt king was Taran mac Entifidich and he died in 697AD, 300 years before this chapter begins. After him, the territory was absorbed by the other Pict tribes who were allies anyway. Everything else is fiction,

Anyway, let's see what the witcher's daughter is up to now. 

My thanks to 'Hellkite' for the tip in pronunciation "Louhi is pronounced: Low-hee :)" I just couldn't get the link to take in the text box. 0_o

----------------------

Louhi pulled the man to the bed, and though it might have been seen as a sort of overture – which it was - though not as overt a gesture as one might think under the circumstances. It was more of a necessity, there being little else in the room in terms of furniture, other than a stand to lay clothing on. The man resisted a little initially, until Louhi held up her hand as a sign that he should wait. He paused and Annikki swept her hand in a motion to draw his attention for a moment before she indicated the rest of the chamber with a wave and he did catch on then.

They looked at each other, the two young women and the man as Louhi tried to figure out a way in which to frame her questions to him. Though she hadn't noticed it downstairs, this man was plainly not what was usual for around here, by what she'd seen so far. 

There was also something about him in the way that she could draw a sense of him far more than any others here, because there was much more of him to draw from.

In his turn, he was doing largely the same thing, but he was also trying to look into their eyes as well.

They saw a man who wore markings on his face, though they looked old from fading. They weren't very noticeable, they both thought; since he wore a short beard, though it wasn't more than perhaps a fortnight's growth. Annikki hadn't even seen the markings when he'd walked into the inn and Louhi hadn't seen them either, though she'd stood even farther away.

What he saw taught him a lot about them. He learned that though the smaller of the two came from a background which held many elements of common, everyday life in a manner which he understood, he saw a rather noble - if pragmatic and slightly hopeful outlook. 

It was pragmatic in the way that she accepted things, yet it was a little hopeful nonetheless. There was also a lot of purity in her spirit, and it was indicated to him in a rather humbling way. 

He and the girl looked at each other for only a moment or two and the girl almost immediately trusted him to a large degree. That was evidenced by the way that she encircled his ribs with her arms and simply hugged him with her head against his chest, her eyes closed, and a pleased smile written there on her features as though she'd found an old friend.

It was the other one who caused him to stare.

As he looked into her light blue eyes, he expected to see little if any darkness, but what he saw in a second threatened to almost swallow him. He didn't realize it at the time, but the way that he sat transfixed caused him to put his arms around the smaller girl who was still hugging him.

He knew in a little time that it wasn't so much darkness in the equivocal sense of dark equaling evil. It was more of a hunger to know what could be learned.

And it suddenly became clear to him that it was a shared hunger in him as well.

He thought about it and chose his next words carefully.

"What does he say?" Annikki asked as she looked up, "It sounds so nice to me, but I get nothing from it."

"I do not know," Louhi said quietly, and then she tried some of the other ways and languages which she'd learned bits of.

At one point when she tried Norse, she saw his eyebrows rise in a bit of alarm and possibly distaste, so she leaned in a little and kept at it.

"What is wrong? I seek to find a way to talk between us, nothing more," she said.

"Danes?" he asked, "Are you Danes?"

Louhi shook her head, "No. We are Suomalaiset and I tried the language of the Swedes. It is also spoken by Norsemen and Danes and the Gotlanders also. There are many common words, but some sound a little different. I thought that it gave me the best chance. I have heard something like it even here." 

He nodded, "What is it that was wanted of me? The innkeeper told me that there were women here who had need of me, but I cannot get his words from him clearly, I –" 

He sighed, "Some around here regard me as a dumb ox, but I only have trouble with their speech."

He stopped then as Annikki let go of him and sat back with a little grin. "We have a need, and we see no dumb ox."

She lifted her long shirt and he watched astounded as she pulled it off over her head and shook out her long and slightly wavy strawberry-blonde hair, "I see no ox, though I see a man who might want to play at being a bull for two lonely girls in a bit of need. I hope you will not mind the work."

She moved forward a little and reached around Louhi to cup a breast through her singlet and pull up the bit of the hem that she could get free so that her hand had free passage as she leaned over her friend's shoulder.

"Well hurry up and kiss him, Louhi, or I will."

Finally, he saw that they did have the means to understand each other and though he strongly disliked the thought, he'd learned some Norse in his travels as a necessity over the time.

He looked down, "This curse on me is without end, it seems. Now I must speak the words of my enemies since almost none know mine."

He pulled away, looking sad and he held up his hands, "I can offer only my apology. You are both fine and lovely. And – and I can say that I have never seen such wondrous women. But there is a mistake here I think, and I have no wish to make it wors-"

Annikki pulled back, "Owhh, I thought that it was too good to be what I hoped." She began to reach for her shirt.

Louhi grabbed for his arm, "Wait. Please, ... only wait a little. If there is an error, I do not think that it cannot be mended. We have given coins for another night in this room and my friend bought a little ale and paid a bit more to the innkeeper to have a man sent here for us.

What were you told – or; what was it that you thought that you heard?"

The man looked at Louhi for a moment as his eyes took in the whitish hair which cascaded down over her shoulders. He thought it likely that they didn't put much stock in what he'd said of them, but it was the truth. He'd never in his life seen a single woman who was this lovely – to the standard which he saw before him now – and there were two of them. They were different from each other to be sure, so there were two new standards then, he supposed, but either of them outstripped the loveliness of any woman that he'd ever laid eyes on.

And once upon a long time ago, he'd had eyes for only one girl in all the world. Rana had been a great beauty when they'd met and he'd courted her and he'd thought the same thing of her over the four and a half years until her death. And he'd been so in love with her for far more than only that reason.

But that had been three and a half centuries ago, not that he'd ever thought to be alive now and he'd grieved her death for a little over fifty years. Now he was twenty-two again somehow and either of these two, ... 

He was aware that they awaited his answer.

"Only that there were a pair of women here who needed me," he said. "I have heard this from him before, but all of the other times, when I go to the room, I find an older woman and we cannot talk between us and it often ends badly when they begin to pull me. They shout at me, words I do not know but I see that they are angry then. Once, I found a young man waiting for me."

"How did that end?" Annikki asked from behind Louhi as she shrugged her long shirt back on.

"Only a little better," the man said with a quiet grunt, "I left him late that night. I had to do some acts with him that I was a little loathe to do, but I left him with a smile as he slept and I got silver out of it. 

I needed the coins, so, ..."

"Well what was wrong with that?" Annikki asked, "Is that not what you are to provide to the patrons?"

He shook his head, "I do not think so. The way that it is said to me is that 'Such and such in that room there needs service – or help – or they have work for you'. 

I come in here for a quiet drink to forget my troubles and it is made to sound to me as though I am to give aid. I often cannot get what is said to me here. I am not near where I come from, and it has only been a little time. I do not have an ear for the speech here yet."

Louhi thought about it for a moment as she looked up, "Well I have a need and I have a want, my friend. I also have a very strong wish. 

What I wish for most of all is that you have the time to spend with us. We are here alone. Most often, this leads a man or three to come to an idea that just because we look at him or them and do not cast our eyes down that we must ache to have them between our loins.

Almost always, the thoughts are wrong and the language here only makes a bad thing worse.

I think that the innkeeper takes money for the service of pointing someone out to a patron. But I have a want now to make what I can out of this confusion. If you would want to forget your troubles as you have said, then I think that I want to help with it, and the best way to push troubles away for the moment so that they are at least lessened a little is to tell them to another. We have ears to lend and if you could go and bring us all a little more ale – which I will give coins for – then I wish to begin."

He watched as she got off the bed and walked to get her purse – which was like anyone's purse at the time, little more than a crude leather pouch which could be tied to one's belt. As she moved, he caught just the briefest glimpse of her white pubic hair before her garment fell to cover it. The image remained, but he also saw her long legs and a bit of her bottom, though his glimpse of that treasure was even more brief. 

She fished for a moment and then held out some coins. "It cost me little to 'buy' you and I wondered about it. Now, I hope to buy your time and your pleasant voice because I wish to know about you.

I will listen to your troubles if you would let me."

He looked from the coins in his hand to her face for a moment and then he smiled and nodded.

He was gone the next moment and Annikki groaned.

"Well that was the fine fuck which wasn't," she scowled.

"I love you dearly, Louhi, but I cannot swallow how you have just given away more coins for nothing. He will not come back and we have been foolish. I will love you again this night and it is all that I ever need, but we wanted a man tonight as we agreed, and it almost always goes wrong when we try."

"That is because of the speech wherever we go much of the time," Louhi replied a little distantly as she looked at the closed door, "There is nothing wrong with either of us, sweet one, but it is the same anywhere. We must be careful."

She looked at the other girl, "He looks wild, but I see more in him, Annikki. 

If you want only a brute; that is easily done and it will cost you no coins at all – though you would never have any more to your name since your brute would drink it all. You will find yourself working yourself to death for a lout and wearing the marks of his love on your swollen face on and off for the rest of your life. 

You will be followed by the brats that he stuffs into your cunt and you birth – if the birthing of them doesn't kill you. They will tag along, each clamoring for something different and poking each other in the eyes because they are as stupid and mean as their father. They will follow you like a cursed cloud wherever you go in the little hovel where you will live. 

Why have you never told me that you wanted that? I could have saved my own heart if I knew it."

Annikki looked down, "I am sorry. It's just that, ... "

"I wanted the same thing," Louhi said softly, "I did not mean to sound so hard to you. I had the want of a good fucking myself. But that one ...

He knows the ways, but his teaching was different. He has the sight, but does not dare to trust in it, for things to him are not as he knew them once. It changes nothing, but there is a man there worth knowing for us. Feel this, Nikki, and we might have more than we sought to buy with our few coins.

That one holds cares which there is no hope to mend or make better. I have seen that far in, though I do not know the why of it all yet. And he will come back, Nikki, so do not give up your hope for the night just yet. He now stands talking to the innkeeper. 

For such a fat man, the innkeeper is now pulled almost over the bar and he wants nothing more right now than to give back our coins."

It took no longer than ten minutes and there was another knock on the door. When they answered, a serving woman strode in with two large platters of steaming food. Behind her, the man walked in with four tankards of ale. The platters were handed to Louhi and Annikki and the woman left the room with a sniff which they imitated toward her retreating back.

"I bought the ale which you wanted and I paid for the meal myself," he smiled as he put them down on the small night table next to the bed. He held out his hand and dropped a few small coins into Louhi's hand. 

"The difference over the misunderstanding," he smiled.

Louhi chuckled, "Then you have earned an even larger share of my trust, my friend. And now I long to eat a little and learn of you at the same time.

The very first thing which is needed is that we learn your name. I am Louhi and this is Annikki or only Nikki sometimes."

He pointed to himself, "Taran."

He looked downward a little then, "I live in the saddest of times, and I am forced to watch the last of my people scattered to the winds until I know them not anymore and even the wind which scattered them gives way to new winds which blow them and tatter them and I already see it beginning once again."

Louhi looked at him and reached out to hold onto his broad shoulders, "You can speak long to us, but be a little slow, for what you say is not just as we know the words to be, all of them."

He looked at them, from one to the other and Annikki nodded in encouragement, sensing uneasiness in him by his uncertain look as she tried not to speak around the bit of roast in her mouth – but did a little anyway. "Not Danes," she said, shaking her head, "not Swedes, or Norse. We are Finns."

She pointed to the bed and indicated a place with her finger, "Here." 

He watched her fingertip move to the side, "Nóregr." 

It moved to the side of that in direction, "Danemark, and here, Sverige." Her finger finally stopped and she looked up, "Suomi," She pointed to Louhi and herself, "Suomalaiset – Finns we are called." 

His eyes widened and he looked at them again for a moment before he swept her imaginary map aside and pointed to a different spot.

They looked at the dark markings on the part of his forearm which protruded from the sleeve of his cloak before they nodded their understanding that he was trying to show them a view of his own world.

"Here."

His hand moved in a different direction in a broad motion, "Pictland," He looked up, "Pictland – Alba. See? Alba." He pointed to himself, "It was a kingdom of seven kings and is under slow and quiet attack, though they know it not, for it is done by people who live among them in peace. But it is like adding water to wine for it thins them. All of us are Cruthnes in our old tongue – the one which fades even now. The words of others say I am a Pict."

His finger went back to the drawing on the bedsheet, "Alba," and then drew on farther, "Caithness, kingdom of the Catt, the tribe where I was born."

His finger moved on, "Innse," His hands rose up to indicate something small held enveloped as a thing while he nodded hopefully, "Innse." He placed his hands in the same manner on the bed.

Louhi looked up, "Innse, ... island?"

He nodded, "Innse." Pointing to the spot once more with his fingers, he said, "Inse Orc, island of the pigs, though now they say Orkney when I ask."

He raised his finger again and it went even further, right to the edge of the bed and he looked up, "Na h-Innse Cait. 

Hjaltland, they say to me, or Hetland. Caittland I heard once."

He finally pointed to himself, "Pict," he nodded, "Caitt." He nodded again, "I am the last, from what I know." He looked away for a moment, "At least, I am the last who even knows what he is anymore."

What had once been seven Pictish kingdoms or more – his own being only one and the largest at the time that he once knew – had since been rolled over by the Vikings as they'd turned from raiders into settlers. And that was from three sides. From the south and east, there came the Scots. Where one came with plowshares, the other came with swords. A lot of the people that he met might have been Picts a few hundred years ago, but now they were part of an amalgamation, the whole of it mixed with Gaelic and other overall Celtic influences and with the Gaels and Scots people thrown in there as well.

He drew a deep breath.

"My name is Taran mac Entifidich and I was a king once.

I am a king cursed, and I have been dead for, ... very near to three hundred summers.

In my time, I knew my people and my lands. That has passed and is now the Kingdom of Alba with a new king and I know him not or whether he is a true Pict.

I was the last king in my line and after me; the kingdom of Caitt slowly weakened and from what I know from my asking of others, it was swallowed by our allies and kinsmen from Fidach to the west after I was gone. Now, they fade themselves before the Northmen and the Scots though they all turn to fight the Angles if they come. It has been my curse to see my wife and children killed and to live on with nothing."

"But, ... " Louhi looked into his eyes intently, "You are not dead, ... Taran."

"No," he nodded, "but it is a cruel fate to live on alone. I no longer have any country and almost no countrymen.

I had a wife and lovely she was and she birthed me our children." 

He sighed as he looked down and it came out of him as almost a groan, "But, ... before that, I went to a place where holy men were on Na h-Innse Cait to be taught, for it was said to me that a king such as I was to be one day would need to know of many things and not only what a man sees but what is not to be seen and yet is just as real. 

When I came there, I was given a slave to help me in any way as I learned. In the first strange day, I told him that he was no slave to me, though slaves were always kept by many of the peoples everywhere and mine were no different. I wanted no slave, and sought to have him freed, or if I could, I'd have paid his worth to the ones who owned him. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 02



And they were the learned ones and told me that it could not be. Since I was not yet a king, and was told that it had been my king's word which bound the slave to the holy men, I could do little, other than treat him well.

What was not known was that he came from a tribe and place far away and he had powers which the holy men knew nothing of. He was a holy man himself and he taught me the name. A Dru-wid, he said to me that he was once but he said that his kind was very hidden, even among the other kinds of them. When I was to leave the next spring, he begged me to take him along, saying that he needed me. What he wanted was not to be permitted, though I had done what he wanted many nights. He grew a little cold to me and I was a young fool and far too trusting.

"What was not to be permitted," Louhi asked, "That you were lovers, two men?"

He seemed to look a little troubled then over how to explain it, not knowing the ways of their people. "Caitts are Picts and Picts come from Celts, long ago, I learned. The same wild and free people are inside the ones here now. Celts pushed back the Romani long ago with the Picts as their allies, among many others. To love another man was not a strange thing, even for a king with a wife. But a king and a slave ..." 

He shook his head before he went on.

"One day, not long before the boat came to bring me back, he told me that he had been told to assist me in a secret rite, and so I went with him. He took me to the holy place and bade me to lie on a stone bed. The next thing that I knew was that I had been cast asleep and when I awoke, he was gone. What I told to the holy men meant nothing to them and they said that they had not sent for me and knew nothing of it. When I was the king finally and if I'd known that he was there, I would have sent men to free him and bring him here so that he could make a better life. No one could find him and I sent for word often about him. 

I returned to my land and in time, I became king over the Caitts and a little later I met and wed my wife.

But, ... there are always those who plot and scheme and it was only later that I learned that my 'slave' and lover had been one of the whispered voices which guide the easily-led. I was beset one night as I traveled to one of our towns. My loyal guards were cut down, though they slew many of the ones who attacked us. I slew the rest and went back to Caithness alone. What I found there was that my family had been killed by others the same night that I had been attacked. It took little time to find the ones and I slew them myself.

But in my questioning, I learned of someone who had played a hand in a very quiet way, and the more that I sought to know, the more I learned of a person whom I knew once far to the north on an island.

As much as I searched, I found no more of the man who had acted out of anger to me, taking the closest ones to me in his jealous hate of me.

I had the chance many times but I never wanted to seek for love anymore." 

He shrugged sadly, "I dared not in any event. With no finish to it, I knew that a man such as he was could do it again and no one deserves that death after trusting their safety to me. I had him hunted, but he was never found."

He drew a deep breath and went on, "I died an old man, and then I awoke far to the north in a cairn. I, ... I do not know how I came to be there. I awoke in darkness and knew nothing for a time until I tried to get out. I had to feel my way for so long in blackness until I remembered that I, ... I made my own light then."

He looked at them, expecting some reaction, but they only looked at him nodding so he went on.

"I saw that there were the bones of a man on a shelf and by what I saw, I knew my own clothing on him, but it was little more than dust – and that is what it became when I touched it. The bones had fallen apart from each other even before that.

All around in the cairn, I saw the bones of men, older bones with long-rusted and ruined swords, but I saw that they had not been laid to rest. They were as they fell, and it seemed to me that they died fighting, though who or what they fought - none of it was clear to me. 

I looked at myself and I saw me as I was at perhaps twenty-one summers. I had no clothing and I was cold."

He thought for a moment and said, "I knew myself, not by looking at a shiny thing to see my face though I have done it since and I look as I did then. I could find nothing shiny like that there. I saw my own body as I remembered it and when I looked to see, I saw markings the same as what I had before I was wed. Most of what I wore was put on me by my wife after. She was very good at things like this. But there in the cairn, what I saw was what I had before I was wed."

He drew up his cloak and they saw that the markings on his skin there on his arms were in patterns. Louhi moved forward and with a questioning look at Taran, she opened his cloak and they stared at his chest there under his simple shirt. 

Annikki was off the bed and urging him to take his shirt off. As Louhi turned to set his cloak down, she heard that her friend was almost not giving Taran the time to remove his shirt – or was struggling with it herself in her haste.

But she heard the gasp and as she turned around, she felt a gasp of her own escape her throat.

The patterns on the skin over his arms resembled bracers, above the wrists and around his biceps – both arms. There were swirls and stripes over the crowns of his shoulders and stars and suns on him here and there. In the center of his chest, they saw a bare circle, small and just over the very center. But radiating outwards from that, there were many wavy rays to the design. Though they were bolder and darker, they seemed to match the style of the ones there on his face.

"What are they, Taran?" Louhi asked.

He didn't shrug or anything. He only said, "It was the way of my kind to do this. I see little or nothing of it anymore among the ones here – and this place – this town has come and now stands on the place where the southernmost town of ours sat."

He looked at his own arms, "This is little to what my wife made on me and is only one color – it comes from woad driven in through the skin with needles. 

If there was a fight to be made with another tribe or people, we also covered ourselves with paste made from woad to make the skin blue. Mostly, we used woad for the blue though we could make a red dye from another plant. In battle, most did not do this. There is enough red which comes of it then anyway.

That day when I awoke, I slowly found my way to the outside, because the cairn was made in a way that I knew and remembered. That was when I knew that it was once a hall and not a barrow, which it was when I awoke. I was at the entrance and I looked back. Then it was that I saw and knew the place – for it was where I had gone to learn. The bones around me were not those of fighting men. They were the holy men of that place.

I found the door closed in and there was earth behind it, and digging a little, I felt the cold air of the night and went out.

Much had changed and I saw lights from the edges of a doorway. After a time, I saw the size of the place and it was something that I did not remember to be there. It looked strange to me, but I found washing there left from the day. 

I had nothing, so I took for me only what I needed and returned to my hole.

I closed up the door and sought for what I knew must have been there, and I found a passage. It led me to the broch of the place-"

He looked and saw no comprehension.

"As broch is a tower, made in northern places as a storehouse and refuge which may be defended and to keep attackers out. They are round in their shape and are built using flat stones piled up in a ring. Inside one ringed wall, there always stands a second wall. The top is thatched and can be used for storage and living in for many people until it is either breached – which almost never happens – or until the attackers give it up and go.

I went to the upper stage and could look out from under the thatching. I also found and took some dried fish and returned once more to my burial cairn, for by then I knew that it had been used as such for me.

Where I'd lain was a holy place to my people and when I knew it from living there before, there were perhaps a hundred living there and many more over the island. By the time that I awoke, my people were gone and the land belonged to Northmen.

The old man that I saw on the shelf wearing my things and lying with my rusted weapons was me. I know not how any of this came to be.

In the morning, I watched as much as I could while I hid and I learned that Northmen now lived and kept cattle there and grew things to eat for themselves on my land. But from what I saw, there were eighty or so, some women and children in the number and one of their boats lay in the water close by.

But most of the men were leaving and from what I knew of them, they often go to plunder.

I was there less than a fortnight when a boat came to trade and though most of the men on it were Northmen by their words, I heard three who spoke in a tongue between them such as was used by Caitts though it was also different. When I showed myself to them, they saw this – "

He pointed to what he wore on his chest, "and two at least knew of it, this mark. It was to mark me as a king, and they said that it could not be. But they spoke for me to the Northmen and I stayed on the boat until they left the next day. The boat carried me to Innse Orc, and thence to the land here. I left when I had the chance because the Northmen wanted to sell me as a slave, but they left it too late. 

I was over the side when we came close enough to the shore and running for my freedom when I heard them search for me. As I ran in the trees, I heard horsemen coming for me to hunt me down. I slew first one with my hands and then the other with the sword of the first and I took what I needed before I rode away on a horse of theirs, leading the other horse. I sold one and rode the other after the second town that I came to.

It took me a year to journey south again and when I came to the place that I once ruled, everything had passed and I am alone."

He looked down again, "I am no king as I was. I am a Caitt where none live anymore, being mixed and forgotten among others. I find little anymore of the - Picts, as they say that I am. I am nothing."

"No," Louhi said, "not nothing, Taran. Only not a king, though I see that you are kingly in your way. What say you, Nikki?"

"Very kingly," she nodded.

He was astonished and only sat there a moment. "You, ... you believe me. I see it in your eyes. But why? What I have said is nothing like what is known to men."

"I hope that I do not say it in a wrong way, "Annikki began, "But I am a learner to Louhi in many things. She is, ... Do I say it?" she asked as she looked at Louhi.

Louhi smiled, "I saw how you looked, Taran. Look at me and see me better. If you have trouble, then use your light. We knew what was meant. I see much more in you than I saw when you came to the door. What you went to learn, I know as well; Annikki too for I teach her, though she comes late to what I learned at my father's hand as a little girl."

He watched the two candles in the room sprout little flames and begin to burn. Without a thought, he knew that it had been Annikki's will which had caused it.

Louhi held out her hand toward the fireplace and looked at Taran.

Taran looked from one to the other and then the fireplace burst into flame at a glance from him. 

Annikki got to her feet smiling as she came to Taran.

"I must confess that I had hopes of knowing you this well," she said, "but only afterwards, talking from one to another in the bed. I hope that you know that we favor you, Cruthne."

Taran looked startled and it caused Louhi to laugh as she got up and pulled the singlet over her head and tossed it onto the hanging rack for the clothes. She stepped behind Annikki and lifted the girl's long shirt a little slowly. For her part, Annikki began to sway her hips because it caused her bottom to slide against Louhi. 

"You see? Women hear what is said to them always. We have found a man who is something as we are. Do you choose to look back, Taran, or do you choose to look ahead?

Let us sit and eat, friend, and then we might see what else might be shared between us three."

"Are all of your kind like you?" he asked, "Are there many with the gift?"

"No," Annikki said and they both laughed together, "We would have been dead long before we left if they were."

The bed was just not going to work as a place to eat, so Louhi found a broom and carefully swept the hearth as Annikki and Taran moved the food and ale there. When she was a little satisfied, Louhi moved some of the bedding there and the three of them ate together with the talk between them becoming much easier to manage and understand. Louhi sat cross-legged as did Taran. She was a little careful about it, not wanting things to go quite yet to where there was an obviously combined thought between them all.

She wanted to know more and so now and then, she found little ways to touch Taran, usually by managing to have her knee just making light contact with his leg. She couldn't go deeply into him, not wanting to alarm him to any degree, but she just tried to make do with what came to her from him through it.

What she got disturbed her a little, not from a personal level, but rather for him. She didn't know if she was right just yet, but if her impressions were more or less correct, then she wondered what he'd do with the information if it were spelled out to him.

Simply put – and she was far from done with her gentle seeking, but,...

The man here with them was not Taran mac Entifidich.

He was a replica.

This was a copy created from the essence of the real man with all of the physical features and most of the traits of the original, complete and accurate at the time when it had been made, though she thought that there were inconsistencies in the bits of his memories which came to her. Her next thought was more correct. He was a copy made from an already-existing man who had been changed to suit the likeness of the original as closely as possible.

What sat there next to her was a living human, though she reasoned that if he was stood next to the original at the same point in his life, there would likely have been a few differences evident if one looked closely. Whoever this had been when he'd been born would have only resembled the original in as close a way as it had been possible to do from a magical standpoint and the rest of the features had been tailored to suit.

She looked away to consider it at a point where he and Annikki were laughing a little over one of her jokes to him.

Well he hadn't been made out of mud and feathers, she thought. There had to have been another life involved. A man such as this at that age and in a place where life was often hard, cold, and windblown would likely have had personal involvements and relationships just to stay alive most often, and with a start, Louhi saw that this man had once had a young wife as well, though perhaps not in a formal way.

She didn't know anything of it from that long-dead woman's side, but she thought that there must have been at least some grief to have had a man like him and then had him ripped out of their lives together.

Another touch of her knee against his and she had the memory of the girl, eighteen and wiry, a thin barely-pretty thing named Gretta who'd loved her man with all of her heart and never forgot her good fortune in him – until he was gone one day and she was almost alone on an island at the far end of the chain. That was as much as Louhi could get and with a little thought, she knew that she was now in so deep that she was sifting through things which had lain torn and cast aside when the changes had been made to this man.

Other memories came to her in a jumbled fashion at first, though she did see the one responsible. He was slender and not tall with dark, almost black and slightly curly hair which the constant winds of the place kept in a state of unruliness. The face that she saw was attractive in his way, with dark brown eyes. 

The next thing to flash into her mind had been the purpose – the reason to effect such sweeping and tragic changes to several other lives connected to the original king and this man.

Out there in the cool wind, in a place which never grew very warm in summer where no trees grew and survival was often based on what one could catch for one's self, whether it was the eggs of a nesting seabird or one of the many sheep of the place, or even a crude bucket of shellfish from the shore; out there, a love had grown between two men – though it had never been completely mutual.

The one who she saw now in Taran's memories had been prepared to give his all for their lives. It hadn't been an exactly unrequited thing, since the original Taran had reciprocated, of course.

But Taran had seen it as something between them which had been a physical attraction and though he'd liked it and participated almost as eagerly as the other, it had also been out of a feeling of sadness for the first slave that he'd really ever gotten to know really well, and out of a desire to make what he'd seen a little better. To Taran's mind afterward, it had been an error, since he hadn't, but should have thought things through to the only possible end. The one which had occurred; where he'd left to go back to being a man who was being prepared to rule and where the other one continued his life as a slave who was by then a runaway one.

Louhi watched as the view became one of that place from the point of view of walking to seek for someone and then hearing the call of his name on the wind. The view shifted as though he'd turned to the sound and she watched the other young man run to him and stand wanting to feel his embrace. It happened and she felt the thin arms encircle his neck as the smaller man stood on his toes for the kiss that they shared and she felt the thin fingers as they crept into his clothing to hold and stroke the growing hardness while she felt Taran's own fingers reach to pull up the robe and slide over his flanks. 

She saw them together in a room which pre-dated them by thousands of years, built into the face of a hill overlooking the sea. It was deserted then, since none of the Caitts had been there to see it but the two lovers. It was the place where they went for their trysts and she saw the other boy's face from above and behind, facing back over his shoulder but with his pretty eyes closed in bliss as the original Taran plowed into him slowly and gently before this copy had been taken out of his own life.

There were other memories there, and it became difficult to set 'original Taran's' memories – which had been imported into this man from the 'unnamed and stolen Taran's' memories.

One had been a king-to-be who had once had a ten month dalliance with another man and had gone on to become the king with his queen and their children and ...

The one here had been taken out of his life; had his thoughts, knowledge of himself and most of his accessible memories changed in an effort to be what the other man had wanted for a mate in the absence of the real thing.

She saw that it hadn't gone in quite the desired way a lot of the time. This 'Taran' could be put back to sleep for months at a time, and it happened often for a couple of reasons. The replica had to be kept on the island or the enchantment would dissolve. That was a big one in itself.

The other well, ... 

Though this 'Taran' had been made to be compliant, there was no drive there from within or he'd have just wandered off looking for his wife and wondering how he'd come to be there with a man who wanted so much of only one kind of thing from him where there had been none of that sort of interest in him to begin with. He did what he was told to do and that was all. There was never any love out of the breast of the man sitting next to Louhi for the man who'd never gotten past what had been and then found the way to have an almost mindless human to service the wants of his body.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 02



Whenever he'd had to go to the land of the Picts, this replica was left in a place which lay hidden. The term of the storage could never be too long or the body would die.

But then Louhi came to the dreadful scene where it had ended a few years later. The man had returned after engineering the deaths of Taran's family. News of it had not reached the island yet and would not for some time, but the man wanted to gloat a little over what he'd done to take from King Taran what he saw as the equivalent to what he'd lost himself some years before. He revived his somewhat artificial lover and after feeding him for some days and taking time to get him a little used to being animated once more, he'd spent a long time giving in to what he'd needed from the original.

As usual, it had left him sore and spent, but unsatisfied.

But the next time that he'd left the island and returned, he'd found the place broken into and the man gone.

When he'd entered what had been a temple to that point, looking for his creation, he'd been met by almost all of the holy men and there had been a tumultuous magical battle in very cramped quarters and though all of the priests there had been killed outright or mortally wounded to die minutes later, the younger man had perished before he could revive his only chance to kill the holy men easily.

She was looking at what had occurred before the eyes of this man next to her. The mind had been closed down, but the recorder had been running all the same watching from the stone shelf.

She watched what he'd seen of it and then, hours later, she'd watched the aftermath as one very old priest had been helped inside by an acolyte. He gave instructions to the learner in a tongue which Louhi had no knowledge of and he spent several days over the inanimate body of the replica of Taran. He stopped only to eat what the young man brought to him and he rested only an hour or so at a time, but when he was done, this copy was prepared and stable and would not need the now-dead man's care.

The old one was helped out of the temple and that night the door was closed and the space before it filled in.

A fluttering impression drifted through then of the aged King Taran being placed in the care of an old holy man. The old man said some words of a kind and there was darkness.

Another, more recent memory came to her of the door being opened again a long time later. From what she saw, the acolyte was by then a priest himself and an old one, so the old master must have since perished, she thought. Then she saw that the old priest had been the one who had cared for the dying king.

She watched as the body of the king was placed on a nearby shelf and the bearers left, talking among themselves of why the body showed no signs of decomposition and held none of the smell of death over the time that it had taken to transport it to his tomb.

After they'd gone, the old priest entered a little unsteadily and began another ritual. 

The king's body was gently and carefully unwrapped from its shroud and then much of the king's consciousness had appeared quite suddenly in the mind of the still-young replica. That done, the last of the life in the king left him.

From what she saw on the ancient face, it had not gone well and though he tried to revive the second king, he'd failed at it and he eventually left, giving orders that the tomb be sealed.

As other thoughts and notions passed her, she saw the more recent time of his awakening only about a year before.

Louhi said nothing of it, though she'd joined in the conversation now and then.

She tried to see a reason in it all and the only thing which came to her was that what had been done had been found out by the holy men and that what came after was their way of resetting the balance of events. They'd wanted their king to rise again a young man.

She wondered about the young woman who had never seen her man again. She wondered who had reset her balance.

She moved her knee away as she reached for a little more food. 

Did she still have any want of him? She asked herself this for a few moments and it came to her that none of this – what had been done – had been a want of this man. He'd been born, grew into a man, met and loved the girl who would become his wife and loved her with everything he'd had.

He'd been pulled out of that and his mind and body changed in ways that he'd also not wanted to happen. He'd had no will of his own for most of his long existence. Louhi couldn't imagine it.

Then he'd had more of his thoughts and feelings overwritten once again with the dead king's consciousness. She felt for him, but did she still have the want of him next to her in the bed that night?

Did she still have the need to copulate with this man?

She almost shook her head to clear it of these thoughts, but she stopped herself because she didn't want to have to come up with an explanation for it. She thought back to her first look at him in the common room downstairs and then later right over there in the doorway. She thought about him during their first interactions, trying to determine if what she now knew of him really mattered to her.

He was an anomaly for certain – even to himself. But he looked to be very intelligent in a quiet way and most of the anger in him was only out of his confusion and frustration at the changes which he saw around him with nothing seeming to fit at all to what he'd remembered. 

So sometime long after everyone had given up manipulating him for their own ends, long, long after all of the players had gone to their graves, this one very confused individual had awoken all alone in his tomb and crawled out.

Was it his fault, any of it?

Had he done anything at all willingly? Had he even had any will in him at all from the taken one's side of it?

Finally, did she still like this strange king inside of him in a newer body, the one who sat just as confused in that body and had no knowledge that the body was not his own, other than what he'd assumed of it in wonder as he'd looked back into the tomb?

Louhi was a rather powerful entity herself, but underneath it all, she was still a woman, with a woman's heart driving her, just the same as any other woman. She just knew a little more about some esoteric things and the dark ways in which they could be used because of who she was.

The answers to all of these questions came to her and she smiled to herself as she leaned over and kissed him.

Taran was just a little shocked at the suddenness of it, but he recovered quickly and responded to her. Annikki had been waiting to take her cue from Louhi anyway and now rose up on her knees to join in to a three-way groaning, sighing kiss for a few long moments.

Taran had wondered about them a little earlier by their actions so it didn't take him any time at all to see that the two women were lovers. He'd guessed as much anyway from the moment that he'd seen that there were two of them in the room to start with and the obvious comfort between them. A pair of women might travel together, though it could be a risky thing if there were no men around to keep other men away. These two were traveling alone and they were managing it, though he didn't see how so he assumed that they were far more than the young witches that he'd thought them to be at first.

They had to be, if they'd come all of this way with just each other.

Sad to say, but a lot of the world was still a 'see it-want it-take it if you think you can get away with it' sort of place in a lot of ways. As he felt them leaning against him and rubbing a little, he supposed that they'd already shown him that they were different if they could have gotten here from where they'd said that they were from and no one had taken them to sell off as slaves for a little quick gold – after trying them out a little first, of course.

Like a lot of his recent life, it wasn't what he necessarily thought of as right, but it was there, whether you agreed with it or not.

He was the closest one to the wall and out of their pressing against him the way that they had been, he'd leaned back against it and Annikki saw a chance for herself, so she stood up without a word and placed her feet on either side of him to look down at his face and smile as she thrust her hips in his face a little. He looked up into her eyes and he almost laughed when he saw what she wanted and he nodded, taking her small hips in his hands and pulling her to him.

Annikki leaned forward and placed her forearms against the wall as she felt the first of his very warm and so nicely-done kisses against her mound. She was already wet for him and had been since she'd kissed his face, the gesture opening her floodgates wide right then. As he slurped and sucked those lips, Louhi sat back a little and watched; a little overtaken by the way that this looked so erotic to her.

She loved Annikki very much and she guessed that she had since they were just a pair of little girls who could always manage to get along and play well together. They'd never had a single fight back then that she could remember. They just couldn't find each other every day a lot of the time back then. Now they were all grown up and it hadn't been a planned thing or even more than a shared curiosity between them once in a meadow at the end of a horrible time in their lives, but since then, they'd made a real love out of it and didn't plan to ever stop, it they could.

They both still wanted a man now and then when the need overcame them, and they'd shared a few quiet hopes of finding ones for themselves at some time, but what they shared had to either go on hidden or with the knowledge of those men at some point. They'd already decided that. 

Annikki had a little thing about her that Louhi also loved, though she'd been reluctant to even give it a try when they first began. Between themselves, Annikki had always loved to lick Louhi anywhere at all, going over Louhi's body wetly with her mouth and tongue to settle eventually onto her mound and lips after a rather lengthy circumnavigation. She often drove Louhi wild with it, never relenting until the white-haired girl was little more than a sloppy, quivering, and most often gasping mess – no matter how she'd tried, beseeched and even begged the smaller blonde to stop after her loud and shuddering orgasms.

She just went on, and Louhi was helpless in it. She'd even tried grabbing a hank of Annikki's hair in a bit of desperation to pull her mouth away and it had worked – until she'd let go and that little she-demon was gnawing happily on her mound again the next second.

"I cannot help myself, Louhi," she'd said back when they were getting to know one another intimately, "I love the smell and the sounds that you make for me. It all pushes me more, and the taste of you, ... oh, better than honey, and almost as intoxicating as mead to me. I could die there."

"Well, see that you don't." Louhi had chuckled, "I'd hate to lose you in any way, and that would be so silly to have to tell of."

At the time of the conversation almost a year ago, Louhi had seen Annikki's hungry stare beginning again and said, "Oh no, ... 

Please, sweet one, just a little rest if you don't mind or I think my own heart will stop."

Annikki had looked up and smiled very sweetly as she'd closed the trap, "Alright, but I wish to find another place until you are ready again. You will fall asleep once more if I let you and then I would need to tickle you awake for the next round."

Louhi didn't want to think about that possibility again, so she'd nodded, thinking that her lover would settle onto her breasts again. But instead of rising, Annikki had sunk lower down and tried to push Louhi over. The next thing that Louhi knew, she was every bit as lost in a new sensation. She'd allowed it, though, and now it was something that they often did for each other after a bath.

That was all fine and good, and it was pleasing in a gentle and very intimate way, but Annikki had expressed another desire and Louhi had disagreed then.

"One day," she whispered back as she ran her hand over Louhi's head while Louhi licked her anus, "I hope to find a man who is very gentle with me. If I ever find one like that and he proves himself so, then I think that I would like to offer him the little place where you are now."

Louhi didn't know just what Annikki had expected her to say as a reply, but she hoped that she wasn't expected to just jump onto the cart. "Then I wish you luck with that, Nikki. But that is where I leave that road. I like what you do to me and it feels so nice – even your fingertip, but right there is where the ox stops for me. I do not ever want that."

From where she sat, Louhi now had a fine view of Annikki's perfect little ass right there in front of her - and – Annikki was preoccupied at the moment. Louhi grinned. 

The perfect time to strike.

And so she leaned forward and placing her hands over Taran's she leaned in, tilted her head upwards just a little as she extended her tongue.

It was all that she could do to keep herself from laughing. Annikki was stuck on two tongues at the same time and couldn't stand the tickles yet couldn't tear herself away from either of them, just trying to keep her legs holding her up a little longer.

Eventually, Louhi had to back away, just to get a proper breath so that she could let out the giggles which were right there in her over this retribution.

Louhi reached out to take Taran's hardness in her hand and she began to stroke him as her other hand reached down to give herself a little pleasure as well. That didn't last long, though.

She moved to recline a little and with a bit of care, she found that she could lick that thing and suck on it as noisily as she wanted. He was a little trapped here and she was taking full advantage of the opportunity. Her mind kept on working as she spread her legs again and began to tease herself a lot more. He tasted wonderful and she was having trouble trying to remember a little of the last time that she'd had one of these in her mouth. It had been the fool goat-herd, she remembered.

Well this one was far better to her, she decided.

She drew her head back and looked at it glistening wetly there in front of her for a moment just before she began again, getting her tongue into the play as she moved it over and past her lips in both directions, never pausing long enough to give him much respite.

It ended for her a moment later and she opened her mouth again while looking at that beautiful thing once more. Oh, how she could just do this all day, she thought, as she groaned loudly and took it in as best she could.

That was when another difference came to her. She really couldn't do this all day – as much as she ached to, a little. Well, not if she planned to use her jaw for anything that night or most of the next day. Even as quickly as she'd been able to bring the goat-heard to his gush, her lips had gone numb in the doing of it.

What the hell did she think would happen with this fine toy?

Annikki began to sink down a little cautiously, not wanting to land awkwardly on her friend. Louhi saw it as it began and she held her hand up against her bottom to get her to pause.

"Half a moment, sweet one and I will help," She sat back a little and began to help Annikki ease down and move her legs forward a little so that things would line up. Louhi helped get them together and then she sat back to watch.

Annikki began to kiss Taran so slowly and softly, asking in her way for a little gentleness right then, as she moved herself up and down on him, making tiny motions as well to get settled. Louhi moved to get nearer and began to squeeze the small breasts for Annikki and it went well after that. She only had to pay attention to see the point where Annikki wanted to bounce on him and seeing that, she sat back to tease herself a little more.

Annikki was lost in bliss and working as hard as she could. She hadn't had a decent fuck in so long and this man left the term in the dust of the road far behind. She gasped whenever he did anything just a little differently. She groaned when she allowed herself to settle onto his spike now and then for a moment. She moaned ceaselessly any other time.

And when she came, Annikki threw her head back and let it out, a cry and a little laugh at the same time. 

It had been what Louhi had been waiting for and she began to try to rub her wet sex right off. She knew the girl that she loved so much. This was the sound that Annikki made when she was really feeling it.

By their agreement, if the man didn't look to be particularly close to his gush, the one of them who'd just had a satisfying orgasm was to allow the other one a turn. If the man did show signs of being close, they had to ask him and if he was, then the one who possessed him at that time could ride it out with him.

But Taran easily looked as though he could carry on for a while yet, and so Annikki got off, leaving him with a soft kiss and her thanks.

He looked a little puzzled, but then he saw Louhi lying back on her elbows, smiling at him, "You bring that here, my new friend, and I will help for a turn now."

He crawled right over and though it was a very new thing for him, he waited, allowing Annikki to get them joined before he mounted Louhi properly and they began to fuck languidly to start with. Louhi had intended to have just a little quiet conversation with Taran at this point. Not anything long or deep, but something spoken between them anyway because she loved the way that he spoke.

His kisses delayed it as they distracted her – though it was the sweetest distraction. Up to now, no one's kisses could move her the way that Annikki's could and she just accepted that. But Annikki, no matter how much the feeling was on them, kissed like, ... well, like Annikki, still so very grateful and so in love with her white-haired girl.

Taran didn't kiss like that.

Then again, she marveled as her very breath was stolen from her... 

Taran didn't kiss like any man that she'd had before in her life and there had been a few between her and Annikki as they'd wandered. 

She kissed him back, returning the whole repertoire, determined to give as good as she got from him and she managed it, making him groan into her mouth just as she moaned into his while their tongues slid around together. His kisses were so moist and soft, so she kissed him softly.

She kissed him hard when it was what he gave to her.

She kissed him so wetly to match what he did when he did it that she felt something drip onto her chin and she couldn't have cared less right then. She was being taken by a wondrous thing lying on her, a male who knew what he was about in the business of mating. He lowered his head and she held him tightly as she rocked him.

He told her that she was so fine.

She told him that he was so good for her right now.

He began to grunt a little as he plowed her a bit harder and she paced him easily, amazed that they fit so well in the match.

She licked the rim of his ear and cooed at him that he was a beast, and a very fine one at that.

It made him chuckle low down in his throat and Louhi could feel it against her chest.

She nuzzled against the side of his head, smelling the clean scent of washed hair and the intoxicating smell of a good man, as young and healthy as she was. She'd already raised her legs for him as she rocked.

Now she reached for his back and his ass, if she could manage it.

She did and she opened her eyes to find herself smiling into Annikki's face, and Annikki nodded.

But then, Taran began his gentle kissing and licking and nipping attack on the side of her throat and that was it for Louhi.

The orgasm which she knew must have been coming to her overtook her from almost out of nowhere it seemed and she howled out his name as she held on tightly, bucking as he almost roared in his gush.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 02



She bucked over and over. She raked his back without meaning to. He raised his head to look at her and it almost started her off on another one just to see that face look into hers.

He seized her breast and clamped his mouth over a nipple and at that instant, Annikki squeezed the other nipple that she'd found then Louhi did have another ...

She did. 

With his help and with Annikki's...

She'd managed a second orgasm, or, ... maybe it was just,... Well to her delight, he was still going, though his seed was already in her.

They rested a bit after that and had a little more of the ale, down to sharing it and not giving a damn who had started any one particular tankard. It just wasn't important. They talked and laughed and all three of them found out that Taran really liked to have his balls caressed gently whenever, but he thought that he might especially like it when he was fucking somebody, so both of the girls stated that they'd help with it.

Taran had been sitting, but at one point, he reached for Annikki and pulling her to him, he eased them both down as he laid on his back, taking Annikki from behind with Louhi's help as Annikki lay on her back on top of him. He was fucking her 'very sweetly' as she'd described it while it went on and Louhi loved the way that her girl was so accessible to her like that, so she had a bit of fun with it, loving those small and very firm little wonders there on the girl's chest.

Louhi drew some inspiration from it and she learned that to her, it was a very fine thing to be able to lick both that beautiful prick and the cunny that it was buried in at the very same time while they went at it slowly.

When Annikki moaned and shuddered, they lay there just a little, and then she got off while Louhi knelt before him, facing away and leaning right down.

"Come Taran," Annikki chuckled as she straddled her friend's back, "Let me guide you in and Louhi can have her turn."

As he mounted Louhi and began, Annikki moved so that her thighs were over Louhi's waist and Annikki held onto Taran's shoulders so that she could she could kiss him while rubbing her sex against Louhi's lower back, but it didn't last all that long before Louhi complained of discomfort. 

"I am and have been many things to you in our bed, Nikki, but I stop when I must be your playhorse," she groaned.

Annikki was contrite and a minute later, she slid under Louhi and reached for her.

Louhi settled back down onto Annikki's chest and began to mouth her breasts and Annikki held her gently while Taran made love to her and she reached back between her thighs when she could to touch his scrotum for him. Whenever he showed that he was slowing, she waited until he pressed himself in and stayed a few moments. She pet him back there then and it made things a little more affectionate to both of them.

Louhi came and it was a very pleasant orgasm to her, but Taran hadn't yet that time, and by their own rules, ...

It was Annikki's turn and she lay on her back while Taran lowered himself to take her. There was a fair size difference between them, so Taran didn't lie over her. It was all fine to Annikki after that and she invited Louhi to lower herself over her face, if she was careful not to pull her hair with her knees.

Louhi liked the idea and knelt very carefully. When she felt Annikki's mouth and tongue beginning, she moved just a little to get herself situated and then she leaned forward only a little so that she could hang onto Taran.

The motions of his thrusts made it a little dizzying until she closed her eyes, feeling his kisses against her neck and the way that the hair on his chest worked miracles for her breasts. Annikki came first, Louhi second, and it went on until Taran was done and it was Annikki who cooed to him softly as he filled her.

---------------------

As the night grew old, Annikki mouthed Taran's genitals, adding her soft kisses, more out of a want in her to show him her feelings. Louhi lay trading quiet kisses with Taran.

"You never gave me your answer," Louhi said quietly as she kissed his forehead, "You have not fallen in with a pair who can think of only one thing. Do you choose to look back, Taran, or do you choose to look ahead? I can offer you some help if you would want it, though to go where I would lead will need some courage."

"I would know," he said, "if it brings me into any kind of light where I can see what truly happened to me, then I must know, Louhi."

Louhi nodded and lay on her side with her leg over Taran's ribs so that she could hold his face against her breasts.

She needed to do that so that she could hold onto his head a little tightly and hold her own head over his.

She needed to do that to show him how she felt and also to keep him as still as she could in a way that told her that he was still awake and listening.

And, ... 

She needed to do it all so that she could tell him of the things that she'd gotten from him and where his impressions were correct and more importantly, where they were just incorrect assumptions.

She told him the truth in a very soft and gentle way.

She told him that three hundred and seventy-odd years ago, a boy was born and named Taran mac Entifidich. He grew to be a man and learned to be a king of his people, groomed for the role by his uncle, who was the king at the time. He had a love affair with another man which ended badly and he went back where he was needed to be.

Another man was born on the most northerly of the Shetland Islands at or near the same time as Taran, just a boy who also grew to be a man and that man was torn out of his life one day by the mage who Taran had spurned. That man lost his knowledge of himself and was kept in a state of stasis most often, knowing little whenever he was brought out of that state for the mage's pleasure. The tattoos on him were done as he'd lain in that state once because the mage had wanted to remember them.

After the deaths of Taran's wife and children, the situation had come to the notice of the Caitt holy men on the southern island and the comatose and nameless man was brought to the temple.

While Taran mac Entifidich the king mourned what was lost to him, the mage found the comatose man and was attacked and killed by the holy men. The nameless one was kept in an even deeper sleep then, suspended between life and death for all of Taran's long reign.

As Taran the old king lay dying, the one-time acolyte of the high priest came to create the illusion of the king's death and had the body brought to the temple in the Shetland Islands once again. There he transferred the king's memories and consciousness to the sleeping one. 

For their own reasons, the holy men wanted to present their king resurrected to the people in an effort to show that the Christians weren't the only ones who could manage something like raising their lord from the dead.

But the attempt failed and the temple became little more than a tomb and was sealed.

The only thing, Louhi whispered to Taran, was that; though there was no true resurrection and that it had been more of transference where the poor nameless and used man would then have a life to step into, it had worked, only three hundred years late.

As she held him tightly and crooned the truth into his ears, she made him understand at last that he was in fact, not a king and never had been. He was still the unfortunate islander who had lost almost everything but his long and empty life to the wants, needs, and desires of others. He just had the king's memories and that was all.

"Those poor ones," she whispered, "the queen and her children. They weren't yours, Taran. They were King Taran's loss, not yours. You suffered your own loss in this – even more than what I have said. You have lost who you were and what you knew – not King Taran's life, but your own."

"They were mine," he whispered in his quiet and subdued rebuttal.

"Do you remember your mother's face?" she asked, "Can you see the color of your father's eyes? Did you have a sister? Can you tell me any of these things?"

He paused then, as she knew that he would. Because she hadn't found anything like that in him. It wasn't there. He was looking for high people in his clan. What she knew was there – if he could even recall them, were poor subsistence farmers, eking out a living out of nothing on a rock on the edge of three oceans. She didn't have names for them, that was all. But King Taran knew only the North Sea, while the other man knew it as well, and also the Norwegian Sea and the icy North Atlantic.

The other man had been born where the waves of all three met and he'd sailed and fished them all to stay alive when the fish ran.

King Taran mac Entifidich had never seen two of the three nor ever caught a fish in his long life.

Louhi drew a slow breath then, knowing that she'd come to the edge of pushing in his buttressed and fortified walls using nothing more than her quiet and gentle words. 

"You had a woman once. I feel her name as Gretta. You were taken from her and she likely never knew what happened to the man she loved so much."

Taran had been listening. All of the time that it took, he'd been listening, trying the fit of what he'd heard against the things that he knew. He would have said that it might have been that way in a hypothetical sense, but not in reality. He might have allowed that it could have happened, given the things which he knew could be done by the ones who had taught him what he knew himself.

But that wasn't the same thing as believing it.

The trouble was that he wasn't King Taran from what she said, and he knew that she had some ability – he could sense it to a degree. To someone who'd had a life with no bumps of jerks in it where they didn't know what had happened, what she'd said could be easily dismissed. But he'd had a life and now he was, ... who? He was missing centuries, and to his mind, he shouldn't even be alive right now.

The nameless man who had been taken was far away from having much of anything left to relate the other side of this to. He didn't know his name. He only knew that he was Taran mac Entifidich. It was the only name which came to him.

But hearing that one word triggered something long forgotten and which lay buried very deeply.

Gretta.

It came to him as a very soft echo from somewhere once the actual sound had faded in his ears. He thought about it, but nothing came to him for several moments. He only heard the echo in his mind. 

An echo is an almost-resonance which tries, but fails to last and then fades away.

But it didn't fade away.

It slowly grew to become a pale memory which only grew more vivid as though rising from some place deep inside of him where it had lain forever - an image of a thin girl who had loved him once. 

To likely any other man, she wouldn't have been much to look at in her worn woolen dress and tattered cloak with a skin held overtop as he saw her walking to meet him at the door of their poor home when he came back freezing cold and wet. He brought her a handful of clams and a few seabird eggs for them to eat. Her hair hid a lot of her face as it was blown by the wind from behind her until she moved it so that she could kiss him as though he was a fine lord back from an important journey.

It didn't matter. Her smiling eyes told him all that he needed to know. 

He watched her as she closed the door of the stone hovel to shut out the wind before it could blow the little fire out again. What he'd managed to find for them wouldn't be enough, but she didn't care and that was evident in the way that she smiled. 

There were a few pieces of driftwood mixed in with dried sheep dung burning fitfully in the fire, providing what little heat that it could to the single room hut. He saw the careful way that she cooked the eggs and the clams, fearful more than anything to see them slide out of the pan to the dirt floor, though it hadn't happened yet to that point. To one who had the recollections of a king, it didn't get much poorer than that.

But her face as he remembered it said a lot. 

And the image of her after their poor meal, still hungry and lying naked in their bed for him said so much more. He remembered the sound of her voice then, pleading a little to hurry to her so that she could have him against her again. 

They fumbled and laughed like a pair of children under the only blankets and skins that they had to their names with even their cloaks on top of that to try to stay just a little warm as she loved him.

Taran managed to face something for which he had no explanation ever since he'd woken up in what had been his tomb. Nothing made sense from front to back and top to bottom – none of it. Especially the jump in his knowledge of feeling as though he lay weak, old, and dying to waking up young and strong again in that tomb. He'd been stiff and cold, but he'd been alive.

The image of his own self-knowledge was coming apart.

In all of the time since – a long year of wandering and seeing what wasn't what he'd known – in all of that time, he'd held himself together in what might be termed the madness that he perceived around him. He didn't know the people. They didn't know him or who he was. He'd been strong and staunch to himself as he went, looking for something or someone whom he knew.

Now ...

Taran mac Entifidich would have never known, but the proof to him that he was not that man came to him with the very next thought.

He didn't need to ask himself who Gretta was.

The worst part of this never-ending horror descended on him then, threatening his realization just by its sheer weight.

"Where is Gretta?" he groaned from the comfort and warmth of Louhi's breasts.

Louhi held him a little tighter and she kissed the top of his forehead for a moment and then whispered, "I do not know where her bones lie. Somewhere on the most northern island. I know nothing of her, only who she was to you before you were taken to be someone else."

He thought about her again. 

He remembered that she'd had almost no breasts, just slightly puffy nipples. Gretta always made her little jokes to him that she was hoping that she'd get something when it was time to feed the little ones that she knew they'd make together one day. He hadn't cared at all. He'd loved those little things so and could spend whole evenings with her under the blankets nuzzling his face against her little chest as she held his head there and sighed.

He remembered how she'd mewled so softly into his ear that time long ago as she'd rocked him while they copulated because she'd asked him for it. He could see her face right there, looking at him as though she held a lord in her arms, her head lifting to offer him her throat because she loved the way that he kissed her there. 

They were nothing and nobody; only a half-starved pair of young people so much in love. He'd heard what she'd said in her quiet little sighings to him over and over until she'd whimpered in her very shy way when she came, almost ashamed to have let out her small cry and the hissing little breaths during the long moments when he'd thrust so gently into her, holding each time to prolong it for her.

He could feel the instant that he spent into the girl who was still hungry, but would never say a word of it to him, though the growling of her stomach often betrayed her. He'd done his best and it was all that he could find. The fish weren't running and there weren't enough spring lambs yet. But she'd known it when it happened and she smiled up and said that she wanted it all from him.

He felt himself giving her the seed that she wanted, knowing that she'd need to feel it afterwards with her fingers to prove to herself that she'd pleased him, no matter what he'd said to her that she always did. It meant something to Gretta anyway to know that he'd filled her with his seed.

To him from his present standpoint, it was only the seed of an impoverished young man – though to her, it was the proof that the greatest of men still loved her so. 

"I, ... " He moaned in a way that spoke of his heart, torn through yet again, now that he knew at last, "I am not Taran."

He couldn't stop the sweetest of sad memories which now flooded his mind. He knew at last what was whispered in the words of Gretta's love for him. He heard the name. He'd seen her looking up groaning a little as she took his next gush in her mouth out of two different kinds of hunger at the same time.

"I, ... I am, ... I am Cuilén."

The last recollection was the feeling of Gretta's young and skinny body wrapped around her man under the thin covers with her head against his chest looking at him. They were on their sides as they tried to sleep afterwards. He felt the stinging at the edges of his eyes as he remembered her smile in the flickering dimness of the little fire. He said that he was sorry that he couldn't find more for her to eat.

She'd laughed that joyful little laugh of hers and he heard her voice then, "You bring me home a little feast in the evening, Cuilén, and that's what it was – the finest feast. You give me the best sort of fucking that a girl like me could ever want in a warm bed and you do it the way that I love just for me, and then you feed me again afterwards to my joy."

He remembered how it felt when she'd kissed his chest, the girl who'd held his heart as though it was everything to her - because it had been. 

"I want no apology from my man when he's done those things for me. I want you in my arms every night and I'll not want for any more than that. We might starve to death at some point – if we don't freeze first, but I'll always be yours and I'll love you forever, Cuilén, I'll love you forever." 

He started to cry then, his one remaining and final straw broken at last.

He finally knew who he was as the sobs came out of him. He couldn't stop because he knew more than that and he cursed his empty life even more as he felt Annikki crawl up to lie behind him and lean down to kiss his wet cheek and his ear so very softly while she wept for him along with Louhi.

He knew that his Gretta was dead.

He knew that an observer might have said that starvation was the cause if she'd been found there in their bed without him, or she might have lost the battle and frozen to death one night, and he knew that they'd be wrong.

While he fished when he could, or did whatever they needed so that they could live in their poor way, Gretta did what she could to look after their few animals and they met every day back in their humble little place. To them, it was certainly no castle, but they'd been happy there.

He had no memory of how he'd been pulled out of that. He only remembered them parting for another day and her soft kisses.

He didn't know anything at all about what happened to Gretta after he hadn't come home to her anymore, ...

But he knew without a doubt that whatever the final cause had been, it had only been the end of her anguish. 

What had likely killed his Gretta more certainly than anything was the same thing that was killing him now by the way that his chest felt.

And if it didn't, he implored whatever cruel gods there were that it would kill him as his mind added the extra bit of torture.

He knew that he was more lost than he ever had been; lying in the arms of two beautiful women who whispered that they cared for him while he wept over what he'd lost to a man who hadn't cared about anything but himself.

He knew at last that his name had been Cuilén.

And worst of all was the way that his mind brought back her face to him behind his closed eyelids.

" - and I'll love you forever, Cuilén."



Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 03



***By the Tenth Century, the peoples of Northern Scotland, the Faeroes, Orkneys and Shetland Islands all found their ways of speaking being supplanted by a language that is today known as Old Norse. The more southerly groups regionalized this even more with what is now known as Norn, a rather insular variant which is now extinct other than as a flavoring in the language they use today.

As the Witcher's Daughter and her friends head out onto the road again, they run into a pair who even manage to add a little of a Gaelic flavoring to that.

It's likely not correct, but that's how I hear them.

0_o

-------------------

It had taken another full day to get much more out of him. During that time, Cuilén sometimes appeared to be a little catatonic. He spent the rest of the night weeping softly and during that time, Louhi and Annikki never left him, just holding him if they could and often crying themselves from the intense feelings which came to them from him. Later on, he just sat in silence, looking into space with only his occasional blinks, his breathing, and the almost-continual tears which ran from his eyes.

He was not totally unresponsive later on. Cuilén would look if spoken to and his answers to questions were most often only silent nods or slow shakes of his head. But it was the early afternoon before he would speak in much more than monosyllables.

Before then, however, Louhi had gone to pay for another night and the extra cost and even a little more once she'd learned that Cuilén had a horse. She asked to be shown which one and that was when the innkeeper had tried for a little more coin out of her, saying that it was required because of the brushing of the animal because he was so large.

Louhi had looked, "This one?" 

She pointed again then, wanting no misunderstanding, "This horse here?"

The man nodded, knowing that sticking to his guns this way often spelled the difference between a fee and an even bigger fee. But he found himself being backed up against the back end of someone else's horse on the other side of the aisle then.

"That animal has not seen a brush in several days," Louhi snarled as she pointed back, "He has no water, and I see no feed for him. He stands with his saddle still on him. How do you brush a saddled horse? What is it that you charge for, the shade or your stories?"

The animal behind the innkeeper decided that the presence of someone back there was not wanted and the kick which came an instant later left the man groaning on his face.

But it didn't get the angry woman out of his hair.

"I will pay your fettling fee, but no more and when I come back in an hour, that animal will stand there brushed, fettled and fed  - and there had better be fresh water in front of him, innkeeper."

The serving woman from the night before watched from the doorway and though she and the innkeeper were married, they weren't married to each other, not that it had stopped anything between them. So she felt a little justified in wanting to storm out then to deal with the woman's demands herself.

And she found herself in a pile of shit then – in a literal sense. 

She hadn't seen the dropping that she must have slipped on, though she'd held up her hem as she'd come out into the stables in a bit of bluster. All the same, she now sat in the scraped-together pile which had not been removed yet that day. Louhi said nothing; she only smirked as she walked out.

She found Cuilén looking uncomfortable and wanting to push Annikki away when she returned. "I want nothing now," he said, "You are so lovely to me, but I, ..."

Louhi knelt and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Not all loving is only fucking, Cuilén. You know this yourself, or you would not have been so high in your wife's view. I see what Nikki seeks to give to you."

She leaned down and kissed his forehead for a moment and then she sat back on her knees again. "Nikki is a little close in size to the one that you grieve for. She wishes to know what that one looked like and she wants to give comfort in a way that she can. She knows that she cannot be Gretta, but I see that she wishes to be as Gretta to you for this time. Allow her this, if it is in you, and I think that it could help a little."

Louhi ate a little of what remained and then she changed her clothes, almost knowing what she would find when she returned to the stables.

When she returned, Louhi saw a more contented animal who wore no saddle, had been brushed and was now watered and fed. But there was a new issue then.

"When I last looked, there was a sword in a scabbard tied to the saddle and I see none there now where the saddle hangs over that rail. Unless you know ways of some strong magic, I would say that it has been taken. I want it. Please give it to me. I do not think that you would want to have to explain anything else to the man that you sent to us. Or am I wrong?"

The innkeeper looked to be about ready to panic. He looked around a little frantically and then he ran to the doorway which led to a bit of a paddock and beckoned for Louhi to come there.

She saw the stableboy there, looking to be engaged in trying to practise a little swordplay against an imaginary foe of some kind. It might have looked a little impressive to some, she thought, particularly the girl who stood watching him.

But a stablehand playing at something with a sword is most likely to only result in damage to the sword or the man and while a stablehand might sometimes need to use a sword in his defense now and then, it wasn't the same thing as being proficient with the thing at all. As well, most swords - even the ones belonging to Northmen  - tend to vary a little in length between 33 and 36 inches long and weigh in at rather close to two and one-half pounds.

What this lad was swinging around looked to be somewhat longer and by his motions and the way that he most often swung it only once, seemed to have difficulty in stopping the swing, and never practised a reversal told Louhi that the blade likely weighed considerably more.

"Set that down," she said, "it is not yours and if it is harmed, you will work a long time to repay your master for what he would need to pay me for the ruined blade."

The young man spun around and dropped the blade in his surprise at being caught doing something other than working. Louhi rolled her eyes and stepped out to retrieve the blade as the man stared at her. 

Picking it up, she noticed that it was indeed heavier and that the crosspiece of the guard was not the simple welded bar slotted to fit over the tang, but was bent in a U-shape with the points facing the tip. She was a little more surprised to see that the tips were sharpened themselves. Whoever Cuilén had killed to get the weapon must have been a fairly large man and one who had a fair bit of strength and skill – or fancied himself to have had.

Her eyes fell to the edges and she felt a brief want in herself to hurt this fool for damaging the thing. If he'd tried to hack at a piece of wood, ...

But then she noticed that the nicks were old and the thought left her.

"You should not touch what does not belong to you," she said, "it will hurt your master's business if the patrons feel that their belongings are not safe in his care." She placed the point against the ground to get the length and then she swung it overhand once with a whoosh that left the blade as a semicircular blur as it came around.

The man backed away, but she smiled at him, "It is a little long for me and too heavy for you."

"It's not too heavy," he said, "I –"

"It is not too heavy to swing once," she said, the smile remaining, "but now you speak as a man who feels a little insult when I meant nothing of the kind. You were playing at sword work and from it I saw that you rarely if ever get to touch a blade. If you spent any time at sword work, you would not want to play at it much. You might have strength, but not in your wrists and arms from swinging a long blade, friend. And sword work is a grisly business and often goes on and on long after you would stop to rest. Where is the scabbard?"

He pointed and the young woman held it up, "Here," she said.

Louhi walked over and as she took it, she smiled into the brown eyes of the girl, "Do not wish that he was any good at this if you care for him. Wish only that he finds the chance to be good enough at it to keep himself and you safe if he holds your heart at all."

The young woman looked down, blushing furiously and Louhi chuckled, "I might have hit a tender place there. Are you together?"

"No," she girl whispered, "but, ..."

"Then I will not make him feel any more foolish," Louhi grinned a little as she turned away and walked back to the stablehand. 

"If you have the want to know more, then you might seek out either an armorer if this place has one, or ask at the town guard, if there is one of those. But I think that your time would serve you better to do your work and then work at something sweeter with the girl there, friend."

She walked away, stopping only to threaten the innkeeper if she heard too much noise over the lad wasting his time. "A stableboy works better if he does not feel ill-used. I think that he only wanted to try and no harm has been done while he showed off a little."

But she saw only ire in those eyes as they looked past her, "The one he played for is my daughter, Mistress."

"Oh," Louhi said, a little disheartened for the lad, "Then all is lost."

She walked away.

-------------------------

"Are you better, Cuilén?" she asked when she returned, "I want to be away from here before midday on the morrow or I will likely kill someone. Where will you go?"

He sat up, looking like hell with his red eyes and he shrugged after a thought, "I have nowhere to go. I came here and seek work. It has been a week and none here trust me enough to even scythe down grain for them, though that is what I see being done everywhere around here. Where do you go?"

"We wanted to go to Iceland," she said, "a further ride to the north and west until we run out of land and can find a ship to take us and our horses. But after learning what I know now from your sad tale over the night, I find that I do not want to be in a cold land this winter. The harvest begins here. It will not grow warmer the farther that we go, and I want no part of being stuck on the north shore – wherever THAT might lie in this land."

She chuckled to herself after a moment, "And I would guess that before I get to speak where the people understand me well again, I will have to go through more places and learn new tongues which I have no wish to know."

Annikki sat up and tried to get her hair out of her face, "Where do we go then, Louhi?"

"I guess that we go south once more and search for a place until the spring," she said.

Annikki threw herself backwards onto the bed again with a groan, "We had enough trouble going north. The people and the fools who try to rob everyone, I have no wish for – "

Louhi chuckled, "To see the men that you left behind you again?"

Annikki sat up with her eyes brightening, "I'd forgotten about them."

"Look here," Cuilén said, "I have no plans and can find no work. I would come if you would want me along. Maybe you will not be so much troubled by men when you do not cast your eyes down then."

Louhi walked over and leaned down to take his chin in her hand gently, "Cuilén, I find no wish in me to leave someone such as you behind me. It was beyond my hope to hear this from you. Nikki, tell your thoughts. Are we three now?"

Annikki nodded so that her hair flew, "I'll want him along in the forests later."

She giggled as Louhi began to get undressed again and Cuilén looked at her with no comprehension there on his face, "What do you do now?"

Louhi made no reply at first as she continued to disrobe. Then she stepped closer and pushed him onto his back and then with him down, she moved up higher over him on her knees.

"I want you in the forest now," she smiled, and as she settled herself down, bringing her sex to his face, she tousled his hair a little gently and rather slowly, "I look even less like your love, Cuilén, but I also want to give you some comfort if you would allow it."

He made no reply, but he began anyway.

Annikki watched from the other side of the bed as she ate a little. After a few minutes of hearing Louhi sigh, she moved and stroked the hardness that she saw beginning to stand once more. She moved a little more and caressed one of Louhi's breasts.

After a long and gentle kiss, she said, "He is ready now if you wish for a slow ride. This one can give a good loving to your cunny, but also, he can reach your heart, my love."


Louhi groaned softly, "I know, sweet one, and if it is alright with you, that is what I want from him now."

Annikki nodded and helped Louhi off to get positioned before she went back to eating a little as she watched them.

They left the next morning, three friends heading south.

--------------------------

They found that they could make a better day's travel if they stayed away from a lot of the towns. Most of the time, they lost an hour at least out of a day just in negotiating winding streets in and out. It grew cooler at night, but it didn't get really cold and it was far better and cheaper than having to listen to idiots in most of the inns and the odd official who seemed to find them because they looked as though they weren't from the area.

That was when a fool would step out in front of them to make a demand for a toll or some other nonsense. 

It helped if they rode through a place with Annikki and Louhi riding with their cloaks thrown back, since they certainly didn't look like a pair of lost maidens off to the market to buy a ham. There had been a couple of incidents when the men of a fortified town had come forward to cause a little trouble, but the sight of a large and tattooed Pict riding with them went a long way toward clearing up any little misunderstandings.

Even so, it had happened that they'd sometimes been accosted out on the road in a lonely place, and the first thing that Louhi demanded to know was whether there were any women who would miss the robbers that night. 

The question always seemed to bring out the bravado in the worst of the dim-witted and that was usually all that Louhi wanted to know. More than once, a man had stepped forward saying something about selling them to slavers or demanding to have all of their money or something just as inane. She didn't listen most of the time, using the delay to get a feel of them.

More often than not, a little over half of the time, there was someone there brandishing a crossbow or a longbow to back up the oaf who'd made the demand, a little apart from the rest who held blades. But the bowstring would choose that time to let go inexplicably and the oaf would look back at hearing the bowman's cry of alarm. The instant that he turned back was his last every time.

"You should see to your dead," Louhi would say as she nudged her horse forward looking grim with her sword in her hand and the others would step back to let them pass. But Louhi knew that most people like that often need the lesson driven home and if she felt a little of it and the startled bowman stood close enough by, she'd lift his head from his shoulders for him without a thought as she passed before anyone could move.

Sometimes it started a fight with the rest of them jumping in, and those times, due in large part to the man in their party who drew his long and heavy blade then with a cold grin, they left none alive. They always looked to see if it had been a profitable day of robbery to that point for the men and if that was what they found going through their purses, they took almost everything, leaving at least something small behind so that it was not clear that they'd robbed the robbers before Cuilén dragged the corpses off the road and into the nearest ditch.

At night, they took the watches in turns and though the women had traveled together long enough as a pair to have developed the curious circumstance where women living together often have their menstrual cycles fall into some sort of line, they made sure that Cuilén often received some of their care somehow even if they couldn't exactly be carefree with their loving. All three got as much loving as was wise in the dark of a strange place, most often only two at a time with the third looking watchfully outwards into the dark of the night from a ways off.

Annikki was affectionate to Cuilén if they were alone together while Louhi was on watch and she did see to his needs as well as her own a lot of the time, but it was Louhi who, ...

Well, it was Louhi who always made the extra effort. It was Louhi who always asked to know more of how Cuilén was feeling and not just trusting in her senses or in her observations of how he seemed to be coping. She was aware that he still sought to fill gaps and unknowns within himself, yet she also knew that he'd likely say nothing about them and struggle on quietly within himself as she supposed that anyone would under the circumstances, though with her quiet help he was just beginning to remember a few things and he was very thankful to Louhi for it.

To Annikki, he was someone who she just trusted implicitly; a large man who, since learning of his strange past had proven himself a staunch and particularly fearless ally who could be counted on if needs must. But to Louhi, he was all of that and more. 

Louhi loved a good rollicking fuck in the woods as much as any girl, she supposed, and she loved that with the lost Caitt even more, since that was what he had been when he'd been taken, just a dreadfully poor one. But it was with Cuilén the impoverished Caitt from the Island of Unst that Louhi the witcher's girl learned the love of a man at last. 

When she lay with him, the actual act was almost a forgone conclusion in some way, shape, or form, but the main thing to her was the way that he held her and made love to her, often incredibly slowly and yet in a way which Louhi found kept her trembling in his embrace. No matter how it went between them; fast and needy or slow and deeply, Louhi had no defense against it. She felt so much more every time.

"Cuilén," she hissed so softly to him one night when by her count of her days it would not have been wise to enjoy coitus with him, "I have learned to please a man in any of a few ways in my time. Like this, with you between my loins and only rubbing against my little white rabbit, I am as helpless for you as any other way. I've never had this before. What do the mothers and fathers on your cold and windy island teach their sons to make them such men?"

His answer, as she later learned, was typical for a man like him. He looked at her and then looked away in thought for a moment, "Well there is not very much to do in the evening in a place where the sun can take weeks to set sometimes, Louhi. We call it the summer dim. The other side of that is that it never really gets light for just as long besides a little glow in the sky around midday in winter, and, ..."

"And what?" Louhi asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Well the women still need to be kept pleased, don't they?" he'd smiled and she'd hugged him tightly then while she chuckled.

 The dynamic between them was evolving, though little was said if anything. Out on the road every day, there were times when Cuilén rode in a little silence as he sought to think it through for himself. He knew how he felt, but he was having trouble over defining things and he didn't want to upset anything; not trusting himself with being able to ask in a clear enough way that might get him what he wished to know. If he knew that, he reasoned, his life would become much clearer and simpler. Better in one way and a little worse though not bad at all in another. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 03



But it was to the better that he wanted more than anything.

The periods of silence remained and his thoughts were interrupted often enough by the people who always seemed to lurk just over every other blind hill or bend in the path. He didn't fume over the interruptions all that much. To his mind, out here, a proper man ought to be busy seeing to his harvest at this time of year. That left only brigands or thugs and he didn't mind thinning the crop a little.

What bothered him the most the past few days was the way that Louhi was also riding in some silence. Well more than she'd ever shown him up to that point. He wondered if he'd said or done anything wrong, or missed something that she'd said because he'd been too involved in his introspection or something. He hoped not and now he wondered about even asking about that. He eventually decided that it must be the cause, though he didn't know when it had happened. It couldn't be that she'd run out of things to say. He hadn't met a woman like that yet in his life if she was among friends.

He felt badly, thinking he'd done something wrong and yet not knowing what it might have been, but try as he might, he could get little out of her.

There were times when they'd just had to stop regardless, such as when the autumn winds finally organized themselves enough to blow a little coldly and the rains had begun. Cuilén said nothing, but Louhi stopped one day in a little place outside of the nearby town where there was a smith.

"Why do we stop here?" Cuilén asked, "We have hours in the day yet."

"A few things, my friend," Louhi smiled, "I have looked to see this place for a few days now. We found it on our way north. The smith is more than what he looks to be and he can help with some things that I need for you or his wife can. You would tell me nothing is wrong when I see that you are cold. So I want some better clothes on you."

She held up her hand when she saw that he was about to object – as she knew that he would. 

"Cuilén," she said as she leaned on her saddle, "it has been long over a fortnight now that we have journeyed. Of the three of us, which one has been the warmest and kept the others a little less cold during these nights which can only grow colder the longer that we journey? Was it Annikki here, who kept your teeth from chattering then? Was it me who kept us all from our deaths?"

He blinked back and she laughed, "There is no creature alive who often feels cold more than a woman. Even though your two women come from a land known to be very unkind in winter, there are two of us, are there not? If it gives you trouble, think of it as an surety so that our man does not grow ill or shiver with ague from sitting on the cold earth while we huddle next to our little night fires on the way.

Where we go now is known to be a more troublesome for travelers sometimes also. I have no wish to see you sitting on your horse full of arrows because some thieves had the forethought to shoot at you to remove what they see as the only reason why they should hold back to rob us. I want more on you than just a cloak and I want more than just a thick shirt, since those things will not stop arrows.

This is a safe place to stay the night. They show no sign by the road, but if one asks, there are beds and rooms to rent."

"But," he began," I –"

"And you have no weapon, other than that badly nicked Northman's blade which you took from a Viking trader's corpse," she added.

"But Louhi," he said,"It is my lucky sword. I -"

"Lucky? ... How can you say that it is a lucky blade?" Louhi asked, a little incredulous.

"Well I am not dead," he shrugged, "But this – "

"And your horse needs his hooves trimmed a little," she went on.

He leaned out a little to try to see, "Trimmed?"

"Only your horse out of the three needs shoes," Louhi said without looking at him, "the smith can help with that."

Cuilén wondered if she'd lost her mind all of a sudden, "But that costs –"

Annikki chuckled and then spoke through her teeth in a musical lilt as she looked away with a little smile, "You should stop, Cuilén."

He eased his horse alongside Louhi's mare as she turned to dismount and tie up in front of the place.

"And I wish for you to shave," she said as she began to walk to the door.

"Shave?" he asked in bewilderment as he dismounted, "With the winter coming on? This makes the least sense out of anything that I have heard you say all day. I – MMMmmf!"

Cuilén stood in shock, his hands in the air a little and the reins held loosely in one of them while Louhi stood pressing herself tightly against him with her arms around his neck as she kissed him.

Annikki chuckled as she walked past, taking the reins from his slack grip to tie up his horse.

She looked over and giggled a little, "You should stop trying to discuss the cost of things and move forward in the talk to where you stand now."

She saw his eyeballs swivel over in her direction and she grinned as she said her thoughts in a resigned and slightly weary tone, "When you have the chance of it, just tell Louhi that you love her.

 It would solve all of the difficulty because Louhi loves you, Cuilén. She just has trouble saying it."

Cuilén got it then and he put his arms around the white-haired girl to hold her. Louhi's next breath was a deep one because she couldn't help it. She pulled back and looked at him, hoping to see him with new eyes. She'd always liked seeing him from the first moment that she'd laid eyes on him, but there had been the foreshadowing of the darkness that he bore and the sadness of knowing that his heart was broken and the long process of his coming back from that to become the man that she now held so tightly. 

She couldn't help it, she thought. It hadn't been a thought to her, but she heard her slight whimper when she dove in to kiss him again.

After several moments, Louhi broke the kiss and moved to turn away, but Cuilén held her a little longer.

"You, ... Louhi, you, ... love me?"

She looked down and nodded, "Yes. I do not mind fucking with you to keep the three friends close, but it, ..."

She drew a breath then and she looked up, "But it has become much more than that to me. I only did not say anything because you still grieved over Gretta and I did not know if, ... "

She faded out at that point and made to turn then, but she found his face seeking hers while she looked down. 

"Louhi," he said softly, "If you love me, then stop looking away. I want to see the face of the girl I have had a slim hope for and was fearful to say what I held inside. I love you too, Louhi, but a fine pair of fools we would look when we hide our faces from each other. And I find that I hate to see you like this. The one who I would give my heart to should show that she is not shy or holds misgivings in any way.

It must be like this; otherwise it shows that you do not think that you hold my heart."

He dipped his head a little lower and he kissed her so that she had to look up at him. She found him there looking at her with a much more confident smile.

"Please tell me that we can speak of this soon. I have been trying to tell what was in me as my grief passed and I asked myself what I was doing loving with two women when I wanted none, really. But I get better now and had a hope but could not say it. I know how I feel now and I want to tell you that I love you, ... well, if it is what you wish to know."

He looked away for a moment, "And if it is not, then I am still the fool Taran and not Cuilén. 

Taran, from my thinking never knew what he had when he had it. I always knew it when I had the very finest fortune to hold a woman's heart."

She nodded and then she looked up at him, right into his eyes. "Then I would say it, Cuilén. I love you."

"Well if you love me," he said, "and I know that I love you as well, there is only one thing which can stand between us,"

He looked ahead at Annikki who stood grinning by the door of the place. She was making as though she had an itchy face at the moment.

"What is that then?" Louhi asked, suddenly a little confused as she looked up.

He sighed, "I need to shave."

Louhi laughed in obvious relief then as she slapped the middle of his chest with a smirk. "Oh, I feel better," she said as they went inside and the door closed behind them, "I thought that you did not like "my skin or my hair, or, my eyes ..."

------------------------

They were met inside by a short woman who was a little plump and cheery and her smile carried a pleasant hint of the barest of buck teeth when she grinned. Cuilén found it impossible not to like her instantly as she bustled around at an amazing pace for a woman who seemed to have to manage a few hundred things at once. 

Annikki and Louhi passed little smirks to Cuilén when they greeted the woman with joyful and friendly calls of "Hey, Moppy!" as they set the first of their baggage down.

"Hey now, Annikki, Louhi," the woman beamed "Good tae see ye again."

The place was a smithy and an inn, though small in terms of the number of guests which it could accommodate. They were shown to a table in what one might suppose would have been the common room, but it held more of an appearance of an overly large kitchen where a few guests could hold forth If they had a mind to. And the smells of the food, ... 

One deep breath and Cuilén almost forgot his name again.

He did ask, though.

The only name that Cuilén got out of the proprietress for his use was Moppy and of course, he tried to ask politely because he thought that he knew the word but not as a name and so he wasn't sure.

"It's short for Peedie Moppy," the woman laughed in her lilting tone which gave him his next clue and then she was gone again looking after something else which needed doing right then.

The Pict stood thunderstruck. 

Peedie Moppy. 

She came back in to say that there were rooms available and ready and to only tell her of their needs this time and it would be done. Cuilén reached for her arm before she could vanish again.

"Wait. Please wait. You are truly called Moppy?"

She nodded, laughing again and letting her birth language slip out a little, "Nae so peedie anymaer, but Ah'm still a moppy."  

She looked at him, seeing the marks that he bore on his face just under and at the edges of his beard and her eyebrows rose then, the humor replaced by wonder.

"Whaur ir ye fae, goodman?" she asked as she looked up.

He thought for a second and replied, "Hjaltland, an Ah'm Cuilén."

He bowed then and Moppy almost danced before him, saying that she had to bring her husband and then she was gone.

Louhi and Annikki laughed a little and then asked what it had all been about.

Cuilén laughed, "Because of you, I have found at least one person who I can talk with! 'Moppy' is not her name, I am sure, but it is something which she has been called by all of her life. A moppy is a rabbit and 'peedie' means little or small. I get many of her words, but I think she comes from, ... ah, Orkneyjar. The ones I heard there speak a little differently to what I remember, and they sing the words a little, especially the women."

Louhi turned to him and reached up. She kissed him softly and said, "Remember what I said. There is no danger here, but many things are not as they seem. Think this way and try to use the sight. You CAN trust your sight. You only need to use it more."

Moppy was back then, almost dragging a huge man by the hand. He looked slightly confounded at the way that she was pulling him, chattering the whole way. But once he was in the room, ...

He stared at Cuilén, running his hand back over his bald head in amazement. "A Cruthne by the look of you." 

"An he's from the northa here, Hjaltland !" Moppy said. The man looked for a second longer and then his face split into a wide grin as Moppy ran to get plates, quite obviously meaning to set out a meal. 

"Beuy, Ah'm fair blide tae see thee! Wilkommen and sit ye all. I am Leif."

He led them to a huge table and went back to help Moppy, but he kept looking back at Cuilén as though he didn't believe what he saw. When he spoke next, he tried to amend his speech so as not to leave the pair of women behind and the conversation took a turn back to a combination of Norn and Norse along with some of the speech of the Scotti as well.

"Yur a sight the way that ye are here, Pict," the smith nodded, "Ye look as though ye stepped from a mist. I've not seen a man such as you in my lifetime and what I learned of your kind came from my old grandfather. I have not been everywhere in the world, but, ... where have you been hiding?"

From his speech, it soon became clear that Cuilén was a Hjaltlander of some sort, but no one that Leif or Moppy had ever met bore markings on them at all, other than perhaps little things done as a way of adornment to pass a long winter. Cuilén was careful not to mention what had happened to him, and only said that he was from Unst and the pair said that they'd never met a soul from that island before.

"Here," Leif growled a little as he pointed at Cuilén's chest, "That says there's more te ye, Cuilén, but, ... there's been no Cruthnes anywhere for an age. I think they're all gone, beuy, and if there be no Cruthnes, well then there cannot be a Cruthne king a jumpit oot the heather."

He looked hard at the Pict for a moment, as though trying to see a reason for the man trying to deceive him. 

"This was done fer me by man on Mainland, the bottom innse," Cuilén replied evenly, "The marks I had no choosin' of."

It seemed to settle Leif somewhat and he became more as he was in his greeting. 

But while it had lasted, Cuilén had used the interval to do a little looking himself. Leif was huge man unless you had the second sight. He was bald unless you saw the fur on his face and head and had the ability to see the downturned horns. Cuilén saw it all as things which were to a degree transparent, but they were there all the same, the thick legs which ended in clawed feet and the thick fur which covered him.

He was a man unless you had the sight. If you did and you used it, ...

Leif was a troll.

A rather small one, Cuilén thought, given that he was able to move through the insides of a spacious building the way that he did. He wondered about it briefly, but seeing no threat and given what Louhi had said, he set it aside.

Louhi mentioned that they'd recalled their time there with the couple as they'd gone north and she said that Cuilén needed clothes and arms and that his horse needed shoes. Leif laughed and said that he could help with it all. They talked all through the long meal and Leif had a question.

"Ah can shoe yer horse and Moppy and get ye clothes, "he said in his deep and rumbling voice. "Ah can make ye something to keep arrows oot yer brest fer ye. But A'hm wondering noo. A've heard from me Grandda that Cruthnes were fair bowmen and Ah see you've brought no bow in with ye and no bowman leaves his bow in the damp evening. Have ye no got one?"

Cuilén shook his head and Leif laughed, saying that it was all wrong. He reached out and grasped Cuilénès bicep, saying that if they were staying or traveling in the area, then a bow would be a help at some point and he would see what he had.

No one moved much after the meal that Moppy laid out for them and as they sipped from their 'cogs', as the cups were known among islanders, the evening came on and grew dark as Leif took his leave of them to finish up the work that he'd been doing in the smithy. He said that now the forge had gone cold and he'd need to get it going again to finish up. After that, he said he'd go to his bed in order to be able to get up in the morning fairly early.

But first he picked Moppy up and sat her down on his knee to tickle her a little and ask her not to come to bed too late. She laughed and nodded, saying that she'd never dream of coming to their bed to only sleep. They nodded to each other with smiles and he set her down again and left.

"Where did ye find your fine man?" Moppy asked, "I can see that you've found one to stay close to ye as you travel."

Louhi told only of the chance meeting at the inn far behind them near a place called Nairn and then she and Annikki spoke of trying to get a little further south, looking for a more hospitable place to pass the winter.

"Well if it's important what I think," the woman said, "I think ye've done well, and I see that ye've gotten a little close," She turned to Annikki and asked, "I saw that ye were close to your friend and I see it still, Annikki. It leaves me to wonder a fair bit."

"We three are fast friends," Annikki smiled, "and I am happy for Louhi, so very happy. The secret came out just as we came to your door." 

She raised her cog and sipped a little, "And I like what has happened, Moppy. Louhi – no matter what words she throws now seeks to have a man. We have always talked of it and one of us had to be the first. Now I can stay as I am, or I can try for a man too. But I am in no hurry," she chuckled as she raised her cog again, "Louhi shares him well."

Moppy grinned and nodded, "I thought as much from what I see."

"I did not know that you come from those islands, "Annikki said, "Why did you leave your home to come here?" she asked as the wind outside picked up a little.

"We're a little too close to the sea for Leif," Moppy said very quietly and the remark brought questioning looks from the others.

"Well he was a fisherman, besides a smith," she said, "He has his sad tale to tell and I have mine. Both of them have a touch of the otherworld about them." She got up to draw another pitcher of mead from the cask and came back, looking as though she was listening to hear something far off for a moment.

"Cuilén," she smiled, "do an auld girl a good thought and bank up the fire some. The wind's up and I'll want a bit of warmth afore I get a lot more in the bed with my man."

As he nodded and set to it, Moppy settled back into her chair with a pleased sigh and looked at the large man there in her kitchen and slapped her little belly with a laugh, "Noo that me puggy's fulla good maet, Ah'm in the mood to tell of it all."

She leaned forward, motioning the others to do likewise and she looked from one the next, "I don't want tae say it too loud. Do ye ken anything about Selkies?"

It took a few moments of her explanation before Louhi and Annikki nodded that they'd heard something of a sort of creature such as that, though it had a different name where they were from, and anyway, they didn't know much of it, not being from the northern coast. 

Cuilén didn't need to say anything. Moppy saw the look of comprehension on his face.

"Those islands," she said as she pointed in the general direction, "Any of them, and it doesna matter which, whether Orkneyjar or the Hjaltland, nor even the Faeroes a bit wast and farther north. They've all got their tales of the beasties who live there or nearby, close enough – and they're all owned by the Norse now anyway.

That brings its own troubles and joys I think, and it gives a way for the Good Folk to travel."

She looked over at Cuilén as she spoke, "The people have learned that a little fear and respect can go a ways to keepin' yersel alive and unharmed. There's all manner of things there what don't fit with the world as ye can see it, but that doesna mean that they're nae there all the same. 

Where Ah'm from, when a girl gets with child, it's best tae keep the fact as hidden as ye can. Girls are in a wee bit of danger anytime as it is. A bride more so, and a mother tae be, well, that needs tae be kept hidden from the Good Folk and others fer as long as it may be done."

"The Good Folk?" Annikki asked and Cuilén nodded, "Faeries, trolls, and draugs," he said quietly, "All of them are often mean-spirited to island people. The people there call them that so that it is known what is meant without saying the names, for fear of rousing them at all."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 03



He sat back and thought of being absent so that Moppy could say what she felt. Cuilén knew that looking at him would have a dampening effect on her so he wished to minimize his presence while remaining there in a way. Besides, he thought, someone loved him and he loved her. That in itself required thought, he reasoned – if not absolute amazement as he felt the way that Louhi held onto his hand.

"And, ... "Moppy looked around as though she thought that she might catch sight of someone or something in the room or the hall, "Selkies."

"Ye might laugh a little here and now in a place a little far away, but where Ah'm from, when a girl is tae get intae a boht for a journey – even if it's just from one island tae another and close by, well that girl's mother gets sore afraid. No mother, if she loves her girl will let her daughter go without painting crosses on the girl's tits tae protect her from Selkies. Once you're on the water, you're just over their realm and they see ye as bein' fair game."

"They drown people?" Louhi asked.

"They can," Moppy said, "and they sometimes do. But the water is just the edge of where they live. They can take one down below for a wife if it's what they want wi' ye.

Selkies are like seals, but they're no seals at all, though they can live with 'em," she said, "And they can take off their skins if they've the want of it. A Selkie's a fine thing tae look at; no matter if they're a boy or a girl one, and many, many girls have had their hearts stolen by a sweet-looking Selkie man, I can tell ye. Either one, man or woman, they swim tae the shore and if the mood's on them, they take off their seally skins and stay on the land for a time and – " 

She whispered, "There's nae person, man nor woman, who can look at them and know that they're not human.

Ye have tae have enough of yer wits about ye tae see past the dark round eyes and the tender looks that they gi' ye. But there's few folk who can do that then, seein' what looks like the kindest providence there before 'em, I can tell ye that as well. 

It's said that sometimes a Selkie man comes ashore to seek for a human girl. Selkie-folk have always had a want of humans and I would lie if I were to say that it didna go both ways. It seems that they hold us to be beyond fair and lovely and that is the way that they are to us most often.

Sometimes their men come to seek for a bit of fun, and sometimes they come to take a girl to wife for them." 

She looked around at them, "It's true. The ones who only want a little joy with a girl often seek out the ones who have had no luck in their seeking for a husband. In that place, what is there for a girl?

There is even less choice than there is here because there's less people. A girl could stay at home and grow old and unmarried under the roof of her elders. 

Or a girl could find a man, wed him and begin her own life. Those are the only two choices for a lot of girls, though if they were of the right sort of family and had a little power, they might seek to become a Spae-wife; a witch of the islands who seeks for a man or not upon her whim.

A girl who cannot see a chance for herself might find herself in a fair bit of longing to know of a man and his touch."

And just as often," Moppy said, her voice dipping in volume as she looked around the table, "A wife who lies unloved and longing for it can be just as much of a treasure to a Selkie man who hunts for such a one and some do. The young wife of a farmer just as young who finds himself with too much land and cattle from what was left to them over a relative's passing might feel her longing bitterly while her man works himself intae the ground for her from before the dawn to long after dusk. He drags his tired body home and then sleeps like the dead while his bride has to take what comfort she can in only lying next to him as she stirs herself and remembers a time when she didn't need to have the thought of it because she was in his arms. 

It can make a woman remember her choice with a touch of bitterness, to be sure.

Perhaps the ones in the greatest danger are the fishwives," Moppy said, "for their men sometimes must stay out being blown far from land, or, they work themselves too hard because one has to take what one can when the fish run and then clean every single fish and salt it while other men sleep.

Those wives often feel their want of a man much more keenly, because sometimes when one sort of fish stops running, another kind only begins. While he works himself to exhaustion, few enough fishermen give thought to their wives at home. They might be good lovers and known to keep their women happy at any other time, but there are far too many lonely women sitting alone in the dark of night when the fish are running in the sea."

Moppy looked up then, "And then, if one hears a polite tap at the door in the night when she's alone and opens it to find a handsome man there, wearing nought but a soft smile, looking cold and hungry, but not for a bite of food, well, ... I would say that it would be a hard choice to turn one like that away if it has been a long while for some girls.

He would deny it, and I see nothing wrong if he did – and I have heard it from him, mark you – but that is what happened to Leif's woman.

It seemed like a godsend to them at the time, but he was a young and strong fisherman, who could also smith when there was the need and it kept them fed and more for the first year. But then, her uncle passed and they two both had farmers as well in their families. Leif tried, but no man can be in two and more places at once – on shore and at sea. They were young and they had no money to hire anyone to work for them, though it was their plan, and there was no one in their families who would stand forward and say that he'd take on the extra work. Most of 'em was right angry to find that they werena given the land themselves.

Getting through the first year was what they wanted, but they had to get through the first year of it alone and it almost killed Leif to work so hard and long. His bride did her best, but well, we all have the need, both man and woman, after all.

She didna seek for it, but she found her Selkie lover and after the first time, it grew easier for her to tell herself that just once more in those fine arms and she'd have enough of it, is what I think.

But it was never enough for the way that he made her sing out her joy in her passion for that is what Selkie boys do.

One day, Leif didna go to sea, thinking to do some needed work on the lands that he held, and at the end of the day, he thought to go home to his wife and do the things that he had missed with her for so long. He came to his home but there was no one there and the hearth was cold. Thinking that he might not have told her that he would stay ashore that day, he ran to where his boat was kept.

He saw his wife in the sea with a man who turned into a seal before his eyes and she waved to him as she sank below the waves.

He never saw her again on the land, but he spent a lot of time on the shore in the evenings, caring little for the land or fishing anymore. He told me that he saw her a few times, another seal out on the foam of the waves. It was cold comfort to him that she waved her flipper, or whatever they have. I asked tae be sure and he said tae me that he'd know that face anywhere, even as a seal and fer a moment, he saw her hair and then she was gone."

There was silence then around the table and the only sounds were from the hearth and the moaning wind outside. 

"You didn't say how you came to be here, Moppy," Louhi said.

The woman laughed in her jolly way for a moment, "It wasna something that either one of us had the thought of. We come from the same island, and it's a place where you know almost every other person. But I didna know Leif and I only knew why after. He kept ta hisself after losing his wife and almost never spoke to a soul in his shame. After a time, he sold everything and left."

She sighed, "I came down this far looking for a life fer maself. There was nothing for me back home. My brother was ta get the land and I had no man. It was a daft thing ta ever do; a woman traveling with people that she didna know well. You may have noticed that there's a few outlaws hereabouts."

They nodded and encouraged her to continue, "Well, I was left behind one day is all. Afore I knew what was what, I was looking at a fair whack of them, and they wasna looking at me like I was much more than a thing tae sell after they'd used me fer a bit of fun.

Leif came around the bend and he sent them off right quick after the first of them fell with Leif's hatchet in the middle of his face, and I've been wi' him ever since."

She looked around the table, seeing Cuilén again and wondering why it had been that she'd seemed to forget about him for a time. 

"Ah see that I sit with folk who know. Ah know what ye are as it's plain te me. If ye havna seen it afore now, then I'll tell ye that my Leif's half-troll. His father is one of the large kind and his mother is a human. The large ones are the shy ones and don't seek te cause anyone trouble, living in their caves most of the time. It's the small ones what work mischief and eat children when they can get 'em.

The other reason why we're here is that there's a cave fer him down below. That's where I sleep wi' him and he loves his moppy girl. He tries te be more of a man than a troll, but the nature is there in him all the same. He doesna think he's much te look at, but te me, well he's more than I could ever want.

As she spoke, she began to shift a little before their eyes. Cuilén saw it as the effect of an enchantment on her and he knew then that Leif had ability of his own. Moppy's skin turned an even woodtone in color with the exception of a white patch on her breast, and he had a thought that it was large and extended far down past the bit that her dress left uncovered. The soft fur was visible a second later and the hand which held her cog of mead grew to be much more paw-like while still being a hand. She still had her mop of dark brown hair, but there were ears now which hung back and far down. She still smiled, though the reason for the toothy smile became much more apparent.

"Leif gave me this," she said, nodding, "He saw that I'm a woman and yet even so, there's always been a touch of moppy to me. He likes that. And he likes that even though I'm no big, ah can take all that he has fer me. 

I'm no big at all, just a peedie thing what loves te tease him until he's hard and then he sits me on his lap until I move a bit an sit down on the fat knob that he has fer me.

We can stay like that fer a long time, me just moving a little and him playing with my tits and sucking on my ear. He loves me so and I love him back just as much. Just a furry moppy in love, is what I am. We grew tae love each other and I'd do anything fer him. We came tae be here because of the way that the road is and we're close enough tae the town and far enough away as well. He hides what he is most often and I just stay the woman that I was born until we're alone.

But he doesna like it here because it's too close to the sea." 

She pointed off to her left, "There's some small cliffs and a wee walk down, but it's easy enough tae get there. We're on the wrong side of the country, and we're far down as well, but he thinks that he has something to be a-feared of that I'd run off and take up wi' the Selkies one night.

I can't tell him often enough that I'd never do that and that I love him so and he keeps me very pleased indeed, but, ... well it's on his mind a fair bit anyway."

She shrugged, "I'd never have the want of it. I've never told him – and don't ye say anything tae him, but there's at least one Selkie here in that bay down there some nights. I've seen him wi' me own eyes, I have. That doesna mean that I'm wantin' anything wi' a Selkie."

The silence fell over them again and the crackle of the fire sounded even louder for a time. Louhi sipped her mead, knowing that it was only a matter of seconds more and  -

"You say that there's one of them here?" Annikki asked and Moppy groaned, "Aye, and I want no part of him. Ah've only seen him from far off. Just enough tae know what I was lookin' at. Maybe four times now."

There was a little more silence then. Louhi knew there was more in Moppy, but she wondered if it would be allowed to come out at all. But then Moppy's next statement caused her to almost drop her cog.

"I've had my fill of Selkies too," Moppy said.

After a time, she looked at them, "I've always been small. It's why my Da always called me his peedie Moppy. I grew a little now and then, but I was always behind in my size for my age. I never minded it much, I guess, well, ... until it got to the time when most girls start tae thinking about getting wed tae somebody. Lief says that I'm the girl that he's always wanted and he has more fun wi' his moppy-girl because I'm a little round and not big and I can't say that he's not a wonderful man for how he loves me and he fucks so well and all.

I think it must be the same for Hjaltland girls," she said to Cuilén, seeing him again only because she had the thought. "There's auld things and customs; little things that girls do tae try to see about the boy they'll marry one day.

If you see a crow and ye can scare it off, you look tae see which way it flies as that'll tell you the way to where your true love lives. More times than not, when I tried, it was always near the kirk, and that's the way that the crow flew. It meant that I was bound tae not have anybody fer me, so I stopped doing it.

The problem wi' ma name was that as I got old enough fer it, I guess that I had the same want as a moppy-girl does, the real ones. I thought that I'd go mad in my need and despair. I mean I wanted to know the touch of a good man so much and I couldna get the thought of it from my mind a lot of the time. I was friggin' maself every night two and three times afore I could get any sleep.

I was talking with my friend one day when we was hangin' clothes out on the line. She told me about the Selkies. I never said a word about my troubles and all, just kept it tae maself.

She told me that if a girl goes tae the edge of the sea, and she weeps seven tears inta the water, then a Selkie man would come tae love her.

I was about done wi' my cryin and friggin' maself sore so I listened. Well, it has tae be done at high tide. She didna tell me that the first time. I felt lonely and sad and all, but it's a bit hard tae weep seven tears in a row just like that.

Even worse to find that it had tae be then after I'd spent half a day at it fer nothing." 

Louhi smiled at Moppy and got up to get her another cog of mead this time. What she was seeing and hearing interested her and she hoped to hear more of it.

"Anyway, when I had it straight and all, I went down ta try it again. And I had a hard time at it. I mean, I wanted it and all, but I felt a bit daft. The next time, Silla brought a few scallions and she left before I went. But I didna need the scallions anymore when I got there. I was starting to think that I couldna even do this right and then I started to cry because I felt so alone and I, ... 

I don't know why, I just looked up and there he was; the finest-looking man I'd ever seen, right there. He was sitting on a rock not two yards from me and he was pulling his seally skin off in front of me and then he asked me, ... "

Moppy threw her head back and laughed a little as she remembered it, "Me; peedie Moppy, the peedie round girl who couldna get a man tae look at me if I shot him wi' a bow. He looked at me with those big round eyes and he asked me if he was good enough tae make me want tae love wi' him."

She looked down and shook her head with a soft smile.

"What happened?" Annikk gasped, "Did you say yes, Moppy?"

I almost drownded maself," she laughed, "I jumped at him before he could change his mind, that's what I did, Annikki. I jumped straight at him and I knocked him clean off the rock and we both sailed inta the sea. 

I couldna swim much and I was still wearing ma dress. The next thing I knew, he had me on the beach."

"Was he trying to get you there to save you?" Louhi asked and Moppy nodded, "Oh aye, he was, and he did and he had me on the beach as I said. I pulled up my dress and he took my maidenhead and I was the only girl that I ever knew who was made intae a woman by a fine Selkie boy. Silla couldna say that fer she fucked wi' all the boys when she could afore that summer."

She sighed deeply again, "Ma very first fuck and it was a grand one, I can tell ye that fer nothin'.

The next time that I saw Silla she asked me about it all and I was a bit careful not to tell too much of it, but after a time. I said what happened.

Silla laughed at me and said that she often did the same as me and went down tae the small cove there fer tae fuck wi' a Selkie boy. 

The Selkies like tae go there and play after they haul out onta the flat stones warmed in the sun. We went together often after that, Silla and me. You just had tae be a little careful walkin' over the stones is all. Some of them Selkie girls dinna like tae see a girl play wi' them they consider as theirs fer themselves. It did feel a little strange; te be walkin' past so many boys and girls lyin' on the rocks fucking like that, but it was something that always excited me, to be sure.

In the warmer times of the year, that little place gets warm from the sun and there's nae much wind on a good day, ye see. So it's a fine place fer it all and it doesna take much tae get a fine Selkie tae take off his skin fer a girl what's needin' him a bit.

Ye need tae think about your time of the month  a bit more, because well, Selkies'll no listen when ye tell 'em that you can't play the whole tune, if ye see what I mean.

Well Silla was game a lot more than me at first, but then it got a bit much fer her. I think that it was the sound of the kirk bells if it were onna Sunday that bothered her at first but I didna know why that was. I wasna bothered a bit over that, but she was and she came there less and less while I had my fun when I could. I used tae get maybe three and four te play, and once, I had seven before it got cold in the afternoon."

Louhi's jaw fell open. She looked around the table and the others were looked to be just as incredulous. "Seven," she said to make sure that she'd heard it correctly.

Moppy laughed, "It was ma finest day. I looked around and there were seven fine Selkie boys lookin' back at me. Some was strokin'  their things fer me and that was it fer Moppy.

I took them any way that I could, one after the other and it felt so good te be there on the warm flat rocks in the sun being loved like that. When one was done, I was there waiting fer the next.

I even had four of em' at the one time; one in my cunny and one in me arse. One in my mouth and even one between ma tits, all at the one time," she laughed. "Oh I was a right mess when it was time te go home. That's when I learned that Selkies have great hearts te their girls. They took me inte the water wi' em and they held me up while they washed me. I came again just from that, Louhi."

She looked around and Cuilén could see that she'd more or less forgotten about him again as she moved forward a little more and spoke even lower, "I learned a few things, I can tell ye. I didna know different at the time, but I know now that a Selkie, when he's lovin' like a man, well he can and does the same things as a man would do – the better of them anyhow, not the drunkards or the young priggers who don't know more than tae stick it in and out a few times until they're happy and ne'er mind the girl in it.

But I also learned that a Selkie can fuck so nice if he doesna take off the skin too, and as long as he doesna roll onte ye, and just stays on his side, or even better, he lets ye ride on him, well that's one of the nicest ways fer tae get fucked good that I know of – and sometimes it's better than being wi' a man. That's one of the ways that Selkies do it wi' their own kind, ye see and their skin is so good te feel against ye.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 03



And I can't even tell ye how it feels when he's at yer tits when he's like that, them little whiskers and all."

Louhi and Annikki laughed then and Moppy laughed with them a little shyly, but she said that it was very nice to spend a day that way.

"But there's another side tae it all and that's why I stopped.

See, Silla, we was at her place one day in the fall and it started out wi' us just joking and sayin' as how we'd miss it as it got colder fer the winter comin' on and all, and just outta nowhere, Silla began tae cry and I didna know what tae think.

She took me tae her room and she showed me that she was just startin' but she was wi' child and she'd not fucked with any man since the early spring. Her family was some upset as it went on, wi' her having tae lie about doing it wi' a sailor what come on a trader boht and all.

I stayed wi' her when I could and in the spring she birthed a beautiful girl. But everyone knew what she'd done. Ye can tell a Selkie's babe by the skin what lies between their fingers a lot more than it does on a normal babe because they've got little flippers when they're like seals. They look like human babes and act the same way, but that webbing between their little fingers ...

Silla took her babe to the sea and just sat there crying. But it all turned out fer her in the end. A Selkie man came tae her and he saw the way that she wept and he told her that he'd take her to wife if she wanted him. Well she did, and we said our goodbyes not long after. Silla's little girl couldna walk yet then, but she could swim like any fish and her man took them away down below. She told me that he said that she could be a Selkie wife and she'd be fine in the water.

I saw them go and I never went back. There were nights when I heard a quiet knock on the door, but I never opened it. I left the next spring and now I'm here.

Annikki held up her hand from the table for a moment, "Moppy, how do you know if he's a Selkie if he has his skin still on? How do you know that you weren't, ... ah, ..."

Moppy laughed and waved her finger, "Don't ye worry, Annikki. First you have to know that ye've got the right kind te begin with. If he's the kind what can fold his back flippers forward and hop his bottom on the land, well that's not a Selkie. That's a different kind of seal, and a real one – them what makes all the barking noises.

If he's in the water, you look for his ears. If he's got little ears that ye can see, wrong again. Sometimes ye see them what has tusks and again, no.

Ye look fer one that's like the kind they call Gray seals. They're a bit larger, and the males are just too big fer a girl te make that sort of mistake with and they'll not lie there fer ye anyway.

The ones you want are the same kind, or look te be, but they're smaller males, closer to the size of a man. The girl ones have nipples and the boys have their things, but they're hidden away, leaving only a little hole in their bellies. And they're friendly where the true Gray seal males are not because a Seikie will be happy te see ye coming if they have an interest."

She sipped her mead and set it down, "And then, well, no real seal will talk te ye, will they? They might not know the right speech, but they'll often try and then, just like any other man with looks what can stir ye or just eyes what can, then ye'll be in your own bit of peril, won't ye?

The ones that Ah'm speakin' of, the real seals, they don't make noise at all but fer plitterin' and splashin' the water wi' their flippers. They have no voices.

But the Selkies what hide in amongst them sometimes, ah, well they do, you see."

She drained the last of her mead and set her cog down then, "I'm happy that ye're all here safe and ye can help yerself te the mead if you still have a want of it. I've got te go see te Leif. That one gives a good gush every time and we've been together for a few years now, but I love it all the same. It's another gift that he gave me, but until we're ready for little ones, he can fill his moppy all that he likes, since we love te do it every chance we get."

She wished them a good night and then she turned to go, saying that the same room was ready, the one with the large bed and a second one if need be. Cuilén glanced at her round bottom since the bulge of her tail under her dress had attracted his eye. Moppy saw it and she laughed a little and wiggled her backside as she walked out.

When they got to their room, they saw their bags there from the horses. Annikki lit the candle and turned as the others removed their clothes. They looked at her quizzically then and she smiled and said that she wanted to have a look around in the darkness for a little while.

"I see at last what I wanted to see between you for some time," she smiled, "Get into the bed and begin the talk that you need. I will not be too long."

Louhi was in the bed first and she snickered, "Nikki wishes to look for a seal this night."

Annikki rolled her eyes and walked out, but she didn't say that it wasn't correct.

She really couldn't have said just why she wanted to go. She certainly didn't buy Moppy's grand talk about there being a Selkie down in the cove. She just felt like stretching her legs a little before turning in.

"So," Louhi began as she slid her arms around Cuilén, "Are we to begin, you and me? I want a little love tonight, but it would go better for me if I knew that I hold my man now."

Cuilén chuckled and nodded, "It is not as hard to say as I thought that it would be, Louhi. I love you."

She chuckled again, "You do? Which part of me has your love then?"

Her chuckling gave way to her quiet laughter as he began to kiss her throat.

-------------------------

There was a moon.

Annikki saw it and was a little thankful. The wind was still up and it felt cool just bordering on cold as she walked back from the stables after looking in on their horses. She came to the front of the place and stopped.

Looking up for a moment, she saw no clouds and thought about the cove. She shrugged to herself as she began to walk around the building. She might as well see the place, she thought. She liked Moppy and all, but even though it was clear that she could change herself thanks to Leif's gift, she rather doubted at least some of what she'd heard, knowing that the best sort of innkeepers or their wives often kept a ready supply of little tales to amuse the guests.

When she came around to the rear and could see the start of the path down, Annikki was surprised at how the wind back there now came from the sea and it was a lot colder.

Still, ...

She crept carefully, not being concerned over making noise so much, but she didn't want a misstep here or the broken neck which might easily come of it. She made her way down slowly and stood at the place where the path emptied out on to the stones back a good way from the shore.

She looked out at the water and though she'd been on a couple of boats now in their travels, she couldn't see the way that seafarers often spoke kindly about that sort of life as though it was some sort of romantic thing. To her mind, if that was what it was, then it as more than a little one-sided as far as she was concerned. She still remembered the last storm and the walls of gray water that rose to toss them around.

She'd had those thoughts and memories in her mind and all the while, she'd been moving onto the beach. When she realized it, she stopped and looked around.

The cove wasn't a very large one and it was walled on two sides by sheer cliffs, though they only rose perhaps thirty to forty feet over the beach itself. And it wasn't all that much of a beach either, Annilkki thought, looking at what her boots now stood on. She looked ahead, seeing the large rocks there which lay strewn as though by some gigantic hand tossing what to it had been merely pebbles.

The place was deserted as far as she could tell by the light of the half-moon above. All that she could see in the darkness were the dark swells of the water and the silvery tops of the waves. The wind didn't seem to gust at all and it never let up, being just a constant cold force against the front of her cloak – which had often seemed a little warm a lot of the time, but now showed her its inadequacy. 

Annikki kept on, needing a little somehow to get to the edge of the water if nothing else and wondering why, but she went.

She didn't see him at first, the dark shape near to cliff wall on the left side. He didn't see her either, being lost in his thoughts and cares. Annikki was a little lost in her own. They'd always said that they'd go on, her and Louhi and she didn't have any real doubts over it either. But things had changed and she realized it. She was just wondering what all of this portended for her.

She doubted if they'd come apart over the deeper relationship which she saw as inevitable and important to both Louhi and Cuilén and from perhaps her more pragmatic side, she'd easily allow it. She just wondered when there would be time for the two girls again, that was all.

Annikki stopped then, about thirty feet from the water's edge. She didn't know whether the tide was coming in or going out and she supposed that it didn't matter to her very much. If it was coming in, all that she had to watch for was the creep of the waves a little nearer each time and she had to be sure that there was nothing behind her to block her way back. It was a stupid thought, perhaps, but she looked back to see.

The sound in the little cove was only the almost constant cycle of waves washing in, driven a little by the wind as it were, only to hiss back out again in preparation for the next wave. There was no roaring of the waves, it not being a storm or anything. The wind was the only roaring and that was fairly quiet and only if one was facing that wind directly at all so that the air was moving past one's ears. You could hear it then.

But it was the short lull of not-silence in between waves at the moment that she turned around, her boots rotating on the mostly round stones of the strand. 

And in that instant, her boot caused one rock to be dislodged and clack quietly against its neighbor. There was a double-sound to it as the stone moved and then stopped. After that, there was nothing again and the next wave slid in, causing much louder sounds as it moved some of those very same stones, only farther out enough to be moved by the waves.

Like anyone else in a place like that after nightfall, Annikki's night vision was monochromatic and she saw only shades of gray. But at times when one is in a strange place alone, there is always an increased sensitivity to detecting motion.

The slight motion that she saw off to her left caused her head to snap in that direction and then she saw, ... something.

A dark rock wall with a darker flat-topped boulder in front of it, standing six or maybe seven feet tall, but with the water near to the top of it so that it looked low.

On top of that, ... well there was an even darker shape.

That shape looked so incongruous to Annikki that she stared, trying a little desperately to get more information from her eyes. The attempt was a failure, her eyes not receiving one bit more data than they already had to work with. But her other senses, particularly the ones which she hadn't known about until Louhi's patient teachings had shown to her, ... well those ones returned more information.

She felt alarm from that direction, and maybe a little fear, which turned to more uncertainty a moment later. She felt sadness as well, but it was overwritten with more urgent things at the moment, such as the uncertainty.

Annikki had frozen at the sound of the rocks, and hadn't moved in the seconds since. She only stood there still, feeling and trying to see what she could.

What she saw was the shape of a man, not large and not tiny. If she was right, she thought, then he was fairly slender, sitting on the rock leaning back on his hands. He was frozen in what must be a slightly uncomfortable position to maintain for too long, Annikki thought to herself. He sat with his head turned toward her, leaning forward just a little uncertainly and having to stay that way until he could perceive if there was a threat to him from that direction or not. 

Annikki almost didn't dare to draw a breath as she looked. She couldn't see his face at all, only the blackness of the shadow, the moon and what little if its light illuminated him being at his back. He had long dark hair, and it looked to her to be a little thick and full, not stringy or even wet, so he couldn't have come here to go swimming – or he'd been out of the water for a long time.

The thought almost caused her to shiver. How could anyone with warm blood swim in that, other than having landed in it by accident of a fall? 

The moment stretched on for a long time, with one not daring to move and the other straining to see what might be approaching.

But it was broken in the next instant as she watched the figure move forward suddenly and fall from the rock, still in a sitting position. Then the figure was gone with a splash and Annikki almost cried out in alarm and concern for the person who was now in danger of succumbing to the cold of the water at the least or the more likely probability of being dashed against the side of the rock by the next wave.

She stepped forward uncertain of her footing and wanting to curse over her slight worry that she'd sprain an ankle before she could get to the rock. As she went a few steps, she saw an arm reach out over the edge of the stone to grab at something which she hadn't seen there until now. Grasping something there, the arm retreated, looking as though the person had remembered a blanket folded there on the rock.

Then it was gone.

Annikki kept on, still walking as carefully as she could manage until she came to the rear of the stone and stepped onto it with a little care to look out over the water, a little afraid to see a battered body there. She saw no such thing.

But after a moment, she saw something else as her eyes drifted outwards.

There at the outer reaches of the space between the two rock walls which defined the cove, almost in the middle of that two hundred yard gap, Annikki saw the dark shape of a head in the moonlight, darker than the dull gray of the swells and bobbing there in them slightly.

She saw no hair and she still saw no face, as the next thought came to her.

She saw no ears as well.

She watched for a little time and the head didn't move much, other than what might be expected of a semi-buoyant object which one couldn't see most of, being below the surface. She felt silly, not knowing what to do, if anything. She smirked to herself as she felt the beginnings of her arm motion. What good would a wave do now?

She took a last look and turned to go. Walking with the same amount of care, she made her way back to the path into the thin woods at the far edge of the beach and finding it, she thought to go, but turned back for one last hopeful look.

The head was a lot closer in now and it seemed to her that whoever this was, they were watching.

She turned then and began her walk back to the top. 

She found her way fairly easily and reaching the buildings, she walked around to the front and entered.

When she got to their room, she found Louhi lying on her back with one leg up and Cuilén kissing her while they fucked slowly like that. Annikki said a quiet hello so that they'd know that she'd come back and then she walked to the next room and undressed quickly out of her sense of night chill. She got into the bed and closed her eyes then, but sleep wouldn't come for a long time as she tried to piece together what she'd seen and witnessed.

Out in the cove, the head remained bobbing gently in the waves. The eyes looked at the spot where the strange apparition had disappeared for a long time afterward.

------------------------------

The next day, Cuilén was a little embarrassed over the things that were being done for him. Moppy had found some of Leif's old things which were still in good condition and she fussed and fitted them to him and decided how to take them in, saying apologetically that she had no new things in his size. When he found himself dismissed by the seamstress for the moment, he had to submit to almost the same thing, but from Leif's side, out of wanting to fit something to him which might protect him in their travels. 

The next thing that he knew, it was "time te eat somethin'", and he was swept off to the kitchen where he at least got there early enough to have a little time so that he could plead to Moppy to let him help or do something. Louhi thought it was a little funny, most of the time, when it wasn't hilarious. At least after the meal, Cuilén found a little peace when Leif began to shoe his horse, but he said that he wanted to see Cuilén afterward about something.

That was when they noticed that Annikki was gone. She'd been there at breakfast, but she'd been largely silent and thoughtful, wishing everyone a good morning and then falling still.

"She went te the cove," Moppy said, making sure that Leif was out of earshot, "I asked her if she'd seen anything and she said that she wasna sure, but that it was a lovely spot te sit and think. I never thought it was, the times when I went. Anyway, I sent her on her way wi' a small basket of things te nibble if she wanted. Well, thinkin' can be hungry work – at least fer me it is." She laughed.

In response to their questions, Moppy said that Annikki didn't look sad or anything at all. She'd only been a little quiet, but she'd smiled to Moppy when she'd gone.

Leif had always been good at visualizing his ideas and then bringing them to fruition in terms of the things that he's made for himself and his woman. He heated water down below in his cavern and the things that he could do with it ...

Cuilén stood in a room in front of a pieced of glass which had been painted on one side. There was a flat piece of metal hanging next to it and they were both over a basin. His eye went from one to an other and he was shaving.

Behind him there was a pool which was perhaps a dozen feet square. The water was kept warm by the same means that the rest of it was somehow, the same way that the water in the basin in front of Cuilén was kept hot.

In that pool, Louhi bathed.

To Cuilén, it was the sweetest distraction.

But after a little while, he noticed that she only sat in a corner and looked at him.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, "I only wait in a little worry.

My man shaves because I asked him to," she said, holding up her hand toward his back, "Now I worry that I have asked something which I should not have asked of you. What if I do not like you without your beard? What if YOU do not like to be without a beard? It will take a time to grow back."

She couldn't see the reflection of his face from where she sat; only his eyes and above them.

He began again, being mostly done but wanting no stubble.

"Then I grow it back again for you," he said.

She nodded and looked down.

When he was finished, he walked around the pool and knelt for her inspection, though it was a moment before she looked up.

Louhi smiled then, liking him so much this way. She stood up so that she could look at him at eye level.

"I have the finest-looking man," she smiled and the sight took his heart once more.

She put her arms around his neck and sighed as she felt his bare cheek against hers, "It does not change what I hold in my heart for you, Cuilén. But I like you this way even more to see it."

She smirked to herself, "And it stirs me so. Do you wish to love me here, Cuilén? I have had you to myself the whole night and now I want you again."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 03



Cuilén laughed quietly as he slipped one arm around her waist and the other reached for her breast, "The things that you say to me, little words from you hold me bound for the way that my heart listens."

He kissed her and Louhi's heart thrilled to feel him begin to harden for her.

---------------------

Down on the cove, it was one of those sunny fall days which carry little if any wamth. The sun didn't feel too bad on you, but the wind was still there and it stole everything away. Annikki had come wanting to see some of the place in the daytime.

She sat on the rock where she'd seen the figure the night before, but though she looked as carefully as she could and spent some minutes at it every so often, she saw nothing.

No one and nothing, she said to herself, wondering a little at the slight sense of melancholy which had seemed to descend over her. She wasn't lonely and she knew that all that she had to do was to go to Louhi and stand a little close to her and she'd be in her arms being kissed. As far as that went, she thought, it would likely bring the same response from Cuilén. She made a mental note to be sure to talk with them and spend some time later.

As far as she was concerned, Annikki thought that she was a pretty lucky girl to have two friends and lovers like them. It was just, ...

A gull landed next to her a few feet away on the rock and screamed at her as though ordering her to give up whatever was in her basket and she swung at it for the interruption to her thoughts. 

It was just that, ... well, she thought, maybe it was this place or maybe she'd been feeling a little hopeful the night before to see who it had been out here. She didn't know, but it wasn't bad sitting here.

Her gaze had been pretty fixed at just one spot a little away from her in the waves nearby. It hadn't been a thought, really. It had been more of a by-product of the thought while she'd been having it. But she did see the dark shape shooting past there under the water as something passed the spot.

Annikki looked up a little farther out and she looked closer in. She looked everywhere but she saw nothing. When she turned a little, she almost jumped off the rock into the water herself.

The head was there just a little away from the rock and looking at her. 

Well, she didn't know if it was the same one or anything. She quietly said hello and wanted to laugh at herself. What was she doing?

She felt even more foolish when she slowly raised her hand and waved just a little. She saw the brown eyes as they followed the motion and then when she'd put her hand down again, the eyes returned to her face, watching silently.

"I was told to see if you were the right kind," she said in Norse, smiling and feeling like an idiot. "I was told that the right ones were smaller than the regular ones." She leaned over a little closer and she looked down, "But I can't even see any of you, but what's here. You don't have ears, so that's a good thing, I heard."

She went on like that a little, feeling stupid, but since it was plain to her that this was a real seal and possibly even a female, she just laughed at herself. She remembered the basket and she took a little bread and meat out of it and started to eat.

The head remained where it was, watching the same as before, though with some interest since she was eating something.

"I'd put some out on the rock here for you, but I don't know if it's good for a seal. You eat fish, I guess."

The head bobbed a little nearer to see her eat and then she left a little crust and a small piece of meat there right at the edge. The eyes looked at it and then back up at her.

"Well go on if you want," Annikki smiled, "I put it there for you, after all."

She was turning to find something else in the basket and she found a piece of salted herring. Seizing it, she turned to hold it up a little triumphantly, but she saw that the creature was chewing something and then it was gone. She looked down and her offering was gone as well, so she came to the only possible conclusion after she saw that the rock was still dry other than a sweeping smear which must have been left by ... a flipper?

"Well you're welcome," she laughed a little, pleased that she could have at least a little interaction with this fascinating animal. He must have risen up a little and swept everything into the water and then grabbed it.

But that was something that must have been foreign to it, she thought. The herring might be taken a lot quicker, so she decided to be careful. Annikki didn't take her eyes from the creature as she held out the piece of fish. The nose came forward slowly as everything bobbed in the waves, but at last, the fish was gone and Annikki still had her fingers.

They stayed like that for a long time, with her talking and the creature listening – or appearing to as she talked about where she came from and some of her travels with Louhi. Eventually, she had no more to share and after a while, she ran out of things to say in her one-sided conversation. The seal stayed for all of it, and then Annikki very slowly got to her knees, which caused the animal to stare a little, and then she got to her feet to leave. 

"I must go," she said, "I have enjoyed this little joke that my friend has played on me and I was surprised to see you this close and be able to talk to you. But I need to see if my horse has been looked after and then I must think about the evening meal and then bed. I do not even know how long we are staying yet. A pleasant afternoon to you."

When she turned around, Annikki saw that the tide had been coming in the last little while. She made it back to the dry part of the beach, but her boots got wet regardless.

Annikki rolled her eyes. Here was some added work, to stuff her boots so that she leather dried without drying out and turning brittle.

She looked back and saw that the seal was in as close as possible and still watched her. She waved, feeling just as silly for it as anything else, but then she saw the flipper rise out of the water a little and she stared. The creature looked at her and then at the flipper and she just saw the wave. She waved again and walked away, not trusting herself to have come to the correct conclusion. There was only one possible, she thought. He or she had raised a flipper. It was probably something that they did for whatever reason and that was all. There couldn't have been any other reason.

Back at the house, things were in a strange state. Annikki walked in and almost jumped back out. There was another troll there and she was just leaving. She barely said 'pardon me' or anything and there was precious little room to allow her passage as it was. Annikki would have been flattened.

Moppy and Leif were in earnest discussions of some sort while Cuilén and Louhi looked on. When their eyes met, they just shrugged at her.

It took a while.

Leif's father was dying of some illness and he'd asked to see his son once more. Moppy said that he just ought to go, but he wanted her to come and the smithy and the little inn were the sticking point.

---------------------------

He was surprised. 

Actually, he was in a bit of shock. That he'd been startled the night before had been one thing. That the human came back today was quite another. He wondered what she wanted.

He was here alone and it was hard to bear, his kind being social creatures.

Well, both of his kinds, he supposed. He was a half-breed, after all. 

He supposed that he ought to feel something like an affinity to humans, thought he really didn't. He'd hardly ever seen more than a few in his young life before now.

He'd seen a few females, but mostly the ones that he had seen were all dour and grim-looking fishermen and he'd been careful to remain unobserved by them. 

He raided their nets, you see.

Along with other sorts of predators, he and others often went after the contents of fishing nets. It was easy enough, after all. You looked to see the boats, headed that way, slid in behind them and just dove. You might have to gnaw through a bit of netting, but after that you took what looked good to you and you were home free.

Of course if they saw you, they'd get a little nasty, shooting arrows at you or tossing harpoons but if you were careful and not too destructive towards their nets and if you left them the lion's share of the catch, since they'd done all the work, well, after that, you just had to swim into a cove or somewhere to grab a few clams or crabs if it was a good day for it.

Well that was what he'd done before all of his life from childhood. He swam with his mother and his siblings and he'd learned. 

But it wasn't what he'd really wanted for a life.

He knew that now, at the ripe age of nineteen and a half. Of all of his siblings; three girls and four boys, he was the only one who'd had a human man for a father.

To hear his mother tell of it, she and her male had been courting and it was getting rather serious, from her side of it and one day, she'd been hauled out and sunning with him on some warm rocks. There were others, lots of others who'd been doing the same thing, though he imagined that there was a fair bit of mating going on as well, not that his mother ever said anything about that.

But then a human man had run out onto the rocks and everyone scrambled to grab their skins and vanish beneath the waves in the cove.

That man must have been watching for quite a while, he imagined. Or maybe he was a little smarter than the rest of them. In any event, everyone got away with their skins but his mother. And there is no way that a Selkie can live in the ocean without that. 

To hear her side of it, she'd had to follow the man, weeping the whole way, walking naked behind him until at last, he'd turned and said that he'd give her back her skin if she'd marry him. She had no choice and agreed, not that it had worked out that way. 

For one thing, the man lived in a rather small community of humans. They lived in a spread-out sort of fashion, but everybody knew every other person in it. The arrival of a lovely girl, not matter how fine she looked in the clothes that he'd bought her so that she'd be presentable just had to be noticed and it was.

By everyone. 

His mother had tried to be friendly, though she had trouble with the language at first. She thought it was the best thing to do to try to fit in. But they all knew that she wasn't one of them. The arrival of a new family was a thing talked about for half a year at least. The arrival of a comely young woman from out of nowhere when the trading boat hadn't come yet led many to come to the same conclusion. 

And that wasn't that she'd been the only survivor from a Hansa trader ship from Danzig – the one which had supposedly wrecked without a trace no matter how the old man lied to his neighbors.

It grew worse when the real trader ship came and they knew nothing about a lost ship. They weren't missing any.

You'd have thought that they'd have laid the blame on the man for lying to his neighbors and kin and they did , but as well, everyone turned even farther from his mother. She kept his house for him and tried to be a good wife, though she hated it all. The only reprieve came when the priest had refused to marry them. 

But it bought her nothing but more housework for a grumpy old man. He told her that even if he couldn't marry her, she'd live as his wife.

She reminded him of their agreement. It wasn't her fault that they couldn't get married. She asked when she could have her skin returned to her.

He told her never. He told her that he'd burned it.

She came so close to killing him in his sleep so many times ...

At length, though she hated every second of having his beard in her face, she found herself pregnant.

As the months passed, it led her to so many more almost-murderings.

But it never came to that. She found her skin herself one day while cleaning out the attic during one of those brief times when her little one was asleep.

She grabbed the skin and shook it out, barely able to believe that she held it again. She almost ran out, leaving her baby in her haste to get back to the sea. It had been done by her kind before. But the child was so small and barely two  weeks old. She just couldn't. She ran back.

What she could do was what she did. She snatched the child up out of his cradle and ran with the baby screaming all the way down to the shore. It wasn't far from where the old fisherman was rowing his boat in after a hard day out fishing in the swells. The men tended to work together at it in groups, often based on familial ties, but not him, not anymore.

He'd alienated his family over his preposterous tales of the way that he'd come by the beautiful, but nearly silent young girl with the soulful eyes. And he'd seen the male Selkie many times as he'd looked for her. More than once, he'd stood up in his boat and thrown a harpoon. The Selkie man had been missed every time, but he'd managed to grab the harpoon as it sank on its line once and with a quick gnaw on the rope as it was being hauled back, he had the wicked thing free and he was off with it. 

As he'd shown it to the others, they all came to the only conclusion that was possible.

What had been thrown at him had been a sealing harpoon and that was plenty close enough.

The frantic mother dove into the waves while she still had time. In an earlier day, she'd have been able to get the skin on underwater in the blink of an eye but it had been over a year and it took her a little longer that day. The baby, being what he was, began to swim. The skin on at last, the girl swam after her child, grabbing him to guide him but she saw that shadow in the water over them. 

She knew what it likely meant and holding the baby, she swam for her life.

In the boat above, the fisherman got to his feet and grabbed his other harpoon, trying to find a moment of relative steadiness. But the moment never came and seeing something a little farther out, he looked and saw the male Selkie there rising out of the water already beginning his throw. The man tried, but began to lose his balance and was desperate himself not to fall out of the boat. He had an idea that drowning at a Selkie's hands would be the most likely and kindest fate that he could expect.

But before that happened the other harpoon arrived and he as speared through the gut and pulled from the boat.

He did not die by drowning.

It was all to the good after that. The girl was reunited with her male who welcomed her with his kisses and they swam off together while the old man who was thought of as a fool by everyone floated slowly on his back with a harpoon sticking out of his stomach. He was dead before anyone could get to him.

The baby didn't care much one way or the other. He was loved by his mother and her male never gave him a reason to think that he was any less loved than his siblings who all arrived after him in about as rapid a procession as their biology would allow. He was accepted and embraced by his family and one half of his kin.

Well it was all good until he began to try to find a female of his own. That was when he grew to know the other side of how his mother had been made to feel. No one treated him badly, but no Selkie girl wanted much to do with him, though they were all polite about it.

He remembered thinking as he'd watched all of the others playing in the sunshine that maybe he ought to go looking for a human girl, but the thought was a little unpleasant to him after a moment at the time. He assumed that the human women there were quite capable of making their own choices in who they wanted to play with.

He wasn't good with their speech, knowing only what his mother had taught him of it as a game sometimes when he was little – just a thing with which to amuse her little boy and not much more, since she had no real proper grasp of it herself. The thought died out a few seconds later when he remembered a few more things. To seek for a human woman who was lonely and unhappy with her husband might be fun, but the more that he thought about it the less that he liked the idea – especially with the problem of the language added on top of it all. 

And of course there was the other thing. A Selkie male with his skin off held a lot of attraction to human females. He knew this as he knew that he was like any other male in liking the way that human females looked – well the ones that he'd seen who'd come down to throw off their absurd clothing to frolic with a few of his friends.

But a Selkie male; one who was full-blooded, had fully human-like fingers and toes, while a half-one as he was had, ... the same webbed digits that the Selkie females weren't crazy about. They looked like fingers and toes – because that's what they were, after all. They were the right size and length and color. They were just, ... a little webbed for about a third of their length.

But it was enough.

It was the strangest thing to him and he'd have thought that a half human ought to have fingers like a human, but that wasn't the way that it went. Any child of a human and a Selkie could be told by the webbing in between their digits.

He gave more thought to maybe seeking for a girl of his kind from the other side of the island, or, ... maybe the next one over, since it wasn't all that far. 

But two things had happened on the day that he'd had those thoughts back in the middle of the previous summer. He'd grown a little more melancholy and decided to forget about it for the moment to pull on his skin and slip into the water. He just wanted to be away and he swam out near to the walls which bracketed the cove. He just wanted to be alone, since that was what he was destined to be anyway, he'd guessed.

That was the first thing which had occurred. He wasn't directly aware of the second thing right away. He'd been feeling too sorry for himself to really notice the first huge flash of black and white as it tore past him in the opposite direction, going in when he'd been coming out.

He saw the next one as it was coming to him and slipped aside just enough to be out of the way. He saw the one eye on the side of the thing which regarded him as it passed. The decision must have been made to reap the full harvest and not alarm it with the cries of one like he was, taken too far out and too soon before the rest had been trapped.

So the first thing was the way that he'd felt. The next thing had been the pod of killer whales grouped near to the entrance of the cove and liking the way that their prey would be hemmed in.

There are things in the cold North Sea which even Selkies need to fear.

Those creatures, if the hunger and the mood was on them would thrash right into a cove like that at high tide, snapping at the terrified Selkies and taking some of them right off the rocks as they threw themselves forward in their gorging. 

To them, seal or Selkie, it was the same thing, though maybe the Selkies weren't carrying blubber.

As he swam for his life, hearing the thin shrieks of the dying as they came to him underwater and the same thing whenever he raised his head a little, he did as his parents had always taught him and his siblings - get away if you can first, get away as far as you can go and don't stop; thinking that silence in the first little while after from behind you is an indicator that it was over. The creatures like to talk under the sea. Listen while you run. Don't ever stop to hear it. Don't come back until there is silence for a long time.

He took a huge gulp of air and descended, needing to get to the submerged shoal that he knew would hide him. Once there, he waited for his heart to stop pounding and then he closed one side of his brain down to sleep.

It wasn't something that he thought of – none of them did. It was just another thing that his kind had borrowed from the seals. He could shift things inside himself unconsciously, just as the seals could, things which slowed some metabolic processes to a tenth of their normal rates. He could stay down for two hours and more, hiding huddled against a stone overhang on the bottom. Longer if he slept; one cranial lobe shut down in sleep, the other keeping watch through open eyes.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 04



***I'm moving the spotlight away from Louhi for a little while. This will tie in later, but for now, we're looking at the border country which separates England from Scotland.

The year is not 1000AD yet but I needed a clan who could have been active there near the border and had a feud running with their opposite numbers on the other side. I picked a name, but then I remembered that those folks weren't really there yet, coming from Norman stock originally. Besides, I didn't want to tick anybody off who might be descended from that famous bunch who actually did become one of the border reiver clans, so I changed the name.

At this point, there are no active reiver clans, not for another 200 years or so, but I'm betting that there was already a little spitting over the fence going on. :)

Oh yeah, a side note. Just about everybody in this chapter speaks the local tongue, so I saw no need to torture my brain working out the color of it phonetically.

As far as the central character's name in this, ... Well I'm no Scot and I don't speak Gaelic. I might be wrong, but I *think* that 'Màiri' is pronounced the same way as 'Mary', though I doubt that it's the same name. I just know that when it was anglicized, that's what it became.

0_o

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Màiri Ciar lay naked on her front while her friend and kinswoman Beathag Cossford inspected the very recent tattoo work on her arm and her lower back with a critical eye, also using her fingertips to seek for scabs or areas which were not healing well in the places were the work was darkest and heaviest. She found none, but the style and the boldness of the work were striking to her and she said so.

Màiri would have been a lot more forthcoming in her responses – even likely telling Beathag of the significance of everything and why it had been chosen, but her answers were much more along the lines of either monosyllables or just quiet grunts.

She didn't mean to be rude; she was just distracted by the nature of the things which she'd seen the night before as she'd sat scrying through the mists rising from a moonlit river. The subject matter had been riveting and very compelling, but she'd normally have put it down to a freak, one-off event, given that she hadn't gone there with the thought in mind. It had just happened as her walk took her past the optimal spot to see it. 

Sadly, what she'd seen as she'd been walking and what had compelled her to stop and stare matched what had been made manifest to her earlier that evening using her more normal method of a scrying bowl. She didn't possess a bowl, but she had a goblet and with a little water and the light of a candle, ...

So she was troubled, to say the least.

"Fine," Beathag said with a little smile, knowing when not to press Màiri over something, "you may keep your secrets, Màiri. I don't really care. I was only trying to make talk between us."

Màiri apologized profusely, "I'm just bothered by something that I saw last night before you found me out walking while you looked for me, Beathag. To answer you, I put the markings on myself with a mirror and some careful thought."

Beathag was amazed. "This is too fine and too far behind you to have done it yourself. How then?"

Màiri smiled, "As I have said, a mirror and some careful thought. It was done all at once in an instant, not with the needle but with the mind."

"Well I hope you are not too bothered any more this night, "the other one said a little quietly, "Me, I am happy that you're back with us at last. After you were taken, I thought that I would never see you again." Her voice faded a little after that point from some old emotions which rose in her, and she thought it best not to say too much.

But Màiri caught it and she turned to look back with a soft and slightly sad expression.

"Here now, my old friend. I'll have no weeping. The thing is that I AM alive and I AM back. If we let ourselves go, we'll both be wailing all over again soon, and I can't have it – not this night when I am to be tested by the laird."

The other one nodded in understanding and got to her feet to bring the small platter of food to Màiri and they sat together eating and looking at each other. The quiet moments brought thoughts to them both as they looked at how the passage of half a score of years had changed them.

Beathag and Màiri were cousins and had been together on and off for all of their childhoods, their mothers being close and lifelong friends as well. Beathag was a little shorter and had always been pretty – but not much more than that back then. She was the daughter of a backwoods witch who hadn't had much of any ability other than to craft a little medicine and use a bit of folk magic to help her neighbors. As well, she was a midwife of some renown, but again, that was far away from any place with many people.

Beathag was the product of her mother's union with a handsome thief. The two had tried to make a go of things, but he'd been killed in a brawl one night and Beathag had never really known her father. Neither of her parents were directly related to their clan, coming from the Cossfords, a sept of the clan which they owed allegiance to.

The same sort of story could be said to have occurred in Màiri's origins, though her father still lived, a strong and good man who worked as the right hand of the laird of clan Ciar. What had brought about his daughter's conception was a combination of several factors. 

Màiri's mother had been at the point of her rise as a capable witch to have needed a man to help her along. As well, she'd been more than ready to take a man out of her own want of one, and she didn't want to mate with a stranger. 

She'd just wanted to mate. The couple were young at the time and they'd always loved each other, so once in a while, when the man's duties took him near to the rough hovel where Màiri's mother dwelt, well, ...

They'd always been close, and what they did then was just an extension of that and their love was just a well-kept secret; just a quiet and deep thing between a young man and his sister.

But where Beathag could have easily been called pretty her whole childhood long, Màiri had been the ugly duckling – the emphasis being on the adjective. Her pale white skin topped with a flaming and unruly mop of bright red hair added to her skinny and shapeless form had often caused her father to think in terms of the actions of the sins of her creation as being a judgement on her which she'd played no part in and she was certainly undeserving of it to his mind. She was lovely to him as any father might see his daughter, but he knew that she hadn't been given much in the way of gifts beyond her quick mind and sparkling friendliness. It had caused him to always love her fiercely.

Màiri was aware of the circumstances of her immediate family and she knew that it was a thing which was to be kept quiet about. She just loved her father whenever he came; happy that he loved her and did for her whatever he could.

Because of those circumstances - meaning poverty and the remoteness of where they began to grow up while learning of themselves and what they were and what they could do, the two girls were inseparable for most of their childhoods. While it wouldn't be fair to say that they'd been first lovers out of intent – since there were no other choices of any kind which appealed to them, it could be said that they'd been more than close and had experimented a little bit during their eighteenth year until everything came apart because of a band of raiders from out of northern England.

With nothing at all which might be of interest to men who came to rob and plunder, the only saving grace in that terrible day had been the way that their mothers had told their girls to run toward a hiding hole in the ground with a trap door of old weathered cedar stumps on the top. 

The atrocities weren't worth remembering, but the net effect was that both of the mothers had been killed, since what they were was easily seen and deduced. Màiri had just gotten Beathag into the hole when she'd been spotted because of her red hair and so she turned away and ran off, leaving the dark-haired girl alone. 

But both of them knew the outcome beforehand.

Beathag sat weeping and trembling in fear in their hiding place and Màiri had run for her life, but it meant little in terms of the ending, since the raiders were on horseback. It took no time for them to run her to ground. But she was spared by the thoughts of a warlock who had come along with the rest of his family to raid over the border. Màiri had been trussed up and thrown over the back of a horse and Beathag had known nothing of her friend ever since.

In time, she'd crept out of her hiding spot and gone to see the laird, but she was nobody and doubted if he'd have much of an interest, other than the news of the incursion. That was likely what would have happened too, but for her chance meeting with Màiri's father.

Things had been heading in this direction anyway, but faced with the murder of his beloved sister and the loss of his daughter – whose true identity he still maintained as a secret, he was able to ask for a little retribution over the death of his sister and Beathag's mother and it also lent a little weight to his words that he could remind his liege that his sister was a little thought-of, but nonetheless direct relation to the laird himself on his father's side. 

It began out of retribution, but it became a long-standing thing which had only grown slowly worse over the intervening years with riders crossing the border from both sides to plunder and kill.

But only very early the morning of the day before, things had changed when a single woman walked out of the thinning night mists to the gate of the laird's manor, saying who she was and asking to be let in.

Màiri's father and the laird were away to the north at the time, so it was thought to keep the red-haired mystery locked up until their return. That was what was to happen, but Beathag had come to see to the stranger and brought her a little food and water. She'd heard the claim that this person had made about being the daughter of a murdered backwater witch, but she'd come prepared to unmask an assassin.

Màiri knew Beathag at once, though now it could be said that she'd gone the rest of the way from pretty to lovely. But Beathag had to be convinced that Màiri was who she claimed to be. It set off round after round of subtle questionings where Màiri had laughed her way through the interrogation, easily knowing the answers to whatever Beathag asked of her. As well, she'd laughed a little more whenever Beathag had tried to ask about something which had never happened, knowing the red herring when she saw it.

Beathag was almost convinced, seeing things in the other's expressions and mannerisms which kept prodding her to accept what was said. Yet there remained one thing which kept Beathag on the edge of becoming annoyed over the way that this person claimed to be someone who had meant so much to her long ago. The audacity of the ruse, if that was what this was kept her cold and withdrawn.

Finally, Màiri herself had become annoyed.

"Well, it's a sad thing to see that my dearest friend cannot believe me," she said, "And here I've answered everything that was set for me for the past hour and more. What has happened to cause you to doubt me, Beathag?"

She reached her manacled hand up to wipe away her tears, "You claim that I am not Màiri Ciar and cannot be. But you were my best and almost only friend for all of my life." She drained her goblet and threw it against the wall.

"I came home. 

I came home to find out what I had left before I went to see what has become of the burned-down place where we were born. Here you come to give the prisoner food and all that I want is to hold you, not believing who stands before me. But you say that I am not Màiri."

She turned away and sat down on the straw bed of the cell, "Strange how I can recall the way that it felt to hold your body against me and how your lips tasted to me all that time ago in the trees next to the little river near my mother's home." She glared at the other woman for a moment.

"And strange it is that I can remember the taste of something else that I loved about Beathag my friend.

Perhaps it is you who are not genuine. If you cannot remember those times with me; then perhaps it is not that your memory has failed you. It was a time for me that I have never forgotten because the Beathag that I remember was important to me. If you are my Beathag, then I can say that it hurts me to know that it was something that you claim that you do not remember."

She was too agitated to remain sitting. Màiri wanted Beathag to leave her alone, if this was how things were now. She almost said the hurtful words which came to her mind, but she restrained herself and thought of what was perhaps the last proof that she could offer.

She got to her feet again and stepped closer to the raven-haired girl. Looking nowhere other than right into those blue eyes, boring holes into them with her green ones, she pulled up her dress and holding it there with her left hand, she pulled her red pubic hair aside just a little and pointed to the spot where her leg met her body, "I have a little more hair these days and nothing to trim it with, since I walked alone all the way after I set the horse free at the border. Maybe you might remember this."

Beathag stared and then sank slowly to her knees. 

There was no gainsaying what she saw there. This woman was beautiful and her long and slightly wavy red mane was not the tangled flyaway thing that her friend had always struggled with. The thin frame had filled out to a body which was perfection if not far from it. There were breasts where it had looked as though there would likely never be any long ago and there were markings on that body which spoke of a slightly different sort of power from what they'd learned at the hands of their mothers.

The sound of the voice might be a trick, as might the mannerisms which she saw. Those things could be learned as well. Beathag was aware that the laird of the clan would be seeing this person and she was quite obviously more than the simple hedge-witch that Màiri would have grown up to be had nothing happened all that time ago. So it was up to her to be certain. All of the things which she'd seen would have been almost good enough for her to brush aside the rest if it was only up to her.

But she didn't want to say that yes, this was the Màiri Ciar whom she'd known and not someone sent by the English to gain an audience with the Scottish lord who vexed them. Beathag had kept this top of mind, demanding ever more proofs. But this, ...

She was looking at the spot right next to the crease of where this person's thigh met her trunk. It was just at the edge of her mound and it was the same birthmark which she remembered.

She stared a moment longer and then she held her face in her hands and began to cry. 

Màiri stood and watched for only a moment and then she reached to lift Beathag up and they stood weeping together for a long time. As the emotion of it passed, Beathag went to see the master of the guards and had her friend released into her custody and most of the day was spent in listening to what had happened to Màiri.

"I cannot say that I was treated badly, once the mage took me to his home. I was free to go where I would as long as he knew where I was or would be and of course I was bound not to leave by his will," she said. "I was given a room and I could bathe when I wanted and he was not unkind to me – quite the opposite of what I'd been afraid of. 

The second morning, he asked me if I was still a virgin and of course, I lied to him, but he did not show whether he knew better by looking at me. He was strong this way. 

When I said it, he only nodded and said that I was to remain this way then. He never forced me in anything, Beathag, though I had to please him in many other ways quite often once he knew I was of age. He told me that it was an agreement between us. I had to do for him and in return, he would take me as his learner, and he was never cheap with his lessons to me. So many times I thought that my poor head would burst from all of the things which he taught to me.

He taught me to fight in many ways and he also gave me gifts in abilities. I was his companion much of the time, and when anyone asked, he did not say that I was his girl or even his learner. He lied and said that I was his daughter, though after a time, I think that it was the reason that I was taken – because he wanted someone to pass the knowledge to.

The one time that I saw his rage was when he gave me over to a man to teach me to ride well. That one had me backed into a corner and trying to fight him off, but the mage came then and the man cowered before him. It did him no good and the mage tore him to pieces alive, though he didn't so much as touch him with his hands at all. After that, I was taught to ride by the mage himself."

She looked away for a moment in a bit of thought, remembering, "By the time that he knew that I was eighteen, I slept in his bed every night and I learned many ways to please him, though he never tried to mount me to take my cunny. He gave me pleasure as well, but he never tried to fuck me there even once. By then, I did not dare to tell him that I was no virgin out of fear, or not knowing if it would have changed anything between us.

I can say that I loved him in a way and if it had only gone differently and if he was not so many years older, I could have been happy because he kept me from being hurt or killed that day that we last saw each other. But I always remembered that I had been taken away against what I wanted and I never forgot my mother and yours and how they were killed.

So it came to be six long years that I have been a prisoner of his in a way and deciding that it was enough and that he had little if anything more to teach to me, I slew him and left. I had more than enough power by then anyway.

Now, besides coming back to the clan which I have never forgotten, I want to tell the laird something that he should know. That family – and I never learned their name – is now without their mage. There is no one there now who knows much of the wisdom and I set the place alight when I left in the night."

Beathag nodded, "The name is known, Màiri. I went to see the laird after and I saw your father. Because of that, it was the beginning of a long feud which runs still to this day. The only thing which remains unchanged is that they began it. Now we do the same, riding over the border and I can say that we are no better and there are other clans now who begin it, and not only us. The English come to raid and we go there to raid. I am sure there are cows who have been stolen three and four times over from it all."

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As the evening came on, Beathag had moments where she held Màiri and only looked at her for long moments at a time, but the red-haired girl shook her head at last. 

"Beathag," she smiled softly, "I can see that you have thoughts which I also have. But I can say that my father is coming at any moment. He is already here and he learns now that there is a woman here who claims to be someone from the clan lost for years. He has no want to believe it and will set me a test before the laird sets me his own, thinking that I cannot pass his own test for me. I also know that he will come here soon. So it would be a bad time for it, though I can say that I have the same questions as you. I think that we will need to wait. I need to prepare to see my father again."

She stood up and her clothing changed. The poor rough weave dress was gone and she wore a cape with a high collar which was fastened around her throat. There were long boots on her legs which ran to only inches below her hips and they were crafted of rough brushed leather though they were obviously supple and matched the shade of her long hair exactly. Around her chest, under her breasts was a braided band of soft black leather. It was matched by the ones there on her biceps and fastened to these were long black sections of veil.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 04



From the band under her bare breasts, there was a vertical section which ran down over her flat belly to meet with a thong which passed around her hips and there was a black triangle there to cover her modesty – if it might be termed that – which passed between her thighs to meet with the thing again at her lower back.

As Beathag watched, a little spellbound, she saw breeches appear over Màiri's hips and under the boots. It defied belief. She looked up at her friend who chuckled, "Well I have only just thought that this is no way to greet one's father."

The sections of veil appeared to end in gloves of a sort which had no fingers and over them, she wore open gloves which had only a large hole for all four of her fingers and a second hole for her thumb. These were crafted from the same rough leather and covered her wrists and went a little farther back. The backs of the gloves were studded with pointed rivets of some sort. And over her torso, a thin cuirass appeared, fashioned from the same red leather as everything else.

Beathag stared at Màiri until, with a nod, the cloak covered everything.

"I have never seen clothing like this," Beathag whispered and it caused Màiri to chuckle a little.

"Since we know each other at last, Beathag, I will withhold nothing from you. I do not know what you have come to know after our parting, but I have much to tell, and if there is something that you would like to learn, I will teach it if I know it. Only please, do not doubt me anymore. It was a very hard thing for me to see. If you like what I wear and have enough courage to wear it, I can make something for you."

The door opened and Ranald Ciar walked in, a large man with a severe expression which changed slightly as soon as he noticed that the mystery woman was lovely, but it didn't change anything else and his tone was harsh and mocking to her. 

"A woman from out of the morning mists who comes to see the laird," he said with a little mocking bow and a smirk. "I am Ra-"

"You are my father," she smiled, "Ranald Ciar; the most handsome man that any girl such as I was could have wanted for a father."

Màiri sighed a little to see that her father was still alive and because she hadn't seen him in so long. She didn't change her pleasant smile and she only raised her hand, making the motions that he'd taught his daughter when she was small to tell him hello in a secret way.

"I do not know where you learned that, woman," he glared, "but you need to do better than that. I lost much to the people back where you came from and I'm more inclined to seek for a reason why I shouldn't kill you now."

The door to the room closed behind him at a wave of her hand and the lock clicked to while he watched after he'd spun around at the sound. Looking at her once more, she still carried her smile.

"As much as I have ached to see you while I was a prisoner," she said, "I have come into my own and you cannot kill me no matter what you do. I am Màiri, though everyone here seems to think that I lie. I had trouble at the gate, I had trouble with Beathag, and if she did not believe me, then how am I to convince my father, who I saw less of than Beathag? Why will no one believe me, Father?"

Her smile grew a little hopeful, "Or perhaps I ought to call you 'Uncle' as well."

He gaped for a moment while his mind sought for ways that she might know of it, other than having gleaned the scrap of information out of Beathag somehow, though one look at the dark-haired girl's shocked expression and her open mouth told him that it hadn't come from her.

"Beathag has always wondered, though neither Mother nor I have ever said it of you. Please try to see that I am Màiri. Say nothing for a moment and only look at me and I am certain that you can see it in me. I have had to argue with my oldest friend for a long time before she could be convinced. I would hope that my own father would know me, even though all that has happened is that I have grown older."

He looked at her as his hand reached for his sword, knowing that she would catch the motion. "Smile for me then, Màiri – if that is who you are. I can give one chance."

Màiri knew what he wanted to see. She just didn't know if she could still look that way. 

She looked down for a moment, "When I was small, I was not even a little pretty. Some people even felt a little sorry for me, ... like you, Father. 

I could see it in your face; how much you loved me and wished that I had been given better looks - but not for you. You wished it for me, that I might have a better life. You always loved the way that I looked, but then you are my father and that is what fathers do – the ones who love their girls.

I was taken away by a warlock and though I was a captive, he gave much to me and he taught me more than I could have learned from Mother, yet I would have wished to have grown up here and known you, though we would have had to be quiet about who I am to you. All that I would have ever wanted would have been to live near you so that I could have seen you more."

She looked up then. "I can change the way that I look to most people but the ones who know me. Even so, I do not know if it would be enough for you."

She shrugged then and lifted her chin as she smiled as closely to the uncertain way that she often did when she was a little girl. She knew that he was looking for something in her smile.

Ranald Ciar stood there transfixed as his fingers slackened their grip on the haft of his sword. He'd been in a frame of mind to want to kill anyone who claimed to be somebody that no one but him knew about.

He saw her smile and the way that she did look to him so often back then. It was only the way that she appeared in the first instant to him, the look of uncertainty passing in the next moment after she'd seen that it was safe to show him that she did know him. It was the moment when she smiled at her father with all of the joy of a little girl who loved the most important man in her world when he had the time to be with her.

It was the instant when the front tooth right next to her left top canine tooth was shown, the one which had come in slightly turned because there was no more room for it when it had made its emergence.

"Màiri," he groaned as he stepped forward uncertainly, his tears already beginning to stream from his eyes, "Oh my Màiri ..."

For the second time in one day, Màiri wept to have regained someone who'd mattered to her and had been lost.

It took a long while before either of them could really say much, preferring only to hold on, but at length, they found that they could speak of the day when they'd been torn from each other.

"I used to wish that you had been there that day," Màiri whispered as she held her father, "Because I was younger and thought that my father could have saved everything. It wasn't until I was older that I knew that I should be glad that you were not there, for it only would have been your death as well."

"I have led many raids into that land, looking for a man called – "

"Herbert the Mage," she said, "though he was the one who spoke for me and saved me in the doing of it. And anyway, he is dead now almost a fortnight. I killed him myself, though it was hard to do after he showed me kindness and taught me. From him, I learned that any of the ones who were there that day were killed by riders of clan Ciar, led most often by my father. 

All but one man – the one who was here to guide them in. That man is one whom I still seek, though I know little of him.

He tried not to show it, but I believe that Herbert feared you as well."

Ranald thought for a moment and then looked at her, "The laird wants to see you tested. He believes – as did I, that you are sent to kill him. You will be watched, Màiri."

"I know," she smiled, "but it does not matter. I have you and Beathag again."

"I will seek to tell him that the testing will not be needed," her father said resolutely, but she shook her head.

"I wish the laird to see and know that what was done in seeking for me was not a lost cause. I will prevail in whatever he sets out for me and then I must tell him what I have come to say to him. After that, if he has a need for me, I will swear the oath of a grown woman to my laird and ask only that I can serve him."

Ranald looked into her eyes and as far as he could see, it was the truth in there, so he nodded, though not without concern for her.

By the time that he got up to take his leave, Beathag was asleep and Màiri asked only one thing.

"I am where I wanted to be, Father. I am as close to my home as I can come without seeing the sadness of that day long ago. All that I ask is that I be allowed to go for a walk and not far from here. I remember when we used to come, Mother and me, so that I had a chance to see something other than where we lived so poorly and so that she could see her lover for a little while. I will not leave the sight of the guards on the wall, if I may be allowed this."

Ranald nodded and said that he would see to it for her.

In the next hour, Màiri was walking along the shore of the lazy little river which flowed past the gates of the manor. She knew that she was in the sight of the guards on the wall and that likely at least one of them would be holding his bow already nocked to shoot at her if she did anything untoward. She also knew that it was not something that her father would have wanted, but that likely it was the best that he'd been able to do.

It was then that she'd seen something in the mist rising from the water and sat down to look for a time.

When Beathag found her, she was out of breath and nearly frantic.

"Calm yourself," Màiri smiled as she looked into the other's face which already looked to have cried a few tears, "I am not going anywhere. I wanted to have a little walk, that is all. Come, lead me to where I will sleep." Beathag nodded and they walked off together, but she didn't really lose the expression until Màiri took her hand.

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"So," Màiri grinned a little as she looked over at her old friend as they lay in the bed, "so much time has passed while I was gone. Tell me of all of the men you have had. I would tell of my own adventures, but I really have not had any, other than the one man."

"Tell me of that then," Beathag smiled, and Màiri was pleased to see the familiar look again.

"Well," she said, "there wasn't so much to it, since he never fucked me at all. He liked it if I sucked it for him and I didn't mind that at all since it wasn't long before his eyes were closed and I could play a little myself then. Mostly it was me doing things for him – or to him. The whole thing was very unappealing to me because I couldn't put anything in me because he'd know. He could just tell something about someone quite often. If I came downstairs with a sniffle, he knew before I even got there so it was no good trying to make myself a little toy to play with later in my bed. It grew worse after I began to sleep together with him.

Most of the time, I just had little daydreams of you," she smiled as she kissed Beathag for a moment.

"What did you mean when you said that you had to do things to him?" the other one asked, "Isn't that the same thing as doing things for him?"

Màiri shook her head a little, "He liked it if I was a little bossy to him in the bed. I didn't understand it at first and it held no appeal for me, but if I tied his hands together and then tied them to something else, then he was a little helpless and at those times, he liked it if I whipped his bottom with a switch. I learned that I could whip him until I left thin and bloody lines on his skin and he would squirt from only that – with nothing touching his willy."

She laughed as she looked at Beathag's face and the surprise there.

"As I said, it left me cold most of the time, until I had the thought of commanding him to do things for me."

Màiri now looked at Beathag a little expectantly, waiting to hear something from her, but what she saw there looked to her more like Beathag wasn't going to tell of it.

"Oh, come here," she said, pulling Beathag until she lay on top of her, "It's been years," she smiled, "but I don't really think that we're much different from the way that we used to be." She spread her legs and it allowed Beathag to settle a little, and she reached out to hold her and it wasn't long before they were rubbing the way that they always had. For a pair of girls far from the nearest farm, it was about all that they'd had back then.

"Alright, NOW tell me," Màiri giggled," while I have you the way that we always used to talk until we had to stop and press a little harder. From the way that you keep still, I can tell that you have something to tell me, only you seem to feel ashamed a little and I do not like that."

Beathag looked down, "Well, I wanted a man."

There didn't seem to be much more coming for a moment, but then, Beathag went on. "I needed a man to go farther, so I looked for one. It took a time since I was careful, but I found a few. Mostly, they were mages, which was a mistake. One told me that he didn't want to because he would be giving me some of his power. Another told me the same thing, but that he would give it to me if I paid him for it. I settled for a mage who said that he liked me. It was alright until I killed him because he liked to hurt me and he would not stop.

So I killed him. After that I was a little sad."

Màiri looked up in shock and Beathag misinterpreted her expression, "I didn't want to kill him, Màiri, but he kept on and on. Whenever we met, he would begin by slapping me across the face. It got worse once we were alone, so, ..."

"But," Màiri began, still in shock to hear this, "Why were you sad?"

Beathag had already begin to hump against Màiri slowly, beginning what they'd always done. "Well, ... "

There was a long pause while Beathag tried to think of ways to tell of it better. But nothing came to her so she just said it, "Because without knowing it, I'd learned to like it a little. I hated being hit or hurt and it always made me cry when he said cruel things to me, ..."

Màiri reached to hold her friend tighter and she kissed her for a moment before she looked up into those blue eyes again, seeing the way that they looked a little haunted then. "I think I'd have killed him the first time. What could he have possibly done to cause you to like any of that? Tell me so that I might know and try to understand it."

Beathag looked a little mortified and so Màiri kissed her softly for a few minutes, so pleased that she could still make Beathag whimper a little for her.

"I liked it when, ... when he told me to do things. Mostly, they were dirty and a little disgusting, but I did them because I liked to be told to do them. I know it sounds like I was being an idiot and maybe I was. I just, ... I just liked it."

Màiri spun them over before Beathag even knew what was happening, and she found herself looking up into Màiri's bright green eyes. Those eyes were smiling at her now as she felt her legs being forced apart a little more as Màiri sought for the old fit that they'd loved so much long ago. When she thought that she had it, she began to fuck against her friend hard enough to get them started once more.

"Look Beathag," she whispered as she began to huff a little at the same time, "I would want a good man to finally learn what it is to be fucked well by one. From what you say, it is something that you would want too. Right now, all that we have is the same thing that we had a long time ago and I don't want to stop at all. We are together again and I want this forever with you."

They groaned at each other a little and Beathag finally felt better as she began to kiss Màiri back the way that she always used to, "I am so happy that you are back."

"Would you want it if I told you what to do?" Màiri asked, "I'd never hurt you or tell you to do anything disgusting."

"Yes!" Beathag smiled up, "I think I want to be told. I know that I want to belong to somebody – most of all to you." She stopped then and feeling that, Màiri came to a crash stop as well and they looked at each other for a minute.

"I think that I've always felt that way for you," Beathag said, "I used to be wet in one beat of my heart for you if you took my hand and pulled me away to go to the little place where we'd go by the river. I would do anything for you. I just didn't know how to say it."

Màiri laughed a little, "So many times I almost told you to do this or to lick me just so." They began again, faster than ever, groaning and gasping together, but happy once again.

------------------------------

As the time for Màiri's testing by the laird drew near, Beathag was almost beside herself with worry, but Màiri showed nothing in her that could be taken as worry or apprehension. "Just try to be brave," she said, "everything will be fine."

When she was sent for, Màiri walked at her own pace and the guards who'd been sent sought to chain her so that they could drag her in.

"I am not a criminal. You may try if you must, "she smiled in an unperturbed manner, "but it is not something which I would want to do, shame the guards of the laird by killing them. I came here to see the laird and that is what I will do. If I do not walk at the pace that you desire, then go on without me. After all of this, I will go only there. It is your choice, though to die out of something stupid, ...."

When the first of them stepped up to threaten her, he found himself miles away and lost. The others looked rather jumpy.

"The loud one is now one league distant and he should be banging on the gate to be let in about midnight. The next one who thinks to threaten me will find himself already in his grave, "she smiled "and alive for the moment that it takes him to die."

They left her alone after that to walk at whatever pace she desired.

Laird Niall Ciar was an old man, though it could easily be seen that he'd been a powerful warrior in his day. Even so, he still looked to be more than capable of the things which one man does to another in matters of warfare if it came to that.

"You are come, "he said, with a severe expression, "to tell me that you are one who was taken one day long ago from a little-known dell. As I know of it, there were two women killed there that day and the daughter of one of them was spared only because she hid herself. That one is Beathag Cossford and she stands there. She has already vouched for you, but I have questions.

I know nothing of a daughter of the other woman, and yet here you are. What have you to say?"

Màiri bowed low and as she straightened, she considered what she had to say and the possible ramifications of it.

"Yes, Laird Ciar," she began, "I am Màiri Ciar and I am the daughter of Oighrig Ciar. You do not know of me or my name because I am a bastard girl, with only the name that I was given by my mother."

The old lord leaned a little and he looked at her, "And whose bastard are you?"

Màiri was about to reiterate her mother's name, but she became aware of the presence of a person next to her.

"Màiri Ciar is my daughter," Ranald said, his eyes holding the gaze of his liege evenly," Oighrig lived poorly there in that little dell, thrown out of my father's home for her witchery. I came to her when I could to bring her food and to show that she was not unloved."

"I would say that I'll warrant that she wasn't if I remember the way that she looked. Oighrig was a fine-looking woman ," the lord said, "but I know you better Ranald. For longer than two score years I have known of you and your doings. What is this now?" 

"My laird," Ranald began, "Oighrig was my younger sister and after she was cast out, it made no difference to you – you were still her laird and she was loyal and faithful as a kinswoman of the clan always. She helped as she could – whenever and wherever there was need, as when your own girl struggled with the birth of her son. Oighrig was there."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 04



"I recall it," the old man said, "It was said to me that without her aid, I would have had two losses to my heart that night. I was there, walking a long furrow into the floor over my girl's hardship and I saw how Oighrig worked as though it was her own child coming forth. "

Ranald nodded, "I saw it as my duty to help my sister – in spite of my father's will and it cost me as well. Regardless. I did what I could."

There were sniggers among some of the others in the laird's hall and there were two things about Niall Ciar which were constants. He'd always been a large man – and he'd also always been a loud one as well.

His voice thundered out across the hall, having seen several who had made comments and he called out little things which nobody knew that he was aware of; little things which might serve as reminders that it was best not to test his patience in this regard and in his hall.

Little unimportant things such as some of the other bastards living under his roof, and in three cases, just which man was said to be responsible in each case. It brought restored order rather quickly after that.

"It is our law," Ranald reminded his liege, "that in cases of illegitimacy, there is a burden on the father – whomever he might be to support his child. In Màiri's case there was no one to give that support and without such, Màiri has no claim to my holdings and more, she is not even known and recognized as a member of clan Ciar."

"I hear you, Ranald," the laird rumbled, "but why must I recognize her? I seek to know more, which is what drives my question. So you tell me now that you and your own sister made this girl?"

The warrior nodded, "I do, my laird. She is my girl."

Ranald did his best to sound convincing, since it was important to his daughter, even though she was close to saying that she wanted nothing from the laird.

"The fact is that she does exist, my laird, quite plainly."

"I can see that," the old man rumbled, "I can even see much of Oighrig in her as she stands here." He smiled a little warmly, "I know you my old friend. You would say it as you have even if you were not the true father. You would do for your sister's girl out of her memory."

Ranald held his gaze solidly on the eyes of his liege and spoke, "I say that I am her true father and now I want to make right what I should have done so long ago."

"And I say that I still do not believe you, Ranald," the old man smiled, "but I will accept your claim. In either case, what you would now do is right and just, though perhaps better late than never on the one hand." He turned to call for his scribe and issued instructions that the details be annotated.

Ranald wanted to sigh in relief but he didn't. To his mind, all that he'd done was admit what he should have long ago. "Then let it be known that she was born in that little place and she learned her mother's craft at her hands until the age of eighteen," Ranald said, "when the English came and took her away back with them to their lands. In the six years hence, she was taught by their mage, and yet – she never once accompanied them here for their depredations on our people."

The laird nodded, "And that mage has been a thorn to all of us many times over. Now his learner comes here? What for?"

"I come because there was little more that I could learn from Herbert," Màiri said in a clear voice, "I came because I did not belong there and wanted to be among the people of my clan.

And because I wanted to tell Laird Niall Ciar himself that Herbert is no more and that clan of English has no mage anymore, other than perhaps a hedge mage or two who pose no threat."

She looked around the hall directly into the eyes of the ones who had joked the loudest, "I killed Herbert. I am the daughter of Oighrig Ciar. I learned what was taught to me by my mother – all that she had to teach me, my laird.

But no matter what it all was to the minds of others, it was still the knowledge of a hedge witch, for that was what my mother was and as such, she would have done anything to thwart the efforts of any witch or warlock, mage or sorcerer who came with the English to raid.

But it would have stopped nothing against the likes of the one who took me away. I would still have been taken and my mother and Beathag's lovely mother would still have been killed. Neither of them were much of a match against one like Herbert."

A man rose to speak and awaited acknowledgement from the laird and when it was granted, he turned to Màiri, "And what proof do you bring that you are learned in these arts, and what proofs do you have that this warlock is dead? For that matter, why are any other mages no threat to our laird?"

Màiri smiled, "This man seeks to have me prove myself so that I might be burned as a witch on the one hand and be seen as a teller of falsehoods on the other. How am I to answer, my laird? How badly do you need someone such as me?"

"I do not know as yet," the laird smiled, "but I seek to be fair. I suppose that if you can prove yourself to be true and loyal, then it would go far in my eyes. But as far as proving that this Herbert is dead, I would see the proof as well if you have it, but only to help an old laird to sleep a little better at night."

Màiri nodded and said, "So be it."

The man who had asked the questions stood flailing a second later as he felt something on him. There were gasps and a few cries and screams from the others once they saw this proof of the warlock's demise. There on the floor, once the man had managed to get it off him, lay the entire skin of Herbert, hair and all. Several of the women there promptly threw up.

But Herbert had been seen by some in the hall and they said that what lay there looked to be the hide of the man.

"I am prepared to be tested," Màiri said to the laird, "I did not think that I could just walk here and rejoin the clan who do not know me very much – but they are my clan.

The same man sought the attention of the laird once more.

"Very well Gordon," the old man sighed, "Ask what you will. It saves me from asking the same things, most likely."

"How do we know that this woman was not sent here as a means to harm you, my laird?"

The laird smiled and leaned toward Màiri a little, "Well, my young kinswoman? Am I in danger from you?"

Màiri smiled a little, "No my laird, you are not. You could be, but it serves no purpose other than the ends of the same herd of Englishmen who now hunt me for killing their warlock.

In truth," she smiled,"if that was my purpose in coming here, then I would have already done it and not bothered with all of this, since it would suit me better to do a deed and not be seen to have done it. Whether you choose to believe my father or not, I am Màiri Ciar, and I am your kin. Now that I think that I can be of real use to my laird and my clan that is what I wish to do."

"So say you," the man said.

"Yes, "the woman smiled as she turned to face him, "So say I. You seem to have doubts about me, sir, but I care not. Do you really think that I have carried that skin all of the way here out of my pleasure? If I liked doing that, then I might take yours in the same manner to prove to you that I can. I can say that the act of the removal is not pleasant to the subject, but if you need even more proof, ..."

The man turned ashen and backed away a step.

Màiri nodded, "Then I think that you should allow our laird to set my tests and be satisfied, if you please."

"And what will happen the next time that the raiders come?" the man suddenly demanded, forgetting about asking the lord there.

Màiri shrugged, "If I am there, and I see it, I will kill as many as I can. What would you do?"

She looked at him a little hard, "As far as your question goes, I have proven as you wanted, that I have killed Herbert the warlock. Just how many Englishmen have you killed, sir?"

He waved her query aside as though it was a bothersome fly, "What would you do if you faced these hedge mages that you spoke of?"

She shrugged again, "I would kill them first. But you did not answer my – "

"I do not have to answer," he sneered, "I am not the one who is being examined here."

"Then it is my belief that you have killed no one in anything like a fair fight," Màiri smiled humorlessly, "And I will answer nothing more from you other than as the laird desires."

She looked at him and her eyes bore deep, "Otherwise I might ask my own hard questions of you – with the consent of the laird. As an example, just how is it that these raiders arrive here unnoticed? 

Is there anyone who can say that they were with you while the raiders crossed over onto the land held by clan Ciar and you were elsewhere?"

The man looked about ready to explode, while Màiri looked at her chieftain and raised one eyebrow.

Her would-be inquisitor muttered and cursed, but he said nothing out loud, so the laird marked it and decided that he ought to learn what there might be to know in this regard. He looked at Màiri for a long moment.

"Are you ready to be tested?" he asked and she nodded, so the laird got to his feet and bade her to follow him.

He led her out onto a courtyard lit by the late afternoon sunshine. "You must stand here and you will face seven foes. All of them are raiders who were caught by luck of having been knocked from their mounts. No one can leave here and they will be given swords. Not the very best swords, mind," he smirked a little, "but swords.

You have said that you would kill raiders found on my lands. This is your test – to kill Englishmen who were caught. I have learned that they do far worse to any of us that they can catch, so I feel no guilt in this. Do you wish to speak to your father beforehand?"

She shook her head, "Thank you, no. I will speak with him after."

"Are you sure?" the old man asked, "You seem very certain of the outcome."

"I am certain enough," she said without pride, "If my father were here with me, he would want to defend me, not knowing what I can do himself. It would not be allowed and I would not want this. Failing that, he would try to give me his advice, which I believe would be sound as far as he knows."

She looked at the laird for a moment and said, "This is to be my test for you, Laird Ciar. That is how I want it."

He looked at her for a moment, "This is a hard business Màiri, and you have said that you would serve me. I see no weapon in your hand, not even a stave. Do you wish the loan of one? For a kinswoman of mine, and one who speaks so loudly of wanting to rejoin her clan, I would lend you my own blade." 

Màiri looked down for a moment and then she looked up into the laird's eyes, "I would use your blade only out of the honor of it if this were a battle on a field. For this, I have my own blade, though I thank you, my chieftain."

Niall was puzzled for he saw no weapon, but he thought that if any of her tale were true, then she had to know her business, so he took his leave of her as the surrounding balconies began to fill with the spectators from the hall. 

Màiri stood alone waiting, her cloak around her like a dark rumor.

It took perhaps ten minutes of standing there waiting and hearing the comments of the ones in the balconies above before a door opened and six men walked out. The seventh was thrown out against his will, looking for all the world as though he was afraid to even hold the nicked and slightly bent sword that he'd been given. He looked as though he didn't possess the strength to wield it. He tried to stay as far away behind the others as he could.

And he was sobbing.

While she'd been standing, she'd listened in her mind to the instructions which the six men were given by the man who had asked all of the questions of her. What they'd been told was that they were to face a simple task; to rid the laird of a bothersome would-be witch and in return, they'd be taken to the border and released on their word that they would never come back.

What was a little curious to Màiri was that both of the parties had lied to the other. There was no way that the six men would ever be set free. If they lived here, they'd be killed in their cells later that night. The other side of it was that the men had agreed that it they won this and were set free that they would honor it and never return. For poor men who would rather rob than work, it was an easy thing to say.

What bothered Màiri was the seventh man. He was closer to being a boy, really. It was plain to her that he'd never held much more than a paring knife in his life and now he was to fight for his life. She wondered what his crime had been and after a moment, she knew that the laird didn't know either.

The men fanned out and tried to come at her from several directions at once. Màiri pre-empted their attempts to get behind her by stepping backwards. 

At what she judged was the best moment, she threw her cloak open and the men gaped at a woman who was more than beautiful – she was dressed, but the style and fit of the clothing left little to the imagination. It had the same effect as though she was almost naked. She aided that effect by pulling open her cuirass to expose her breasts.

While the thought registered, a thing appeared in her right hand.

It looked to be silver for the gleam of it, but that was hard to tell, since she kept it in motion and with an overhand roll, it became a blade, long and thin but substantial-looking enough to appear deadly. It also looked to be too long for her as it was held out leveled at the men.

The first of them to recover hadn't even really begun to show signs of it yet when she stepped forward and the blade changed, shortening a little to be just perfect in length for a person who could wield such a thing out of well-practiced habit. 

Màiri stepped forward one more step, but it was more of a lunge while the silvery blade gleamed and trailed a little swirling blackness from its length. Faster than the eye could follow, she struck twice – once in a thrusting motion and once again with the blade appearing even shorter, though the stroke was in and then pulled aside and upward before she danced back and the curious smoking blade grew in length once more. One man fell, run through in an instant and the second stepped back, bent a little and looking down.

He'd been eviscerated.

After a moment, he began to scream in horror.

But Màiri was moving again and the sword arm of another man flew off to land in the dirt. The man ran three steps to where Màiri no longer stood before he realized that he lacked an arm. 

She spun, cleaving the man who had gotten in behind her right through evenly with one stroke through the midsection. Every time that her blade could even be seen, it appeared as almost a living thing which trailed a little black smoke behind it as it moved through the air. Most of the time, it wasn't even visible as more than the guarded haft in her hand.

She faded from sight as a man came at her swinging blindly, as fast as he could from side to side. His desperation was evident as he continued to swing, thinking that she was still there, but invisible somehow.

Instead, Màiri appeared behind the man who was still trying to hold his guts in and failing at it.

She yanked his hair and his head snapped back in howling surprise. The blade in her hand shortened instantly and she cut his throat out. He stood wide-eyed and trembling for just a moment before his legs began to fail him. But in that time, she pushed him staggering forward to bump against the man who was still swinging at nothing. He turned and stabbed the chest of the gutted man who was wailing now at having stepped on his own entrails. It was his last act and he was dead as he fell.

While he stared in confusion and alarm, Màiri killed the man who'd lost an arm, before she was back and engaging the one who could only swing in fear. She watched as his blade passed her once, twice, and then she kicked him in the chest.

He tumbled backward and when he landed on his back, Màiri was there; standing next to him and looking down as she held the haft with her thumb away from the guard and rammed her sword through his chest so that he shivered once and was still.

But something bothered her now and pulling her blade free easily, she stepped backward as she thought to feel for it. The watchers on the balcony saw the she was walking backward right toward the last living man of the six. She looked up at the balcony and stabbed back behind herself; killing the last man before his overhead stroke got underway. She pulled her blade free and pointed it toward the balcony as she yelled.

"HOLD!"

Everyone's eyes followed the point of her blade as it indicated a little unobserved scene on one of the balconies. Beathag stood trembling as the man with the questions for Màiri and the promises for the raiders stood pulling her head back with a dagger at her throat. Neither of them could move, held as they were in her fetter. 

Màiri turned then and walked to the one man who had not sought to attack her.

He cowered with his face in the dirt, sobbing.

"Look at me," she said in English.

No one could see for the angle of it, but he did open his eyes then. All that he had in his field of view was the dirt and the tip of her blade as it hung there before him qualming a little black mist.

"It is best, "she said in Gaelic," for a man to face his death when it comes for him."

He wept in his fear. 

"I d-don't know what you – you're saying!"

He'd pissed himself and the proof of that was there in the dirt.

She pushed the sword that he'd been given aside a little with her boot, away from where his hand had let it fall as soon as he'd fallen to cower where he still was.

"Look at me," she said again in English and he slowly raised his head.

"P-p-ple-ease, he stammered, "I have done noth-nothing. I was l-lost and hungry."

Màiri turned to look at the laird, "I will not kill this one. This is no raider. He is a boy who wandered lost over the border and was caught and beaten. He is here because he was added to the group by your man there, the one who tries to kill my only friend Beathag but cannot."

The laird was astounded and ordered the young man to be brought to him. He turned and looked at Màiri. "That was, ... he searched for the words.

She shrugged as her cape drifted to lie tightly around her and said, "That was a show for you and little more. I could have killed them all at once, but I thought that for this much trouble, I could play a little – until I knew what that one would do."

She followed the men who came to bring the boy to the balcony and several people stepped back out of fear of her. Màiri pulled her cape around herself and smiled a little, "You lived with a snake in your midst. Why would you fear me when I have done no one harm that did not deserve it? I walk most everywhere the same as you and to me; a broom is a thing to sweep the hearth of ashes and dirt.

Fear what needs to be feared, not what you do not know of. I am the daughter of a midwife and have the same skill besides. How can you fear one who helps mothers in their need?"

Her eyes fell on the man who still held the dagger against Beathag's throat. "But this one, ..."

She looked at the laird and waited until the boy was brought to him. The chieftain knew at once that this boy was no warrior, just from the way that he'd held the sword very reluctantly as though it was a foreign thing to him. He put his arm over the boy's shoulder and walked away a little with him, telling him that he needed to speak the truth now for his life hung on it.

It took only a moment and the laird sighed and actually apologized for what had nearly happened to the boy. 

"What you did," he said in clear but accented English, "was blunder across a border where there has been little more than fighting, robbing, and killing for a few years now, lad. I cannot give you over to the one that you sought for, since he has trials of his own now. Have you a home where you came from? I would send you back there if you did. Are there any there who miss you?"




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 04



The boy shook his head, "Mother got sick and died. I knew only that my father lived here. I came to find him."

"And you did, I see," the old man said, "But I think that your father does not want to see you. I do not know what to do with you now, but to have you put to death for seeking your kin seems a bit hard to me. Tell me what you know of your father."

The boy began and it also took little time. The old man had some questions and the young man answered them as best he could. What saved his life more than anything was his open-faced honesty.

"So, Màiri Ciar, " the laird said with a troubled expression, "there was something behind your look to me while you threatened hard questions of a man who I had begun to trust."

She looked down and nodded, "I thought it best to try to leave you with something that you might want to know about, laird. But it is not my place to advise you."

The lord sighed as he straightened up, "I think that you know of what this man has done, and it might be that he was the one who led the raiders in the first time. Does that leave you wanting a little vengeance?"

Màiri nodded, "I would kill him only for trying to kill my friend. My good luck to find the one who began it all. It was by his hand that the two of us lost our mothers and I lost six years of my life."

She stepped toward Beathag, ignoring the terror-filled eyes on the man who still held his dagger against Beathag's throat. Màiri pulled the blade away and helped her friend out of the man's grasp.

"Are you alright?" she asked, "Has he hurt you anywhere else?"

Beathag shook her head shakily and Màiri handed her the dagger.

"That is a costly thing," she smiled, "and to keep the weapon of the man who wanted your death brings its own power. I think you should have it."

Beathag looked from Màiri to the man, who still stood fettered and unable to move a hair, other than blink.

"Do not kill him, Beathag," Laird Ciar said, "I have men for this and I will learn more of this man's secrets before I allow him the peace of his death." He spoke to his guards and they bound the man to take him to the jailor.

"What to do about the son, ..." He muttered.

"Give him to me, Laird," Màiri smiled, "I have work for him which will keep him from both harm and mischief. If it pleases you, then let it be his penalty for wandering over the border. In exchange for one year's work for me, I will set him free with your agreement and then he can choose to be either an Englander or a new Scot, for by then, he will know the clan and be known as well."

The old laird thought about it and laughed a little as he nodded, "Aye, it solves my trouble neatly, for I cannot allow wanderers in the border lands. He came not with malice, but he did wish to find his father, hoping that there might be love there for him. Sad enough that he was given over by his father to be killed out of the man's desire to remain hidden and aiding my foes. Only do not be cruel nor overly kind. He is a man, as young as he is and a man's deeds shape his fate. High time to learn the lesson of it.

Now you, young kinswoman should go with your father to his home. I will send word in a day or so of something that I need done." He leaned a little and kissed her cheek, "Wait there for this, and welcome home, Màiri Ciar."

----------------------

For a well-known man of his clan and a warrior as well, Ranald Ciar lived simply. He'd never taken a wife and his home was not all that large. But he was able to provide them all with food and places to sleep that night.

After the meal however, the four of them sat looking at one another for a time; Ranald, his daughter, Beathag and the young man who was in Màiri's custody and whose name was Gilbert.

He sat in a robe which belonged to Ranald and was almost hilariously oversized on him. But he did have time to think on things such as the near boundless treachery of his father – who'd never done much for his son to make him worth the word, it turned out. The boy had come out of desperation and also to tell of the death of his mother. For this, he was to die thrown into a bunch of known raiders as though he was one of them and of course, no guard had believed a word of his professed innocence – those who even could understand him at all. They'd laughed as loudly as the other prisoners.

Gilbert didn't stutter and stammer so much now that it seemed that his life was his own once more, mostly. But he still had a little trouble making himself understood around the table, though the pattern of his speech was not that far off what was known by the Ciar clan, among the others in the area of the fluid and ill-defined border between England and Scotland.

The squabbles were a little serious to the participants and the farmers thereabouts on both sides – though it was nothing like it would become one day a couple of hundred years into the future when the day of the border reivers began. Now, it was just tit for tat with a little robbery and the odd murder thrown in.

In any event, Màiri understood Gilbert perfectly and listened a little uncomfortably as he tried to express his gratitude to her for helping to clear everything up.

"But what am I to be?" he asked, "I only know a little of farming that I learned from helping my friend and his father – and that is not much."

Màiri turned to look at him seriously for a moment and then she smiled before he grew too nervous and began to stutter again. "First I would know how old you are, Gilbert. Your looks say at best, about sixteen, and yet I see a little more age that that on you."

"I am almost twenty and useless, my father said to me," he said.

"Well you cannot swing a blade," she said, "that was clear to me. Can you ride?"

"No," he answered.

"Can you use a bow?" 

"No," he said again.

"What about, ..."

It went on and on, with Màiri saying talents which might be of some use to them and Gilbert saying that he knew nothing of every one.

"Well," she said at last, "then I see it all as a good thing."

He looked confused, "How is that, lady?" he asked, "I have never thought of it this way, but I think that my father must have been correct. I am useless."

"Your father is useless to my way of seeing it. Your lack is a good thing," she smiled, "because you will have no bad habits to be broken of while you learn of all of those things in the correct way. In the meantime, you will be a servant to us, though not a true one. Your freedom will take a year to regain and that leaves a year for you to learn much.

But we will not have a year to get you to where you need to be in these skills. It will have to be a quick thing in every case and to do that Gilbert, I need the answer to one question – will you work hard for the learning? I may need you to carry messages through the border lands, and a lot of the time, there are men there who watch for either the laird or the English. 

To carry my messages, there will be times when I want neither to know of them, so you will have to learn to use your wits so that you are not seen. I think you can see that we will need you to learn to ride well very quickly – faster than any other learner at many things. You have the size, but you have little strength for the life that I need you to live. I can help, but would you want the gifts that I can give to make you stronger?"

Gilbert didn't understand at first, but he wasn't a complete babe-in–the–woods. He knew there was something very different about both Beathag and especially Màiri. He nodded vigorously and said that he owed his life to Màiri and would do whatever she wanted of him.

She reached over and slipped her hand through the front of the robe to feel his chest for a moment. He gasped and she rolled her eyes. "What I felt – or rather, did NOT feel is among the first of the changes which you will need. Do not think of it for now. I need to speak to my father."

----------------------

When she had a moment alone with her father a little later, Màiri mentioned what she'd spoken of with Gilbert. "I can see that he would do anything out of thanks, but the trouble is that he can do little of anything very well. The first thing that he needs is more weight and strength but that will take months. I know what I might do for him, but he will need to learn to ride and very quickly."

"That is all fine, Màiri," he said, "but right now he would jump out of his own skin if he were startled enough."

"Then I will give him reason to believe in himself at least a little and I can change things for him. If I give you a man who is not afraid of his own shadow, can you teach him quickly?"

Ranald smiled, "I would agree just to see what you do to make him like that."

Màiri called Beathag to her, "What is left back home?"

"My home was burned, but yours could not be burned. I go there sometimes, but there is not much there. Why do you ask this?"

Màiri grinned then, "Because we need to go there this night. Gilbert needs our help so that he does not perish only learning to ride or to fight."

------------------------

Late that night, they rode to the old place and Màiri was determined not to allow her memories to rise up fully until at least the middle of the next day. Ranald let Gilbert down and then turned to go back home. Beathag lowered the wards which she'd set on the place so that they could get inside. With that done, Màiri erected new ones and the hovel faded from sight in blackness.

"What will happen to me?" Gilbert asked nervously from where he lay on the bed. He'd do anything for them, but he hoped that whatever was needed of him would not involve pain.

"Only good things," she said, "I would hope." She untied the robe and Gilbert lay there ashamed. 

"That is the thing," Màiri said earnestly as she pointed at his face, "That nervousness, that fearfulness. Gilbert, it speaks poorly of you. A dog who acts as though he is often kicked will find himself kicked often. I will do as I can and I hope that you can draw assuredness from yourself after.

And it WILL hurt – at least a little.

And it WILL hurt a little afterward as you teach what I try to give you.

And afterward, you WILL be hungry quite often. " She began to remove her clothing and Beathag did as well. Gilbert's eyes almost left his head when they told him to lie still and close his eyes.

"Lie still and close my eyes," he groaned, "and while you are like that."

He groaned and muttered to himself, though it was just loud enough for them to hear it, "You said nothing about torture."

He smelled a little sharp-smelling smoke from a plant that they threw onto the small fire and they began to chant incantations, Beathag taking Màiri's lead. The two sat on either side of Gilbert and they ran their fingertips over his body very lightly. At first, Gilbert would have flinched, but the spell of it took hold before he could do it. His manhood began to stir and rise, but by then he was under.

The two girls smiled at each other to see it, but they went on and on. Gilbert passed into a much deeper trance soon afterward.

After they had done what they set out to do for Gilbert, Beathag and Màiri brought some food which they'd managed to scrounge out of the remnants of the gardens and the surrounding area in only minutes and they washed it all, leaving it on the table in a bit of a disorganized heap.

"He will need to eat first thing," Màiri smirked, "and that will keep him busy while we try to rest a little. It was a bit of hard work, no?"

Beathag chuckled as she nodded, "But I like the way that he seems to look now. He was a sweet-looking boy to begin – a little lost-looking, though there was little strength there. Now he is just as sweet and even more and as he lies there, though I see nothing lost about him. Did you plan this?"

Màiri shook her head as she finished washing the bunch of carrots, "I think that he is still a sweet one as a man. He could make a girl very happy once he learns a few things so that he can keep himself alive."

Beathag smirked and snickered as she looked over to where Gilbert still lay on his back and hung in a trance as he slept, "He could make a couple of girls very happy right now by the look of his toy. Hours now and he still has a cockstand. It grows to be a challenge for me to leave it alone."

The two of them looked for a little longer and then they giggled a little to each other. Beathag was the first to point out that he WAS there and everything and he was even naked with the robe open like that.

Màiri nodded and pointed out that they were both not fully dressed either, just wearing their cloaks from being outside in the darkness pulling carrots and such. "Perhaps it would be a shame to waste something like that. What do you think?"

Beathag chuckled again, "I do not have to think on it, Màiri. I know that it would be a shame to go to sleep and leave such a fine thing standing there that way."

"Then by all means," old friend," Màiri grinned, "He will not wake until the sun begins to rise and it gives us more than a little time. You may go first."

Beathag didn't really need to think about it all that much. She just smiled and took off her cloak. It was a little worrisome getting onto the bed and straddling him a little carefully, but after that, she just held that thing in her hand and eased herself down so that she could ride him.

The extent of the only conversation was short when Beathag asked, "What if he – "

"He will not," Màiri grinned as she leaned against the wall masturbating a little, "That honor – if it comes will be mine. You have had the seed of a man to help your art, but I still need one for the first time in me. There will be no babe from it," she laughed, "Oh no. There will only be two satisfied women and I seek to gain in my power a little, though no more than what is the need of a young hægtesse such as I am.

Beathag enjoyed her time on Gilbert but though she tried to savor it, she did end up sitting there straddling the unconscious young man as the trembled and tried not to cry out when her joy came to her.

She sat still for a couple of minutes savoring the passing of the feeling before she climbed off to change places with her friend and Màiri was on him in only seconds thrusting and chanting a little to try to control this as she wanted it and also manage the timing of things as best she could. She'd been truthful with Beathag, who'd agreed. For a witch to really rise in her ability, for the type of caster which they were, it was important at some point to have the essence of a virile man in her.

But Màiri was much more than that now, since she'd become a warlock herself and could use the darker powers of that ilk. To do that to the fullest extent of her ability, it was even more important at some point to have the essence of a virile man in her.  

Màiri gasped and fucked on him, whipping her hips to work him inside her. It went on for long minutes, her groaning and sighing as she looked down at Gilbert's sleeping face. "If I'd been fucked well before this," she whispered to him so that Beathag could hear it, "I would bless you now in more than my thanks to you. But I can only do what I can do, Gilbert, and most of that will need to wait as I hope that you will be the man for us two. You would gain much from it as would we, -"

She stopped speaking then. She had to; because she knew that it wouldn't be long anymore and so she made up her mind and got off to turn around. She was back on him in seconds, but like this; she'd have better access to his scrotum and when she felt her climax rising for the first time with a real living man inside of her, Màiri took the stones of Gilbert in her hand and gently kneaded as she muttered and moaned in joy.

Gilbert remained in the state which he'd been in for all of this time, but as Màiri bucked and keened softly in her ecstasy, she made sure that she would get the seed as she needed it, so, ...

In a clinical sense, Gilbert simply ejaculated. From the standpoint of biology, that was what occurred.

But what came to Màiri was a large volume of semen. The human male surpasses all other primates in two things relating to sex. They are the champions in two regards in that the human male's penis is the largest of all and his ejaculatory volume far exceeds that of any of his biological relatives. Whatever Gilbert had in store on the off-chance that he'd need it at any time, there was nothing held back and the witch who rode him took it all.

When she was 'done' for lack of a better term, she got off and lay on her back with her hand covering her sex to hold what she'd gotten as her body took the essence of it inside itself. She gave it no thought, not knowing what it was to be a man and have the feelings of one, but to deliver what she'd gotten; Gilbert would face a curious aftermath later on when he awoke.

To be certain, what had been done for and to him would mean that everything would hurt a little as she'd said. It came from the working of larger muscle groups and to build, one must destroy a little bit beforehand. So Gilbert would suffer strange aches and pains which might make no sense to him, but he had been warned of this.

Perhaps the strangest ache would come from his balls, though it wouldn't be much in the broader view of things. But it would be a feeling that Gilbert had not likely ever felt before – the friendly ache of his testicles and seminal glands telling him that they'd truly been emptied well.

When Màiri was ready, she got onto her side against Beathag, who held her and kept of her hands over her friend's sex. They were both exhausted but happy and were still drifting off when ...

When he awoke, it was nearly dawn and it crossed his mind that Màiri hadn't lied.

Everywhere on him, every limb and tendon, each muscle group and nerve ending, ... they all hurt to a small degree.

And he was ravenously hungry.

He tried to sit up and almost screamed. That was when it really hurt. He managed to get to a reclining position on his side as he heard a little stirring from the other side of the room. Màiri and Beathag lay there, wrapped in each other's arms and trying to get a little sleep. 

Beathag managed to lift an arm and point, "We gathered a few things before we were done," she said tiredly, "All of that pile on the table – those plants and things. All may be eaten in safety. It has been years, but there are still wild potatoes and carrots from our mothers' gardens and you may eat some of them. We need a little sleep. There is a glass hanging on the wall by the door. You may see yourself in it there. Wake us in no less than an hour and do not try to leave."

He got out of the bed and nearly landed on his nose. Between the aches of his body as it complained of being forced to actually move and the strong and disconcerting unfamiliarity if his body's sense of balance being different somehow, he barely made it to a standing position.

It took minutes of quiet shuffling to get to the door so that he could look into the mirror. When he did, he wanted more light, not believing what he saw. He took the looking glass down and held it in front of himself, almost dropping it several times before he regarded his own face in the mirror once more.

It was him, still Gilbert, though he now looked a little different. It was as if he was a little older and more mature somehow. He'd been thin and sallow, though he sure wasn't either one now. As rail-like as he'd always been, his face had held about the only baby fat on his body.

Now he looked like the same person, but his features looked, ... chiseled somehow. More rugged; more, ... masculine.

It was a little frightening.

And he was hungry. 

With a little less shuffling now, he made it all the way to the table and surveyed what had been laid there. The way that it all looked, washed but nothing more, he wouldn't have eaten any of it on a bet yesterday.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 04



But that was yesterday.

Today, ... somehow, Gilbert had awoken inside a changed body. That body was as male as it had been all of his life until now. The difference was that now Gilbert wasn't a man as he was, a human creature who had been born as a male of the species and a man by virtue of his having reached an age sufficiently old to merit the use of the word by convention.

Today, ... now, Gilbert's body was a man's by virtue of its appearance alone, and as such, it suffered from the same things which he'd escaped or perhaps been a little exempt from before. However much – or little, as the case may be – it took to run that body before, well that was what this body would burn while it was only sleeping.

This body needed fuel and its reminders to its owner were insistent.

Gilbert ate.

He ate everything, right down to gnawing on a raw turnip as though it was an apple.

Because that's what it took to assuage the hunger that he felt. He even smiled a little ruefully to himself as he remembered his mother's voice in his mind once when she said to her neighbor, "Ach, a man's like a goat. If he's hungry enough, he'll eat anything."

Now he knew why.

The girls awoke in a little longer than an hour and they patiently explained that all that had been done to Gilbert was the removal of the limiting boundary which he'd set for himself as far as his body went.

"This has always been the way that you should have looked, Gilbert. But you believed your father when he belittled you, telling you that you would always be weak. As you stand now, you are more than three times more strong in anything than your father excepting his love of falsehood, distrust and guile. In those things, he has few equals."

Màiri smiled a little as she went on, "Mark you this, friend. From this day, you will need to eat far more because that body will demand it. As well, you will need to use what you have and not let it go large and soft. Now you are ready to begin all of the learning with less of the pain of building your body, since it stands here already built."

She laughed a little as she trailed her fingers over his abdomen.

"It makes me a little sad," she said, "We were told to await word from the laird and we dare not be elsewhere when it arrives. We must away to my father's house again. I think that you might feel a little more thankful to your two witchgirls, Gilbert. We will want to teach you other things and arts. There will be a lot of laughter and joy in our lessons together – but all the same, it has a purpose and witchgirls have the same needs as any others, and a few special ones as well.

Can we have your agreement, Gilbert? To give to us when we want you and to give to us when we need you for our rites? We have already given much and there is more to come. Rather than continue to feel bound and helplessly owing to us, let us agree on what will come. What say you?"

Gilbert nodded and said his thanks again and added his agreement and in a little while, the three set off back to Ranald's home once more with Gilbert happy to have two friends in them. They made the return journey with no incident and Gilbert's time was quickly taken up learning as much of the beginnings of fighting, sword work and most of all riding as they could all teach him. 

It was still only just the beginnings of his learning, but he did startle all three of them with his desire to learn and the rate that he could absorb everything that was thrown at him.

Ranald was truly tired after two long days at it and Gilbert was exhausted. But though he trembled with fatigue and soreness, he showed nothing of it. From his point of view, he now had a purpose and he'd embrace it if they were trying this hard for him.

He saw it as the least that he could do for what they'd done for him. 

------------------------

Two days later, there was a message sent with instructions from the laird to come to a large home a few miles distant, so they packed up a little and went.

What they found were other people – plenty of them milling around and among them all was the Laird Ciar himself. He summoned several of them, including Màiri, Beathag and Ranald to join him.

Most of the others looked a little rough and none of them knew much about the witches in their midst, but the old man called things to order and began to speak.

"Most of you here, the men at any rate, have ridden south to even things with the English," he said. "And if there is one thing that may be said of them, it is that they are thorough. Every man here, along with one woman, has a price on his or her head to the south of here.

What I want from you is that you ride the border as the first line of the clan's defense. If you find English who seek to cross for the purpose of raiding, you are to kill them. In this way, the back and forth of it will stop – given enough dead Englishmen. I offer pay for this as I can.

I seek a hundred men for this and the life will be hard, moving often. So you will be Clan Ciar's rangers to protect the clan as you can."

He went on at length in the way of all influential men and by the time that he asked for a show of hands, the laird was down to sixty-odd riders, along with their wives and families. As the talk went on, Ranald sought to have a word with the laird when there was a little time. When he came back, his expression was grim.

"While he still calls me 'my old friend', the laird said that you asked to serve him and so your task is to do this with no choice in it. I think your little show the other afternoon did a little more harm than good," he said, "From it, it was learned that you carry power and that causes any man who holds power himself to be nervous. It was also seen that you can read things from people and most people, Màiri, do not like the thought of it. He asks for men who could come forward to do what he asks, but this choice is not offered to you or Beathag. This is what he orders that you do. I do not know, but I think that he hopes that you would be killed one day soon and it would solve another of his 'little problems' – what to do about Màiri Ciar."

Even though this was very close to what she'd seen in the goblet of water and the river mist several nights before, Màiri sat in shock for a time, but as the minutes passed, she sat quietly glowering from under her eyebrows. Her thoughts turned to something unpleasant but to do it would only cause her to be hunted on both sides of the border. Her view of leaders in general took a turn for the worse from it.

She sat quietly until a hopeful man stood up to ask who would be leading them. Seeing all that she needed to and before anyone could reply, Màiri got to her feet and said, "I will."

It brought a laugh from the man and he asked what qualities she had which might recommend her to it.

"It is simple," she said, "How many men have you slain?"

He looked a little nonplussed for a moment; "Well, I can't truly say. It's not something that I keep a count of," he smiled as he looked around at the men who laughed along boisterously. He was about to go on, but Màiri stated what she knew at that point. 

"You lie," she said, "You do keep a count but say nothing. You have killed four men who were fighters, three old men who did nothing but beg you for their lives and two boys, aged about fourteen. I will not say the number of women."

She looked around the large room. "To do this, we will need to stay alive as we hunt and it is my aim to keep us on that path. I see women of the clan here as well, so I would know how many can ride.

I have killed six men in less than two minutes and I have killed one warlock. I have killed no farmers, no boys and I have harmed no women. You cannot say as much.

I will need the help of some who are canny in the riding of the paths around the border country, but I will lead. Any who ride with me will be taught words of protection from simple magic. For anything worse, you will have me."

"Oh, I can help you when you feel so lost, dear. You need have no fear of that," he leered a little for the laughter of the others like him.

"I have no fear," she replied evenly in a voice which carried over the noise of the group. She raised her hand toward him in a quick grasping motion.

"See here," the man began, but his eyes rolled back in his head the next moment and then he fell to the floor.

The people near him stared at the body in shock. One moment, he'd been hale and hearty - if a drunken braggart and lout when he was in his cups, and the next, he lay dead with blood seeping from his ears. 

They looked back at the beautiful woman at the front of the hall who stood with a smile which looked more like an unspoken challenge.

She bore an expression there on her face which looked like quiet confidence more than anything.

"Seven men and one warlock," Màiri said as she nodded once.

"And I will lead."



Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 05



***This is one of those chapters which need to happen now and again. I'm not overly fond of writing "meanwhile, back at the ranch" chapters, but there are a few logistics issues which will need tying up in the next chapter or so.

Then again, I've just had the thought that some might like this sort of thing, so if you're one of those who like a tale with far-flung things happening in different places, hey, fill your boots, by all means. :)

Oh, and I've moved this to the Non-human category from here on. I'd hope that it might be a little self-explanatory from about this point forward.

0_o

***

-------------------------

By the time that Leif and Moppy were well and truly tired of arguing over something which neither of them really wanted to argue about, they just sat looking at each other.

"Ye do not need me there, Leif," she said, wearily from where she sat on Leif's lap, "and that's the end of it. I'll not mind being without you while ye go te see yer Da. If we keep at this, it'll be too late and he'll be gone."

"Moppy love," Leif sighed, "I know him and I love him, but I also know that he'd love te finally meet ye. Please say you'll go with me. I'm proud of you."

Moppy thought about it for a moment and then she sighed too, "Ye likely want te show me off te yer relations as the only girl there wi' no warts. 

Fine, Leif. I'll go wi ye then."

"We'll set out in the morning," the huge smith said instantly and he looked at their guests, "Ye can just stay here, if ye like. I know I'd like it better if there was someone here while Moppy and me are gone, that is, if ye'll no mind."

"And they're needin' a place fer the winter and all," Moppy added.

With that settled and with Louhi's and Cuilén's quiet agreement, they had another cog of mead to seal the plan. Cuilén looked over after a moment and noted that the troll wore just a hint of satisfaction on his face. Leif looked over and the smile grew.

He shrugged, "Well Ah've never won an argument with my Moppy before."

Moppy looked up a little evilly as her hand slipped down to pet what he had under his work apron, "Ye won nothin', ye sweet fool. Ah just thought of havin' te do without for the whole time and I find that it's not a thought that I like so much." 

The thought seemed to inspire the pair and they bid their guests a good night shortly after and Moppy giggled as Leif carried her to their bed in the cave down below.

Cuilén looked at Louhi and she saw his smile as he motioned her to lean a little more and move her head a little closer to share a private whispered word with her, "I'm glad that's settled," he said, "I could have lived with either choice, but, ..."

Louhi nodded, "I know," she sighed a little wearily, "the discussing of it was far more than I cared to hear."

Suddenly, she sat up a little straighter, looking off into space for a moment as she reached for his hand between them on the table. "Feel," she whispered, "Annikki comes and there is something, ... Something is changing for her. I do not know more yet."

As if she'd heard her name, Annikki walked in a few moments later. Louhi knew that she'd been correct just by looking at the expression of pleased wonderment there.

She poured Annikki a cog of mead and sat her down at the table, "Are you going to tell us?"

Annikki sat for a moment and only looked off into the air in front of her, but then she smiled softly, "I have met someone and , ... I do not know the best way to say it, only, ... I think that I am for him." 

She looked at the others then and after a slow sip of her mead, she began to tell of it, but Louhi pulled Annikki closer and whispered caution against speaking too loudly so that Leif didn't overhear any of it.

"He has no love for that kind," she said, "so tell it quietly, Annikki, but please tell it all the same."

------------------------------

After hearing all of what had happened, Louhi was overjoyed. "Leif and Moppy leave in the morning. After that, go and bring him here.

She sat back then and thought a moment, "Now," she said quietly, "Do you wish to know more?"

Annikki nodded and Louhi smiled, "As do I. So finish your cog and then go to the pool and bathe. I will come with the runes and you will learn to see what is not to be seen by most people."

---------------------------------------

Annikki waited in the warm water, sitting quietly with her back to one side of the pool and trying to keep her thoughts still. She was a little excited and she was aware that it was not going to help with what Louhi had in mind so she did her best to remain tranquil.

Louhi walked in then and removed her clothing to set it aside. She stepped into the pool and sat next to Annikki and put her arm around her shoulders. After a few moments, Annikki noticed the soft grin.

Louhi's grin widened and she whispered, "I do not even think that we need the runes for this, I feel it so strongly now. But let us begin.

After a few kisses, the women rose up on their knees and held on to each other, trading gentle caresses and allowing their kisses to take them a little farther along. It had been a few days and Louhi wanted to show her girl that things were still unchanged between them. As she listened to the slowly quickening tempo of her friend's breathing in her ear, Louhi began to speak very softly and with a bit of care, since she was feeling it as well.

"I have a man now, but I am still your girl, Nikki, just as you are still mine in my heart. I still carry love for you. This should remain between us, even with men in our hearts as well. 

I do not know much about the kind of the one that you have found and I admit this. But I do know that he has ability and it might be that all of them have it. I sense something magical about him. If he is one of the ones that Moppy told of, then he must have something to be able to do as they do. I think that he must be more magical as a creature than we to do something like that. Come and let us see what there may be to learn."

She let Annikki go and guided her to the edge of the pool. Reaching over to where her clothes were, she grabbed a towel and retrieved a skin bag. She poured out the contents a little slowly onto the edge in front of Annikki. There was a soft clattering as the stones and the bone pieces tumbled out. Annikki watched as Louhi set the bone ones aside, leaving only the polished stones. 

"Dry your hands, sweet one, and then put the stones back into the bag. When you think that you are ready, let me know and then you must do as I tell you."

Annikki looked at the stones for a moment. She'd seen Louhi use them fairly often and she knew that these were tools to help in divination. "But, aren't you going to do this?"

Louhi shook her head, "No. Not this time. I will use this to teach you the way and you will do the searching for what you wish to know. Because it is your first time, I will guide you and we will use no smoke." 

She chuckled then, "I have no doubt that it will not be needed this time anyway. So lean on the edge with your arms and tell me when you are ready."

Annikki turned then and leaned forward. She wasn't sure what she ought to be thinking or doing, really. But in a moment, Louhi began to chant quietly and after three times through, she told Annikki to follow her through the words. If she could, Louhi told her, it would help to try to get the tones to the singing, since it really was a melody after all.

When Annikki had it pretty much, Louhi moved behind her and began to stroke her skin very softly all over, while trying hard not to tickle.

Annikki droned out the words in time with Louhi and she felt herself relax into the moment. When Louhi judged that it was sufficient, her touches became more petting and then they moved to more intimate places on her friend.

"This is to help you along," she said, "but do not allow yourself to be taken away in it. This is loving, Annikki, but it has a purpose and it is a very old method. I learned it from my grandmother only days before she passed from this world. Just feel it and keep what you wish to know in your mind as well."

Louhi's hands slipped very carefully between Annikki's thighs and she began to caress her there lightly. Her touches might have been interpreted as loving teases at other times, and they had often done this to each other. What Louhi had always borne in mind once the two of them had become lovers and after Annikki had shown them both that she had a little ability was that this time had to come for her friend. She was overjoyed to be teaching this now and for such an important divination as this.

Louhi went back to chanting right along with Annikki who hadn't stopped while she'd been listening. She moved forward a little on her knees, keeping the caresses going with one hand while using the other now to pet Annikki's little breasts and belly. Annikki's chanting slowly became more and more driven by her quiet moaning, the words and the song still in there.

Annikki looked back a little uncertainly, but she nodded and Louhi smiled.

"Then take the bag by the neck and shake it, asking what you desire to know. Do not seek for a certain answer. If it is certain, you will know. Seek instead for likely outcomes and ends to your question and you will know by the stones then."

Annikki shook the leather bag vigorously, moaning all the while as the words came out of her mouth. When she stopped, Louhi told her to remove eight stones carefully as they came to her fingertips and then set them one at a time in order on the raised floor before her hands.

"The order is important," she droned quietly, "and do not waste any time in looking at each one. Only stop when you have the right number. Do it slowly, my love. I need time to help you along in it."

Annikki was facing away, but she nodded, her eyes closed in pleasure and concentration. She felt Louhi's hand leave her nipple and slide back to her hip as Louhi moved back. She almost stopped when she felt Louhi's tongue just tease her anus for a few moments. It was just something that Louhi did because she knew that Annikki liked it so much, but it wasn't the main thing. That began when her tongue slid lower.

Annikki arched her back, groaning out the chant now, but she kept on, needing to now for some reason that she'd lost sight of.

Louhi found the position to be a challenge for her like this because she had to keep her own sex out of the water. She didn't want any of her own juices to wash away in the water because she'd need them in a few moments.

They went on for a time and Annikki's hand hadn't reached into the bag yet.

Louhi drew one of her hands back and slipped her fingers into herself. She wanted a little pleasure as well, but for the moment, she needed to get her fingers as wet as she could. This was to help Annikki and doing it this way was to aid her by adding her fluids to her friend's. 

She brought her hand forward and began to gently tug and squeeze Annikki's lips, both sides alternately. Annikki's head went down and she whimpered a little for a moment. Louhi crossed her fingers. Touching the tips to Annikki's wet sex, she moved herself forward on her knees so that her hand was against her own mound after she'd pressed against the inside of Annikki's calf.

Annikki didn't miss a beat. She moved her legs a little farther apart to accommodate Louhi, who now pushed her fingers in between the swollen lips and sought for the opening. Finding it, Louhi moved forward yet again to take up the space and then she began to fuck Annikki very slowly like that.

Annikki reached for the bag and brought out a stone. She set it down a little shakily and then reached for the bag again. The two women chanted and sang while Louhi fucked on and on. Annikki was pushing back in time against her lover's fingers a little carefully as she kept her question in her mind.

By the time that Annikkii had seven stones laid out, Louhi was doing her best and thinking that the next time, she'd use one of the ritual phalli that her grandmother had given to her on Annikki. But this was a first time, and as such, she didn't dare try too hard for Annikki, not wanting her to lose her focus.

Annikki was doing just the right thing, it seemed to Louhi. She was waiting for the moment. Louhi leaned down and kissed Annikki's back, telling her that she loved her before she moved back a little so that she could do a little less humping.

She began to twist her hand as she fucked Annikki and that moved the smaller girl right to the edge in seconds. Annikki leaned down and held one forearm in her mouth while reaching for the bag with the other. As she shuddered and bucked, her fingers closed around the eighth stone and she drew it into her palm and closed her fingers over it tightly as she sobbed a little from having to keep herself quiet.

Louhi waited a few more moments before she eased her hand back. Leaning over Annikki's hips, she told her again that she loved her and always would.

After washing her hands off in the pool and drying her hands again, the two girls knelt side by side with Annikki watching as Louhi arranged the stones, explaining the meaning and significance of each one as she placed them in a pattern. Each place in the pattern was explained as well.

Louhi pointed out the sad aspects that she could see and Annikki told that Ren was alone. Louhi shook her head, "I see this, but there is more, much more to this loss. There was no mate in whatever happened, but there was great loss. He has lost his family, I think.

Here," she pointed, "and here; he is ready and feels hope again, but it is for something like he has never known before. From what you said earlier, it is as if this is what you hope to have with him. But," Louhi held up a finger, "I also see that he needs to be taught many things which he has never had the chance to learn. I say this most especially in that he does not know how to live here I think, and I see that, ... if I am correct, then it worries him.

Oh, and also, it is always hard to say for certain, but from these here," she pointed, "you have likely found your man."

Annikki thanked Louhi, but the white-haired girl only laughed a little, "I did nothing but help you on the way to seeing. It was you who took the stones, not me."

"Still," Annikki grinned, "I want to thank you," she said as she patted the planking. Louhi smiled and nodded before she got up and sat there on the edge with her knees apart.

"You said that I would know if it was certain," Annikki said, "And I know it now."

Annikki moved forward and she kissed Louhi while her hands moved over Louhi's body, touching, feeling, caressing and even teasing a little. At a word from Annikki, Louhi leaned back onto her hands and Annikki sank down, licking her lips as she moved forward to kiss the frosty-looking stripe of Louhi's pubic hair. Louhi raised her knees and began to buck a little herself as she sighed. 

------------------------------

The couple did in fact depart the next day and it was just after a quick breakfast. The next thing that any of the others knew, they were saddled up and plodding away with instructions spoken over their shoulders on how to keep the furnace down below running and that they'd miss the three of them over the winter and to look for them by the end of March.

Then they were gone over the rise in the road and Annikki stood rather surprised.

"After almost two days of bickering," she said, "they are gone in an hour. I cannot believe my eyes."

Cuilén smirked, "Everyone seems to hold that trolls are slow things and they are not. They are slow to get things settled, but with it done, they move and waste little time. I wish them well and I am thankful that we have solved our worry about a winter home."

Annikki drew her cloak around her and smiled, "I will go to see Ren."

Cuilén nodded, "I know."

She looked at him, "How? Is it plain to be seen?"

"To one who knows you, Annikki," he said, the smile turning into a wide grin, "The way that you almost dance in one place, it is either that, or you have to make water very badly."

But the humor was wasted because she was already gone before he had time to say the second part to more than only Louhi. She turned back from the top of the path and called out, "Please remember to say nothing of his hands. He feels badly about them and I want to try to make them look as ours."

Then she was gone.

-------------------------------

She couldn't see him.

Annikki looked all around the cove, scanning continually as she walked out onto the strand very slowly. She didn't see him anywhere.

She wondered if he was out hunting for a meal and she wanted to tell him that he didn't need to. Cuilén had shot a large buck the day before and it hung in the coolest part of the cavern.

She looked for at least fifteen minutes as she walked around slowly, not wanting to miss him. Finally, Annikki just said it. 

"REN!"

There was a startled cry from right beside her and she jumped. So did Ren, who up till then had been sitting looking at the sea, wrapped in his mottled gray skin.

"I thought you were a stone," she laughed after apologizing and he smiled, "I guess that I must have been right next to you and I saw nothing."

She knelt on the stone next to him, "What were you doing?"

He nodded toward the opening of the cove, out toward the dark water, "There. See them?"

Annikki looked and saw a pair of tall dorsal fins standing out in the waves, slowly gliding past.

"I was out hunting," he said, "I wanted to find a fish to give to you because you brought me food. But those were there and one chased me all the way in. I changed myself just as I left the water, and the thing almost had me." 

He looked down then, "So I have nothing to give to you. They wait for me to grow hungry enough to go back in. Before that time, they will hide themselves."

Annikki put her arms around Ren and she hugged him for a moment, "You don't need to do that. I have come to bring you to where we stay and there is food there for you -- if you can eat venison." 

She looked at the tall fins out there slowly slicing through the small waves, "Let them wait forever. Have you ever eaten venison?"

"If it is not long and black with a mouthful of teeth," he smiled a little weakly, "then I can eat it."

They stood up and again, she wondered how he could stand to be in cold such as she felt, but then she supposed that it was what he knew and she hoped that he wouldn't find it too warm in the house.

She looked at the way that he'd wrapped his skin around himself and she could see how it was that she'd missed him. The mottling on it hid him well in a rocky place. "Come," she said, "I want to get those poor bare feet of yours warm."

As they walked, Ren worked a few of his thoughts over and at least some of them spilled out before they'd gotten to the trees and the path which led up the hill to the house. There was a fair bit of synchronicity to their thoughts and he asked as she did and it became a rather disjointed thing until Annikki stopped them just inside the trees because while they were both laughing; they weren't getting to the answers which eluded them as to just how to begin.

"I think I know what we both wish to ask," she chuckled as she looked at him. 

Ren looked even better to her today. While he was no musclebound warrior, that wasn't what appealed to her anyway. She liked Cuilén because of his honest heart, not for his vast strength. That strength had its place if it was needed to protect Louhi and Annikki, but it wasn't why she loved him as a close friend. 

Ren on the other hand, while not being covered with the ancient markings of a dead kingdom and not having the bulk of a man used to the sort of things which Cuilén was, well, she saw no weakness in the way that he was made. She doubted if she could have pinched any fat on him at all if she kept her hands off his backside, though she had her doubts if she really could stand that sort of test even if she'd sworn an oath not to. She pushed the image of his bottom from her mind while willing herself not to peek at the same time. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 05



Or rather, not to peek again - after perhaps just one more look. He had his own wonders to her, though there was the same sort of ridged abdomen and the legs and the biceps were beyond fine to her and were certainly well-developed enough to provide her with plenty of entertainment. 

She still sought for a simple comparison though, and eventually, she settled on something down to earth. Ren could get a stuck-in-the-mud wagon back on the path and look fine doing it, though he'd have more trouble over a stump or other such obstacle.

Cuilén would just destroy the obstacle and be done.

Ren looked intelligent and so open and honest to her, as though he knew what she was, but now he wished to know who she was. He had the sort of soft brown eyes that she could easily spend the day looking into, and yet, there was mystery there for they were a very dark shade of brown -- as though he was seeking, learning, taking everything in while he hid nothing -- now that she knew how to read what was there.

"I will start," she said. 

"I have never had the hope to find a man for me -- only me. It comes from the way and the place where I was raised. You will meet my friend Louhi and it is through her that my life was made better. She took me away from my life when all that was left was smoking ruins and a slow death for me, or at the very best, a life of misery.

Since then, I must admit that I have been the sort of girl who likes a little fun with a man -- but I must also admit that even so -- since I am a girl -- I have had a wish to find a man for me."

She looked down, "Just not the hope that it might ever happen.

You need help, Ren, and it is clear that you also need someone. I wish to say that I now hope that I can be that someone for you if it is also what you wish."

He thought about it and nodded, "I think you have said it well and simply. I do not even know what I need to live away from the sea, and yet I can see that I must at least pass this one winter away from it, for there is nothing to live on here. If I knew where there were seals, it is a sign that there is food. But I have not seen one since I left my home waters and I do not know the way back. If you can help me, I would do anything for you." 

He smiled that shy smile of his then, "And I have never really known a girl like you. Everything about you is new and so friendly to me."

Annikki looked down a little shyly after seeing his smile. "I am thinking that we can try to go together and do anything that the other one needs. It is a nice thought to me. I, ... I have a thought that I would like to pair to see where it leads us."

She was almost afraid to look into his eyes at that moment.

"How, ..." he began, "How is this done among your kind? I am half-human but I know nothing of it."

She reached for his hand and smiled when he looked up. "It depends, Ren. Much depends on the girl in it. She might only want a little fun in a bed and once it is done, they might not ever see each other again.

On the other hand, it can be a loooonnnng courtship. That would be a slow thing, where I must flutter my eyelashes and blush many times for you. And you, knowing nothing of the way that it goes would probably wonder what I have in my eyes which causes me to blink so."

She laughed a little then, "So it would all be a waste anyway. How is it done among the people where you come from?"

He thought about it again and shrugged, "A boy sees a girl -- who sees him at the same time. If they like each other, they might swim and play together for a time. They might share a hunt for some fish or just catch what they can and share. They meet out of the water and they talk. If it goes well, they may mate together. Usually the girls know when they can do that freely."

Annikki found herself smiling as she watched him look down, still thinking of the ways of courtship of his kind. His eyebrows rose a little as he looked down in thought, "But nobody gets anything in their eyes.

And then," he sighed, "if they like each other more after mating- rather than less, which can also happen- they just pair and stay together. Neither one says anything about it. It is just known between them. They stay together as much as they can.

It is not long before the others see that the two are paired and everyone knows. If it works for them, then later, they mate to have young ones between them. That is not the way that it goes for seals at all."

He looked up, "I think that it must be a very simple way to do things, from what you have said of the way of your kind."

Annikki grinned and then just hugged him. After a moment, she chuckled quietly in his ear, "What I think -- for a couple as we are -- is that your way is best or something like that. I will teach you, you will teach me and we laugh as much as we can."

He nodded, not thinking that he could learn to fathom the human way anyway. They stood holding each other for a moment in the trees before she pulled his sealskin a little tighter around him and said that she wanted to get him into a warmer place first of all.

--------------------------------

A few minutes later, Ren sat shyly at the table, still wearing his seal skin after meeting Louhi and Cuilén. His first look at the Pict almost frightened him -- the size of the man and the markings that he saw had an effect. But after a moment, he recovered and apologized. "There is a world here that part of me is from, yet I know nothing of it. I was born on land, but, ... almost all of my life, ..."

They nodded and tried to put him at ease while Louhi and Annikki brought food to the table. After a moment, Annikki took a little time to explain the use of utensils, not that they were in a palace. "And anyway," she smiled, "It is hard to eat soup by sipping from the bowl when it is hot."

As Ren became more comfortable, they sat and listened to the way that he came to be there in the cove. He looked down at one point, "I do not know if any of my family are alive. Some at least are dead. I saw heads and bodies which I knew on the bottom near the rocks; a brother and one of my sisters. Also, I saw a part," he indicated from the middle of his chest to his head, "of one that I used to play with."

"I know the dark ones that you speak of," Cuilén nodded with a grimace, "They are very fast and not stupid at all. I have been out fishing and I saw them sometimes taking fish from my long lines before I could pull them in. I might have set ten hooks on a line and the best that I could do was to get maybe three fish and seven heads -- or not even that sometimes. There were times when I found only a bit of torn skin from my fish."

He exhaled, "I never had the thought of it, but to be chased by one of them, ..."

Then he brightened and smiled as he tousled Ren's hair a little, "You have had to run from them twice. If it were me, my hair would already be gray."

As they ate, they found Ren growing more relaxed and looking much more comfortable and as well, Cuilén and Louhi found that he was very likeable and extremely attractive, though he was very shy.

"Do you need to be in the water sometimes?" Louhi asked and he shrugged.

"I think that sometimes I would like to see it and I need water to drink and wash in. I do not know."

She smiled, "Well now you can wash and drink without fear of the ones which have chased you twice -- though we will have to teach you some things which are different here." She looked a little past him and then she laughed a little and pointed. "See your friend there," she said.

Ren turned his head to see Annikki with her head on her arm looking at him with a soft smile. A smile like that was something that he'd never seen on another person while it was directed at him.

"Last night, I was so happy that I met Nikki and made a friend," he said, "I have seen no one for, ..." He counted for a moment, "more than six, ... "he shrugged, "the round white thing on the sky at night."

"The Moon," Nikki smiled and she had to repeat it once for him.

"Yes," he said, "six times from nothing to a thin light to a round spot and then to nothing again. More than six."

Cuilén nodded, "Three months then," and he explained what a month was and then a year.

The talk went on and after a cog of mead, Ren relaxed even more and they asked him about his skin.

He indicated it on his shoulder with his hand, "I am a thing of the sea most of all," he said, "I can be here with it off, but I must always have it near to me. Without it, I cannot go back and live." He told them of what had happened to his mother and how he came to be as a result of that. "Since she took me and ran away, I have not ever been very far from the sea. This is perhaps the farthest that I have gone from it. If I put it on here, I become as a seal."

"But your mother lived for a year at least without it," Annikki pointed out and he nodded, "And you are partly the same as the rest of us. I think that you could get a little used to it in time. Would I be able to wear it, Ren?"

"If we pair, it will fit you if you need it," he said, taking it off himself and laying it over Annikki's shoulders, "But for now," he smiled, "I like how it looks on you."

Annikki pulled it around herself with a soft smile, "It doesn't fit, but it feels so warm."

Ren was smiling at her and didn't see it as Louhi looked at his webbed hands. She thought about it and after a moment, she reached across the table. Ren was a little startled, but Louhi only smiled at him. 

"From what was told to me of your kind, the babes of Selkies and humans have this. If you do not wish for this to be seen, then listen to what I say to you."

Ren found himself staring into her pale blues eyes, almost, but not quite as mesmerized as he was whenever he looked into Annikki's gray ones. She said a few odd-sounding things to him and made him say it once. It took a few tries, but one time he almost jumped up from the table when Annikki touched his shoulder and pointed at his hands. 

He stared and lifted them to hold them up before his eyes, turning them over and back a few times. He looked at Louhi.

"But --"

"They are not really changed," Louhi smiled, "They are just as they have always been. Nikki said that you do not like them, so, ..."

She reached out again and held his hand for a moment. "Remember what I have taught you. You may only do this once in a day. It will not work the second time, so choose your moment according to your need. To make this go away, you only need to look at your hands and will them back."

Ren was happy and thankful, though Annikki told him again that she liked his hands as they were, but she could see how it bothered him.

"And Ren," Louhi smiled once more, "it is important that you forget about hiding them only out of nothing. Use this when you have need, but remember Nikki there. She likes you as you are."

Louhi sat and looked at Ren a little appraisingly for a moment. "You do not tell of it, but I can see that you have certain, ... qualities."

Ren looked back for a moment and then he was a little overcome with his shyness once more. "I do not think of it much and I do not want to frighten anyone."

He turned then and looked at Annikki a little guiltily, "It is something that I do sometimes and do not think. I did not see you when you came for me Nikki, and I was not listening. I can hide without a thought to it. I was there, where you saw me, but I was not there like that at first."

They looked at nothing but an unoccupied chair in the next instant. Annikki reached out then and hugged him, as invisible as he was, "Oh no. I have only just found you. Please stay with me Ren."

In fact, she was a little late with her remark. He had already been out of the chair and back again in time for her hug and he was back in view the next instant, looking a little sheepish, but very happy to be in her arms. He held out his closed hand and Louhi took it to mean that he wished for her to hold out her hand.

She blinked then, looking at the gold coin that he'd placed there.

"That was in the thing there on the back of where you sit," he said, and she reached for her cloak on the back of her chair.

She noted that there was no coin in it anymore and looked at him. "How?"

He shrugged, "I do not know. I only knew that it was there and I took it. Was it wrong to do?"

She shook her head with a little laugh, "Not to show me, but to take things that are not yours, ..."

She stopped, seeing him nod, "Then things are the same here like that. I only wished to show you because you asked me."

Annikki stared and then she laughed, "Oh please, do that again."

She blinked and in that time he was gone, but stood near to the counter where Louhi had made the meal. He smiled as he took an apple and held it up.

Then he was next to Annikki again offering it to her. She laughed and clapped her hands.

He turned to look at Annikki, who reached to hold onto him and he leaned his head against hers with a soft smile.

"A useful skill, but I will need this,"Louhi laughed a little as she held up the coin, "You have nothing but your skin. To live here, you will need more than that. I will use this to buy you clothes from what our friend Moppy sells. She is not here now, but I am honest."

Ren's eyebrows rose, but Louhi was already waving it off. "You need clothes here, as I have said. They must be either made or bought. Nikki and I cannot make them and neither can Cuilén. That means we must buy them, and as yet, you have no money."

"What is mone --"

"I will tell of it," Annikki said, "later. For now Ren, just say thank you to Louhi."

-------------------------

The next thing was his clothing and they had no trouble finding something which fit Ren -- though he needed to be shown how to work the buttons and things of that nature, and he had trouble at first with walking in boots. After that, Annikki and Cuilén took Ren outside for a little walk. He was interested in anything, they saw. Absolutely anything and everything.

A leaf turned red by the autumn held him fascinated for minutes, and he suddenly heard a sound and saw a motion so he ducked. 

Birds were new to him as well, the kind which were not seabirds.

There was an odd side-effect that none of them had thought of, though it manifested itself rather often - too uncomfortably often to Ren's mind and not often enough to Annikki's. Ren could be without his sealish skin without difficulty -- or almost. But with his genitals now encased in fabric which rubbed a little whenever he moved, well, ...

Cuilén knew it for what it was and he was understanding while Ren almost squirmed in his discomfort and embarrassment. Annikki did her best to appear to be the same way about it for Ren's feeling that his dignity was working against him; since that one area of his body seemed to want to betray him so much and so often. She didn't make any jokes, though they seemed to come to mind instantly every time, and she appeared to be doing her level best to look away from the bulge in his pants as well but, ...

Well, she was a little thrilled anyway.

After a few hours looking around at everything with Annikki holding his hand, they walked back for the evening meal.

When they arrived back at the house, Annikki asked Cuilén to go inside ahead of them and they'd join him and Louhi in a few minutes. He smiled and nodded, but Ren appeared confused.

Annikki put her arms around his neck and she pressed up against him a little carefully while Ren tried not to groan.

"Remember what we said," she whispered just before she kissed him a little, "We should help each other. This trouble of yours is nothing more than wearing clothing which you are not used to. You need say nothing, Ren. I will help you with it."

She reached down and giving the bulge there a slight squeeze which did cause him to groan, Annikki untied the fly and reached in to relieve the almost painful way that his maleness strained against the rough cloth.

"You should not feel shame in front of me, Ren," she smiled as she stroked him a little, "I like what I hold very much." She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked down as she worked him gently. When his breathing picked up a little, Annikki smiled and kissed his cheek, making the comment that she guessed that she was helping him well.

"But I know a better way," she smiled softly as she sank to her knees and began to love him.

Annikki was mindful of his feelings as well as being well-aware that they were outside in the autumn, so she decided that she wouldn't wet him with her saliva too much of it could be done.

But that was before she came to face his scrotum. It was all that she could do not to open her mouth then. She settled for taking in the gentle scent of this man as she kissed it and nuzzled it with her face for a few moments. When she looked at the tip, she could see that he was already on the boil a little, so she wasted no more time in opening her mouth.

Ren was astounded, but he was also in a fair bit of bliss as well. Annikki put a lot into it for him, wanting to have the first of his gushes in her mouth without much ado, since she was really doing this for what she'd said in large measure. But she enjoyed it all the same and groaned when he came.

She worked diligently, wanting everything that she could get before she tucked it back in his fly and tied it closed. With that done, she was standing against him again in his arms. 

He thanked her, but she shook her head, "I only helped you with something. I did it far too quickly for my taste because it is a little cold here. You may believe me when I say that it tasted so good to me, so I will want more from you later." 

She looked into his eyes and smiled a little mischievously, "Can I tell you a secret thing, Ren? Just for you to hear?"

He nodded, but he kissed her first, holding her head for the duration of it, since he hadn't held it when she was sucking him. Ren wanted to say something, since he was certain that she was trying to say something with the act and the words after.

Annikki almost sagged in his arms. His kiss was that good.

When he released her she found him there looking a little expectant and she asked him why. He grinned then, because he didn't know the effect of the kiss on her at the moment. "You were going to tell me a secret."

Annikki laughed at herself for a moment, "That's right; I was." 

She kissed his cheek and began to whisper, "I liked doing that a lot.

Now come on," she said a little louder, "Louhi has made a meal for us all. If we come too late it will not do."

They were in time, but Louhi knew what had happened anyway and made no bones about it. "I would have never thought of the trouble either," she smiled, "but I can say that if it had been Cuilén, I would have done as Nikki did." Nothing more was said about it and a little later, Annikki was teaching Ren another lesson on the use of cutlery and he found that he wasn't very afraid of venison.

Annikki led him to the bed a little later and after helping him to get out of his unfamiliar clothing; they were in the bed looking at each other.

"Have you ever, ... "Annikki wondered just how to say it.

"Have you ever been in bed with anyone, Ren?"

He reached for her and she was very relieved and happy to find herself against him. "No," he said," I just sleep when I need to sleep and wherever I am. But I know that this is a bed, where we are and I know that it is for sleeping out of the sea and that it is also a good place for mating."

Annikki listened with a little grin on her face as she nodded.

"Do you want to, ... mate with me, Ren? I want to do it with you."

He nodded, "But I have never really mated before. My hands were not what the females wanted, so I could not find one. I have, ... I do not know how it is said. I have played with another male sometimes. He had no female either. It was not mating in a correct way, but it felt good."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 05



Annikki tried not to show her disappointment, though she was just a little worried now. "Did you love him?"

"No," he shook his head, "it was only something that we could do together if we both needed it. I want to mate with you, Nikki." He looked away for a moment, "If I knew what to do with a female such as you are."

She held him a little tightly then, so he guessed that he'd said something right and he kissed her.

"I'll show you everything," Nikki smiled, "you don't have to feel foolish. Can I tell you something?"

He nodded, so she went on. "I want you, Ren. I knew it as soon as I saw into your beautiful eyes. You do not have to feel badly about anything. I fall for you whenever I look at you and I cannot help it."

She reached over and touched his cheek, stroking with her thumb. "I know that we need to learn about each other. But I want to be your girl. What that means is that you will be my boy."

She laughed a little then and it made him smile. "We can be fools for each other. It is what I want with you, so, ..."

She reached down between them and he felt her fingers as she took hold of him to stroke him a little.

"Lift your head," she whispered, and then she slid her other arm into the space. She did have to tell him that he could put his head back down onto her arm. Before she went on, she took his hand and guided it to her mound. She was surprised then. She'd been about to explain what to do for her and what not to do for her when her eyes fell closed and she sighed as she felt his fingers begin to gently manipulate her.

When he saw her questioning look a little later, he shrugged, "I did not say it because I do not know if it was really mating, but I saw my oldest sister playing with her boy once. But he was leaving to go another island. The next day, she missed him and I saw her cry. She was the closest of my brothers and sisters to me, so I wanted to make it better for her. She told me how she missed her male already and then she taught me to please her like this. You have a little hair here where she had none, but that is all that is different.

"But you didn't mate with her?" Annikki asked and he looked as though he didn't know what to say as an answer. "I played with her a few times just as I played with my male friend in almost the same way.

Annikki was a little confused so she asked him to describe this form of play and it turned out that he meant sliding his shaft in between her legs.

Annikki laughed a little, "Do you want to do that with me first?"

He nodded, asking her if it was allowed and she nodded, laughing again as she grabbed him to roll them over so that she was on her back. Ren looked confused until after she'd kissed him for a little while. "The only things that are not allowed are to hurt me or to hurt my heart, Ren." She explained the second concept and he shook his head. 

"You have helped me and you care for me. I know this," he said, "You are so good to see and touch and you want to mate with me. Nikki, ... I almost have no words. Just , ... please show and tell me how you want anything from me."

It took a little fumbling, but after a minute, she had him between her thighs and against her labia and though it was unseen by them at that point, Annikki's clitoris had already figured it out and had emerged from its little hood. They were humping the next instant as he kissed her and licked her ear and throat. Ren was happy and Annikki was pleased too.

Ren lifted up a little to look at her, "What happens when I must -" He searched for the term that he didn't know, but Annikki smiled up at him and she nodded, "I will wash the sheets tomorrow. When it comes out of you, just let it go, Ren. We are just starting, and I think this is already good enough to call it mating in a way."

She reached up and touched his hair, "And we are agreed, are we not? I want to be with you. I would be proud to feel what you give to me between my legs. It will be wet and sticky, but it will be yours and that will make this girl proud."

He smiled and nodded and she could have floated away right there. Annikki had been fucked by men before and not wanted it, though she'd had no choice. There had been a few that she'd chosen and an even smaller number of those had begun to please her a little. She was always very happy when she'd been with Cuilén because it was so easy to see that he cared and was gentle for such a large man.

But this was different.

And that was fine with her as well. He might be inexperienced, but she didn't see it as a problem.

She'd already had a talk with Louhi and Cuilén about this. She knew her place in what Louhi said was to come and she also knew that if this worked between them, that Louhi would undertake his education as well. She just had to get him started and this was the first match for them in a bed. He felt wonderful against her down there and though she was surprised, she also knew that she could finish this way with him. As good as he was, Cuilén didn't get her there when they'd tried this.

The only downsides were that she didn't have him inside of her yet and like this, she couldn't wrap her legs around him and it was something that she ached to do with him. She'd never felt this much from a man's heart before. 

To Annikki, it felt like making love while you had a sunbeam shining on the middle of your chest.

She closed her eyes and sighed to him and she pulled his head down so that she could nuzzle against his ear a little, not minding the way that his hair was in her face then. To Annikki, it felt to her as though she was finally beginning to love with a man -- a man who was hers. And if that statement could be true, then she knew that she was on the way to being his woman. A little hair in her face was romantic to her somehow.

Her orgasms weren't very profound things when they came to her, and that was the operative word -- there had been more than one. She'd felt less when she'd been taken in her vagina by different men over her life. 

And when his release came, they were looking at each other again and she closed her eyes for a few moments while he ejaculated. Like anything else about him, it was so very warm to feel.

They were young and it didn't take long before they began their second round. Annikki helped to guide him into her and he surprised her by remaining in a position where he was able to look down at her. She didn't mind, wanting then to really be able to see him as he fucked her. Her surprise came when he began to run his hands over as much of her body as he could reach. Annikki knew that the position was a little hard on his back to hold himself up and he often only used one hand for that reason.

But he said nothing about discomfort and the things that he could do with his hands...

He had her almost purring like a cat in only moments

"Ren," she smiled up at him, "I am in love with your hands."

He smiled shyly and she felt like the finest queen then. 

It didn't matter to her. Ren was so good to look at and the things that he did for her with his hands on her body just seemed to take it to a new level for her. No one else had ever done something like this. When it got a little urgent for her, she let him know, pleading with him to lean a little more and fuck her really hard. 

The sound of their skin slapping as they went thrilled her and she reached up and held onto him, feeling those long muscles on his body from a lifetime of swimming. She cried out, but he wasn't there yet, so she raised her legs and finally wrapped them around his lower back. It brought her a little closer to him and she asked if he liked this with her.

"Better than anything I ever knew," he smiled.

He looked at her and she fell all over again over the way that he didn't look like an ape or a he-man sort at all. He looked thoughtful.

It amazed her.

He was banging her, rutting for what looked to be all that he was worth and he looked thoughtful. 

She couldn't get over it.

"I want, ..." he whispered as his chest heaved and she felt the tremors beginning in his arms, "I, ... want to do this with you, Nikki. As much as you wish. I - I - "

He lowered his head and picked up the pace even more and by then, Nikki was in full blown lust and on her way to another orgasm, promising him the moon and the stars, shrieking out his name and invoking the names of Freyja and Wotan, and blessing him because he was so good for her.

Across the hall and down a door or two, Louhi had to stop riding Cuilén in mid-stroke for a moment to hold her hand to her mouth and snicker.

"Do you need a bucket of water, Nikki?" she called out innocently.

Annikki screamed out her love then and Ren cried out as he filled her. She made no reply for the moment until she had at least a little breath in her.

"What -- what would I need , OHhhh, a-AHhhhhhhh, water for?" Annikki asked the ceiling.

Louhi laughed rather sweetly, "Why to put out the flames, my love."

"I -- I - need no water," Annikki gasped, "My hole makes enough, ... to keep the grass from burning and he - ohhh, he slows so nicely now and I will trim the verge tomorrow."

It even made Cuilén laugh.

Annikki looked up at him and pulled Ren down so that she could kiss him, "Come here to me, lover."

"Was I good enough for you, Nikki?" he asked so softly with his face buried into her cheek and hair. "Please say to me that I was good for you. I -- I want to say that I love you, but my mother, ..."

"What about your mother?" she asked, seeing that he sounded as though he wanted to hide his face even more right then.

He thought for a second and then he tried, "She -- she said to me that it only means something if, ... If I fight with a girl and can say it then, because it will be truest only then."

Annikki looked up and felt her eyes tearing a little. As far as she could tell, he knew that his mother was dead. He just hadn't said that in his tale. She knew that the sister that he'd loved and made a little love with was one of the dead ones that he'd seen being worked over by the sharks.

"I think," she whispered, "that your mother was a very wise female who raised a fine son. For now, we have not had a fight yet, so I can say that I already love you enough to say it in a beginning way. Do you love me like that, Ren?"

He nodded, though when he tried to say it, she only heard his breath behind the words. His voice had broken for the moment. She thought that her heart would break in her joy when she heard him anyway.

"Was I good for you Nikki?" Again, no sound, only his soft breath.

She laughed a little and he was ejected with a quiet groan and she apologized as she pushed him up a little so that she could look at him. She did her best to look serious then.

"For one moment, I think that I saw the womenfolk of my ancestors, "she whispered to him leaving a soft little kiss on his nose, "and they were cheering you."

She pulled him down then and she hung on as tightly as she could. "I cried it out toward the end, but it was not only foolishness of a girl, Ren.

I love you because I want to love you. Because it is what we both need. We will have our fights and you can try to say it to me then. It would likely make me love you even more for the hearing of it."

She slid her hands over him and it felt so good to her to do it. "You wanted a female and now you have me. I knew when I saw what I needed to. The hardest thing will be to have to learn what you need to live here with me."

He thought about it for a moment, "What if you could live with me in the sea, Nikki?" He raised his head and pushed himself up to look into her eyes. "Would you wish for that with me?"

She looked startled, "I -- yes! I would like that, but I cannot be without air for long and I hate to be cold."

He smiled a tiny little smile at her and he kissed her nose very briefly, "It is not cold. It is so like what the seabirds do in the sky. You can fly like that as much as you wish and you can keep your breath inside for a long time. I have never done it, but I have seen many of my friends with their females swimming slowly and mating too."

Annikki thought that it sounded wonderful, "But I thought that seals mate on the land."

He snorted a little playfully, as though what she'd said tickled him somehow. "They do," he nodded, "They come out and mate on the rocks or the sand. There are other kinds of seals who only mate under the sea, Nikki.

But I am not any of those. I am not a seal. I have heard that we are called the children of the sea. I am enough of my mother's kind to take a female as mine, if she gives herself to me in trust. We have always taken females from the land, those who loved us enough. It is the reason why we are feared by the mothers and fathers of human girls. I can give what I am to you -- if you want this with me.

But, ... I am some of both things. I have enough to take a bride so that she can live in the water. I just, ..."

He struggled for a moment to find the way to say it. "I am some of both and I can do for my female if it is wanted by us both. But I cannot do for any young which we might have between us. There will not be enough of the blood there for it. I think that they would be more human than anything."

Annikki saw that he looked to be concerned that it might be seen as something of a deficiency in him. She didn't really understand the whole concept of what he was talking about, but in any event, she didn't want him to think that she saw him as any less for it.

She chuckled a little, "It is far too soon for us to even have thoughts like this, but for me, if it was to be decided now, it would be enough for me if any that we had were good swimmers."

He understood and laughed a little. "I do not wish to make you think that I want babes in the next month, I only saw what I think would be true."

She pulled him over so that they were on their sides again. "I wish to know more, Ren. But I must say that I do not wish to be away from Louhi either. We are old friends and close we are. She has her man and I want you as mine. I would say yes to anything that you want of me as your woman, but I need her as well like you might need the sea. How can we do this? If there is a way, then I would say yes to anything that you ask of me."

"I do not need the sea," he said, "though if I had my wish, I would like to be a little near it. I need water. There is enough in this place to show you what I think to do."

She knew that he was talking about the warm pool. But he hadn't seen it, she thought. "How could you know of the water here?"

He shrugged, "I feel it. Will you come? Can we go there now?"

Annikki threw the covers off and got out of bed, offering her hand, but saying nothing about the direction or anything more. She wanted to learn a little about this sense that he had. Ren reached for his seal skin and carried it with him. 

Not that it was a hard thing to find, bit he walked them directly there in another moment.

"But this is not sea water," she said and he nodded, "I can sense water and whether it is pure or fouled. I can tell it if is fresh water or water drawn from the sea."

He stepped into the pool and then he knelt and looked up, "Please, Nikki, get in with me and kneel like this."

She joined him and as he took her in his arms, he smiled at her, "This is something that I can do for you. You have said that you wish for us to go as a pair of lovers. I want this too and so all that you must be able to do here is to decide and believe." 

Annikki looked confused and he saw it so he asked her to hug his neck and he spoke into her ear softly, "I meant that you should decide that you really want this and then you need to believe in me. I can do this then very easily for you. It is a little like what Louhi did for my hands, but if you believe in me, you will be able to swim very deep with me in the sea and you should be able to hold your breath for almost as long as I can."

"I wish for this, Ren," Annikki whispered to him, "I liked what you said about flying under the sea. Can we really do that together?"

"Well, not here in this tub," he chuckled, "but yes, and will be able to do it in two ways -- like a seal, or like a selkie in water. I cannot really tell it any better. It is a little like being a human and a seal at the same time. Do you wish to see?"

Annikki nodded and she kissed him for a long moment, "I wish to know of this so much."

"Then believe and hold your breath," he smiled, because he had already done what he could.

He sank into the shallow water and as she watched him, she saw that he was not a seal. She looked over and she saw his sealy skin still there on the edge of the pool. She looked back down at Ren and she saw that from perhaps the hips up, he looked different in his face, with a short snout and long flippers again on the ends of his arms, but from there back, he looked like a flesh-toned seal with front and rear flippers. 

She suddenly realized that he looked like a seal-ish version of a centaur. Annikki was amazed, but then she remembered that he'd instructed her to hold her breath so she inhaled deeply.

She didn't feel any different, but she wanted to be against Ren more than anything, so she eased herself down and slipped under.

She found moving around to be remarkably easy -- far easier than she remembered of the last time that she'd been swimming. She knew why when Ren slid up against her and she felt the changes in her body. She was just like him now, with the same appendages on a similar body. It still felt familiar, so she knew that that part of it hadn't changed, but, ...

Annikki stuck her head out of the water while still lying down. It astounded her. She raised her arm and saw the way that it now ended in a flipper.

Ren's head emerged from the water then and he looked concerned. "Did you need to breathe?"

Annikki realized that she still had her breath and she shook her head, "This is, ... oh Ren!" She hugged him tightly.

"You can change when you wish," he smiled, "Later you can try to be a seal. But you should see how long you can hold your breath first."

----------------------------------

Beathag looked up from the bed at the way that Màiri sat hunkered over a bowl of water by candlelight.

"Are you not cold, Màiri?" she asked, "I see you sit there for so long now and it is cold in here. You left instructions that no fire be lit. You make me cold only to see you."

"Shh, chatterbox," Màiri smiled without looking up. "Scrying is a slow thing, as you know. I need to do this often because the laird has shown us that he is not to be trusted. The same for my instructions; this night I want neither our foes or our supposed friends to find us. We are still useful, so I do not suspect anything foul from him, but I try to seek a way out for us all. We lead good men and women, but he gave us no home and winter comes. I think that he means us to live with no shelter and all die for it."

She fell silent for a time, trying to make something appear a little clearer to her. "Besides," she murmured, "When I am done, I am counting on lying in your arms, so the cold will not last long."

She saw something then -- or rather someone. Watching for a few minutes longer, she sighed with a smile and set the bowl aside carefully before she slid into bed with Beathag -- who hissed a little as she tried to steel herself for it.

Màiri kissed Beathag and thanked her for this. Beathag asked what she'd been staring at so intently near the end and Màiri smiled.

"I have found someone very strong and able. I only do not know if she might wish to help. Now I must seek to find her and then we must all be careful. We are strong, she and I."

Beathag nodded, listening intently, but she heard nothing more.

"And?" she whispered, trying to prod Màiri into elaborating.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 05



"I only meant that the meeting, if it can be done is a little dangerous. One wrong move, one misstep or misinterpretation and there could easily be four dead witches in the room. That one has a friend to watch her back just as I have," Màiri smiled as she pulled herself up and Beathag spread her legs. 

-----------------------------

In less than twelve days, Leif was home and his ailing father was still among the living. Like anything else about trolls, if there was no other outside circumstance, the decision of an old troll that he or she was dying could take a bit of time, but once it was clear, the actual dying seldom took long. But while he yet lived, Leif's father met and expressed his vast pleasure to meet Moppy, who stood by his bed looking very shy and bashful.

A few days later, Moppy was surprised that she had a visitor at the door to the home which had been provided to her and her husband. By that point, Moppy was pleased to see just about anyone. With all of the arguing and long-winded discussions going on, Leif almost never saw her and it bothered her more and more.

Gudrun was a curious sort of person, though Moppy was careful not to stare when they met. She was aware that among the many relations here for the death of their clan chieftain, it was she who was the odd-looking one. All the same, she did find herself catching glimpses of the girl when she thought that she could and get away with it.

Gudrun was a little tall, from Moppy's perspective. There weren't a lot of what might be seen as feminine attributes there to be seen at first glance. She was spare and thin, quite gangly in some ways and Moppy could see no signs of breasts there under the odd-looking vest, and there was little if any sort of curves to her and her long hair was the sort of mess that had Moppy itching to get her comb into, just to straighten it out.

"I am Leif's cousin," she said, as she invited Moppy to go for a bit of a walk, "and I am here to keep you amused and entertained, I suppose. The chieftain is not even dead yet and the arguing and the haranguing begin already. My cousin cares nothing about anything which is being contended but it falls to him to keep order even so."

As they began to walk, Moppy didn't comprehend and she said so.

Gudrun sighed, "There are seven children before Leif. All are from his father's first wife, so all are full trolls. Leif is only half-troll, but he is the lord's favorite. I am also half-troll.

"What happened te the laird's first wife?" Moppy asked.

"From what was said to me," Gudrun began, "she flew into a jealous rage after seeing her husband looking at another female troll and she lost her head."

Moppy was confused, "She died from being jealous?"

Gudrun shook her head, "No, she split the chieftain's head open with her axe because she was angry."

"Ah'm sorry," Moppy said, "But Ah still don't see why -- "

"He took her head off with his axe because he was angry then."

Moppy walked on, her eyes wide then, "Oh."

Gudrun continued, "Anyway, the squabbling has begun because it falls to Leif to distribute the inheritance. The others have been quick to protest that since Leif is not a full troll, he has no authority. But it is our law that the disburser does not need to be a full troll." She sighed again, "It may be some time before Leif can return to you. These things can be long in the settling."

"How well do ye know Leif?" Moppy asked, "Ah see that nobody talks like me here and the longer that we stay, the less Leif does too."

"Leif does not stem from your islands," Gudrun said, "He was born here. But living where he did for a time before he met you caused his speech to change so that he fit in better. It will probably go back to how it was as soon as you and he leave after the funeral." 

"But," Moppy began, "there's been no death yet."

"No," Gudrun said, but she didn't elaborate for a moment. She drew a weary-sounding breath then and said, "There has been no death, but that does nothing to stave off the squabbling and worse, because the chieftain is still alive, he hears all of it and then he feels as though he must join in and then it gets loud and after a good argument and fight, the chieftain then wishes to change how things are to be distributed.

Leif should have just declined this honor stayed at home.

Leif's mother is sister to my mother and we grew up together from when we were trollings. The other trollings were cruel and nasty to us and we were much smaller, so it was easy for us to join together. He was my first lover."

Moppy looked up as they walked and Gudrun shrugged, "No other male wanted me. I have no beauty marks on my face like the real troll girls."

"All I ever see on the girl's faces around here are warts," Moppy said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes," the other replied, "beauty marks. We loved each other, but what we had is forbidden. I went on alone, and Leif left to go to Orkneyjar. There he met his wife and I think that you know that tale's ending. I see that he is very happy with you Moppy, and I am glad for it. If he had no one by now, I would have asked that he take me when he left and I would be his again where no one knew us. "

The reason for Leif's desire that Moppy come along became clear then, though she said nothing to Gudrun.

They spent over a month in each other's company and in that time, the two became friends, though Moppy became insistent over the time that she be allowed to help Gudrun with a few things that she could and ought to be doing to improve herself.

Gudrun was surprised, "But, ... I do everything that a troll boy could want in a girl."

"That's what Ah'm sayin'," Moppy said, "Yer tryin' so hard te catch the eyes of them what don't see ye as somebody that they'd want fer themselves. What Ah'm meanin' is that ye let me help a little wi' yer looks -- just little things, mind, and then ye can leave and ye'll likely have better luck landing a good catch in a man from the outside. It was just the other way around fer me. No boy wanted me where Ah'm from. But a half-troll did and we've been happy ever since."

Gudrun walked on a few steps and Moppy watched the beginnings of her smile. 

"See Gudrun?" she laughed, "That's the way that ye ought te be. Ye need te get clean away from these sour folks and have a little fun. I think ye look lovely with a smile."

The troll girl looked over, "You do?"

"Yes!" Moppy grinned, "Trust me a little and Ah'll help ye turn inte a real beauty."

"For a troll," Gudrun added.

"Nae, for a girl," Moppy said with a nod that brooked no argument.

It took about a week, but gradually, Moppy got Gudrun's hair cleaned thoroughly and she evened up the ends, which still left a lot of length, but for the first time since Gudrun was a child, her hair no longer had moss growing in it. Gudrun was a little doubtful and even skeptical as she sat still while Moppy braided it and tied a few bits of ribbon at the ends of the many braids. Gudrun had the downturned horns, but they were thin and Moppy thought that they suited her, now that she could see them.

The weather stormed a little later, icy rain and even some wet snow. Gudrun took her friend down to a cavern under the ground where they bathed and swam. There were cave fish there, and Moppy expressed a desire to catch a couple for a meal, but she had no gear for it. Gundul shrugged and waded in, catching more than they needed in minutes using her hands.

"Here," Moppy began, "How'd ye do that?"

Gudrun shrugged, "They are cave fish."

"Yeah, and so what then?" Moppy asked.

Gudrun blinked back, "Cave fish are blind."

But Moppy was staring at something then and the troll questioned it.

Moppy waded over, "Ah'm just seein' yer tits for the first time is all," Moppy smiled as she reached over to move some of the fur aside.

Gudrun looked a little embarrassed, "And so? Mine are not lush and soft like yours, Moppy."

Moppy shook her head, "Maybe not, but they're very nice, is what I mean." She ran her hand down Gudrun's front, smoothing down the fur so that the troll's modest swell was visible.

"That's next on my list then," she giggled a little, "Ah'll work on yer fur te get it te behave a little, now that Ah've managed te, er, ... subdue yer mane a peedie bit. There's a figure in there somewhere, Ah'll warrant, Gudrun. Ye just need te have a bit of faith in Moppy.

Fer now, well, ..." She thought for a moment, "Here. Can ye do somethin' like this?"

Gudrun stared as her friend began to change to the rabbit in front of her. "This is something what Leif gave me and Ah know that he can change himself inte a man when he needs te look like one."

She ran her hands over her own breasts and front, "Ah'm thinking that yer hair there hides a bit too much, and it'll likely take me a good time te get that lookin' better like yer hair does now. Can ye do something like this for now?"

Gudrun nodded, "I need to sometimes. There are mean ones in our clan and I have learned to defend myself. Wait."

Moppy's long ears dropped down a little more as her eyes opened wide. Gudrun's means of defense was to turn into a very catlike thing with long claws. 

"Better?" Gudrun asked.

Moppy laughed and nodded, "Ye might be a bit ferocious as I imagine," she said, "but Ah think ye look so nice." She ran her hand over Gudrun's short fur, liking the way that the pert and firm breasts remained.

"But ye ought te change back now that Ah've had a look at ye," she smiled, "Ah'm gettin' some naughty thoughts like this."

Gudrun was very surprised by the remark, though she managed to keep her face a little impassive.

-------------------------------------

That afternoon, the two of them sat eating fish and talking when the door crashed open and Leif burst in, furious and upset, though he did calm down a little to see his cousin there.

"While all of this foolishness had been going on and the long list of relations had te have their say -- at great bloody length, mind -- it's been noticed that there are none of the clan in their normal haunts and after a few polite questions here and there, they know that the chieftain has chosen this time tae die and the other clans are now attacking. It's the perfect time fer it.

When it was told te me, I had te interrupt Old Lady Pizzlewater and she didna want te stop long enough te listen. I said my piece te Da, and he turned almost purple and then he got outta the bed -- right off his deathbed - an he picked up his axe, mutterin' and complainin' all the while that a troll cannae even get the time te be dyin'!

"I've had enough, Moppy. I've nae more time fer this. I've got ye te think about, so we're leavin' right now. Gudrun, I reckon there's little te hold ye here, so ye're welcome to come wi' us, girl. But we canna even pack properly. There's war in the valley and we'll have a time of it just tae get ourselves outta this mess."

--------------------------------------

It didn't take Moppy long to decide that she didn't like the idea of being in the middle of a troll war. Gudrun ran off and returned with her horse while Leif saddled up his old mare. The only sort of mount even close to being suitable to carry trolls, even two as undersized as Leif and Gudrun, are draft animals, and they are not known to be racehorses.

There were a few tight scrapes on the way out of the valley, but the three of them made it and turned for home.

-----------------------------------

"Well," Louhi smiled as she looked up at Cuilén, "What are they doing?"

He smirked, "About what you'd expect for a young pair of lovers," he smiled, "though with them, one never knows what might be seen. The last time, they were lying there looking like seals on the floor. It took a moment to understand what they were doing.

Now, they are those other shapes and Ren has mounted Nikki. Their faces are different even like this, but they look happy."

Louhi almost jumped out of the bed with a grin, "I must see them like that. I cannot imagine it, though you told me of it before. So they lie front to front like the seals then also?"

He shook his head, "He mounts her from behind."

She grabbed his hand, "Take me then, I wish to see this."

As they stood in the dark doorway, it was obvious that over the almost two months and some, the pair were now deeply in love and very happy. 

But outside, as the cold Autumn rain tried to make up its mind about allowing winter to have full reign, there were watchers looking out from the trees across the road at the inn. One of them turned back to a newcomer and spoke quietly in almost a whisper.

"I think that the one we were told to seek is there, a young woman with white hair. There are four people all told. The one you seek, another girl with sort of blonde hair and two men. One looks to be a strip of man, not large and young-looking. He seems to be with the blonde-haired woman. But there is a large man with the white-haired girl and he wears the marks of a Pict -- if you can believe it. I wouldn't want to have to fight him alone or even with another three to help me."

Màiri nodded and whispered back, "Good Gilbert and well done. Watch on then as you can. I will try to set the place for a meeting. When I am ready, I will send enough to help you to talk them into what I want."

She turned and disappeared into the darkness, walking quickly to where others held her horse. She motioned to them silently as she mounted up and they rode off through the night down a little-used forest trail.



Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 06



***I finally get something up for Hallowe'en! I've only been trying to for the past two Hallowe'ens but I always miss.

Not anything really scary, but I'll try to stuff that in for the next chapter. Then again, if you look at the tags, you might get a little nervous all the same.

Readers here might have noticed that I haven't really written much about vampires. They just don't do all that much for me, that's all. Not much of them in this chapter, but, ...

There's a tag about gay male stuff, just so you know that it's there, but I don't wander very far there. I just don't want to read comments that I ought to have warned folks. Nothing much anyway. If you can't read that, I'd say you have a phobia and it's not a main part of this anyway.

I don't even really know why I wrote it this way, but then sometimes my characters just end up however they wanted to be, I guess. 

I wrote this with the thought in mind that the storyline had to carry it, so that overshadows everything else.

So, here we join the rest of Louhi's family. Remember them? Well now they're back in ... 

Well just read it, 'kay?

0_o

-------------------------

Gunnar was concerned as he stood on the windy promontory of stone and looked around. Something was wrong or perhaps more correctly, something wasn't right in the neighborhood.

Deciding to leave Finland months earlier, he and Margit had talked it over and she'd raised the thought to go back to the old stronghold in the Carpathian Mountains where they'd spent a couple of winters so long ago. Gunnar had nodded, liking the notion and their son Koten had indicated that he didn't care where they went, he'd go along.

The three of them didn't really attract anyone's attention as they traveled and before long -- only a few months, they were back in those same mountains once more.

But finding the place that they sought had been a challenge, and no matter how they searched, they found no sign of it and gave up the hunt after a time. Their language issues with the few people that they met only compounded things. One of the rare leads they received turned out to be a misinterpretation of what Gunnar had asked, and the three found themselves standing on an overgrown pathway, looking up at something else entirely.

"Well, we are here," Gunnar said, "and the weather turns colder with each day. We need to be somewhere, so I think to go and ask to learn what I can."

But the thought of standing on a windy and unfamiliar path didn't warm Margit's heart at all, so she said that they might as well all go up together. The path itself wasn't steep but it was long and winding, doubling back onto itself often along its course. It was wide enough for a wagon and a team of horses but not very much more at all.

When they found the small ridge and crested it, they stared at a rather small vale where there looked to have once been some farming, though now it looked unkempt and overgrown. Behind that and built in such a way as to back onto the very face of a high rock pinnacle, there stood a keep which looked dark and foreboding. It took Gunnar only a few moments of thought and sensing to learn that there were no inhabitants anymore. 

As they approached, they looked at the remains of the planted crops and even saw what was left of an overgrown and now quite-wild vineyard. Gunnar stopped and looked around for a moment.

"This is not too far-gone yet," he nodded, "I think that it has only been a few years like this. See the shape of the valley. It shelters the crops from the winds. No doubt, the land here gets its fair share of snow in the winter, but, ... "

Koten pointed with a bit of a smile, "Look. There is a small lake, or maybe it is a large pond."

Whatever it was, they guessed that there must be a depression in the bedrock and the runoff from the melting snow had caused the water to accumulate. Large or small, lake or pond, it was good water, so there must have been a natural equilibrium which kept it free from turning into a stagnant mess and its shoreline came close to the outer wall of the keep. 

There was a small sluice which ran out from under the wall down a tortured path to join the lake and another like it which seemed to come from farther off along the wall. Gunnar stepped over and bent on one knee for a moment.

"There has been no waste along here for a time," he said, "and there must be a well inside for this to flow outward."

But how to get inside?

The gates were shut and appeared to be bolted from the within. No surprise there, he thought.

Gunnar felt a little of things as they stood before the silent walls.

"Monks," he said finally, "An order of monks of some sort lived here." 

With the thought now in mind, he looked around and saw a few details in the stonework; symbology which was subtle and yet now made perfect sense. He stepped over to a spot on one of the main doors and lifted the square of leather there.

Under that were notices, mostly in Latin, detailing the upcoming observances of several feast days relating to the time of year. The most recent, dated some four years prior mentioned the abandonment of the cloister due to pestilence.

"The plague," he said in a low voice, "This place has been visited by death. From what I read here, the last seven surviving left four years ago."

He stood looking up for a moment and then he strode back a little in order to see more of the structures.

"Something does not ring true here," he said, "See the walls, topped with slots from which to defend with bows." He looked further then, "Many portals and the majority are places from which an archer might shoot in defense and not risk much of himself while doing it.

And look there, ... and there, ... and there, turrets.

What sort of holy order walls itself in and builds as though it is ready to defend against, ... what?

Everything here is made to defend against something or someone and their army. What sort of monks were these?

You can see that whoever dwelt here, not all were here to fight. Many of the windows are glazed, crudely it must be said, but even so, some effort must have been made to hold in a little heat -- or to keep the cold out, more likely."

Koten stood with his father and looked, but at that moment, his attention was drawn to one window in particular, one that was rather high up in a different building. He forced his gaze to drift along the wall up there as though he'd seen nothing.

"Father, up in that wall there, ...

Do not make as though to look directly, but there is someone there. I think it is a woman. She looks to have light hair, but she does not look old to me. I am certain that if you look straight there, she will pull away and be gone."

Gunnar swept the wall with his gaze and kept going right past the window in question.

He looked down then, as though inspecting his boots for a moment.

"Another thing wrong," he muttered, "I sense none living inside here, not one," he looked up and the figure moved out of sight.

"Though, ..." his head tilted as he considered, "there is at least one living horse inside of the walls. It cannot be so."

They walked along the outside of the wall and saw that there was no moat or emplacements of sharpened stakes set to break a cavalry charge. Eventually, they found a window hole over ten feet from the ground and leading into what Gunnar surmised might have been a guardhouse not far from the gate.

He looked around for a moment. "Well, standing here will buy us nothing but the cold of the night in a few hours. Aside from your apparition in the wall window, there is no one here living to stop us. We may as well call to visit."

It came as no surprise, but there were no answers to their calls and Koten stood on the back of his horse as Gunnar held it still. He watched his son climb up and disappear inside through the window.

Almost ten minutes later, Gunnar and Margit heard the bolts being removed from behind the gates and they swung outward on their dry hinges, moaning a little.

"There are cases," Koten remarked quietly as his parents led their horses and wagon inside, "All told," he said, "I count nine of these boxes here in the courtyard.

Gunnar looked them over, "I think that these are sarcophagi, though what they are doing here inside the wall of a fortified cloister is beyond me just now."

He waved his hand toward the walls and the defenses in general, "This is something very strange. Wherever men live, if they can, they erect defensive structures to provide them, their families and their followers or their vassals some protection.

Holy men might do this if they felt that they had something within the walls which required protecting. But look well. The art of building these things - over such a size as this, ... this costs much gold to have erected, and more, this is not an old thing. This cannot be built by mere laborers. To have made this, someone needed money to attract the skilled men who can build such things. Whoever they were, these were not only a group of fearful monks."

They spent the next hour just looking around in and through the structures, but they found little, and what they did find were more mysteries for Gunnar to think about. He'd seen the structures of a holy order to be sure, but more than that, he'd seen several halls of weaponry. His trip up the ladder to the top of one of the turrets showed him that whoever had dwelt here had been more than prepared to defend it. There were four turrets, and atop every one, there stood a trebuchet to hurl stones or other objects great distances.

And they saw no sign of a horse.

He took his team of horses and over the next two hours, they began to drag the sealed coffins outside of the gates.

"What are you doing?" Margit asked after she'd watched it for long enough.

"I sense something, ... unwholesome about the whole affair - the leaving of these things inside and under the awnings. I think to live here now -- since we have found nothing better and winter comes. Night comes even sooner and I want these gone. The dead are not to be kept with the living."

"But, ... "Margit began, "we do not even know the rites to be said when one buries someone, and I do not think that you will find enough free dirt out here to dig graves deep enough."

Gunnar nodded, "That is why I will send them off in our way. A pyre wastes no land."

It was a lot of sweat, but with the sun nearing the horizon, they had all of the things outside and in a group. There was enough half-rotted straw around to use for a pyre if one added only a little wood, and they had a quantity of oil to use in order to get the flames started.

One by one, Gunnar lifted the stone lids with a long bar and poured in a little of the oil.

"Will you not look inside beforehand?" Margit asked and Gunnar shook his head as he lit the first one.

"They are only dead, Margit, and I do not know them. I think they ought to thank me for doing what someone else has left undone."

The flames licked their way inside of the first sarcophagus and then the screams began. What arose out of the coffin was a tortured-looking apparition, flailing in agony and still showing some of the signs of the plague. 

Gunnar stood holding out his hands as he intoned an ancient rite in Suomi. 

The apparition rose on a column of flame and passed out of sight.

Knowing a little better what the others held, Gunnar and Koten levered the rest further open while there was still sunlight and dispatched the rest all together. It took only minutes and when the echoes of the shrieking cries faded, the vale fell silent once more.

"Birds," the witcher said after a time, "Now that I think on it, I have not heard the cry or the croak of one single bird since we came over the rise."

The others stopped and turned, listening for a moment.

"There," Koten pointed, "I hear the evening calls of a bird or two now, out near the rise."

Gunnar nodded, "I do not know why, but it was as though something caused them to fear to come here. Now I hear them, as you say. Come, It was not my want to mark the time of our arrival this way, but let us find places to eat and pass the night. The horses need to be seen to first."

They walked in through the gates and barred them.

-----------------------------------

They were busy there over the next month. During that time, they saw few people, only a traveler or two along the road through the valley down below the rise. 

There wasn't much required of the place other than to find out the extent of it all and then dust and sweep out what was found. They found no more corpses or the remains of any other of the inhabitants. Margit and Gunnar decided on what part of it was the best to live in and then they just set up there.

But it was far too late by then to plant anything and though they had plenty of wood to heat the relatively small area that they'd chosen as winter quarters, they were still alive and living people require food. So before the first of the bitter winter storms raged through the mountains and sealed them in, Gunnar and his wife took the wagon and the pair of horses and left.

There was a town not far off down the road and they soon had plenty of provisions, though Gunnar planned to make a second trip the next day. He wanted some proper feed for the horses as well.

But this time, the pair came to the attention of a few of the locals and though it was in two separate conversations, Gunnar had stumbled upon people who could speak Latin.

"You live where?" one man asked in a good deal of surprise, "That place has been abandoned for years now. The plague came and they proved themselves to us at last by barring their gates and shutting us all out. 

They left us, their poor unwashed neighbors, to fend for ourselves as best we could. If you are there now, then you are welcome to it, to my mind. 

Here, there is not much land in that little vale but what there is can grow many things and well. If you last through until the spring, I think that some of us will be buying things from you, my friend. 

He looked off for a moment as a memory came to him, "The wine that used to come from there, ... as sweet as the dew from a maiden's ... well, you know what I mean to say, uh?" 

He laughed a little, "I am glad to have met you and I wish you the best up there."

"What can you tell me of the ones who lived there before?" Gunnar asked.

The man's brow wrinkled for a moment as he thought. "Not all that much, I am afraid. The place up there was built during my great-grandfather's time. He used to make a bit of money hauling things down from there - rubble mostly, that was cleared away to make room for the keep.

He told my grandfather once that they were knights who came to make their fortress there in order to guard a thing of some kind. We've all heard the tale or parts of it. They brought something there which had to be kept there, something powerful and magical. The knights were to keep it safe by force of arms and they came with holymen who were to keep it hidden in some old religious way."

He chuckled a little, "But I am not one who would know much of that sort of thing. I live in the here and the now and I have little use for legends -- other than perhaps to listen to on a cold and stormy winter's night with a good hot cup of spirits. 

I do not imagine that whatever it was is still there. The knights either died out or left, and then there were only the holymen and other than to sell us a little wine now and again, we never saw them. They kept themselves aloof and separate from us. Once or twice, they tried to get us all to attend their masses on a Sunday, but we have our own priests and it's a long way to go to get up there, so they weren't very successful.

They say the place is haunted," he nodded, "Have you seen anything, ghosts or what have you?"

Gunnar said nothing about the sarcophagi or their contents, and the things were lying broken for the most part in a heap off to one side at the edge of some woods. 

Well he grew tired of looking at them after a week or so. 

To the man, he only shook his head. He didn't mention the woman in the window either. None of them had seen her again.

-----------------------------------

At that instant, Koten was knocking the branches from a tree that he'd felled a few minutes earlier. He walked along the length of the trunk with his axe, removing what he wanted off and setting that aside. They wasted nothing, but he wanted to separate the good logs -- once he'd sawn them to length -- from the branches, so those had to come off first to be set aside.

He heard the quiet snort of a horse and looked up after a moment.

There was a young woman with light ash-colored hair sitting on a horse, watching him from not more than thirty feet away.

She sat comfortably in the saddle and she wore a mixture of clothing; some cloth, some leather, and some looked to have been stitched together from various animal hides to look at the fur. What Koten took to be her jacket or short coat was made of white rabbit fur.

Her lower left sleeve bore a piece of leather which looked to be tied on in a way against the inside of her forearm and he took it to mean that it was her arm guard against the bowstring.

He gathered that because at the moment, she was holding an almost fully drawn bow on him.

He looked at her face and he saw the absence of a lot of different emotions there. She didn't appear to be angry or frightened or any of a number of things.

She did look fairly interested in him, though. It looked to him as though she was sizing him up in some way.

He set the head of his axe down against the trunk of the tree and he leaned on the end of the handle a little casually as he looked back at her.

"So this is what you look like," the woman said in her natural tongue, "And what am I to do with one like you?"

He didn't understand any of it, but the odd sound of her voice and the even and unperturbed gaze there in her amber eyes took Koten a little by surprise. As well, it had rained for a time that morning and everything was still slick and damp from the cold rain, the tree trunk and the metal of the axe head included.

As he tried not to stare openly, his axe slipped from the trunk and it caused him to almost lose his balance. Koten didn't fall, though it was a near thing, saved only by a few wild and slightly frantic gyrations as he tried to keep his nose from being the first point of his unceremonious landing.

The young woman laughed a little in spite of herself as she smiled, "Well, there is the question of natural grace solved, I think. 

It seems that you have little of it."

"I do not understand you," he said in Suomi.

"What are you trying to say?" she replied, "I cannot get it."

He tried his poor and recently-acquired Romanian, and she could barely make out words and not his meaning as she grew a little frustrated.

"Speak plainly if you can, fool," she said in Latin," I have little time for this."

He looked down for a moment and then back up at her, "I think that I look more the fool than I wish to appear."

She smiled at that, nodding that they'd found a language that they both knew, "It is my hope that there is more balance to you than I have seen. Now, has anyone entrusted you with a name so that you might say it when you are not falling down?"

"I am Koten Fornjot," he said evenly as he regained his composure, "Who are you, and why have you stayed hidden for so long?"

She didn't offer a name and only shrugged, "I come and go -- and allow myself to be seen -- when it is my wish. Why have you stayed at the fortress? There is only disease and evil in that place."

Koten decided that he'd done quite enough damage to his dignity thus far into the meeting and he'd noticed that she gave no name and seemed to have a bit of a self-righteous air to her, so he shrugged and began to go back to lopping off branches.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 06



"What disease there was has passed," he said as he worked, "and I stay where I will. For this winter, that is here - where there is a woman who hides and offers no name after demanding mine and speaks as though she owns the place."

An arrow thudded into the tree trunk right next to his boot.

"I do own it, as you say," she said in a low voice as she nocked another arrow, "I have waited long for the deed; waited while the men either died or left, fearful for their souls, or were taken by others.

Now, I find that I am beset by interlopers who clamber inside and presume to set up their home. You have no right to it."

Koten didn't look up and he kept at the pruning for a moment, "A strange home you have then, if you keep dead spirits close to the courtyard, and anyway, you made no reply when we called out. If I had not seen you in the window that day, we would still know nothing of you -- as opposed to almost nothing -- since you will not even give a name."

He smiled to himself then, "Or perhaps it is that you have not been entrusted with one, knowing that you would never need it, since you are too proud to give it as is the custom almost anywhere."

He looked up then, steeling himself just in time so as not to give anything of himself away as he looked at her amber eyes -- and the point of her next arrow; aimed, it appeared, to land between his eyes. 

He made a half-hearted motion as if to shoo away a fly with his hand before he lowered it, his lips moving silently for an instant afterward.

She saw that he was unafraid and it seemed to change something in her after a moment. She lowered her bow a little, easing much of the tension out of the bowstring.

"I have a name," she said quietly, "though you could never say it, I think. I can see that you know different tongues, so I think that you might have traveled. Where are you from? I mean to ask, where were you born?"

"I am Suomalaiset, and I come from a land far from here. From the north, I come. We are here because we seek a place to winter in and maybe to live."

He produced a rag from his pocket and draped it over a clear section of the trunk with a little care -- all while knowingly under her nocked bow. Then he sat down on it and looked at her.

"Why is it that you ask things of me as though you expect me to answer when you yourself answer almost nothing of what I ask in return?"

"The other man," she began, "I saw how he killed the spirits while you and the woman stood looking ready to aid him if it was needed. What was that? How was it done?"

He shook his head, "And still you have questions and offer nothing. This is very one-sided."

She drew back her bow again, but found that she couldn't draw it much and when she tried to aim it at him, she found that she had difficulty in holding the sight picture steadily.

"And it is rude -- where I am from at the least - to hold a bow on a man who has done nothing to cause the need of it."

She lowered her bow and stared, knowing at last that she'd been charmed in a small way, "What are you?"

"A traveler who tires of this game," he said, "Who were the spirits? Why did you keep them there?"

She sighed, "That was as far away as we could force them. They came to battle us every night. In truth, you and the others have done us a kindness,"

She looked down for a second, "and I should not be so rude."

A silence fell between them after that and when nothing more came from her, Koten glared at her and threw his axe down. 

"Who -- were -- the -- spirits? 

If you make no answer now, then I will not speak again. There is better company to be had with this felled tree."

"Wampyrshi," she whispered. 

"They were wampyrshi. More than twenty there were, nine by the time that you came and eight came from the soldiers of this place. The ninth was their lord, not from here, and he created them out of dying men. They were the strongest."

She looked around in the dull light of the cold and wet midday for a moment, "There are more, and doubtless they will come again in but a little time."

There was a low and quiet bark from the forest, a good ways off by the sound of it and as Koten turned his head to listen, the young woman answered in kind.

The sound of it snapped Koten's head around in wonder before he heard light footfalls in the woods behind him. He stood up and stepped back to stand beside the woman's horse as he drew his sword.

"Do not look to me for protection, "she said quietly, "The one who comes is an ally. If you must hold your sword that way, then have a care with it, so that your actions are not wrongly seen."

Knowing the score now, Koten stepped away from the woman, still holding his sword at the ready, though at least a trifle looser now. He watched a dark shape come cautiously nearer in the dim light of the trees.

What he saw in another moment almost caused him to drop his blade.

A creature came to the edge of the woods and seemed to hang there, right at the eaves of the forest. What he saw looked like a blending of shapes to him and after a moment, he was certain that he was looking at something that he'd heard of but never seen -- a wolf with a human sort of shape to it.

More than that, the shape was most definitely female. The feminine swells were well represented, including even a pair of breasts, though the whole wore a covering of fur. Mostly it was very dark, almost black, and yet there were some lighter gray tufts in it and these stood out in great detail to Koten's eyes, as though he saw the thing with an almost unnatural clarity down to even a single strand of her fur.

He was sure that his mouth fell open as the two began to converse in the odd speech that the woman had used originally with him.

"Who is he?" the dark one asked.

"One of the newcomers," the blonde replied, "He asks many things and I do not know what to say in answer. It was as we saw. They have a way to kill the wampyrshi, but he will say little, since I answer almost nothing."

The creature nodded once and then stepped out of the forest, walking closer with caution and sniffing a little.

"You may have skill that I do not know of, Koten Fornjot," the woman sitting on horseback beside him said in a low voice, "but if you possess a mind, you will not move that blade very much at all. It would do you little good regardless. She seeks to know you better, and that means to know of you by more than only seeing. Stand very still."

The being moved in an odd yet very graceful way around him as he stood still, snuffling at his clothing and looking up at him one moment and then standing near him on two legs and looking him in the eye the next. She started with the beginnings of a snarl as he slowly moved his sword and sheathed it in his scabbard.

"A wise one -- or a fool," she said in her growling speech, "but if they can do as we thought that we saw that day, then we need to look on his kind a little differently."

She looked at the woman for a moment, "Alone, our troubles only continue. Maybe it is time that we learned to share trusts with these others. Answer what he would know."

The woman stared for a moment and then she nodded, turning to Koten.

"We have names. As I have said, they are likely not anything that you could say, so we have others which were given to us. I am Jenna and this is Petra. We were born there," she said, pointing back at the keep, "in that foul place. From the moment when we drew our first breaths, we were prisoners."

The wolf-thing stood on her long legs and made a motion to the woman on horseback and was handed an old woolen cape which she wrapped around herself as she turned away. When she turned back a moment later, Koten was looking at another young woman, strikingly similar in her features to the blonde one and yet with black hair. There was also the matter of their eyes; both women having irises which reflected only a pale amber light to Koten's gaze. Their visages were strikingly beautiful to him.

"What of your name?" she asked in Latin now, "I thought that I heard my sister call you Koten. Did I hear it rightly? And what is a Suomalaiset?"

Finally, he thought, I may learn a little here. 

"Koten is my name," he said, "The other is the name for my people. How is it, ..." he looked up at Jenna for a moment and then at Petra once again, `How can it be that I speak with a wolf-girl one moment and then a human woman the next?

And you are sisters, you say?" He looked up at Jenna, who only smiled at him, waiting to see what he would do.

He saw then that they were both waiting for the same thing -- his reaction to them and what he would do afterward.

But their eyebrows rose a little and Petra's mouth opened a bit in surprise when Koten began to laugh quietly.

"Why do you laugh?" Jenna asked.

"I have been here almost thirty days," he smiled, "in that time; I have seen only dust and the cold emptiness of the coming winter in that place." 

He looked off at the rest of the vale, "I come here whenever I can, happy to be out in the fresh air and working at something which makes some sense to me. Today, I meet the apparition from the window and she says little to me over anything that I ask.

Now I see that she is no ghost and that there is another. I may grow to like this place yet."

"Have you no fear of us?" Jenna asked, "Most people whom we meet feel at the least, great apprehension, though they do not know whence it comes in them. We do not either," she shrugged, "we only know that no one comes here much."

"Do you live alone, you two?"

Petra shook her head, "No, there are others of us. Perhaps you do not share this fear of us because you cannot tell, but you have seen me do something which women cannot do." She smiled a little uncertainly for a moment, hoping for some reason that she wasn't completely certain of that he wouldn't now develop the fear at last.

"We are not women, Koten. The truth is that we are not the same as you are. We can take the guise of a woman, that is all. How you saw me when I came from the forest is the way that we are."

Koten looked from Petra to her sister and Petra nodded, "I did say that we are sisters. Jenna has this also. We have met one this day who we wish to know a little better, since you seem to have no fear of us."

She looked away, her gaze sweeping the vale to end with her looking at the small ridge which was the only way to get where they were without needing to scale sheer rock faces, "The people here -- that is, down below in the long valley where the road passes through, all of them have things which they fear, and with good reason as far as some of it goes."

She paused for a moment and then looked at Koten again, "This is an old land, known well by few, and it carries its troubles as it always has. 

There are creatures here who come mostly at night, and they cause terror by feeding on the blood of those they can catch. Mostly, they feed until they are sated or the victim passes into death within their grasp. Sometimes, they inflict a different bite by drawing a good deal of the blood away and then replacing it with some of their own to create others like themselves.

They are known by different names. To the west and north, they are called 'wampirs or 'vampyres' and to the east and north, 'upirs'. 

It does not matter what name is used, they are a scourge here."

She looked down, "We are another terrifying legend spoken of to children so that they remain in their beds at night. We can and have harmed people now and then, but mostly it was over chasing us and trying to harm us." 

She looked up, "Try to imagine that you are hunting so that you and yours can live and men set their packs of hunting dogs on you to run you to ground, and the very first thing that they think of is how to kill you. How would you answer it?

Myself, I kill the men and the dogs are food which I do not have to hunt."

He stared at her for a moment, thinking that if what hunted him was not the same as he was, then killing would go a lot more easily if one was hounded. "Do you eat the men once you have killed them?"

She shook her head, "Never. None of us eat humans."

There was a pause then until she spoke her next thought, "They taste badly."

It might not have been their intent, but the sisters found themselves smiling at Koten for the way that it had caused him to laugh.

Petra sighed heavily, "We seek the same thing as all others -- to live free, and not, ... the way that we were imprisoned here by men."

"What happened here?" Koten asked and they looked at him in a bit of wonder for a moment.

"What have I said, if it was something wrong?" he asked, seeing their expressions.

"No -- nothing," Jenna smiled, "You have said nothing wrong. You surprise us with your open want to know of everything, and of us, that is all."

Koten's shoulders slumped a little, "I want to know because, ... well, among other things, we seem to have become unwelcome neighbors to you. It has grown too late in the year to find another place to begin, so I think that we will have to find ways to get along and accommodate you -- if it may be done. Also --"

Petra shook her head, "I have not said that you are unwelcome."

Jenna cleared her throat a little uncomfortably, "I might have hinted, Petra, before I knew much of him at all. I wish to take some of my coldness back, Koten. We are always careful because we have to be so. What were you going to say?"

"I wish to know what happened here. You have both spoken of being prisoners there," he pointed. "We have found little which speaks of any men there, so it must have been cleared out."

They nodded, "It was done to remove the reminders, "Petra said.

"I have read of tales from Northmen -- and I think that you must be some kind like that. They told of a people called Wulfings who were a tribe and ruled the Geats, I think as it was written. They were fearsome warriors because they were said to be able to turn themselves into wolves in battle.

I think that the legends were wrong. I do not think they came from this Geatland at all, but from elsewhere, and I think that it was further wrong that they were men at all. We are not men -- or women.

To the south and east, lies the land where we stem from. We call ourselves Kurtadams, as we have always been called. We find our gods in the land and the animals, being such ourselves. We might be called a people, since we are not dumb beasts, but we are certainly not humans, yet with a little thought and care, we can hide among them easily.

But men, no matter which sort, always have the same thoughts in their minds. What is different from them must be killed. I do not know anymore, but at one time, we had a leader. I think that your kind calls such ones kings. He made a pact with some men to allow them onto our land there so that there would be no more bloodshed. I have no way to know, but I think that if it was done, then there likely are no more of us there. I have learned that there are no greater liars and cheats than men.

The pact was that some few of his family were to be taken away to begin elsewhere.

What was done was something quite different.

There was a force of veteran soldiers and their families who had grown tired of the wars of men and wanted to find their place. They agreed to protect the Kurtadams who were to travel with them. But to men, it is a little clear that we can be difficult to control by our ways and so a group of holymen -- at least that is what they called themselves -- were to go along to begin the workings of their faith in a new place."

She looked around herself and Koten watched the way that her long black hair blew across her face as she peered around for a long moment.

"This was the place which was chosen. They came with much gold and between the soldiers and the craftsmen who were hired, that thing there was built over some years. The monks, as they called themselves further, practiced rites which I learned were banned by their church. What they practiced was a magic to control us and keep us docile."

She spat on the ground, "If it worked, it was out of the endless repetition of the droning chants which were intoned. I can still hear them in my mind without much thought or the want of hearing it. My elders went to ask why they were imprisoned and the men waved books and smoking burners at them, commanding them to return to their cages. What really kept my kind in chains were the soldiers.

But time wears everything away, and the soldiers grew old. Some took their families and left. Most passed from age and infirmity. Many of my kind were killed off, but not all. 

They could not reach all of us. We can climb well and it takes many men to kill even one of us because we do not fight as men fight. We fight like men and we fight like beasts and they learned at last -- those who were left -- that it was better to leave us to ourselves.

The last soldiers died at our hands and then we told the holymen to be still. We told them where they would be allowed to live in there and that they were to leave us alone or join the soldiers. 

Jenna and I were born there in chains. We have always hungered to be free and there are more than only us two. We trouble no one if we are left alone, but even the weak monks sought for ways to keep us against our will. We planned to kill them all one night.

But the sickness of men came before we could take things into our hands. We watched as forty-three men died in three days and the rest left us alone, thinking that we would die as well. But we are not men, Koten.

At last, a few years ago, the fortress belonged to us, the prisoners."

She looked at him and straightened a bit, "We keep to our old ways at least a little. There are three rulers here, though there are not many of us. Jenna and I rule along with our younger brother, Natan. We were born of the same whelping. Natan was born later, the only living whelp that time.

Altogether, there are a little less than ninety Kurtadam left. Perhaps we are all who are left in the world now."

She looked at him and smiled, "You are truly a different sort of man. If you wish to learn more of us, then why not come with us to our side of the fortress and we will share some of what we have with this new neighbor who seems so unafraid. You will see more of us then, but I can speak for your safety among us -- at least this once, unless you suddenly feel yourself threatened."

--------------------------------

The other conversation that Margit and Gunnar had that day was with a man and his wife who told of the things which ruled the night there and elsewhere.

"They find and take at least one or two people every month," the woman said, looking around as though she expected the things that she spoke of to burst out of the very ground at her feet to seize them and take them away at that moment.

"Sometimes it's said that they just walk into a good man or woman's home looking like ordinary people, and sometimes they come from above on wings and carry a person off. If the poor soul is a little lucky, then we find the body and bury it. It's the ones that we don't find that cause us even more worry."

Margit asked what was meant and the man said, "They make some few into others like themselves and we sometimes see them again, relatives or friends which we knew once. Only now, they are not who we knew anymore.

It has happened that a woman might hold a quiet want for a man, but she is married to another. It happens here as I am sure that it happens elsewhere just the same. But if she is one of the ones who are taken and turned, she might come back one night to take the man that she wanted for herself by turning him -- and who wants that?"

"Then there are the wolves," the woman said, plainly fearful to even speak of it, "We hear them some nights up on the high peaks. It's said that they sometimes do not content themselves to only steal a ewe or a lamb to eat. Sometimes, they tear the door from a home and kill everyone inside for nothing. They are crazy like that sometimes."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 06



Gunnar heard something in that and he asked when the last time was that both sorts of these crimes had occurred. What he heard related to him pointed at the ones which were called the undead, to be sure, but when he pressed, wanting to learn of the prevalence or the extent of the threats to his family, both of the people could not tell of a particular time that the 'wolves' had slaughtered anyone and Gunnar took it as a bit of hysteria or the need to tell a tale.

"I will come again tomorrow," he said, thanking them for the information, "I need more than dried grass to feed these horses and the only hay that we have found there which is not rotten is what stands unharvested in the fields."

"What did you take from what was said?" Margit asked her husband as they rode back.

Gunnar shrugged, "Something in there, but mostly nothing. There seem to be wolves here -- as there are anywhere, I guess -- but I do not know how much of a threat they might be. The others -- these undead -- I think that we have seen at least a little of them, or what was left of them. I cannot say, so I will fear when I must."

Margit smiled, "That will be a day that I have not seen yet, the one where you fear anything, Gunnar."

-----------------------------

When they topped the ridge, they saw smoke curling upward from one of the chimneys and as they walked inside the part of the keep that they'd taken to live in, they were greeted by their son, who had the fire roaring and was trying to dampen it back, since it burned well by then. The air was warm and very comforting inside and he rushed to help unload the wagon.

Margit looked around at the table for a moment, "How did you make this meal here? Where did the pots come from? How did you come by the food?"

Koten smiled, "I will tell all once I help get the things brought inside from the wagon."

---------------------------

They stared at him. "So there were more than just the one girl in the window that day?" Margit asked.

Koten nodded, "A little strange, but there are eighty-seven others living in the large building that we have never gotten to yet. Today, I found that we should not go there -- at least not until you have met our landlords properly."

"What landlords?" Gunnar asked and the couple sat spellbound as they ate a meal such as they hadn't had in all of the time that they'd journeyed, not since before they'd left Finland.

"So these ones," he began, "they are a people of some sort? A tribe? What?"

Koten shrugged, "I cannot say, other than yes and no, Father. They are in many ways like men and women, and yet they are not as well. They do not call themselves people in the sense that we might, because they are not human. They are more like wolves who can walk and they speak their own tongue. 

He raised his finger, "Though they can look as humans would, if they have the wish to."

He told them of his meeting earlier in the day. "The ones that I met at first looked to be very lovely women, though at first, I saw one of them, Petra, as more of a wolf and even thus, she was good to look at. They were brought here to be kept as prisoners. Their king was told that they would be protected by the soldiers who came along with the monks, but it was really not like that. They were kept here as prisoners. The ones that I met outside today were born here.

We talked for a time and they asked me to come with them to the part of this place where they live. You were right on that first day. They keep horses.

I was treated well and though a lot of them looked at me with a bit of distrust, they came around soon enough. I saw most of what there must be of them. All sorts I saw, old and very young and everyone in between. I played with a few of their little ones in much the same way as you might play with a puppy, though they are less trusting and bright enough to see through any game that you might play with them. The pair that I spoke to at first, the light-haired one especially, gave me little but their own questions of me in Latin, but, ... 

Well, those two, along with their brother, whom I did not meet today, they are the leaders. Most of them could not speak with me, since only a few can speak Latin.

But they said that they wished to have us as neighbors, since to keep themselves apart has bought them little. So we are welcome to live here," he said with a smile.

"They saw it when you removed the wraiths in the coffins. Those ones have been a problem for them and they wish to speak to you to learn what they can of it."

Gunnar and Margit looked at each other as they ate and finally Margit spoke. "Well, this food of theirs is most welcome to my gut, since it has been so long since we have had quite this much to eat. I would want to meet them, if for nothing more than to make my thanks."

She fell silent for a moment and then she said, "Did they say who they were or where they are from?"

Koten nodded, "Only that they come from the south and east. They said that they call themselves -- "

Margit sat forward, "Kurtadams? Do they call themselves Kurtadams?"

Her son smiled, "Yes! Why Mother? Do you know of them?"

Margit clapped her hands together with a delighted laugh, "Know of them? 

Koten, you have found my neighbors! 

Whenever we went to their lands, I knew that I would always find a playmate there when I was a girl. My father traveled very often and I usually had to go along. Other Kipchak or Cumen children were always about who I was and what I was doing there -- as if it had been my notion to go and visit them in their cold little yurts. Me; the daughter of a khan!

Most often, it fell to me to apologize for putting them in their place. There my father would be, talking matters of importance while I had to listen to their headman's children speak as though the tribes were under their command. They would stand there respectfully for a moment until they saw that no one wished to be bothered by them and then they would begin with their tearful mewling over how the nasty girl from far away had blackened their poor little eyes for them and twisted their thin little arms so cruelly.

They would fall silent after my father bellowed at me not to waste my time by wrestling in the dirt.

'Where is the knife that I gave to you and why have you not used it?' he would yell, and I wanted to kiss him for it every time."

She looked over and saw Gunnar's smile.

"Well it got to be a little much after a time, so I would show them that they were wrong, that was all. You cannot be a khan's daughter and act meek for very long -- though I suppose that I would have had more suitors later on if I had been."

By then, Gunnar was straining not to laugh out loud and holding his tears of restrained mirth back as he pictured it. Margit didn't appear to notice.

"But the Kurtadam children were the best friends that a girl like me could ever have," Margit smiled, "No fights, no arguments, only fun and adventures by the barrelful. If I was not high up in a tree when he called for me to get ready to leave, it was only because I had already fallen out of it and more than likely twice by that time." 

She sighed a little, "Until this moment, I'd forgotten how much I missed that. Back then, there weren't many of them, maybe only a few hundred to control all of their lands. I wonder how many are left now. 

They were truthful to tell you that they are not human," she said, "I think that in some ways they are better than human. With a Kurtadam, you always know what you have. They do not lie or cheat, and to have one at your side is to have a powerful friend." 

There was a knock at one of the doors in the chamber -- one which until then, had never crossed the minds of the family of travelers. Koten stepped over to open it and he saw Petra and Jenna, standing as young women.

He asked them to come in and introduced them to his parents. Both of them wore rather tight-fitting breeches and high boots. Jenna wore a simple jerkin over top which was cinched in a little at the waist and Petra was in a white shirt. Gunnar was a little confused.

"Why have you come to meet us when you look to be dressed more for a fight or a journey, as lovely as you are like that?"

The pair blushed furiously and Petra looked down at herself with a frown, "Please forgive us, but we do not have much clothing that is not for being outside in."

Margit tsked at her husband, "Oh, think a moment, Gunnar. Kurtadams do not have the need for clothing since they have fur. It is only a thing thought of at times like this and even so, you cannot expect even the princesses to own gowns for a ball." 

She stood up and went over to re-assure them, "I met Koten's father for the first time without a scrap of clothing on me at all. It is nothing."

She thought for a moment as she smiled and then she began to speak to them in her own dialect, which was not far off their own speech, aside from the growls, and the young women smiled to hear it. Margit introduced herself and she made a pair of friends on the spot.

"You -- you are Kipchak? Mother told us of a khan's daughter who she met a few times when she was little," Petra gasped and seeing Margit's nod, she beamed, "Then you are as a khan to us, only because you come from people who love horses. We have such trouble here with ours."

"You have no troubles any longer," Margit laughed, "I will help you in anything about horses."

Jenna turned toward the door, "Margit, your friend lives still. Shall I go to bring our mother here?"

-----------------------------

It was a long and pleasant evening for them all. Gunnar and his wife decided that they had surely been introduced to every single Kurtadam at least twice over, but they enjoyed it all, even though most of them couldn't understand what was said just as Gunnar and Margit were forced to nod and smile just as often. Margit and Tirga, the mother of the pair of girls were over the moon to have met once again after so long.

The topic of Gunnar's trip back to the town for horse feed came up and he was assured that he didn't need to go on that account. "We know how to plant little here," Jenna said, "it is something that we hope to learn from you, but one thing that we plant well here and more than enough is food for horses, from oats to hay. Why not just go for more of your own food? The kinds that you like. We seek to learn as much as we can if you do not mind it. Meat, you do not need to buy. Do you like ale? Why not buy a barrel of that? We do not know how to make it, though we make a wine out of berries that we turn to brandy. 

And you will not go alone, Gunnar. I will send four with you to help and to guard."

As the hours passed and the fire began to burn low, the talk came around to what they'd seen Gunnar do to be rid of the things which had lived in the caskets and tormented the Kurtadam people so much.

"Why did they beset you?" Gunnar asked, "Or were they set there to watch?"

Petra nodded, "I think that there was some of that. But also, they tried now and gain to catch one of us."

She shrugged, "It did them little good. It took a long while, but slowly we were killing them off. They tried sometimes to drink our blood, but they are very stupid. They do not seem to understand that it cannot work for them for the same reason that we are still here and none of us fell ill to the sickness. 

We are not human. To try to drink our blood is to poison oneself. Likewise, we cannot be turned into whatever they are. None of that works.

How was it that you could kill something which does not live? Does this come to every, ... Suomalaiset person?"

Gunnar explained quietly that he was a witcher and then he had to elaborate on what that was. "Margit knows a little of what I could teach to her, but one has to have some ability from birth. Koten can do more, much more. She is not here, but we have a daughter far away that we miss very much. She is the most like me and has great ability."

"Where is this daughter?" Petra asked and Gunnar replied that she had spoken of going to Iceland. "We do not know just where she is at the moment, but we all miss Louhi so," Gunnar said a little sadly. "Wherever she is, she makes her own mark. That is a surety."

"I wish that she was here as well now," Jenna said, "It would be good to see if we could make yet another friend. This day has been a glad one for us and henceforth, you are all three lords to us, to be respected by one and all."

------------------------------

The next morning, Gunnar had four mostly silent Kurtadam males with him as he went. Two of them wore clothing and looked like men and the others roamed the pathways ahead as large wolves who never seemed to grow tired at all.

At first, it was a little disquieting to the witcher, until he motioned to them to speak to each other, and by the time that they'd arrived at the village, he had the beginnings of having the sound of it make some sense to him. Only one of them could speak Latin and Gunnar would give that one a verb, for example, and armed with the translation, he'd want the Latin speaker to conjugate that verb fully as he followed along, trying to get the many throat inflections to sound correctly from his throat.

They didn't stay very long and then they were off on their way back.

"Did you mark the man standing with the young girl who waved to us as we passed by, lord?" the one who could speak Latin asked, and Gunnar nodded.

"Wampyrshi," the male said in a disgusted tone after spitting over the side onto the road.

"The people there do not know it when one of them is there. They do not feel it. By tonight, that girl will be dead -- or worse."

"Why was he there today?" Gunnar asked, "It is daytime. I thought that they could not stand it."

The male grunted with a curt nod, "They cannot -- usually. But the day is so dark and rainy. Why? Do you wish for us to stop? Nothing would make me happier than to kill that one."

Gunnar thought about it and then he nodded.

The male barked once in a low tone and one of the ones running was beside the wagon in an instant.

"You are sure about him and the girl's fate?" he asked, "I can sense them, but it takes a little time."

The other one nodded, so Gunnar did as well.

With a whistle, while tossing a sharpened stake to the runner, it had begun. Gunnar pulled the reins to stop the horses and he turned back to watch.

The smiling bloodsucker's grin vanished as he saw a man striding toward him. He turned to be gone, but there was a werewolf standing there. The vampire screamed and stumbled backward, grasping at the oak stake in his chest.

The next second, the vampire's twitching corpse flared brightly and as the flare died away, there was an old man's twisted body lying there with a stake through the chest into the ground.

The young woman decided that it was long past the time for her to scream, so she got on with it. The villagers stared at the remnants and then looked around for the ones who had done it, but they saw nothing.

The wagon out there on the road rumbled on, the single occupant in it appearing to have been oblivious to what had just happened.

"Why do you hate them so much?" Gunnar asked the one next to him. "I only dislike them, though I think I could learn your way if I had a reason to."

"It is a little difficult to explain, lord," the male said, "You will need to see how you feel about it when one of their high ones comes to tell you that the only way that you will live unmolested by them is to become one of them and swear your fealty to him. Other than that, I think that I hate them because they are nothing and should hold no place among the living.

And yet, some of them do, and they make the lives of the living around them only worse, day by day."

Gunnar nodded his understanding and went back to having verbs conjugated.

--------------------------------

Over the next weeks, Gunnar and Koten had all the help that they could possibly use as they turned a cold and empty keep into someplace where they could ride the winter out with a measure of comfort. 

The winter hit with a vengeance and nobody cared very much.

On one of those days when the sky tries to decide what it wishes to do; snowing furiously at times all while often blinding anyone outside at others with bright sunshine glaring right through the flurries, Koten walked outside of the wall of the keep. The air was crisp and cold, but it wasn't as though he couldn't turn back to go inside for warmth at any time.

He was feeling rather thankful overall. His family had a place now and rather than needing to decide if where they were would provide shelter and warmth, they were already near the point where they'd need to decide if it was where they wanted to stay. His parents seemed to think that it might be.

He looked ahead and saw them, and he had to stop for a moment. Koten often wondered how it had happened that the three of them had gone from barely speaking on that first day to where they were now. 

He stood slightly shrouded in heavy flurries looking at Jenna and Petra as they stood talking to each other while they waited for him. They spent a lot of time together these days, building on the strange and oddly hopeful friendship which had begun between them all. At first, they'd spent more of the time in human form, out of consideration for him, but he'd questioned it one day.

"Never mind," he'd said to the pair a little seriously that day, "I quite obviously enjoy seeing you both this way, but I know that it's not natural at all for you. You shouldn't do this for me. Just be yourselves," he said as he placed his hands on their shoulders.

He smiled as he looked from one to the other, "I am developing an appreciation for the, .... wilder look to you both."

Koten had only thought to put them at their ease, but in fact, he'd scored heavy points with the pair that day.

He was astounded at how they'd just seized him at the same time to hug him. Their very first kisses to him were a flurry of happy ones.

"Oh thank you, Koten," Jenna had sighed before she went back to it.

"We do not own many clothes," Petra smiled with her cheek against his for a moment, "You cannot imagine the bother of trying to find something which might be put together to look as though it has not been seen before. Are you certain that it is alright? That you do not mind?"

"I do not think that he minds it at all, now that he thinks on it," Jenna laughed as she pulled back to take her sister's hand for a moment and guide it to the swell in Koten's breeches.

Petra had been astounded. "You -- you like us that way, like we are at all other times? We thought that we could only, ... "she glanced down in a rare moment of both introspection and shyness for her and then she looked up into his eyes then and the courage that she'd summoned for it was clear to him.

"You are a very strange man to us, Koten. We have never met anyone such as you. I had only thought that with a little luck, we might have your friendship. I think that it was out of the scarcity of others our own age, but also, we all seem to enjoy anything that we do together."

Jenna nodded earnestly, "It is so. No matter what it is that we three do in a day, I am always a little sad at the end, Petra too."

She blushed a little and felt a bit foolish for it, as she considered where she'd boldly put her hand a moment before. "Look at me and how my face flushes. I can spend hours with you both and it is nothing but the closeness of friendship and fun and a little friendly teasing of you with a touch.

Now, ..." she looked up at the sky for a moment, "So you say that you find us attractive when we are the way that we were born?"

Koten knew that something had changed in that instant for them. He had only a clue what it might be, but for a boy who had grown up in the shadow of his older sister, it had taken him a long time to come into his own. Now he knew without a doubt that he stood on the edge of something else and in order to play this fine game, one had to have come into their own enough to know themselves with confidence.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 06



He was looking at two wonderful girls who already owned his friendship and admiration. 

They didn't know it, but the pair of them were now just reaching out to knock on the door to his heart.

"I have had only glimpses of you like that, really," he said, "The day that we met and I saw Petra and that time when you were changing and Petra dragged me into your chamber. You changed before me in less time than it took for my heart to beat only one time and I saw you as you were born."

They watched, smiling along a little uncertainly as they saw him tilt his head back and laugh for a moment with his eyes just closed for that instant. 

Then he opened them and smiled a little uncertainly himself. "You did the only thing that you could do. But a human girl could not have done that and she'd have had to take up a gown or a sheet or something to cover her nakedness with. It must be very confusing for someone who was made to live without clothing."

He stepped in between them and turned, placing his arms over their shoulders. "I must confess something as my answer to what you asked of me, Jenna."

He looked from one to the other quickly, "Look you, we are friends, yes? Fast friends, the three of us?"

Petra chuckled, "Fast and thick we are, as our own parents have remarked to us more than once. My mother laughs at us all the time and my father wonders how it is that we three can ever get through any doors when we are together. Go on."

"I will say a thing to you in answer which some might feel affront or something only to hear. I just wish it plain that I say it to my friends and could not ever to anyone else.

You are girls of a rare sort, both fine and beautiful."

He saw them begin to look a little oddly at him and he held them fast so that they couldn't turn away, "No,no, I have come this far and now I will finish it.

I do not know what it is to be a girl and have the feelings of one. I only know myself. For a young man, there is always a want which drives everything done while in the company of the fair sex. Only good manners prevent the stupidity which lies underneath it all from emerging.

Most nights, alone in my bed at the end of a day, it is a pleasant thing to think back on things such as those brief moments when I have seen the pair of you in the way that you were meant to be. I adore the way that you appear as human women, and yet, I also feel an ache to see you again in the fur, so to speak. I think that it might be a little unusual for a man to have thoughts such as that, but I enjoy those moments when I think back."

The pair of them were a little stunned for a moment and then they leaned forward a little so that they could see each other around Koten.

"He feels an ache," Petra said.

Jenna nodded, "I guess that boys might feel an ache sometimes."

The pair of them collapsed in gales of laughter.

"What have I said?" he asked, "Something wrong once again?"

Jenna stood bent over a little as she tried to stop her laughter and hold her aching sides. Petra reached around to hold him for a moment so that she could look straight into his eyes.

"Sweet fool," she chuckled, "Girls feel aches too. 

Since we are making our heartfelt admissions to each other, I can say that our aches cause us to almost rub some parts of us off when we are all alone in our beds at the end of a day spent with our human friend."

Her face took on a more serious look then, "Koten, we live for those moments, both Jenna and I. We spend much of our time when we are alone together and certain that no one can overhear us speaking of how it is strange that we feel what we do for one who is not our kind. We both feel it and we do not know how it can be, since we have never felt it before.

To us, men hold as much mystery as we must hold to you. But to us, we have as much want to learn of their mystery as one might have to learn of the ways of snails. And yet, it is not like that with you."

Jenna snorted quietly, "Not at all."

She straightened up and the three stood facing each other. Jenna said, "The one day that we had duties and discussions with our parents as we sat in council was a dark one for us both.

I sat there miserable the whole time because we could not be with the boy that we find feelings for so much now. It confounds us.

We have lived happily and needing nothing but our family and each other until now, and now, ...

Well, I always feel as though I am wanting whenever you are not there. Nothing seems right to me then."

Petra groaned, "Oh, do not even speak of it. The one good thing -- the only good thing to me over that whole long day was that we all reached our decision that the three humans were to be allowed anything among us, accepted as a kind of Kurtadam and honored. I knew that it was important to us all and we gave it all of the consideration which was called for.

But what came to my mind unbidden? 

I kept seeing our friend in my mind whenever I closed my eyes. I mentioned it to our mother and she laughed at me, saying that I ought to just give quiet thanks that there is one who can stir me in that way.

She even mocked me a little gently, saying that if Iron-willed Petra did not know what it was that made her like this, then she was the biggest fool on legs.

It was the day after you all came to the hall and spoke of your lives and your doings."

Koten nodded, "I remember that day as well. A day spent as I have often spent days and yet, I felt unhappy with the want of you both near to me as we always seem to be now."

"Believe me, Koten," Petra said, "My sister and I both felt the ache that day."

"And that night," Jenna added, "So what are we to do with our knowledge? I know that I wish for."

"I as well," Petra admitted, "But I think that our boy here is confused."

He nodded, "It is something which has puzzled me for a time. Among my people, two who feel something for each other become a pair, and after the admission of it to each other, all others are excluded. But there are three of us and though I have searched my heart over many evenings, I cannot say that I feel more for one than I do for the other."

He chuckled a little, "To one of my kind, it seems a trifle greedy, to make a joke out of it."

Their little smiles didn't waver. The pair only nodded one after the other.

"A good thing then that you stand close to the hearts of two who are not of your kind," Petra grinned a little.

Jenna nodded, "Our way takes it into reckoning.

Look Koten, there are not many of us here -- less than ninety. Even so, it is a gain. We were told that we came here with only thirty-three. A gain of almost threefold over less than forty years."

Petra nodded, "We fuck like rabbits."

After the laughter of her statement had passed, Petra grew a little serious. "We have always been this way, but once we came here, our parents decreed, along with the council that we must make an effort or we will die out, and we do not know if there are any left at all where we came from."

She reached for his face and ran her fingers through a bit of his hair behind his ear. "Try to think of the ways of the wolves. They make a pack based on their families. We are the same, and in our family packs, there are natural leaders, a pair, male and female who lead jointly.

But in wolves, only those ones mate. It works for them because they often whelp five or six and more at once.

We do not. We make only one to four each whelping, and four is already high. Even three at once is a little rare. Also, there are losses which cannot be helped. 

From the little that I know of humans, your young are almost defenceless in the wild until they are nearing their own time as adults, from say twelve years on.

Our young are only helpless for at most, the first three or four years. After that, we cannot shelter them from everything. They move too quickly by then anyway.

So, to make a way around the losses which will always happen sometimes, we have changed our packs -- our families.

If you chose Jenna as your mate, I would have to accept that. But if you chose me instead and she chooses no other for herself, then you have us both for mates. In all decisions, you and I are the leaders together. Jenna knows this because it is our way." 

Koten looked from one to the other and he saw Jenna nod to him. "It is so," she said, "The children in a pack already order themselves by their births. Petra was first between us. We have always loved each other as Kurtadam whelps always do, but I follow her. I know it as my place.

We are not speaking of just going off to begin at this moment -- unless I am wrong," she chuckled, "but what I seek to tell you is that you do not need to try to decide between the sisters. If we begin it, you already have me as Petra and I have always had each other. Kurtadam children know what is needed of them their whole lives long.

If there was a girl who loved one of two brothers, then she would need to take into account that she would need to breed with them both. It works both ways so that our kind does not die out."

She turned her head slightly and she kissed Petra's cheek before she averted her eyes downward as she forced her courage up. 

"But if it is made my choice, I find that it is what I want with you both. All that is needed is that you begin it with my sister."

She stretched a little then and she kissed Koten on the lips very softly for a moment, "So that you know how I feel about things."

Before he could make an answer or even formulate one for that matter, Petra did the same, "As it is now, I want to begin with you, Koten. There are other matters in it, but for now, for right now, this is what I want.

Now you know how both of the sisters feel about things.

As Jenna said, it is taken into reckoning. It is not unusual among the Kurtadam, and it happens often."

There was a silence then in which even the soft sound of the snowflakes landing on them were audible as quiet whispers. Petra said, "Two Kurtadam princesses have just bared their hearts to you. You should make your answer before we begin to feel any more foolish than we already do."

Koten gave up trying to decide at that moment. He only sought to kiss them and he said, "I want that," he exhaled quietly, "I want that so very much. Thank you." 

They stood together in the flying snow exchanging kisses between them as the wind blew their hair around their heads.

Then they walked away with Koten between them, none saying a word, all of them thinking silent thoughts.

Up in the tower of the building within the walls of the keep, A human woman gasped as she followed the direction which the Kurtadam female was pointing in.

"You see?" she said to her childhood friend, "It begins even now."

Margit nodded as she stood spellbound in wonder, "I never thought that it would begin that way, but I find that it makes me happy."

The other one chuckled, "Not so quickly, old friend. Not so easily either. But it begins and we have seen it as it happened. Now we need to have hope for both of our kinds."

---------------------------------

Koten's thoughts came back to the present as he looked at the females that he loved now. He knew what would happen just as soon as they noticed that he was standing there. He even ached a little to see it right then when their light eyes opened a little wider and their smiles to him began. They were always so happy to see him coming to them.

His mind went back to that first night in Petra's bedchamber, the three of them sitting there on the edge of the bed side by side with him in the middle. He'd been kissing Jenna that time while she stroked him and both of his hands had been busy deep between their thighs while Petra had rubbed and squeezed her own nipples with her eyes closed tightly as she neared her release.

He remembered the next day as they'd been out walking in the snow-covered forest together. None of them had spoken for a time and he was in a bit of a strange place within himself.

He was walking with a pair of beautiful female wolves who strode on their long and lovely legs. He'd realized then that he was lost between them, already needing the way that it felt to him when either one was in his arms. The times when they had him on his back as they both lay on him were becoming his favorite ones. He didn't think that anyone could deserve something like that.

A young doe had sped by them, desperate to open the gap between her and her pursuer. Right afterwards a gray blur had flashed past and Jenna pointed, "Natan hunts."

The doe tried a last-ditch attempt at a feinting dodge, but the one right behind her already knew the mind of his prey and he cut that corner neatly to close the last of the space between them. They tumbled over a few times and it was done.

Koten came trotting up with the sisters and saw a wolf who sort of sat with his jaws clamped tightly over the throat and windpipe of the doe and was only waiting for her final struggles to weaken and end. The wolf looked up and in that moment, Koten saw the amber eyes widen.

"This is Natan," Petra said, smiling, "Natan, this is Koten, the one we told of to you.

Koten, please meet our handsome brother, Natan."

He hadn't known what to do then. Was he just supposed to walk up and shake his pawed hand or what? It didn't seem to be the right thing to do under the circumstances.

"Oh," the young male nodded a little, "hewwo. I neeb a mimmit heew."

The doe passed then and Natan released the throat to look up, quite obviously feeling foolish. He held up his hands in a helpless gesture.

"No, no," Koten smiled, "don't bother to change for me out here. I don't think that it matters all that much." He leaned down and took the pawed hand to shake it. "I think this is a sort of a bad time for something like this. I'm happy to meet you."

The wolf stood up then, brushing a bit of the snow from himself. "And I to meet you," he said, "I understand that congratulations are to be said here. I heard about it last evening as a rumor and my sisters told me this morning."

There was an odd-feeling and very heavy pause as the two males looked at each other. Koten admitted to himself instantly that he'd never seen a male wolf who could make him feel any...thing, or anything such as he was feeling, knowing what he knew and that Natan had to know what this sort of meeting portended for them.

What he would have wanted out of this was the more usual slightly awkward moment where a man meets the younger brother of the girl whom he is in love with. That sort of moment would pass quickly enough and everyone could just move on.

Instead, his females, as they now told him that they were very happily, had filled him in on what he could now expect in Kurtadam terms; that being that with his permission, Natan would from time to time mate with either one and that he -- that is Koten - would gain a male lover from the arrangement as well.

It blew his mind.

And it was considered normal among them. That was the thing.

To form a mating pack such as was being offered to him, there was a young male who quite obviously came as a part of the conjugal arrangement.

And Koten needed only one good look to tell that this young male was a little smitten with him on the face of it.

Koten had never done something like that.

Well he'd never had the thought of it.

The girls got the two of them away from their moment by asking their brother to tell of the hunt and how it had gone. Natan had looked deliriously thankful for the chance and then he was explaining to them all. It was clear that young Natan was every bit as nervous about this as Koten.

"How do you hunt, when you do, uh, Koten?"

The question snagged Koten's consciousness and hauled him back to the moment as he looked at Natan's slightly worried face there in front of him.

"Mmm? Oh, just in the normal uh, human way, I would guess. I'm afraid that I do not have the fine nose that you all have to find and pick up a scent -- other than during the rut when it's all over the woods. I must track more with my eyes, I guess, and then I use a bow."

The answer seemed to hang there and Koten didn't like it, knowing that it would sound like more of a trite dismissal to leave it there. 

He shook his head a little, "Actually, that's not quite correct, and I'm sorry. My answer was more of a thing to say to another human who does not know of my kind.

In truth, Natan, I do hunt that way, but I also feel for the prey. I stand still and search with my mind a little. It can be hard to do sometimes, but I get the feel eventually. Then I stalk the same as any human might, but there are a few tricks that I might use."

He looked off for a moment and pointed, "See that heavy pine tree there. A doe stands behind it now. Make no sound and I will seek to show you better."

He raised his hand slowly and extended his fingers. After a long moment where nothing happened, a doe stepped out into the clearing and began to walk very slowly and uncomfortably toward Koten.

The three wolves stared and looked from the doe to Koten and back as it went on.

Finally, the doe stood before Koten, blinking in slight confusion.

"Deer have minds like the steam over a bowl of hot soup," he said quietly and in a very even and monotonous way. "The slightest puff can dispel it, but if it is added to, they become lost in it themselves.

Now, does anyone need the meat? Or can I release her? I will not be able to call this one to me again this way for about a week."

None of them spoke and so Koten turned his hand and the doe turned about quite obligingly after a few moments of it. She stood there, looking back at him, clearly waiting for something from him. He lowered his hand very slowly until the tip of his finger touched the flank of the doe.

She exploded away then, running and bounding for all that she was worth until she was out of their sight.

Natan's hands fell at his sides, "Aww, and I have been doing it all wrong. Look at that. Could you teach me that? Never mind answering, could you take me with you when you hunt? I want to see something like that again."

They all laughed and the awkwardness was gone. A few minutes more of conversation and Natan squatted down about to try to get his doe over his shoulders to take back to the keep and Koten could tell that though the deer weighed less than a hundred pounds, it would all be dead and rather flexible weight to have to shoulder and carry off.

Natan was a bit of a slender sort and still rather young.

"I'll carry her for you," Koten said, "I wouldn't mind if you do not object." 

For all of the strangeness of this, he was still trying to grasp it in terms that came more easily to him; that of a man meeting the younger brother of the woman --women that he was in love with.

And the expressions on their faces told him how they felt about his gesture.

As they walked off, just the two males, Natan looked very uncomfortable.

"Have my sisters told you of how we make our families?" he asked and Koten nodded.

"Then you know the way that this is to go. How do you feel about it?"

Well there it is, Koten thought, now what?

"Very confused," Koten said, "and I am not sure that I see the need of it all, to say the truth of it. I find myself in the position -- which requires more good fortune than I have ever seemed to have, by the way - of having the hearts of those two amazing ones back there.

I just do not understand about us, what is required of us and why. Please do not misunderstand. I find that I like you a great deal in such little time. It seems to be something that all three of you have over me. You are intelligent and attractive, but, ..."

Natan looked over with a sly little grin, "But you said that I am attractive just now."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 06



"Well yes, but -- "

"Never mind, Koten. It is enough for now. Since you speak your mind, I will do the same. I groaned out loud when it was told to me."

Koten laughed a little then, "See? That is something that I can understand."

Natan nodded, "Oh probably, but I do not think that you might know why."

He drew a breath for a moment, "All of the Kurtadam, we all have it in us to love one of the same kind. We only tend to like one sort more than the other. I like males a little better than I like females.

For all of my life, from the moment when my eyes opened, I have had my sisters for me. They taught me to walk, Koten, and so much more. Whenever I fell in anything, they were there, helping me up and wiping my princely little nose for me before they pushed me back into whatever it had been.

Kurtadam children love each other always and our families are made as they are to ensure that we reproduce. If they want me, I can love with them and I am happy to make them happy -- by your leave, of course, once we four begin it in earnest. 

I have been with another for a time, but I am not happy. Forgive me, but I was even less happy to learn that the male for us was a human. I do not know much about your kind -- though I admit that meeting you and seeing the ease with which you picked up that doe are changing my view.

But always, a pack must be about living on. The world seems to me to be full of humans and we are in danger of fading away, so I am now in the pack of my family and soon, unless you find a way to ruin it, I will follow you. Do I need to explain that?"

Seeing Koten's nod, Natan began.

"Remember that it is all about making whelps at some point. While it is true that a single male can breed many females, there is a more ideal way, and that is what we are about to get into. Two males, two females. For the sake of my kind, there will hopefully be many whelps out of it.

But Kurtadam males, and I do not know about your kind, can be possessive by nature, just as the females can be.

And make no mistake, they can be.

So we come to the idea of the leaders. If this works, then Petra and you will lead. Jenna and I will follow.

But the role of the leaders must be determined. Jenna will be forced to submit to Petra sometimes, though I believe that she has already been doing that for most of her life, loving Petra as she does.

I must be forced to submit to you, Koten, and it does no good for me to tell you here and now that I accept you in that role. I will have to be shown, or I will not ever be able to be happy in our pack. It is just built into us that way. Do you think that you can understand this?"

Koten nodded as they walked on, "I just do not have to like it, correct?"

Natan shook his head with a sigh.

"Think for a minute. This is the way of the Kurtadam. We are no relatives, but this is also the way of dogs. Dominance is proven and they go on. Imagine that I am the type who does not like to be shown that, every now and again, as the price that I might mate with one of your girls -- and that does NOT happen with dogs."

They walked further for a minute in silence.

"It just happens that I am one who really likes that,"Natan said, "and it is my quiet hope that you might come to like it as well."

Koten was still thinking it over as they walked into the keep and then he noticed a few things.

Everyone knew him now and he was liked. He'd seen it before as it grew, but now it was very plain to his eyes.

His relationship had become public knowledge and many seemed pleased to hear the news, many coming forward to express their best wishes as though they'd all suddenly become betrothed, and in that number, there were more than a few who said that soon, he'd as much as be living the dream of many Kurtadam males, to know and have the love of two princesses AND the prince.

As he stood there thinking it over and wondering just why it was that he found himself liking the whole notion in an odd and sudden way, he overheard Natan pushing the events of his own hunt aside to tell of the way that the young lord had charmed a fat doe out of the undergrowth to walk right up to him, almost asking to be killed.

It wasn't so much the words that he heard which caught his ear; it was the tone and the way that Natan spoke of him which hit him in an odd way.

"It sounds as though you have charmed not only a deer to your hand," a quiet voice said in his ear.

When he turned, he saw that Tirga stood there, smiling up at him, "You seemed to have charmed all of my difficult and high-spirited children to your hand as well. A mother likes this," she said in the general way that the Kurtadam spoke.

"I do not know," he replied, "and I cannot tell if it is something that I would want. Mother Tirga, try to see it from my side, I have never -- "

She nodded, "But you know why it is this way, I think. I was once the second mate of a king. My male here was the second, just as Natan will be yours one day. Look around you to see what might be done by such a family pack."

---------------------------------

As often as they could, they did anything that they could think of for their Kurtadam neighbors, while Margit worked with the ones who were to look after the horses so that every horse was fit and feeling good to be alive. Then she worked offering tips and little lessons to any who asked her for it.

Koten spent a lot of his evenings away in the company of Petra and Jenna.

----------------------------

"You seem to be enjoying your life here these days," Margit joked a little to her son over breakfast one morning as the wind howled outside.

Koten nodded with a small grin as he thankfully accepted another fried egg from his mother.

"Well it makes a mother's heart a little glad to see it, that's all," she smiled, "Although, ... "

The two men in her life looked over at her a little expectantly as she paused.

"What do you know of their family life?" she asked Koten, "Have your two lady friends spoken of it to you in much of any way?"

The crust of bread that he'd just swallowed felt a little dry to him suddenly as it scraped down his throat far too slowly. He shook his head, not knowing how it might be received by his parents or whether they were aware of the true extent of it all.

"Well, I can tell you that it is a little different from our own way," she said a little airily as she slid another egg onto Gunnar's platter, "There is nothing wrong with it to my mind once you think about it, but it is different all the same."

She sat down again to attack her own second egg then, "They make the unit of their families a little bit like the wolves, you know, but it is even different from the way that THAT goes.

It's about survival," she said, "and a lot depends on the number of children born to a family in any generation. If there is only one, just as an example, well then that one can either begin by mating with another single child from another family or, as most often happens, that child can go to the family of another one who wants them for a mate but has siblings.

Of course, when I say a child, I mean a young adult. I only say a child from the point of view of the parents.

If there is more than one child in a family, then one of them, the eldest - and gender plays no part here -- becomes the leader among them. Now, if that eldest one is a girl and she weds, then her mate comes into the family and unless there are objections from the others, as might happen if they had chosen mates of their own, they become mates to him as well.

It can happen in just the same way from the opposite side as well, of course, and then, ..."

Margit went on, but by then, Koten wasn't listening.

He was thinking about Petra and Jenna.

Something which had bothered him a little these past weeks was the way that they both loved to spend time in his company and though it had taken some getting used to on his part, they both loved any sort of intimate play with him. Something like that was far out from his own experiences with girls because of one detail. 

He'd never known any girl alive who would have stood aside for a little fooling around on her boyfriend's part with another girl -- and in her presence? 

While she was there?

He understood that they were sisters and he could see that the two of them were close in all matters, ...

And yet it was nothing for Petra to tend to the fire while Jenna was all over him only inches away, and it worked both ways, he realized, with the blonde washing her hair while Petra had her hand jammed into Koten's breeches, happily fishing around with a silly little grin on her face ...

He knew why the Kurtadam were the way that they were and he also knew that they were all preparing for it in their unspoken way as their quiet moments together seemed to escalate in a slow and almost painfully delicious sort of way.

He was only having trouble with one thing in it all.

"Anyway," Margit said as she finished her thoughts, "I was just a girl then, but I remember a Kurtadam girl pointing a young male out to me as he walked past with his arm around her older sister.

She smiled and told me that they would be marrying in the spring and that just as soon as she was of age, she would live with them as his second wife. At the time, I was shocked but long after that, I realized that it was likely a good thing for them as a people.

If my friend got along with her older sister well, and that was the way that it usually was, then things were already settled for her. She didn't need to find a male for herself. She was all of twelve at the time, but she already knew the male that she'd marry when she was old enough and she thought the world of him. I thought it was sweet."

"You know that a lot of things can change in six years," Gunnar said.

Margit nodded, "Yes of course, but from what I learned, it usually didn't for the Kurtadam and three of them as a family stood a far better chance of having their young live long enough to begin on their own.

It does make for a busier life for the male, I must say."

Koten didn't even realize that he was grinning before his mother saw it.

"I should point out," she said to him a little dryly, "that Kurtadam males as a group make excellent husbands. There is no job in the home -- other than breastfeeding a little one - that they are exempted from, just as it can fall to one of the wives to defend another with her life if they are attacked and the male is far away for some reason.

They become a three-sided power -- or however many there are in the family.

So,..." she smiled at her son, "Have your two girlfriends made any mention of it to you, ... yet?"

Koten shook his head as he fibbed. "No, uh, ... no they haven't."

"Oh. I'm sure they will, my love," she grinned, "They probably just need a little time, that's all. You are a human, after all, though they have a way to make you one of them, you know. You ought to ask about that when you get a - "

"Yes, yes," he nodded as she stood up, "I'll even ask them about it if it comes to mind. I had no idea that they had such a rich home life. I've um, I've got to go. I just remembered that I wanted to ... clear the snow away from the front gates. I almost fell on my backside out there yesterday."

He was off like a shot, wanting nothing more than to hear nothing more about the whole thing. 

Margit looked a little sad for a moment, "I forgot to mention the way that their families are so very affectionate with each other."

Gunnar almost couldn't catch his breath from laughing so hard.

"You don't blame me for trying, do you, Gunnar?"

He stopped laughing then and saw that Margit was serious.

He put his arm around her then and he smiled, "I have nothing to blame you for at all, Margit. But what was that about?"

She rolled her eyes, "Just the half-hopes and wishes of a pair of mothers, Gunnar. I have been so happy this last while to have my old friend Tirga again. We only knew each other over a few days and afternoons of playing as young girls and that was so long ago now. I see it as a gift that I got to know her again here."

She smiled at him for a moment and then she sighed, "Tirga has such lovely daughters and it's plain to both of us that they care for Koten just as we can see that it goes in the other way as well. I did not mean to put him off so much."

Gunnar chuckled, "Put him off? I don't think that you have done anything of the kind.

And anyway, even if you did, it won't be long before the thought of it passes. I've seen them together and they're as thick as thieves, the three of them. If you gave him pause over anything, I doubt that it was that."

She looked over at him, wondering what she was missing. Gunnar saw it and he shrugged. "Koten is young, but he is not a young fool. Well, not any more than most. I think you might have missed what bothers him, and it is not those girls."

"It's not?" Margit asked, "Well then what is it?"

Gunnar took a deep breath and let it out. "There are two things -- no, three.

In the first place, those girls are the leaders of a people, such as they are and as few as they are. It is a responsibility. If what you females wish for comes to pass, then Koten will have to lead them as well, not in a commanding sort of way, but in any sort of fight, he will have to take a part in it -- on behalf of a people who adopt him in a way and they will have expectations.

Secondly, and as you said to him, they possess a way to turn a human into one of them in a very real way. If he accepts that, he will be changed. You cannot fault a young man over his taking the time to stop cold and ask himself what he is doing. As cold as it might seem, he must think about whether what he is getting into is worth it. That is a heavy decision to make."

Margit nodded, "I know, but he will still be our son. What was the third thing?"

Gunnar looked down at his platter for a moment, wondering just how in the world to say it.

"There is a younger brother," he said at last.

"And?" Margit asked, "What of it? I have met him. He is only eighteen and he is very handsome and polite and --"

She stopped there, the thought frozen on her lips.

Gunnar nodded with a heavy sigh.

"I have met him as well and you are right. But I did more than just nod when he was introduced to me, Margit. I watched him. I was behind watching as he stood there, almost on his toes to get a glimpse of Koten."

He turned to look at his wife. "I heard him sigh. It was something that he was not aware that he was doing until about half the way through and then he stopped and looked around himself a little shamefacedly. He looked back at me, but of course, I was looking elsewhere by then.

How does THAT go in their way of doing things differently?"

Margit sat back in her chair, plainly laying this all out in front of her on the table to consider.

"I think, ... " she looked at Gunnar, "I think that if he is of age now, then since that day, the three have probably shared a bed a few times. Petra would be the leader among the three, and I can see how much she is that leader. They have probably fooled around a little, being careful, since he can -- "

Gunnar shook his head gently, "That is not what I meant. I have already assumed that what you have said has likely happened. I do not think that it is considered wrong among the Kurtadam. Think some more. 

He would get two unofficial wives from it, that is plain. What is also plain to me is that, as you said, Petra is the natural leader among those three. It is not a large step for me after seeing the girls together that they are like one girl a lot of the time, of one mind as well. That is not the last thing.

The boy gets two unofficial wives. Each girl gets two husbands, one her proper mate and the other one a not so well hidden shadow lover. That is all between them and Koten. It is not my concern."

He threw up his hands a little, "In truth, none of it is my concern or my business, though I have a strong wish that they all be happy -- especially our son.

But you are forgetting one thing, one aspect which lies unaccounted for.

If what I saw in that boy is correct, then our son gets three wives in a manner of speaking."

Margit sat in silent shock for a moment. It wasn't that she was an idiot and hadn't thought of it. It was just the slightly thin and hopeful-looking little male elephant in the room, that was all.

She nodded to herself and then she laid her hands back on the table to push down.

"I want them all to be happy," she said as she got up to collect the dishes.

-------------------------

Koten was in the courtyard looking at the neatly piled mountain of long logs which waited to be sawn shorter and then split.

He didn't feel much like sawing today.

Instead, he wanted to break something. So he stepped over to THAT mountain of neatly piled logs and began. Where he was there, he was sheltered from the wind and only had to contend with the cold, and in fact, it wasn't so much cold today as it was damp.

It took him only minutes before he was sweating, so he took off his shirt and went back to it.

"Look at him, Natan," Petra purred into her brother's ear, "See the way that he moves. Jenna and I can tell you that it is so good to hold onto him in the dark."

She moved her head out so that it came into Natan's field of view from the side, "We began it you know. Last night. He had us both again and again."

Natan turned his head to look at Jenna who hobbled up to where they stood by another window. "Don't ask me right now how it was. I can barely walk today."

She reconsidered and then the grinned anyway, "Fine, fine, it was wondrous with him, every stroke that he made into me and every stroke out as well. I would do that with him again any time. It's just that, ... ohh, I only hope that I do not have to ride a horse today or I will fall in two."

She walked up and kissed her brother's cheek, "What is wrong?"

Natan sighed listlessly, "I know that our ways are strange to him. I just do not think that he likes me much.

"Give it a little time," Jenna said, "As you said, it is strange to -- "

"And give me a little time," Petra said with a grin, "so that I can change his mind for him."

She kissed Natan as well and then she said, "I am certain that I cannot do for him in the same way that you can, the things between men, but I will teach him of that little place on me and then I will tell him that you can do it better there for him."

Natan hadn't taken his eyes from Koten the entire time, but then he saw someone else walk into the courtyard. "Shh, shh, Look! It is Brontahn," Natan hissed, "I broke it off with him two days ago. He said that he would kill me. What is he doing?"

Petra groaned, "It looks to me as though Brontahn is about to be stupid -- or more than stupid if he thinks that he can -- "

The large wolf down there in the courtyard picked up a log and began to advance on Koten, shouting out his growling curses all the way. The three ran for the stairs.

When they got outside, they found the wolf on his back, out cold with a sawn and split log next to his head. Koten appeared to be furious, standing where he had been when they'd seen it from the upper window. 

He took up his axe and walked nearer as the wolf stirred groggily.

Koten's ability to speak their language left a lot to be desired, but the intent was clear enough as he shouted, "Do you enjoy the sounds of the birds there in your head? 

Want to hear more? 

What if I change the song and use this on your skull instead? Would you like that? Get up!"

He kicked at the other male's leg, "GET UP!"

Koten's free hand flashed out and his fingers hooked and curled under the large wolf's jawbone. He began to lift steadily and slowly.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 07



***This was written during a time when the autumn is fading and the first tentative blasts of winter lie just out of sight around the corner.

It's still October and the first freak three-inch snowstorm has made its entrance and slunk out like a person who has blundered into the wrong high-school class and only realized it after sitting down.

This chapter has some three-way in it, though I didn't try to write it like the more usual fuck-fests. The youngest character in this chapter is 18, just saying.

I wrote it out of what I thought one of the characters might be hoping for in her heart under very strange and trying circumstances. 

Her name is Red Nadya and she wants a better life. Well who doesn't? But there's a destiny to her heritage. Much of this chapter - which sort of revolves around her - details her climb out of the pit with a little help from witchers.

If you're in the mood and it's cold and rainy (if you're lucky and it hasn't snowed yet wherever you are, or if you're in the southern hemisphere and it's warming up and you wonder what the hell I'm on about), read this in a quiet place the way that it was written if you can, listening to the wind blow the leaves around on a dark and cold night.

If that means that you're in a coffee shop with a pocketful of change to buy another cup - I envy you.

The ones around here have Literotica blocked.

0_o

-------------------------

She felt pleasantly warm.

A thought ran through her head of hearing about a place where humans go after they die where everything is pleasant and nice. Heaven, she remembered as the name of it.

She knew that animals were not supposed to go there, from what had been said to her, and that someone made a judgement in every case regarding admission.

She smelled dry heat from a warm fire and she could pick up a hint of woodsmoke as well as hear the quiet crackle of the logs. 

Maybe she'd been close enough to be allowed inside.

She opened her eyes then and found herself lying on her side on top of the covers on a soft bed with a warm blanket over her and it felt so good. 

Her nose switched itself on and she sniffed a little very quietly. What was returned to her was a vague and oddly comforting male scent, though it was just a hint and not much more.

She picked up the other scent then and her memory sought for what that was, since a feeling of alarm seemed to be attached to that smell.

When she focused farther out, she knew that if this was that heaven place, then it must be someone else's and not hers.

The gray beast who had taken her legs out from under her sat in a chair before the fire.

She didn't know where she was or which way to run if it came to another chase, but she tensed her muscles in preparation for it anyway.

The beast looked over then and he smiled, "Ah, you are awake, sister. Can you sit up? I have a bowl of hot soup from the kitchen waiting for you."

She raised her head very cautiously and looked around. There didn't seem to be anywhere that she could run even if he gave her a head start.

"Where is this place?" she asked in the same speech that he'd used as she rose up nervously on her knees, "Why am I here? Am I a prisoner?"

She was something a little odd for most Kurtadam, he noticed then, wondering why it had escaped his notice earlier. He supposed that it was because then, she'd been little more than a limp form, and given the way that one could see her ribs easily and the way that she'd looked so -- well, disheveled and emaciated, he guessed that it had passed him by, being more concerned that she lived and was not as close to death's door as Koten had plainly feared.

The tone of her fur was a little closer to red than it was to the brown of the Kurtadam who showed that color. Her ears looked a little larger than the usual proportion allowed as well. 

Another odd thing was her tail, since it was rather bushy and long for one of her overall size and it ended in a patch of white. The ruff of fur at her throat was white as well, though it eased itself into an almost black 'V' a little lower down and above her breasts, and those breasts were covered in the same color of fur as most of the rest of her. In some ways, she reminded him of a sort of fox. It was just what his impression of her evoked in him and he didn't know where the idea came from.

She leaned on one paw to steady herself a little and he saw that the brown ended near about her elbow. From there on down -- both forearms -- the fur was almost back as were her hands, her long legs, and her feet.

Her eyes were the quickest parts of her, given the present state of her health and her nervousness. They were questioning and thoughtful and he remembered what she'd asked.

He shook his head, "No, you are not a prisoner. Why would you ask such a thing? You are in a part of the Kurtadam fortress; as safe as you could ever be. We only need to find out how you came to be so far outside there starving and once we learn of who your family is, you can return to them. 

Strange that I did not hear of any who were lost, I usually do most times."

"I am a prisoner then," she said with a sigh, "I do not belong here. I am only half-Kurtadam."

Natan's eyes widened at that. "Such a thing is said to have happened only once. So then you must be the one. I have heard of it, but I thought it was only a legend or a rumor."

She almost sneered at that. 

"I am weak and have not eaten in so long that I cannot remember it clearly. I live in a burrow in the ground because a human who once whored me out and sought to force me to work for him again found the poor little home where I grew up and burned it down. I smell of the bare earth that I sleep on every night and I spend my days hoping to find something to eat at least once more before I die."

She tilted her head, "Does that sound like the life of a legend to you?

What has happened to me? I remember that you overtook me and I fell."

Natan shifted so that he sat near the edge of the chair and she prepared to run.

"Please," he said, holding up his hand, "Rest easy. I have been waiting so long for you to wake up that my bottom has gone numb, that is all. 

I have no wish to see you harmed. I did not before. We found you a long way off outside the walls. You are starved, as anyone could see. You were actually about to try to attack my friend Koten, but you lost the will to make the jump somehow. 

I only ran to protect my friend and you from each other. Once I saw you turn away, I also saw that you had almost nothing left and I came for you then, but not to harm you. You were clearly not in a level state of mind. Anyone could see how desperate you were. 

I did, and I am a spoiled one who has never gone without a meal in my life. I saw you turn and I thought that you had run out of your strength. The way that you looked then gave me the thought. Koten said that you lost your will for it."

She nodded, "It was so. I needed everything to make the spring, but I saw his eyes then. Many humans I have seen and even some with blue eyes, but never one like him. What sort is he? I have never seen eyes such as his. They seemed to be able to see right into me."

Natan looked into the fire for a moment and his voice became very quiet. "He said the same thing about your eyes to me.

He comes from far away. His people are called Suomalaiset, but that is not the thing about him. He is a rare kind of them called a witcher and I have seen him do things which humans cannot do, Kurtadams either.

As you lay there frightened and panting, he laid his hands on you and with a word from him, you passed into sleep. He told me that he feared for you because you were so weak. He saw it in you as you ran at him. When you slept, he said to me that now your heart would not have to strain against its fear, and in moments, your breathing was calm and slow because you'd had a chance to catch your breath without the terror.

It was clear to us that you needed our help and I prepared to set you over the back of his horse. But Koten told me that he did not want to have you bounced and jostled all the way back with even your own slight weight on your ribs."

Natan picked up the poker and he moved a log into the middle of the fire. Satisfied, he hung the poker up again, "He wrapped you in his coat and he carried you in his arms all the way."

She stared at that, knowing how far they'd been from the fortress.

"It is a strange thing to me," Natan said, "I have seen him go from one place to another in less time than it takes to have the thought of it, but I think that it can only be done by him for himself. That must be it, or he could have held you the way that he did and been here and warm in an instant, for that is the way that he can move if he has the want to. You do not even see him move -- he just leaves where he was and appears where he wants to be.

Instead, he carried you for more than half a league in his arms.

I know him to be a very strong human, but at the end, the cold had gotten to him and after a mildy warm bath, because it was all the heat that he could stand then, I put him to bed. He lies there behind you and it worries me."

She raised her head at that, her eyes wide and she looked back. The man was lying there asleep on his back within a foot of where she sat. She hadn't noticed him at all.

"He is cold to the touch everywhere. It is not the way that I know him to be," Natan said.

"I can see that you wish to run, or have the want to be away from here, but I ask you to stay for your own sake. You are safe here. No one will harm you. You have my word."

"I mean no insult," she said carefully, "and in truth, I could not run now to save my life, I am so weak and tired, but inside the Kurtadam fortress is the last place where I wish to be. Who are you to offer me sanctuary if you have no authority to do so?"

"Oh," he smiled, "I have my ways. But how did you come to be? You did not just jump up from the ground."

She sniffled once and then she drew a breath. "My father was a fighter here once. He came from Rusland with a few others, so he never felt as though he fit into what was done to hold the Kurtadams as captives. He told me once that he really wished to see them all free because it was clear to him that they languished in cages.

He kept the thought in mind and he asked to be one of the ones who looked after them, giving them food and fresh bedding. That is how he met and fell in love with my mother. He saw the end coming and he stole her away so that they could live together. There was far too much hatred between their kinds for that sort of love to be allowed by either side. 

Now, my mother is long dead and my father too. The Kurtadam run and hunt where they will and the night belongs to the wampyrs.

But there is no place in it for me.

They know of me, the wampyrs. They know that I am only a half-breed and so they hope to be able to gain by drinking my blood. They hope to make me one of them."

She looked down with a quiet groan, "I have nowhere to turn anymore. How can I stay here, in the midst of the ones who hated my parents?"

There was a moment where the only sounds were the quiet crackling of the wood in the fire and the slow breathing of the man in the bed. Natan shook his head.

"I do not know of this hatred or if it lives still. The soldiers are all gone, the monks too. Only the Kurtadam live here and three humans. That is one of them there. We have ruled them to be lords among us for they teach us many things. Another is Koten's mother and she knows horses better than anyone living, we think.

Koten is a witcher and his father is an even stronger one. It was seen that the father can kill wampyrshi. I do not know if Koten can. But I do know that if you want for a better way to hunt, then you should get to know him. I have seen him call a deer right to him.

As far as authority, do you know who rules here now?"

She shrugged a little, "I have heard that rule has passed to three younger ones, two princesses and a prince," 

She looked at him a little searchingly, "Do you know of a way that I might be given an audience so that I can ask to stay until I am well again?"

Natan chuckled softly and he began to wave his finger in the air, "By the power vested in me, I do command that you be allowed to stay until such time as you no longer wish to. But you must spend a night here first so that I can see you eat a few good meals before I allow you to go."

She scowled at him, "It is not very funny for one in my place to be mocked that way."

"I am not mocking you," he smiled, "If you have the need to hear titles, then you were carried here this day by lord Koten Fornjot and that was after you were knocked to the ground -- as gently as I could do it, mind you, by Prince Natan. 

I am one of the rulers here. The youngest and by far the most foolish, of course, but it is so."

She smirked at him and shook her head to show her doubt of his claim, but at least it turned into a small smile at what she thought was his joke.

"Laugh if you like," he chuckled, "but I still have the cause to worry about your health, so come and sit down here by the fire and have the soup. I doubt that it is still steaming hot by this point, so at least you will not burn your tongue."

She only blinked at him.

He looked a little crestfallen then, "Alright, then how far away must I be from you so that you feel safe enough to eat it? Tell me and I will go there."

She tried to get to her feet, and she found that she was too shaky. 

But her nose had been singing to her that there was soup in the room for all of this time, so she eased herself onto the floor and went weakly on all fours.

Natan was shocked to see it. 

"Please, come here. I'll swear to your safety on anything that you demand of me. Just come and eat. I -- I'll feed you."

"You'll do no such thing," she said, "I can surely eat a bowl of soup by myself."

But she couldn't. 

The tremors in her arms and hands almost prevented her from holding on to an empty spoon. She looked like she was going to cry. "I am this close, and I cannot even, ... must I lap it up like a dog now?"

"No," he said, shaking his head, "this foolishness ends now. I hope that you can see by this that it is serious. Look, only sit there like that. Just sit and I will do the rest. There is no shame in it to my eyes. Please, there is no one here but Koten and he is another worry of mine, but he sleeps, so for now, just accept this from me."

"Carefully," he said in a gentle way as he held up a spoonful for her, "and most of all, slowly. This is nothing more than a little hearty soup, but if you've had nothing for days, it might -- "

"It might be poisoned," she said, "but I am so hungry, now that my eyes see something to eat."

"Do you fear us that much?" Natan asked. "Wait a moment then."

He got to his feet and walked to the door, opening it and calling out. 

A human woman came rushing over then, "Prince Natan," she began, "How is my son? Has the girl that you found awoken yet? She looked so thin, the poor thing, and I worry about them both."

She looked past Natan and she smiled, taking a few steps into the chamber, "There you are, and awake too. Have you eaten any of the soup that I made? I worried that it might be too hot for your stomach, if you have not eaten in as long as it looked to me."

She took another step and the female on the hearth cringed and prepared to run. Margit held up her hand, "It's alright, dear. No one will hurt you, least of all me." 

She turned to Natan, "Is she alright? Can she not understand me?"

He held up his palms, "I think that she has had a very bad time of things lately. Have you any more soup? I find that I have gotten a little hungry for it myself."

Margit turned away, nodding and she returned with the whole pot, "Here you are, Prince. I made it for you three. You may take this and have all that you like. But please tell me when Koten wakes. I worry and if Gunnar asks, he will come himself to see what may be done."

Natan nodded and took the pot of soup by the handle. Margit closed the door.

As he returned, he found her looking at him a little differently.

"She called you prince."

Natan smiled, "I keep asking her not to do that, but I cannot get her to stop. I think that she does it because she has the chance to say it that way."

He set the pot down on the stones of the hearth and he poured the contents of the bowl back in. "If you like, I will eat first so that you see that it is not poisoned. But I have no wish to have to explain and beg you to eat. What was in the bowl has long gone cold waiting for at least one of you to wake up."

She looked at the refilled bowl and the way that it steamed now, "I am sorry to show my fear. I will eat with you if you have hunger too. How to do this with only one spoon?"

Natan chuckled a little, "Stop it, or you will cause the whole pot to grow cold while we talk. I do not care which of us eats first -- just try to trust a little and get something inside of you."

He sat on the floor with her and he held the bowl. It didn't work out as he'd planned, so he put the spoon back to set the bowl down and he carefully lifted her so that she sat on his leg. They found that it went much better after that.

She pushed his hand with the second spoonful of soup away and she held onto herself as she sat a little bent over. 

"It hurts," she groaned and he felt her tremble in his gentle grasp. "My mouth was greedy that time and my stomach will not have it that quickly.

But it is good, so very good."

She motioned for another spoonful and he eased it to her lips. She sipped it like a bird and then one at a time, she nibbled at the vegetable chunks, closing her eyes with a mixture of pain and bliss when she did it.

"Only ask," he almost whispered, "and I'll fish some of the bits of meat from the bottom for you."

"This is the best soup that I have ever tasted," she said, "This is Kurtadam fare? My mother never made soup such as this."

He shook his head, "I wish that this was Kurtadam fare. It was made by lady Margit, Koten's fine mother; the one you saw and feared as well."

"Then I must find my courage and thank her."

She went back to it and before long, she found that she could get whole spoonfuls down more easily. Then she remembered and she stopped to look at Natan.

He reached for the spoon which she offered and he sat eating as well. He really wasn't hungry at all, but he would have done most anything to get the girl to eat something of it.

At last, she said that she'd had enough after a bowl and a little of it by herself. "If I eat any more, I am afraid that my stomach will push it back. Only this much and my belly feels swollen and full for the first time in so long. Thank you Prince. Thank you for this and your kind help."

He waved it off, "If you feel thankful, then you can repay me by not calling me that. Call me Natan and I am pleased. As well, I would know your name, if you have no reason to hide it."

She smiled at that, though she looked down, "It has been long since I knew anyone who wished to know anything of me. I think that I almost sought my own death today."

She looked up then, "But you have been kind to me to give me food and this human seems to have given much to help me also. I hope that he is not sick from what he did for me. My name is Nadezhda as I was named, but it is simpler to call me by Nadya. I am named after the mother of my father." 

"Then welcome, Nadya," Natan smiled, "I must go to ask one of the council about what is known about a Kurtadam who mated with a human man and begat a child. Do not fear at all. I will tell no one about you. I only wish to learn of what might be known. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 07



You should rest if you can. I will tell lady Margit that things have not changed, but that Koten sleeps deeply. Eat a little more if you have the want of it. I will return as soon as I can. I am glad that you feel a little better -- since even I can see it in your face."

Nadya looked over at Koten and she slid her hand under the covers for a moment. "Something is wrong here, Natan," she said, "It is as you said. He feels cold to me. I think that after coming to know a little of you and seeing that there is no harm meant for me, I will lie on the bed against him. I think that I might sleep now and if it warms him, then there is no harm, no?"

Natan nodded, "Why not? I only hope that he is not too surprised if he wakes to find you there."

He laughed. "He would not believe that it had happened anyway, to wake up and find a beautiful female on his bed. Koten does not think that he possesses that sort of luck these days."

With that, Natan was out of the door and looking for Margit to reassure her a little.

Nadya moved to get back onto the bed. She found it much easier now that she was feeling at least a little better. She eased herself down and moved carefully to press up against the lump which was Koten.

The room was lit by only the soft and flickering light from the fire and it gave her a chance to look at this strange man.

She wondered about him and she did find herself feeling a little concern for someone who had helped her, now that she knew of it. As she looked down at his sleeping face, she still wondered about it. 

As she was gauging things at the time to put herself into the best position from which to spring at him, she'd seen even then that it would have likely failed. This human was large and what she saw went with what Natan had said of him. He looked strong.

As she remembered things in her foggy way, he was also larger than Natan, who was a bit taller than she was, now that she'd seen him. This human would be a good deal larger still. The thought would normally have caused her to fear a little, but he was plainly helpless the way that he was here.

She looked some more and found herself liking his face. It was a surprise, since other than her father, she hadn't ever met a human male whose face had appealed to her in any sort of way.

She pushed the thought away but as soon as she did, there was another thought in its place.

He'd carried her in his arms. 

For three and maybe four miles.

Why?

As he was here -- even in sleep -- he looked like more of a warrior than a healer.

Now that she felt better, she knew that her outlook was changing, moving away from the dark way that she'd been feeling. She might not have wanted to continue to live very much earlier, but she felt a little more like living now, and it was because of those two males, one a Kurtadam prince of all things, and this human.

He'd felt so cold when she'd touched him. It shouldn't be like that.

She was warm now, very warm. It caused a notion to pass through her head which caused her to smile to herself. What he needed was something warm there in the bed with him.

She almost laughed. Such an idea, she thought. If she tried anything like that and he woke up, she'd be mortified and his kind heart would likely stop from shock.

But she did find herself feeling some concern for him all the same. The room was warm, but he had none of that heat under the blankets with him.

She reached over and touched him very gently. If he woke up, she decided that she'd try to calm him a little and tell him her thanks and then offer to try to warm him a little. He'd likely refuse politely, she guessed. After all, she was probably in need of a bath by his standards, never mind that he likely regarded her as an animal.

And yet, he and Prince Natan were obviously close friends and the prince was not human either.

She nudged him this time, and the result was the same. Nothing. 

Nadya began to hope that he was alright.

She looked around, wondering what else she could do for him and she came up dry.

She got off the bed and she carefully spread out the blanket which she'd been given so that it covered him as well, and then, taking a deep breath to hopefully give her a little brass for boldness, she lifted the covers and eased herself into the bed with Koten, half-expecting him to wake up with a start and yell.

But nothing happened at all. He only kept sleeping, his breathing indicating a deep level of sleep.

Nadya moved herself against him, thankful for her fur now, since it kept the shock of his coldness from her. After only a few moments, she felt some of her own body's heat coming back to her from him and she hoped that it was doing him some good.

The irony of what she was doing came to her then. This had to be the first time that she'd gotten into a bed with a human because she'd wanted to be there to do something kind for him.

She had another thought and after a moment, she reasoned that since he hadn't been disturbed by her getting into bed with him, then maybe if she were to lie on top of him, he'd get more of the benefit.

There was a fair size difference between them and to him; she doubted that her body represented any considerable weight. He'd carried her in his arms, after all.

She reminded herself that it had been for miles, and that helped with her resolve that she do something for him. So, ....

Nadya moved slowly, a little at a time, and with periods of stillness in between them. It seemed to take her forever, but at last, she made the last careful movement which brought her on her front on top of Koten.

And still he hadn't woken up. She wondered if it were possible that he was in a coma.

Mostly, she was on his chest, looking at him with the covers over her back to keep them both warm. She didn't want to lift herself up at all, not wanting any air to get in. She was feeling plenty warm and she now wanted Koten to be warmed by her more than anything, so she contented herself with lying there and looking at him.

Well, it was very different to her to be there against a human voluntarily with no money changing hands to get her to do it.

"I want for you to wake up because I hope that you are alright," she whispered to him in the Kurtadam tongue, unaware that he understood at least some of it. It didn't matter, he was asleep, so she felt a little safe to say what she felt.

"But I do not wish for you to wake up too soon, since I am enjoying this now. You are very nice to lie on for a female such as me, Koten. I cannot feel your arms around me as I would now like, but that is alright. I do not want that you grow ill from helping me, for that would be cruel luck."

She laid her forearms down on his chest very carefully and then she very slowly laid her head on one of them so that she could rest a little herself as she looked at him.

She thought about him and realized that, though he was unconscious or only in a deep sleep, she liked him. She hoped that there wasn't anything bad or nasty to him, because she suddenly wanted to be able to tell herself that she liked at least one other person in the world now that she was feeling better.

She did smile then and widely to herself. She knew at that instant that she liked Prince Natan as well, not that it would likely get her anywhere with him. He was young and very cute and -- it had to be said -- he was actually very handsome as well, though it was a little obvious that he hadn't really grown into the handsomeness part of it fully yet.

Too bad he was a prince. She wasn't weighing her chances, she was just daydreaming a little, that was all.

She thought about Koten again and played with that little daydream awhile. Likely neither of them would ever have any want of her, but she liked the sudden thought of having them both as friends, since she doubted that they'd ever want a female who was a little of both their kinds.

Her reverie was cut short a moment later when she felt Koten stir.

The surprising thing to her was that it was only one part of him which was stirring. The very few times when someone had paid extra for her to spend the whole night with them had taught her the lesson that even while sound asleep, they could get hard all by themselves for no reason at all other than maybe a naughty dream.

He must have felt a little restrained, she guessed, for the way that he'd spread his legs a little after a minute. That was when she'd felt that at least one part of him was warm as it pressed against the inside of her thigh.

She carefully spread her own legs so that it had a little more room.

And then, ... Nadya had a deliciously naughty little thought herself.

She didn't think that she'd dare.

Then again, she'd gone this far. Why not go a little further?

Since that unseen part of him didn't show any signs of abating, she eased herself backwards with her thighs spread a little more and after a few careful and cautious movements, she closed the gap, neatly trapping him.

It had forced her to move backward just a little to get him there, but now his hard shaft was against her outer lips. She squeezed her thighs together for a moment just to savor it.

She gave him a little experimental hump after that, watching his face carefully. It felt really good to her and he didn't seem to have been disturbed by it at all.

She did it again.

And then again.

She put her head down on her arms then and she began to hump against him very gently and very slowly, liking it very much and reminding herself not to get at all carried away, not that she thought there was any danger of that here, after all.

Feeling it a little now, Nadya looked at Koten a little differently. He was very good to look at too. She had to give him that. As long as she was daydreaming, she thought about how her life would have gone very differently if she'd had the love of a man like him before her life had turned into the unending whirlwind of shit that it had become, no matter how she'd tried to avoid all of the pitfalls and misfortunes that she'd even seen coming to her.

A man this good-looking wouldn't have any need for a scrawny, fur-covered mutt such as her, but he wasn't awake now to protest or object, and so she went with her little daydream, imagining them doing this and so much more out of love for each other.

She'd never had the occasion to have the want of a love like that with a human. They had all sorts of names for a freak like her, unless they wanted a whore who was truly wild in bed, and then only for as long as it took them to get themselves off inside of her. After that, she went back to being just someone to laugh at.

But not this one, she suddenly realized. She didn't know much of anything about him, but she had seen a lot in his pale blue eyes in that one instant and cruelty was not one of the things that she'd seen.

It was all nonsense and she knew it, but she did so love doing this with him.

It was too bad that he wasn't awake and wanting to share this with her. If he was half the male that she imagined him to be in her daydream, she'd want to reward him for being that way.

And of course, then she'd get to feel his strong arms around her.

Oh, THAT was a nice thought, she realized as she allowed herself to grind her pubic bone against his for a moment so that she could feel the way that her clitoris was being gently mashed between them.

She sighed a little, not being able to help herself. This was soooo good.

It caused her to wonder what he'd be like to fuck with. As men went, what she held between her thighs felt a little on the large side. It probably wasn't any larger than any of the rest that she'd had jammed into her, it was just that here and like this, what she had was an unknown quantity.

Not that she was complaining, of course.

He moved very slowly then and she found it comforting, lying on a man like him to feel him move a little in his sleep. She wondered if human females ever really appreciated the way that it felt. She hoped that they did. 

They'd be idiots if they didn't appreciate the feel of something like this.

A female in her position would give a lot to know that someone like this would protect her and offer her this level of warm comfort. 

And a little quiet humping if it was all that she could get for the moment.

His arms moved slowly and he exhaled. It wasn't with a sigh, though it might have been if he'd put a little more into it. She felt his arms -- very warm to her then as they came to rest half-encircling her before they stopped and the feeling told her that she'd had an idea which must have actually helped him to warm up. 

He did sigh a little then and she wished to know which god or gods that he worshiped so that she might thank them for this comfort. She tried not to think of how she must seem ugly to him. It would certainly mean the world to her to know it if she didn't, though she held no illusions. She closed her eyes and imagined a world like that- with a man like him thinking that she was pretty enough for him.

Nadya knew at that moment that she did really like him, at least when he was like this.

She felt herself smiling then. She couldn't help it.

"Koten," she whispered very softly and dreamily as she humped on steadily, "I hope to learn that you are a kind human and that you sleep this way very often, because I would do this with you at any time at all if you liked it with me."

She felt him harden considerably then. He'd been hard to begin with, but just now, he'd gotten even --

She opened her eyes.

Koten was looking right at her, those blue eyes seeming to hold her immobile as her languid humping came to an abrupt halt and they looked at each other.

He began to whisper to her then, saying, "I hope to learn your name, lovely one, and I hope that what you were saying came from your heart, so that mine might struggle to find an equally sweet reply."

She lifted herself from him and then she was gone.

Koten sat up in the bed, his eyes frantically scanning the dimness of the room for a glimpse of where she might have gone.

"Please," he said, "I am sorry if I said anything wrong. I meant only --"

He heard her anguished groan as a very soft and forlorn sound. He realized that he was looking too far away.

She was still there on the bed.

She lay on her side, curled up with her legs almost to her chest and her long bushy tail covering her as much as possible.

Her head was against the covers and the end of her tail lay there covering her face so that only her sad yellow eyes looked out over the top of it at him.

"There you are," he said softly, "I am sorry that I spoke at all now. What you did felt so good and to see you like that, you looked happy and so --"

"Foolish," she said.

He shook his head, "No. Anything but that."

He reached for her, but her warning growl stopped his hand in midair.

"I mean no harm," he whispered, "I only want to touch --"

"The fool?" she asked, "The idiot who gave in to her stupid thoughts and imaginings? Leave me be."

"Why?" he asked, "You are no fool, and those were surely not stupid thoughts. I would love to know of them."

He moved his hand slowly and she growled again. He brought his hand nearer very carefully. She couldn't believe it.

"I am not so weak anymore that I cannot ruin your kind hand with my teeth. Do not touch me."

"I must," he said, whispering now, "I found a rare beauty lying on me and then I saw that she was not a dream. I would have been happy even if she was, but to find such loveliness against me -- really against my skin --"

"Stop it," she snarled, "I do not believe you. I have learned my bitter lessons of how human males lie to get what they want."

He moved a little closer, "You may paint me however you like, but please do not begin until you know me. Something this nice has never happened to me. Please move your tail; you will have to in any event if you wish to bite my face."

"I do not want to bite your face," she growled, "You were kind to me. I was just stupid."

He shook his head, "You were not stupid. I think that you tried to help me. Your face changed before me three times that I saw. It was such a lovely problem for me, wanting to kiss it and not being able to reach."

She wasn't aware that she'd been shifting, but then she recalled that she wanted to feel him against her in both ways so that she might remember it.

He eased himself down on the bed before her. She saw that his arm was in the air and reaching for her.

"Stay away," she snarled, "I would be gone now if only I knew a way out of here that didn't bring me in front of more humans or Kurtadams. Do not touch me. Do not --"

His fingers found her shoulder and he pulled her against him. She groaned to feel that body against hers once more.

She wasn't sure anymore which shape she was in at the moment, once she'd felt his face against her neck.

Koten found the chance which he so desperately wanted then. For an instant in the dim light, he saw her as a human and he nuzzled under her ear, licking the soft skin behind her jaw. He wasn't aware of it just yet, but Nadya had no real and complete way to appear as a human. 

She could get close, very close, but she could never hide a few of the details. 

It required a lot of conscious control to keep her yellow eyes looking like human ones.

Unlike humans, Kurtadams have a layer of reflective tissue behind their retinas called the tapetum lucidum. It occurs in many animals and it aids their night vision. It does not occur in primates such as man.

It also causes their eyes to shine back incident light in the visible spectrum. At the correct angle, her eyes reflected light in the same way as those of wolves and other animals no matter what she did. If she was looking at you, you could find her in the dark with a lit candle.

She was aware of it, but there was only so much that she could do by averting her gaze.

Her face looked human easily. Unless she smiled too much or grinned, and if that happened, such as if she forgot herself and let out a smiling laugh, ...

Her teeth spoke of something which was very far from being humanlike. She didn't have eye teeth such as any human would. She had the same set of canine teeth no matter how she looked. They only shifted slightly in size.

When she was as close as she could get to looking human, her long, bushy tail never quite made the journey into disappearing. There was always a thin and slightly furry foot-long tail hanging there attached just above her lovely cheeks. Most of the time, it was easily hidden if she wore a dress or even is she wore breeches and boots. She just had to remember to tuck it in then.

Nadya knew nothing of its effect on Koten, but he'd found that as she went from one to the other, she often hung in a place which was at about the midway point between them. As the reddish wolf, her hair was a dark mane which ran down her back. Her tail was long, and her face was most definitely wolfish, with her ears pointing up and she had a long snout then.

Stuck for the moment in the middle, her tail was still there and long, her mane was gone, already replaced by her long red hair. But her face was shaped as more human, and yet not. 

The snout was very nearly gone, her nose smaller, and her lips very humanlike. But the coloring of her fur changed as it shortened -- at least it did over the lower part of her face, turning white over her cheeks and chin with the red showing above that from the top of her nose to her hairline. 

It went on like that, white -- all the way down her front, fading out to the red about halfway down her thighs. On her front, she was white, and on her back, she wore the reddish brown. The line was along her ribs. 

He'd seen none of this as yet, only the way that her face appeared then and how her ears were shifted lower and a little forward, stuck there on their way to appearing human. Like that, they protruded from her hair.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 07



Sometimes, she just forgot herself or in this case, she let herself go, forgetting to feel shame until the thought came to her once more. 

Koten had a clue that it was this way for her after only a moment. He said nothing of it to her there on the bed, but he felt so very privileged to be allowed to see these features of her. He strained to look impassive as he saw her white front and belly. 

She saw it in his eyes anyway, and her moment of doubt faded as she felt the way that he laid his palm onto her belly to feel the short white fur there.

She was more than a little astounded by this. She saw that he wanted her very plainly, but she also saw that it wasn't the sort of want that she'd seen in men's eyes all of the other times.

Nadya's leg lifted and she slid it over his hip because her want to be against him exceeded her waning determination that she feel stupid over what she'd done.

He pushed her onto her back slowly and gently and looked down into her yellow eyes, "Please tell me your name, since I have heard that you know mine," he said.

"Nadya, "she said quietly, looking up in wonder as he took her into his arms and she groaned at that then.

When she felt his hardness against her opening, she lifted one knee and found a little smile in herself for him at last and she nodded as she lifted her other knee. 

He is not like the others, she told herself, if he wants to prove the difference to me so much, then let us see how it goes with him.

"If you want me, Koten, then you are not like most humans that I have known. I see it in your eyes," she sighed, "you must surely be blind."

He shifted her in his gentle grasp remarkably easily to her mind before she remembered his strength. It caused her to look up in wonder at him when he said, "Beautiful Nadya, I can see very well in the dark."

As he slid into her, it caused her to moan softly -and it took her a while to manage it because he took her rather slowly, knowing somehow that he was large for her. When she had all of him that she could take, she wrapped her legs around his waist and she sighed. Like this, she could just take all of him, just barely. 

But right now, she felt things that she'd never felt with a human in her before.

"Thank you for what you did today."

He smiled with a little shrug, "I saw you and I knew that you were at the end. After Natan caught you, I knew that I had perhaps the nicest problem which I have ever faced, though I was worried for you, as was Natan. I could not hurt you and I could not leave you there. We did the best that we could think to do. Let us leave it for later. So not now, lovely one, the covers, ..."

She nodded and grabbed what she could to help him so that they were as well-covered as possible.

"Very wise, Koten," she smiled through her half-closed eyes, "We are both weak this night and should go slowly if we can. For someone who is as blind as you surely must be, there is time to do this better when we are stronger. Just hold me and fuck me a little slowly and I can promise that if you like me, then you can have me again when your eyes work better - if you have not come to your senses by then."

They eased themselves over onto their sides again and Koten sought for a breast, licking with his lips until he'd found the nipple there in the fur which came and went every so often. 

Nadya threw her head back with a soft little cry and she clutched his head and held him to her tightly. 

Human men had called her a bitch and used her like one.

It felt so suddenly strange to have been taken by a human so gently and carefully, and now she really wanted to be one for him. 

She might be wrong again, but she doubted it somehow. If there was one human man who she'd been made for, then she'd found him this very night -- she was that certain of it.

She was also at least a little certain that Natan held at least a piece of the large heart which she could feel beating against her and she didn't mind. There was enough for her left over to live in she thought. She wondered for a moment if she might have the heart of the other one as well and she liked that thought, knowing that she held the key to make it possible if what she felt was correct.

Koten wasn't thinking of himself at all in this. He loved the way that it felt to him, but he was trying to learn more of her and he wanted above anything else that she enjoy it with him.

He listened to her soft exhalations every time that he drove into her slowly. She felt so warm to him and like she was here, so friendly as well. He planted his elbow on the bed next to her so that he could work her other breast with his large hand. As he did it and fucked her as slowly as he could and yet maintain it, he heard her keen in a whispering way and after a moment, he knew that there were words in it to him.

"So long it has been since I had a kind and hungry mouth there on me," she whimpered, "Do not stop now. Ohhh, you are so good for me."

He tried, but the sound of her voice spurred something in him at that moment. He'd never want to seem selfish to her, not now and like this. 

But he did thrust a little quicker and harder once and his reward was to see her head go back and her mouth opened there in the soft light as she cried out so softly in her pleasure.

But even in her bliss, any female feels it if she believes that she has imperfections which are noticeable at that moment. And the feeling never comes to her as quickly or as abruptly as when she realizes that she has forgotten herself.

Nadya suddenly knew that she had to have been showing her teeth to him and she tried to close her mouth just a few seconds after Koten had been admiring it as another wonder about her - that even as a human girl, there was this subtle aura of her feral side still there within her. 

She hadn't snapped her jaws shut; she stopped when she noticed that his lips were trying to lock onto hers at least a little. For the first time in her life, Nadya felt a male's tongue inside her own mouth as it sought for hers.

She blinked at him for an instant and saw that his eyes were closed in his own moment of bliss.

Then Nadya moved her hands from where they'd been on his arm and his shoulder and she held his head again, her fingers slipping into his long hair because they'd needed to, all by themselves it seemed. 

"MMMmm!"her surprised sound came from her nose, "Mmm, mmmph , ... mmmph, ... mmmmmmm."

It went on quietly as she bucked against him a little, happy to feel the way that he could make her quiver underneath him. She began to try to work him with her internal muscles, without much success, she realized. Too long spent without a male, and too little to eat.

She pulled away and laid her cheek against his to lick his ear and whisper to him.

"Give it, Koten. ... You may give it to me. I need to know that I can please you."

You please me, Nadya," he groaned against her, "So much. I fear for you that you might, ..."

"Nooo," she whispered to him a little breathlessly, "It is alright. I am weak and have not bled for half a year out of hunger.

Give it to me, Koten. I wish to feel it and know that I am still a female who lives. I have never wanted to ... Ohhhh, you are so good, ... "

He felt her fevered kisses against his cheek and he returned his to her. He knew it when she drew her knees back and he felt her hand against him as she sought to pull him deeper into her. He touched against her cervix very briefly and she just adjusted herself for it so that he wouldn't do it again accidentally. But he felt her kisses and her little moans as she grabbed for him all while rocking him.

It pushed him to his own climax and she quietly encouraged him as she felt his contractions beginning. They were looking into each other's eyes during the time when his gush petered out and then she held onto him so tightly for a long while, almost frantic for the moment that it took her to know that he wouldn't just pull out like all of the rest.

This strange man with the dark brown hair and the piercing blue eyes proved himself to her again without knowing it at all. He stayed with her, rising up as he could just a little to look at her face when she realized that he'd not leave her.

He still stayed there, holding her after he'd slipped out of her.

"Koten?" she asked, "I want to show you something. Can, ... can I sleep with you here tonight?"

When he nodded, she moved and then she was against him, spooned there along his front with the blankets over them both. She felt his hand on her belly but she wasn't satisfied with that.

She wriggled a little bit, moving herself upwards toward the pillow and when she was happy with her position, she took his hand and spread her legs a little so that she could place his palm against her there, and she reached with her other arm across herself to hold onto his arm.

"I want to talk with you and Natan in the morning," she said, "but for now, for this night, I seek to show you something like this. 

Do you know what it is?"

He thought for a moment and he almost drew a blank, but then he thought that he might know, though he had no clue as to how he knew, or why she would want to do this.

"You make me hold my hand there so that the seed stays, ... but, ..."

"Koten proves that he is a smart boy," she sighed, smiling at him over her shoulder. "Think to a time when there were no groups of people, and there were only females and males. Think like that and you might see.

It is my way to show you that I accept you. I cannot make young until I bleed again, or maybe just before. I do not think that it is possible, but I mean to show that if I could, I would want yours.

"It is a small gesture to show something to a male. It is to say that I thank you and wish to do that again."

He had no reply that he could make, though she could see that what she'd said had surprised him. She asked him to move his other arm and when she was happy with that, she laid her head down on the inside of his bicep for her pillow. 

"A female is happy now," she said to him in a whisper.

They were quiet for a time until she spoke again, "Natan worries for you. He told me. You are lovers? I hope that you are because I think that you should be. Both are very good to look at and be with, I think."

Koten tried to find a way to tell just a little of it that he thought was safe to speak of, but she shook her head, falling into the purposefully non-specific ways of the old Kurtadam speech. "A female knows that this just begins. A female can help."

They were just drifting off when the door opened and Natan walked in with Margit, both trying to be quiet. Nadya was gone from Koten in an instant. 

Natan drifted toward the fire. He put his hand on the side of the soup pot and felt that it was still warm, but not hot, so he lifted it and hung it by the handle over the black iron holder and he swiveled that to place the pot over the fire.

As she came nearer, Margit saw Nadya curled up on the bed with her tail over her nose.

"You look so much better now," Margit smiled, "I am glad to see it. Has Koten awoken?"

Nadya raised her head and nodded, "Yes. He sleeps again, I think. He is a little weak, but he is better. I can hear that you know the speech well. A girl was thankful to eat the soup, Koten's mother."

Margit lowered her face enough to get a better look at Nadya and she smiled warmly as she took on the mannerisms of the Kurtadam herself for a moment.

"A girl can take a little care of him, then," she smiled, "Keep him warm so that he stays well. He is a grown man, so I think that if she wants, then a girl should sleep against him and not here like this. A mother likes this, to meet a lost girl if she is feeling better."

She winked and Nadya's mouth almost fell open in surprise and pleasure to hear it.

"Where I am from," Margit smiled and whispered, "sometimes a girl chooses for herself like this."

"A girl might choose then," Nadya nodded in reply, wanting to be polite and also testing what Margit knew of Kurtadam customs at the same time, "but a girl might choose another as well, thinking of having both," she whispered, indicating Natan, who seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he stared into the dying fire, "if he may be reached and she may bind both to her and all might be happy. A girl might want a small pack with them. You know of this? Our packs?"

Margit chuckled softly and she nodded, "A girl would have a busy night then."

Nadya bought points for herself then with her reply when she shook her head, "A girl like that should not try to hurry it. A girl has time to seek what she must know. Some girls have had sadness and need time to decide if they can ever be happy again." 

She sighed softly, "But a girl never finds a chance for her pack in one day. This girl never finds one. Two there are here."

She looked at Margit a little searchingly for a moment, "Koten's mother will allow a girl to try? Even if she is not ..." She looked down then, her nerve to ask gone from her.

Margit placed her hand on Nadya's pawed hand. "I am Margit and Natan has told me of it -- of who the lost girl is and how she came to be found. I will tell no others but Koten's father and one other who might help a girl."

She nodded, "A mother knows that a lost girl might be different. A girl should try to rest and gain her strength. Some things are really not choices which a mother should make. They are the choices of her children. We all choose for ourselves and the world is as it is. Imagine the unhappiness if we all had to live with the choices of our mothers for us."

She chuckled again, still holding the pawed hand in hers, "A mother is happy with what she sees in a wise girl on the bed of her tired son. What is your name, lost one?"

Nadya took a breath then, thinking it over. At last, she said, "I am Nadezhda. My father was a human fighter and my mother was a kind of Kurtadam who did not only dwell in the forests and sing to the sky. Her people could sometimes cause the sky to sing back in answer. I possess a little of what she had.

To some in the town, I am Red Nadya and I was held against my will by a man. I have won my freedom back -- almost. But I have been a lost girl, as you call me for a long time. Now, I wish only to be called Nadya.

Here," she whispered as she held out her other hand, the middle finger drawn back into the nest made of the other fingers, "I think that I might have a little returning to me now. Wait a moment."

Margit watched as the yellow eyes glimmered softly while staring at that one fingertip. Her lips moved silently and then a tiny pinpoint of bluish light glowed softly on the end of the hidden finger.

"Some of what we make is best hidden for a little while," she said, never shifting her gaze from what she wrought. "A small gift for Margit, Koten's fine mother. Give me your hand."

Margit held out her hand and then Nadya carefully placed the little spot onto her palm before she closed Margit's fingers over it.

"Take this to where you will sleep. Get onto the bed and then throw your hand upward, opening it at the end." Nadya pulled herself forward then, and she kissed Margit's fingers. "For your soup and for your kind thoughts, my thanks to you, Margit."

Margit nodded and drew her closed hand back. She found that she could find her way out of the darkened room easily by the reddish light which escaped between her fingers. The one time that she opened the smallest gap that she could, the light was brilliant and dazzling, since it didn't take on the red tone of the blood vessels in her hand then.

She closed the door behind her.

--------------------------

"What have you got in your hand? "Gunnar asked from the bed and Margit grinned. 

"A gift from the red wolf-girl which Koten found with Natan today. Her name is Nadezhda and she wishes to be called Nadya. She told me to keep my hand closed until I was on the bed, and then to throw it up toward the ceiling."

He smiled, "Well, throw it then and let us see."

They sat together in quiet awe then as the little dot rose almost to the ceiling before it burst with a soft pop and the room was filled with shimmering scenes of mountains and little towns full of houses, all made out of the tiny spots. As she watched, Margit was able to get undressed by the lights which hung in the air.

She climbed further onto bed with her husband and she held onto him as they watched the scenery of little lights unfold before them. She sat in rapt fascination, happy for the gift and the little show.

Gunnar watched his wife's face, happy to see her like this.

---------------------------------

"I felt that you had no wish to speak, Koten," Nadya said, "so I did my best to speak for you. Why?"

He gave her a little smile as he reached to touch her long red hair, "You have to know my mother. If I had not played the part of a sleeping man, then she would have had the candles in here lit and blazing within two minutes, eager to know what has happened and wanting to see us all clearly rather than in flickering shadow. 

I love my mother as any son should love his, but I want this dim light and to look at us all like this. It pleases me."

Nadya nodded, understanding him perfectly. She leaned toward him and she put her arms around his neck to look into his eyes for a moment. "There is something here which I find that I want now; a male and another one who hang on the edge of something. It is their struggle, but a girl wishes to know both who have spared her from her miserable hunger.

I know one and now I wish to know of the other. I think that all three might find a path together that way. Will you permit a girl to help?"

He glanced at Natan for a moment and then he nodded, "This is something that I had no wish for at first, but now I want your help."

She kissed him softly and he knew that she meant it, "Then watch as I make my spell to bind him to us both."

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Nadya asked in a loud enough voice as she smiled at Natan.

He shrugged, "I guess that I can sleep in the chair, or go to my own suite of rooms," he said.

"No!" Nadya laughed as she shook her head, "That would be terrible, and the waste of a good night."

He looked puzzled, "This is a good night?"

Nadya kissed Koten as her final way of asking and he nodded, smiling. She looked at Natan again.

"Well it will be a fine night if you will just come to bed with us. There are two of us here who wait for you while you stare at the fire. Who knows what you see in it?"

She smiled at Natan and then she looked at Koten, "Your human friend and I have reached an understanding, Natan. I wish to reach one together with you now, while our human reaches for the soup that you have warming there for him."

She kissed Koten once and she smiled as she rubbed her cheek against his for a moment, "Go," she whispered, "Leave this to me, and I will work so that we all three are lovers. It is what I need from you both. I am a wild female. All that I have known is to be alone. 

Let me try for us all and perhaps none of us will want that anymore. My own thoughts grow so dark then. I need only one look to know that you have both had thoughts that there is no one for you who sees you as you really are. I can even feel that others have sought for you out of their own want, never seeing who you are inside, so you think that you are alone.

It is not true. 

I see you. 

I also see that you see each other, but that it does not move forward, even as the feelings grow. Now go and eat, lover."

Koten nodded, hearing something in her tone which told him that by 'seeing', she did not mean with only her eyes.

But it was a little deep for him to think about, now that the topic of the soup had been raised, so he chuckled as he got to his feet and walked to the hearth, "I thought that it was us who found a poor and starving girl and only felt our heartstrings being pulled.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 07



I think now that it was not so, Natan. I think that we were found by the girl today."

Natan finally found a smile within himself and he put his hand on Koten's shoulder, "I am glad only to see you on your feet again, but I will go to see what I might learn from Nadya, since she seems to have a way to look at things in a better light than I can."

They heard her whimsical little laugh from the bed, "You make me laugh. At the moment, my way of looking at things is to gaze at your bodies and wonder at my luck. Oh, come here to me, Natan."

As he eased himself onto the bed, Nadya laughed in that same wonderful way of hers as she reached up to pull him down onto her. 

"This cannot be allowed to go on," she giggled as she hugged him tightly, "I have never had a wolf-boy before. Help me to change that, my new gray friend."

She kissed him for a long moment and then she broke it with another peal of happy laughter as she rolled him onto his back, "Come. Koten has made me his while you were gone. I am one who never chose anyone for her lover. This night, I have chosen one already and now I seek to choose the second one for me as is my right. I am wild and I am only part wolf-girl, but now I want for you to make me yours also."

She moved her hips against him a little in a hopeful way that caused Natan to grin.

"Or do you think that I am not enough wolf-girl to be allowed such a right?"

She wiggled her hips again so that her mound rubbed against him, "Take me, Prince, and let us begin our THREE-sided courtship."

Koten reached and moved the pot out of the heat of the hot air over the flames. Then he was careful and quick to get the pot down and moving the bowl over, he filled it and got up to move back to the chair. "What I wish for now is only a crust of good bread to go with this," he said quietly to himself.

"Then do not sit down without looking," Natan chuckled, "I left a long loaf and a knife on the chair."

Koten looked back and saw the articles. He said his thanks and then he sat down, balancing the heavy bowl on his thighs while he cut off a piece of the bread. He looked up then and frowned for a moment before he set everything down.

"This will never do," he said, as he found a good-sized log and after stirring the coals with the poker, he laid it in the middle of them and then resumed his meal.

"Better," he smiled as he noticed that the log had just begun to burn with a few free flames of its own, "I need a little light to eat by and to watch what I see before me."

Nadya was on her back again, copulating with Natan. Her face was turned toward Koten and she opened her eyes as her young lover nuzzled her neck. She smiled at Koten, very happy to have found that so far, it was working. She knew that she only had to make it really good for Natan so that she could please him in the slightly different way that she knew that he'd like from them both.

"I have never felt a wolf's prick in me before," she groaned, arching her back a little as Natan allowed her the room. "Our friend's fine one is the best that I have ever gotten from a human, and that is truth," she whispered loudly enough to Natan for Koten to hear. She wasn't trying to hide anything. She just didn't want to say it in a normal tone.

"For a girl like me to be able to have both, and lover," she sighed as she stroked his back, "what I feel is every bit as good to me, it makes me happy for myself and sad for all of the girls of either kind who look down their noses at the other."

She kissed Natan's cheek and he drew his head back to look down on her.

"I am not your first, surely," she said, "Why do you go so fast? This night, two of us are weak. You should take the chance to make it last by slowing down a little. I am weak and tired, yet I give myself to you with a hope for us. You should not waste the chance."

He apologized then, "I have been with my sisters a few times," he said, "This was what they taught me."

She shook her head and she reached for his face, "Then they taught you in error or maybe did not know better. Fuck me gently so that I might teach you better.

Beautiful boy," she smiled, "the fact is that a male as young as you are is a gift to any female who owns a working brain and can get one between her legs. Nothing is ever so hard and refills so quickly. But young lovers gush too quickly because they cannot last as long."

She crooned to him as he slowed right down and she loved the way that he dragged in and out of her after that. "Most times, I would like to go faster as well, but not this night while we are finding each other, Natan.

Concentrate on fucking me well and you will please yourself into the bargain. If you only pound me as quickly as you can, it will be over in an eyeblink. You will feel better and if you are an idiot, you will never see that the girl was only beginning and then it was done, her pleasure over.

If she knows what might be for her -- all that she can get in being loved by you so quickly, do you think that she would go to the trouble of having your seed run out of her if she felt next to nothing?

A female who knows loves what a male gives to her, but only if it comes to her the right way. The brainless wiggling of a boy who only thinks of himself only annoys her afterward while she deals with what runs out of her as her reminder of her own foolish and poor choice in a lover."

She reached to pull him into her slowly as she raised her hips under him. "There now. Surely you like me like this as well."

He nodded with a groan, "Yes, but ... but it comes soon."

"Then let it," she sighed, laying her arms out above her head, "we have the night to do it again, but if you favor me at all, hold more of yourself inside me now until the end. I have heard that the wonder of a wolf-prick lies at the fat end near to your body and I wish to see if I can lock you inside of me while you gush."

She sighed deeply, and then she gasped as he pushed in enough so that the hard knot spread her widely and she knew that Natan had found his joy in doing it so that her clitoris had its wishes fulfilled at the same time.

She mounted her own slope so quickly after that point, cooing and mewling to him as she held onto him tightly, but it lasted only moments before she was crying out a little more, now that she felt even better and she had a thought that she could eat again when they were done -- if Koten left her anything.

There it was, she thought as she felt her orgasm coming to her and that it was now almost too close to lose if only he kept on just a little, ... 

"Natan. ... Oh, Natan, you sweet boy. ... Oh, oh, ... oh. ... ohhhhh."

It wasn't what she would have called earth-shaking, but it was very good, she thought as she held onto him. There would need to be a few lessons given, but overall, she knew that it would work for her. 

Now she just had to make sure that it could work for them as well.

She moaned a little because she wanted to every time that she felt him contract to fill her a little in the way of what he was. It lasted for a time, perhaps five minutes or so and she found that she liked it this way as well as getting the larger gush of several contractions from Koten. 

She guessed that it was the same thing, really, only that the spaces between the contractions were longer for Natan. She didn't mind at all, since part of her was made to mate with ones like him. A little experimental movement on her part told her that her opening was a little too large and her pubic bone was a little too far away to lock him inside of her more than just a little.

He tried to get up from her as soon as he was done, but she held him fast. 

"Have I just fucked with you?" she asked, "Have I just loved with you and given you pleasure?"

He nodded against her neck, wondering what was going on.

"Then, sweet Natan," she sighed as she kissed his cheek with a smile, "think that a female has favored you with all that she can give to a male. Nature commands that a male is allowed to stay inside of himself intact while his prick brings him joy. It is the lot of the female to take a male inside of her. Think of it only for a moment.

Once it is done between them, a female might feel more than only pleasured and sated. She might feel love and even if it is only a little at the time, it is something which she does not want to end right away."

She kissed his attentive young face for a moment, "You are made to feel good against me, and you do. Please do not just jump up and tell me that it was all very nice, but that now you must go."

She groaned with the pleasant effort of rolling him over.

"There now," she smiled down at him while she stroked his cheek with her thumb, "I wish to look at the fine male who has given me his seed for a moment."

She nodded after a few seconds, "I told Koten that I accept him and would mate with him again. Now I am telling you the same thing. You may both love with me because I accept you. By this you should know that it is more than only the want of my cunny to be filled. I have that want like mostly any female, but I also tell you now that you might have more with me for it."

She looked down then and her free hand wandered down over his ticklish belly until it reached his genitals and she grasped his soft shaft then, "If you can share, we can all have our joy, you know. Or are you one of those who must have his female dedicated to only him?

I feel enough to want you both for me. I know that it might sound selfish," she smiled a little shyly then, "but I do not care if I can have both males for me, since you are not alike in many ways and both can make me cry out, once I am strong again. I already know it."

She pulled his sheath back a little and she rubbed the pointed tip of him with her thumb very gently to make him gasp almost silently, "Would you like to have me often? If you do, then you will need to share me with Koten, for I want him as much as I now want you."

She had rolled him back in this way so that Koten had the best view of it as she began to make love to Natan in a different way now, kissing him as she stroked and alternated with her teasing his tip this way.

Natan relaxed in her embrace a little slowly, looking up at her. This felt much different to what he'd done with Petra and Jenna. Neither of them had bothered with him afterwards, and he had the slightly unpleasant thought now that they'd only fucked with him out of a sense of doing what Kurtadam siblings did so often.

This was better, he thought as she mouthed her slow way down his front, having to shift herself a little so that she could end her little journey with his hardening shaft in her mouth. She moved her hand to take him again as she began to kiss his scrotum as wetly as she could, lifting the stones inside gently with her tongue and nuzzling there with her mouth. 

It took her a little time, but she began to lick the swells of his cheeks, her long tongue probing as wetly as she could keep it.

Natan moved his legs apart for her at some point that he couldn't recall afterward. This felt so good to him that he was surprised at himself over it, but then again, he decided, he'd always liked to feel any sort of caress on his bottom for as long as he could remember.

When her tongue found his anus, he gasped and Nadya poured on her saliva as fast as she could get it to come to her mouth, wanting even more than that now, and loving the soft way that she could make him gasp to her in response to almost anything that she did with it there. She began to finger herself, coating it with much of the semen inside of her as she could before she went back to suckling him.

She teased his tightly locked opening with her gentle finger before she moved her head a little and drooled on her finger again. One look to the side and she knew that Koten had stopped eating. The bowl was on the hearth once more and she had a hope that the pot still held at least something for her after this little show.

She wanted to grin.

He was masturbating slowly.

She sighed to him because it looked so good to see him like that.

Natan was still a youth in some ways and though he had it in him to be handsome, he was still very sweet to look at and she loved him for it. She already knew that she and Koten were only a few years older than Natan, but it was still a noticeable difference. She knew that she could love him and she loved to look at him, so young and full of promise, but her eyes drifted back to look at Koten then.

His promise had all very nearly come to fruition. He was large and though he was lean, he fairly rippled to her eyes whenever he moved in the slightest way. He was in every sense a man, she thought and, ...

Oh, she thought with a sigh, what a man.

"Come here and help me, Koten," she whispered, "Our boy will want something of you in this soon."

Koten stood up and walked over slowly, as though he feared to break the spell.

Natan looked up in a little shame, a little fear, and a little hopefully as well.

Nadya smoothly inserted her finger and Natan gasped, his ribcage heaving with the inhalation.

"Give him what you have for him, Koten," she said quietly as she looked at Natan and saw his nervous glance move from one to the other, "He will be past the little shock of it soon and then I will soothe him.

When that happens, he will want almost anything that he can get in his mouth, trust me, and he will want nothing more than that fine part of you that he looks at as it waves in the air for him."

Koten nodded, and Natan shook his head a bit, but Nadya only smiled and began to move her finger inside of Natan. 

"Oh yes you will, my lovely one, because you have wanted that for a time now, unless I am wrong -- and I do not think that I am." 

But he wasn't really listening, his head thrown back and a loud groan on his lips as she began to fuck him very gently.

Before he was even aware of it, his hips left the bed, so that he could feel what she was doing better, knowing somehow that she'd refine her angle into him as she fucked him so that all that he could do was sigh and groan, loving this new sensation.

"Open your eyes, my fine young lover," she crooned to him softly, "See what Koten has for you. Why not reach for it and hold it in your hand?"

Natan gave in and reached, though to them both, it was more of a lunge to see it. He held it and he stroked a little, and before he knew it, he was rubbing it against his face, causing Koten to groan at the feeling and the sight of it.

"My fine men," she sighed in open admiration, "I like to see this so much. Open your sweet mouth now Natan. See how it tastes and how it feels to suck on. I do not mind that you have beaten me to it, having the want of it inside your mouth."

Neither of them knew if he'd heard much of what she'd whispered, but they saw the way that he drew his head back for a moment and looked at the head of Koten's shaft. He looked nervous, but he also had a slightly determined expression on his face at the same time.

"You love Koten," Nadya said soothingly, "Both he and I have seen it in you. He loves you. Why not begin it now?"

Natan closed his eyes then and he licked the tip of it once, but with that done, he opened his mouth and took it in with a sigh. His eyes opened only moments later and they looked up at Koten as he sucked. 

Koten's hand found its way to Natan's furry head as he groaned.

Nadya went back to her suckling of Natan, trying to guage her timing very carefully, since to her, it was most important that they take this pleasure between themselves first.

"Oh, Natan,"Koten sighed heavily after a moment.

Nadya was a little alarmed at that, because it sounded to her as though Koten was not all that far off now. How could that be? She asked herself the question before she guessed that he must have been masturbating as he'd watched them for longer than she'd been aware of it. She groaned to herself, but then she wanted to smile when she felt Natan's fingers in her hair and Koten's hand on her shoulder.

Her fine males hadn't forgotten her and she drew comfort from it, wanting them all to find something meaningful between them, and not only this.

Koten gasped a couple of times and then he groaned. 

From the way that she watched Natan sucking now, she guessed that Koten was coming, so she fucked Natan a little harder with her finger, twisting it a little at the same time and she went to town on his wolf-prick, loving the way that it felt whenever she got far enough down on him to feel the way that his knot pressed up against her lips. 

Oh, thunder and stormy weather, she thought to herself, how she wanted to finger herself right now.

Natan groaned and writhed and bucked, crying out as he came, but Nadya hadn't really needed the warning. She'd seen it coming for a little while. She held him in her mouth, still suckling, still working out what there was and waiting for the next little, ...

Natan groaned again and there was more in her mouth, and she still kept on, still waiting, groaning herself whenever she felt more coming to her. She looked at Koten, who stood looking at her as she tried to empty Natan completely.

Natan gave her the last of what he had in another minute and then Koten sank to his knees beside the bed, taking Natan into his arms. Nadya let him go then and she looked at the two of them, her males now - she hoped - and if it could only be so, what a life they might have together. 

But she knew that it was far too soon to think of it in those terms. She wanted to smile anyway, because it was such a nice thought to her. A torn and tattered heart such as hers tried not to see things like that normally, because she couldn't believe that such things were really possible.

She remembered that Natan was a prince among his kind and would have duties and responsibilities to them. She would have been happy with either one, she thought, as long as she could have one of them for herself, though she really did want them both. She watched them kissing for a moment, knowing that this was the precarious moment when she might see that they wanted each other more than they would want her.

Well, she thought, there was a test that she could think of and it might tell her something. She tried to stretch toward them.

Natan saw it and he made room as they turned their faces to look at her. Nadya was a little stuck then, not knowing which of her faces she ought to be showing them now.

As sometimes happened, she got a little stuck in between and her white furry chin and belly showed to them as they pulled her on top of Natan and the top part of Koten and began to kiss her hungrily.

She almost smiled, but she didn't.

No, she moved her face nearer to get comfortable and then she began to return their kisses, holding both of her males by their heads.

It surprised them both.

A lot.

Well she hadn't swallowed much of Natan's semen at all.

Their hunger for her went up several notches in a heartbeat. Nadya was amazed and so happy.

Natan almost flung her like a rag doll over onto her back and he dove to get his face in between her legs. The startled cry from her hadn't even really left her throat before she found Koten on the top half of her, kissing her and running one of those wonderful hands of his over her breasts, down along her slightly ticklish sides and then around and down to her bottom and back. 

It felt wonderful to her.

And it went on and on, not that she'd ever grow tired of it, she thought happily.

Natan might be going at her with all of the rash impatience and inexperience of one his age, but Nadya sure didn't care anymore. It was all that she could do to moan past Koten's lips as she bucked her hips against the youth's face.

None of them know quite how it happened or just when, but somehow -- in some magical and gently primitive way, Koten had gotten underneath her -- or, ... or maybe she'd gotten on top of him.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 07



It didn't matter. What mattered was the way that she had him inside of her again and actually had the strength to fuck herself very eagerly on him while Natan knelt beside them and kissed her, running his hand over her ass and even better, slipping his fingers under her bushy tail.

She'd never know anything nicer than this, she realized.

Nothing was said between them, but she knew what was wanted as she felt Natan's moistened fingers probing her anus very gently. She stopped to look at him and the request was in his eyes, so she looked at Koten and then back at Natan.

"Alright," she nodded, "But there will be none of your frantic thrusting. I want you both, but this has to go slow, at least at first and you must listen to me, Natan. I will tell you as soon as I can if I can take it faster or harder. Promise me."

He nodded, "I promise, Nadya. I only want to make you happy now."

She kissed him for a moment, "You both make me so happy now. Did you leave me any of the soup for later, Koten?" 

Seeing his nod, she chuckled a little bravely, "Even happier then. 

Begin it, Natan. I wish to belong to you both now. Maybe we can turn this into something."

Natan's entrance was only a little uncomfortable to her, since he really did want to make this good for her, and since - though he was almost as long as Koten there, he was thinner in the way of his kind. That was all to the good for this and it was plenty for the more normal way of vaginal intercourse.

But she knew that there was the knot at the end of him. She thought of it with a little trepidation.

It would likely come to her eventually in this double-penetration of her. The only trouble was that it would either represent a good deal of pain to her, or by then as she hoped a little anyway, it might be something of a payoff.

It turned out to be a little of both, though she felt wanton enough now that she almost didn't care.

But when she felt the way that their pricks could rub against each other, seemingly right through her, ...

When she saw what it was doing for Koten and with a quick look over her shoulder to their fine boy and what it was doing for him, ...

Nadya just hung her head and fucked herself on them until at last, she knew that she'd found her place in the world and it was here, doing what she'd been made to do with them.

"Tell me that you love me," she hissed at them, "if you think that you want to. Think of after, tomorrow and the next day." 

She groaned as she fucked in between them, "Lie to me if you must for tonight, but say it and tell me that I am good for you!

UuuhrrrHHH!" She gritted her teeth as she felt Natan begin to thrust into her more quickly.

"I did not tell you, Natan, but fuck me hard now!"

"I love you, Nadya," Natan hissed as he worked while caressing her haunches.

"Good boy," she smiled, looking back, "I almost believe you because I want to. You are young enough to mean it."

She threw herself into fucking Koten then, hanging her head once more and feeling it as her open mouth drooled a little on him.

"Uhh, Uhh, Erh, what about you?" she asked, "Have you nothing to say? No female gives this much for nothing, unless she feels, .. Erh ,uhh, what I feel for you already.

Come on, Koten! I am the one for you both. Say it!

Ah! Ah! Tell me that you love me and AHHH! We can decide things later. Tell m-"

He grabbed her hips, right over Natan's hands, "I love you, you fur-covered beauty!" he laughed, "I think I come to it anyway.

But I might kill you if we never do this again."

She almost laughed herself as she felt Natan's knot beginning to bang into her, "We will never do this again tonight. Tomorrow, or when my ass feels up to it is another thing."

She slowed a little to savor the way that they were both fucking her -- out of time with each other, but she didn't care anymore.

"Are we not allowed to hear what you want?" Koten groaned through his teeth.

"I love my men," she groaned, "I'll say it as long as you want me to, only fuck me like this forever."

She rested the top of her head against Koten's powerful chest, "I want to love you both, "she sniffled, "I need to have you both, and so I love you from this night on."

They didn't let her down, pounding her from both sides for a long, long time.

Nadya knew that love wasn't decided this way.

But for her beaten-up heart, she wanted it to be, and so she decided that it was what would be for the three of them, and she'd do whatever it took for her to make it a true statement.

What they were doing together was carnal and wanton and she didn't care.

Because she could feel the way that they were repairing her poor heart from it. Somebody wanted her for her own sake.

And for that, Nadya would do anything for them.

---------------------------

Margit woke up from a sound and comfortable sleep and she listened, wondering for a moment.

"It is the girl," Gunnar smiled as he reached to hold her, "You are getting your wish, from what you said to me."

"I had no choice in it, Gunnar," she smiled as she rolled over against him, "She looked better, though she was still a little bedraggled-looking, lying there on Koten's bed with her hair appearing, .. well, it looked a little, ... 

What I mean to say is that -- "

"They had been fucking even before you entered," Gunnar chuckled, "I see though the way that you seek to couch it for me. I do not care."

"Well yes," she smiled, "that much was plain to my eyes, even there in the dark. She is a very lovely one, too, even though she looks so thin and hungered. If she stays with him, I will get her back to her old self in no time, you may trust in me."

He turned to look at her, "You really like this one, don't you? I can see it in you."

"Yes," she admitted, "I do. If you remember, I am one who knows both sides of life for a lonely girl, the privilege and the poverty and lonely desperation from that. I guess that my heart goes to her." 

She listened for a moment, "Why does she call Natan's name? Could I have gotten it wrong, what I saw in her eyes?"

Her husband shrugged with a chuckle, "I think that her heart is going to them both at the moment. I have heard her call out their names often in the last little while."

She pulled her head back and looked at him. "Both? You, you mean at once?"

He nodded, "You said that she did tell you that it was her wish in the roundabout way of talking that they sometimes use."

"Yes, but, "Margit looked at him, "I meant one at a time, thinking that it was the way that she wanted it. They do tend to think of packs, those ones."

"Well, I would say that she thinks of making her pack all three at once. Listen."

They were still, both of them listening and after a time, Margit nodded, "It is so! She takes them both -- at the same time! How?"

Gunnar turned to hug her and she felt his hand moving lower between them, "I guess that she might be a little like you in more ways than you might imagine."

Margit thought about it as she held his hardness and began to stroke it, "But at the same time, Gunnar. I never thought to try that, though to be fair, I never had two males wanting to go at me at the same time. I wonder what that is like."

There was a keening cry which came to them then and it ended as a long, loud wail.

"She seems to like it," Margit grinned, but then she stared as her husband helped her onto her knees. "Gunnar, ... Gunnar, there is another man in the bed with us," she whispered in alarm.

"Only me," he laughed a little, "only another one of me.

Nothing more."

Margit sighed as she moved herself to a better position over him and felt the gentle wet pressure of the other one of him against her bottom.

-------------------------------

They had their talk the next morning, the three of them, and they agreed that it would need care to keep all of them walking the same road together, and that road might have a lot of potholes, but they all wanted to try.

"Like this, it is a little like a family and yet it is not," she said.

"You," she tousled Natan's mane affectionately, loving the way that he smiled up at her, "You are our boy, not yet as you will be. We will teach you and always love you, Koten and me together.

"And you," she grinned at Koten and rolled her eyes, pushing him away with a chuckle, "I have no words."

"What about you, Red Nadya?" Natan laughed, "I heard what you said to Margit. We know what you seek to do to trap us. What are you in this?"

She sought for a reply, but nothing laughable came to her mind to make a joke out of. She was about to shrug when Koten grabbed her and rolled her over so that she was under and between them.

"Everything," he sighed and Natan nodded.

The moment passed then and both males began to tickle her until she was a helpless mess of teary laughter. 

Margit bustled in at one point and shooed them all out to her kitchen for the breakfast that she'd made them. "Eat," she pointed at Nadya's platter, "You need to regain your strength," she said as she stood next to where the girl sat, making sure that 'the boys' didn't hog all of the bacon slices.

Nadya smiled up at her, missing the sort of home life that she saw here suddenly, "Did you enjoy my little gift, Margit?"

"Yes," the woman smiled back, "very much, thank you. We were on the bed in wonder for a long time while it lasted, Gunnar and I." She looked down then with a twinkle in her eyes, "Will you stay with us? You do not look like her, but I find that you remind me so much of one which I miss these days."

"I do not know," Nadya replied, "I do not know if I might be allowed to stay here in the fortress. But it is a nice thought to me. You remind me of my mother and I still miss her very much."

Margit's eyes looked a little wetter a moment later and she bent down a little so that she could hug Nadya for a moment, "Then let us enjoy what comes, whatever it is," she smiled, stretching a little to leave a soft kiss on the girl's forehead.

"I have asked for the large bath to be filled and made ready in that chamber over there, since I think that you three all might want to have a bath today."

"Oh, Margit," Nadya smiled, bowing her head in thanks, "I will have my bath last after these two, and then I will clean it out, because surely, I will leave some dirt behind me, living as I have."

"I have no doubt of it, the way that you must have lived, poor girl," Margit nodded, "Only," she began as she looked at the other two, "You ought to make certain that there is clean and hot water waiting for her and help when it comes time to clean what is left.

I will change and wash the bedding for you three today. We may speak plainly here. I know what you do among you and I like the thought of it -- as long as it is not only a passing thing. A mother can like the ones that her son lives with, especially you two."

She rolled her eyes at her own words, "I have already come to love Natan anyway. Surely one as well-mannered and lovely as you will have a place in my heart soon enough as well, Nadezhda. I already look at you as though I am shopping for a daughter, so we must both beware."

She stepped away to get more of the bread that she'd baked, "And as long as we are speaking this way, I remind you Koten, that you took those rooms. In my eyes, you are a man and a man looks after his own food and takes care of his own and he also does not live hanging around his mother's kitchen when he needs a meal. 

I will not run an inn here, running back and forth to sweep both homes and cook for five and not only two or three."

Her eye fell on Nadya and she winked, "Not often, anyway. 

Let me know it when I must make a meal large enough for us all once in a while."

"I would want to help," Nadya said earnestly, "I have not had much to work with for the past long while, but I can cook, Margit, so please let me help."

"Done," Margit smiled, "I likely would have asked you anyway. What are your plans for the day, you three lovers? The bed is out of your bounds today and I think that my friend here needs a little exercise."

They hadn't spoken of it yet, but Nadya cleared her throat a little uncertainly after a moment. "If you will help me, " she said to the others, "I want to go back to my burrow. I have almost nothing, but there are a few things there which I would want -- if I am to live here now. I will need you and your horses for the journey."

-------------------------------

They reached her well-hidden hole in the ground later on that day, not long after noon, Koten and Natan sitting on their horses and keeping watch for some reason that they didn't really know of while Nadya climbed down.

She emerged only moments later with a book of some sort, a thing full of loose papers, it seemed to be and she clutched a few other articles in her hand, one of them a long thing. She climbed up behind Koten this time and she said that she wanted to be gone from there now. 

"I have what I need and hold dear to me, and I feel so much better, thanks to you both as well as your mother, Koten. But I never wish to see this barren place again now. Please take me to where I am to live now."

They looked at her a little oddly over the way that she'd said it and she smiled.

"I do not feel like a lost girl anymore," she said, "I feel like one who is important to her males, so I would go wherever they go. 

Did you think that I was joking last night? I cried out the way that I felt, and it has not changed since."

They nodded with smiles then and they began to ride back.

------------------------

"Thank you," Margit said to Tirga, "And I am only sorry that it was not to be between our children."

"I am as well," Tirga replied a little sadly, "though it is not all fallen down. Natan seems to have found his place -- the one where he wishes to be, from what I can tell, so I am still a little happy." 

She looked away then, out through the glazed window. 

"My girls do not seem to understand that something like what was wanted needs far more care than a regular pairing between only two." 

She shrugged, "It is difficult enough to make your life with only one, is it not? Harder still to see it grow when half of the pack demands something of one which might easily see him dead as though it was nothing to ask it."

She gazed out of the window at a dark spot in the snow which grew slowly and she turned, "There they are now, Margit. Is that the one? She is lovely, though she looks so thin."

Margit sat up and tried to see as well, "Yes. She was found well-starved and weak. She already looks better to the way that she did when I met her.

You are certain that it is alright, that she stay here?"

Tirga nodded, "Yes. None of us know how it was that she was made. A human male may plow a Kurtadam girl until the mountains fall and she will never birth a mixture of the two. But there she is, plainly.

I remember her mother," she said in a faraway voice, "And her girl does her proud in how she looks like her. Her kind of us were among the quietest and most peaceful of us, but the soldiers refused to allow more than a handful of them to be among the ones taken to our new home.

They had their reasons to fear, I guess. I only wish that the rest of us had the wisdom to insist or to choose some other path. One of them could fight down any ten of the soldiers -- any one of them at any time before they turned and sought for more to kill.

We were stupid to allow it. I see that now, long years later. If we'd had more of them with us, the confinement would never have happened. Her kind of us would have killed them all AND the holymen and we would have been free to seek out our own destiny.

That is what pushed me to insist on her daughter's behalf," Tirga said, "out of my regret that we did not listen to their warnings to us and, ..."

She looked down for a moment and she sighed, "And also, out of my own regret that I did not stand up and shout on her mother's behalf when she came to tell me farewell, the night that she was to leave with the one she loved. It was my failing to hold still and say nothing, when what I should have done was to give her and her male a place within the walls."

She looked up then, "So you see, stupidity comes quite naturally to me and my daughters.

I hope that this goes better for Koten now. She is allowed free passage here as long as she stays in the part of the fortress where you live here. I only set that limit on her until my girls get over things. It surprises me," she said.

"Petra has always been the strong-willed one but now she has lost much of her spirit. Jenna was always only a follower to Petra, but now she seems to have only a kernel of hatred which glows in her breast. 

Petra asks to step aside and Jenna seeks to rule alone, yet we cannot give it over to her, since she acts out of her own wants and sees nothing of what ruling others is about. She has forgotten everyone else but her.

Tell Koten and his girl there to have a care whenever they see Jenna with a bow in her hand. That is all that I will say of it."

She bade her friend goodbye and she left their part of the keep then.

----------------------------

Gunnar nodded, "I do not see the need of it, but if what I see here grows only a little firmer, then you have my blessing, since it seems to be important to you. You already have my admiration, now that I know more of you." 

Please do not misunderstand me," he smiled at Nadya, "The truth here is that I AM very pleased at what I see. I just do not see the need of my blessing and I will not spring up and dance all around the room over it."

Nadya looked at Gunnar and she saw enough in him to understand him. "Your blessing means much to me, although," she smiled, "I agree that this must grow a little more before I think to even begin to count on what I seem to have as what will be for the rest of my life. The truth here is that we have only just begun, though it makes me very happy." 

They sat with Gunnar in a quiet room of his where he sometimes spent days working at his many crafts. Natan had fallen asleep in a large chair and Koten sat at a bench over a smoking vessel looking into the qualms of the smoke, trying to scry and learn of what might come to him while Nadya and Gunnar spoke together. 

Nadya was very happy to finally really meet Gunnar, knowing him as the same thing that his son was from only the way that either of them felt to her when she was near them.

She sat in a chair naked as the wolf-girl. She saw no reason to hide what she was from him just as he saw no reason for it either.

She took a piece of long cloth from the table and in the candlelight and the light of the fire in the room, he saw that it looked to be a dark green with patterns embroidered into it with golden thread.

He could also see her fur-covered cleft for a moment as she moved to stand up.

"The trappings of a female forest-warrior," she smiled as she began to wrap it around her waist in a complex way which required eight different and difficult knots from what he could tell. She groaned a little, having to re-tie the last one and then she adjusted the garment so that it hung properly.

What Gunnar saw was something which seemed to have been made to cover her modesty and little else, hanging down a ways both front and back and yet hiding nothing more than that. Her furry breasts, all of her torso, and her hips and long legs were still bare.

"It holds a two-fold purpose," she smiled as she noticed that he watched her and she knew that his gaze was not prurient in nature, "It is to keep me well in my health and also, it is to hide me if I have the need."

She made a motion with her hand and she was gone from his sight, though he could plainly sense that she was still there in front of him.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08



*** Ah well, I missed Hallowe'en once again. :(

This chapter predates some of the last one by a few days at one point, but the rest is pretty much concurrent. I doubt that you'd notice, so it's no big deal, really.

There is a character in it which I've always found to be a little laughable, no doubt the imaginings of some "wise men" someplace. It began as a dragon-ish serpent with a bad reputation, but by the 12th century and onwards, it grew to be confused with the mythical cockatrice and was just as ludicrous in its supposed appearance. 

Even Leonardo DaVinci commented on it in his writings and repeated the drivel of those before him - and of course, he'd never even seen one - just like everybody else.

I read the name in a novel and looked it up to be sure. Since they never existed, I made mine as living up to its title - The King of the Serpents.

Just so you know, the bodies of water in this are the North Sea, the Skaggerat and the Kattegat.

The Baltic Sea, where our group of tourists are headed, flows into the Kattegat, a body of water once considered treacherous before the advent of modern navigation removed much of the hazards.

The Kattegat flows into the Skaggerat, known for its sandbars. From there, it's out to the North Sea. Our heroes are sailing the other way, eastward.

There are records which indicate that the Limfjord once had a channel out into the Kattegat but it has since closed off and is a true fjord once more today.

Names? 

Chiorstan, an early version of Kirsten and spoken the same way.

The little baby's name is Màiri-Ceit and it's pronounced "Mary-Kate".

Oh, and Gudrun the troll-girl is in it too. :)

0_o

***

-----------------------

"Three days, "Louhu muttered to herself as she looked out of the window which gave her a view out of the front of the little inn and smithy belonging to Leif and Moppy. It also provided a view of the road which passed by the place and if one had the interest, one could see across that road and into the forest beyond for a little distance.

She was staring at a figure out there among the trees who never moved on and often crept from one vantage point to another. Louhi had no idea just how long the person had been out there, but it became rather obvious to her and Cuilén that the only reason that anyone might have for hanging around in the wet and cold was to keep the place under surveillance. 

And she'd been aware of him for the past three days.

Cuilén had suggested that he could likely capture the individual without much fuss, but Louhi felt a slight desire to exercise a bit of caution.

"I do not think that this one is there to choose the best moment to rob the place," she said, "but I do wish to know, all the same."

Ren was asked to investigate and when he returned, they decided that the man out there was keeping watch on behalf of someone else. Louhi nodded to Cuilén and he left by another door.

Twenty-seven minutes later that late afternoon, Gilbert looked up from his quiet observation, wondering at the soft sound behind him in the leaves and he fell unconscious from the blow that he received on the other side of his head from the flat of Cuilén's sword. At that point, Cuilén went to retrieve the glove that he'd tossed to distract Gilbert.

The young man was trussed up and tied to an 'A' frame made from sapling trunks before Cuilén dragged him out of the woods and over the road behind his horse. 

Gilbert began to stir when the frame was hoisted up so that he hung from his bonds, but what finally brought him around was the bucketful of cold seawater which Cuilén poured over his head.

Gilbert sputtered and raised his head, almost groaning to see that the one who had captured him so easily was the very same one that he'd told Màiri that he was a little nervous about.

Then he saw the woman who he'd been sent to watch as she sat on an unsplit section of tree trunk which she used as a chair for the moment. They looked at each other for a long few minutes and in that time, Gilbert felt as though she gleaned information from him without even the asking.

"Why were you watching us?" Louhi asked him.

Gilbert was young and rather idealistic, and that feeling was out of a fair bit of gratitude and loyalty to Màiri and Beathag. He held his tongue.

Louhi watched him in silence for a more than ten minutes, hardly blinking and never shifting her gaze - and looking at her cold stare became a little unnerving for Gilbert.

"I can tell you a few things that I see about you," she said, "and then you have a choice to make.

You work for someone -- a woman or women and you pass what you have seen to her -- or them. I would not care at almost any time, but I believe that the woman is a wise one who has an interest in us.

It makes me curious, which is why you are here.

This person is your lover, and I see also that you are very loyal to her. It is very admirable in my eyes."

Gilbert could not keep the surprise from his face, not being really very far along in this business of being a spy and Louhi nodded to him.

"I see that I am not far from the mark."

She walked up to him and smiled up at where he hung shivering. "Not the best weather to be wet to the skin, I fear." 

She looked off at the trees which hid the view of the little cove down below. 

"A few more buckets of brine will make matters worse, especially if my large friend here turns the thing that holds you on its end and hangs your head in the cold water. It is a lot of work for the song of a young man, but you will tell me what I wish to know -- and if it must go that way, then I will kill you.

I hold nothing against you, but I need to know why we are being watched. Tell me something that I know to be truth and I will keep you warm and dry - and fed -- until your lover comes for you, for she will because she cares very much for you."

Louhi sighed then, "I do not feel that this woman wishes me harm. If I did, you would already be dead out of principle, the price for putting her nose where it does not belong."

Gilbert said nothing, and Cuilén poured another bucket of seawater over his head as slowly as he could, keeping the stream over the boy's mouth and nose as much as possible.

Gilbert coughed and retched as he hung his head.

Cuilén tied Gilbet's head back against the frame and picked up a second bucket.

"Who is the woman and why does she want us watched?" Louhi asked, "To keep on this way will only cause you to hate us and it is not needed, since I do not think that we are speaking of anything worth your death. I only need to know."

It took four more buckets and then Louhi had her answers. Gilbert was taken down and tied up before Cuilén toweled him off roughly and dragged him off to a warm bed after Ren spoonfed him, while making no answers to Gilbert's many questions.

Annikki walked past once and when Gilbert looked at her, she smiled and said. "He does not speak English at all. You should just eat."

-----------------------------

The next afternoon, Louhi knew it as more than twenty horsemen gathered in the woods across the road, though they stayed out of sight. Màiri and Beathag arrived just after sundown.

"Ride over quietly and take the place," Màiri said, "I want no one harmed -- especially a woman with whitish hair. I need to speak to her."

In a minute, the open space around the inn teemed with horses and it resembled the 11th century equivalent of the modern day biker bar parking lot. Màiri's men entered by the three doors of the place and though Màiri and Beathag watched intently, many minutes passed with no sight or sound to indicate to them that anything had happened at all.

Màiri cursed and rode across the road herself.

As soon as she walked into the door, she stood in inky darkness, though she could see a light up ahead and she wondered. It seemed to be a couple of hundred feet away from her, and yet she knew that the building was not anywhere near that wide and she also knew that there was a cliff and a beach behind it -- also not that far away.

"Tell your men not to draw their weapons," a quiet and accented voice came to her mind, "or they will only harm each other in the dark. They can hear you, so tell them for their sake."

Màiri called out and heard answering cries and she passed on the instructions.

"Do not harm them," she said, "They only follow my orders. They were told not to harm you."

After that, she heard the voice again as it said only, "Then they will be spared. Walk."

Màiri approached the lit area rather slowly and with a bit of caution. Her view opened up and she stopped and turned around. What she'd walked out of appeared as a black wall to her.

There was fog and smoke in the air all around and it was lit in a flickering manner by distant flames from several directions. There were cries and screams from outside her field of view. When nothing came to her, she began to walk again. 

The ground was littered with bodies, not all dead. Some were trying to crawl away. 

Farther on, she saw two figures, a man and a woman as mostly silhouettes. She recognized the woman from her scrying as the one which she wanted to meet. The woman was talking to a large man who seemed to resemble her in some aspects. Both of them were armed.

Màiri drew the haft of her sword from her cloak and the smoking blade came into view with a whisper.

At the sound of it, the others turned and Màiri saw that they held their weapons in their hands as they approached her. She prepared herself for some sort of conflict.

The couple stopped a few yards off and waited for her.

"I want to speak with you," Màiri said, "alone."

The woman smiled a little at that and said," Speak then. We are alone." 

She indicated the man with a motion of her head and said, "He is elsewhere and he cannot understand this speech if you keep using it."

The man spoke then, several questions in a language which Màiri couldn't comprehend and the woman answered him.

"He says that you are very beautiful and he hopes that he will meet you one day."

Màiri tilted her head, "I thought that you said that he wasn't here. This is your man? Who is the dark-haired one then that I have seen?"

The woman chuckled softly for a moment and then she translated for the man who laughed and bowed before walking off into the smoke.

"He is not my lover," the woman said, "He is my father, though what you said has made him laugh."

She planted the tip of her sword in the ground and stood leaning on it with a small smile. "Why were you watching me? It almost caused the death of your Gilbert. 

I like your taste, by the way."

Màiri told herself not to get caught up in any deception as she returned the gaze, "Where is he? Why did you capture him? He meant no harm."

The woman nodded, "He is safe, Màiri Ciar. It took a little time and work, but he told me that you wished to meet me. We did not harm him at all, though he may be at the start of a cold from it. 

My name is Louhi Fornjot and I think that you wanted to meet me in some circumstances which you had not yet contrived so that you could deal with me from a better position.

I merely used the knowledge to change that position to my advantage. 

Please, ... your sword. It might be interesting, but we will not talk very much if we must swing our swords. Walk with me a little instead and we will see where we end up."

With that, Louhi slid her sword into the scabbard that she wore on her shoulder and waited.

Màiri's sword flickered and was gone as she pocketed the haft and stepped closer. Louhi held out her hand.

After grasping Louhi's arm for a moment, they fell into step together, walking slowly.

"Where is this place?" Màiri asked as they passed an abattoir with its shutters wide open. Màiri saw several people inside, moaning as they hung from meat hooks. A few were struggling weakly and she stared until they were past.

"The place where I grew up, "Louhi said quietly, "Though it looked better than this then. This is as it looked the last time that I was there with my father. We came to do this in vengeance for what was done to us and our family friends. Does it bother you? I can show it as it looks now."

The smoke was gone as were the people and several of the buildings. There was ground fog everywhere and it was all desolation and burned-out homes.

"What was the reason why you wished to meet me?"

--------------------------------------

Louhi nodded after hearing it all.

"But you know only that you are all being used to little purpose. You wish to go away and know no place where this growing fight would not follow you. Is that right?"

Màiri nodded, "Can you help us? We have lost a few already."

"Perhaps I can," Louhi nodded, "My friend and I were here only to pass over the land on our way to Iceland, but it looks as though we will not ever get there now, and staying here over the winter loses its charm to us by the day. I do not think that I am one who can live beside the sea when it is not sunny and warm. Here, that is never.

My father asks me to go to him and I think that I will. I find that I miss my family now.

They are not in the land where we come from any longer. They are more than four hundred leagues from here as the birds fly -- farther on the ground. They now live in some mountains and from what my mother told me as a girl, the mountain meadows are very pretty and it is easy to keep sheep, if one had the mind to.

There are four of us. You said that you have -- sixty, no, perhaps a hundred with their families. A long way to go for that many to travel together."

"I don't think that all of them will want to go that far, "Màiri said, "I need to ask to see. But how will we get there?"

"The same as most travelers, I would guess," Louhi said, "By boat into the Baltic Sea and then overland south." 

She turned and cautiously placed her hand on Màiri's shoulder, "You are offering friendship? I think that it must be that way. We want to go back to the mainland at least and I want to see my family. You look for a home for your people." 

She held out her hand once more and Màiri clasped it, nodding.

"But no more of this," Màiri said, waving her other hand around her, "It needs to be open between us." 

Louhi nodded, though with a little smile once more, "If I had not held your Gilbert to make you come to me, what would you have done?"

Màiri thought about it and then she grinned back, "The smaller of the men among you, I was thinking of capturing him. You make a fair point, Louhi, and I see it. We are agreed.

If we can manage the start of this together, I think that we might use the time on the boat to learn of each other."

They decided to take two days to take stock and meet again at a place near the docks in the nearest town.

"You know the way out?" Louhi asked and without any sign of smugness.

"Of course," Màiri smiled, "I only had to think on it a while. In two days then."

"In two days," Louhi agreed, "Wait a little outside and Gilbert will come to you. He is very nice to look at."

Màiri stepped out of the doorway and back out to where her riders sat immobile on the backs of their horses. None of them had ever been inside the building at all. Her face showed nothing, but Màiri wondered at Louhi's ability to create and manage an illusion on such a scale. She walked across the road toward the pair of women over there.

"Who is this?" she asked Beathag who stood with her arms crossed and glaring at Annikki, whose face carried and open and pleased smile as she stepped forward to grasp Màiri's arm and introduce herself.

"The light-haired one's stooge," Beathag said in a venomous tone.

Annikki pretended not to hear the remark and she was polite and friendly anyway, "The meeting went well, Màiri?"

"Well enough," the red-haired one nodded back with a smile, "It seems that we all might be traveling together if we can manage it somehow. I hope that your own meeting with Beathag went -- "

"About as I thought that it might," Annikki grinned, "We stood here and hissed at each other like a pair of cats. I can see that a sea voyage will hold even more charms, but I am glad to meet you -- both - and hear that it went at least fairly well. A pleasant night to you, "she smiled as she began to turn away.

"And you," she said to Beathag over her shoulder, "I would tell you that you can lick my ass as a parting thought, but I will not."

Seeing Beathag's eyes open for a moment before they almost glowed in suppressed anger, Annikki sighed, "You are probably not very good at it anyway."

Màiri's laugh echoed against the wall of the forest, but she placed her arm on Beathag's, "Do not take the bait, Beathag. As yet, it needs almost nothing to ruin this before it has even begun."

"I would kill her for her words and her tone," Beathag seethed.

"But you will not," her old friend smiled, "If you could see past your choice not to remain at least neutral, you might look at it in another way."

"What other way?" the black-haired witch growled as she watched Annikki make her way smiling through the rather astounded riders to step into the door of the inn.

"Why not at least try to get along, since you may be trapped with her in a small place for some time as we sail? She sounded a little disappointed. Why not seek to show her that she was wrong?"

Beathag looked as though she could have exploded, "What? She --"

Màiri put her arm around her friend, "Oh calm yourself. I know how wrong she was. 

Now go and get my horse. Tell the men to follow us." 

She smiled, "Now that I think of it, let us hurry back. This talk reminds me of how it calms you if I do it for you and I can see that you need calming now."

Beathag walked to where her horse was tied and she heard the low whistle. When she turned her head, she saw Annikki guiding Gilbert out toward her.

"I do not think that our interests will be served well if we behave like a pair of sisters at twelve years of age," Annikki said, "I would try to at least accommodate you and help where I may, if you will do the same.

Here is your boy. We have not harmed him."

Beathag recalled Màiri's words and she did try to smile pleasantly, "Thank you. I cannot say where my anger came from in me, but I do not want this ruined because of it. You behave better than I and it shames me a little."

Annikki waved it off, "Let us forget it all. I have seen that sometimes what begins badly can turn into friendship. I do not know if it can be so for you and I, but I will try to hold my tongue if you will."

Beathag stepped over and began to guide the bewildered-looking Gilbert to her horse, "I do not know and cannot say, but your way sounds a little better. A good night to you."

----------------------------

Louhi stood where Màiri had left her wondering if they ought to even get involved.

She looked back as Gunnar walked up to her.

"Do you need me, Father?" she asked.

He nodded, "I need to be somewhere where I can really hold my girl to me again. There will be trouble where we three are very soon and Koten will find himself at the center of it, I fear."

Louhi nodded with a determined look, "Then we will come -- somehow."

She watched as Gunnar walked off before she dispelled the rest.

---------------------------

Gunnar sat back from his bench with his eyes wide for a moment before he began to smile.

"What is it, Father?" Koten asked, "I heard Louhi's voice for a little while as you looked."

Gunnar sighed and he smiled in a little hopeful relief, "Louhi is coming."

----------------------------

Màiri and Louhi met with a few others on the appointed day and they sat looking down at the harbour a little wistfully.

"I do not think that it can be done now, "she said, "We began as rangers with sixty-four riders. Over the time, we lost some in fights and were at a strength of sixty. Talking with the men and their families has brought me down to fifty-one, though I tried to be fair and make it plain that to remain here alone was to be hunted and likely by both sides. 




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08



All told, there are still seventy-two people and fifty-three horses. The largest boat here cannot carry them all, and you are four among you."

"Five," Louhi said, "The place where we were belongs to a troll and his wife. They were gone for a time, but returned yesterday with a cousin of his. She wishes to come."

She turned in the saddle to look at Màiri, "Something must happen for us, my cautious new friend. Leif is in a rage because Annikki's boy is a kind that he fears will steal his wife from him no matter how she tries to gainsay it all. We have only two days to leave there. 

I can help even seventy-seven to travel overland quickly, but I cannot do it if we only travel to the nearest landfall and ride the whole way, and I cannot cause a large boat to just appear, along with a crew. I do not have enough gold to pay for even the short crossing. How much have you?"

"I can manage something," the red-haired one said as she indicated her saddle bags. "I was given what the laird who we were to work for thought was enough to last a year, and though I have been frugal, I know that it will not suffice by half. But I think that I can do better than you.

It still will not be enough," she said sadly, "I am almost certain of it, looking at all of this."

"Well," Louhi said, "let us go down and find out how much we will be short by."

They sidled their horses through the crowded place and stood at last on the dock between the two largest of the ships, knowing that they couldn't manage it, but wanting to see anyway.

One ship looked almost deserted and the other was bustling with goods being off-loaded. Cuilén went to speak to the unhappy-looking master.

"Passage to Urbs Gyddanyzc?" he asked, shaking his head, "For how many? Seventy-seven? And horses into the bargain?" 

He shook his head, "Friend, I tell you honestly, I could have managed it a month ago. These two Frisian cogs are mine. I could have handled it easily. But my luck has turned sour and --"

There was a frightened yell from the other ship as they all heard a crunch. Looking over just in time, they all saw some broken timber fly into the air, followed by a yelling man, who flew upward for a moment to come landing with a loud thud half on the dock not far from their feet. He was dead a moment later.

There was a commotion and many of the dockhands walked away on the spot.

The master hung his head. "I would take you, ... " 

He shook his head then, "No, I have had more than enough of it. I want to take what I can of my business and go to live with my wife in Jutland. How much have you for the passage? 

I will sell you this one, along with the overseer and thirty crew -- all slaves, if you take both ships. What say you?"

"What happened over there?" Cuilén asked and the master hung his head again.

"A dragon has made its home in the hold of my boat and will not leave it. This misfortune is my ruin. I have tried priests and men who said that they have hunted and killed dragons, but, ... "

He looked at the broken corpse a few feet away, " That one was a little famous for it hereabouts. I have no hope any longer."

"A dragon?" Louhi asked, incredulous, "I thought they were all imaginings. I know of no real dragons."

"Then take a little walk, Mistress," the man said, indicating the other ship, "but have a care. You will see what afflicts me then."

------------------------------------

A little while later, they stood on the docks looking at the two ships which they'd bought, still in a little amazement over it. Louhi looked at the men who stood in a large group, clearly wondering what was to become of them.

She turned to Annikki and Ren. "Ride back to Leif's place and bring his cousin. Hurry, and we might have our passage yet."

As Annikki rode off, Louhi spoke to the group of men after checking with Màiri. 

"I have no want to hold slaves. It is an evil thing to my eyes. But we have a great need to get to near Urbs Gyddanyzc if we can, so I seek to make a bargain with you all. Crew both boats for us to as near to there as you can, and after we land, you are all free men. With a little careful talk among you, you might see that you will have a way to make a living for we will give you the boats."

Most of them understood her and those who didn't listened as others told them of it.

"Good words to hear, Mistress," the overseer said, "but what of the beast over there? As it is here, none of us will set foot on the thing. Do you plan to just sail with the beast there down in the hold? It will not allow it."

Louhi nodded, "Yes he will. I have met my first dragon this day, ... well, of a different sort and some things are as I have heard. Dragons can speak many of the tongues of men." 

She smiled a little, "That one can even speak to me in mine.

What he wants is to be taken elsewhere. He does not care where it is, so long as it is far from here. He is a winged one, but he knows that to fly will only cause him to be seen and hunted once again if it is marked where he lands and he is not the sort, he said, who can see well at night as he flies. 

We argued over everything. He insists that he is not a dragon, so it would go better if you all did not call him by that word."

"Well what the fuck is he then if not that?" the man asked. 

"Look here, this all sounds well and good enough, what you tell us, but I do not want to sail on a ship which rocks and sways from more than the swells that she sails on. When that thing moves, I have seen men fall overboard."

"We have the rest of the goods which remain in the hold of this one as part of the bargain," Màiri pointed out. "The master said that most of it was food, salted fish and that sort of thing. He can eat some of that, can he not? Then we split the cargo and the crew between the boats. The horses go on this one and most of the people go on that one, say about sixty or so."

"Sixty people plus fifteen as crew trapped on a ship with a dragon for a week or so?" the overseer asked, and then he chuckled, "The load will grow lighter the farther that you go, I think."

Louhi shook her head, "We agreed on some things. He is something called a basilisk, and he does not wish to be called a dragon. In exchange for that, some food, and a little peace -- as well as clear passage into and out of the hold, he will not bother anyone, he says. He will come out on deck and do his business over the side. It is what he has been doing, but at night."

The overseer shook his head then, "I still do not want to get on a boat with a dragon--"

"Then stay on this ship here," Màiri said, "and find one in the crew of the other one to act in your stead. You sail on one ship or the other regardless. You are a free man AFTER we land and not before."

Several of the town guard strode onto the dock at that moment threatening that now that the boats had new owners, there were landing and dockage fees owing.

"But the previous master paid them, he said, "Louhi protested.

"That was when he owned the ships. Since it is you now, the fees are owed once more," the representative of the harbor master said and the sergeant of the guards nodded, clearly expecting his cut.

"What are YOU here for?" Louhi glared.

The sargeant smiled, "Protection. To make certain that nothing, ... unfortunate happens to your property."

"Nothing unfortunate will happen to the shipss," a deep and dry-sounding voice said, with accents on the sibilance of the phrase, that is, leaning heavily on the 's' sounds in it.

They all spun around and a scaled head with a leathery crest on it looked down from the end of a long neck which snaked out of the cargo hold.

"A pity that I do not guard you," the head leaned forward, looking down, "is it not?"

At that point, the pale eyes which wore vertical irises blinked once and seemed to glow or change color for an instant and the harbour official and the sergeant fell to the dock with thin cries, both quite dead.

The men on the dock stared at the smoking hair on the two corpses.

The large face seemed to grin for a moment as it turned to the other soldiers, "You should leave. I may sneeze in a moment."

The men ran off.

The creature tuned to the overseer then. "I pledge that I will protect you and thosse who ssail here, if I musst, only never call me dragon again."

The overseer looked pale -- as though he was about to faint. "It -- It speaks!"

"Of course, I sspeak," the thing said impatiently, "and one of uss iss an idiot. I have jusst told you that I will aid you. What elsse do you need to hear?" 

"How --how did you do that? You did not even touch them!"

"I had no need to touch them," the creature hissed, "It bringss me to my name. If you can closse your mouth and lissten, I am to be called Rex, not 'dragon', not ever that, or you join them.

And I will need ssome sspace around the door left clear, sso that I can come and go more eassily."

"Rex is the Latin word for 'king', Louhi smiled, "A basilisk is called the King of the Serpents because I have learned that in addition to most of what dragons are said to be able to do, only a basilisk can kill with a glance.

"My thankss," the creature said, "Now, ... when do we ssail?"

---------------------------------

Word was sent to the company of rangers and they began the trip to the town and the docks in small groups over the rest of the afternoon and evening. Any who had their families along brought them, though after hearing about the beast on the ship, a few more decided not to go and rode off.

Most made the journey, however.

As well, Màiri sent one of them off in the company of several of the crew to buy hay for the horses. 

Everyone went aboard the ships almost without incident -- almost.

A young woman rode up to Màiri and dismounted, carefully holding her infant child. "My Robby died in the last skirmish a fortnight ago crossing the borderlands, Mistress Màiri. His horse and his sword were brought back to me, but I have no place to go. Are we to go along?"

"Your name, girl," Màiri asked, "Tell me your name. As to the other, you may come, yes."

The young woman looked relieved at that and she bowed her head for a moment, "Oh thank you, and my name is Chiorstan, Mistress -- and my wee bairn here is Màiri-Ceit, though I call her Red-haired Katy. She is named partly after you. You were there when I birthed her. I didna know if we could come, but I want to. With my Robby gone, there's nothing here for us so I want to leave to go with you."

Màiri smiled, "Then come along Chiorstan and Red-haired Katy. I remember you, have no fear, and I'm pleased to know you better. Your horse goes on this boat with the others and you and your bairn go on that one there." 

Chiorstan nodded and handed off the reins to a cousin of hers before she turned to look at the other ship.

The other incident was the hurried arrival of Gudrun, Leif's cousin. She arrived just then and she didn't come alone.

Annikki and Ren rode with her and behind them, driving a large wagon loaded with everything that a smith can load onto a wagon -- in addition to several barrels of mead - were Moppy and Leif himself.

Leif apologized to their friends for being stupid and pig-headed, saying that he'd tried to make an attempt at befriending Ren as well. The others were astounded.

"What made you want to leave your inn?" Cuilén asked, "You had everything there. Why pack up to go with us into the unknown?"

"Because Ahm wantin' te go inte the unknown!" Leif laughed, "Ah've not been there fer a time, and Ah daresay there's more te stir the blood there than there is running an inn without all of ye around."

When it was suggested that his horses and wagon were to go on one ship and that he and Moppy were to go on the other, they protested and out of the need to store the wagon strapped down on the deck, where there would be no such space for it on the other boat, due to the requirement that the hatch to the hold be kept clear, Leif and Moppy got their way.

Gudrun handed her horse over and then looked around. She wasn't like her cousin, who didn't care a fig what anyone thought to see him there as a troll. She didn't think that it was all that hard a position for him to take in any regard, having the ability to appear very human if he desired.

But she had no such option. 

Either way that she could appear would cause -- at the very least -- a lot of stares, and so she just steeled herself as much as she could for it.

"Who is that?" Chiorstan asked her dead husband's cousin as he prepared to lead her horse up the ramp.

He looked back and stopped for a moment, "I daresay that there will be a few odd ones among us on this little trip," he said, "I think that it is a troll, pretty small for one, though she is large to me, large enough to make me want to keep my blade close by."

Chiorstan tried not to stare, but she couldn't really help it at all. Though to be fair, she thought, she felt no fear and the way that the female looked even appealed to her a little bit. 

From her mother's tales before the hearth when she'd been a little one, trolls smelled badly and never took any care about themselves or the way that they looked. This one quite obviously did, looking about as close to a human girl as she supposed that it was possible to, with her hair kept neatly and her fur looking well-brushed.

The she-troll looked her way once, but it appeared to Chiorstan that she didn't see her in the throngs there on the dock, not that it mattered at all. She watched for a moment as the troll shouldered one large (for a human) pack and picked up another by the straps and walked off carrying an unstring bow and quiver as well. By the time that Chiorstan walked over and up the ramp of the other boat, the troll was nowhere to be seen.

She had a bit of a time finding out just where their place was to be among the multitude of them all. All of the available sleeping space, not that it was anything more than a place to lie down, had been taken up. She walked back up on deck and wandered there for a time, running into Louhi and then staring at her man, as he quite obviously was. She introduced herself and asked where she and her child might find a place to sleep and to place her few things.

Louhi had no answer. "I can only say to look about as you can and try to find a place." She put her hand on the girl's shoulder then and her expression grew a little concerned, "But if you find nothing more than a spot on the deck for you and your little one, then you must look for me or Cuilén here. I will not have a mother and a babe sleeping out in the open."

Chiorstan nodded and spoke her thanks before she wandered off once more. Her travels brought her nearer to the second cargo hold and she started down the rough steps, hoping that there might be a place there.

"NO!" she heard as she started down, wondering who she might have angered by blundering in there, but as her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the single lantern there, she gaped at what she saw.

The troll was on her knees, with the head of a great scaled beast before her. That head was not at the level of the she-troll's face. It came nearer once again and a long tongue slipped out between them and the troll hissed then, slapping the face with her large hand. 

"NO! Too rough yet again. If you cannot even begin a little softly then it is hopeless and I will go to the other boat."

She looked up then and groaned in some shame as she looked down, "I am so sorry."

She looked up again and she saw that the woman before her held a tiny child who was asleep against her mother's breast -- as infants are wont to be at times.

"No, it is my fault," Chiorstan said, blushing as she tried to walk back up the steps a little backwards, "I am looking for a place to sleep later on. The ship is so crowded, and there is no place for us. The other space is full to bursting and I saw the doorway and thought, ... I will go back up."

Gudrun grabbed the chin of the beast and leaned down for a moment, "I will return. But first, my knees are already tired. So think a little and try to find a better way."

She got to her feet and, trying not to hit her head, she stepped away and moved a little closer to the woman.

"Is that your babe there? Can I see for a moment? I seldom see human mothers and their children." She shrugged, "I hardly have seen any children at all other than trolllings."

Chiorstan stopped and moved the small blanket which she'd had over her little one a bit and Gudrun sighed with a smile, "She looks so pretty there and at peace. For her, there can be nothing wrong in the world when she is against you."

Chiorstan thanked the troll and was about to try to go back up, but then stopped. She'd never seen any sort of troll in her life before and she'd heard nothing but bad things about the creatures. The she-troll in front of her looked to have none of the traits which she'd been told of.

"If I can ask it," she began, "what were you doing just now?" She looked down for a moment, blushing furiously. "I mean, I know what you were, ... Oh, never mind."

"I am bargaining," Gudrun whispered, "Do not say it so that it can be heard, but he is a special sort of dragon called a basilisk; very powerful and strong. It is hard to see all of him here, but he is also very nice to look at, well for a girl such as me."

She saw the woman's curious expression and she leaned a little closer, "I am a half-troll, but I am enough of one to know what I see when I look at it. Basilisks can breed and make young with others of their kind, but they are a little crusty and impatient sometimes, and females ones are very rare.

Basilisks can also make their young with troll-girls and do most often."

She hitched her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the beast and she whispered, "Our two kinds can be attracted to each other and both of us feel this. We have only just met a few minutes ago. But everything must be bargained for at the outset between trolls and dragons and that is where we are in it now.

I do not know if you know Louhi at all. But she is a witcher and knows much of things. As soon as she knew that there was a basilisk here, she sent her friend to tell of it to me, knowing that I have no one for me and that a dragon of any sort with a lover is much easier to deal with."

She grinned just a little, "He thinks that we are bargaining so that he might have me for a pet.

I am bargaining so that I might have a fine husband. It is a rather touchy thing at the moment, but he knows that I would make him a fine female and I wanted him from the moment that I saw him.

You need a place? Why not stay here? There is a little room there," she pointed, "though it has only two walls and the side of the boat. We could make you a curtain out of the rough packing cloth piles in here and you would have your place. It would be no palace, but I think it would be better than anything that the other humans have to sleep in."

Chiorstan made to decline, "But my Katy cries sometimes, friend. She is a very good little girl almost always, but sometimes --"

"Sssometimess a babe feelss the gass which comess as air when they are fed," The beast said quietly.

The two females turned to see the beast's head as he spoke softly in his deep voice, "The cry of a babe when they feel that way can grate the teeth of a human. I know thiss. But the ssame ssound is very ssoothing to my kind. We feel the babe'ss distress and do not like it, but thes sound is pleassant to our earss. Pleasse, if you need a place, young mother, you can sstay here.

I am a bassilissk and I have no patience with most grown humanss, for I find their thoughtss to be sstupid a lot of the time. But a human child -- even one as ssmall as that one there -- their thoughtss are pure and fresh. You and that little thing are in no danger from me -- no matter what you have heard of my kind. I would like it if you sstayed here.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08



Do as Gudrun ssayss and you can sstay there together, all three, for it can be a little perilouss to ssleep near to one of uss, even for a troll."

Gudrun thought to argue, but she realized that it wouldn't serve her plan very well to do it at this point, and also, she found that she liked the woman quite a bit, so she nodded with a smile.

"For my part, I would be pleased if you could only help me to brush my hair, and I would do what you might need if there is anything at all. I seek to know a little more of humans -- especially their womenfolk, since that is what I am also. My mother is a human. 

I have only learned of how to look a little better lately from my friend Moppy, but she will sail on the other ship and I will miss the way that she has to make me laugh and to feel almost a little pretty."

Chiorstan was a little startled, "But, ... you are pretty, Gudrun. I see it. You are not human in the way that you look, so surely anyone who judges you for it does not take it into account. I like how you look and I would agree. I need a few friends myself. 

I do not come from the lands of clan Cair. I grew up in the borderlands. My husband courted me and we had just married when the English came and killed almost my whole village. I have no family anymore and the Ciar women do not know me well yet." 

She fought back her sudden tears for a moment, "I am sorry. I only lost my Robbie a little while ago."

"Well you have one friend already," the troll said with a bit of determination, "Come, see what might be done with the room if you can and I will hang the curtain. When you feel a little better, I will make you something to eat before my large friend and I return to our bargaining."

Chiorsten was tired, later that evening, but she did feel much better after their meal and she reflected on everything as she lay nursing little Katy in their room. 

The day had been a strange one, all told, but where she'd had only her husband's cousin among all of the clan's rangers that morning -- and he was on the other boat -- she now had the oddest pair of friends; a she-troll and a basilisk.

And that had gone strangely as well. After the meal, the two resumed their bargaining and between the arguments, Chiorstan had seen -- through a thin gap in the curtain -- that they'd managed all sorts of rather surprisingly sensual lovemaking which they'd still referred to as their bargaining.

At last, Gudrun crept into their room, which was roomy and not at all small to Chiorstan, until Gudrun was in it. 

Then it was, well, cozy.

"Well that's done now," she grinned happily, "He agrees that I am to be his girl now. I am happy."

"You look happy," Chiorstan nodded, smiling, "But I see that these things are done a little differently to the way that humans do it." She explained the way that humans go about courting and Gudrun chuckled.

"I will allow that it sounds very nice, but I have only the days that we will be sailing to make my bargain with him. If we did not have this place, then I would need to find us a cave and then try to entice him inside and try to bring the talk between us around in a very careful way to the bargaining."

"You looked very pleased when he loved you," Chiorstan smiled, "I did peek a bit, I couldn't help myself. But Gudrun, ... when you sucked him and he came, "I thought you'd drown!"

The troll nodded, "I know. He gives more than a stallion. 

I do not have experience with stallions," she said, looking a little embarrassed and wondering why she'd brought it up. "Well I have watched one play with himself, so I saw what he could give."

She'd never tell anyone that it had gone a little past that and Gudrun did indeed have some experience with stallions, one anyway. 

"My new lover gives more. I am a little sorry that I ate so much at our meal. I did not think that I would need the room."

"If I can ask," Chiorstan said, and not really knowing why she wanted the answer, "the taste, ..."

Gudrun eased herself down next to Chiorstan with a pleased smile. She nodded once and whispered, "I have not tasted what a man gives, but I know that with a troll male, what comes is thick. It was not so with our companion. It was salty-sweet, and like the smoothest cream to the tongue, though one has little time to waste when he gushes. I guessed as much."

Chiorstan looked down and seeing that her babe slept, she gently eased little Màiri-Ceit down into the bedding that had been prepared earlier and she looked down, "She likes it here so far."

Gurdun leaned over to look from beside Chiorstan's shoulder, "She looks like a sweet little thing who has made her little nest there."

Chiorstan turned and nodded, "It would have pleased me a little more if she'd been a bit hungrier this time. I could not get her to take it all."

She reached to touch her shoulder where Gudrun's fur had brushed it, feeling a cool spot. Her fingertips came away wet and she grinned a little as she looked, "You have missed a little. There is a bit near your tit."

"Oh," Gurdrun looked down, trying to see it, "I must have something to clean this up with in my pack."

"Here, let me, "the human said and she leaned forward. 

It wasn't as though something had come over her. It wasn't anything like that and she wasn't terribly driven to act on impulses most of the time. But just then, she remembered what she'd watched and seeing it had stirred her. The basilisk looked like a winged snake-ish dragon, but there was something to him which appealed to her very much in a subtle sort of way. Gudrun appealed to her as well, though in her case, the reason for it was at least more easily seen.

She'd never heard the word, since it hadn't been coined then, but Chiorstan would have understood it and agreed if she had. 

Gudrun was cuddly. 

She was a troll and she was taller than a man, thin and with wiry limbs which were very strong. But she had long hair with little braids in it the same as many women did, though her ears were visible where they poked through beside the horns and her body was covered in fur which, while hiding her female modesty, also hinted at what was there underneath. Chiorstan and Gudrun found themselves without a lot of the cautious behavior that one often feels when two new friends begin to spend a little time together.

Gudrun watched as Chiorstan leaned and she felt it when the human's tongue touched the skin at the edge of her nipple for just an instant and then she leaned back with a little smile and swallowed.

"You are right," she nodded, "salty-sweet and smooth. Lucky for me that you are so warm, so it had not gone completely cold. I would never want to try it then."

"Chiorstan," Gudrun smiled, "That was nice. Have you, ... with women, have you ever, ...?"

Chiorstan shook her head, "Never."

Gudrun looked down and to the human, there seemed to be just the slightest hint at disappointment there. Chiorstan thought about it quickly and then she spoke, still whispering.

"I have never had the chance of it, really."

Gudrun looked up, "I have not either, and I have not ever had the thought of it before a little while ago. I found myself with a little hope to try with Moppy, since she often hinted at it. But I was too timid. Before much could happen, her Leif was back and we had to run as a troll war was starting. Best not to be where one of them happens."

"Well I can tell you that I like you," Chiorstan smiled, "and I have a hope that we might try something sometime. We will be a few days on this boat, and I am lucky enough to have a private place here. I love men, though I have not had more than one, but it has been a while for me now, so I seem to find naughty things in my head when we whisper together.

"I like it when we whisper also," Gudrun smiled a little shyly. "I knew that you were licking up the bit of seed, but your tongue felt very good for that second."

She looked down and Chiorstan looked up and they smiled at each other for a second before Chiorstan leaned forward again and put her arms around Gudrun and hugged her for a moment. After that, she asked if Gudrun would like to feel that again and Gudrun lowered her head to kiss the human's forehead after she whispered 'Yes, very much if you would do it'.

Chiorstan pressed her face against the swell of Gudrun's bosom and she found herself in the troll-girl's arms. It was a tiny bit of a challenge to find one of her friend's nipples there in the fur, but she managed it after a moment of nuzzling around. Gudrun's body responded a little bit and Chiorstan found herself with a large nipple between her lips and she sighed. 

Troll nipples tend to be rather coarse in texture to human ones, she guessed, but this was very nice to her way of thinking as she brought her hand up so that she could tease the other nipple with it. 

Gudrun sighed as well, liking this so much as she held Chioirstan to her.

It went on for a time before Gudrun lowered her head and whispered, "Chiorstan, you said that you still had milk. May I try to taste it a little, or do I ask too much?"

Chiorstan let the nipple between her lips slip out and she looked up, "That is not too much, and it might give me a little relief. Katy only took the edge off my need that she take it. I still have some ready and now you make me ache a little to give it."

She sat up then and with a little wriggling, she removed her simple dress to lay it aside. The troll looked surprised.

"Gudrun," Chiorstan whispered, "I like this with you, and though you have that lovely fur, you wear nothing besides. I want to feel you against me now."

With that, she almost dove against the troll and they found themselves exchanging kisses quietly and slowly. Chiorstan drew back after a while. "I am so glad that I met you this day," she smiled, "Come and have a suck, but be gentle, so that we might see how it goes."

Gudrun eased the human down onto her back and she began to lick Chiorstan's nipples, and it didn't take long at all before she was suckling very carefully, but getting a little milk from each one.

"You like it?" Chiorstan asked and Gudrun nodded, "Like anything about you, I find it very sweet."

Gudrun decided somewhere in it all that she wanted this with Chiorstan very much, for the way that it made her feel. She'd always been a loner because she'd pretty much had to be all of her life long. Now she felt really good to have negotiated her place at the basilisk's side and she wanted to see if it could happen that they might have this lovely human with them as well. She didn't know if such a thing had ever happened, but it was a nice thought to her and this -- what they were doing now -- demanded to be explored fully.

She reached the end of the little that Chiorstan had for her and then she drew back and began to nuzzle and kiss her way down the front of the girl, loving the way that it was a journey made on bare skin all the way until just before the end.

Chiorstan lay back in some pleasant surprise as she felt the beginnings of Gudrun's gentle kisses down there and the gentle exploration of her troll tongue.

She gasped the first time that Gudrun sent that thing deeply into her, for troll tongues are very thick. She was careful to try to remain quiet, but even so, a very few soft moans escaped her as she held onto the troll-girl's horns and used them to pull her lower half up against Gudrun's face. 

They rested for a time after that, but before too long, Chiorstan made a similar journey with her mouth down between Gudrun's fur-covered thighs. When she felt that she was before the gates of her newfound epiphany, she drew her long hair back behind her head and just began, pressing her face against Gudrun and tasting a little experimentally.

She had to fight back a silly grin when she found that she liked the taste of she-troll nectar mixed with that salty-sweet silken texture of the basilisk's seed. Something in all of it caused her lips to tingle and not in the way that she'd felt it before with her husband, not long before her jaw grew sore.

She hadn't noticed that Gudrun had quite forgotten to close the curtain after opening it to carefully move inside of the little room.

Across the hold from them, curled up a little in the cramped quarters, the large, legged and winged serpent wanted to grin. No, he thought, he wanted to laugh.

If what he saw kept on a few more times, he would have his females -- both of the ones that he wanted for himself. He couldn't believe his good fortune.

Lovely Gudrun would take his seed and make their young out of it and he looked forward to it, feeling the need to have someone to pound into and female trolls could take that and beg for more and harder. They were famous among his kind for that and she was a very fine one.

His little ploys had worked so well, he thought.

He'd purposely left his tongue a little rough for her those first times to see how hopeful she really was for him and without knowing it at all, she'd shown him, slapping his face as he'd expected her to, but also showing him the detail that he'd hoped so much that he'd see. She'd slapped him hard those times with her open hand.

Any other she-troll would have used her fist.

For a girl like her, he'd give a lot.

Now, he hoped that he'd have the other thing that he needed and wanted for the family that he could now see almost there before him -- a human mother.

Gudrun would bear their young easily, but they'd need an older sibling to guide them and teach them, all while watching over them at the same time. A little human girl was the best possible answer to that. He knew that they'd love each other. They couldn't do anything but love one another, and it made for the best of families.

He watched as Gudrun very carefully bucked her hips against Chiorstan's face and he did smile then.

The very first female that he'd ever taken had been a human one and it had been amazing for them both.

But before he'd been able to make her his pet and pass on the bit of toughness that she'd need for her life with him, he'd killed her quite by accident.

Human females weren't built for loving with his kind. He knew that now. They were wonderful in a bed, but you couldn't fuck them at all. 

You had to allow them to fuck themselves on you.

It had broken his young heart at the time to lose his lover. He'd blamed himself for his stupidity and what it had cost them, and he'd grieved over the loss of her for longer than twenty years.

He'd be much more careful this time, especially since her own little one needed her.

Ah, he thought, but he only needed for this little beauty to drink a little more of his seed and he knew that she'd come to crave it. She was the right sort of human for it. He knew that many didn't like to suck a male -- even their own kind, feeling dirty from it for some silly reason. But he could see that she was not one of those. 

He could see that she liked to suck.

With only a little more of what she liked into her sweet mouth from him, he knew that she'd need it soon.

And he was happy to provide it for them both. He closed his eyes and sighed to himself contentedly. But like all others of his kind, he never really slept.

Gudrun groaned very quietly and after a few moments where she held Chiorstan's face against her sex, she reached down and pulled the girl up, smothering her with her pleased and thankful kisses. She rolled them on their sides and the two lay spooned. Chiorstan was happy with that, but then Gudrun moved to envelop her with her own long body as much as she could and Chiorstan was in bliss.

Since Robby had been killed, she'd felt so vulnerable, needing to care for her little baby and having to be a little dependent on the good will of the others. Sometimes that good will came with a slight expectation. She'd done her best to avoid the more blatant offers, but even so, she'd had to spend some time with a prick in her mouth that she'd never have wanted there otherwise in exchange for some food.

She didn't know it, but Gudrun was more than ten times her strength and she held the pleasant thought that if this might continue, this sort of loving with the troll, she'd have the protection that she and little Katy needed for them both. 

She opened her eyes after a moment and regarded the serpent, wondering how strong he was and how much protection there might be there for them all.

Not that she'd ever be able to comprehend it, but the basilisk was on the order of almost ninety-two times as strong as the average human male who was used to physical labor or the hard work of fighting.

She pressed herself backward a little deeper into Gudrun's embrace as she closed her eyes.

---------------------------------

They sailed on the morning tide which, being mostly influenced by the moon and its slowly changing rise and set times, happened to be not long before dawn the next day.

Everything around them was dim as the two ships headed out into the North Sea, driven by the stiff westerly wind. As daylight increased, there was not much to be seen once they'd left the shoreline far behind them.

Louhi came up on deck to speak with the man who had taken on the role of the ship's master as far as her handling was concerned. He was Thorvald, a Norseman who had some experience in the waters around Scandinavia. He stood wrapped in a skin to try to stay a little dry as he conferred with Louhi and the man who manned the large steering oar.

"I do not like it," he said, spitting over the side to watch the effect of the wind on his spittle, "The wind rises even still. There will be a storm, I think, and on the North Sea, most storms are trouble to sail in."

As the day wore on, the weather proved Thorvald right, and by mid-afternoon, the wind was howling through the rigging. The ships pulled apart from each other to maintain sea room to maneuver in and a strange game began where one ship or the other held out slightly different rigging in an effort to stay together and at least in sight of each other.

And of course, just to keep things interesting, the temperature sank and the rain began to freeze, coating everything and making the decking very treacherous to walk on and threatening to add some top-heaviness to the ships by its weight.

The ships often lost sight of each other, separated by mountainous gray slabs of rising and falling water and they saw lightning flickering all around them.

Annikki wandered on deck to see it and it was during a time when the other ship was in view, not all that far off. The seas were so rough that even some experienced seamen on both vessels were afflicted with seasickness. As she looked over, she saw a small line of people who'd lashed themselves to the rail temporarily while they threw up and she was a little startled to recognize Beathag there in the middle of her long yellow yawn. 

As the black-haired witch was losing her lunch -- or whatever was in her stomach at the time, she looked up once and Annikki thought that Beathag looked positively green, though it might have been an effect of the light. 

Annikki wanted at first to grin, but then she felt sorry for Beathag.

Annikki had some experience with sailing in a storm and as what she'd become due to Ren, she was now largely immune, taking the pitching seas in her stride.

The sailing men were concerned and some were frightened. The horses stamped nervously in their makeshift stalls.

The only person who thought it was all great fun was little Màiri-Ceit, who sat squealing and laughing in the arms of the serpent below deck as the ship rocked. She never grew tired of it and when she finally slept, it was from tiring herself out in having a grand time.

The one time that she appeared to be getting a little sleepy, Gudrun had made things worse when she'd been holding Katy, who loved to be held by the troll.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08



"I hope that I do not frighten her," Gudrun smiled, "but I love the way that she laughs." She looked at the child, who looked back.

"I love this little one so," she smiled, "Here is a surprise for you, Katy. Wait, wait, I want to do this slowly. Do not be frightened now."

The infant stared for a moment, having seen a troll one instant and some form of cat-like thing the next. Gurdrun grew worried and Chiorstan was in shock. Even Rex was surprised by it.

But then Katy squealed and laughed once more and took even longer to drift off.

----------------

Thorvald stood stroking his beard thoughtfully until a wave crashed over the bow and then almost knocked him over. He managed to keep his footing by being ready for it and hanging on to one of the stay ropes.

"Damn this weather!" he roared as Louhi stood next to him with Cuilén,"I am faced with a quandary.

We talked of trying for a slow passage through the Limfjord to cut across Danemark. It is sheltered there, mostly, though it turns more than the snake that you keep in the hold below. "

"Why is it called a fjord if it is open at the other end??" The large Caitt asked as Louhi steadied herself against him.

"It was a fjord," Thorvald said," "but when I was a boy, there was a great storm and the sea bashed down the end and made a thin channel into the Kattegat. The water rushes out through there if there is a wind or it is a little stormy. The water stirs up the sand from the bottom and carries it out where it sinks as soon as the current eases off in the Kattegat.

The last time that I was through there, it was open out the other side into the Kattegat. It would have been a little slow sailing without this storm, but we could have cut the corner and gone clear around the Skagerrak entirely -- just sail in and through for a day or so and turn right when we got to open water.

But there are two little problems with the plan -- because of this wild sea. If we sail in, we will be driven hard by the wind and the waves, and the whole thing has many sandbars. They move around, all of them.

It is not so bad if it is calm. You can pick your way through a little carefully. 

But not like this!" he yelled up at the sky. "We would be hung on a sandbar for certain, one or both ships, and even if we were not, there is the narrow outlet to think of and how quickly we would be shot out. The Kattegat is full of reefs."

He shook his head grimly. "As it is, we will need to find land and bear left so that we go north around the tip of Jutland. It brings us near to the Skagen at the very tip. That place has shifting sand as well and I have not been there in two years, so I do not know anymore just where they lie. Smaller boats can be dragged over the shallow bars, but these lumberers which we sail on cannot."

"How much time does it add to the trip?" Cuilén asked, "Do we have to do that in this storm too?"

"I cannot say," Thorvald said, "the life of the gale is in the hands of the gods, not I. We need some luck now. I would not go into the Limfjord for anything in this wind. I just hope that the others see it the way that I do, or you might land with no horses to ride at all."

----------------------------------------

When they got back to the little enclosed space which was their sleeping area, closed off from Ren and Annikkki's, Louhi sat for a time feeling unsettled. She could do many things out of the force of her own will and ability, but smooth out waves as large as hilltops which moved before icy winds that felt as though the snow and ice pellets in them were abrading one's skin off was a little out of her league. 

She wasn't one to fret over things -- at least unnecessarily -- but in this situation she was at least a little uneasy. 

She looked over from where she sat to Cuilén. He sat across from her, his face impassive and relaxed as he sharpened the blade of his old sword with a stone.

"You seem so at ease in this weather, " Louhi said, "How can that be? How do you do it, Cuilén?"

He shrugged a little, not looking up, "I remember a few times when I missed the signs -- or misread them -- or even ignored them because we were hungry and the fish were running. I set out anyway and found myself in rough seas all alone.

The thing of it was that the fish were hungry and I caught many, though only enough for us to eat for a few days because we only salted the fish we sold to the traders. I was not there for that, not in my little boat on such a day. I just wanted enough to feed us both. 

But I was in my open boat, Louhi; wet to the skin and more than halfway to frozen.

The first time, I was afraid. Everywhere that I looked, it all seemed the same and I had only my two hands.

But I got home and the return was all the sweeter."

He shrugged once more, "If you die, then you die, so the thing is not to give up while you still breathe. This ship can break apart, but I do not think that it will and I see that Thorvald is no fool. He keeps just enough sail showing so that we move and do not flounder."

He smiled a little, "At least here we do not have to struggle to run the boat and throw out the water at the same time."

Louhi nodded, liking Cuilén's way of looking at things.

"Set that sword down and come to me. I see the way that sharpening that keen edge is only something that you do to keep your hands busy," she said, "I can keep them busy to a much better purpose under the blankets."

--------------------------------------

The raging seas eased off over the night and by morning it was back down to a mild gale. They saw land and made their turn, the other ship following and by nightfall, they rode at anchor not far off the Northern Jutland coast, not wanting to test their luck too much.

"We sail on in the morning at first light," Thorvald said, looking relieved and more like himself that evening.

Their trip around the Skagen was uneventful, the lighter gray of the skies helping the lookouts to find the sandbars in plenty of time and the day after, they were picking their way through the treacherous shallows and reefs of the Kattegat.

"What does the name of this sea mean?" Màiri asked the overseer on her ship.

"It's a Dutch word, Mistress," he said, "so damn me if I know exactly. I think that the first part means 'cat' and the last part means 'hole'.

The way that it was explained to me by the man who sold you these boats, it is to say that the free water passage where a ship might sail safely through this thing is so narrow that even a cat would have a time squeezing through the hole between the reefs and the shallows.

I could be wrong, though," he grinned, "maybe I heard it wrongly and it means that the passage through is as tight as a cat's arsehole. I'll be glad to get into some open water.

All we have to worry about are the pirates then, "he sighed a little heavily to himself, "all the way to where we land."

-----------------------------

When Katy went down for the night, and Gudrun and Rex had mated until even he needed the rest for a time, the troll came to Chiorstan. They'd gone through the gale holding each other and even setting the time of it aside, they were growing close and Gudrun asked a few times if Chiorstan wanted a little fun herself.

At last, one time, and before she could decline yet again -- while clearly wishing for it all the while, Gudrun had just taken Chiorstan in her arms. 

"What is the matter?" she asked, "We three are all different but it is plain that we like each other. There is no one here who will look at us snootily for it, and you may trust in me, my friend, Rex will not object. He wishes to watch us play."

It began then, Chiorstan letting her cares and fears fall away. Eventually, she noticed that Rex was stroking himself and she crawled over to watch for a time as she sat on his thigh.

"Can I help?" she asked a little sweetly and the basilisk nodded.

He was groaning in a very short time, loving the way that she grasped the large thing that he had.

"How do you do that so tightly?" he asked in a strained voice.

Chiorstan chuckled, "I have not done it for a time now since I was wed, mostly, and after Katy came to be, I have done it not at all, but Rex, since I was old enough to reach, I have been a milkmaid."

She laughed a little, "And I have not lost my grip yet."

She looked down at what she held for a moment, "I could suck, if you'd like and allow it."

He shook his head, "No, little mother. I would give much to feel that, but it is something that we must speak of first, all three. Gudrun can take what I give and there are, ... no -- no, ... effects, but you cannot yet and ah! Ah!"

He groaned then, and though Chiorstan could remember a playful time with her husband when she'd done this for him and then heard the soft sound of his semen landing on the hard-packed earth in a barn when he'd let it go, she'd never actually heard a male ejaculate -- other than perhaps his vocalizations during the event.

She actually heard the hissing spurts as she watched the tall arcs of the serpent's seed as it flew upwards, almost to the beams overhead. What landed on the back of her hand felt very warm, to the touch and she remarked on it.

"Oh," Gudrun smiled, "I can say that it feels like no other that I have had in me."

Chiorstan smiled as she found that she liked to kiss Rex during the next moment, "Can it make me, ..."

"No," the she-troll said, "it will not take in a human. You can play with him as much as you wish and nothing will come of it as far as young go."

Chiorstan smiled even wider, "I want it then."

Rex explained things to her and she asked Gudrun, who nodded her agreement.

"Go on and become his pet, Chiorstan. I have more of him than I can take, and if we go on this way, I will give him basilisk babes. Have your fun with him as much as you both like. The way that we are between us, I do not mind sharing at all."

"It iss not as ssimple as that," Rex said, "If you are the right kind of human, little mother, you will be changed from it in sssome ways, and you will live long from it; that much is certain. You might find that you become like Gudrun and have two wayss to be sseen, though neither one will be like her.

There iss something else in it, Chiorstan," he rumbled quietly, "I may sseek to mate with another female other than you both, and Gudrun will mate only with me for a male. I do not think that it will happen, but it might, so fair is fair.

You are under no holdss at all and may have other maless as it pleasess you."

Chiorstan sat intrigued, "What is the purpose -- to change me like that?"

"The way you are, I cannot do much more than make what I have a little ssmaller sso that it might fit you well, but you will have to do all of the work -- at leasst until the changess are completed. Ssooner than that, and I could kill you by loving you. 

It happened to someone that I loved once and I do not wish to ssee that ever again. Until you are changed, you will have to make all of the motionss, for I do not dare to try."

Chiorstan knew that it was a serious matter, and so she decided to sleep on it at the very least.

--------------------------------

"Damn and damned once more!" Thorvald hissed through his teeth as he stood adding his strength to that of the steersman as they fought to keep the ship on its course, "Have we not had enough happy times in the gale without having to accommodate the shitting habits of that thing which lives in the hold?"

Rex had come on deck and now sat with the end of his tail up in the rigging and his back end out over the water. He'd hung on during the foul weather and while they were navigating some of the shoals, but at last, ...

Well he needed to go, that was all.

It affected the balance of things and made control of the boat a little tenuous. Running straight, his leaning out over the water caused a turn, and once begun, it was very hard to counter. He guessed this and did his best not to tarry.

Almost all of the people who were on deck left at the sight of his appearance on the planking, though a few remained to watch, which annoyed him. 

He looked over at a trio of women who stood together in a huddle, wanting some sea air and yet feeling the cold as well. They stared up as he stretched out his neck and brought his head closer to them. 

"Like what you sssee?" he grinned, knowing that what they looked at a little spellbound was not his posterior.

"If you can find ssome courage to match the want there in your little eyess, come and ssee me later. I can promissse that you will never be the ssame."

They shivered visibly and moved off in a hurry. Rex swung his head the other way and looked at Thorvald. "I will try to fly when I am finished. My wingss feel cramped from being insside. I will sspeak to you when I return if I have sseen anything."

Thorvald stood with wide eyes at being spoken to, but he nodded, "I need to know if you see other boats up ahead of us."

A few minutes later, the basilisk turned to face the water and spread his wings. The ship lurched a little sideways with a few creaks and groans.

Thorvald spit over the side and wiped his beard with his sleeve, muttering a few quiet prayers to his gods.

Gudrun wanted some air as well but was a little shy that day for some reason. Chiorstan held Katy and encouraged the troll. "You'll never meet anyone by staying down here, "she said, "and it should help with me along so that they see that you're more like us than not, just a little larger."

People had come back on deck after the basilisk had gone and now stood looking at the human girl who led a shy she-troll by the hand out into the deck among them. Several of the other women commented that they'd wondered what had become of Chiorstan and her baby.

At first, Chiorstan held Gudrun's hand to encourage her, but after a little while and the way that the people never really came right up to talk to her, she gave up her idea to let go of that hand once they were well on deck. Instead, she held on just as tightly as Gudrun.

"I saw no place for us anywhere," she explained, "and so I found my way down into the other hold and I met Gudrun here and Rex. "They are there because they are larger and need even more room. Katy and me, we take up little space, but it is a little tight sometimes."

"You live down there with that thing?" one woman asked, and Chiorstan found herself growing a little defensive, but she held her tongue and nodded pleasantly. 

"What is wrong with that?" she asked, "We like it," she looked down, "Don't we, Katy?"

The stares of the people caused Gudrun to want to back away, but Chiorstan wouldn't allow it, so Gudrun stood a little behind her friend.

"I'd wager she has her fun down there with them, eh?" a mean-spirited and sharp-tongued woman said and it began some rude whispering.

Chiorstan rolled her eyes, "Never a kind word or thought from you, is there, Gitte? How small your mean world must be that you think only the worst of others. 

Why, I have heard you speak ill of nearly everyone among us all and certainly every woman here now. Sad that we are not in any woods here, so that you might crawl back under your rotting, moss-covered log -- or did they allow you to bring it with you?"

Gudrun saw Chiorstan's face then and she reached out to lift the startled and frightened woman up.

"I came in hopes of meeting people and thought of friendship," she glared down, "What I find here is the same as anywhere else, people like you who turn the hearts of others closed to me. Say another unkind thing to Chiorstan now and you will never say anything evil to anyone ever again."

She shook the woman once, almost breaking her back with her tight grasp, "If we hear more talk like that, I will then think that it must have come from you. I would not want to harm a good person ever, but you are plainly not one."

She dropped Gitte to the planking from a height of three feet or so and Gitte got to her feet and ran off to the other hold.

There was a lot of quiet tension then and some of the people thought of stepping away, but a young girl pulled free of her mother's hand and came forward.

"You have horns," she smiled, "Can I touch?"

Gudrun nodded and leaned down and before the girl's horrified mother could lean forward to pull her back, she stood with Gudrun and smiled as she ran her hands over a horn. They smiled at each other after that and it helped Gudrun in many ways. The girl reached for Gudrun's braids and laughed, "Mother ties these for me too. I like you!"

With that, she hugged Gudrun's face and the dark spell was broken. The troll found herself in the middle of ten or so women, who all had questions at once. Chiorstan stepped away a little and looked out to sea.

When the cold wind had gotten through to everyone but Gudrun, they parted with broad smiles, though the women who thought that they saw something walked off a little slower as Chiorstan came to Gudrun and they walked away holding hands once more.

"Is that what I think that I see?" a man asked his wife.

She shrugged, "Who knows? I for one do not care. I like them both and wonder why we were all so closed to Chiorstan back home. It was not right and now I feel shamed.

And if you are right, what do I care? She lost her fine man in that fight and has no one. If she is happy now, she is even better protected by that big girl."

Chiorstan stood at the rail in front of Gudrun and tried to look for Rex.

"He comes now," the troll said as she pointed, "There. 

We should stand away from the doorway."

The basilisk soared in faster than was comfortable for Thorvald to watch and he stood fearing a little for the deck. But Rex flared and slowed until he was almost stationary in the air and then he dropped onto his extended legs with little fuss and no more ominous sounds. 

He looked at Thorvald, "I ssaw no ships."

Thorvald nodded and said his quick thanks and then the basilisk was down in the hold, moving his long body through the hatchway with amazing speed. Thorvald and the others stared at the bloody footprints there on the deck as the rain began to wash them away.

"He must have found land, and I would think that he found him a ewe somewhere to eat something other than salted fish," Gudrun said. 

Thorvald nodded but said nothing as Gudrun and Chiorstan moved to go down the steps after the basilisk.

"Your females wish to tell of something," Gudrun smiled.

"My femaless?" Rex asked.

They both nodded.

"Each of us has made a decision," Gudrun said with her expression showing her pleasure over it.

"Chiorstan wishes to be your pet, and I wish to ride on your back when you fly at least some of the time. I do not fear it and I am a fair shot with a bow, my love. How easy to hunt for our meals from the air.

As well, I have told our young mother here that when our little ones come, Katy will be older and our family can grow together."

Rex sat with what was a soft sort of smile as he thought of it.

"Was your mother a troll as well?" Chiorstan asked, "Or was she a basilisk?"

"Neither," he sighed a little sadly, "Well, I must guesss that she was a bassilissk. I hatched from an egg which had been buried in some rotting plantss, sso that I was kept warm.

We hatch from eggss sometimess. I think that my mother knew that she wass hunted and did the best that she could."

He looked away then for a moment and sighed, "Or perhapss she did not love me enough to want to raisse me. I wass alone for all of my childhood." 

He brightened then as he looked at them both, "That iss why I am happy to ssee what we have among uss."

------------------------------

Katy had stirred and woken up. Chiorstan changed her swaddling and nursed her. Gudrun asked for her then and held her to her breast, talking to her while Rex caused Chiorstan to squirm as he used his long tongue on her on the other side of the curtain, making sure to keep it soft and smooth for her.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08



Katy liked to be held by Gudrun and since her mother had nothing for her like a dummy, she liked to be against Gudrun, suckling quietly on one of her long nipples as she looked up. Gudrun already loved the little girl very much and she liked to hear it when Chiorstan joked to Katy that she had two mothers now.

"I am ready for it," Chiorstan groaned quietly, "I think."

Rex sat back, leaning against the curved inside surface of the hull and watched as Chiorstan crawled to him on her hands and knees.

"Are you sure?" he asked and she nodded. 

"I know what it is that I feel, Rex. I feel lust to be sure and plenty of it. I have not been as happy in my whole life as I have been these days here with you both, even with the storm and all. My Katy is happy to know someone who takes the time to be with her, since none of my own kind will have much to do with me.

I do not need them. I need this. If I must be changed so that our large male can fuck me so that I cannot think or stand up anymore, then let it be so. I will take what comes -- especially if it is you and Gudrun. 

I mean no shame to my thoughts of my dead husband, but I have never felt as much from any man as I feel when I lie with Gudrun and you."

With her piece said, and as the others looked on in a little shock, Chiorstan moved up onto her knees over the end of his long, thick shaft and grasped it so that she could line things up for them both.

A moment later, she began to moan as she lowered herself down on it very slowly, feeling the way that it spread her wide.

"Ohhhhh," she groaned, "thank the heavens that I birthed a child, I am certain that I could not do this otherwise."

Even so, it took some time.

Her knees were already trembling a little as she neared the end of herself. She hissed for a second as she felt him against her cervix and knowing what it was and remembering what had happened before, Rex changed himself a little so that it shortened a little slowly until she could sit on him fully, her pleased smile saying so much to him as she reached to hold him.

"Ohh," she smiled as she began very cautiously, "I sit on what is surely the grandest cockstand in the world."

There were no more words from her for a time then. Rex sat in fascinated pleasure as he watched her fuck herself. He longed to hold onto her hips, but he didn't dare to, remembering what is had cost him the last time that he did that.

Chiorstan only knew that she'd likely never be able to fuck with anyone ever again and not think of the beautiful red rod which she had in her at this moment. Her cunny was on fire and loving it. Everything on her, even her toes began to tingle gently as she bobbed, loving each and every individual stroke of that heavenly fat thing inside of her.

She felt Gudrun's arms as they moved around her, though they didn't restrict her movements in any way.

"Katy?" she whispered, and Gudrun replied "Asleep," in the same quiet whispering tones. 

"I have nothing to give to her in my tits, but she likes to try as she listens to me chatter quietly to her and tell her little stories. I think that she is teaching me mothering things like that."

Gudrun's large hands found Chiorstan's breasts and the human moaned a little more, feeling the soft way that Gudrun's fur rubbed on her back.

Rex knew it when she came, every time, and Chiorstan came often in this first fucking. He did finally have to hold her, though not out of his own want. He didn't want her to fall over during those times when she just seemed to be kneeling there, with his large prick inside of her. 

It was a little mesmerizing to him whenever it happened. Chiorstan would stop, holding almost still with her ribs heaving a little.

She was almost unresponsive then, but at last, she'd look up at him after a few moments of it and her eyes would be full of tears with long tracks from them down her cheeks. She'd smile then as she seemed to come back to herself and she'd hug him tightly for a second before she went right back to it.

The last time almost woke Katy, because by then, Chiorstan was almost screaming, her breath whistling in and out of her. She hung there on the edge of another orgasm and by then, she'd lost both her count and her will to remember, but he'd helped her over the edge one last time when he came into her.

Human males make and deliver differing quantities of semen, up to about a tablespoon for some and less than that for most. It doesn't matter in biological terms, as long as one sperm is able to go the distance, so to speak.

Dragons give more, and basilisks, well, ...

Rex gave Chiorstan about a cupful -- all at once, it seemed.

All that Chiorstan knew was that there was a lot of it and it felt very warm, almost hot to her. It felt so good there inside of her and it pushed her on one more time

She howled from it and the way that it filled her in one go and then it ran right out, pushed out of the way by the next gush and the next. 

Elsewhere on the boat, people looked around and wondered at the sound.

She hung in the basilisk's arms then, having little left to hold herself against him in herself any longer.

"So, ... warm and so much, "she smiled with her eyes closed.

The tingle began anew then, but this time, it came from deep within her.

"I know that it cannot be," she groaned as she climbed from his lap to lie down a couple of minutes later, "but for one instant in there as you filled me the first time, I felt as though I had become pregnant again."

"That cannot happen," Rex whispered as he helped to lie her down, "but I think now that the changess will come to you. What they are or will be, I know not."

Gudrun moved to help as well and as she leaned down and kissed Chiorstan once very softly, "I have always felt so lost and alone. Since I have come to know you, it is gone from me. I love you Chiorstan."

"And I you," the human smiled up a little tiredly as she moved her hand over her mound to hold the seed inside of her.

Rex snaked his head down and he kissed her cheek, "I know only that I love my girlss, all of them very much. It iss more than I could have ever hoped to have. Thank you."

Chiorstan looked up at the basilisk, "I am only a pet to you and it feels to me to be far more than I have ever had. I doubt that it could ever happen, but if I can, I will protect Gudrun and your young if you will do the same for my Katy."

He nodded, "That iss a bargain which did not need to be sspoken of, little mother. That much, you already had from me."

The weary mother smiled to herself then as she had a thought come to her, "I am free to mate with other males."

She laughed very softly, "What for?"

---------------------------------

He sighed to himself as he mounted the stone steps, one after another in a seemingly endless spiral. The long stairway wound itself around and around, interrupted by small landings with a small window, which was roughly glazed not so much to see out of as it was to there to admit light from the outside. 

There were five of them, these landings, placed there, he guessed, so that weary learned ones might have a place to stop and reflect as they looked out and caught their breath or to steel themselves for the next leg of the journey upward.

He didn't know it, but the place where he was going to -- as he'd gone for over four years now, every single evening, was almost exactly two hundred and forty-nine feet above the level of the valley below.

All that he knew was that he had to climb three hundred and seventy-seven steps every time.

He seldom stopped to rest at a landing, but he did for a moment when he reached the next one, so that he could adjust the straps of the carrier on his back. Then he was off again, a little tired of it all and he bounded up taking three steps at a time.

He walked into the chamber at the top of the stairs and set his crude pack down before he stepped to the wall. 

He'd swept up the night before and given the size of the room, it had taken a little time. He was in no mood to travel back down in the morning, taking the sweepings with him, so he stepped over to the movable part of the dome.

Not many know of this part of the keep. It had been built very close to the peak which the rest was built against and it offered a means to look out at the land from high up in both directions, front and back, though there was nothing to see from that way, other than the nests of a few birds. There were three good windows to see out of and watch from, waiting for who knew what to appear over the rise from the long valley below this one.

The inside was a dome, with paintings on the inside surface. The poses of the figures there made little sense to him, not knowing the purpose of it, unless it was to document the stupid postures which humans could adopt while they caroused and fucked drunkenly during an orgy.

But there was a part of the dome which was movable and ran in a circular track. He didn't know it, but to open or close the thing required the efforts of three large men to move it a little easily. He could move it by himself and often did when he wanted a little fresh air. He did that now, in fact, opening it just a little to test for the prevailing wind.

Finding little or none, he stepped away and retrieved his little pile of sweepings and threw it out.

He'd learned the hard way to test beforehand, having it blown back into his face a few times.

He stood there then, looking out and feeling the drifting air as it ruffled his fur pleasantly -- since nothing else ever did.

Once upon a time, he'd been a young and hopeful male who'd met and fallen in love with a female on sight, thoroughly and completely smitten with her beauty in one moment.

He snorted to himself quietly and castigated himself again for his foolishness at the time. He hadn't known any better then. He hadn't learned what his place was.

Not knowing any better, he'd tried to make an effort at conversation with that female.

His family had always been guards and they still were, those of them who were still left. So they weren't exactly up on the latest news at the best of times.

He only knew that he had to get to know that female.

Looking back now, he didn't blame her for what happened. His clumsy efforts had confused her and she looked a little bothered by it. 

The trouble was that it had been seen by the female's father.

He'd had no idea that there even was a princess, let alone two of them and a prince.

Now, he knew that her name was Petra and he was so sorry that he'd even seen her at all that day.

The small group of them had only just won their freedom from the humans and like everyone else, he'd been celebrating and he'd run into the lovely young female by accident -- literally.

He doubted now that she'd even known what had happened to him at all. For certain, she surely never thought of the large male that she'd bumped into who had lost his ability to make coherent speech in that instant.

Since that day, it had been his lot to guard here in this lonely place, every night all alone.

He knew that he'd die doing this and there was no help for it at all.

A good thing that he'd learned to read Latin and Greek, for the place had an extensive library.

He walked over to a table and using a piece of flint, an old dagger that he'd found, and a tiny amount of tinder, he lit a very small fire there in a brazier. With that done, he went to his pack and retrieved a taper and lit that, setting it into a holder which had a plate of burnished brass to reflect the light and he set that on the table.

He pushed the edge of the wall so that it rumbled along in its track very slowly until it closed against the immovable part with a muted and very quiet boom.

Looking around the room, he sighed and then piled the sticks of firewood next to the small hearth that he'd use later when the cold of the night found its way inside.

He took out another, much smaller pack and removed what would be his evening meal and set it aside.

Then, as he'd done for most of the one thousand, four hundred and sixty nights that he'd had to be here, he began to read.

Once upon a time, he'd been a young and hopeful male who'd met and fallen in love with a female on sight, thoroughly and completely smitten with her beauty in one moment.

Now?

He asked himself the question and he smiled to himself sadly.

He'd long ago gotten over that moment and that female.

Now, he was a slightly older young male who was loved by no one, and sat reading as he did almost every might as his long life passed him by, all alone in a watchtower.



Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09



*** A little of what's happening in both places now, at sea and on land.

Something to note here; The creatures back at the keep are not human and they have a rather involved societal structure.

I'm aware that there are readers who might not especially like the way that these things all have a varying degree of capability to go in both directions which depends on the individual - and it's even built into their society, though not overtly. 

Just be aware that it's there and know that I didn't write this to make the reader who doesn't like that sort of thing grumble. I've purposely glossed over things a bit for that reason. It's just the story and how it goes, that's all.

So read the tags and decide. I'm not out to shock the gentle-hearted. That's why there isn't much fine detail. If readers wanted that, I know they'd just go to that genre on Lit, and be happier.

No matter how they play, I'd prefer that you fall at least a little in love with a few of the characters.

0_o

------------------------

Margit looked up from her inspection of the hoof that she held between her knees. This particular mare had been a handful for a long time to the Kurtadam riders, never showing much of anything other than her will to them, and her will and what it caused her to do, was never what was wanted. She was fairly docile and even bordered on being good-natured a lot of the time, but once a rider was on her, ...

She'd been brought to Margit's attention as a bit of a problem child.

She'd listened as the problem had been explained to her and then she'd asked to have the animal led around one of the pens. There hadn't even been one circumnavigation made before Margit was calling the walker to bring her in. It had been subtle, and the animal sought to hide it, but Margit went straight to that one hoof and began to work on the problem of removing the tiny stone which had lodged itself and been missed during the regular once-overs done by the horse handlers.

That little thing had since become embedded deeply and almost grown over.

She noticed the presence of another and smiled when she recognized Tirga, who offered a hot drink of hot mulled wine, so she ambled over to wash her hands.

"You are ever a wonder to us, my friend," the Kurtadam smiled, "Many have looked in just that one place and they saw nothing."

"Well that 'nothing' just happened to be in the perfect place to remain lodged and also cause her enough pain to favor it, but only slightly.

Horses can often be beyond stupid, but there are some who are quite bright and that girl there knows enough to do what she can to hide her trouble most times. With a rider on her back, it gets too much for her to work though."

"I have another matter to speak with you about today," Tirga said and then she smiled, remembering something.

"You and Gunnar do much for us all. It came to me that, though you both can work many wonders to our eyes, there is one thing which you cannot do -- not that any of us can either," she chuckled.

"You do not have enough hands for all of the things which you attend to in your day. You might see it as nothing more than being busy.

I have many things such as that as well. But I have help if I only raise my hand.

As well, I have some things which need answers which I cannot give. But I have an idea and seek to ask your help as well as Gunnar's, if you can provide it. I think that if this can work, you both would have help which you need, I might have a little less on my list, and both of us mothers might smile from it."

Margit was intrigued now, not really having any idea of what Tirga had in mind. She nodded anyway, wishing to help her friend in any way that she could.

Tirga sipped her drink and sought for the best way to begin.

"As with any other people, I would guess," she said, "we are not all the same. Some are more fortunate than others, some are wiser, some are stronger, and so on. It is the same with us as it is with you.

I try when I can, with Petra's aid to look after the poorer ones among us. 

During the time of the confinement, I could do little other than watch and try to help where I could. There was a young female who had been orphaned. We were at the time, completely dependent on our human captors for food, and I can also admit to my mild shame that there are those among us who can be greedy.

This female was smaller, of a type which never seems to grow beyond a point. It placed her at a disadvantage and she could never get enough food to eat and was always hungry. She was also very timid. But starvation is a powerful force which can drive anyone to do things which they would not do, normally.

I was kept in a different cage and could do nothing more than shout, and so I had to watch as the poor one came at last to the desperate point of offering her body to another for a little bit to eat.

She became pregnant from it of course. Hunger always returns, though the effect of what we do can last beyond us. She gave birth and then she had more troubles."

Tirga looked over a little sadly, "She perished a few years later not long before we won our freedom, but I have never forgotten what I had to watch. That cage was the last which we forced open, more than a year after the first, for the locks and the bars were strong and the worthless monks gave us no keys. 

Among the very first things which I did was to have the male killed, since he was beyond useless. There were others in there with them, who shared a little of what they'd been given, but not that one.

Since that time, I have cared for two young girls who are not mine. They are not royal and receive little aside from basic care as I can give it. It is not what I would have wanted, but I am so busy.

But they are now of an age where they need to be kept busy themselves, for I will be damned if I will allow what I had to see replicate itself and reproduce that way -- for it will, unless I do something.

Can you see a way that you might use them, you and your fine male? I would suggest setting them to work for you in any way that you see fit to help you and even to serve you as you need. Make them a part of your household and, if you can, try to show them that you care if you can do it. I will have more food brought to make good on what they eat.

They were so young when their mother died of malnutrition. She wasted away, giving them most of what little food she could get to give to them. For most of their lives, they have not had anyone like the mother who whelped them."

Margit couldn't see that she and Gunnar needed any help in the form of servants or assistants, but she did understand her friend's request very well. As the daughter of a Khan, she'd seen people who lived in abject poverty in her time.

"I can try," she smiled a little uncertainly, "I have a thought that what I miss as a mother are my children when they were old enough to need little care from me, but we spent much time together working our farm. What are they like?"

"They are the same age as my son," Tirga smiled in a bit of relief. 

"They are well-mannered, but like their mother, they tend to be shy and it makes then very quiet. One of my regrets is that I have not had much of any time to give them what they need so much of so that they might gain their confidence more. They are smaller and they hide their age somehow just as their mother did.

They tend to be considered, ... a little backward because they say little, but if you take a little time and watch to see it, you will see that they are both very bright and thoughtful."

She looked at Margit for a moment, "Do you remember when we were young, and there were those times when girls, ... are curious about each other and, ..."

Margit grinned, though she had to look down to manage it, "I remember, Tirga. It was just the two of us being curious, as you say, though I looked forward to visiting with your people because of you for it. Just a naughty thing when a young one tries to learn a bit." 

She laughed a little, "Such a pair of fumbling, curious girls we were, not that it was more than that at our ages, we were so young. I have not thought of it for long years, but it was nice. Why do you mention it, though I thank you for the memory?"

"Kurtadam whelps born in the same whelping are a kind of twins to the human way of thinking, though we do not consider it such," Tirga said. 

"These two are actual ones and look so very nearly alike in everything. I mention our young and curious play in order to say that it has gone between them since they were that age in the way that our whelps care for each other, especially since they are all that they have together. Not wanting to see one or both of them follow in the steps of their poor mother, I have forbidden anything else for them until they have found their place properly among us. That time comes to an end now and I am a little sad that I could not bring them out of themselves more."

She looked over hopefully, "For that to happen, where they take their places as adults, I now pray that I have you to do what I could not for them."

She looked off and, seeing the ones that she'd brought waiting, and looking beyond uncomfortable, she smiled a little and waved them over. 

The pair looked very reluctant and painfully shy, but after a moment, they took each other's hand for a little uncertain courage and began to approach. They were as Tirga had said, completely alike if one didn't know them, both a little mouse-colored in their body fur, but having much lighter, wheat-toned hair.

Margit stared for a moment and then she grinned, "So there are TWO of the one which I always saw watching me as I worked, but staying far enough away so that I would feel foolish to ask if there was a problem."

The pair almost stopped then and seemed to appear a little sad, thinking that they were about to be laughed at. Margit shook her head and beckoned to them herself.

"I laugh because I see now that there is more than one of the shy ghost who watched me so often, that is all. I am Margit, an old friend of Tirga's."

She held up her hand to her friend, already knowing that she was about to hear their names from her.

"Tell me your names by yourselves," she smiled down a little at them, "so that we can have proper introductions."

The two looked almost frightened then. They seemed to have slightly large eyes anyway, but at Margit's remark, their eyes grew even more. Margit tried to bear what Tirga had said of them in mind -- that they were a kind who never seemed to grow fully, and even still, it amazed her a little.

Here were two young Kurtadams, eighteen years old and looking more like twelve year-olds and under-developed at that. She didn't care at all; she just found it striking somehow.

"I -- I am Nala, lady" one of them said, "and this is --"

Margit's palm flashed upward once more," No -- no," she smiled, "I need to hear it as each one speaks for herself. "Who are you, young friend?"

The second one looked for just a moment as though she would have given pretty much anything for only a chance to hide herself under the hay strewn on the floor of the paddock. 

"Bremma, I am called, lady. Are - are we to stay with you now?"

Margi nodded, truly wanting to laugh now, though she didn't dare to out of fear that they'd misinterpret it. 

"Yes," she smiled, "though if you think that you can forget just one little bit of the manners which Tirga must have taught you, I would like it if you could just not always remind me that I am a lady. I am a simple human woman, and I am happy to meet you both."

Tirga prepared to take her leave, "I leave you to Margit's care, then. Serve her well, for she is an old friend of mine and I find her nearness to me these days as a gift."

"Wait!" her friend said suddenly, "How is this to go? I do not really have uses for servants or -- helpers such as these yet. How am I -- how are we to think of them, Gunnar and I?"

"In any way that you think you might need to draw them out of themselves, Margit. They are a little like a pair of girls who could come to you to be as adopted, or perhaps you might feel more comfortable if they were as only servants to you. Try to give them a look at your family life and then you might all manage something from there."

She put her hands on their thin shoulders and bent to kiss each one for a moment, "They need a family life for the feeling of safety and confidence to grow out of, and they need a little work in some tasks to keep them a little busy -- or a lot - if you have the need. I know that you would treat them well, so that is not even a thought to me. Try to make them a part of what you do every day and that is the best place to start. I could not do that for them. 

What would I do? Have them work in the keep's kitchens? It would give them the work and nothing else.

But do not let them stand idle, for then they only draw together and fall into what I seek to draw them out of."

The twins said goodbye, looking afraid and clearly struggling to keep themselves - and each other - from bursting into tears as they hugged Tirga tightly for a moment, and by her face, she was clearly a little surprised. But after they'd watched her walk off, they turned and looked at Margit with the same huge eyes, waiting to see how this would go.

"Oh come," she smiled, "I want none of this anguished hand-wringing that I have been watching until now and there will be none of the nervous hand-holding between you now. Hold MY hands and we will go to find a midday meal together." 

She nodded to each one, "THAT is where we will begin this."

-----------------------------------

Come on then," Margit smiled as they walked into the kitchens, "Let us go and see what our feast for this day will be." She had to tug at their hands a little to get them into the line with her.

She made them go together with her and one of the cooks greeted her. "Here with a little company today, lady Margit?" she smiled.

Margit nodded, "My two new young friends -- or perhaps I stand with my new daughters, I do not know at all yet. Tirga brought them to me and asked me to take them for a time. But I grow quite smitten with them and I need no servants, really. I am thinking of trying to teach them what I can, and to do that well, since they have no family, I think of just making things simple and treating them as I would my own almost grown children."

"Oh, I know this pretty pair," the cook smiled, "If they are not sent here to bring food for anyone else, they only stand a moment and then leave. Such shy ones, they are, and so lovely too." 

She leaned forward a little to look at the girls, "Now, you are finally here for yourselves. For once, give an old girl like me a little pleasure and tell me what it is that you would want to eat.

If you are like this for every meal that you do eat, it is little wonder that you are not bigger. It may be some notion that you hold in yourselves, but we do not all wait to take your pretty heads off if you only ask for something to eat."

The pair looked as though they almost wanted to hang onto each other, but Margit wouldn't allow it at all. "No, you are a part of my house now, and here, you need to say things sometimes, so out with it, girls."

It took a bit, and the next ones in line looked at them a little harshly until the cook waved her wooden ladle a little threateningly at them to hold their tongues, but she heard their almost silently spoken wishes and heaped their platters high for them with a laugh. 

"Remember my rule -- take all that you want, but eat all that you take."

She chuckled at Margit, "Do not expect these two to move much after this. I'll fill their bellies, lady, you may trust in me."

Margit laughed and nodded as she led them away to a table.

She spent more time watching the pair eat than she did eating her own meal.

"When you are near here at the midday," she said, "I want you to look for that cook if you can. You do not see it, but there are people who would like to help you and not look at you sideways. Now where is Gunnar?"

The two girls looked almost terrified then and she asked over it.

"We have watched the man as well," Bremma said, "The Lady Tirga has been trying to push us to you both for a time. That is why we watched as we could. We are afraid of him, Margit."

Margit had to hold onto the table to keep from collapsing in her laughter for a little time.

"Then it is clear to me that you have never found the courage to actually speak with him. Look, here he comes now."

Gunnar had been trying to see what was being offered by peeking through the line a little unobtrusively. Considering that he stood almost seven feet tall, it usually didn't work out all that well for him most times when there were others waiting ahead of him. 

He looked around briefly for Margit and then he saw her and walked over. The two girls looked as though they were considering a quick bolt for the door. Margit held them fast and then they realized that the seating arrangement would have Gunnar sitting across from his wife and between the two sisters. They almost groaned.

"Ah, and here you are, Margit, sitting with the two young watchers this day?"

"The two young watchers, Gunnar? What do you mean?" Margit asked.

"I have marked them from time to time when I work and even when I used to practice out in the courtyard." 

He smiled a little from one to the other for a moment, "They always try to stay out of my view - which does not work - and they always come alone, one or the other but not both together."

"So you knew that they were twins then?" his wife asked in a surprised tone.

Gunnar nodded, "Well of course, Margit. They are as different as night and day to my eyes by their motions and demeanor. This one," he gestured with his thumb, "is only painfully shy and this one is even more so by about half." 

He leaned forward looking curious then, "You mean to say that you hadn't noticed this?"

Margit threatened him with her piece of bread crust and even the shy pair smiled a little.

"So, I am Gunnar," he said, "please tell me your names and then we can step to the important things. I need to know what is good to eat today."

They introduced themselves only a little louder than it had gone in the food line, but it was a little quieter where they sat and Gunnar caught their names after only asking that they repeat themselves twice.

"I think that they might be our new daughters, Gunnar. Tirga asked us to help them to learn."

Gunnar shook his head. "And what was wrong with the old way that we made children, Margit? I like that way a little better, I think, since something was needed from me in it."

He sighed a little dramatically, "Well if we have two more, as you say, then I must step forward and resume my fatherly duties once again. A lot of that involves solving their troubles, and here I see that they already have problems with their meals."

He looked back and forth at them and Nala shrugged, "The cook gave us all of this, but she said that we must eat it all and we cannot. One of these platters would be more than enough for us both."

"Ha!" Gunnar exclaimed quietly, "Why it is simple, my new daughters. Both eat from one, and give the other one over to me."

They nodded eagerly and Gunnar had his meal before him then. He got up and fetched an empty platter so that the two could split what remained and they did it very nervously.

"Alright," he smiled, "now please tell me how it is that I have another two daughters of a sudden."

They looked at him as Margit told of it all, and they found that they weren't quite as afraid of him anymore. But it was still like pulling teeth to get much out of them.

"Look girls," he said a little seriously, "You make me a little nervous here. I think that if I were to sneeze, you might fall dead of fright. If you are to be part of our house, then this cannot be.




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09



What are you both so afraid of?"

They made no answer and Gunnar stopped eating and placing his elbow on the table; he held his head up with his chin and looked at them expectantly.

Finally, it was Nala who found her tongue first -- as was usual between them, they came to learn.

"We feel lost," she said before she looked down, "and -- and we have felt this all of our lives." She looked over at her sister, who nodded and then SHE looked down as Nala continued.

"We do not know how to do much of anything and -- well, Tirga told us that all Kurtadams must do something as they live their lives so that all of the people may gain from it -- like the cooks over there."

"So you mean as an occupation? As a job?" Margit asked and they both nodded.

"Well that is why you were given over to me," Margit smiled, "I will teach you as we go in many things, and if you can somehow find the courage to look my husband in the eye, I am sure that he will teach you as well. He will not harm you."

The pair looked as though her words caused them to be even more fearful, if it were possible.

"I cannot understand this," Margit said, "You have only just met him. Why do you look as though you fear for your lives?"

There was more painful squirming from the pair, but neither of the humans were about to let the matter rest. Finally, Nala did her best.

"We heard Tirga say to you that we are to be servants to you if you wish and -- "

Margit shook her head, "I would have preferred it if she had said only 'helpers', if the other word is all that is needed to turn you both into quivering rags.

We will have to see how it might be done, girls. But the way that I think to do it, at least to begin, is that we take you into our home as, ... well new-found and distant relations of a sort. I think that it might go even easier for Gunnar and I if we think of you as another pair of daughters."

Bremma almost squeaked as she raised her finger toward Gunnar, "Mistress Margit, I know nothing about anything, but, ... "

She looked down for a moment and then gathered what little of her courage remained in her for this, "He is fearsome to us. He carries scars and when he moves, I - I want to run. He -- he frightens me."

Nala nodded and Margit's mouth fell open for a moment.

Gunnar had been eating as he listened, but he stopped then. "There are Kurtadam warriors. I have seen some of them. I may be wrong, but some are likely larger than me."

He leaned forward, doing his best to smile a little, "Have you ever seen them?"

The girls nodded. "Yes," Nala said, "but we try to stay away from them, so we do not ever go close by."

"Have you ever seen one if he is in the human way that you all can look?" Gunnar asked, and they shook their heads and then wondered at why he smiled the way that he did then.

"I think that, if you had seen that, then you would likely see them looking like me -- with all of these fine wonders that I carry. You only have not seen it because of their fur."

He laid his spoon down and placed his hands, palm up on the table, one each in front of each of them.

"Here is my first lesson to a pair of frightened young beauties," he smiled, "Try to gather as much courage as you think that you might need for it and lay your hand on the top of mine. Go on, you will see that I am warm to the touch and that nothing terrible will come of it."

He chuckled, "And you can take comfort when I say that if I were to do anything bad to you at all, I would have to fear facing something afterward which might cause me to fear badly enough myself to almost piss in my breeches if I were to give it enough thought."

They stared at him.

"Go on," he chuckled, "Touch my hands."

They leaned forward and looked at each other for a moment and then their hands came to his very slowly and cautiously. 

Bremma's was there and gone, like a mouse who jumped to seize a crumb and then run away, but Nala was more purposeful about it and seeing it, Bremma's hand was back.

Gunnar closed his fingers over their hands slowly and he smiled, "So we are well-met finally."

He opened his hands and they took theirs away.

Bremma had to know and she gathered more courage as she watched Gunnar eat again. "What is there which could cause one like you such fear? I cannot think of anything."

"Hmm?" He looked over as he finished the mouthful of his meal and swallowed, "Oh, a simple fear it is, but well-founded. I fear Margit's wrath more than anything in the world."

His reward for it was to watch them blink for a moment and then they laughed while Margit nodded.

"Remember something if you grow afraid of him," Margit said, "Between us, we have raised two children and one was a girl. For a little time, we had her childhood friend living with us also. Neither one feared him or had any cause to, and the only thing which they had that you lack is to have had him in their lives from the beginning."

They chewed on it for a moment and then Nala asked, "Where are your children now?"

Margit said, "Our daughter is far from us, but Gunnar has seen that she will come to us here in a time. Our son lives here. You will meet him soon for we see him at almost every other meal."

She smiled then, "That was not a fair thing to say, I am afraid. But we see him most days at some time."

"He is the young human," Bremma said in realization, "the one we have seen." She looked at Margit, "He is very nice to look at, Margit, and very, ... "

"Very handsome," Nala said, finishing Bremma's thought for her.

"So now that we seem to have gotten you from hanging onto the table by your nails from your fear -- which was unfounded -- what remains to be said to put you at ease?" Margit asked.

"We are sorry," Nala said, "but, ... Tirga said to us that we are to serve you, and among the people, it, ... we do not know much of humans, a -- and, ..."

Margit's eyebrows rose to her hairline then as the thought came to her.

"No one has ever asked it, a - and we are afraid," Bremma squeaked again.

Gunnar clearly had no clue, so Margit said, "Among their kind, a richer one or a noble may keep servants. They are not slaves and there is usually some, ... agreement to it, but a servant is a part of the home and often it means, ..."

She leaned forward and took their hands in hers, "Do not fear for that, girls. Let us think that you are as new daughters to us instead." 

She held their hands a little tightly for a moment, "Among our kind, a father who is worth anything does not do that with his daughters."

Gunnar's jaw stopped in mid-chew and he sat looking at them for a moment.

He swallowed then. "I have gone from one place to another here and never left my seat. I came here to eat a meal and then I am told that I have daughters and now ..."

He shook his head as if to clear it. Looking at the two of them for a moment, he turned to regard Margit.

He raised one finger. "These are not my daughters - no matter what you might need to hold in your heart so that this might go a little easier in your mind.

So do not look so horrified at some thought which they put in your mind with their nervous quivering. What you speak of is their way with servants, not ours.

I have no servants nor do I wish for any. And even if I did, I am certain that I have come to an age where I can manage my own urges. Do not insult me with the notion that I could not manage my urges with a daughter - or a pair of orphans who come to my household in need and fear.

I have brought my own girl from a little stick-girl to what she is today. In the doing of it, I did far more than I think that any father might for a young girl who had her need to know of things - and still I had no thoughts of what is raised to my face here."

He looked from one twin to the next, his eyes boring into them each time, "You are not my daughters, not even a little close. You are someone who needs a little help and guidance which Margit seeks to give.

I have little time for your foolish notions which you then turn into foolish fears.

Do you know where the monks kept their vigils here as they moaned and chanted their stupid prayers?"

They both nodded, their eyes almost brimming now.

"Good," Gunnar nodded, "One of you - only one, and I do not care which one it is, will be there in one hour to meet me. We will be alone there, that one and myself and I will begin to give more things to think about so that these thoughts will no longer have a place to form in your minds.

After the beginning at what I will teach, you will leave me there and return to Margit to help her with the evening meal.

No one will harm or use you, but I can tell you this: if I have two more to my house now, then for certain when I have my bath this night, someone will come to wash my back for me.

I have not been able to make a sauna yet, so I must make do with only the first part - the bath. Surely I do not ask for too much."

He stood up and walked off.

They watched him walk away and Margit nodded to herself. "Gunnar is right. You do not even need to hold most of these thoughts in your head, and though he did not say it in so many words, I was being caught up in your fears."

She smiled at them, "There is no need to fear him at all. You only need to get to know him, and I can see that he is setting the stage to begin with you both. He seeks to force you in some way to get past your uncertainty, that is all."

"But, ... Margit, "Nala began, "wash his back?"

She nodded, "I see what he means. You will not die from it. Where we lived before was his homeland and I grew very used to the ways of his kind of people.

Most there hold no mystery or strange thoughts over their bodies. A sauna is a room made hot as a steam bath. You bathe first and then sit in the heat for a time, either all alone, or with family or even guests. After a while, you go out and cool off. It is very healthy, but while you re there, you wear nothing of course. 

And no one cares. They are not there to stare.

But he has not got his sauna yet, so it is only a bath and a backscrub. I will be there the first time to show what you must do and how. 

If nothing else," she smiled, "it ought to clear up your notions about his fearsomeness a little.

I think that you will find that a lot of work which must be done every day, and the business of living as a family will soon remove the need to grow fears in those lovely heads. You will be too tired and bored with it soon enough."

-----------------------

By the time that they'd had their evening meal, the girls were tired. Margit had begun to work with Bremma at the paddock and Nala had survived her first exercises with a wooden sword that Gunnar had made for her. Despite her worry, it had been little more than simple exercises, learning to hold the practice sword and spoken lessons from Gunnar.

The two stood with Margit as Gunnar eased himself into the tub and though they had even more to stare at for a time, they even lived through the backscrub.

Margit gave them Koten's bed and his room to begin with and she sat with them a little before she left them for the night. They had questions about how Margit and her family had come to be there and she told them a little.

Margit's stories quickly became something which the twins wished to hear about every night.

------------------------

It was night and once again, it was raining. 

Not only raining, Louhi mused to herself as she stepped onto the deck from below, it was teeming. So why were they still sailing and not anchored somewhere? Who could ever even see in this mess?

She pulled her cloak around herself a little more tightly and put up her hood. Stepping to the rail, she looked back and she could just make out the dark hulk of the other boat back there, following faithfully behind and not far off.

Thorvald was there in what had become to Louhi his usual place for this trip, since she almost never saw him anywhere else. And just like any other time that she saw him, he didn't look happy and it caused her to wonder if such an expression was even possible on that face.

"Why have we not stopped for the night?" she asked, "Are there no good places to anchor in?"

The seaman turned his head for a moment, "I know the waters from here to where you want to go better than I know the tits of my favorite whore, and I know those ones well, trust me. As for places to anchor, ..."

He shrugged,"I know plenty of them, Mistress. Only it's not something that you'd want to do here." He sighed and looked down for a moment.

"From here all the way through the Baltic, I'd love to see weather such as this; enough of a wind to move us well, and plenty dark enough for us to hide in while I curse the fool on the other boat for the way that he chose to split the crews." 

He turned and looked back a moment, "For sailing an almost overladen washtub such as this, I have the best crew from among those that we had. The number of people he carries is not all that much for handling her, and the horses in the hold are almost as good as ballast.

I'm carrying most of the people, and I also have to carry your large acquaintance down there, and when he moves, Mistress, believe me, I feel it from here.

My problem -- the one which I carry in my mind tonight at the least, is how far we might go in the dark here not all that far off the shore. As soon as it gets lighter, I'll pull us out much farther and if the gods give me the wind I'll be looking for then, both boats will hang every bit of woman's laundry that we can find up if it will give us enough speed for the run right down the middle of the Baltic."

He spat over the rail to check the wind for a moment and then he looked at Louhi as he pointed off into the darkness to their left, "All along this shore, while we hug it and run, cutting all of the corners as best we can, there are two kinds of Northmen -- fishermen and pirates - since the trade in both professions is good enough. 

Farther out, the pirates have faster boats than this one by a wide margin, because they are all Vikings. It is another worry of mine. If we make it through them, we'll be looking all sorts of others in the face I fear; more Swedes, Germans of all sorts, Slavs as thick as flies the farther we go and maybe even Goths. Some of the milder ones are fisherman AND pirates, depending. You can tell their preferences by the type of boat they use."

He spat again, "It is all a matter of degree. If the hunting as gone well hereabouts lately, then why come out on a shitty night such as this to try to stop us? It wouldn't be worth the work and the hazard. 

But if you're hungry and if the fish aren't running, "he sighed, "A man will do as he must to keep himself and his own alive, neh?

They say that you and the lovely one the other boat have some kind of powers. If the talk has any truth, Mistress, I'd love a bit of help if we're seen. Between the crews, I've got the worst fighters."

Louhi understood it then, and it was worse than Thorvald knew.

"Thorvald, what do you know of the people you carry? Most of them, the men, they are fighters, though they are better on dry land and on horseback than they might be on a pitching deck. But most of them are here, on this ship."

She looked back for a moment, "I need to think of the others and the horses."

She walked toward the rear hold, thinking, and she almost walked right into another figure there on the deck because she'd been looking down, lost in thought.

Louhi started, looking up, and she saw a truly miserable and forlorn face.

"Your pardon, Mistress," the woman sniffled as she shivered uncontrollably from the cold, "Is there a place that you know of here where I might go? I am sorry to even trouble you, but I have nowhere else. 

My man has thrown me out into this rain, and none of the others in the hold will let me stay. I've been sitting on the steps down, but they told me to be off so that they could close the door and it was little shelter anyway.

I've tried to go and ask the crew, but they told me no also. My clothes are soaked through and I am wet to the skin."

Louhi knew that it would have been no good to ask the crew anyway. There were not enough places for them all to sleep as it was and they split the spots, one man sleeping in the bedding of another while he was on deck and working. 

A thoroughly wet and cold woman in with them now would call for a lot of strong drink for them all and then what a disaster that would be to get them on deck and able to work once more.

Louhi looked down. And that was if she was willing.

"Why have you been cast out?" she asked in a little disbelief. 

Who would throw a poor woman out on such a night?

The unfortunate groaned a little, "They are all angry with me," she said miserably as she began to add her tears to her unhappiness, "They say that I've been a gossip and that I tell tales about them all, especially the man who I thought loved me." She hid her face in her hands and she almost wailed.

Louhi didn't know the rangers and their families well at all, but she wondered at this turn.

"Come," she said at last, "I do not know if you would be welcome in the place that I think of either, but it is worth the asking, if nothing else."

She took hold of the woman's sodden cloak and led her to the other hold. The woman groaned to herself but said nothing.

She stood on the bottom step in the next moment, feeling the warmth of the hold as she hid herself a little by standing behind Louhi.

The woman stared at what she saw there by peeking out around the tall blonde. Off to one side, there was a curtain of rough cloth hanging, but from the other side of the hull all the way to far past the middle, she saw the basilisk, and lying with most of her front on the tail of the beast was the she-troll. 

Her eye was drawn to the way that the end of his long tail slid over the troll's bottom and looking farther, she saw, ... 

The troll was suckling the beast, and it was plain that she was more than a little enthusiastic about doing it.

Louhi cleared her throat and Gudrun stopped to look back as the basilisk looked up.

"Is there but a little room down here for one more?" Louhi asked, "This one needs shelter this night at least. She is wet through to her skin."

Gudrun tried to see who the other person was for a moment, "Draw your hood back," she said, and it wasn't a request.

The figure looked at her own sopping shoes and the puddles of rainwater that she was leaving on the rough planking as she pulled back her hood, not being able to hold her head up. She still shivered, though at least she wasn't quaking as much from it. 

"Please," she said.

Gudrun was surprised, "Gitte, is it? Why are you not with the others? Why have you come? Do you seek for more to talk about to everyone?"

Gitte was about to say that her worthless man had thrown her out, but she bit it back, remembering all of the angry words which had been thrown at her by the others. 

She sobbed, "My fault." It was all that she said as she hung her head.

Gudrun kissed the shaft of her lover and then she got to her feet and grabbing one of the rough packing cloths, she walked over carefully, trying not to hit her head or step on anyone, "Take your wet things off and dry yourself with this."

Gitte looked horrified for a moment and then she began to try to move toward the curtained-off area.

"Not there," the troll said, "Chiorstan sleeps there with her babe. Do not think to go there and disturb them. Take that all off. Surely even for high humans such as you, there is a time when keeping cold and wet things on becomes a stupid notion."

Gitte hesitated and Louhi nodded, "As they are now, your things are more of a danger to you than a help. We are all the same in our want to be warm, are we not?"




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09



Gitte nodded and she removed her dripping cloak.

"The dress also," Gudrun nodded firmly. 

"Come on, you are being foolish. If what you seek to hide there is worth the hiding of it so much, then you do not truly need to be here, do you? You can be lovely and frozen dead in your beauty outside."

Gitte looked to Louhi, who took her wet cloak. "Gudrun is right. Shame is one thing, if that is what this is, but dying from the cold or sickness is another. You should take it off. I would, were I you. It is so nice and warm here."

Gitte had a thought where she reasoned that if she looked the way that the white-haired one did, then she'd likely feel no shame at all to be naked in front of others. She wondered how it must feel to be a little proud of how one looks. 

She groaned then and struggled to get her soaked dress over her head. The wet fabric made her reluctance even harder to bear.

She felt hands helping her in the fight and when the dress was off, she was surprised to find that it had been the troll.

"Here," she said, handing over the packing cloth, "Give me your things so that I can look for a place to hang them." 

She laid her large hand on Gitte's shoulder carefully, "You are not one which I would wish to see here this night, but this is a matter of more importance than my dark thoughts -- and I try now not to have any, since there is no need to hate someone who has bad fortune on a terrible night. 

Find a place to sit and I will look for something for you to eat. I think that there is yet a little broth in the pot."

Gitte nodded as she tried to hide her shame with her hands and the cloth while she tried to cover herself with it and towel the water off, "Thank you." 

She looked toward Louhi, "And thank you, Mistress. I think that I might owe you my life if I do not get sick."

Louhi smiled pleasantly, "You are with us all, Gitte. I try to think of those who are in my care. It may come to pass that one day, I might need a kindness from you, no?"

As Gitte nodded, liking the thought and wondering why she'd never liked the woman until now, when she'd needed her help, Louhi spoke to Rex, "We sail into waters where there are many pirates, Thorvald had told me. It may come to a fight more than once, and my fear is that most of the fighters are here on this boat, while there are not many on the other. 

Rex, would you help if it comes to that? You as well, Gudrun? We will need the horses alive when we land. Any help that you might give, I would have and gladly."

The basilisk nodded, "Ssomething to hope for," he smiled, "Yess, I will help."

"Count on me, Louhi," Gudrun nodded, "I can swim, but not all that well, so if it comes to a fight, then I would rather sail on than lose."

Louhi nodded and she turned to go back up the steps, feeling better, "My thanks to you both. I have a hope that sometime in all of this, we might sit together, you two and I. Does your kind have a want for friends, Rex? You are making one in me, and I regret that I have not even had the chance yet to spend any time at all with Leif's lovely cousin."

"We will," the she-troll nodded, "I only wait for the day."

Rex laughed a little, "Friendss are not anything that we keep much of, lovely witch. But I feel a want to come to know you and the otherss a little better. Until now, I have found little chance to make any."

He chuckled, "Most humans wish to see my kind dead."

Gitte spun to face Louhi then, though she remembered after a second to try to cover her bottom with her hand and her front with the cloth. The attempt failed a little laughably. Gudrun looked from it to Rex and she grinned.

"You are a witch?" Gitte asked in some surprise.

Louhi nodded, "Something like that. Why? Does that change what I have done for you in your eyes?"

Gitte didn't know what to say for a moment, but then she shook her head, "No, not at all, Mistress."

"Then I am pleased," Louhi smiled once more, "I must go to speak with Màiri. A good night to you."

Gitte stared, "But, ... Mistress Màiri is on the other --"

She found herself talking to the empty steps in front of her. Louhi was gone.

Gitte was bewildered, "Where did she -- "

"She has gone to the other boat," Gudrun said quietly, "It is her way to move like that, I am told. 

There is still broth and plenty, but it is a little cold now. It will be a little while as it warms. We have only a very small heater to cook on, but I will get some for you when it is hot. Go and sit with Rex there, Gitte."

Gitte looked and she saw that Rex, such as he was, took up almost all of the rest of the space. She didn't think that there was a place where she might sit that was not on top of some part of his long body.

"Come here, girl," he smiled.

At thirty-two, Gitte was, by her own admission, only barely pretty anymore if at all and for damn sure; her days of being a lithe and willowy girl were far back in the dust behind her. These days, she was a little closer to Rubenesque in her figure. She was a also a bit older than most of the other women on board and the beast was being very charitable and polite in addressing her as 'girl'.

She shook her head, preferring to stand there.

"I do not know if you have any knowledge of my kind," he smiled a little slowly, "but I think that you will find that I have a very warm heart -- as well as other thingss, to be sure.

But - and you might assk my Gudrun there -- quite often, when we meet ssomeone who iss lovely ssuch as you are in circumstancess ssuch as thesse, there iss a little , ... bargaining to be done."

Gitte stared at the beast and then she looked around a little frantically.

"Your things are there, "Gudrun pointed, "hanging up and dripping on the floor. Rex is offering you a choice, Gitte. You need to be warm and fed. He will provide that and I will help, being his wife now in most ways.

I do hope that you will not sink back into foolishness. Rex wants you to lie with him and he will be very gentle. You are the sort of human female that he likes for a bit of his fun, since you are full enough to possess the strength to take a little more of what he gives. You are a female and it is clear to me that he likes you. He seeks to make a bargain with you. You will come to know him as few females get the chance of, and you will be fed and warmed. He will not hurt you, and if you like him, it can go on."

She looked past Gitte as a gust of wind brought a change in the pattern of the sound of the rain, "Or if you would rather hold on to your treasures, you might go to try and reconcile with the one who threw you out."

Gitte said nothing in reply. She'd already tried that -- and she'd begged him, in front of them all.

Gudrun looked over at Gitte, "If you think a moment, you might see that I am being a little kinder to you than you were to me. I offer to share my warm place, my food, and even my fine husband for your pleasure. There is no one here but us and so I am a little curious about the way that human females hold their virtue as though it was something a little holy."

The phrasing caught Gitte's ear. She was thinking that in order to be able to remain here where it was warm and dry, she would be forced to allow the beast to ...

Yet, she thought, here Gudrun had just made it sound as though she was prepared to SHARE the creature's affections. She wondered very briefly how it would be taken if she declined. 

"I -- I don't know, "Gitte stammered a little and Gudrun placed her hand on the woman's shoulder once more.

"Look at it this way," she said in a quiet and earnest way, "What I speak of is nothing more than sharing. I try to make a friend -- even in one who showed me meanness. Chiorstan teaches me that it is what ought to be done among humans, though it is done very seldom."

She waved her other hand across the space of the hold, "Here, we are as travelers, are we not? What is the difference whether we crawl into a wayside shack, all of us strangers, cold, wet and hungry, or as we are here?

The only thing to be done in both cases to make our common misery into something far better is to share what we have. Since you have nothing else, why not share yourself, since we are willing? No one sees, no one knows. Who would be the wiser, then? At least those of us here will share our smiles over it, and surely none would be able to make friends faster.

Since you are here, it must be that you have no friends among the rest. Try to seek the best in us all and we might find the friendships that we all seek.

Look, I am a half-troll and Rex is a basilisk. Who do you know who has friends such as us?"

Gitte stood paralyzed for the moment, feeling the maelstrom of her emotions as they swirled around her head, mostly her anguish and upset. She felt the hurt of her man's words anew as he'd railed at her in front of the others, "Six years, Woman. Six years I have had to listen as you ran everyone around us into the dirt over what you saw as failings. Do you think that you are better? You are not."

She remembered the way that he'd lunged for her then, taking hold of her by the throat to shake her, "Do you think that I do not hear of the things you say about me? The names that you have called me when you speak to anyone else? 

Worthless, am I? The one who works to feed us both and keep us alive? Begone! 

I have had my fill of it, night after night of trying to sleep -- since there is never a want in you for me, besides as a fool for you to prattle your tales to. If I must seek for my relief among the poxy wenches in a tavern, what use have I for you? You do nothing for us. The next time that you think of your first man and how HE failed YOU, you can add me to your list. Away with you!"

Gitte hung her head and began to cry. What would the others now say about her? She didn't think of it as a proper thought, but she'd been sniggering and spreading gossip about others over her poor sense of worth. It had been easier than facing her own faults to try to correct them, and this was now the price of it.

Rex leaned forward and he picked her up under her arms, "Come here, ssad one and ssit on my knee a while as I warm you."

Gitte was surprised at his strength, but she made no attempt to fight him off. The alternative was the cold rain out there on the deck. He sat her down on him and he wrapped his long arms around her so that she'd be a little warm. 

"Now," he said in a soothing tone, "what is the matter? You are here now, ssafe and being warmed. All that I asssk for is a little pleasure with ssomeone whosse lovely body was made to love with one ssuch as I am."

She hid her face in her hands and sobbed a little, "But that would be to lie with, ..."

"Well, I am no demon," he smiled, kissing her ear very softly as he hugged her and even in her discomfiture, Gitte had to admit her surprise to herself to find that she liked the way that it felt. She'd have thought that his scales would hurt to be pressed up against this way.

She exhaled heavily after a sob passed out of her, "Everyone will know."

Gitte looked up as she felt Gudrun's fur-covered body move against her from behind, "No one knows -- yet," she smiled, "though a few might come to the notion, wondering where you might have gone to after being cast out. There really is little else for you than this, is there not?

Even so, the notion of you lying with beasts such as us will not come to their minds quickly. The one who would come to the idea the quickest of all is you, Gitte.

And you are not there to put it into their heads, are you? Why worry over it?"

Gitte shuddered as a slight sob escaped her, "But, ... but I am not beautiful like the Mistress. I am an old woman, long past my time."

She felt the warm heat of the basilisk's long tongue as he licked her throat. When she'd guessed what it might be, she'd have thought that she'd want to shudder, but a long-forgotten sense came to her that once, long ago, she'd loved to feel this from her first husband -- before he'd thrown her out.

Before she allowed the thought to slide past, Gitte realized that just maybe, both of her men hadn't been complete arseholes. Certainly neither one had started out that way. She wondered if they'd turned into that or whether it might be that she'd caused it in them over the way that she'd been to them. 

She thought of her first husband when they were young. 

If ever there was a more loving boy who sought only to see the best in others, most often in her, she had to admit, ...

Her second had been a tough and seasoned veteran who by his own admission had sought her out wanting someone to love again, since his life had grown so lonely and cold. 

"I don't ask for much," she remembered him saying to her in a quiet and humble way which had surprised her, "I want only a good woman to hold onto me and love me. For that, from one such as you, Gitte, I'd give all of anything that I have."

In a flash of insight, Gitte decided that these things hadn't been solely her fault -- but she'd certainly had a large hand in the ruin of her own chances at happiness. 

Now she was between the warm bodies of a she-troll and a serpent, and they were making nice sounds to her. What more did she have to lose? And why not try to have a little of something which she hadn't experienced in so long?

"My kind iss known for many abilities, lovely one," the basilisk hissed into her ear very softly, "I can ssensse much in you, and I also know your true age -- to the blessed insstant when you uttered your very first ssoft little criess. You are not old, Gitte. Pleasse let me love you."

She heard and felt his careful sigh against her neck on the other side, "I can give sso much to one like you."

He reached and moved her dripping hair away from her neck and then he began to lick her ear as well, "I can change thingss for you. You will never feel weak again, and I will fill you often with my love. The little mother over there already knowss what I give. Come and love with uss, Gitte. It will never be a regret to you."

She felt such heat coming to her from his long body and it felt so good, and now that she had the thought of it, she hadn't felt such pleasant caresses over her breasts in long years and she wondered why she hadn't taken her husband's offers so many times. He'd been very good at this for her.

Gudrun moved against her back just a little to seek for a better position and Gitte was a little startled to feel that it was her large hands who were making her tits so happy. She wanted to struggle a little then over the sense of this being wrong, but then, she thought, she'd never felt a sweeter touch on them, at least not in the last half-decade.

One of the hands left her breast and she felt it make its slow trip downward. She thought that she ought to slap it away, but then she wondered why and she sighed as the long warm fingers began their gentle explorations.

"She has been a mother, I think," she heard Gudrun whisper and Gitte nodded. 

"Once. My little boy was trampled by an Englishman's mount. I -- I never had the chance, ... or the want to make another. I was alone then. The birthing tore me something awful."

She wanted to hang her head again, but Gudrun's wet fingers came to prevent it as they slipped under her chin. 

"Why do you feel shame, Gitte? Mothers lose their little ones to many things, and a mother cannot be everywhere at once. Mothers always lose. It is part of the sadness of being a female, but there is also joy, if you would allow it. Rex cherishes mothers, you will see."

Somehow, it settled things for Gitte, though she never knew just why. Gudrun's hand returned to Gitte's soft cleft and what it did felt so good to her.

She moaned for a moment and then Gitte did what she would have told anyone at all before this -- mostly to herself just to hear it - was an impossibility. 

She raised her head as Gudrun was kissing her cheek and then she kissed the troll full on the mouth, her lips parting to allow the thick tongue in. Gitte moaned and reached to hold the troll-girl there by one horn. Without really meaning to, she began to hump her hips very slowly against the troll's hand.

"Thank you for such a sweet kiss, Gitte," Gudrun whispered as she kissed Gitte's shoulder, "Kiss my husband now, so that you know how much he wants you."

It wasn't as difficult as she might have imagined it to be at all. Rex had that long neck, and once they began, Gitte began to feel a wanton need in her rising like never before in her life.

And the effect was a mutual one as she felt him harden against her bottom back there behind her.

"Jusst lie back against me, ssweet one," she heard him whisper to her as he lifted her only enough so that Gudrun's hand could reach underneath her to move it forward a little, and then he set her down again.

The next thing that Gitte knew, she was being lowered, still against the serpent as he leaned backward. That long red thing of his was against her cleft and it felt, ... 

She groaned once more.

Gudrun kissed Gitte for a few moments and then she smiled, "You are very wet, but please allow me to make you wetter. You will relax more and then it will go easier. Rex would not hurt you, so you may forget what troubles you."

She grinned a little, "I almost said, 'my love'. Yet it does not feel so strange to my lips as it would have before."

The troll looked at Gitte for a moment and then she began to smile even more, "You -- you like me, yes? Is that what I see there?"

Gitte had been looking at Gudrun, not feeling any of the revulsion which she knew had always come to her at times when she'd met someone different. She sighed to herself, and if these two were anything, they certainly were different.

"Yes," she whispered, "I have never seen one like you and - and it stirs me somehow."

The sweet little shy smile which she saw returned to her over the remark was suddenly worth a lot to Gitte, though she wondered at herself now.

She'd been a little mesmerized at watching the troll-girl's nipples as they peeked out through her fur at her. She had the thought that Gudrun must be aroused. She hoped so, because she certainly was and she knew it full well now.

She was about to ask if she might have a chance to kiss them, but she didn't yet have the courage or enough of the blind lust that she'd need for something such as that, but it was a nice thought to her suddenly.

But by then, Gudrun was already reaching for her Gitte's tits once again and Gitte moaned to feel the way that she was being squeezed. One of Gudrun's hands reached to take Gitte's thigh and lift it as the troll began her kissing path down her front. 

Gitte wondered why anyone would want to do that to her, but there was no way that she was about to throw up an argument by this point.

It wasn't long before she began to feel Gudrun's incredible tongue as it was set to work on her lips and inner thighs, gliding along each one of them before she felt the way that they were being sucked out. She could even feel the way that they were now so swollen and needy from it.

But it all went by the boards when Gudrun began to croon to her softly as she licked. She drew her face back a little and she smiled up and Gitte was startled at just how far her legs had been spread in this. Then again, she thought, the girl had a large face.

Not for a troll, she guessed, and she could see quite a bit of beauty in it now as well, but for a human - someone like her - doing something as wonderful to her as this, well, she needed the room, that was all.

Gitte moved her knees as far apart as she could and she could feel the soles of her feet touching each other behind Gudrun's head, noticing the gentle way that the troll held her bottom up a little for this feast.

The troll shook her head in open admiration for a moment, "Sweet Gitte," she sighed, "no old woman gives juice this fine, surely. Do not ever say something to me like that again -- and please, oh please, say to me that I can do this again for you sometime."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09



Gitte was astounded, but she was given little time to question it as Gudrun lifted her just a little higher and moved her forward a touch. While Gitte was marveling at the troll's strength, she felt the very tip of something slip into her guided by Gudrun.

"Your joy comes soon," she whispered and then she kissed Gitte's belly softly as she fed a little more of Rex inside.

"Take her, husband." Gudrun sighed, "She is as ready as I can make her for you."

As Gitte felt the heat of that shaft sliding into her, she groaned and raised her head at what she felt. 

There, visible over her thatch of dark fur, was Gudrun's face, licking and wetting the thing which now had possession of her and sought to claim her.

As the strokes began very slowly, Gitte felt her legs being lifted and eased down past the troll's shoulders. "Do not fear now," she smiled, "I will stay with you here. Something like this, I now have such a strong want in me to see unto its end."

Rex began to go a little faster, after feeling just how far he might be able to go into Gitte without hurting her. She laid her head back onto him and reached up to kiss him.

Gitte had never imagined that anyone could ever stir her this much, the way that this pair seemed to be able to do so easily, but she knew that she wanted it now, all that the pair of them could give to her. 

Rex held her breasts and kneaded them in a way that no man ever had as she felt the very first beginnings of the little slaps from his thighs against her bottom, and she also felt the slow and careful lapping of the troll's tongue against them both.

"Fuck her, Rex," Gudrun whispered a little hoarsely, "She is yours."

Three long seconds of deep thought on her part later, Gitte added her voice to it, "Ohhh yes! Fuck me, Rex, you wonderful beast. Fuck me. Fuck m -- Oh! Ahh, fuck, ... fuck, ...."

The basilisk was in a bit of heaven, finding that he was able to bang a human as he'd wanted to for so long. As long as he held himself just a little shorter so as not to harm her, this one could surely go the distance with him. 

He smiled softly as the hold echoed with the soft slapping of him against her fine ass.

And what an ass, he grinned to his wife as she grinned back. 

He slid his hand down along the length of her, feeling the flare of her hips and then the soft swell of her haunch.

He could hardly wait to see such magnificence the very first time that she knelt before him to offer herself to him.

And, he thought as he looked down to see her head lolling back and forth while she made such nice grunting sounds to him, he now knew that she would offer it to him that way.

He felt it as she tightened on him the first time that she came with a cry.

He plowed right on through it and she keened while Gurdun enjoyed the new flood of her moisture which suddenly flooded out just a little around the basilisk's maleness as he pumped on.

She writhed and wailed out her joy when she came again only a few minutes later, and Rex plowed through that one too, never even slowing a little and giving her no respite, not that she gave any sign of wanting it, and she was bouncing against him now.

He fucked on and on, waiting for the next one. He'd decided that he'd try for that one.

When it happened, she surprised him, truly.

He thought that she'd lose the rest of her mind, but it wasn't an issue at all for her.

Gitte had only lain there shuddering and sighing as he filled her and it ran out to Gudrun's waiting and eager lips.

Gitte reached up over her head, in her horizontal position there on top of his hard abdomen to caress his face. Both Rex and Gudrun were amazed.

"Thank you," she whispered shakily, still shuddering, her legs twitching a little in Gudrun's grasp, "For once in my life, I can say that I have been well and truly fucked.

I imagine that we all ache to feel it when a man fills us. But we never really feel much of anything, other than when he sends it each time, and that is if we are a little lucky.

This time, there was no mistaking what was being done to me. Thank you for that, Rex."

The pair of them stared at her as she sighed, "I wish so much that I was what you might want in a woman, but I guess that you also have Chiorstan for this."

Rex looked down into Gitte's eyes -- they both did.

"He has Chiorstan," Gudrun nodded, "we both do."

Rex nodded, "Stay, Gitte. Wish for what I have told you of to happen and stay if it is what you want."

"I like her," Gitte nodded, "even more now that I know that she has you both and for the way that Gudrun said that she teaches her. Chiorstan is right. People should be better toward others."

She lifted her head to smile at the troll, "If I can ask it, would you please let me kiss your bosom? The want of it is in the front of my head now and I want to ask while I have the nerve."

Gudrun sat down, plainly in a little shock, but she nodded and she appeared to be every bit as shy as the other time when Gitte had said that she liked Gudrun.

Gitte groaned deeply as she sat up, "The other side of this fine joy is that a girl like me -- "

She stopped then, wondering at her own words.

Gudrun nodded, "Go on, Gitte. Say what was on your tongue."

"I wanted to say that fucking like that, after so long without, is a little hard on the hips. Did I just speak of myself as a girl?"

Gudrun nodded again, this time with a hopeful smile, "Why? Do you feel as a girl again? We do not think that you are old. Gitte."

"You know," the woman smiled a little, "I think that I do."

Gudrun reached for her then and she tumbled backwards very slowly as Gitte pressed her face against the Troll's breasts.

------------------------------------

Chiorstan stirred a little and then she opened her eyes.

She lay there a minute, wondering at the way that she felt a little different. But she had little time to think on it or to reflect very much as Katy woke up hungry.

Chiorstan gave it a thought and then she noticed the weight from her chest and the let-down came only an instant later. She picked her baby up and smiled, "Well if you do not mind waiting to have your bottom cleaned for a few minutes, your Ladyship, I've got my wee bairn's breakfast ready just now."

She held Katy up and then she reached for her breast so that she could get Katy to latch on quickly. 

The infant found her nipple and then she began even before Chiorstan needed to look.

What Chiorstan noticed was the way that Katy was looking up at her. She looked down and blinked as she stared at her hand and the swell of her full breast.

Katy was well locked on by this point, so Chiorstan shifted her gently to hold her with one arm and she held her hand up in front of her face, staring at what she saw.

She looked down then at the stark contrast between her infant's smooth and slightly pink skin and her own, right there on her breast.

What she saw was slightly shiny, slightly pebbled, and a mottled mixture of black and red.

She almost dropped Katy.

She looked elsewhere and it was the same. Then she leaned down to examine herself closely, looking at her thigh. Her skin wasn't there. Instead, she had little, ... scales?

She ran her hand over her long leg for a moment. Since when had her legs ever seemed this long? Her touch told her that her skin, such as it now was in this dream, was smooth and dry, but for the tiny, very smooth bumps of millions of the scales.

Her eyes ran the last of the distance to her feet and she wanted to scream. What was there looked nothing at all like her own feet -- and there were the long claws there.

She thought about her big toe for a moment as she remembered what it had looked like only the day before and her consciousness returned the knowledge to her that her toe was fine, present and accounted for. 

But she didn't see it. 

She tried to wiggle it and that was when she found the claw all by itself, four inches up on the inside of her leg, just below what she guessed was her ankle, since that was the way that it felt to her.

She ran her hand over her head and felt her hair. But it wasn't the same at all to her touch. There was a ridge or something on the top of her head which leaned backward as some sort of spike.

Her mouth fell open.

And even that felt different today. She slid her hand forward to feel her lips and she almost put out her own eye.

She lowered her hand and really looked at it. 

Claws.

Wicked and cruel-looking claws.

Struggling not to begin to cry now, she still held Katy, but now she looked for Gudrun.

She was a little trapped here, not knowing if she even knew how to stand on what passed for her feet now.

She saw Gudrun's hip and she shook it as gently as her trembling and fearful hand could do it. She found that she had to do it again and then again before the troll stirred.

"Help me, Gudrun," she said in a tremulous voice, full of fear now.

"What?" Gudrun groaned, "What help do you need?"

Chiorstan looked down, wondering over the pressure and the pull as she leaned toward Gudrun and she saw the reason for it as she looked back.

It was her tail.

"I don't know!" Chiorstan wailed.

Katy began to cry, sensing her mother's distress.

With what looked to be a supreme effort of her will, Gudrun slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes a little, "What can I d-"

Gudrun stared at her friend in disbelief, her mouth falling open very slowly.

------------------------------

"So, you feel better now? You look a lot better, now that you have calmed down," Louhi said as she walked along the deck with Gudrun and Chiorstan. 

The day had dawned just as darkly as the evening before, though the rain was holding off a little as though it was preparing to drench everything in sight in about another minute or so. The two boats were scudding along just as fast as their sails could take them, Thorvald not seeming willing to give up the small edge that he felt they were being given.

Chiorstan nodded, heaving a sigh of relief once again at the thought of it as she watched Louhi and Katy smile at each other as Louhi carried the baby.

"It was terrible," she said," and I was so frightened that I would be like that forever. Thank you for the help and for coming so quickly."

"Well it was a shock to be sure," Louhi chuckled, "especially since I did not know at the time what had caused it and to come rushing down the steps to see you like THAT. I didn't know what to think and wondered how yet another magical creature had come on board."

She laughed a little, "I am only getting used to the fine pair that we have."

"Well, I know how to manage it now -- as you showed it to me," Chiorstan said, "so I know how to make it come and go as I wish. I almost made myself dizzy for a time. You cannot imagine the way that it shakes your mind when you only turn your head at some sound that you have heard -- and your head moves quicker than any chicken's head. I am only glad that it didn't really frighten Katy until the end when I was crying myself.

And she got over it so quickly, too."

"She is an adventurer, this little one," Gudrun smiled.

"So, um, Mistress Louhi," Chiorstan began a little nervously, "Can you tell me just what I am then? ... You know, when I become that, uh, thing which I was?"

Louhi shrugged, "Truly, I know not. Some sort of lizard, but you remain warm-blooded -- even a little hot to the touch. I do not know of anything like that, and so strong you are then, Chiorstan, and so very fast in how you can move. One day, I would like to see how quickly you can run -- when you have the room for it, mind you," she smiled as she indicated the length of the deck with her chin.

"You do look very nice to look at that way. 

I mean," she smiled, "there is nothing wrong with the way that you look at any time, but like that, with those patterns on your skin and that tail, ... very nice to see."

"Mistress," Chiorstan began, "let me get a little used to it first and find my own large feet then so that I do not tip over, and I will let you see me like that, if you like, but I do not wish to let others see me that way."

"I understand," Louhi smiled, "I was only saying it."

She turned to Gudrun then, "And of course, you will get to see it much more anyway, I would guess. What of the other one? Gitte? You say that you think this will happen to her as well?"

The troll groaned a little and then grinned at the way that the sound caused Katy to laugh, "I cannot say. I only know that Rex fucked with her the same way that he fucked with Chiorstan here, so I would guess, ..."

"Please ask him not to fuck with anyone else then," the blonde said, a little seriously.

"But thank you for what you both did to take care of her, you and Rex. I have heard that she was mean-spirited in her gossip, not the least toward you."

"I learn from my friend here," the troll nodded, "and Gitte has since shown us that she is sorry and we have found her to be very, ... thankful in our bed, but if this is what will happen to her when she wakes up, I do not know if I am ready for two of them."

There was a loud cry from the doorway to the rear hold and the three of them began to run to it a second later.

-------------------------------

They found Gitte staring at herself, still a little distraught, but coming around to it. She'd been as frightened as Chiorstan had been at first, but she'd reasoned it out for herself and she could already make it come and go as she wished. 

Right then, as the others came down the steps quickly in answer to her cry, she was holding her breasts -- or rather -- her new breasts in this guise. They were lush and full, better than her own had been when she'd been at her best as a young woman. They'd been lovely back then, but these girls, she thought, these were like weapons to be used on unsuspecting ...

She tossed the thought and she asked herself if she'd not learned anything from the day before.

She removed her hands then and tried to hide herself under the blankets of her bedding, a little late for it. She almost jumped straight up when her thumb grazed her cunny, and it was all that she could do after that not to feel herself a little just to try to learn what was what down there now. 

But she found that she did like her dark gray skin very much. As far as she could tell, she was very near to Rex in her color.

The three of them stared at her and then they all wore wide smiles.

"Well," Louhi said, finding her voice before the others, "I must not tell Nikki of what goes on down here. I like her just as she is and she can already be a selkie girl.

I see that bringing you here was the best thing that I could have done to help you, Gitte. You're a little different this day from when I saw you last, but you are quite lovely like that, you know."

Gitte stood up rather slowly and she bowed just a little to Louhi, "It was a night of nights for me, Mistress and no mistake. Now," she sighed a little, "if only I knew just what it is that I am this way."

She half-turned to show them her small tail and she shrugged, "I do not know. I went to touch my face and I found these," she said, indicating the small pair of tusks which protruded from her lower lip, "I find that I now have a fear that I have been turned into a two-legged sow, or something like that."

She hung her head a little, "Though I must guess that it serves me right for the way that I have lived my life until now."

She looked very human for the most part, and to anyone's eyes, she was shapely, though not voluptuous, not quite that. And as humble as she was at the moment, not particularly liking the two facial features which she'd found, Gitte was still very pleased because while she was not a willowy thing again, she was firm everywhere, as solid as a draft horse.

She liked that.

"They're very nice to look at," Louhi smiled, "Truly. If anything, I think that I would have to say that you look rather, ... inspiring, in a lusty sort of way to me."

Gitte almost blushed, knowing just what was meant. She couldn't wait for a moment when she was alone, wanting very much to test the feelings that she now felt from down there below her smaller tufted thatch.

She looked at Chiorstan, who smiled, "I like the way that you look now, Gitte, but more than that, I have heard of what was done and what you said. I hope to find your friendship if it can be between us. I am not very good at throwing hard words around."

Gitte nodded, "Well, I do not know if I can actually turn over a new leaf, even if I am given a chance to redeem myself."

She shrugged and gave them a soft smile, "But I know that it is what I want to do, and I know at least where I ought to be, and it seems to be here -- since none of the others will have me."

She looked a little uncertainly at Gudrun, waiting to hear something from her.

Gudrun looked down, feeling like an idiot, but also feeling the words which she wanted to say.

She shook her head and looked up. "What do you think, Gitte? I have tusks too. I think that you are beautiful. I am sorry that I cannot string pretty words together -- especially now as I stare at those beauties on your chest."

She groaned a little longingly, "Could we just go to bed?"

The ship lurched to one side rather gently and they heard the clatter of the basilisk's heavy claws on the decking above them.

Thorvald looked over at the beast's face a little searchingly and Rex returned his gaze.

"Boatss," he said with a nod, pointing off in the direction that they were sailing in, "Many, each full of armed men. A larger long one wass with them. They sstay together and move thsis way sslowly."

----------------------------------

The 'sea battle' ended up as a lot of yelling across open water which became a bit of a rout afterwards. 

The many men on the boats were pirates, and they did order the two ships to heave-to to be boarded.

"You asked to fly with me?" Rex said to Gudrun -- who was already stringing her bow as she nodded to him.

As the shouting match continued, Màiri and Louhi both stood on the decks of their respective ships, away from the men who shouted taunts from the rail. They were sensing, looking for the obvious leaders in their opposition. There was a large man who seemed to be the leader aboard the longship, but they wanted the ones who most of the men looked up to in the groups of the smaller craft.

A lean and hungry-looking fighter stopped his urging of those aboard the boat which he was on as well as a few of the ones nearby when a comely woman appeared out of the air to stand before him with an impassive expression.

She tilted her head, plainly waiting for him to say something.

Of the ones around him, he had the quickest tongue, but even so, to see a red-haired beauty just show up out of nothing in front of him...

The words were coming, Màiri thought, but she had elsewhere to be, so she smiled at him.

It seemed to confound him even more, but he stayed rooted to the spot in confusion as her sword flicked into view, and with a quick cross-stroke and a slight grimace from the effort of the swing, his head was off and the men had no leader among them. She faded away then, leaving them all to begin their arguments over who would lead them now.

The same scene was repeated several times over in the little flotilla as Louhi began to do the same thing.

When Louhi appeared before the man in charge of the longship, he seemed to be a little quicker in the uptake than the others, or he was dumber than all of them combined as he shook his long-axe at her. He barely looked surprised at the way that she'd just appeared there.

"Why do you attack us?" he bellowed in Swedish, "We have done nothing to you!"

Louhi smiled a little coyly and pointed, "The fishing here must be very good, if fishermen are forced to sail with weapons in their hands to club the fish so that they might stack them better after they jump into the boat."




Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09



Another man tried to get the large one's attention as he pointed to what had happened to the group leaders all around them.

But he was gone an instant later, to lie in a crumpled heap a dozen feet away with a long and thick arrow protruding from his chest.

Everyone but Louhi gaped and then turned to see where the large arrow had come from and they stood with sagging shoulders as they stared at Màiri's ship.

Leif had come on deck.

"They've a fucking troll, Snorri!" one man exclaimed as he turned to look back, "A fucking real and live troll!"

"So?" the man bellowed back, "They have two boats. Surely we can get something out of this before that one gets any nearer!"

He turned to regard Louhi, "I do not know how you come to be here, but --"

There was a shout then and everyone looked to see the dark blur which flashed upward from the hold of the other ship. Their cries turned to groans when Rex spread his wings and flew off a ways before he circled back.

The man turned back to Louhi, but his eyes bulged a little in that instant and he looked down to see her blade buried deep in his chest.

He grimaced and let out only one groan as she twisted her sword and withdrew it.

As he sank to his knees, dying, the white-blonde hair blew in the wind over Louhi's face for a moment.

"See to your own defense," she smiled at the others, "When my friend and I fuck men, we fuck much harder than they do."

Then she was gone.

It was pandemonium between the boats then as they all tried to pull away as quickly as they could in different directions.

They knew that it only wasted time to look up, trying to see where the flying beast was, but many couldn't help it.

Gudrun killed a few with her bow, laughing as she did it, but what brought her and Rex the most returns were her laughing cries and shrieks. When anyone looked up - if they happened to be in the basilisk's view -- he focused on them and they fell dead.

The two ships pulled away, leaving the longship and several of the smaller craft drifting, full of corpses. Any who could were pulling on their oars for their lives, and whenever a survivor noticed a dead man near him, he stopped rowing long enough to push the body over the side before he went back to his rowing, unless the dead man had been a friend.

Louhi stood with Cuilén and Thorvald as Rex flared in for his landing. The basilisk was about to scuttle his large body back down when he saw the seaman holding up his hand. Thorvald thanked Rex and Gudrun and they nodded back, before they descended the steps.

Louhi stood with her mouth open and smiling. "What is this?" she laughed a little as she looked, "I never thought to see a smile on that face. I never knew that you even could smile, Thorvald."

He nodded with his toothy grin showing through his beard, "Now that I see that we are not helpless, Mistress, I am almost happy enough to dance."

Their laughter ran its course and died away, and as it did, one after another of them looked over to regard a lone figure standing at the rail all alone and looking out at the retreating boats. The rangers still on the deck on that side had left a wide half-circle of room around that one.

Chiorstan stood wearing only her open cloak, holding her husband's sword.

But none of the men knew her as the young widow any longer.

She turned around and the men all took a half-step back.

"What is the matter?" she asked them, "Am I not seen as an ally anymore?"

"Who are you and how did you come to be on this boat?" One of the bolder ones asked her, "We do not know you."

She flicked the longsword overhand once and then she slid it into its scabbard and looked up, her eyes looking a little beady as her long tongue flicked out over her lips once very quickly.

"No, perhaps not," she replied, "or perhaps it is that you do not mark me as one that you have never had much of a thought for before now."

She pulled her cloak around her and they stared at the young widow then, whom everyone had seen, but few had ever taken the time to speak to.

"Do I frighten or disgust you all enough that you would turn away one who would fight in our defense over the way that I can look? If one of them had but climbed up before me, I would have fought for us all."

"We are not that foolish," one of the rangers said with a smile as he stepped over and held out his arm.

Chiorstan looked at the offered hand for a second and then she clasped the forearm above it, "Then know that I am still an ally of clan Ciar's rangers. I only seem to have come into my own in a strange way," she smiled with a shrug.

"Can you use that blade?" he asked.

"Other than to swing it," she said, "I do not know. Until now, I have never been able to do much with it but carry it. I seem to be stronger now, but, ... well, I would welcome a little teaching in the art."

"Then come with me," the man smiled, "I would teach you a little gladly."

"Could I ask you to hold a few moments?" she asked, a little embarrassed, "My tits are full to bursting and I need a little while to feed my girl, if you have time."

He smiled and nodded, before he caught the baleful glare of his woman.

"Oh, don't you start," he laughed, "I seek to teach her, not to die at your hands when I am asleep, Woman."

"A good reply," she said, breaking into a wide smile as she walked up to Chiorstan, "You might live long enough to grow older and gray with a quick tongue like that one. 

Is there anything which I might do to help you, Chiorstan? I cannot swing a blade as you can, but ..."

"Only gird yourself if you mean to come down with me," Chiorstan nodded, clearly a little pleased, "Things down below are a trifle unusual, but I will take a friend however I can get one."

---------------------------

They walked Nadya's horse to the stables and being a horsewoman of sorts herself, Petra helped to get the saddle off and the horse stood much warmer and far more content a few moments later.

"In here a moment," Nadya said, leading the princess into the gatehouse.

As soon as the door was closed, she grabbed Petra and threw her up against the wall to glare into her face, pinning her arms above her head easily.

Petra felt the back of her head slam against the wall. She found herself being held there in contact with it from her shoulders to her backside, and Nadya was in her face, snarling.

"Have I just seen the reason that you stood talking with me and saying nothing? Was it all so that I would make a better target? You must have wondered what took the archer so long to shoot that you had to stand still in the cold and wait for her shot."

Nadya smirked then, "Royal plots often come to hidden endings, I think."

Petra looked to be on the verge of tears, and yet, Nadya could suddenly see just a hint of backbone at last on those eyes and she could feel the way that Petra pressed back to get away from the cold wall.

"I am no human," Petra sneered back, "I speak truths the same as any Kurtadam."

"Truths are one thing,"Nadya nodded, "but you are a royal, and telling falsehoods is only one means of deception. Some things might be said, and others can remain unspoken to much the same effect as a human lie."

Petra shook her head.

Nadya pressed harder.

They stood nose to nose, belly to belly, as Nadya stared into Petra's eyes, seeking for what was really there.

"Who was the archer?" she asked down low in her throat, "Was it your sister, Princess? How does it feel to have been the true target?"

Petra tried to turn her head, not wanting to think about what had just happened and what it meant.

Nadya pressed even more, ignoring the way that her mound was now up against Petra's, "The truth, Petra. I want all of it now. Was this a plot which turned against you or not?"

She pressed again, harder this time, and the princess' eyes opened a little wider, though it wasn't clear if the reaction had been one of surprise or not.

"There, ... there was no plot -- at least none that I was a party to," she said quietly, "I came to meet you and to ask about them, the males which you have taken for your pack. I told no one where I was going."

She cast her eyes downward for a moment, "I have heard that one forest warrior lives yet. I wished to meet you."

She sniffled once, "I have always felt regret that we did not have any now -- when we need them the most, here where there are so few of us. It was my dream as a young one to learn from them."

There was nothing from her for a moment but another sniffle, and then she said, "I have never wanted to be who I am; one who is handed matter after matter to decide over, always for others and seldom for myself."

She looked away for a moment then, "The one time when I had a matter which carried MY hopes, MY dreams, and MY happiness, I ruined things for myself."

She looked Nadya in the eye then and her gaze narrowed, "Let me loose, Nadya. You make it worse like this for me, having to look at the one who triumphed over my fool's hope for myself."

Nadya said nothing for a moment in reply. She only pressed hard against Petra again, and then again in a subtle way for all the forcefulness of it.

"You have not answered me, "she said, "Who was the archer? Do you know her?"

"It was Jenna."

The whisper hung in the air between them for a moment and then Nadya nodded as she pushed once more.

"Do you like this, Petra?" the red-haired one asked with the smallest hint of a smile.

"What, this?" Petra asked, "Being fucked up against a cold wall by the one who has what I dreamed to have? Does it please you to do this to me? You said that you take no joy in my misfortune. Does that mean that you take joy in having a princess up against a wall instead?"

"Yes." Nadya smiled a little wider now as she began to hump more rhythmically, "I still find no pleasure in your pain, Petra. But I am finding a measure of it with you. "

"Let me go!" Pettra snarled, "I am in no mood for this. How dare you, I -- "

"To gain what one might want," the red wolf-girl smiled, "one must first want it badly enough. Then one must dare to take it. If you do not dare, you cannot have it, Petra. That is how I dare."

Nadya kept Petra just a little quieter by kissing her very forcefully, though she was still surprised at the level of sound which a person's nose might allow to pass.

She drew her head back, "I can allow that you might not be in the mood, Petra, not long after having an attempt made on your life by one who followed you all of your lives, especially.

But you see, at the moment, I am in the mood and very much.

It serves several purposes; the one which I like so much at the moment is to see the fire in your eyes. I was told that you were known as iron-willed, but until just now, I have only seen hints at it. 

Now, ... your anger," she smiled, "Ooh, and that royal outrage at what I do here, ...."

She lunged then and kissed Petra again, grinding her sex against the girl and pressing her body against Petra's as much as she could, wanting to feel the princess' breasts as they were crushed by her own, but pulling back just in time as Petra snapped her mouth shut.

Nadya wouldn't allow Petra much in the way of any movement, but she found a little latitude anyway and went there and knew that it had been a mistake in the next instant. Nadya had known and she now held Petra that way to enjoy her.

"I know that it is at least very pleasant for you, Petra. I can feel the way that you hold your hips to give me a better angle."

"I only do it in the hope that you might finish quickly," the princess hissed a little, "since I have no hope otherwise until you have finished with me."

"Oh," Nadya sighed, "Want a kiss, then?"

Her face split into a wide grin a moment later, "You dirty, naughty, beauty," she chuckled, "If only you could have seen what I did there in your eyes just now.

I am not one who seeks this with other females usually, "she said with a smile, "but I can see that you are much more -- comfortable than I would be. Your face says that you do not like this, but your eyes tell me a different tale."

Petra shook her head, but Nadya saw the way that her mouth opened a little and she felt Petra's breath against her nose and whiskers. She went a little faster and her reward was a small gasp.

"If you were not one who likes this," Nadya grinned, "then I think that you would not be standing on your toes now, the way that you are, so that we might match up a little better.

Do you know who it is who fucks you now?

For the past few years, the last one of the kind which you say that you admire so much was a whore. Did you know that?"

Petra closed her eyes very slowly and she bit her bottom lip just a little as she shook her head.

"Oh yes," Nadya whispered, "I do not hold myself up very high, Petra. I only try to live better now, since I have the chance to because of your sweet brother and Koten. But I was not only used by men in the town. I had to fuck with women as well.

It was another thing which I did not want to have to do. But in the doing of it, I came to know much so that I could please any female who paid for me."

She leaned in and slid her cheek against Petra's as she crooned into her ear, "Do you like me, princess?"

Petra opened her eyes about halfway and she nodded, "Yes. Only, ... only please, could you kiss me again? Just, ... "she moaned as she gave in and began to move her hips, "Just a little?"

"I might have the wish to, "Nadya said softly, "but first we need to keep on like this while I tell you of some things that I hold in my mind, Sweet Petra."

"Why do you torment me" Petra asked, "if it is not to shame me?"

Nadya shook her head, "I only want to drive you to recover your will, Petra.

I can feel that you are no soft princess, no matter what you try to tell me in your shame and sadness. I like that in you. Also, you need me.

You need me for many things, Petra. You only do not know of them yet.

You need to be protected a little over who you are, but you also need to recover your strength of spirit. I can help with it easily.

Sad to say, but the way that things are, there can only be one ruling princess after what has happened today. I think that you need me for that as well.

But first, before anything else, Petra, ...

You need this."

Nadya kept humping against Petra, but to the princess' surprise, she felt it as her wrists were freed from Nadya's grasp.

Petra looked into Nadya's face then and Nadya closed the gap to kiss her. Petra held onto Nadya, though she allowed a little room as the red-haired wolf-girl raised her pawed hand to clamp it onto Petra's breast.

Petra raised one leg and tried to wrap it around Nadya's hips and they went one together that way for a long time, both groaning a little softly now and then until they both trembled at different times.

Petra chose her moment and shoved her tormenter away as hard as she could and while Nadya was a little off-balance, the princess attacked.

There was little in the way of furniture in the place, but most of what there was, the two combatants demolished within a minute as they crashed into everything during the struggle. Petra wanted to kill Nadya over the embarrassing interlude and she cursed herself as she tried to get a clear opening to throw her punches through.

She kicked and tried her damndest to both hurt or maim Nadya in any way that she could while trying to guage her moment in which to make her dash to the door, and, ...

-----------------------------------

As her own orgasm faded, Petra savored the way that she could feel Nadya's fluids seeping down along her own sopping cleft to mix with her own. Nadya was still humping her slowly to try to prolong the moment.

As it finally passed, Petra slowly unwrapped her legs from around Nadya and groaned over how stiff they'd gotten during their tryst here on the cold floor of the gatehouse. She looked up, so confused over everything, but Nadya only smiled for a long minute.

Somewhere in it was the instant that Petra knew that this had been about settling things between them, and not only about a forced humping against a wall. She wondered why Nadya had wanted that, and why with her of all people, if it was not to rub Petra's face into her defeat.

"Now you know the one who you wish to follow, I hope with all of my heart, "Nadya said as she felt Petra's fingers in her hair and the way that her thumb ran over her ear as Petra slowly nodded, "But, ... I do not understand, ..."

"Listen, Princess Petra. Koten was asked for more than he felt that he could give. The only true wrong in it were the words which were spoken. 

Between us, I can give him human and Kurtadam young -- mixtures like me. But the people need one princess and it will be wanted by all, not least that princess to bring forth Kurtadam whelps.

Who says what the royal pack must be made of, Petra? Natan can give you whelps. There is nothing wrong with it in the eyes of them all. Your parents are not related by blood, I have heard. One pairing in the bloodline will not give weaklings. Natan would have you with us gladly. You know that in his heart, he still needs to follow you as well. I know that it troubles him to no end. 

In the dark and behind the doors, you follow Koten and me. I want no part of ruling here -- that is your domain and not mine. I expect no recognition from anyone over what we are in our pack. 

So you see it now?"

Petra's eyes widened, "You - you offer me the place of your second? Why, Nadya?"

Nadya nodded, "Because many need it, Petra. The people need one who rules with her royal brother, who has come to be a very fine young lover. You could have both of them as I do, and it would do your heart as much good as I know that it would do theirs. Your parents need this so that they will feel better and know that everything is not lost. The council need it before they argue themselves into apoplexy, and, ..."

She kissed Petra's nose a little playfully once and then she smiled, "And you need it, most of all.

"And you?" Petra asked. "Do you not need it at all?"

Nadya hugged the princess tightly, "Not especially at the moment," she said airily," but then I have had a little fun already, fucking a beautiful princess up against a wall and on the floor. 

It was very good when we were on the table too for a time."

"Until we broke it," Petra smiled up. "I have only done this with my sister. I must admit that you are very good."

"Thank you, and I can say the same of you," the warrior smiled softly. "I will admit to something here and say that this has been the one time when I hoped so strongly that what I learned of doing this between females would stand me in good stead.

To have had the chance of this with you and not been able to carry it off somehow was a bit of a worry."

"Oh?" Petra smiled up, "Strange to hear that from one so confident and daring. 

And here I worried and I found myself actually growing a hope in me - once I truly gave in - that you would like it with me. Other than with Koten at the beginning, I have never had the thought that I might not, ... hold up well to the mark in another's eyes.

But for all of our fighting - which I enjoyed, I now feel such hope for the first time in a long while. Also, I seem to have found one, who lies atop me now, who I might learn a little from."

Nadya nodded, "We will have to see, but if it goes as I hope for us all I think that I will need you for your skill too in a time, for I have heard that the one I lie with here is fearless when her back is up, but that is not the important thing, as much as I can say that you cause me to want this with you, when I have seldom had that sort of want.

The pack becomes two in a real way. Yours will yield royal whelps.