8 comments/ 17075 views/ 16 favorites Remember... Ch. 01 By: CrazyCatGuy Remember... Chapter 1: In Destiny's Garden The Carrou forest served as a natural boundary between the Human kingdom of Rancer and the Elven kingdom of Mise, and was kept clear of settlements as per the kingdoms' agreements. It had been this way for as long as anyone could remember. Mark loved this forest since the first time he traveled through it as a boy more than a dozen years ago. It felt clean. The air, of course but also the flow of magic which permeated everything in the world, feels especially pure here. "Alright, men. We will set up camp here for tonight," Mark announced. "It's our first night in the forest, so if any of ya snuck some booze with you behind my back, finish it now. If anyone gets shitfaced tonight and breaks something, I can still send you back to Crielere." The soldiers laughed then got to work pitching tents and starting bonfires. "Ryan, Thomson, there is a stream to our east. Go fetch us some water," he ordered, then turned to speak to everyone, "Don't touch the fish or any animals you don't recognize here, unless you want to have your skin glow bright pink at night, or sprout extra limbs." He then thought for a moment. "If that happens to any one of you, I'll immediately send you to the Society to be studied." "But what if I've already got a third leg?" Some one shouted. The troops laughed. "Good, Smith, then you shouldn't be tired from the walking. Go help Ryan and Thomson with the water." Mark replied. Everyone but Smith chuckled. "Magus Keith, may I speak to you for a moment?" A middle aged man stepped forward. "Yes, Captain?" "Thank you and the Society both for coming with us on this mission," Mark said. Keith smiled. "The pleasure is mine, Captain Raven. The Society serves the Crown, so it is our duty to help in what ways we can. Besides, I can't afford to pass up an opportunity to visit the Elven kingdom," He gave a slight bow. "Is it possible to set up a small security shield around our camp without disturbing the flow of magic around here too much?" Mark asked. "Oh? You can feel the flows too? Yes, the magic around here is very... unique. I would like to keep foreign magic to a minimum as well," Keith nodded. "I'll construct a small security barrier around the camp to detect anything sneaking in but it can not substitute for patrols." "Thank you Magus," Mark said, he then turned back to his men. "As soon as the camp is up, we will need patrols. I will take first shift with Zach, Lee, and Fremen." In a few minutes Mark finished pitching his own tent and after refilling his water pouch and packing some rations walked to the group of men he'd picked for the patrol. "Zach, you will head east for about five hundred meters and make a circle around the camp clockwise. Lee, you go west and do the same. Sergeant Fremen will go south, and I'll go north. If there's anything to report, call it on the com necklaces though take care not to go too far, since the magic in the forest will interfere with our reception." "Yes, Sir," the men saluted, and left in their respective directions. "Captain Raven, a moment please." Mark turned around to see Magus Keith. "Yes, Magus? Walk with me," he said, as he started north. "I've finished the spell although as you've said, the natural flows of this forest seem to be suppressing the magic." Mark nodded, "Thank you. That was what I expected." "How do you know about the flows of magic around here?" Keith asked. "I mean no offense but you haven't been practicing magic without notifying the Society, have you?" Mark chuckled, "No, of course not. The King is still committed to rooting out the Rogue mages. I've just been born with the ability to sense the flows. I don't see them nearly as clearly as trained mages and sorcerers do, but... It's like closing your eyes and listening to a group of strangers, you don't see the people but you can still tell roughly where they are and you can still distinguish what's said by different people, even if you don't know exactly who said what." Keith nodded. "Ah, a Senser. Well, I've never personally met anyone with your ability before but it has been documented in the past. I'll head back to camp now and I'll see you in the morning, Captain." he bowed and turned back to the camp. The patrol was uneventful until about the fourth circle around. At first, Mark thought they were fireflies until he realized that the flashes were coming from quite a distance away. He ran towards them to investigate. As he got closer, he could feel the flows of magic changing slightly too and the flashes getting more frequent. He thought he could hear screams, too. "Zach, Lee, come in," he said to his necklace. No answer. He tried twice more with the same result. The flashes were coming very fast now, once every second and there were more screams, one distinctly female. Deciding that he can't wait for backup, Mark ran towards them. As he neared, the flashes stopped. However, the unnatural flows of magic and the light from a fire still emanated from ahead. He slowed and quietly walked towards his destination. Soon, he could start hearing bits of conversation. "That bitch can fight!" one voice said. "That's not fighting. Gar just got careless," said another voice. "Fine. Her guards can fight. They got four of us," said another. "Yeah, we got all four of them too." "And our prize!" "We should leave now." "No! I want to play with her. There's no one else around to stop us." "Don't kill her!" "He never said we can't fuck her." There was a muffled squeal. "A virgin too!" "Yeah, he just wants her alive." "And not brain dead." "So we can fuck with her head too." "But only a little." "With what?" "Well, I have the collar." "Great! Get to work!" "Wait! Start with just two! Add more to it slowly. Let's see how long she'll last." "Ungag her. I want to hear her beg." There were at least six different voices. Six different people. He could handle that. "What... what are you doing?" A new young and distinctly feminine voice asked. "No... no! Please... oh..." "Put on another charm!" one of the six said. The girl moaned. "Please. No. Oh..." "Beg for it, girly." "Say 'Please fuck me.' We'll be happy to oblige." "No more..."the girl moaned again, louder. "That's only four charms, girly. We've got ten more to go. Do you want to torture yourself for that long?" "We can't put all fourteen on her! It'll kill her!" "Shut up. She's already giving in. I'll be surprised if she can last another two." "What are you waiting for? Put on another." "Ooooh! Please!" The girl moaned loudly. "Please what, you little slut?" "Please..."She choked. "Please touch me..." "Touch you? We're already touching you everywhere. You don't really JUST want to be touched, do you?" "Another charm I guess." "Please! Please... please... please..."The girl cried. She couldn't even seem to form sentences anymore. Mark peeked around the final tree. There were four corpses clothed in Elven armor, but their flesh was charred beyond recognition. Five other bodies dressed in dark red robes lay around the simple campsite, dead from various wounds, a few with several throwing knives and tomahawks embedded in their torsos. The six remaining red robes were gathered across the clearing around a naked girl. She was tied spread eagle to stakes in the ground that had, until recently, been holding up a tent. "Just say it, slut. Just say it and you'll feel so much better." The girl shook her head, but still repeated her mantra. "Add the seventh charm." Mark took his bow, and carefully aimed an arrow at the closest red robe, and fired. Her desperate moan was enough to distract the men around her until a second body fell. The sight of two dead comrades with arrows through their necks was enough to rouse the other four into action. Mark sensed the flows constructing the spells before they were even complete. He leaped towards the nearest corpse, tumbled and kicked the body into the air towards the group of mages just as the spells were released. The spells impacted the flying body sending a shower of sparks and flame into the air. Jumping back to the trees, Mark released a throwing knife liberated from a corpse, hitting another mage in the chest. The next wave of magical bolts scorched the tree he hid behind. "Is it another guard?" "No! There were only four. This is just some unlucky hunter. No one else would be here." "That's not a hunter! Do you think a hunter could do that?" "It doesn't matter who he is. He's here now and he'll be fried just like the others." Mark felt another wave of magical flow and quickly jumped behind another tree. Almost immediately a fireball hit and enveloped the trunk of the first, searing the area where he had just been standing. Mark started running around the camp, firing arrows whenever he could see them between the trees. An arrow hit one of them in the thigh and he fell with a scream. The last two mages each released a white ball towards him. The balls began tracking him, following him as he weaved between trees and branches. Just as the first ball was about to hit, Mark pulled out his sword and jabbed it into a tree, using it to lever himself upwards. The closest balls didn't turn fast enough and slammed into a branch high in the canopy. But the second one reacted in time and hit Mark in mid swing. There was a brilliant flash, and a tremendous force threw him into the air, slamming him into a nearby tree. Mark pulled himself painfully to his feet. "Gotta keep moving. Gotta keep moving," he muttered to himself. Mark wrenched his sword from the tree and charged towards the last two mages. He tossed the sword at the closest, impaling the surprised man through the chest. Mark caught the body just as it began to fall, using it as a shield against the last mage's spell which set the dying man on fire. He pulled out the sword and slashed the last man across the chest. When the last one had fallen Mark looked around and found the mage he had shot in the leg dragging himself towards the edge of the clearing. Mark walked up to him. "You! Who do you work for? Why are you here?" Mark asked. The man was pale from blood loss, but he turned around to face him. "I... We... we're..." Mark suddenly felt a flow of magic. In the blink of an eye he slashed the man's neck and the flow stopped. He took a step back to make sure the area was really secure. "Please fuck me... please fuck me... please fuck me..."a distant voice sobbed. Mark had almost forgotten about the girl. He ran to where she lay bound on the ground. She was naked except for a blindfold and a black leather collar. Her long hair was in a mess, her lithe arms and legs strained against the ropes that restrained her. Beads of perspiration dotted her body, reflecting the light from the bonfire. Her hands balled into fists as she struggled for release in more than one way. He could tell that she was crying now, her ample chest heaving as she sobbed and bucked her body, searching for attention. Her juices trickled between her legs, making a wet spot under her shapely butt. Mark found himself harden despite the situation. If it wasn't for what had just happened, he would have gladly given her what she's begging for. "Are you alright? It's ok now," Mark said, removing her blindfold. But the girl's eyes were clenched shut and she didn't respond to his voice. "Please! Fuck me! Please!" The girl cried, not seeming to notice that Mark was freeing her. It must be the collar, Mark thought, recalling what the mages had been saying. It took a minute, but he finally figured out how to remove the collar from her neck. When he did, she quickly stopped begging and crying. Her body stopped moving, except for her chest still breathing hard from her exertions. Finally, Mark cut the ropes tying her in the spread eagle position and the girl slowly opened her eyes and tried to get up. "Are you alright?" "Th... Thank you, Sir," she said weakly. "Call me Mark. Are you hurt?" The girl slowly shook her head, and tried to prop herself up with her elbows before collapsing and falling into unconsciousness. Mark checked her pulse to make sure she was indeed alright and then found her some clothes. Silk panties, a silk shift, a green shirt and matching skirt. As he buttoned her shirt, he brushed away her long hair that was getting in the way. That was when he noticed her ears. They were long and pointed. She was an elf! Blessed with almost eternal youth, the elves matured as humans do for the first 20 or 30 years then after that, stopped aging. An elf girl like her could be half a century or even a few hundred years old. It was well known that unless they were killed, they would never die although they did "return to nature" when they are over a thousand years old. Mark secured the collar along with the bag of charms found next to the girl in a pouch to be studied by Magus Keith once he returned. Then he picked up the girl in his arms and headed back towards the camp. As he neared the camp a voice called out. "Halt! Identify yourself!" "Stand down, Sergeant Fremen," Mark ordered. The voices seemed to have woken the sleeping elf in his arms. She squirmed uncomfortably, so he slowly let her down. As she stood straight, he noticed that she was about half a head shorter than he was. "Captain! What are you doing here? Is there someone with you?" Fremen emerged from behind a nearby bush. "Yes, I have an elf with me. Her camp was attacked by some mages, probably rogue. She was the only survivor out of five. I'll take her back to our camp. Get some more men on patrol. I don't know if there are any more of her assailants out there tonight. It's best to be on the safe side." "Yes, Sir!" Fremen then spoke into his necklace. "Corporal Yee, grab five more men and have them come out for patrol. Radius five hundred meters." The elf, slightly dazed, looked around and then sleepily looked at Mark. Suddenly, she tensed and grabbed her own shoulders covering herself as if she was naked but she relaxed when she found she was clothed "I took the liberty of dressing you. I hope you don't mind," Mark said to her. She looked down, embarrassed. "Thank you," she whispered, Mark led her to the camp and was met there by Magus Keith. "Are you alright, Captain?" "I'm fine but would you take a look at..."Mark looked at the elf girl. "Amanda," she said. "Would you take a look at Miss Amanda for me please? Our medics aren't any good at treating Elven ailments. There was also a spell on her earlier, in the form of this." He gave Keith the pouch with the collar and the charms. "I want to make sure there are no permanent effects. Put her up in my tent for the night." "Very well, sir. I'll work on it right away," Keith said, still sounding a little sleepy. Then turning to Amanda he added, "If you would please follow me this way." Amanda nodded and looked at Mark. She stood there for a moment as if trying to make up her mind about something. Then, biting her lower lip, she held Mark's hand and pulled him along. Surprised, he followed her to his tent. "I should stay out here," Mark said. "There's -" "Please, Sir," she interrupted, quietly. "I..."She was about to say something but decided against it. "Please stay with me." Mark sighed and went in, following her long flowing hair. Inside, Magus Keith finished examining the collar and the charms. He quickly put everything back into the bag and handed it back to Mark. Then without saying a word, began using the flows to construct new magic around Amanda. It took a while but when he finished, Keith smiled. "Everything is fine" he smiled to Amanda. The effects of the spell are already mostly gone and should disappear completely by sunrise. Now it's important for you to rest, not only for your body but also to reduce any unpleasant effects of that spell." The elf nodded. "Thank you." "If you'll excuse us..."Keith bowed and left, along with Mark. Once they were outside Keith walked to an empty part of the clearing before speaking. "Captain, I'm sure you realize what that collar did," he began. Mark nodded. "This collar is not at all uncommon. It produces uncontrollable lust in its wearer and is used frequently by the sex slave traders and in brothels around the kingdom. These charms, at least some of them are not uncommon either, used as basic spell strength enhancers," He said. "However even the most expensive brothels and the most experienced slave traders usually only have up to the fifth charm. I've heard rumors that Madam Kessing of the famous Red Horse even has the sixth in her private collection." Mark raised an eyebrow. "But this set has fourteen charms." "Exactly. The charms cause... um... orgasm at eight. In the land of the Drow, the Farie, and handful of others where such things are more common, sets of ten or more are considered Executioner Sets since at those numbers they can cause the wearer to die in a few minutes. A set of fourteen charms is called the Reaper Set. The only known Reaper Set is in the possession of the Drow Matriarch. If someone wears all fourteen charms at once, they will die of... excitement... in less than ten seconds." Mark was bewildered. "The Drows attacked her? Here? This is no where near..." Keith shook his head. "This set is not from the Drows, nor is it from any other race that I recognize. I'll have to present them to the Society once we get back." He quickly added, "Of course, that is with your permission and we will return them to you, Captain, once the Society has completed its examination." "That's fine," Mark nodded. "Cumming to death... that might not be such a bad way to go, eh?" "It's not as fun a way to die as one might think. In the women it is not so ghastly, but the male victims of the Executioner Sets end up cumming blood towards the end of their ordeal," Keith said. Mark cringed. "So... is Amanda alright?" he finally asked. "Yes, she is fine. The spell will work itself out of her system in a few hours. The Elves, once they reach fifty years old or so, have an amazing cleansing system. Good enough to make them immune to all known fatal poisons and purge most spell effects in just a few hours." "Excuse me," a voice said, quietly. Mark turned around. Amanda was leaning against a nearby tree. "You should be sleeping, Miss," he said. You need to rest." "Do you ..?"She paused. Magus Keith saw her hesitation and excused himself. "Captain, I would like to see the site of the attack in the morning. But for now, this is all that I can do." "Thank you, Magus. I will see you in the morning, and take you there. Good night," Mark said. He then turned to the elf. "How may I help, Miss?" She looked left and right to make sure no one was in earshot. "Do you... happen to have another change of clothes for me?" she asked. She seemed restless, holding her hands in front of her, then behind then by her side, gripping her skirt. "Err. No, I didn't think to bring extras. We'll be going to your camp again tomorrow, and we can get the rest of your belongings then. Is that alright?" Amanda squirmed a little, stretching her arms above her head. "I just need to..." She stopped and looked down. "Never mind. May I have some water, Sir?" Mark handed her his pouch. She drank in large gulps, as if parched from days of thirst. "Thank you," she said, handing back the nearly empty pouch. "You should sleep, Miss..." "Just call me Amanda." "Alright. You should sleep now, Amanda. If you need anything, I'll be in my Lieutenant's tent over there." Amanda held on to Mark's Hand. "Please stay with me, Sir." Remember... Ch. 01 Mark looked at her. She looked back with pleading eyes. He sighed and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Alright, Amanda." Once inside, Mark watched as she quickly striped off her clothes, leaving only a light shift and her panties before climbing into the bedroll. He took off his green coat and tossed an extra set of blankets on the ground to lie on. The girl seemed restless, tossing and turning under her blanket. Sometimes, he swore he could hear her whimpering. Poor girl. She must be terrified from her ordeal, he thought as he quickly drifted off to sleep. He didn't stay asleep for long, however. "Sir..."a soft hand caressed his arm, and gently shook him. "Sir, please wake up." Mark grumbled, and opened his eyes. It was dark in the tent, but he could tell Amanda was looking down at him. "I... I need your help, Sir." Mark pushed himself up on his elbows. "Yes, Amanda?" "I need... I need you to..."she mumbled something that he couldn't quite make out. "What?" Mark blinked a few times, trying to shake the grogginess. "Amanda, you should be sleeping." "Would you..."She paused, then took a deep breath "Would-you-please-make-me-a-woman...?" Mark shook his head, not quite sure if he heard right. "What did you say?" "I need you to... copulate... with me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you sure you're ok?" Mark asked in disbelief. The spell can't still be working, can it? "I'm so... aroused. I've been trying to play with myself," she said the last part so quietly, "but I just can't... climax." Mark found himself getting hard for the second time tonight. He was sitting now, facing her. She knelt on the bed roll, looking away. Her hands seem to be unconsciously caressing her thighs, pressing them together rhythmically. "The Magus said that you should be alright, that your body should be able to purge the spell's effects." She shook her head, "I'm only twenty four. My body can't clear spells that fast yet. I... I think they put seven charms on me. I'm burning up inside... So please, help me." One of her hands moved between her legs and began rubbing. An ageless elf that was as young as he was. It was unbelievable. Mark just sat there, not knowing what to do. Amanda took off her shift and pressed up against him, displaying her desires through the heat of her body. "Please Sir, I need you." She was bolder now and kissed his lips lightly, waking him from his reverie. He held her head and kissed back. She whimpered as a wave of pleasure passed through her body. Her tongue touched his upper lips as he suckled on her lower. She was barely thinking now, reacting as her body told her to. Mark undressed as fast as he could, trying to hold the kiss but he had to break off to pull his shirt over his head. When he looked at her again, she was staring between his legs, her eyes wide and attentive. She smiled and licked her lips. She lay down on the bedroll, her hands next to her head, legs slightly spread and her eyes staring into his. "Be gentle," she whispered, biting her lower lip. Her eyes sparkled with lust and just a hint of worry. With a nod, Mark lowered himself onto her. He closed his hands around her wrists, pinning them against the bedroll next to her head. She closed her eyes and moaned. He pressed the tip of his cock into her slick sheath, stopping at her maidenhood. He kissed her again and as their tongues caressed each other he pushed himself into her fully. She was incredibly tight. Amanda whimpered slightly, a hint of pain flashed across her face but as soon as it had arrived, it was gone, replaced by an expression of bliss. She opened her lust filled eyes and wrapped her long, toned legs around his waist. "More..."She gasped as she broke the kiss. He began thrusting into her, slowly and evenly. Almost immediately, she began moaning loudly. Her legs held him deep inside her, her pussy tightening rhythmically around his cock, her body tensing under him. "Oh!" She voiced her pleasures loudly. Perhaps too loudly for a camp site. Mark had to quickly cover her mouth with his hand to muffle her. She didn't seem to care but continued to moan and spasm for another minute before she calmed and he took his hand off her mouth. Amanda looked to the side, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so loud. I --" Mark chuckled. "It's alright. There's no man I know who wouldn't want others to know of his prowess in bed." Although he did hope the soldiers sleeping in the tents near him were very, very deep sleepers. After waiting another minute for her to catch her breath, he held her wrists again and found that her free hand had not moved at all from the position he left her in. He thrust into her, slowly at first then increasing the tempo. Her gasping, parted lips drew in Mark's. He darted his tongue into her mouth, teasing at hers while he caressed her lips with his. She moaned into his mouth, began to thrust back at him clumsily at first but slowly matching his pace. She stared back into his eyes and saw his desire for her. He gasped in pleasure. She kissed him again. They lost all sense of time as they thrust against each other, kissing every bit of exposed flesh that they could reach. Mark couldn't last very long in her tight virgin pussy and Amanda could sense it as he began to tense up. She was peaking too, knowing that at any moment the next thrust could push her over the edge. "Going to cum..."Mark grunted. She didn't say anything but thrust back at him harder and faster when suddenly he felt her pussy tighten around his cock and her mouth opened in a silent scream. He kissed her, hard and rough, his tongue seeking out hers, forcing her to accept him. Almost immediately his body tensed as he unloaded deep within her. Finally he collapsed on top of her, utterly spent. She slowly and stiffly unwrapped her legs from around his waist. They both gasped for breath, exhausted by their coupling. "That was amazing," Amanda gasped. "I wish I could have done this earlier." "Me too," Mark said, pulling himself out and rolling over to lie next to her. "I hope you feel better now." "I feel great." She stretched her lithe body almost cat like then rolled on to her side and cuddled next to him. "But I'm tired." "Good. You should have been sleeping a while ago." She didn't reply but she closed her eyes and nodded. Mark pulled a blanket over them and wrapped an arm around her. Soon, they both fell asleep. When Mark woke up the sun had already risen. He got up as fast as he could without disturbing the sleeping elf next to him. He got out of the tent as soon as he was presentable. Outside, some of the men had already started packing their equipment for the next day's trek. "Morning, Captain," Magus Keith greeted him. It seemed he was expecting him. "Sorry, Magus, I was --" "It's quite alright, considering what you did last night. I was actually afraid you wouldn't be awake for another hour or two," he paused. "I should apologize for missing the fact that she was only twenty four and not quite able to handle the rest of that spell last night." "Wait... how do you know now?" "I heard her say it. I... ah..."he appeared uncomfortable. "The detection spell I cast... I know everything that happens within the area of the spell." Mark blinked, taken aback a little. "I'm very sorry," Keith apologized quickly. "I really didn't mean to spy on your personal life, Captain, and I silenced the area around your tent as soon as I realized what was going on." Mark coughed, suddenly feeling it a little hard to breathe. "Does anyone else know what happened?" he asked. "I don't think so. I put up the Silence spell before anything happened so no one could hear it." Mark sighed in relief. It wouldn't do to have the troops spread rumors of him doing anything with an elf once they had gotten to Mise. He has to be an example for the rest of his men. "I do hope she's ok with it when she wakes, though," Mark frowned again. "Even though she was very... persuasive, she was still under the effects of that spell." "She should be fine. It's not uncommon for elven girls her age to have had several partners by now. However, it would be best if you were to talk to her when she wakes." "Yes, I'll do that. Why is she out here, anyway? There are a lot of questions I need to ask her when she wakes up." Mark nodded. "Alright, but now let me get a few men and I'll show you where she was attacked." Apparently during the brief time between when the soldiers woke up and his belated rise from bed, everyone in the company of one hundred and twenty men heard that their Captain had brought back an elf girl the previous night. Mark tried to stifle the rumors before they started. "Alright men, let me get this in your heads before I start hearing anything to the contrary. Yes, I did return with an elven lady who was attacked nearby last night. Yes, she is resting in my tent right now. No, there was no fucking in any way." A couple of the soldiers laughed. "And finally, her name is Amanda. You all will call her Lady or Miss Amanda and treat her with the utmost respect. After I come back, if I hear a complaint from her about any of you, I'm gonna make sure you'll be pissing out of a straw for the rest of your life. Do you understand me?" There was only a resounding "Yes, Sir." "Now I need twelve of you to come with me. There are four bodies that need to be buried over in the elves' camp, so bring a shovel." The walk to the Elven camp site felt longer than his trek the previous night, but when they finally got there Mark explained what he had seen before he intervened. As Magus Keith examined the scene, Mark ordered his men to begin digging in the middle of the clearing. He then proceeded to seek out some necessities for Amanda. He found a water pouch and some rations. It turns out Amanda had a bag full of clothes and some very nice jewelry as well. Intricate elven earrings, bracelets, and rings, all in a small, velvet lined, finely crafted wooden box engraved with a dragon and a phoenix. It was of very fine elven craftsmanship: each scale of the dragon was a small piece of silver embedded in the wood, and each feather of the phoenix was a small piece of gold. A tiny sapphire and emerald made up their eyes. He threw everything in the bag. "This is interesting," Magus Keith walked up to him, his examinations finished. "I have found a few answers but even more questions. The men in the red robes are rogue mages, three of them quite powerful and infamous too. I'm surprised that you were able to take down six of them." Mark shrugged. "They were distracted. They were rather focused on Amanda at the time." "Well, that brings me to another point. Her four guardians are wearing the armor of Elven Legionnaires." He pointed to the bodies that some of the men were burying in the shallow graves they had dug. "They're not cheap to hire and are usually hired to lead merchant convoys along with cheaper guards, not to guard a single person. This seems to indicate that Miss Amanda's family is of some status in their own right. Daughter of a wealthy trader, perhaps? "This combination of events does seem very odd, though. Why would anyone send their daughter through the wilds of the Carrou Forest? There are roads that would make their travels twice as fast and it would be unlikely that any bandits they might face would be of any match for her guardians." Keith paced back and forth but always keeping an eye on Mark. "Back to the rogue mages, McCreedy was an infamous Pyromancer. I doubt I would last a minute against him alone. He has a knife through his chest. Krellik's summons are well known and feared. I think he's one of the first you got with an arrow through the neck. Shald was known for his ability to almost instantly cast a spell without speech or movement. He's got an arrow through the leg and a slashed throat. I think all three are your handiwork?" Mark nodded. Keith leaned in closer and spoke quietly so none of the soldiers can hear. "You're much too good to be just a regular soldier, Captain Raven." Mark looked at him, slightly surprised and slightly amused. "You killed three of the most wanted Rogues and three others while four Elven Legionnaires died, killing only four or five. This is not something a mere soldier could have done alone. Who are you, really?" "I guess that someone was going to figure it out sooner or later," Mark chuckled quietly. "You have agreed to come on this mission and serve me so to you, I am still Captain Raven. Who I am outside of this Company is of little concern in our scope." Keith thought for a moment. "Should I worry about my safety now that I know?" "No, Magus. The Crown treasures the partnership with the Society. An accident of any sort is something that neither the Crown nor I would want. However, I would like to ask that you... gloss over... this section of our journey in your report when we return." Keith looked at him suspiciously but nodded. "The... The Rogues appears to know where and when to strike, although they didn't know that we were going to be in the area as well. This suggests that this has been planned for a long time, by someone with the resources to hire eleven Rogues to do this... kidnapping, I would suspect. I highly doubt the drow was behind this though, but I'm not sure who would. It might be something personal against her family. This is something that you should perhaps ask her yourself." Mark thought for a moment, and nodded. "Thank you, Magus." When they had returned almost everyone had finished packing. Fires were put out and water pouches refilled, most soldiers sat in groups waiting for their next orders. Mark dismissed the dozen who had come with him and then proceeded to his tent. Amanda was sitting outside with a small group of men, chatting. She was still barefoot, her toes playing in the grass. Her laughter was like chimes, light and almost musical. "Alright people, leave Miss Amanda alone now! I hope you've all been nice to her. If she complains to me about any one of you..."he warned but not at all serious. He knew they were good men. After the crowd had departed he handed her the bag of clothes. "Thanks," she said, jumping to her feet to accept the bag while at the same time trying to avoid eye contact. "Give me a second to change." She quickly went back into the tent and a few moments later reemerged wearing a dark green dress with a thin leather belt and a pair of brown leather boots that went half way up her calf. The dress was simple: sleeveless and form fitting, showing off the elegant curves of her body. It had a high collar and was also fairly short, with the hem barely reaching half way down her thighs. "You look great," Mark smiled. "Thanks," she blushed, the events of the previous night still fresh on her mind. Unconsciously, she held herself as if trying to cover her imaginary nakedness. "Amanda, where are you heading to? If you're going to Mise, you can come along with us." She shook her head. "I'm going to the embassy in Astrin, your Capital." "Oh," Mark thought for a while. "I don't think it'll be a good idea for you to travel alone but I can escort you to Crielere, an outpost town that's only a day's journey from here. There I can get you some more proper escort for the rest of the way to Astrin. Would that be ok?" Amanda looked up to him and smiled a little. "I would appreciate that but don't you have to lead your men through the forest?" "It's alright. Everyone here has been through this forest before, one way or another. They know what to do. My lieutenants are all capable men, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to take charge for a few days. In addition, the Magus will also be helping. Just give me a second to arrange this and then we can go, alright?" She nodded. Mark walked over to his waiting lieutenants. "Gentlemen, Miss Amanda is trying to reach Astrin but since her guardians died in the fight last night I'll be taking her to Crielere so she can then be escorted to the capital. It's going to take me a day to get to Crielere and maybe two or three more days to catch up, so I'll be leaving the command in your capable hands. Lieutenant Jackson, I believe you've had the most experience with this region?" "Yes, Sir. I used to hunt here every summer with my father, Sir." "Alright. Take charge in my absence. Consult Magus Keith if there is anything you can't deal with that comes up. With any luck, you guys should be in Mise by the time I return. If there are no questions, you're dismissed." The three men saluted and began to organize the troops in preparation to leave. Finally, Mark approached Magus Keith who was busying himself with something in his bag. "You don't need to tell me. I've heard everything," Keith said. "I'll be happy to provide Lieutenant Jackson with what help I can, should he require it." Mark blinked. "Oh, right, the spell. Thank you, Magus." "I hope your trip to and back from Crielere is uneventful. Some of the creatures that are native to the deep forest are quite dangerous. I suppose you already know that." "I hope your journey through the forest is uneventful as well." Mark bowed slightly and began walking back to where Amanda was waiting. "Miss Amanda is lucky to have a guardian such as you with her. I doubt King Andrew would have any better..."he paused. "Hmm. You're not --" "You flatter me, Magus." Mark turned back to look at him. Keith shrugged but decided not to press the matter. "Alright then, see you in a few days, Captain," he said and walked towards the gathered troops already starting to move out. Behind him followed a large stack of notebooks, jars, flasks, staves, and things that Mark couldn't even began to fathom their use, all floating on an almost invisible disk. Soon, everyone was gone. Mark was packing up everything to prepare for the trip back. Amanda sat on a nearby rock and watched him. Her eyes followed his every move, this man that had made her a woman. Had he taken advantage of her? Maybe, she thought. But she couldn't really fault him: she had woken him up and offered herself to him. He was even reluctant at first, although that didn't last long under her persuasion. Even if he had not relented, she probably would've ran into the tent of another soldier. She shuddered at that thought. She looked at him more carefully now. He had short brown hair and piercing blue eyes, focusing on his task at hand. His body was hidden by a leather jacket dyed green, and thick silk shirt and pants. He looked back at her and caught her staring. She quickly turned away. "Why are you going to Astrin, Amanda?" Mark asked as he worked. "My father wants me to go. He says I have to spend a year with the Humans to study with them. It's apparently some sort of tradition in my family." "Do you have any siblings who have done the same?" "Three older brothers. They stayed in Astrin for a year when they were about my age, too. They said I was going to love it." "Astrin is a great place for learning. We have schools for practically every profession there, as well as the Society of Magic." "I plan on doing a bit of everything, but I really want to learn to use a sword," she said. "The sword fighting styles we use in the forest are so different from yours." Mark finished and slung everything over his shoulders like a backpack. "Well, there are instructors for that as well. If I wasn't busy, I'm sure I can continue teaching you all about the sword," he said with a wink. "Shall we go?" "Alright but can we stop at my camp again, please? I need to thank my guardians one last time," she said solemnly. Mark nodded and led the way. When they reached the fateful clearing Amanda was visibly shaken by the bodies scattered around the camp site. Mark held her hand as she walked to the four fresh graves in the center of the encampment and knelt before each one, saying an Elven prayer. Finally, she got up and walked to the collapsed tent where she had been held against her will and tortured the previous night. Mark held her arm to comfort her as she started to sob quietly. She knelt down, took a deep breath and crawled into the tent, searching for something. A moment later she came back out with an almost impossibly thin sword. The metal scabbard was perhaps only as wide as his thumb, engraved with a serpent like dragon curling around and around from the chape to the locket. The hilt of the sword was intricately crafted, with a worn leather grip and the head of a dragon for the pommel. She clipped the scabbard to her belt. Remember... Ch. 01 "My brothers gave me this sword. They crafted it together. They told me I should learn about sword fighting. Before last night, I hadn't thought anything of it, but now..."She wiped away a tear. "Let's go, Mark." They started west, walking in silence through the morning. Around noon, Amanda finally spoke. "Mark, I'm hungry." She sat down, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Mark shrugged, and joined her. From his pack, he pulled out a piece of bread and some salted meat which he shared with Amanda. She in turn, handed him some slices of green and yellow things. The green slices were about the size of an egg and had a circle of black dots in the center and was rather stiff, while the yellow slices were slightly bigger, and much softer. "What is it?" Mark asked, examining a slice. "Try it! You'll like it!" Amanda smiled, taking a bite of her own. Shrugging, he bit off a small piece. It was sweet, with a hint of sour and something that he had never quite tasted before. "It's good! Some sort of fruit?" he asked, stuffing the rest of the slice into his mouth. Amanda giggled. "Slow down and enjoy it. These are slices of a dried mango." "Mangle? What's it mangled with?" Amanda blinked, confused then burst out laughing and only stopped after Mark started to turn a little red. "It's pronounced mang-GO and it's the name of a fruit we grow in the southern parts of our kingdom." "Oh." Mark scratched his head, feeling a little silly. He then took a bite of the green slice. It was a little sour and had a very distinct flavor. "And what's this?" "It's called a kiwifruit." "Kiwi? We have a fruit with the same name but it's yellow, and sweeter." "Well, it might be a different species or something else altogether," she shrugged. "Now I guess it's my turn to try your food." Mark smirked. "I'll try not to laugh at you when you horribly mispronounce something." She stuck her tongue out at him and then took a big bite of the meat. Almost immediately, she had a panicked look on her face but managed not to spit it back out. She quickly swallowed and took a huge gulp of water. "Ack! How can you eat this? It's like eating a solid chunk of salt!" she coughed. Mark laughed but Amanda jabbed him in the shoulder. "Be nice! At least I didn't try to poison you with any of my food," she said indignantly. "Sorry, I should've warned you about the salted chicken. Don't try eating too much of it in a single bite or at least have some bread to go with it," Mark said, still chuckling. She tried again, more cautiously this time. She had a small bite then after a while, a bite of the dark brown bread. After a minute of chewing, she swallowed. "Hmm. That was alright I guess, salted meat and nut bread. Is this a normal soldier's fare?" "Something like that. How did you like it?" Amanda scrunched her face, and stuck out her cute pink tongue. "Too salty but I guess it has an interesting flavor if you chew on it for a bit." "Yeah, it's a bit of an acquired taste, but it's good since we sweat out a lot of salt during the day. What about the bread?" "I like it actually. It's very nutty, quite different from our bread." She said, taking another bite of the meat and bread. "It's very good when its fresh but I guess not bad as ration either," Mark nodded. "It keeps for a long time, which is always good for soldiers. It's got lots of different nuts in it and nuts are always good." Mark finished his lunch first and got up to stretch. When he turned back, Amanda held out a hand to him. "Help me up!" she smiled playfully. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She began patting her dress, brushing off crumbs and dust. Mark stared at her. This was the first time he had really taken time to look at her and his eyes drank in everything he saw. Her short dress showed off her long legs beautifully. She was quite thin by human standards. Her body seemed fit but not overly muscular. Even though the dress hid her flesh from view, her full chest pressed against the fabric, hinting at what lay beneath. Her long blonde hair almost reached her waist; her green eyes stared back at him, sparkling with mischief and curiosity. "It's not nice to stare at a lady, you know," she smiled as they started walking again side by side. Mark grinned. "Excuse me, Madam. My most humble apologies. I only wished to lay my eyes upon your most beautiful form," he said with mock formality. "Flatterer!" she laughed. "You're just saying that to get me in bed!" Suddenly, she stopped laughing and looked away, rather embarrassed. Mark was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry that your first time happened under those conditions," he said finally. "It could've been worse..."she shivered as if she was cold. "A lot worse. Thank you for saving me." Mark held her shoulder. "You don't need to thank me. I just hope you won't come to resent me for taking your virginity when --" "I won't." she interrupted, shaking her head. "If you hadn't been there I would have given myself to someone... or even some ones who aren't as gentle or discreet as you have been. Under the conditions, I don't think I could have asked for anyone better," she smiled at him. He smiled too and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Thank you." Amanda chuckled. "Don't thank me! If my father hadn't been so strict this problem would've never come up. Most girls my age have had two or three partners by now but my father wouldn't let anyone court me." "Oh?" "I don't know why. He's just like that. My friends tell me all sorts of stories about what they've done," she giggled. "I also spy on my brothers sometimes but don't tell them that! They would kill me!" "That explains why you seemed to know what you were doing last night," Mark laughed. "So your brothers get to experiment but you don't? That doesn't sound fair." "I know! I've said the same to my father but he wouldn't listen to me. What about you? What is your father like?" Mark fell silent. "I've never met my real father, or my mother. I've had a foster family all my life. They were kind and treated me and my brothers just like their own sons. But they died five years ago." "I'm so sorry! What happened?" she covered her mouth. "Earthquake. They were vacationing in Thelan, and the building they slept in collapsed on top of them. No one made it out alive. We only heard about it because a few hunters felt the quake and returned to the town but it was already too late." "I'm sorry." Amanda said quietly. "I remember hearing about it. Isn't that the quake that killed King Richard and Queen Alice as well?" Mark cleared his throat. "Yes, it is. The Society had been warning them for years not to go to Thelan. Of course, they didn't listen. They had first met there, so every year they returned for their anniversary. At least Prince Andrew was in Astrin at the time." "I didn't know that," Amanda said. Mark looked away. "That's only what I've heard. I don't know." "That's so sad... I'm sorry for your loss," she held his arm. He shook his head. "It's alright. We still hold a ceremony for them every year in our home and I've moved on." They walked in silence for a minute before she spoke up again. "I have to admit, that is very romantic, going to the same place every year. When I'm married, maybe I can do that too." Mark shrugged. "Wouldn't you want to do that too?" "Maybe, but not if I knew the place was dangerous." "I'd still go!" she said. "I'm sure you would too, if you found someone you loved and she wanted to!" "Don't be silly." "I'm serious! If you love her, you would do anything for her. You would even go to hell and back for her," she said with her arms crossed. Mark shrugged again. She decided to change the topic. "So, what's Astrin like?" "It's a huge city. The largest in Rancer. People from all over the land. Dwarves, Gnomes, Elves, Orcs... you name it, they're there." "Oh? So that means I don't need to try to blend in?" He shrugged. "'When in roam, do as the roam mans.' If you don't do anything weird, I doubt you'd stand out." "Oh good." She thought for a moment. "Hmm. It's like that phrase 'All roads lead to roam.' It doesn't really make sense..." "Who knows. These sayings are ancient anyways." By late evening they found themselves at the gates of Crielere. Mark took Amanda to the town's only inn. Inside, soldiers and townsfolk ate and drank but as soon as Amanda stepped inside everyone quieted, looking her over before returning to their conversations. "Two rooms for the night, please," Mark said to the innkeeper, a short man with thinning hair. "One Krona," he said, taking more than a few glances at Amanda. Mark tossed him two gold coins. "Prepare dinner for us as well and keep the rest." "Thanks, kind sir. Now if you'll follow me..." The innkeeper led them up to a room and gave Amanda the key. Inside, there was a large bed and a small wooden desk. Linked to it is a small bathroom with a tub, toilet, and sink. The innkeeper showed Mark a similar room across the hall. Amanda followed him inside. "I'm going to talk to the Major at the outpost in town. We should be able to arrange for some escort for you tomorrow. You should freshen up, then go downstairs and wait for me. The innkeeper will bring you food when it's ready." Mark dropped off his equipment and stretched after the long day's walk. He then gave Amanda a few more gold coins. "You can probably ask for some wine as well, although I'm not sure if it will be up to your standards." She gave a sly smile, "You're just trying to get me drunk to get me in bed, aren't you?" "Ah... no! I just thought -" "I'm just kidding," she laughed, then gave him a hug. "Thanks." A little surprised, Mark hugged her back, the feel of her body against him relaxed him. "Err... you're welcome. I'll be right back." He excused himself. The town was mostly dark and empty, lit only by torches that were put on polls in the middle of the road, far from the buildings. The outpost stood at the other side of the town but it didn't take long for Mark to get there. It was surrounded by a tall stone wall that merged with the walls of the town itself. Inside, a dozen men stood guard on top of the fortifications. He was halted at the door but when he told the guards that a Mr. Crow wanted to see their Major, he was quickly escorted to the office. "Good evening, Major Walden," Mark greeted. "Mr. Crow. Hall, you can leave us now. Close the door behind you," he said to the guard standing by the doorway. After the man had left, Walden turned back to Mark. "How may I serve the Crown tonight, Mr. Crow?" Big and tall, he was an imposing figure, an image enhanced by a long scar on the left side of his face. "I have an Elven lady with me who wishes to reach Astrin. Her own escorts were killed, so I have been her guardian," Mark explained. "However, I have urgent business to attend to elsewhere and cannot accompany her rest of the way to Astrin. I am asking your assistance in providing her with a mount and a group of ten riders to escort her the rest of the way to the capital. I will make sure that you're well rewarded." The Major nodded. "Consider it done. I will have the men ready by tomorrow morning." "That would be perfect. Thank you for your assistance, Major." As soon as he had returned to the inn, Mark saw that something was amiss. Inside, two large soldiers stood at a table pushed against a wall. They were hunched over a table but even then they were still a little taller than he was and their muscles bulged almost unnaturally along their body. Each held what seemed to be a pewter pitcher of beer, by now no doubt mostly empty. He couldn't see who was sitting at the table but he had a good idea. "What do you say, pretty elf? Huh?" one of them said, obviously drunk. "We'll show you a good time at our barracks," slurred the other. "Screw the barracks. The alley is as good a place as any." A couple of other soldiers tried to get the two to stop but they would have none of it. The townsfolk and the innkeeper sat quietly, not knowing what to do. Mark had his hand on the sword and was about to step in when he heard Amanda. "Oh, ladies. I know you're eager to please me but you lack the equipment to do so!" One of them grunted angrily and grabbed her arm. "Hey! Watch it, ladies. If your Major hears that you've been unkind to an Elf... I believe the consequences might involve something like... pissing through a straw for the rest of your life?" she said, giggling. "Though, maybe you two are familiar with that already?" "Little bitch!" one yelled. But his comrade was apparently a little more sober and stopped him. "Don't do it, Paul, don't do it! We don't want to get the Major pissed." Paul stopped and let go of her. "Let's get outta here," he said to the other soldier. They turned and pushed Mark aside, kicking open the door with a loud bang. When they had finally gone, conversations resumed around the inn. "You heard me lecturing my troops this morning," Mark grinned, sitting down at the table across from her. She was wearing a pair of earrings that resembled tiny silver wind chimes. "Pretty earrings," he added. "Thanks!" she grinned, happy that he had noticed them. "When you left this morning I was kinda annoyed 'cus you were nice and warm... but I guess listening to you give orders helped. Thanks for telling your men that we didn't do anything." "I was just covering my own ass. It'd be pretty awkward if those loudmouths started spreading rumors once we got to Mise." "It's what I wanted anyways. As far as anyone else knows, I'm still a perfectly innocent lady," she looked up and made a halo over her head with her hands. "I know better than that," he gave her a wink. "Where's your food?" "I wanted to wait for you, so I told the innkeeper to bring it after you come back. Here it is!" she gestured behind him. A maid brought them each a bowl of thick broth, some bread and half a chicken to share between them. Afterwards, she placed down two glass flutes and filled them with a white wine. Amanda immediately grabbed the bottle and hid it under the table. Mark smiled at the grinning elf girl. "This is nice." "The innkeeper said the wine is from the finest vineyard in your kingdom and he only has a single bottle left," she said, inspecting the golden liquid. "That must've been expensive." "I offered him a fair deal," she said with a proud smile. He looked at her suspiciously. "I have my own money too, you know." Mark silently dipped his bread into the broth and took a bite of his bread. Amanda followed his lead. "Not bad. I think I can get used to food like this." "The stuff you'll find in Astrin will be a lot more interesting. Try the lasagna at a restaurant called Distant Lands when you get there. It's the best dish in the world." "Le...zah...nia?" she furrowed her brows. "Sounds interesting. I'll try it. But right now, I want to try the wine," she said as she took a sip. She looked upwards, as if trying to remember something. "Well? How is it?" Mark asked, taking a sip himself. "Not bad..."she concluded. "For a human wine." "Be nice. This is Ice Wine. It's made with grapes that are frozen by the first frost of the year, while still on the vine so there's not very many bottles made each year," He took another sip. "It's a pretty good bottle too... though really, it's a desert wine, so it's really not supposed to be drunk with the main meal. How much did you pay for it?" "Oh, so you're a wine connoisseur now? That's a surprise. I managed to negotiate with the innkeeper and got this bottle for forty five Krona. Good thing my father remembered to give me human currency before I came," she said with a laugh. "That's quite expensive... but I guess that's the cost to have a bottle this far from the source," Mark looked at his glass. "So, tell me. What else is good in Astrin?" They ate slowly, talking and enjoying each other's company. By the time they finished, the inn was mostly empty. Mark asked the innkeeper to heat up some water for the bath and led Amanda upstairs. "Good night, Amanda," Mark said. She stood on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Good night, Mark." In his room, Mark wrote a few letters for Amanda's swordsmanship lessons, Major Walden's reward and a third, its contents only for the eyes of a select few. He sealed all three with wax, stamped them with the symbol on his necklace. He then turned on the water for a bath, probably be his last for a few months. He wanted to enjoy it. He took off his heavy leather jacket dyed to a dark green color, then his thick spider silk shirt and pants. He turned off the water and sat down in the tub. The water was hot but felt good. He lay back, submerging himself fully. When he reemerged, he could already feel his muscles relaxing. He closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep but he heard the door to his room creak. He sat up and saw Amanda. She was still wearing her earrings but she was now in a silky blue slip, the hem of which barely covered her cute round butt. She walked towards him with a shy smile. "What are you doing here, Amanda?" "Well... I liked what we did last night, and I was wondering..."she left the sentence hanging. "Ah. Sure... I mean... of course." Mark said, a little flustered. "But I thought you said your father was strict about this sort of thing." She bent down briefly, giving him a perfect view of her cleavage. "He is. But he isn't around, and no one else knows. It can be our little secret," she said, "...right?" "Yes! Of course! It'll be our mutual secret. I'm just a little surprised that you want to do it again, that's all. Last night I thought it was just the spell talking." She shrugged. "Last night, it was. But I really did like it, and I was serious when I said I wish I had done it sooner. And besides, it's another thing I wanted to learn about anyways," she grinned. "Once I get to the city, I don't think I'll get a chance to anymore, not without someone telling my father." "He spies on you?" Mark asked incredulously. She shook her head, her long hair swayed back and forth, almost hypnotic. "Eh, sorta-kinda-not-really. But if I do anything he disapproves of, I'm sure he's going to find out sooner or later. Anyway, hurry up and finish with your bath! You have a student to teach," she winked at him, and closed the bathroom door. Mark blinked twice, then quickly soaped and scrubbed himself. In record time, he was out of the bath and drying himself. He wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door. Amanda sat on the bed, reclining on a pillow. Her skin glowed in the lamp light, highlighting her every curve. She looked at him and smiled, blushing. "Oh, so now you're suddenly shy?" Mark said with a laugh. "I am shy!" she pouted. "So what happened to the girl who winked at me and said 'You have a student to teach'?" "I was just teasing you before. It's different now that you aren't trapped by your bath." "Teasing me? That's not very nice. I need to teach you some manners!" Amanda pushed herself backwards, trying to get away from Mark and his predatory grin but there was only so far she can go before she was trapped by the bed's headboard. "What are you going to do to me?" she gasped, eyes wide with anticipation, her face inches from his. "Do you trust me?" She nodded. He leaned forward and kissed her soft lips. She responded almost instantly, kissing back, taking his tongue into her mouth, sucking and nibbling gently. Almost in a daze, she felt him pulling her up into a kneeling position on the bed, holding her body against his. She moaned quietly as she felt the heat of his skin through her silky slip. Remember... Ch. 02 Chapter 2: Through the Ivory Gate ***** Yes, it's the second chapter. Finally. Although reading Chapter 1 isn't really necessary except for some reoccurring character names, and some plot points, I hope the story is interesting enough for you to go back and read it anyways. Comments and criticisms are always welcome. CCG ***** For Mark, consciousness faded in and out. He vaguely remembered the mission and the ensuing battle: something about destroying a bank of siege engines and the Orcs that suddenly appeared. He had killed dozens but there were just too many. Eventually, most of his squad was dead and... the next thing he remembered was a group of elves looking over him, concerned, discussing something about a spell... then... nothing. Mark blinked, and groaned, feeling dull pain all over his body. He was in a room. At the elven outpost, perhaps? He was parched; his throat felt as if he had swallowed all of the sand of the Bleak Lands. Slowly sitting up, Mark grabbed the cup of water sitting by his bed and emptied it in one gulp. Dropping the cup, he then picked up the pitcher, and drank deeply from that. "Captain Raven!" a woman's voice called out to him, "You're finally awake!" Lowering the pitcher, Mark blinked a few times to focus. "Erilin," Mark said to the elf standing in the doorway. She had just been assigned to his company by the elven colonel to fill up his forces only days before. "I'm so glad to see you." The elven woman smiled. "I'm glad that we were able to get to you in time. Our Goddess must have been watching over you." "How long have I been sleeping?" "You've been unconscious for five days." "Five days? What... what happened?" "You don't remember?" "Only bits and pieces," Mark shook his head to clear it from the dull fog. "Did anyone else make it?" "Only Wilson." "Shit," Mark muttered under his breath. "Is he alright?" "He has some cuts and bruises, and a concussion, but he should be alright with standard medical care." Mark examined himself. There was nary a scratch on him. "What happened to me? I feel... fuzzy. But otherwise fine. How was I out for five days?" "You were in a terrible condition when we found you. We didn't know if we could save you but Magus Keith made a huge scene and eventually convinced the wizards to try to heal you." Mark narrowed his eyes. "I'm glad they decided that my life was worth it." Erilin shook her head. "Please don't misunderstand. It's nothing against you. Healing is a complicated enough art as it is and there are no healers here with us, so to attempt to perform a healing with no specialist is incredibly dangerous. One wrong utterance by anyone could result in spectacularly messy deaths of everyone involved." "Well, did I really need it then?" She nodded. "Your life signs were so weak, they didn't know if they could heal you at all. If it wasn't for Magus Keith, we would not be speaking right now." "I should go thank him, then," Mark said as he stood up. "I'll take you to him," she bowed. "I'll wait for you outside." It was only then that Mark realized he was completely naked; a set of his clothes lay neatly folded on a nearby chair. "Uh. Sure," he said as he hurriedly grabbed his clothes to cover himself, bringing an amused smile to Erilin's face. When the elf closed the door behind her, Mark quickly threw on his uniform, and followed her outside. "Sorry about that," Mark said, as Erilin lead the way down the hallway. "About what, Sir?" "I didn't know I was undressed." Erilin chuckle. "It's alright, Sir. You've been here long enough to know that we're not shy about our bodies. You would be too after a century or so." "Well, us humans don't live for that long. I still have to keep my men in check sometimes at the river." "We have to bathe when we have the time and we don't have the time to be split into two groups by sexes." "I know, but us humans generally don't see more than one naked woman at once, let alone a group bathing each other." Mark chuckled. "I swear, sometimes it seems like some of you do it intentionally." Erilin laughed. "Sometimes, yes. There aren't that many women here. We drink and laugh with the men too, but just as men like to do their little exclusive things sometimes, so do us women. Most of the time it's pretty innocent but I do know of at least two ladies who have been eyeing some of your men." Mark laughed as well. "I've been pretty clear to my men that they do not try anything with any elven women, though." "We've suspected as much. Your men seem to go out of their way to avoid us sometimes. May I ask why?" "Mostly for group discipline. Also, if the war's still going on, I need my men to stay attached to only those in their unit." "But now there are elves in your company as well, including females." Mark shrugged. "This is a rather new development. I'd still prefer them to not get involved when the fighting's still going on." "Well, it now seems that the fighting is pretty much over..." "What? When? How?" Mark stopped mid-stride. "The Orcs started withdrawing their forces about three days ago. It seems they are headed in the direction of Fort Essence," Erilin smiled. "Huh. Got bored of a small town and moving on to bigger fish, are they?" "It seems that way. The excavation team has taken this opportunity to wrap up their work at the dig site and should be ready to leave for Luminare soon." "That's great news!" Erilin stopped in front of a large set of doors. "Yes, that's why I would like to take this opportunity to ask you on behalf of some of my friends that you... give your men a little more freedom." Mark raised an eyebrow. "There will be a small celebration the night before your company leaves to escort the archeology team back to Luminare," the elf said. "One night won't hurt, right?" "I'll think about it," he finally acquiesced. "Thank you, Sir," she grinned. "Magus Keith should be in here. He should be able to fill you in with anything that I have left out about the past five days." "Alright. Thanks, Erilin." Mark opened the large doors and was instantly greeted with the sight of a dozen elves in long robes gathered around a large, dirt covered, metal contraption that wasn't here the last time he visited. It looked like a huge flat metal box but with large square holes along the side. One of the elves standing to a side wore a small ornate half-mask, indicating his nobility. He spoke quietly with another robed elf, seemingly unaware of Mark's presence. "Captain Raven! I'm so glad you're alright," One robed figure emerged from the crowd. "Magus. It's good to see you." Mark said, shaking the man's hand. "I just spoke with Erilin. She told me that I owe my life to you." Keith laughed. "Erilin exaggerates. All I did was some convincing." "Regardless, it was all thanks to you that I am still here today," Mark bowed. "Nonsense. Captain Raven, you've saved us so many times in combat, the least I could do is to repay the favor." Mark smiled, and then turned towards the object in the center of the room. "So what's that over there?" A huge grin appeared on Keith's face. "Come! Let me show you!" he said as he lead Mark over to the object. "This is the most intact artifact of the Ancients that we have ever found." Mark took a closer look at the earth-filled object. It was roughly box shaped and seemed as big as a small carriage. Large holes circled the upper half of the box, while the bottom half seemed mostly solid, although there seemed to be a few cracks here and there. Although rust had covered most of the metallic surfaces, some parts still held specks of color. "What exactly is this?" "We're not sure. From its appearance, I would guess that it was probably used as a container of sorts. We have found similar objects in the past but they were all in far worse condition. As strange as this may sound, this is the first evidence that we have found that these containers were perhaps originally painted." "How old do you think this... thing... is?" "Over a hundred thousand years old, at least. This was here long before recorded elven history, and probably even before the Ancients." "Before the Ancients? There were other races before them?" "It's hotly debated topic but some of us believe so, yes." "Wow, that's amazing," Mark whistled. He looked around the room. "There seems to be more artifacts than the last time I was here. Did they find anything else interesting?" "Yes!" Keith paused to think for a moment. "Well, yes, but most of them aren't even here but are still waiting to be dug up. It appears that this area is rich with all sorts of artifacts; some may even be magical! We have only scratched the surface of this area. We will be returning to Luminare soon to present our findings to the Wizard Council, so that a much larger team of specialists can be sent here to study, along with more protection." "Is that why he's here?" Mark asked, nodding his head towards the masked elf across the room. "Yes, Duke Talos is here to observe the wrapping up of our excavation here. Would you like me to introduce you to him?" "No thank you, it's quite alright," Mark smiled. "But does that mean we will be returning to Rancer as well?" "Yes, as we will need to wait for the Council's approval before we can return." "I see. Then when will we be able to leave?" "I think within the week. Since the Orcs retreated, we have been able to go out to the dig site a lot more, so the wrapping up has been fast as well." "That's excellent. Thank you, Magus." "You're more than welcome. One more thing though: while the elves healed you, one of them found a spell embedded in your head. We took the precaution to remove it, as it seemed to be potentially dangerous." "Oh?" Mark looked at him with some alarm. "What was it?" "We're not sure, but it seemed to be some sort of orcish combat aggression spell; very similar to the type of spells that orcish battlemasters would construct... although they are generally constructed upon their own troops. It was extremely well hidden, and difficult to remove, which only added to our suspicion that it would be dangerous. Fortunately one of my elven colleagues, Celial Vern, is an expert in the field of enchantments, and was able to remove it after some..." "By Aria's light! Look at this!" An elf exclaimed from the other side of the metal artifact. Rushing to his side, the other wizards all began to talk excitedly. Mark looked at the elves with an amused smile, then bowed to the Magus. "Thank you again, Magus. I should let you return to your work. I'll go look for the rest of my company now. I'm sure they'll be glad to know that we can return to Rancer soon." "Indeed. See you soon, Captain," Keith smiled and bowed as well before hurriedly joining the other elves. Mark gave the artifact one last glance before heading towards the barracks. He thought about what Erilin had said. His men had all performed admirably the last four months, through the harsh elven winter, so perhaps a reward would not be a bad idea after all... +-+-+-+-+- "So it is settled then," the man stood up from the table. "Thank you, Ambassador Fanelin." "No, thank you, your Majesty," The drow bowed deeply, giving the young king a perfect view of her cleavage. "Queen Renia would be pleased." As the drow ambassador departed with her entourage, her hips swaying sensuously, Andrew finally breathed a sigh of relief. Dismissing the remaining ministers, he was finally alone. "Hey Chris, it seems that the drows know that House Norfald is up to something as well. They almost couldn't agree to the border disarmament fast enough," he said to no one in particular. A shimmering shape appeared behind the king, slowly solidifying to reveal a masked man. "Of course, Andrew. If their intelligence is as good as we suspect, they should have known about this days ago," he replied, his voice distorted by the mask that he wore, sounding hollow and metallic. "But I didn't expect us to come to an agreement this fast." "They are perhaps worried about the Mamet Empire as a whole," Chris said, sitting down next to him. "Just because each House of the empire may act independently doesn't mean that they've never fought together." "That hasn't happened since my grandmother's reign. Father was even younger than me at the time." "Well, I'm sure Queen Renia still remembers it. She has lived long enough to see it happen three times already. I'm sure she'd be wary of a fourth." "Perhaps we should talk to the Mamet ambassador about this. What was his name? Roger?" "Rogen. Theodore Rogen. I doubt it'd help: he'd just say 'each House acts of their own volition, unhindered by the Empire,' or something along those lines." "Of course," Andrew grunted. "And we haven't received a new ambassador from Norfald yet?" "No. We probably won't get a new one until their internal power struggle settles down. Perhaps by the winter." "Ug. I hate dealing with Mamet." "You and me both, man. Anyways, we can figure that out later," Chris waved his hands in dismissal. "I love having meetings with the drows though." "Let me guess. Her brilliant intellect just fascinates you, oh so much," he shook his head slowly. "Oh yeah, definitely that," he nodded seriously before chuckling. "But seriously though: her clothes. I mean, I don't really think it can be called clothes. I've seen women at the beach who wore more material than that." "To them, clothing is a sign of weakness. Anything..." "I know, I know: 'Anything more than what they are required to cover is an attempt to hide imperfection.' And damn, she was pretty perfect." Andrew laughed. "Well, I think that being only able to look and not touch is a terrible proposition. I think I'll just stick to humans and elves. At least touching them isn't potentially dangerous." "I'll take my chances. Not all of them are dangerous, and the ones that are have to consciously create the toxins anyways. Just don't upset them, and you'll be fine!" "Whatever," he shook his head with a grin, "it's your funeral. Anyways, we should get going. I get to see Mari again today. I don't want to be late." Immediately, Chris jumped up from the chair and led the way through the grand halls that lead to the royal gardens. "When was the last time you saw her?" Chris asked. "Last month, at the dinner at the Society. You were there..." Andrew paused. "Oh wait, that wasn't you was it?" Chris chuckled. "No, that was Jaraad." "Agh! Right! You two need to stop switching the schedules so much. Damn it, when Mark comes back, I'm going to have to get used to going back to the old schedule again," he sighed. "On that note, shouldn't he back soon? How long ago did he report from Crielere?" "That was six days ago. He should be back any day now. The company, or what's left of it, has been debriefed and disbanded, and the men are expected to report back to their original commanders within the month." "Great! We should go out for a couple of drinks when he's back. I've been cooped up here for too long," he nodded. "Hmm. Or maybe we can take a vacation early this year." As Andrew entertained the thought of a long relaxing trip to somewhere where he can get some peace and quiet, he stepped through the doors into another kind of tranquility. Unlike many gardens around the city, the royal gardens at the center of the palace contained completely natural flowers. No magic is used to enhance the appearance or to encourage the flowers to blossom, so every season brings about a different selection of blooms. Although not nearly as colorful as the enhanced gardens, Andrew took pride in the ever changing scenery and took a personal interest in its appearance. Amongst the finely manicured shrubs and trees, some daffodils have already started to bloom, adding colors to an otherwise monotonously green scenery. At the center of the garden was a large pond with a large marble gazebo. It provided a gorgeous view of the gardens, so naturally it was a popular place for the various ministers to meet and have lunch. However, at this hour, it was already empty. "We're early, it seems," Andrew said, looking around. "A little. Mari is very punctual; I suppose it's easy to be, with her talents." "I guess, though she's told me the jump spell is very tiring, so she doesn't use it much." "Oh? I thought she jumps here every time." "Well, she has Society responsibilities before this. I don't think her father would be happy if she just left a half an hour early to come here." "The Lord Magus keeps a tight leash on her." "Yeah, I guess." "He's a control freak. That worries me, you know. Don't get me wrong: Mari's a nice girl and all, but do you think you'll be able to have a future with her? I mean, especially with her father's position at the Society, and his influence over her. Some of the nobles are already voicing their concerns with your relationship, but if the marriage becomes official..." "I don't know yet, and I'm not sure if I care," Andrew shrugged. "Father and Lord Magus Izer arranged this for us, so I'm at least obligated to give it a try but no more than that. I don't know what she thinks of all this: if she's interested in me in that way, she's not showing it very much. She keeps her thoughts about that to herself, mostly. As for the nobles," he paused, "we'll deal with them as it comes." "I suppose, but you've been with her for three years, almost four. Do you think she has any feelings towards you?" "Maybe," He shrugged. "You and Mark and Jaraad have known her for longer. You tell me." "She's never told me and to my knowledge, Mark or Jaraad either. It's not like we get to see her much more than you. And besides, we don't talk about this with her," Chris shrugged. "Do you have any feelings for her?" "I don't know!" He was getting a little frustrated. "Maybe?" "Not 'maybe'. You asked her to that event last year, didn't you? That's gotta be something." "Yeah, well, Magistrate Locke handed me the invitation personally, and I can't exactly say no to the man." "I still can't believe that you took her with you. I mean, I've never been to one of his 'events', but I've heard stories. I thought she'd be scandalized." "Well, I like that kind of thing, so if Mari wants to be with me, I have to know how she feels about it too." "That's not an excuse! You could've just asked her if she likes being tied up!" Andrew frowned. "Tying people up is only part of it. And besides, that's rather blunt, isn't it?" "Compared with just taking her to that 'event'? Sure, as blunt as the pointy end of a sword. I mean, while I don't see why you and Mark are into that type of thing, I accept that about you. You're my brothers. But Mari? She might not be so understanding. She could've freaked and... and... blown up the whole place or something," he said, throwing up his hands. "If she threw a fit about it, then I would've known we wouldn't have worked out, right?" "You quite literally like to play with fire, don't you," Chris shook his head. "Well, since she didn't, you think there's a chance that you two will work?" Andrew shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see. In any case, she doesn't seem to be in any rush either." A small green light appeared in the air nearby, steadily pulsing like a heartbeat. "That would be her," Andrew smiled. Chris nodded. "Have fun. I'll be near," he said as he pressed a region of his bracer, once again fading from view. Over the span of a minute, the green light began to pulse faster, and grow larger, until it was roughly man sized. With one final flash, a girl dressed in a teal robe appeared in its place, holding a large weaved basket. Remember... Ch. 02 "Hi Mari," Andrew greeted her from his chair. Ignoring the greeting, the girl put down the basket, and hunched over, trying to catch her breath from what seemed like a long run. "Care..." she began. "Care to help?" She asked, nudging the basket in Andrew's direction. "Oh, sorry! Of course!" Andrew jumped up, and crossed the short distance between them to take the basket from her. It was unexpectedly heavy. Holding out his free hand, he offered it to her. To his surprise, she not only took it but also wrapped her arms around his neck. They had never been very close, physically at least. Sure, they conversed just fine (in fact, famously so), but it had never progressed to anything more. Beyond the formalities of hand kissing, and on rare occasions, a dance, the most that they had ever done was to hold hands at that event, when she seemed to have been glued to him. Although she did not seemed to be disturbed by the scenes there, if she was interested, she hid it well. Needless to say, she had never hugged him like this. Unsure of what to do, Andrew simply stood there. "Ah. Em," he tried to find something to say, but the words just wouldn't come to him. "I'm tired," she answered his unspoken question. "I crafted a lot of complicated spells today for an exam. Probably shouldn't have jumped here," she explained in between breaths, resting her head on his shoulder. Andrew just nodded. He noted that her hair was a bright crimson today, which was perhaps the most normal color he had ever seen on her. In any case, it looked better than that lime green from last time. He also noted with some confusion as to why he had just noticed something so blatantly obvious (perhaps the novelty of the always changing hair color had worn off after the first dozen or so times he's met her), or why he's thinking about her hair color when she is now closer to him than she's ever been before. He then realized his mind was racing. He tried to focus. It didn't seem to work. Slowly, her breathing calmed. After what seemed like minutes, Andrew felt her shift, as if she was nuzzling against his neck. "Em. Mari?" Almost immediately, she straightened up and took a step back from him. Her hands did not leave his. "Thank you. I feel better now." "You're welcome," he smiled. His mind no longer raced. "Shall we eat?" She nodded and helped him take out all the food that she had brought, most of which she had made herself. When Andrew bit into the first piece of dumpling, he moaned as his tongue caressed the soft, succulent fillings inside. "Oh spirits, why hadn't I asked you to cook for me sooner? This tastes amazing!" he exclaimed as he stuffed another into his mouth. "Of course it is! I studied under the Society's best chiefs and we have the best chiefs in the world." "What? The Society doesn't train chiefs," Andrew frowned with his mouth full of food. "Not directly, no; but since our potion specialists have to spend so much time in the kitchen creating potions, they relax and kill time by perfecting their culinary skills as they wait for their potions to finish brewing. You won't find better chiefs anywhere else." "Well, I'm sure the headmaster of Ambrosia Culinary School would beg to differ." Mari rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Gerhardt Norn is a Society alum. I heard he wasn't even particularly good at it either," she scoffed. Andrew finally paused from eating, raised an eyebrow, shrugged, then went back to stuffing his face. He really didn't have enough brain power to think about the implications of that statement at the same time as what he should eat next. "Slow down. You're going to choke on something," the redhead frowned. "Are you really this hungry?" "Why wawent roring..." "And don't talk with your mouth full!" He sighed and swallowed before speaking again. "I wasn't during the meeting. I guess I forgot about it. But now that there's such delicious food here, I realized that, yeah, I'm freaking famished." "Who were you meeting?" She asked, finally stabbing a dumpling with a fork for herself. "Drows. About some border issues. Can't say much about it." "Drows? Well that explains it. Men..." She shook her head, finally taking a bite of her own food. "I wasn't..." he paused, pursing his lips to contemplate the truthfulness of his statement, "entirely... distracted by her." "Right. Because you were entirely distracted by her tits." "I can't help it if the only things she's wearing were like basically 2 cloth straps and her heels!" She blinked. "Wow. That's... She looked that perfect, huh?" Andrew shrugged offhandedly. "You could pull it off too, you know." Mari blushed, but quickly recovered, shooting him a frown. Andrew was too busy eating to notice any of that. "So do you know when Mark's coming back?" she changed the topic. "Any day now, actually. He should..." "Did you tell him to bring me anything back from... from wherever he went?" She cut in with a grin. "Um. No, actually. It's not safe for my brothers when other people, even you, to know where -" "What do you mean?" She frowned. "Well, last time when Jaraad got you that wand you instantly knew he went to Hek." "It's not my fault he got me the Daedalus Wand. It's illegal to sell it pretty much anywhere, except for Hek," she protested. "Well, the time before when Chris got you the necklace, you guessed right away he went to Mamet." "Every third bead on that was made of bear tooth, so I thought either Mamet or one of the Orc tribes; and I thought Mamet was more likely." "Well, the time before that with Chris -" "Ok, I get it. I'm sorry. I'll stop guessing?" "No, that's not the point," Andrew frowned. "Look, up until last year, when I told you who they were, only my family knew. Any sort of information that may be linked to their identity, or location, or anything, is dangerous. I'm sorry, but their safety comes first." Mari sighed in resignation. "I understand." "But don't be sad! You didn't let me finish! Mark wrote that he's bringing you something that he wants you to look at. A puzzle of sorts, from what I can gather. He said he'll treat you to lunch one day." "Oh! Why didn't you tell me sooner? You know I love puzzles! If I get to choose where we eat, then I'll accept it as a suitable substitute for the gift." "I believe we have ourselves a deal," Andrew grinned. +-+-+-+-+- It was late morning when Mark finally reached one of Astrin's eastern gates. He did not recognize the guard captain there... one promoted to the rank during his absence, no doubt. Regardless, the guards waved him through with only a cursory glance at his credentials. Within half an hour, he was sitting down at his favorite tavern. Oh I've missed this! Mark thought as he chugged down the remaining ale. It feels so good to be back! He looked around the tavern and smiled again, seeing some familiar faces but even more people that he had never seen before. That was the way of the Jita district, where shops open and close seemingly at the toss of the coin and whole buildings can be torn down and rebuilt in less than a month. Fortunately, The Citadel has been here for dozens of years and served well as a hangout for Mark and his brothers. Soon, the barmaid brought him another mug. "This one's on the house," she said with a smile, nodding towards Citadel's proprietor. Mark grinned at the elderly woman, and raised his mug in thanks. Just as he set his ale down on the bar, he felt a presence behind him. "It's not even noon yet, and you're hitting the booze already?" The man said. "Hey Jaraad!" Mark jumped up and embraced his brother. "Nice to have you back in one piece," Jaraad grinned. "Thanks. It's good to be back home. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed." Jaraad laughed again. "Yeah, I know the feeling! It's those little things that makes you miss home the most." "How's Andrew and Chris?" "They're good, but Andrew's been pretty busy lately: something's going on in Mamet. He hasn't been seeing Mari as much as when you were here but that's also because she's busy all the time as well. Chris is Chris. During a big dinner last week, he somehow managed to dilute Andrew's wine with large amounts of grape juice." "Uh..." Mark's eyes went wide. "Oh don't worry, the guest had a separate drink, so he didn't get any of that, but Andrew had to keep a straight face though the whole night." "Fuuuuuuuuck..." Mark half laughed half groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Andrew must've been pissed." "Why am I pissed, now?" Another voice asked from behind them. "Probably something I did," replied another. Mark spun around and embraced the two newcomers. "Andrew! Chris! What are you guys doing here? Don't you have... important meetings to attend to?" "In a bit. Jaraad told me that you just got back, so I thought I'd drop by for a bit," Andrew grinned, holding up the necklace that they use to communicate with. He wore a simple disguise of a wig and beard, which was enough to fool the people who have never gotten a good look at him up close. No longer in his regal clothes, instead, his appearance matched that of Jaraad, wearing a simple tunic and pants, looking like one of the merchants of the nearby Jita market. "So why am I pissed again?" "I was telling him about the grape juice incident," Jaraad chuckled. "Oh yeah, that. That wasn't even the worst thing he's done while you were gone," Andrew sighed. "Last month, he nailed all the chairs in the dining room to the floor, a little ways back from the table, so everyone had to sit at the edge of their chairs and lean forward when they ate. Thank the spirits it wasn't a dinner with any dignitaries or the like. We did have to replace all the chairs and parts of the floor, though." "Well, that's new," Mark blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Hey, it was so much harder for me!" Chris complained. "I was the one that had to nail twenty chairs down to the floor without anyone noticing." Mark laughed. "I don't know why you go through all that trouble..." "I'm just practicing my skills for legitimate uses." "Right. Because we all need to nail twenty chairs down without anyone noticing one day," Jaraad rolled his eyes. The proprietor of The Citadel saw Andrew walk in, and approached the group. She was old enough to be their grandmother but other than her graying hair, she radiated the energy of someone decades younger. "Boys, it's so good to see y'all again," the older woman smiled. "Hi Miss Nyx," Andrew replied, echoed by the other three, and embraced her. "Sorry about not being able to come in lately, but 'business' has been -" "Don't you apologize, now. I know just how busy it can be. Your gran'ma was probably the busiest person I've ever known," she patted the younger man's shoulder. "But I am so glad to see you, again. Now come along, a corner table has just opened up. It'll be more private for your conversation." "Thanks, Miss Nyx." After they had sat down, the maid brought over some drinks and food for all of them. "So how was your trip?" Andrew asked. "Eventful. Almost died at one point, but the dig team got what they were there for." "Woah, what?" A look of concern appeared on Andrew's face. "I'm ok! I'm still here, aren't I?" Mark laughed. "Elven healing magic is pretty amazing, though." "Be careful, Mark. You're always so reckless when you go on trips," Jaraad said. "Yeah, I would hate to have permanent twelve hour shifts," Chris smiled. "Thanks for your concern, Chris." "Anytime!" The four chatted, catching up on the last four months that Mark had been away: The recalling of another ambassador from one of Mamet Empire's many Houses (likely to be relocated to some salt mine somewhere for something that they, or someone in their family did); the arrival of the elven princess Allura (apparently here to build good relations between the Kingdoms, but thus far, has met with Andrew only once); the Society of Magic had another animal incident (resulting in the release of thousands of chinchillas into the streets of Astrin, although this time it was contained much quicker than Day of Ferrets incident two years ago); and many others. After a length of time that felt not nearly long enough, clock towers around the city began to ring, announcing Two o'clock. "Well, we have to go. Got a meeting soon," Andrew announced as he stood up. "Welcome back, Mark. See you tomorrow afternoon." "Yeah, get some rest. I'll have Andrew's schedule delivered to your place tonight," Chris added, "but you don't have to do anything other than your shift until next week." "That's my cue too," Jaraad said, getting up as well. "Gotta get ready for my shift. Nice to have you back, Mark. Get rested. We'll catch up soon." -+-+-+-+-+ After almost an hour of soaking in the large granite bath, Mark finally pulled himself out of the tub. The water was starting to get cold but he enjoyed it anyways, even after his hands got pruney. He dried and wrapped himself in a large towel, enjoying these little things that he had missed for so long. Falling onto his bed, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Mark dreamed. Ching... It sounded like a bell. Or maybe a chime. "Wake up," a female voiced called out to him. Ching... It was a little louder now. He looked around, still not seeing the source of the sound. "You said you'll find me." Ching... "Find... who?" he asked the voice. "You promised." Ching... "Promised... what?" "To find me again." Ching... He turned around. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. "So wake up. Find me like you promised." Ching... "Who are you? Are you..." he struggled to think of someone's name, and found that he didn't know anyone's name. He heard a soft laughter. Ching... He turned around again, faster this time. He saw a streak of green flash by. More laughter. Ching... He turn around one more time, as fast as he could move. He felt himself falling, but as he fell, he saw it... a wind chime? "Oof!" Mark grunted as he landed on the floor next to his bed, the eighth toll of the clock tower still echoing through the streets. The dream was fading already. He frowned. He could never remember any of his dreams. But this time, he did remember the last thing he saw. A wind chime. Just like the earrings Amanda wore. "Amanda..." he mumbled to himself, "What have you been up to?" The elven embassy was located on the north-western side of the elven district, across the district from Mark's home. The neighborhood's architecture has obvious elven influences, with elegant curves replacing the sharp corners and edges found on most other buildings found in Astrin. Elven dwellings in the kingdom of Mise have lasted through thousands of years of use and the elements had worn down the roughness of the original stones. The buildings in Astrin are not nearly as old but were built with the antiquated appearance to resemble their counterparts found in the elves' homeland. The embassy was nicknamed the White Keep, since it resembled a much smaller version of the keep of the Grand Castle in Luminaire. The distinctive alabaster spire rose towards the sky like a giant, elongated teardrop. A wall surrounded the building, patrolled by elven guards, shielding its inhabitants from prying eyes. Mark sat down on a bench, across the plaza in front of the embassy's main gate, and waited. There were many people sitting around, on the grass and on benches. A flock of pigeons wandered around, their heads bobbing back and forth. Occasionally someone would throw some bread towards them and Mark laughed inwardly as he watched them scramble for the crumbs. There were several cafés located around the plaza, all full with people having their breakfast. Thinking about breakfast, Mark's stomach growled, reminding him that he has yet to eat anything today. Just as the bell tower announced eight thirty, the gates to the embassy opened and Captain Lena Banks walked out. Mark thought about catching up to her to talk, but quickly decided against it. She might slap him again. Another day, when we have more time to talk, Mark thought. A few minutes later, the gates opened again, and several elven women walked out. Amongst them, a familiar looking elf girl, with two elven women by her side. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail, although a few unruly strands hung along the side of her face. With the sleeve of her grey shirt, she wiped away the sweat on her forehead, her face glowing from the recent training. While her short green skirt only went down to mid thigh, tight black leggings and a pair of thin leather boots covered every inch of her toned legs. He imagined how they'd look without those leggings. Amanda started walking west-wards, while the two elves followed her close behind. They were constantly alert, watching for any signs of danger. Mark smiled, and walked towards her. It's been four months. Would she recognize me? He thought. Walking at a leisurely pace, she was probably exhausted after her training. At this speed, he would catch up to her in a block or two. Maybe I should surprise her... Although her guardians might not find that too humorous, he mused. She stopped and turned around to say something to the two elves behind her. Mark couldn't quite make out what she was saying at this distance but after a few seconds, as she was about to turn back and start walking again, she glanced in his direction. Their eyes met. Mark smiled at her. Amanda stared at him for a moment, her expressing quickly changing from confusion to surprise to happiness all within the span of a second. To the confusion of her guards, she began to quickly walk, and then run towards him. "Mark!" She shouted as she leaped into his arms. Mark almost lost his balance, twirling her around him. "Nice to see you too, Amanda," he laughed. "I told you I would find you." The two elves caught up to her, with looks of concern on their faces. "My lady," one said with a cough. She reluctantly unhooked her arms from Mark's neck and stepped back, blushing slightly. "Ah, this is Mark," she said, gesturing with her arm. "He helped me obtain new escorts after the incident in Carrou forest. Mark, this is Linae and Ellisa. They are my guardians." The two elves bowed slightly. "So you are Mark! Our lady has said many good things about you," Linae smiled. "Thank you for arranging the escorts for our lady, Mr..." "Raven. Mark Raven." "Ah, thank you, Mr. Raven. We were quite surprised to see our lady arrive here with a group of Rancerian riders." "It was no problem. The Crielere outpost's commander is an acquaintance of mine. He owed me a couple favors. And besides, I didn't think it was safe for such a beautiful lady to be traveling alone." "That was very considerate of you. Oh, and when you see him, please give our thanks to your friend the hunter who helped our lady in the forest." Without missing a beat, Mark nodded. "Of course. He is a bit of a recluse, and hard to track down, but I will tell him when I see him again." Amanda held his hand and started walking, pulling him along. "Come on," she said, looking at him with a smile. Mark shrugged and followed her, while her two guards followed close behind. "How did you know I was here?" she asked. "I asked around at the barracks for Captain Banks, and they said she was training a particularly troublesome elven girl here at your embassy." "They did not say that! Lena... I mean Captain Banks loves me!" "Maybe they did, maybe they didn't," Mark laughed. "Anyways, they said that she was training some elves here. Apparently other women decided to join you in training with her?" Remember... Ch. 02 "Yep! Mostly officials or their servants at the embassy, but occasionally, Ambassador Raelin's wife joins us as well." "That's great! I'm glad you have company." "Hey, are you busy today?" Mark shook his head. "Not till four. Did you have plans?" "Not anymore! Come, I need to go home to shower and change." Mark walked with her a ways from the embassy, towards a relatively fancy part of the elven quarts. They walked past rows of large, elegant, gated mansions. Amanda walked through the gates to one of them, a white house with burgundy windows. As they passed through the gates, Mark felt a tingle... a sudden change in the magic flows around him. Detection spells, he made a note to himself. Good security. "That's a beautiful mansion you have," he complimented. "Such a large place in the city must have been expensive." Amanda smiled. "My father bought it for me a little before I came here," she said as she opened the doors. Inside, they were greeted by two elven women, who Amanda introduced as Ella and Vin. The decor of the house was elegantly minimalistic, and followed the same color scheme as the outside. A large central stairway led to the second floor balcony, which then led to hallways and presumably, more rooms. To the right of the staircase was a large guest room. A few chairs and leather couches surrounded a stone table. A handful of paintings hung on the walls, as well as several small sculptures. "This place is very nice," Mark said. "Thanks, but I don't spend much time here. I'm usually out most of the day," she led him to one of the white leather couches. "Wait for me down here, but feel free to look around downstairs. I'm going upstairs to take a shower" Mark smiled. "Go ahead. I'll wait for you." After she ran upstairs, Mark wandered the lower floor of the mansion while being followed by Ella. "If you don't mind me asking," the elf said as they entered the kitchen, "what is it that you do?" "I'm a merchant," Mark said as he observed two cooks, both elven women, preparing some food. "Is that so? What is it that you deal in?" "Whatever is in season. My business partner does most of the negotiations; I just make sure the goods arrive at their destination." "I see. How's business?" "Very well. Demand, and market price for grain and iron have been steadily increasing for the past few years, so our business has been doing better and better. We have an arrangement with a handful of dwarfs and a group of farmers up north. It has been working out quite well." "I'm happy to hear that," The elf smiled and nodded. "Feel free to wander the premises. I will inform you when the lady is ready for you." Mark wandered the house and its backyard, meeting two more elven servants: a maid, Celistra, and the gardener, Falalie. They seemed nice enough, but he noted that they always seemed to be watching him, cautious of the stranger in their house. Finished with this self-guided tour, Mark returned to the guest area and struck up a conversation with Linae and Ellisa, who despite her love of her own voice, revealed very little about themselves, or the household. Almost an hour later, Amanda emerged from her room on the second floor. She wore a short violet sundress, white stockings, and white ankle length boots. Her wind chime earrings dangled from her ears, and a thin silver necklace hung an emerald charm between her bosom. "Hi," she smiled to him as she walked down the stairs. "You look very pretty." "Thank you!" She beamed. "Now that you're all freshened up, what are we going to do?" "Breakfast, of course! The training's made me hungry." "Where to? There are some nice cafés near the embassy," Mark suggested. "No, I've already tried them. I want to go somewhere new. Come!" "Lead the way, fearless leader," Mark chuckled. At the gates, Amanda turned to her two guardians, who looked on without expression. "I'll be going out with Mark until mid afternoon, so cancel my other appointments," she said. "We will be fine just by ourselves, no need for you to come." The two frowned, but nodded. "If you wish, my Lady." Amanda smiled, and walked outside. Mark followed, giving a friendly nod to Ellisa and Linae, neither of whom responded. "Are you sure this is ok?" he asked, walking by her side. "I don't think they trust me enough to be going out with you alone." "But I do. It's fine." He laughed. "Well, we've technically only known each other for about a day. I'm not sure if you can really trust me just yet. And besides," he said, scratching his head, "embarrassingly enough, I don't even know your full name!" "I guess that's true," Amanda laughed as well. "My last name is Gefen, so now you know. As for how long we've known each other: Yes, it was only a day, but not just any day. After all that's happened, I think I can trust you to take me to breakfast at least." Mark smiled. As they round the corner and out of sight of the mansion, Mark offered her his arm. "I don't want them to get the wrong idea," he explained, "or the right idea, for that matter." "Thanks," she said, taking his offered arm. "In the last few months, I've thought about what I was going to do when I would see you, how to not make them too suspicious but when I really saw you today, I just kinda forgot everything." "I'll try not to make it any worse, though I'm not sure if this outing is helping your case at all," he chuckled. She shrugged. "Well, since they already saw me tackle you, I don't think this is going to be any worse. I thought I could use this time to spend some time alone to talk with you." "Oh? About what?" "Like I promised you, my guardians don't know any details about the night that we met. I've only told them that I was attacked, and a hunter rescued me, and took me to you." "I see. Thank you for keeping it a secret. Have they looked into how your attackers could have found you? You were in a part of the forest that's not very frequented, so it's unlikely that they just happened to stumble upon you." "Yes, but they didn't find anything. No one should've known where I was. You know elves are good at keeping secrets." "I know, but maybe you were being followed, or maybe there was an informant amongst those who knew." "I don't know. I don't think I was being followed. And an informant... that's impossible." He shrugged. "Nothing's happened since you arrived in Astrin, right?" "No," she shook her head, "everything has been normal. My guardians have told me that I'm not being watched." "That's good. I'll make sure it stays that way today." "I know," Amanda smiled at him, and leaned against him slightly. "I feel safe when I'm with you. Not that I don't when I'm with my guardians, but..." she paused, "but I feel even more so when I'm with you." Mark smiled back and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. They walked in silence for a while, along the large brick-paved streets and small cobblestone roads, passing stores and restaurants, until they arrived at a small nondescript wooden building. The hostess, a woman with short black hair and tastefully tailored black dress, led them upstairs to the balcony, where they can overlook the street below. "So how have you been?" Mark asked after they placed their orders. "Do you like Astrin?" "Mmhmm!" she nodded. "I mean, I got used to the city pretty fast but at first, I wasn't too sure: it was so different from home, everything was so foreign, and I don't just mean the location. People in Luminare are so much more reserved, even in the market district. Here, though, people cheer; people yell... it just feels so alive. After about a month, I found myself loving it here." "That's great," Mark smiled. "I'm glad you like my city. If you have time at some point, I can show you all the interesting places if you like." "Oh I would love that! I'm usually busy all day, so I never get to really explore the city... not that Ellisa and Linae would let me anyways, even if I did." "I see," he laughed. "They're just looking out for you, you know. As much as I love Astrin, there are some parts of the city that should probably be avoided." "I know; but like I said, it's not like I have time normally anyways. This is like the first time I've decided to take the day off in a month." "What do you usually do during the day?" "During the week day, I train with Captain Banks in the morning. She says I'm doing very well, and I'm an excellent student," she smiled proudly. "Good to hear. Captain Banks is a very demanding instructor; few receive her praises," Mark smiled. "I also noticed earlier that you called her 'Lena'. Are you two on first name basis now?" She nodded with a shy smile. "Yeah, but that's only for when it's just us two." "I'm proud of you. She rarely becomes friendly with her pupils. You must've worked very hard to earn that." "I don't want to be helpless if I were ever attacked again," she said thoughtfully at first, but then a conspiratorial smiled crept over her face. "I can't always expect to be saved by a 'hunter'." "Fair enough," Mark laughed. "I can teach you a few things too. Lena can teach you to fight properly, like a soldier; but when you're ambushed by who-knows-what assailants, you will have to fight dirty- Don't give me that look. I'm serious. Do whatever it takes to win, because you don't know if they will follow any rules of engagement. Those mages certainly weren't going to." "I suppose. Well, I'd love to find more excuses to see you anyways," she grinned. "By the way, it sounds like you knew her pretty well too." Mark shrugged. "Yeah. We saw each other briefly. It didn't work out." "Oh. I'm sorry," she reached across the table to take his hand. "Don't worry about it. It was for the best; and besides, if we had worked out, I might not have met you!" Mark smiled, and gave her hand a gentle pat. "Anyways, you were talking about what else you do during your day?" "During the day, I take various lessons, depending on the day: violin, dance, sculpting, painting, and the like. Then, in the evening, I go to the Society for an hour to learn various combat magic from a sorceress, Miss Villa." "Oh? How is that going?" "It's ok, I guess. I'm doing well, but..." "But?" "But... Miss Villa is also teaching two other students along with me. Two boys, probably barely in their teens, and they're so... annoying! They're constantly chattering with each other about something and laughing, or doing something stupid, and Miss Villa doesn't care to do anything about it." "Ah, I know the type," he leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Their parents are probably some big shots in the city and paid a lot of money to get them there. Most kids that are there to learn something go through the Society's academy normally, not through tutors." "Well, I'm there so I can learn, not to play around." "Can you find another tutor?" "I'm trying, but it's hard. The Society says their instructors are all busy or something like that. I don't suppose you would have some sort of a connection there, like you did with Captain Banks, would you?" "I do know some people there that I can ask but honestly, they're probably not high enough up the administrative totem pole." She shrugged. "Oh well. I'll just keep asking them." "How about your weekends? What do you do?" "This and that," she shrugged. "Sometimes, I come out and wander and shop, and sometimes I stay home, to read if I find an interesting book, or practice my magic, or spar with my guardians. Nothing terribly interesting. But enough about me. How about you? How was your trip? I hope you protected my country well." "Of course! My men performed very well, and we did our jobs. And by the way, let me say that elven healing magic is amazing." A sudden look of alarm cross her face. "Healing magic? Who needed it?" "Me," Mark blinked. "Why?" "Oh goddess! You need to be careful!" "What?" "Healing magic isn't used unless someone is about to die! It's not something that we use for scratches and bruises, or even broken bones." "Hmm," Mark thought for a moment, and shrugged. "Erilin only said that it was difficult to do because we didn't have a healer..." "What?! Stop. Stop. I don't want to hear anymore," She buried her face in her hands. "I don't even know why you're still alive at this point," She shook her head. Without needing to look, she answered his questioning frown. "Healing without a healer is like... it's like pulling a random drunk off the street to cut your hair, with a scythe, while riding a galloping horse," She looked at him with half closed eyes. "A galloping, bucking, untamed horse. Now are you sure they haven't misplaced or rearranged your internal organs?" Mark rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad. I'm fine!" He decided against telling her about the spell they removed from his head. "Better than fine. I'm awesome!" He gave her a silly, toothy grin. "You're just lucky," Amanda fought against the smile that threatened to break through her frown. "The next time you need healing magic and there isn't a healer around, get me to do it. At least I've just been trained, and practiced pretty recently. Those wizards that did you probably haven't healed anyone for like a few centuries." "Well, hopefully there won't be another time," He smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm ok, Amanda. Alright?" Finally smiling again, she nodded. "Ok. So what was your job in Mise?" "Can't say," he smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "It's a secret." "You have to tell me! I told you everything I did!" she pouted. "At least give me a hint?" Mark laughed, "Alright, alright. Let just say your Society of Wizards is very happy now that we've done this." "They're called the Council of Wizardry, you know." "Whatever," he laughed again, but corrected himself. "The Council of Wizardry is very happy now that we've done this." "That's good to know. Thank you." "The contract payout was thanks enough, I think." Amanda leaned across the small table and motioned for him to do the same. "Mm?" Mark raised an eyebrow in amusement as he leaned towards her, face to face. "Muah!" Amanda pecked him on the lips, a grin on her face. "And that's thanks from me!" "Mmm! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this kind of reward, though." Leaning in, Amanda kissed him again, deeper this time. Her tongue darted into his mouth, licking, teasing. It took Mark a moment to realize what had happened before he began to kiss back. At one point, he felt the waitress arrive with the tea but he didn't care. In fact, he wasn't even hungry anymore. "Um. Excuse me," the waitress finally interrupted. She looked rather uncomfortable witnessing this very public display of affection. Amanda finally pulled back and smiled shyly at the girl. "Sorry about that." Mark smiled with amusement as he watched the waitress quickly set the tea and pastry on their table, and almost run downstairs. "Maybe you should have toned down the heat on that kiss. She clearly thought we were some crazy pervs." "Not me. Just you." He raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" "You..." She leaned in closer to him again, her eyes full of mischief, "are a corrupter of innocence." "Maybe, but if that's true, that would mean that you're corrupt as well, and just as guilty as me." "Well, innocence is not so easily lost. It would take many more sessions with you for me to reach your level of depravity." A playful smile appeared on his face. "That can be arranged." Silence settled between them as they stared into each other, seemingly daring the other to make the first move. Finally, Mark spoke. "You know, I'm not hungry anymore. How would you like to have breakfast in bed later?" Fortunately, the trek to Mark's house is fairly short. Even before the front door fully closed, he had already forced Amanda against the wall, his lips claiming hers. She responded with a moan as her mouth opened to accept him. The pair groped each other and stumbled to the stairs when suddenly Mark picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Amanda shrieked in surprise, her arms and legs flailing about until he playfully spanked her. Amanda gasped, "You hit me!" "That'll teach you to struggle." She struggled some more. Mark laughed as he walked up the stairs, finally tossing her onto his bed. With her elbows behind her for support, Amanda licked her lips unconsciously as she stared at her lover. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her breath quickened as Mark pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his toned torso. Her eyes trailed lower, past the leather belt, to the bulge in ... "Hey, my eyes are up here." "I... um..." Amanda blinked, her face turning a shade pink. When she looked up, she saw a mischievous grin on Mark's face, which then turned into laughter. "Hey!" she laughed too. "Relax! You seem so tense," Mark pulled her up to him for a kiss. As their lips parted, Amanda nipped at Mark's lower lip, drawing a wince from him. "I am relaxed," she retorted. Mark gave a small bemused laugh. He gently caressed her face, running a finger along her long pointed ear. Amanda's eyes fluttered as she inhaled deeply, her body lightly trembling. Moving downwards, he rested his hands on her shoulders, massaging the muscles around her neck until she finally exhaled, her shoulders slumped down. After taking several more deep breaths, the elf opened her eyes and smiled. "That... was really nice. Thank you." "You're wel- Mmm!" Amanda reached up on her tip toes and planted a long kiss on Mark's lips, quite effectively silencing him. At the same time, she slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders, letting it fall into a small pile at her feet. As she pulled away, Mark drank in the sight of her body before him. "Wow." he breathed. Clad in only her white boots and stockings, white sheer laced panties, and a matching laced corset, she grinned shyly. "I... ah... This is for you. I thought this would be a... nice surprise." She looked to the side, avoiding eye contact, one hand playing with a length of lace on her stockings, the other self consciously tucking an imaginary stray strand of hair behind her ear. It took a moment before Mark finally found the words to speak again. "You look... so amazing. I can't believe you wore this for me!" He blinked a few times. Taking her hands with his, he kissed them. This seemed to have a calming effect on her as she looked back up to meet his gaze. "I can't believe you bought this without giving your guardians a heart attack." Amanda giggled. "I had to attend a couple formal events here, so I used that as an excuse to go on a shopping spree for all sorts of fancy things. And under-things." "Hmm... clever girl. I think you deserve a reward." Mark stroked the side of the corset, then down to the panties, then he knelt between her legs as he ran his hands down the length of her stockings before finally taking off her boots. Pushing her back to a sitting position on the bed, he noted the damp spot between her legs as he kissed her laced covered sex. A quiet moan escaped from Amanda's lips as she unconsciously spread her legs - just a little - to allow him better access. "You... you're teasing me," she breathed heavily. Leaning on her elbows behind her, she tried to pull him up to her with one hand, but Mark would not have it. "Please, don't tease me anymore." "Don't worry," he looked up from between her legs. "I won't. Don't move. Just lie back and enjoy this... reward from me." Kissing the sliver of visible skin under her corset, Mark slowly pulled off her panties and kissed each inch of her flesh as it was slowly revealed to him. Amanda whimpered in anticipation as he got closer and closer to her wetness; it was only the fear of Mark stopping that kept her from writhing with need. Remember... Ch. 03 Chapter 3: A rook with two Rooks ***** Yay third chapter! This one's short and sweet. Kinda. "Sweet" is debatable. I hope you guys like it! Since this is posted in Sci-fi/Fantasy, I'm going to have a content warning for people that might not like this. Content Warning: Reluctance Comments and criticisms are always welcome. CCG ***** "I've got a surprise for you today," Mark declared out of the blue. Amanda frowned and turned her head in question. "Mmm?" She was curious. "First, let me ask you a question." Amanda bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok?" "So how much has that... Miss Villa, was it? Your teacher at the Society? How much has she taught you?" "Just simple... things. Push. Flash," she breathed deeply again, shaking her head. "The two boys there, she didn't... she didn't want to teach them dangerous spells." Mark pulled back. "Really? She's teaching them... no, teaching you, cantrips. Nothing more... Nothing more..." he searched for the words, unsuccessfully. Despite his act, he didn't really want to think about this. "interesting?" "Mmm!" She pouted. She didn't really want to think either. "No? Nothing?" He leaned downwards to kiss her neck. "Uh-uh," she moaned softly. "Nothing." "Well this should be good then, maybe," Mark resumed, pushing his length back into her slick sheath. Amanda whimpered appreciatively as her arms quaked under her. This felt so dirty. So hot. She moaned as Mark roughly grabbed her hair, twisting her head to the side and kissed her parted mouth. She collapsed onto her elbows. She was so close. "You're going to come aren't you." Mark hissed into her ear. It was a statement rather than a question. "Yes, Mark. Make me come. Make me come again," She panted. With a growl, Mark pulled out her arms from under her and twisted them roughly behind her back pushing her face and breasts into the bed. "You're mine." "Yes. Yours. Take me! Ah!" She shivered with delight at her helplessness. Having already been brought to her peak twice earlier, she had no strength to fight the rapidly rising pleasure building inside her. With a sharp moan, she was sent over the edge, her body shaking as her pussy tightened around her lover's cock. Despite being so lost in the moment, she heard Mark's loud gasp, feeling him thrust into her one last time as he released himself into her willing body. The corners of her mouth turned upwards to form a small, proud, self-satisfied smile. Mark released her arms and collapsed onto the bed next to her, panting for breath. Too tired to do much else, Amanda turned on her side and leaned backwards until she felt his chest against her back. It was a very comfortable position for both of them. She closed her eyes. It only felt like a few seconds or at most a minute had passed before she felt Mark suddenly sit up in the bed. "Shit! We're going to be late." With that, he was out of the bed and putting on his shirt. Amanda sat up as well and rubbed her eyes. "Huh? Late for what?" Mark turned his head with a quizzical smile on his face. "Don't you remember what I said earlier? Or were you too busy coming?" He laughed as he tried to unsuccessfully dodge a flying pillow. "Hey! Be nice! I said that I had a surprise for you!" Amanda rolled her eyes and looked around the room, finding her underwear lying along a trail of clothes leading in from the door. She quickly put on her black laced panties and shift. She had to follow the trail of clothes downstairs, playfully fighting with Mark along the way as he tried to gather his things before she found her green dress. It took another minute of kissing and giggling before they made their way out the front door. As they climbed into the back of a hired carriage, Mark playfully and lecherously smiled at her. "Yes?" "You look hot. Freshly fucked hot," He leaned in to whisper in her ear and took a deep breath. "And you smell of sex." Amanda giggled. "So do you! So what's my surprise that we're going to be late for?" Mark leaned back with a content smile. "We're meeting a friend. I'm buying her lunch in exchange for a favor I want from her and we can ask her if she knows someone who can better train you at the Society." "Oh! That'd be wonderful!" She thought for a moment. "I should probably not show up looking and smelling like this then." He waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it'd be funny to see her reaction. My friend Chris does this to her occasionally and it's great. Now I can try!" "Mmm... let's not. You can but I'd rather like to leave a good first impression with your friend," Amanda said as she began to construct a spell with her hands, mumbling the words under her breath. A moment later, with a shake of her head, her hair that had previously looked just a tiny bit unkempt became docile, looking as if it was just brushed. The sheen of sweat on her skin disappeared as well, and a light lavender scent permeated the inside of the carriage. She looked and smelled as she had just stepped out of a bath. "Aww, alright. Do me too, then." Amanda narrowed her eyes and smiled. "No. You can look and smell like sex. I think I like you this way." He laughed. "I'm going to get you for that." "I look forward to it," She grinned. +-+-+-+-+- Mari looked at her pocket watch. It was ten-past already. Mark is usually more punctual about this. She idly played with the salt and pepper shakers, levitating them with magic and making them do a little dance. "Yes... yes... this is a fertile land and we will thrive," The salt shaker nodded towards the pepper mill. "We will rule over this land, and call it: This Land." Suddenly, the pepper mill turned towards the salt shaker. "I think we should call it: Your Grave!" The salt shaker jumped. "Ah! Curse you and your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" It squeaked out as a glass of water suddenly appeared over it, about to pour its deadly contents over the hapless salt shaker. Mark coughed. "Hmm. Interesting predicament Mr. Salt has got himself into over there." With an embarrassed squeak, Mari swung around and jumped up from her chair. "Mark!" "Hi!" He gave her a warm hug. "Mari, meet Amanda. Amanda, this is Mari. She's an old friend of mine. Known her since we were like 9 or something." Amanda smiled and greeted her with a hug as well. "Hello Mari. Your hair... very unique." She pointed out. She also quietly took note of how pretty the human girl was. An unwelcomed mental image of Mari and Mark appeared in her head but she immediately shook it off. "Hello!" Mari looked up at her bangs to remind herself. "Oh yeah, the purple matched my robes," She offered as explanation. Sitting down across from the purple haired sorceress, Mark snatched the still floating cup from above the table. "You got better at this. When did you stop dropping them like a klutz?" He teased. She narrowed her eyes in a threatening manner but her smile remained on her face. "Chris got me that one time. I wouldn't make that mistake again." "Damn," he laughed. "Sorry about being late. We got caught up with something," He shared a smile with Amanda sitting next to him. "Mmhmm. I'm sure you did," Mari rolled her eyes, finally settling them on the elf girl on the other side of the table. She was quite pretty but looked suspiciously innocent. Most elves, having centuries of experience under their belt, don't have that shy smile that played at the corner of her lips and her eyes. Mark usually avoided being with elves for that very reason. They would catch on to his odd behaviors too fast, determine that he's hiding something, then after his unwillingness to come clean, dump him. This one, though... "So how have you been?" Mark interrupted her thoughts. They chit chatted as they ordered and waited for their food to arrive, talking about what he had missed in the last four months, much of which he already gathered from speaking with his brothers right after he got back. The conversation eventually segued to Amanda's daily activities: her martial training with Captain Banks and her nightly lessons with Ms. Villa. "She's not going to teach you anything," Mari declared as soon as Amanda mentioned the name. "The boys she's tutoring are Albeus Long's nephews. He's the Head Sorcerer of the Conjuration school. His sister, the boys' mother, specifically told Brook Villa not to teach them anything that might lead them to seriously hurt themselves. Although to be honest, other than being kinda sheltered and immature, I think the boys are pretty talented and would make pretty good students if they actually applied through the society properly." Amanda cocked her head to a side. "Huh. That makes sense now. But the boys, I just thought they were kinda disruptive and annoying." "Yeah, I'm sure they are. They're kids. Allan, the older brother is like... what, 13? 14? I don't remember. Alex, the younger one, is like 12 or something. If you're bored out of your mind in that class, I'm pretty sure it's even worse for them." "I've never thought about it like that," she blinked. "Don't worry about it," Mari smiled. "Unlike you, I've seen them outside that class. They're not always brats." "Well, this does bring up something that I wanted to ask you about," Mark began. "Do you know anyone else who can train Amanda in some actual combat magic? Or, I mean, something more useful than little cantrips." "Hey! Don't knock cantrips! I make great salt and pepper plays with them," she laughed as she snatched the pepper mill out of the air in front of her. "But yeah, I understand what you're saying." She thought for a moment, grabbing the salt shaker as well, putting them both back down on the table. "Why are you so interested in combat magic anyways? Until you can start constructing them without having to think about it, until it becomes second nature to you, it's not exactly practical for self defense. Your sword lesson with Captain Banks and whatever Mark can teach you will probably be better suited for that." Amanda shrugged. "I just really want to learn. I mean, I don't think I'll be participating in any wars as a Combat Wizard but if someone is shooting a firebolt at me, I want to be able to shoot one right back, instead of cowering behind somebody." "I think you'll be pretty safe here in the city. No one's really going to do much combat magic before the Society Enforcers comes down on their asses." "Well, something like that has happened before," Amanda shared a look with Mark. "Not here, but it's happened. I was lucky that I had help, but I don't really want to depend on others if I can help it." Mari did not miss that exchange between the couple but shook off her curiosity when the waiter arrived with their food. "So before we eat, where's my puzzle?" Mari grinned, stretching out her open palm. "Ok, ok, here you go," Mark laughed as he produced a small grey pouch and placed it in her hand. "Though it's not as much of a puzzle as I just want to ask you where this came from. If it's any help, Magus Keith said he wasn't sure exactly where it was from but that it wasn't from the drow." "Magus Keith... Vincent Keith? He was with you the whole time? I thought he vanished himself or something," Mari laughed, "I should've guessed that was the case when both of you disappeared at about the same time and no one knew where he had gone off to. "Huh. Actually, that makes so much sense now! He came back like a week and a half ago, about when Andrew said you'd be back... how did I not make that connection sooner..." Her voice lost its amused tone as she pulled out the black leather collar, still attached with seven of the runes. She frowned. "Where did you find this?" She looked back up at Mark. The elf girl next to him scowled, clearly uncomfortable at the sight of this collar. Mark took Amanda's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "You know I can't tell you that. I just want to ask you if you know who could've made this." Mari frowned. From Amanda's reaction and her insistence on learning how to protect herself, she had a good idea of just how she and Mark had met. She decided not to press the matter. Opening the pouch a little more, she emptied its contents onto the table and counted. She thought for a moment, then put all but two of the charms back into the pouch. "These two last charms," she said finally, "I have never, never, seen before." "But you know what they are, right?" "Of course I do," Mari rolled her eyes. "I have a collar with two runes permanently attached buried somewhere in my room." Mark raised an eyebrow. "You do?" "They're fun little toys," she shrugged. "And they're not hard to get if you know where to look. But anything above a set of six is like impossible to find. The only reason I've even seen twelve is because of some drow exhibit at the Society a few years ago." "Yeah Keith said as much. The only set of fourteen belongs to Queen Renia?" "As far as I know, yeah," she looked down at the collar, "but then you bring me this. Let me take a look here," she began to mumble something under her breath, constructing a spell. Almost a minute later, Mark felt the flows of magic stop. "So...?" "I don't know. There's something weird about these," Mari shook her head. "The magic patterns on these are nothing like the ones I have, which were made by the fae. I don't remember the drow patterns very well but I'm almost certain these are not drow either." "Hmm," Mark frowned. "Well, you said there was something weird about these. What is it?" "I'm not sure. Something feels very," she searched for a proper word, "unnatural, about this set. I just can't put a finger on it." Mark leaned forward, thinking contemplatively for a minute, then shrugged and leaned back into his chair. "Bleh. Lots of help you are," he chuckled. "This meal was totally wasted on you." "Ha! This was the worst puzzle ever," she scoffed, making a face at him. "Not interesting. Not even a little bit!" She said as she put everything back into the pouch and tossed it to him. Amanda just laughed as they finally touched their cooling meals. "It was really nice seeing you again," Mark smiled as he gave Mari a hug. "Yeah it was. Now that you're back, maybe I can get to see you or your brothers more often," Mari smiled back. "Sorry about not being able to help you with the collar thing." "I can't wait to hear what Chris will do to prank you next time," Mark laughed. "As for the collar thing, don't worry about it. I can ask around to see who else has experience with these things." "You know," Mari glanced at Amanda briefly before continuing, "you can probably ask Madam Kessing about this. I've heard she has a drow set up to the sixth charm. Maybe she can provide you with some insights?" "That sounds like a good idea," he nodded. "I need to stop by there soon anyways. Thanks!" Mari then turned to Amanda. "It's nice meeting you," She hugged her as well. "Likewise. It's nice to meet some new people in the city finally," She smiled. Then a curious look appeared on her face. "So who's Madam Kessing?" "I'm going to leave that to Mark. You can ask him about her," Mari laughed. Amanda turned towards Mark with a confused expression but he was pointedly not meeting her gaze. "So," Mari said as she held Amanda's hands. "You're really serious about wanting to learn combat magic, aren't you?" "What do you mean? Of course I am." "I mean there must be a very good, personal, reason that you seem so bent on being able to protect yourself, isn't there?" Knowing that this was a secretive topic, both women glanced at Mark, who shrugged and nodded in consent. Amanda nodded. "Look, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but from the way you reacted back in the restaurant when Mark pulled out that pouch, and how you seem to be terrified of being a victim again, I can guess what had happened." Amanda slowly nodded again. "It was just a close call," she explained. "Mark came and saved me before anything too bad happened." "Good. I'm glad," Mari smiled with obvious relief. "But... hmm... so, if you want, I can teach you combat magic. If you want." "Oh thank you! I would love it if you would teach me!" She exclaimed happily. "Thank you so much!" Mark was quite surprised, himself. "Wow, thanks Mari!" "Wait, wait, hear me out first. I can't do it every night: maybe only twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at your regular hours with Brook, er, Miss Villa." "That's fine! That's great!" Amanda could barely contain her excitement. "And you still need to go train with Miss Villa on the other nights to learn to control the spell construction process better." "Yep! Of course!" "Ok, well, good then. We can start this Thursday if you like. Just meet me at the fountains in the courtyard, ok?" "Yes! Yes! Thank you!" Amanda hugged Mari excitedly. "You're welcome," she laughed. "But there's something else, related, that I need to say to you," she paused, "to both of you. First, Amanda, until you get lots of practice, you're going to have some trouble controlling the magnitude of your spells. Even the Push cantrip can be a little too forceful if you're not careful." "Yeah I've noticed that, but I think I'm getting better at it." "Um. Good. So, Mark, I know we don't talk about this subject, so I'm not sure how to say this," Mari looked at the ground, then back at the couple, "but have you talked to her about that interest of yours? The one that got Lena upset last time?" "Mmph. No," he grunted. He knew where this was going. "Uh, well, sorry about bringing this up now, then," she offered an apologetic look. "You guys do have to talk about this before I start teaching her offensive magic, though." "Huh? Why? What interest?" Amanda looked at the two of them, confused. "I didn't want to bring it up so soon," Mark ignored her question. "Is this really necessary?" "It is," Mari nodded. "If she reacts badly, I don't want her panicking and hurting you without meaning to." "Shit. Alright," he groaned. "Mark? What is she talking about?" Amanda took Mark's hand. Mari took a step back as she began to construct her Jump spell. "I'll let you two talk. See you around, Mark. Amanda, don't be afraid of what Mark is going to tell you. You're safe with him. I'll see you on Thursday?" "Um. Ok. I'll see you on Thursday. Thanks again!" With a smile and a wave, she was gone. There was a silence between the two. "So. What is this interest of yours that I should know about?" Amanda finally asked, cautiously. Mark looked up at a nearby clock. It was nearly three. Shit. Holding Amanda's hand, he began to walk. "I don't have much time left, and I don't want to leave you confused," he began. "I was going show you later. Ease you into the topic. It might sound a little scary to you but I'd really like to first introduce you to it before you make any judgments about it." "Ok?" "So normally, this isn't even really an issue. But as my last relationship taught me, I really need to communicate better." "Well, yes, communication is important," she nodded, but she wasn't sure where this was going. "So my only doubt is that this might be a touchy topic for you because of the circumstances surrounding our first meeting and I really don't want to scare you off." "Mark!" She pulled him to a stop next to a long, narrow alley. Checking that there's no one around, she pulled him inside a good distance away from the crowds on the street. "Yes?" He looked at her uncertainly. Amanda had to suppress a giggle. Although they really have not known each other for that long, she never would have expected him to be so nervous about anything. Sure, he still sounded confident but she could tell that he was trying to suppress his uncertainty. "Mark, just tell me already. I'm not going to run away." Remember... Ch. 03 Mark raised an eyebrow. "How do you know? You don't even know what I'm going to say yet." "Well, are you planning to kidnap me, take me to Hek, and sell me into slavery?" "Of course not!" Mark scowled. "Then it's ok!" She laughed. "Just tell me already! This anticipation is killing me." He took a deep breath, and looked into her eyes. "I'm into bondage," he stated. "Huh," she acknowledged flatly. "Really?" To Mark's dismay, her face betrayed no emotion to guide his conversation. "Yeah, I like my women restrained. Rope, or cuffs. Either's good." "So..." She began, taking a step back very slowly. There were definitely signs of fear now. "You are going to abduct me and sell me into slavery." Fuck! This was exactly what he was afraid of. "What? No! Amanda, that's not what I meant at all! I-" "Then, you'll tie me up," she took a few step back, then tried to take another, but a stone wall blocked her retreat. The panic in her voice was palpable. "And take me against my will-" He sighed. This wasn't the worst possible scenario, but it was close. Damn it, Mari! Why did you have to bring this up now? She clearly isn't ready for this! Currently, his only option is to try to calm her down for now, then disappear from her life. "No! I would never do that to you!" He tried to explain but she didn't seem to listen. "- keep me as your sex slave, bound and gagged and locked up in your cellar," her voice trembled dramatically. She placed her arms at her sides, pressed against the wall, thrusting out her chest. She turned her head to the side with her eyes closed, exposing her neck, almost... invitingly. Mark blinked. "You'll take me out, only to use me, forcing me to cum for you again and again as you satisfy your lust with my body," she took a quick peek in his direction. He was smiling, laughing now and walking towards her. A smile came over her face as she closed her eyes again and continued. "Then, when you're done, you'll lock me back into my cage and I will be helpless to resist you as - mmm," she finally stopped as Mark covered her lips with his. They stayed like that for a long while. "You know," Mark whispered as their lips parted, "you make fun of me now but if you keep going on like that, I might just do all of that to you." Amanda grinned, then gasped dramatically. "And I'll be helpless as you force me to take you in my mouth, unable to resist until you've made me swallow every drop - mmm!" This time when their kiss finally ended Amanda was panting. Mark took her by her hand and dragged her back towards the main road. "You're lucky I don't have much time left today, or else I would absolutely do all of that to you." "Hmm. I don't think I want all of that. How about you can do some of that to me and you skip whatever it is that you have to do at four?" "As tempting as that is, I can't," Mark sighed. She giggled. "Aww... but it sounds so fun! I mean, not the cage part, or the part about selling me into slavery but everything else sounds great!" He took a few more steps before he suddenly spoke again in a calm and controlled tone. "No, no, I can't just do some of that. Now, if you'll let me do all of that, then we can talk." "Umm... I'm not sure-" "Actually, yeah. I've always wanted a sex slave chained up in my basement," His voice grew quiet, laced with a hint of malice. He stopped mid-stride and turned to look at her, as if weighing his odds. "Mark? Wait," She frowned. Had she pushed him too far? She felt a pang of fear through her heart. She tried to pull her hand away but he held on like a vice. "Ow! You're hurting me!" It wasn't actually hurting yet, but he was holding on very tightly. Mark narrowed his eyes, and pushed her against the side of the alley behind a stack of wooden crates so they were out of sight of the main road. "Oh this is nothing compared to what I have in mind for you." He pressed his body roughly against her, pinning her to the wall. His right hand held her left above her head while his left hand covered her mouth. Staring into his cold blue eyes, mere inches from hers, she whimpered. This is bad. She tried to push away the hand covering her mouth but he was too strong. "Now listen to me you little tease," he said with deliberate slowness. " I'm going to make you my slave. Rape you. Train you. Make you cum over. And over. And over. Until your mind breaks. And the pleasure I give you are all that you'll know." Amanda felt him release her hand above her head but she was frozen with panic, unable to move. All she could do is look back into his eyes and listen to her fate. She felt his hand brush aside the hem of her dress, tear through her panties, then inside her wet folds. Despite her fear, a muffled moan escaped from her covered mouth. Mark grinned but the coldness in his eyes remained. He continued to speak, all the while fingering her, toying with her body, describing one lewd act after another that he will commit against her body and mind as his sex slave. And despite the voice of reason that screamed at her from deep inside to fight back, to scream, to do anything; all her mind could do was to fantasize, in sexy, graphic detail, each individual scene he depicted, each step of his plan to turn her into his mindless sexual plaything. Suddenly, his hand inside her stopped their ministrations. Almost unconsciously, she whimpered at the loss. Over Mark's voice, she heard the the sounds of a belt being undone. She gasped. Here? In public? But... She wasn't given much time to think before he lifted up her leg and roughly penetrated her. Her orgasm hit her immediately and without warning. Her eyes rolled back as a whimper escaped from under his hands. Scene after scene of her debasement flashed through her thoughts. She could almost feel them twisting her mind, her very being, convincing her that this was her life's true calling. Yes. A part of her wanted to rebel, knowing that this thought is illogical. This is insane! She has her own responsibilities, her own life, her own dreams! She can not and will not let herself be enslaved. She will escape! She will - a vivid image flashed before her eyes - she will be captured. Punished. Violated. Forced to endure an eternity of mind breaking pleasure. And she will emerge never wanting to escape ever again. Never again. Amanda whimpered as she realized that even her subconscious had turned against her. As the last vestiges of her consciousness faded, she felt herself give in, reaching out to that bleak, delicious, erotic, terrifying future. It was so close... "Amanda," She felt herself jolted awake. "Amanda, wake up." "No..." she mumbled softly. "So close..." "Huh? Wake up," she felt a gentle shaking. "I think you've had enough for today and we have to go." She blinked. Mark was looking down at her, holding her in his arms. The cold malice in his eyes was gone, replaced with the warm, loving care that she was so familiar with. A dark memory tugged at her half-conscious mind but it was already a faded memory by the time she found her voice again. "Hmm? What? Weren't we...? How did I...?" She tried to look around. They were still in the alley. Mark was sitting on the ground, leaning against one of those wooden crates. "That was pretty intense, huh?" he grinned. "You went limp and started cumming almost as soon as I started fucking you and I had to hold you up until I was done. But when you were still out even after that, I thought I better wake you up. I don't think carrying you back to your guardians in this state would be good for either of us." "Oh goddess, I still don't think I'm all here," she tried to stand, only succeeding after a few tries. "Sorry I destroyed your panties," he winked as he got up, patting the dust from himself. "You're going to need a new pair, or have some amazing excuses ready." She looked around, finally orienting herself. "I can't just say that you forcefully took me behind some crates in an alley?" She deadpanned. Mark laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's one way of acknowledging that we've been not entirely chaste in our interactions." "Huh... you know, I've never been chaste on a day that I'm with you," she observed. "I'm not complaining." She rolled her eyes. "I remember where I got the panties. I'll just go grab another pair on my way home." Smiling, Mark stepped forward as he brushed aside a stray strand of hair from her face and kissed her gently. Then without waiting for her response, he took her hand and began walking back towards the street, side by side. "What was that for?" she asked, amused. "For not running off or trying to kill me when I told you what my interest was." "Well, don't rule out that possibility yet. I haven't actually experienced your kinky interest." "You seemed ok back there when I fucked you against the wall," he looked at her with a smirk. "More than ok, I'd say." "That doesn't even count. There were no ropes or cuffs or whips or chains or any of that." Mark raised an eyebrow. "Uh, don't get the wrong idea: I love that stuff but I never said anything about whips and chains." "Oh, one of my brothers plays with that stuff sometimes. The girls he plays with always seems to love it... in the end, at least, after their little role-playing session." "Ah, yes, I had almost forgotten about your voyeur-cestuous tendencies," he said dryly. "Hey! I was just curious and jealous of their freedom, ok? I would never... Oh you ass!" she hit him as he started laughing. "What, would you rather have me running and screaming?" "Aaaah... no. That would be unfortunate and terrible," he looked away. Amanda thought for a moment. "Is that what happened between you and Lena?" "Sorta. Replace 'Running and screaming' with 'Furious-and-hitting-me and screaming'," Mark shrugged. "But it's my fault though. I didn't tell her that I was going to tie her up. I just sorta looped a length of rope around her wrists and she went nuts. It turns out that she has a perfectly reasonable reason for freaking out. I just didn't find out till way later." She had an idea of what the reason was. "Was she attacked?" Mark sighed. "It's not really my place to tell you about her personal history, but yeah, she was. Unlike your situation, though, her attackers were successful. If you want more details than this, you're going to have to ask her. She doesn't trust me as it is. And I guess it's not like I'm giving her any more reason to." Amanda frowned. Is this why she is such a good soldier? Such a good trainer? So that she can help others protect themselves? Is that why she's so nice to me? So that I can avoid her fate? "But bondage is nothing like that! It's just some harmless fun." "I'm glad you think so," he smiled weakly. "But sometimes, certain things just trigger unwelcomed memories and flashbacks and to the victims, it'll feel as if they were reliving the whole ordeal again. I'm guessing that's what had happened when I tried to tie her up." "Mmm. Alright," To Mark's surprise, she pulled her hand away from his and wrapped her arm around his waist in a half-hug. "Well, you can be sure that I won't do any of that, so don't worry about me." "Thanks. I know," he smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. They walked along the street in comfortable silence towards Amanda's neighborhood, only listening to the commotions around them and feeling each other's closeness. As they entered the dimly lit lingerie shop to buy Amanda a new pair of her destroyed panties, though, a dark and erotic thought came to her like a dream. She shook off the uncomfortable feeling. "You know, how about we give it a try, this bondage thing? 'Cause, you know, just in case I freak out or something." "I guess you're right," he laughed. "I don't think we should see each other too often, so we don't make your guardians suspicious but we need to try this soon, before your first lesson with Mari. How does Wednesday sound?" Remember... Ch. 04 Chapter 4: Reconsideration ***** Here's another short chapter. Hope you ladies and gents are still enjoying this. I definitely still enjoy writing it! Content Warning: Lesbian, MFF-threesome Comments and criticisms welcome! CCG ***** This can't be good. Mark thought as he approached the gates of the White Keep. It was Wednesday. The past day and a half since he had last seen Amanda was a whirlwind of meetings and negotiations and paperwork. Mamet's House Norfald is definitely up to something. Almost a third of their ruling families were forcibly removed, while three of their top five generals were suddenly found to be plotting a coup, and executed. In addition, his agents within the other Mamet houses reported that Norfald representatives have been trying to drum up support for an unified... something. The only silver lining of this whole situation was that whatever that something is, didn't involve an army... yet. Before he had left to meet Amanda this morning, he had just signed off on more money to try to bribe some other Mametian official to figure out what this something actually is. Mark thought that he could avoid all that headache by coming to see the elf girl but the situation in front of him made that seem less and less likely. "No! I want it to be here!" Amanda yelled at Ellisa. "Just tell them!" "That's outrageous, my lady," her guardian responded with as much courtesy as she could muster. "There isn't nearly enough time to plan for that. Even if you had decided this when you first came, it would still have been outrageous but at least there would've been time!" Amanda was about to say something back but she caught the sight of Mark out of the corner of her eyes and promptly stopped herself. She only narrowed her eyes at Ellisa. "We'll talk about this later." By the time Mark had walked up next to them, Amanda already had a smile on as she hugged him. "Is everything alright?" He looked at her, then at Ellisa, who scowled at him. "It's nothing," Amanda replied, pulling him in the direction of her home. "Don't worry about it." They filled their walk with mindless chit chat, but on occasion when Mark looked around to check his surroundings (as he often does when he's with Andrew), he always noticed Amanda's two guardians staring at him: Ellisa with suspicion, and Linae with what could only be described as a simmering anger. When they reached the mansion, Amanda ran upstairs to bathe, as usual. While normally he would place himself in the sitting room and read or converse with Ellisa or Linae, the signs he's been getting indicate that it may not a good idea today. So instead, he sat down in the kitchen hoping to strike up conversation with one of the maids. "Mr. Raven," Celistra smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She was preparing to boil some hot water. "It's good to see you again." "It's just Mark," he replied. "It's good to see you again as well, Celistra. How are-" "Celistra." A voice behind him said. It was Ellisa. Without a word or acknowledgement, the elf maid walked out, closing the doors behind her. Mark turned towards her. "Ellisa," he said. "Mr. Raven," said the elf. "Did you have something to do with this." It was an accusation. "Did I have something to do with what?" "Her decision. To stay here." "What?" he frowned. "She told me she'll be here for a year. It's barely been five months. Isn't it a bit early for that kind of decision?" Her expression visibly softened at his confusion. She sighed. "Yes, but before she came, she had planned on making a trip back to Luminare to see her family in about two month's time, at the end of July. Now she's decided to stay here instead." "Hmm. She's never told me of such a trip," he shrugged. "I can tell," she stated flatly. "Regardless of whether or not you had a direct hand in affecting my lady's decision, I must advise you this: For your own sake, and the sake of my lady, do not get too close to her. She is still young and immature, and I do not wish for her to make a mistake that she will regret later in life. Unlike you, we elves do not have the luxury of burying our mistakes with us every century or so." And with that, she turned and left. Mark stood there in stunned silence. What the fuck? He seethed. For just a moment, he could almost understand why some Mametian Houses hates elves so much. For my own sake? Burying our mistakes every century? Well fuck you, and the high horse you rode in on, bitch! He wanted to yell after her. Clenching his fists, he strode outside into the back yard. Falalie was tending to a small flower patch but he didn't even acknowledge her greeting. He sat on a stone bench and stared at a small fountain. Furious words and images bubbled through his thoughts. Many minutes later, he finally felt calm enough to go inside again. "Please forgive Ellisa for her behavior earlier." Mark turned to look at the source of the voice. She had short brown hair, streaked with blonde and blue, hazel eyes, and surprisingly pale skin for someone whose job was to tend to the gardens. Falalie held out a porcelain up to him. "Tea?" He looked at the cup with suspicion. "It's not poisoned, I promise," she joked. Mark accepted the cup but pointedly did not drink from it. "So you heard? I thought you were outside." "I hear everything within the premise," she smiled. They stared at each other for a long moment. "Mr. Raven, despite Ellisa's hostility, which I truly apologize for, we will never harm you unless my lady wishes it." "Do you wish it?" She shook her head. "No. I realize that at her age, it is normal for her to want to experience... all kinds of things. My lady seems to trust you and we have deemed that you are trustworthy as well, in most ways." He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" "She is my master's youngest and only daughter. Understandably, she has been very sheltered her whole life. To make matters worse, while she didn't have any of what one might call 'best friends', she did have friends and acquaintances that she can talk to; but here in Rancer, she has nobody. My lady has been keeping herself busy, and does seem to be genuinely enjoying it but there are still moments when I can tell that she wishes for the company of others." Mark shrugged. "What about you? And the other women in this household?" Falalie laughed. "My lady understands that while we do provide her with some sort of companionship, our primary purpose here is to protect and observe her. There are doubtlessly some things that she wishes for someone to speak to that she does not want her father finding out about." "So that someone is me?" "Perhaps, if you wish it to be. I do not hold the majority opinion on this but I believe it's good for her to continue this relationship with you, if only in the short term, so as to satisfy her curiosity," she put up a hand to stop his question. "Now, I don't know what she has done with you but I can infer from certain things she does to, lets say, relieve stress, while bathing. I can almost guarantee that my suspicions are correct, though: she did come home with a different pair of underwear than the one she had on when she left on Monday." He frowned at the implications. "Does she know of your suspicions? Do your colleagues?" "No, I have not told her and I doubt I will in the future. It would embarrass her unnecessarily. Although if she really thought about it, she should realize that I know," she chuckled. "I'd just chalk that one up to her being young and inexperienced. As for my colleagues, of course I have not told them. Most would definitely disapprove, including Ellisa." "Thanks," said Mark. He felt a small sense of relief but something was still missing. "Why are you telling me this, though?" Falalie smiled, finally sitting down on the bench next to him. "Because I wanted you to know that I'm not your enemy. Well, in truth, despite Ellisa's harsh tone in the house, none of us are. But I want you to know that I do not disapprove of your relationship with my lady, and I'm only saying this with the best of intentions for you both: Please be gentle with her and when the time comes for you to part ways, let her down gently. "Now, I don't know if she's just another fling for you, and even if she is I'm still not necessarily against it, but I'm just concerned about her. You are the first man she's been with, so this may mean much more to her than to you. And despite what she may wish, she will have to return to Mise after the year is up and she will not be able to see you afterwards." "I don't plan on just tossing her after I've had my fun with her, if that's what you mean." "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that about you or your character," she apologized. Mark decided that she sounded sincere enough. "I'm just saying that the first relationship always leaves a lasting impression and in a century's time, I want her to be able to look back to this fondly. When the time comes, whether by yours or her choice, or by the limit of her stay here in Rancer, please be considerate of her feelings." Mark took a long look at her, and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll let her down gently when the time comes." "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." Looking at the cup in his hand, Mark finally took a sip of the tea. It was perfect. He smiled. By the time Amanda came down to find him again, he was in a much better mood. Ellisa argued briefly with Amanda regarding her daily activities but eventually relented. Amanda had obviously not told them of her plan to spend the day with him beforehand. Ellisa gave him an icy stare, which he shrugged off. Linae, on the other hand, seemed actively hostile. As they turned the street corner, Amanda reached for Mark's arm. "Wait."Mark spoke. Amanda looked up at him, confused. "Hmm?" "Keep walking. Don't look back. We're being followed." "I'll just tell them to go back, then!" She said, but followed his orders and kept walking forward. "No, that's not going to work. You already told them to stay the first time. This time won't make a difference." "Then... what do we do?" Mark offered her a smile. "Just keep up and leave that one to me." --- It took them almost half an hour longer than normal to get to Jita. "You should wear hats more often," said Amanda as she removed her straw hat, releasing her long tresses hidden beneath. She then removed a small hair clip, restoring her hair to their natural blonde color. "You look fabulous." "I am fabulous," Mark said, his voice a deep baritone. He tilted his head down, holding the lip of his straw hat, striking a sexy, mysterious pose. "Uh-huh. Maybe I should find you a nice, fabulous guy who can handle all that fabulousness," she put her finger to her chin, pretending to seriously consider this, "maybe someone gorgeous and well-hung." She shrugged off the long navy robe. Despite wearing only a white sundress, it was getting hot under there. "Yeah, totally," his voice now an octave higher than normal "You bitches are so much drama - always going on about that time of the month and talking about your feelings," He dropped his limp wrist. "I'll take a fine young man any day. We know exactly what we want, and how we want it." Amanda blinked. She was definitely not expecting this. "Uh..." "And what's up with the vagina? So nasty!" He made a disgusted face. "It's so... weird. Like, what is that thing? And! And I heard they're smelly. Like fish or something. Ew. And you know what? It most definitely is not a penis." "Ok, ok, you can stop now," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh no bitch, don't you tell me what to... hey, where do you think you're going, honey?" Mark sashayed after her, swaying his hips, still in character. "You crazy, girl? You don't even know where we're going!" Amanda put her hand to her forehead, and shook her head. "I shouldn't have given you the idea," she said dryly. "Uh-uh, girl friend! You can't take ba-" His words were cut short by Amanda suddenly turning around and hugging him, and at the same time, grabbing his crotch through his pants. "I want you," she whispered into his ear, "to tie me up and fuck me for days and days until you make me your fuck slave." She felt him harden almost immediately. With a satisfied smile, she took a step back to observe his stunned face. It was only there for a second before he regained his composure, but it didn't matter. She had won this one. "Ahem," Mark cleared his throat, dropping his act. "You've gotten very good at this." "You're too easy to figure out," she smirked. "Yeah, and you're too easy to make those fantasies into reality," Mark retorted, laughing as he shook his head. He too took off his hat and robe, and led her down the road. "Can't fucking wait to tie you up. But first, we need to go to a brothel." Amanda scowled. "What?" "Where else would you expect to find someone named 'Madam Kessing'?" --- The Red Horse was, despite what the sign on the front says, technically, legally not a tavern. It definitely served food and drinks but it also served one additional course that you'd be hard pressed to find in just about any other tavern in Astrin. "Mr. Raven," greeted the blood orc woman outside the door, "long time no see." "Hey, how's it going, Carmen?" He waved to the tall, red woman, dressed in only a black leotard. "Nice and quiet, Mr. Raven, just how I like it," she smiled. "And who's this pretty lady here with you?" "This is Amanda," he looked back at her to see her smiling. "Amanda, this is Carmen. She's the bouncer here at Red Horse, so you better behave yourself in here," he winked. "Nice to meet you, Amanda. And don't listen to him. I'd kick his ass first before I'd even dream of touching you," she smiled. "Nice to meet you too," she laughed, "and thanks!" Mark rolled his eyes as he led Amanda through the doors. Being almost lunch time, there were only a handful of patrons inside for the food and scenery. They hardly paid any attention to the pair of newcomers as they walked past the pretty hostess, exchanging quick pleasantries, and entered a room marked Employees Only. Inside, several half-naked women sat around, talking and laughing. "Hello, girls!" Mark greeted them with a grin. "Holy shit! Mark Raven!" A stunningly beautiful blonde jumped up from her lounge chair, wearing only a pair of high heels, an anklet, and a scandalously short frilly skirt. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're still alive! We were having bets as to what happened to you." Mark laughed. "Hey Holly. You know I always come back alive!" The blonde turned around and snapped her fingers at a short redhead. "Pay up, bitch!" "No way! He didn't say what he was doing!" Holly looked back at Mark with an expectant look. "Well? What were you doing the past few months?" "Raping. Pillaging. Plundering," he shrugged. "Petting the occasional kitten." "Ha!" The redhead shouted triumphantly. "Told you there wouldn't be any wild animals this time." "What? He said kitten! He didn't say what kind. It could've been a wild cougar kitten!" "Where would he find cougar kittens? Are they even called kittens?" "Anyways! Ladies," Mark interrupted, "I'd like to present to you Amanda Gefen," he gestured with a flourish. "Amanda, these are some of the fine ladies of the Red Horse tavern." "Hello, Amanda," said the drow in the skin-tight catsuit. "I was wondering who that cutie is! Can I borrow her some time?" asked the elf with the long auburn hair. Mark smiled as Amanda waved back awkwardly, unsure how to react. "Um. Hi everyone." The women all jumped up to give her a friendly hug or a kiss on the cheek. There was the gorgeous blonde, Holly, and the short, cute redhead, Vanessa. The drow's name was Una, who, to Mark's amusement, greeted Amanda by groping her breast, then after a moment of apparent consideration, gave Mark a nod of approval. Finally, the brunette elven woman approached her, wrapped her arm around Amanda's waist, and planted a long wet kiss on her lips. Amanda's eyes widened as Mark looked on with a stupid grin on his face. After a moment of hesitation, Amanda closed her eyes and became an active participant in the kiss. She grabbed the other elf's hair with one hand and breast with the other, quite clearly enjoying herself. Almost as much as Mark enjoyed watching it. A while later, both stepped back from each other, slightly breathless. "Oh Mark, I knew I loved your taste in women but I didn't know you had a thing for elves as well," The brunette sighed happily. Face flushed, Amanda walked back to where Mark stood and hugged him, burying her face into his shoulder. "Aww! Ingrid, you made her embarrassed! She's adorable!" squeed Una. "That was fucking hot and now I need to go get myself off. I'll be back in five," Vanessa declared as she scurried down a hall, into a back room. Mark laughed as he stroked Amanda's hair and whispered into her ear. "I'm going to go speak with the Madam about a few things, including the collar. Will you be ok here by yourself for a while?" "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she nodded. "But I can't promise that I won't try something with Ingrid if you're not back soon, though." "Oh I would totally approve of that, as long as I get to watch, or preferably, join." Amanda giggled. "Be quick!" "Hey ladies, would you mind entertaining Amanda here for a bit? I need to speak to Victoria," he said as he sat her down on a chaise lounge. "We'd love to!" Ingrid volunteered, sitting down next to her. As Mark closed the door behind him, he heard Ingrid say: "He didn't specify what kind of entertainment, right?" --- "Come in, Mark, come in!" Victoria Kessing called out before Mark had even knocked. Her desk was covered with sketches of dresses and costumes. "Hi Victoria, how are you?" He smiled as he closed the door behind him. "Oh, you know, same old same old," The middle aged woman briefly glanced up and gave him a warm motherly smile before resuming her sketch. "The intel reports are in the usual place." "Thanks," Mark smiled as he took a book from a nearby shelf, flipped to the appropriate page and took out two pieces of parchment. Giving them a quick read, he folded them up and tucked them inside his grey shirt. "Hey Victoria, do you have a couple minutes? There's something I want to ask you to help me with." "Sure thing, hon. Just sit down here and give me a minute to finish this one," she nodded towards the plush chair across from her desk. Mark plopped down and picked up one of the sketches. It looked liked some sort of a wedding gown... only more pornographic. "Huh. What's this for?" "Just some ideas I'm sketching up for a client's wedding gown." "I hate to break this to you, Vic but I don't think any bride would wear this. Covering the breasts is probably one of those 'bare minimum' requirements," he shrugged as he picked up another sketch. "Just saying." "Well, it's not really a normal wedding." "Yeah, I'll say!" Mark raised an eyebrow as he stared at the new sketch. "Are those arm binders?" "Oh yeah, that one," she looked up briefly from her sketch. "I'm not sure if the client would like that one though. She wanted her arms free so she could jerk her husband-to-be off at some point during the ceremony." "Lucky guy," he chuckled, picking up a few more sketches to look at. "Wait, hold on, since when did you design wedding dresses? I thought you just draw up costumes and stuff for your girls." Remember... Ch. 04 "Yes, but I'm doing this as a personal favor for Una. This is for her sister's wedding. Anyways, ok, I'm done with this one," she laid down her pencil and paper. "What can I help you with?" Mark produced the small gray bag, and handed it over to the older woman. "Oooh, a concealer bag. No wonder I didn't detect it," she smiled appreciatively as she opened the bag. "I haven't had a surprise like this in a while now!" She emptied its contents on her desk. "Huh," she said. --- "So, have you fucked him yet?" Holly finally blurted out after minutes of idle chatting, and innocent questions. "Spirits, Holly, you have no tact!" Vanessa shook her head. "And you have no self control over that horny cunt of yours," she made a face and stuck out her tongue. "And besides, I've been trying to hold it in but I just couldn't do it anymore. I really want to know!" Amanda blushed. "Yeah. We've done it." "Was he good? He was good, wasn't he?" Amanda nodded. "Oh stop that, Holly. If you embarrass her too much, she'll stop answering entirely," Ingrid said. She stood behind Amanda, gently caressing her neck. "But Amanda, I have to ask, he's your first, isn't he?" "You can tell?" "Well, you do blush at some pretty tame questions," the older elf shrugged. "Holly and Una haven't even started asking you the really probing questions yet." "Probing," Holly giggled. Ingrid rolled her eyes. "I'll start!" Una grinned. "So, Amanda, has he introduced you to the wonderful world of kinky bondage sex yet?" "No, but he said he's going to do that today." "Oh Goddess, you'll love it! It's such a liberating experience," the drow gushed excitedly. "Oh I wish he would take me to the event again. It was so fucking hot!" "Huh? What event?" asked Amanda. "Oh he hasn't told you yet? Well, I'm not going to ruin the surprise for you then!" "Uh... wait, so he's been... with you?" Amanda asked warily. The drow raised an eyebrow. "You're asking if he's had sex with me?" She nodded. "Yes." "Well, yeah," she answered matter of factly. "But this was like a year ago. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure he's not the type to sleep around, you know?" "I guess. He's just never told me this," Amanda was quiet for a moment. "How many of you has he slept with?" The four Red Horse women exchanged glances. "I think all of us here, at one point or another, except Ingrid and this other girl Lita," answered Holly, "and that's only 'cus he knows they prefer girls." "Oh." "Are you displeased to know that he has been with so many women before you?" Ingrid asked as she knelt on the chaise lounge next to her. "No," she shook her head but her worried expression said otherwise. "Then are you worried that you'll just be another woman, another 'notch on the bedpost', so to speak?" Amanda chewed the corner of her lip, but said nothing. The older elf reached out to bring Amanda into her embrace, leaning Amanda's head against her chest. "You don't have to worry about that. While Marks' job may make him a little unstable, location-wise, he does not treat his relationships lightly. His interactions with us... courtesan types... here at Red Horse is limited to times when he needs a date for a job when he doesn't have someone, or doesn't want to endanger the woman he's with." Amanda wasn't sure what kind of a job a mercenary would need a date for but then again, she didn't know that much about being a mercenary in general. She shrugged. "You know, if it will make you feel any better, we can make him jealous, too," Ingrid suggested. "Hmm? What do you mean?" "Well, we could..." she leaned down, and whispered something into her ear. Amanda gasped lightly. "I... I've never..." "Shh... it's ok. Just listen to me," Ingrid breathed into her ear, conspiratorial, yet naughty and playful. "Just imagine the expression on Mark's face when he discovers you in the throes of ecstasy with me between your legs. It would make him so jealous. You know why?" "Mmm?" Amanda moaned quietly. She was warming to the idea. "Because I will have shown you the pleasures of a woman's touch." she breathed, her voice hot and full of promise. "We know our bodies in ways that men will never match. I know exactly how to give you pleasure. How to make your body scream for release. How to bring you the release that you've only dared to dream of." The younger elf felt a shiver run down her spine as she took a deep breath. She shook her head. "It's only a suggestion," Ingrid sighed and shrugged. "You don't-" A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth. "No, it's perfect." --- "What do you mean they're perfect?" asked Mark. "The charms' patterns. They're perfectly partitioned," Victoria Kessing tried to explain. "The best way I can explain is... an enchantment that is composed of many smaller patterns, like these charms here, is first created as one large pattern. Think of it as the equivalent of all fourteen charms combined into one single, long charm. Then, the enchanter then has to break this up into fourteen smaller patterns." "Wait, so can it just be left as one large 'charm' thing?" "No, there are rules to the partitioning but don't worry about that part. It's not really relevant here." Mark shrugged. "Ok." "So the thing is, this breaking process, this partitioning, is not an exact art. Like breaking a twig, you would never get perfectly clean breaks, leaving rough 'edges' along each partition. This is inevitable: we are, after all, only mortal. Elves with their centuries of practice can make pretty clean 'edges' but even they cannot make truly perfect ones." "But these ones here are perfect?" Mark looked at the charms suspiciously. She nodded. "I don't know how this is possible. It's... inhuman." --- Ingrid looked up from between Amanda's splayed legs, her eyes hinting at the smirk that her otherwise occupied mouth could not show. Kneeling on the floor, next to the pile of Amanda's clothing, Ingrid's fingers and tongue busied themselves with the sole goal to make a mess of her lover's composure. Lying back on the bed, supported only by her elbows, Amanda looked at Ingrid with unfocused eyes. "Oh goddess," she moaned. "You're so... amazing." She was rewarded with an extra flick of the tongue. With a shiver and a whimper, Amanda threw her head backwards as she pushed her hips towards her lover's mouth. The muscles in her arms already feeling like jelly, she spent the last of her strength to slowly lower herself down onto the bed. The muscles in her belly twitched involuntarily and more sharp intakes of breath escaped her parted mouth as she lost herself in her lover's affection. She wasn't sure how much time had passed but the next thing Amanda felt was the sensation of Ingrid planting a trail of kisses from her needy clit up towards her stomach and above, and the gentle caress of skin against skin as the older elf crawled up her body, even as her fingers busied themselves with bringing Amanda deliciously close to orgasm. By the time Ingrid had reached Amanda's lips, the younger elf was a whimpering mess of arousal and need. "Oh please oh please let me cum," she moaned breathlessly as she wrapped her arms around her lover's neck. Without another word, Ingrid kissed her lover under her, as her fingers drove Amanda over the edge. Her whole body tensed and shook and her release washed over her, feeling as if she had lost all control of her limbs. Doing the only thing she can, Amanda kissed back with as much passion and self control as her mind would give her in her desperate attempt to show just how much she appreciated this. By the time Amanda's eyes regained their focus, she saw a hungry, lusty look on Ingrid's face. "Thank you," she gasped, "oh thank you. Please let me repay you." "Oh you don't have to ask. I insist on it," Ingrid grinned, climbing up further until she had Amanda's head between her legs. Cautiously, Amanda gave a hesitant lick. She looked back up to see the older elf nod encouragingly. "Don't be shy. Do to me what you would like done to yourself." Using one hand to pleasure herself, Amanda began to fantasize about a lover of her own, licking and pleasing her as she mirrored those actions to pleasure her lover above her. "Yesss," Ingrid hissed as she closed her eyes. "That's good. Just like that." As both continued, the older, more experienced elven woman heard the door click closed. She opened her eyes to find Mark standing at the door with his jaw hanging slightly open. She smirked mischievously at him. "You like what you see?" She moaned. Amanda opened her eyes, tilting her head backwards to see who it was in the room with them, and smiled... or would have smiled if she wasn't too busy with licking her new lover. Mark, for his part could only nod as he walked forward, almost zombie like. "Uh-uh! No, Mark. Sit," the brunette elf pointed at a chair next to the door. He frowned, but did as he was told. Smiling, Ingrid once again closed her eyes and threw her head back to enjoy her lover's ministrations. Sure, Amanda probably wasn't as experienced as most of the women she's been with but was doing very well for a beginner regardless. She knew she would have no problems achieving release soon. But not just yet. The knowledge that Mark was watching her pleasure another woman brought a sharp spike of pleasure to Amanda's hazy mind. Her fingers and tongue redoubled their efforts. As she approached her own orgasm, with her eyes still closed, Ingrid motioned for Mark to come behind her. She heard the rustling of clothes as they were discarded, a shift in the bed, then an audible gasp from the girl beneath her as Mark slid into Amanda's vulnerable pussy. Setting into a gentle rhythm, Mark was careful not to disturb the two as he took his elf girl. While he could not see Amanda's face, Ingrid's vocal and appreciative moans told him that he was quite successful in pleasing his own lover. Soon, Ingrid's cries reached a crescendo as she stiffened, then fell backwards into Mark's arms. Her arms reached back around his waist while her head rested against his shoulders as she moaned into his ear every dirty, hot, pornographic encouragement that her orgasm-addled mind could conjure up. She rode the rolling waves of pleasure as Amanda's tongue continued to push her from peak to peak. Mark himself was lost in the moment, grabbing, groping, roughly caressing the feminine flesh offered to him by Ingrid; her lewd words pushing him rapidly towards the point of no return. He heard Amanda's muffled cries as he felt her cunt tighten around his cock, reaching his own release at the same time. Ingrid collapsed sideways as Mark fell backwards onto the floor, each feeling completely sapped of all energy. Surprisingly, it was Amanda who was the first to recover. She tugged at Mark's hand from the bed until he mustered enough energy to stumble onto the bed. He laid on one side of her, holding her close to his body while Ingrid laid on the other side, facing the couple. "That was..." Mark breathed, "incredibly hot." The brunette elf chuckled. "You're welcome." "Thanks," he laughed as well. "I guess I owe you one." "Oh I think you owe me more that just one," she grinned. "And I know just how you're going to pay me back." "I'm listening?" he said, but he already knew the answer. "Bring this one back more often," she looked at Amanda with unrestrained desire. "Maybe next time she and I can even switch places. Does that sound like something that you would want, little one?" Mark felt his elf girl nod. "Yes. Lets." +-+-+-+-+- "So who is better?" Mark asked as they walked side by side through Jita. "Hmm? Who is better at what?" Amanda asked innocently. "At eating you out. At making you cum like a cheap whore with their tongues," Mark narrowed his eyes at her playfully. Her innocent act always tugged at his fantasy to just pull her into an alley and fuck her until she admitted to him her sinful nature. "Goddess, you're not subtle," Amanda rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. Then, taking on a very serious contemplative look, she replied, "I would definitely say that Ingrid was better at tongue fucking me and making me cum like a dirty slut." Mark laughed. Perhaps it's due to her lack of experience with dealing with other men and knowing what's considered 'proper', but he's never met a girl who could banter like this with him. Except perhaps Mari. But she didn't count. "Damn. Guess I've got competition?" "Oh, yeah, absolutely. If you're not careful, I might just leave you to be with her!" She looked at him seriously. "Well then. I'll just have to take you home, tie you up, and fuck you into obedience," he smiled lecherously at her. Neither saw the group of elves that had just turned the corner in front of them. "What the FUCK did you just say?!" A voice screamed loud enough over the crowds to alarm a few passersby. Mark snapped his head forward as color drained from his face. Amanda fared no better. A furious Ellisa stared at him with murderous intent written all over her face. Behind her stood Linae, Falalie, and two others. They were all armed. Except for a worried expression on Falalie's face, none of them looked happy. "Ah..." Mark tried to disarm the situation, but really he saw no way out of this. "I -" "Shut the fuck up, you little shit!" Ellisa's voice was quieter now, but the fury, if anything, had only increased. "Wait, Ellisa-" Amanda tried to come to his aid, but even she was not spared. "Your father will find out about this," Ellisa's eyes narrowed. "We're taking you home. Now." A panicked look came over Amanda's face as she dropped her head and walked behind Ellisa, joining Linae and the others. When she turned to face him again, Mark could tell she was on the verge of tears. Tilting her head down, Ellisa touched her necklace. "We found them," she spoke into it, presumably to whoever was still back at the mansion. "Start packing. We're going back to Luminaire first thing tomorrow morning." At these words, Amanda broke into sobs. "No!" She cried. Her guardian ignored her. She released her necklace and resumed staring daggers at the man. "Do not think that you're safe just because we're in a crowded market. You will die today wishing you were never born." Amanda fell onto her knees, grabbing her guardian's hand. "No! Ellisa! Please! Don't hurt him! He saved my life! Please. Just let him go. I'll go home! I'll go back to Mise! I'll forget about him! Please Ellisa! Please... please..." she sobbed. Ellisa's expression softened, if only a little bit. She took a few deep breaths, and waited. "Consider yourself lucky, worm. Don't ever let me see your face again, do you understand me?" Mark ignored her. His only concern was of the elf girl sobbing on the ground before him. For the second time today, rage built up inside his heart. There were four of them, armed. Five if he included Falalie. Disposing of them would be child's play. He himself was still unarmed, but taking... Wait. What the hell am I thinking? Mark frowned. What am I going to do with Amanda afterwards? Actually keep her locked up in a basement somewhere? 'Cus she sure as hell isn't going to want to be anywhere near you after you murder five of her guardians in front of her. Damn it! He sighed. Taking that as a sign of acknowledgement, Ellisa pulled Amanda up to her feet and lead her away. "Ella, Vin, stay with him until you get word from me," she ordered. With one final look back, Amanda hung her head and let herself be led away into the crowds. Damn it... He thought. I didn't even get to say goodbye... Remember... Ch. 05 Chapter 5: Colors of Delirium ***** Finally, the chapter is here! More importantly, the next chapter is finished, which means it should be here in a few days to a week or two, instead of... however long this chapter took >_> ... Sorry. Anyways! I hope you guys like this one. Content Warning: Non-consent. Comments and critiques always welcome! CCG ***** Amanda stumbled along in a haze, her tears streamed down her cheeks freely. She didn't bother to wipe them. Ellisa was speaking to her, but she wasn't really listening. They followed Linae while Falalie walked behind them. It was a long walk, but her mind was elsewhere. Amanda felt a hand shake her shoulder. "I asked you a question. How long have you been sleeping with him? Since he came back?" Hesitantly, she nodded. She felt like a young child, being scolded like this. "And before that? Did he make you sleep with him to get your escorts to get to Astrin? 'Cus if he did-" "No! It wasn't like that!" She sobbed. "I wanted to sleep with him! He didn't ask for anything." "Don't try to defend him! You were confused, and he took advantage of you as payment-" "No Ellisa! I'm telling the truth! He had already arranged the escorts for me before I offered to sleep with him. He was not coercing me at all!" Ellisa frowned. "What? Why would you do that?" "Because... because I was almost raped as my first time. I want to experience sex on my own terms. So I gave myself to him," Amanda looked down at the ground. "He's a good person. And he's never hurt me, even when he's had plenty of opportunities to do so. I trust him." Her guardian sighed. "But your father did not want this for you." "Why? Why does he expect me to stay 'pure', while my brothers get to sleep around? I know Felix and Jurian have had a few lovers since I was born, and Asger has slept with so many women and men that I've heard jokes about him!" "I'm sorry I don't have the answer to that," said Ellisa, without anger. "I understand that it must be frustrating, but it is not for us to question your father. Our duty was only to protect you and watch over you." They walked in silence, wrapped up in their own thoughts. Only Falalie noticed something was off as they turned onto a small road. "Hey Linae," Falalie call out. "Where are we going?" "Back to the embassy first. This is a short cut," she replied. "Oh. Damn, couldn't you have picked a less sketchy rou-" Before even finishing the sentence, she felt the the weaves of unfriendly magic. "Ambush!" She yelled as she pushed Ellisa and Amanda out of the way of a white bolt of magic. Needing only a second to recover, Ellisa quickly pulled Amanda into a recessed doorway and assessed the situation. There were four men in the road up ahead, two in red robes. Casters. "Fal! Two up ahead in red. They're yours." "Got it!" Falalie replied as she constructed a spell of her own, firing off white bolts of force towards their assailants. Taking a look behind, Ellisa saw half a dozen men with swords appearing from alleys, racing toward them. "Shit! We need to get out of here," she said as she looked around. There was an alley a small ways up ahead, leading to the left. "Linae! Clear the alley ahead to the left. I'll get Vin and Ella to meet up with us." With a nod, the elf charged ahead, using magic to parry stray bolts of force as she knocked down one of the armed men charging at them. The second one did not attack, but stayed in cover, by the side of the mages. Once she saw Linae disappear into the alley, Ellisa looked back at Amanda. "Let's go, my lady," she said and dragged her into a sprint. Only just recovering from her initial shock, Amanda kept up the best she could while constructing a push spell and fired it off at one of the red robed men. Just as she turned into the alley, she saw the surprised expression on the man's face as he was sent flying back into a lamp post. Stooping as she ran, Amanda grabbed the sword from the man that charged them, and followed Ellisa into the alley. "Vin, Ella. We're being attacked. Meet up at the drow Temple of Aria north of the fifth ward," Ellisa spoke into her necklace as she ran after Linae. The alley was long and full of twists, but they were able to follow Linae by the sound of her footsteps. It was oddly quiet, but neither she nor Amanda questioned this good fortune. Before her thought was even completed, a door flew open, and three armed men charged out at them with swords drawn. Without a moment of hesitation, Ellisa parried the sword of the first man and thrust her sword through his stomach. The second man, a quick learner, approached more cautiously. The third man, however, ran straight for her charge. Amanda gasped as her body froze up in fear. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to run or to curl up and hide, but she only stood there, caught in the indecision. She could only stare, wide eyed, as the man ran toward her with his sword raised above his head. "Amanda!" Ellisa shouted as she dashed towards the third man. Leaping into the air, she tackled him to the ground right in front of the panicking elf girl, who yelped in surprise. "Ellisa!" Amanda gasped in surprise, staring at her guardian stabbing the man from behind. However, a movement in the corner of her eye pulled her out of her daze. The second man that had approached Ellisa earlier now ran toward Amanda, winding up a swing of his sword. This time, however, Ellisa is not going to be able to intercept him; though this time, Amanda is prepared. Captain Banks's lessons came back to her as she raised her sword to deflect the blow while at the same time stepping in the opposite direction of the swing. Their swords collided above her head, the shock of the impact sent a jolt of pain up her arm, threatening to wrench the sword from her hand, but somehow, she held on. As the man's momentum brought him past her, Amanda followed up with a downwards thrust. The angle was awkward, and due to her inexperience, she didn't know whether she had timed the thrust as well as Captain Banks would have liked, but the end result was the same: The man screamed and collapsed into a heap onto the ground behind her, pulling the sword from her hand. While Amanda stared at the body on the ground, her guardian finally got to her feet. "You did very well, my lady." "I killed him..." she mumbled as she watched the small pool of blood forming beneath the man. It wasn't the first time she had killed someone of course: the hazy memory of a night in the forest so many months ago came to her mind. She had, in a panic, stabbed a red robed wizard that had attacked her guardians; but back then, she was so scared that she was not fully aware of what she had done until much later. This time, Amanda knew exactly what she was doing, and carried out her actions almost exactly as she had envisioned. This time, it felt very different. Ellisa looked around to make sure there was no other threats before wrapping her arms around her charge in a warm embrace. "You were protecting yourself. It is okay my lady. It is okay if you kill to protect yourself or those you care for," she said softly, "but now is not the time to contemplate this. We need to get you to safety first. There may be more of them around." Amanda said nothing, but shivered as she held onto Ellisa tightly. After a few moments of silence, the older elf released her. "My lady, we need to keep moving. Will you be ok?" "Mm-hmm," Amanda nodded in affirmation as they resumed their run down the twisting alley. Occasionally glancing back at her charge, Ellisa was rather impressed with how well she was handling this situation. Perhaps they would get out of this without... Suddenly, from up ahead a white bolt of magic flew out from a shattered window, and struck Ellisa squarely in the chest. Amanda screamed as her guardian was slammed into a wall, then dropped unceremoniously onto the road. A door opened, and three men walked out. Two had swords readied, while a third in a red robe looked on from behind them. "Ellisa! Ellisa! Are you ok?" Amanda shook her guardian's unresponsive body. "She's alive. Probably. And we'll make sure she stay that way if you'll come with us peacefully," the man in the red robe said. Quickly taking Ellisa's sword, Amanda stood between her unconscious guardian and the men. "Just... leave us alone!" Sighing, the red robed man frowned. "We need her alive." Amanda felt the beginnings of a spell as she saw the two armed men charge at her. In a panic, she rapidly constructed her own spell, and prayed to the Goddess that it would work. A searing white flash appeared right before the robed man's eyes, causing him to cry out and falter in his own spell. One of the armed men swung his sword in a high arc, giving Amanda plenty of time to dodge and parry the attack, then reposting with a thrust into his chest. He collapsed into a heap at her feet. The second man tried to hit her sword in an attempt to knock it out of her hand, but she jumped back. As he tried for another swing, Amanda released a wave for force, knocking his legs backwards. Charging immediately, she gave him no time to recover his balance as she drove the sword into his offered throat. Not knowing how much strength to use, the thin elven blade pierced far into the man's neck, and a spray of blood covered her arm in the crimson liquid. Amanda gasped and pulled back in surprise, but with all the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she quickly recovered to focus on the task at hand. Finally, Amanda ran to the stumbling magician, who was blindly firing off bolts of force in any and all directions, and ran her blade through his chest. Amanda surveyed her surroundings. It appeared that there was no one else. She tried to calm her own panicked breathing, and as her heart rate returned to normal, a sudden feeling of lightheadedness came over her. With shaky legs, she walked back Ellisa's unconscious body, and collapsed onto her knees. She felt sick. A sudden pounding of feet alerted her of someone running down the alley towards them. A sense of dread built up in her stomach as Amanda willed her body to stand, raising her sword and readying another spell. How much longer could she keep this up, she wondered. "Ellisa? My lady?" It was Linae. Amanda closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as she once again fell to her knees. "Linae! Oh Goddess it's good to see you!" "What happened?" She asked with alarm as she knelt down next to Amanda, embracing her tightly. "These guys jumped out from a house and attacked us. A wizard knocked out Ellisa, but I was able to fend them off," she explained as she hugged Linae, crying tears of happiness. "I'm so sorry..." "It's not your fault. They were hiding in the house up ahead." "I know," she said. "I'm so sorry I have to do this." There was only time for Amanda to gasp in shock before a sharp pain at the back of her neck turned her world to black. +-+-+-+-+- Falalie deflected another bolt of magic as she fired off one of her own toward remaining robed mage. The six men behind her had gone off in the direction of Linae and Ellisa, allowing her more room to maneuver and dodge the barrage of spells from ahead. Several times she had tried to run into the alley to follow her comrades, but each time, she was stopped by a concentrated burst of magic bolts. She grimaced. If only she could use full scale combat magic... but risking the attention of the Society Enforcers could make the situation go from bad to worse. Her opponent clearly knew that as well, limiting himself to only use various forms of Push bolts and other sanctioned spells. This was getting nowhere. Spying the second robed man unconscious on the ground, an idea formed in her mind. Throwing a stream of weak Pushes at the unconscious man, she smiled as he began to stir. He looked around, confused, until a bright flash shocked him out of his dazed state, just in time to see a swarm of white magical bolts heading straight for him. He screamed feebly as he reflexively lashed out at his attacker with a spear of ice. Falalie heard a loud crash as the man was hit with a dozen bolts of magical force, sending him flying into a wall with a wet crunch. She almost didn't see the spear of ice coming straight at her until it was too late. Falalie screamed as it struck her through her shoulder, pinning her to the wall behind her. She watched in horror as the other robed man took this opportunity to construct a long spell, interspersed by the occasional bolt of magic that she was forced to deflect. She didn't even have enough time to melt through the ice spear before a cloud of white bolts erupted from above him, all flying towards her. Falalie closed her eyes. --- Ella and Vin ran through the crowds as fast as they could. They had left the human back at a public square, sitting gloomily on a bench. He didn't even seem to notice that they were gone. As they traveled through the fifth ward, they ran past a group of Society Enforcers covering up the body of two dead men. There was a trail of blood. It led through an alley, where a small group of city guards were looking over a few more dead bodies. They looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing no familiar faces among the dead. They stopped as they emerged from the alley, across the road from the drow temple. There was no sign of Ellisa, or Linae, or their charge. There was only a group of worried looking drow priestesses tending to a very pale and bloodied Falalie sitting against the wall of the temple, holding a clump of cloth ripped from her shirt to her right shoulder. "Ella, Vin!" she called out. Her voice was weak. "Fal! What happened? Are you alright? Where are the others?" Ella said as both of them rushed to her side. "I don't know," she replied with a wince. "I ran here as fast as I could, but I didn't see any sign of them. No one here saw any elves matching their description pass by." A drow priestess touched Ella on the shoulder. "Your companion is seriously injured. She needs help," she said. "We wanted to bring her inside to treat her, but she's refused to move until you came." She shook her head. "I'm fine. Ella, Vin, we need to get to the White Keep, and tell them what had happened." "I'll handle that. Vin, take her back home and have Celistra take a look at her." Falalie shook her head again, and tried to rise, but the world seemed suddenly... sideways. "Falalie!" she heard her companions cry as the cold, blackness of oblivion claimed her. +-+-+-+-+- Consciousness returned slowly for Amanda. She heard men shouting, laughing. She shook her head as she pushed herself into a sitting position. The room was dimly lit, and her vision was still blurry. There was a woman's voice as well. She blinked her eyes a few more times. There were definitely movements up ahead. As her eyes regained focus, a sudden rush of recollection hit her. She froze. She was naked, in a large cell enclosed by metal bars. A few steps away, a group of men gathered around a small wooden table with a redheaded woman lying on top. While the room was dim, Amanda made out enough of her features to know. It was Ellisa. Her arms and legs were strapped to the table legs, arching her backwards. "Tell us. Tell us you want it," a man with a ponytail said with an unfamiliar accent. "I want your... I want your cock," Ellisa said, her voice quivering. "Please." "That was terrible!" Another man said as he pinched her nipple, making her squeal. "Do it again, better, or we'll go get that other girl over there. Oh look! She's awake now." Amanda stayed absolutely still as several of the men turned to look at her. "No! Please! Fuck me!" Ellisa cried. "Use my cunt. Fuck my throat. Give me your cum!" "Now that's better!" Ponytail nodded. "But you know what? Let's make that even more convincing. Where's the collar?" "Wait! Please don't!" A man with a huge scar across his face produced a grey pouch. "Here, boss. How many should we start off with?" "How about six? Seven? Or maybe we can just go with eight and watch her cum her brains out while we go fuck the other girl?" He teased as he ran a finger along her neck. "No! Do whatever you want to me, just leave her be!" Ponytail laughed sharply. "Aww, you're so sweet. You'll let us do anything to you?" He ran his hand down her chest and stomach. "Yes. Anything!" "I want you to watch as I put seven charms on that little slut over there," he said with a twisted smile, "and make her cum around my cock." "No! You bastard! Don't touch her! Don't touch her!" Ellisa screamed as she watched the man take the collar from scar-face, and approach Amanda's jail cell. Amanda desperately tried to construct a spell to push him back, or to do anything, but the weaves of magic potential that normally was felt everywhere just seemed missing. It was like grasping at empty air. Ponytail seemed to know what she was trying to do, and laughed. "Oh no, little slut. This basement is warded. No magic for you." Amanda whimpered as she cowered back into a corner. "Stop." A woman's voice came from the shadows. To everyone's surprise, Ponytail stopped mid-stride. "Yes? What do you want?" "The goddess does not wish for this one to be sullied by men." Amanda tried to look at the woman, but the corner of the room was conveniently shaded from the lamps that was placed throughout. All she could make out of the woman was that she was wearing a dark robe, and that she was sitting on... a bench? Ponytail narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he said as he spun around and pointed to Ellisa. "But we can use her?" "Yes. Do what you will with that one. However, I believe it would be in your interest to keep her alive. Much like the traitor here," she said as she gave her seat a smack, which sounded amazingly like the sound of skin against skin, "she would fetch a good price in Hek once she is broken." He nodded, then turned to the other men. "Well boys, I guess our job for the next week and a half is to break this whore here, and wait for our big payday in Hek!" Many of the men cheered and chuckled. "No! Don't hurt her!" Amanda yelled at the men around Ellisa. They ignored her. In desperation, she turned to the woman in the shadows. "Why are you doing this?" Amanda asked shakily. "Please, tell them to stop!" "Hmm? Are you willing to offer yourself in her place, then?" The woman laughed at the look of fear that crossed her face. "No, I didn't think so. Don't worry, this filth won't touch you if they know what's good for them. The goddess wishes to break you herself. Your guardian there is merely part of the payment to these men here. They will dispose of her as they see fit." As she stared into the darkness, Amanda was beginning to make out a little more detail about the woman now. To her horror, she finally realized that the robed woman was sitting on the back of another woman on her hands and knees. Long dark hair cascaded around the kneeling woman's face, obscuring it from view, but Amanda knew. It was Linae. "If you only knew your fate," The woman laughed. It did not sound like a malicious laugh, but something was definitely off. "Your companion's fate would seem far more-" "Linae!" Amanda gasped. "What... what is going on? What did you do?" "I'm afraid this little one here is a bit occupied at the moment, and can't answer you," the robed woman answered. "She's got three charms around her neck, and a nice cock gag in her mouth. She's probably struggling just to breathe right now, aren't you, my little slave?" she slapped Linae's ass again, who remained motionless. Remember... Ch. 05 "Who are you?" Amanda asked the woman in fear. "What did you do to Linae?" "Ah the young and inquisitive. You'll find out soon, my dear. As to this traitor here? You do know what she did, right? She is the one that delivered you to us. But don't worry, the goddess has a special place for traitorous whores like her." Amanda stared in shock as memories of her final moments of consciousness came back to her slowly. "Linae, why did you do it? How could you?" "Dear, I'm going to have to ask you to stop talking to my pet here. I already told you she's preoccupied," the woman sighed. "If you rile her up and she starts choking on that cock in her mouth, I'm going to get upset. You wouldn't want that." "Oh goddess!" Ellisa's sudden scream brought their attention to the center of the room. She convulsed on the table as if in pain. "Eh. Boss, maybe nine is a bit much?" A man looked at Ponytail with concern. "Fuck that. She's not going to die from nine. We need to break her in ten days, and this is a good way to do it," he said as he positioned himself between her legs. Seeing how much she was shaking and struggling, it was actually a little difficult to align himself with her cunt. Finally, with a thrust, he penetrated her. "Now let's screw this whore until she forgets her own name!" +-+-+-+-+- Falalie woke up to the sound of a hushed argument. It was dark outside. She was in her room, and Ella, Vin and Celistra sat by the small desk near the door, next to a glow-lamp. "I'm telling you, it's not him! Ella and I, we were watching him when Ellisa called for us," whispered Vin. "Well what would you suggest then? He's our only lead. We've been watching her at all other times," Celistra sighed. The three remained silent until a light knock at the door revealed Tenais and Kera, the two chefs, bringing in trays of food. "We should get more people from the White Keep to help look for them," Kera suggested after a moment. She stood with her back against the door, twiddling a knife in her hand. "I just can't believe that these people managed to take both Ellisa and Linae. How could this have happened?" Ella shook her head in disbelief. "The two of them should have been able to take on any criminals that they were likely to face." "No," Falalie mumbled as she sat up on the bed. "They were not simple criminals. There were human wizards... maguses... whatever. This was a planned attack." "Fal! Thank the goddess you're alright!" Ella exclaimed as all of them rushed to her side. Falalie stretched and touched her left shoulder. Where there should have been a hole caused by the spear of ice was now flawless flesh and skin. "You didn't have to heal me, Celes. Potions would've been just fine. But... thank you," she said with a warm smile. Celistra embraced her. "Don't be silly. Of course I had to. It was nothing." "Fal, you said that this was planned?" Kera asked. "Yes. There were men and wizards waiting for us when we got there." "But how did they know where you'd be? We had just found Mark. There was no way they could've known that was the way we were going to go." Falalie bit her lip as an unpleasant thought crossed her mind. "I don't think they knew either." "Then how did they ambush you?" She sighed. "Linae led us there." For a moment, the room was silent as the implications sunk in. "What? You can't mean..." Vin scowled. "No! Linae would never do that!" "Fal, you can't make up accusations like that!" Tenais frowned as well. "Linae would not betray us like this. Why would she do that?" Celistra remained silent, only slowly shaking her head. "I'm sorry. That's the only explanation," Falalie said. "She was the one leading the way. Ellisa and the lady were arguing, and I was bringing up our rear. I didn't even realize that something was off until right before the attack." The room was silent once again. Finally, Vin spoke. "I... I'm not sure if I can believe that. But even if it were true, what do we do now?" "I think we need to find this man, Mark Raven. He might know something about this attack," Celistra said. "I told you already; I don't think he knows anything," Ella shook her head. "He's just a freaking merchant," Vin added. "You should've seen him when we took Amanda away. He looked so dejected. It's not him." Falalie frowned. She's had her doubts about Mark before, but did not share it with the rest of her comrades, since the thought was never fully developed, and might have led to unnecessary trouble for the man in case he was innocent... but if there ever was a time to voice that doubt, this was it. "I agree with Celes," she stated. "We need to find Mark Raven." "Fal? Why? I thought you trusted that guy?" Vin asked. She trusted him too. In fact, she and Falalie were the only two who favored any potential relationship between their lady and the human. "I do. Kind of," Falalie nodded. "I trust that he would not harm our lady. But that doesn't mean I trust everything about him." "What do you mean?" "I've had my doubts for a while now, ever since the first time we met him. There's just too many things about him that don't add up. It's not a certainty, but I highly doubt that he's just a merchant. Regardless, we should find him." The other three looked at each other, and nodded. It seemed as good a first step as any. "How do you propose that we find him, then?" Vin asked. "We'll ask Captain Banks, and the new magic instructor, Mari." +-+-+-+-+- Wednesday night was so soon after the incident that Mark was still in shock during his shift guarding Andrew. Thursday was a whole other story. From the moment he woke up, his whole day felt like a blur. Mark briefly considered going to see her off, but quickly discarded that idea. It would be easier for both of them this way. He hardly paid any attention during Andrew's meetings. If it wasn't for a lifetime of training, he probably wouldn't have paid any attention to guarding Andrew either. He vaguely remembered a meeting with a diplomat from Mamet. A meeting with some drows. A late dinner with some elves. And another meeting thing. Mark's mind was elsewhere. Pull yourself together, man. You're not like this. It's not the first time a girl broke up with you. He thought to himself, rationally. Find someone else. You'll forget about her soon enough. But something nagged at him. There was a part of him that just felt hollow knowing that he'd never see Amanda again. It was a feeling he'd never felt before, and it made him uneasy. Even Andrew had noticed his detachment by the end of his shift on Thursday night. "Hey Mark, you ok?" He blinked. "Um. Yeah. The girl I've been seeing, Amanda, is going back to Mise. Was kinda sudden, that's all. It's fine." "Oh," Andrew frowned. "Damn. That sucks. Sorry, man." He shrugged. "Thanks." "Well, get Chris to hook you up with someone again. A random fling should help you get over her like it did with Lena." "Hah, maybe," Mark chuckled for Andrew's benefit. "Whatever. I'm not that interested right now anyway." In fact, finding a random fling was probably the farthest thing from his mind right now. By the time he fell onto his bed, all he wanted to do was sleep and not wake up until his next shift. Or better yet, just sleep through the whole next day. +-+-+-+-+- "Captain!" Lena looked up. "Captain Banks," said the soldier, "there's some people looking for you." "Who?" "These two elf chicks. They look kinda upset." She raised an eyebrow, and followed the soldier to the front of the barracks. To her surprise, it was the two elves she had met Thursday morning, who informed her that Amanda was not feeling well, and would not be able to attend lessons until further notice. "Good morning, Ella, Vin," she greeted the elves. "Good morning, Captain," Ella said. "Is Amanda still feeling unwell today? Or has she recovered enough for us to continue her lessons?" "No, our lady is still unwell. However, we do have a favor to ask of you." "Oh? What do you need?" "Do you know of a man named Mark Raven?" "Yes. Why?" Lena frowned. What has he done this time? The elves looked at each other with an expression of relief. "Can you pass along a message to him? Tell him that Amanda needs to speak to him." Lena narrowed her eyes. "Does he have something to do with Amanda not feeling well?" She had all too good of an idea what he did to upset her student. "We are not sure right now. That is why we would like to speak to him and ask him some questions." "I see. I'll pass along the message," she said, her voice icy. The elves exchanged a brief confused glance at each other before they thanked her and left. Lena waited until they were out of sight before she stormed out of the barracks, towards Mark's house. What the hell did you do to Amanda? She knew Mark usually woke up early and might not even be there anymore, but to her surprise, someone else was already there. "Mark! Get up! I know you're in there!" A girl with bright pink hair yelled as she slammed on the door. Lena looked at her curiously. She looked really familiar. She'd seen her a few times at the palace, though with different hair colors. "Come on, you lazy ass! This is about your girl, Amanda!" She banged on the door again. Lena walked over to her. "Miss Izer?" She frowned. What the hell is the King Andrew's fiancee doing here? The pink haired girl turned around, surprised. "Captain Banks! What are you doing here?" "I'm looking for Mark. It appears you are as well," she stated. She smiled nervously. "Um. Yes. Why are you looking for Mark?" "I was asked to relay a message-" Just then, the door opened. A rather sleepy looking and half naked Mark stood in the doorway. "What do you want, Mari?" He grumbled angrily as he blinked away the sleepiness. "Amanda isn't-" he stopped suddenly. "Er. Lena. What are you doing here?" "What have you been doing with my student?" She asked as she pushed the door open the rest of the way, and stepped inside. Mari followed right behind her. Mark didn't reply. He closed the door, and stumbled into his living room, where he collapsed onto to the couch. Mari nudged him. "Hey Mark, what happened to Amanda? She didn't show up at the Society last night." "I fucked up," he mumbled into the seat cushion. "What the hell did you do to her? Did you hurt her?" Lena asked as she pushed him roughly, turning him to face them. Mark furrowed his brows even as his eyes remained closed. "No! Not... not in that way. I wouldn't do that!" "Yeah, right," Lena narrowed her eyes. "Hey! I told you I was sorry, alright?" Mark eyes opened as he sat up and scowled. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know what had happened to you. It was my fault for not telling you what I was going to do, but I never intended to hurt you." "I'll believe that when pigs fly." Mark threw up his hands. "I don't even know what I have to do-" "Hey! Guys!" Mari yelled. "Stop fighting for a minute and let's talk about Amanda, ok?" Mark took a breath to calm himself while Lena just looked at him with contempt. "Alright," Mark nodded. He turned his head to look at Mari. "What about Amanda? She didn't show up to your lesson yesterday? Yeah, because she's not even here in Astrin anymore. Her guardians found out that I was fucking her. Oh, right, her father doesn't let her have any relationships with men, so her guardians are always watching for that, and they already suspected that something was up with me before. So after they found out, they decided to just pack up and go back to Mise. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, they also probably want to kill me." The two women stared at him. "What?" They said at the same time. He sighed. "I was careless. Her guardians found out we were having relations when she wasn't supposed to be, and now they probably want me dead." "Are you worried about your safety?" Mari asked, concerned. "Cus an elf told me that she wanted to speak to you." "What? No, of course I'm not worried," he waved his hand dismissively. "Maybe you should," Lena said, calmer now. "Two elves showed up at the barracks today and told me to tell you that Amanda needs to speak to you." Mark laughed. "What the hell? Is Ellisa that bad at lying? I was there when they said that they were taking her back to Mise. And now she wants to speak to me?" "It wasn't Ellisa that told me. It was two elves that I've only just met yesterday, Vin and Ella." "Ah, of course not," he sighed. "She's probably with Linae guarding Amanda on their way back home." "Well, I'm pretty sure you'll be dead if those two really did want to kill you." Mark rolled his eyes, but did not respond. "There was only one elf that met me last night," said Mari. "She said her name was Falalie." "Yeah? What did she say?" "She said pretty much the same thing. Amanda needs to speak to you." He sighed again. "Sure she does. Amanda knows where I live. She can come here herself if she needs to speak to me." "She also said that..." Mari said, glancing at Lena, "She also said that she knows you're not who you say you are." Mark frowned. "Really." "What, you didn't tell them that you were just some delivery boy working in the palace?" Lena quipped. He shot her an annoyed look. "No." "Mark, this is serious. What did you tell Amanda? And what did you tell them?" Mari asked. "I told Amanda I was a merc. I kinda had to, considering how I met her. I told her guardians that I was a merchant. They seemed to have bought that... except for Falalie, I guess." "A merc? Like, a mercenary? Can you even fight? How did you meet her anyways?" Lena asked, confused. "I can hold my own, Lena. And how we met is a long story and I don't want to really feel like sharing. It doesn't really matter now anyway." "You should talk to them, if only to find out what they know," said Mari. "Yeah, I know," he sighed as he got up and climbed up the stairs. "Where are you going?" Lena called out after him. "Getting dressed. I don't think they'd like it if I tried to meet them like this," he said as he slammed his room door shut. Now alone with Mari, Lena looked at her questioningly. "So, Miss Izer-" "It's just Mari," she smiled. "Alright, Mari. You can call me Lena," she offered. "So Mari, how do you know Mark?" She shrugged. "We've been friends for a long time. Since childhood." "But you're the Lord Magus's daughter! King Andrew's fiancee! How did you even meet a guy like him?" "It's a long story," she shrugged again. "But the short version is that I ran into him on the streets when we were young." "I see..." Lena pursed her lips. "So you knew that Mark was involved with Amanda?" "Yeah, but just recently. I just met her on Monday when I offered to teach her combat magic. She was really excited too. But then this happened," she sighed. "Did Amanda tell you anything about being with Mark?" "No. I've been training Amanda for about five months now, but she never even mentioned his name," Lena said. "Though I wish she did. I would've warned her to stay away." "Hey, Mark isn't like that! I know him." "Well did you know what he tried to do to me?" "Yes, I do," Mari replied calmly. "It was a combination of bad communication and misunderstanding. He's into bondage. It's not strange or-" "Yes it is! What woman wants to be tied up? It's almost... almost..." "Rape?" Mari offered, and saw Lena visibly wince. "But it's not. There is mutual consent. There are many, both men and women, who like being tied up." "Why would they like that?" she scowled. "Because a lack of control can be very liberating in and of itself. Some people just want their lovers to take control of their pleasures, and some like just the opposite. And some just like the occasional casual kinky fun. In no cases is anyone being actually hurt," Mari shrugged. "Well, unless they want to be, but that's a whole other topic." Lena looked at her suspiciously, but said nothing. "Look, Lena, I've known Mark for most of my life. He isn't like that. He's admitted that it was his fault for not communicating his intent with you better, but he had no idea what had happened to you. He would never hurt you. Despite your fights, I can tell he thinks quite highly of you." Lena frowned. "Yeah, right." "Of course he does. Enough that he trusted you to train Amanda, despite your personal differences with him." "Well, I had no idea that she was with him. I know Amanda is really attractive. If I didn't know better, I'd think that he's flaunting his new conquest in front of me." "The fact that you didn't know until today would seem to indicate that it was not his intent to do that." Lena sighed, and nodded. "Yeah." "On Monday, Amanda told me that she had first met Mark when he saved her from some men that attacked her. She was almost raped. In order to protect herself, she's been working hard to learn all sorts of self defense." "Oh spirits!" Lena gasped. "Really? Wow. I guess that's why she takes her training so seriously. I mean - while I'd never use it - she's getting quite good with that dinky little elven sword of hers. I'm really proud of her, too." "I think Mark knew that this was what she wanted, and that's why he got you to train her." Lena thought about this for a while. Despite her gut reaction to him, she knew that Mari was probably right. Her... attack... was not an event she wanted to ever think about, but when Mark had tied her wrists, all the horrifying memories came flooding back. Even if it was unintentional, he did made her relive it, and it was not something she could easily forgive him for; but maybe she could acknowledge that he did not mean to hurt her. Maybe. Reluctantly, she nodded. Suddenly, a strange thought crossed her mind. "Wait, what do you mean he 'got' me to train Amanda?" Mari blinked. She might have said too much. "Eh. He makes enough connections within the palace, so he can probably pull a few strings." Lena rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "Of course... politics." --- Mark stood alone on the street in front of Amanda's mansion. He was not sure what to expect in there. Lena had to return to the barracks, but seemed to be in a better mood than when she first arrived this morning. Or maybe he was just projecting his grogginess onto her when she first came. He wasn't quite sure. Mari had wished him luck before she jumped back to the Society for her classes. She was a sweetheart. He took the "scenic route" as he walked here, taking time to think of all the scenarios he might face in the house, and the proper responses to them. He carried his sword, just in case. With a deep breath, he took the step towards the front doors. As he passed through the detection field he had felt the first time he was here, he knew there would be no turning back now. His hand rested on the pommel of the sword. He wasn't surprised when the front doors opened before he had even reached it. "Hello, Mr. Raven," Falalie greeted him. She sounded... relieved? "Hi, Falalie." "Please, come in. We were hoping that you would show up." Mark paused at the door. "Amanda isn't here, is she?" "No," she shook her head. "That is what we need to speak to you about." Almost unconsciously, he gripped his sword tighter. He stepped through. Falalie led him to the sitting room, where five other elves sat, waiting. Their faces showed a mixture of worry, doubt, and relief. "Mr. Raven, thank you so much for coming," the blonde elf named Vin stood and greeted him. Mark decided that she sounded decidedly not hostile. "It's just Mark. Hello Vin, Ella, Celistra," he nodded to each. The other two, who he remembered from his first visit as the chefs of the household, he did not know the name of. "I'm afraid that I have not been introduced to you two." Remember... Ch. 05 "I'm Tenais," said the short lithe blonde. "And I'm Kera," said the other, a skinny raven haired elf. The exchange of pleasantries seemed normal enough, but Mark could feel the anxiety in the air, whether it was from the elves or himself. Falalie showed him to a chair, then returned to the side of the other elves. "Mark, we need your help," she began. "Amanda has been kidnapped." A cold chill went down his spine. Mark remained silent, his face betraying no emotions. "She was taken on Wednesday, right after we found you," Falalie continued. "Ellisa and Linae are missing as well, although we have reason to believe that Linae may have betrayed us. We have searched her room a few times already, but we haven't found anything that could help. We also have not received any demands for a ransom. Regarding the attack, we were ambushed in the middle of the fifth ward. A group of rogue mages and some hoodlums attacked us-" "Why are you telling me this?" he interrupted. "You should be telling the city guards this. If the rogue mages are involved, the Society would probably like to know as well. They might be able to help you." "We have done so. However, I believe you may have access to other resources around the city that we do not. I hope that you care enough about our lady to be able to help us," she looked at him evenly. "I hope I am not wrong about how you feel towards Amanda." "My feelings for Amanda have not changed in the least, but I don't see how my position as a merchant can help you. I can certainly buy some influence within the palace, but-" "Mr Raven," Falalie shook her head. "I'm almost certain that you're not who you say you are." Mark frowned. "Yes, so Mari tells me. Who do you think I am, then?" "I think I only began to understand this yesterday, but there have always been many things that I've had my doubts about: You have enough influence to obtain ten Rancerian riders to escort our lady here from Crielere; not an insignificant force, or a short distance. I don't know how the outpost commander could have justified this even with a healthy bribe. "You managed to get the Royal Guard instructor, Captain Banks, to train Amanda privately at the White Keep; and you somehow got a new magic instructor from the Society within a week or two of your return, while we've been requesting one for months. I don't care how rich you are; this kind of influence is not normal for a simple merchant. "And finally, Amanda obviously knew that there might still be someone out there after her; yet she felt safe enough to go out into the city with you, alone. This has always worried me... until Wednesday. I think you figured out that we were following you almost immediately after you left here. You proceeded to quickly lose us, somehow. If it wasn't for blind luck, we would've never found you two. Then, when Ellisa threatened you, our lady said that you saved her life. I don't think she misspoke, or meant it as a metaphor." The other elves turned towards Falalie with surprise. "When were you going to tell us this?" Kera asked. She glanced at them and shrugged, then turned back to Mark. "I don't know, nor do I care what you really do, Mr. Raven, but I do care about what you can do to help us find Amanda. Please, helps us. Help Amanda." Mark narrowed his eyes as he remained silent for a long, tense moment. Finally, he stood up. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, Falalie, but I'm still just a merchant." Her head dropped as she closed her eyes and sighed. "However," he continued, "I will see what I can do to bring her back to you." Falalie smiled as she looked up. He was looking at her, his eyes showed just a hint of a smile. "Thank you." +-+-+-+-+- Amanda had no idea how much time had passed since she first awoke in her cell. All she knew was that there had hardly been a moment when there were not some number of men raping Ellisa. After Ponytail left the first time, the other men took off two of the charms from the collar, and had Ellisa beg them to rape her. She tried to resist, but the collar and the abuse she had already suffered had weakened her. She lasted thirty seconds. Amanda initially screamed at the thugs to stop, but it only seemed to encourage them to do more and more perverse things to Ellisa, just to get a rise out of her. The only thing she could do was to turn away from the scene and remain quiet. It seemed to have worked, as they eventually forgot about her, and stopped going out of their way to do even worse things to her guardian. Perhaps it was the shock, or the fear, or even simply having been kept awake by Ellisa's moans and screams of pleasure, but eventually Amanda collapsed in exhaustion. Her sleep was not comfortable, or even very restful, but when she finally woke, the room sounded mercifully quiet... almost. There was a quiet moan coming from nearby. Amanda opened her eyes and looked around. There were no men in sight. There was, however, someone in the cage next to her cell. She gasped. Amanda knew who it was, of course, but she didn't want to believe it. Ellisa sat in the cell against a stack of hay, facing Amanda. Her eyes were closed as she moaned quietly. They were definitely moans of pleasure. Pleasure caused by her own hands, which were bound next to her sex, at the apex of her spread legs. The collar around her neck held five charms. Amanda whimpered at the sight. Ellisa's eyes suddenly snapped open. "My lady!" Her hands stopped as well, covering her sex with what little sense of modesty she had left. But almost immediately, the effects of the collar could be seen on her face. Her eyes constantly threatened to glaze over, or roll up to her head as waves of pleasure assaulted her. "Ellisa!" She bit her lip as she struggled to think. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you," she moaned as her fingers resumed their assault on her sex. "It's not your fault, Ellisa! We will get out of this. Falalie and the others will look for us! Just hang on!" Her guardian's eyes fluttered as another orgasm wracked her body. It was a moment before she opened her eyes to speak again. "This collar is... changing me. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep fighting this... No, my lady, don't cry. I will protect you from them. You will be safe." "The woman that was here said that I would be safe. They won't touch me," Amanda sobbed. Ellisa shook her head as she moaned again. Her body was starting to tense. "No... no. She had left some time ago, with Linae. Beware of the... the leader... The long-haired man..." she gasped and shuddered as another orgasm coursed through her. It was a few more seconds before she was composed enough to speak again. Her voice trembled. She was barely holding on to coherent thought now. "I will try to keep him occupied, but he may still come after you. He does not plan on following the orders. Be strong, my lady. Be strong..." Amanda only nodded. She watched her guardian's eyes roll up into her head, claimed by self-inflicted pleasure. She laid back down, covered her ears, and tried to sleep. It did not come easily. +-+-+-+-+- It was just past noon when Mark had arrived in the Providence district, so named because if anywhere in Astrin needed some divine help, this was it. The irony was not entirely lost on the locals here, as they seemed to strive to make themselves even more deserving of their district's name. As he walked through the streets, Mark was certain that if it wasn't for the sword hanging from his waist, a few groups of men would've tried to mug him. Fortunately, he didn't have to wander very long before he found the short, scrawny man he was looking for. "Eh! Rook! Long time, man!" the man grinned as he embraced Mark. "How's it going, Evan?" Mark smiled back, patting him on the back. "Oh you know, it goes, right? Can't complain, can't complain!" Evan said happily. "Damn, you're really upbeat today. Did you just fuck forty two virgins or something?" "Nah, I wish. The boss just knocked over this fabric shop over in Jita, one that I cased like two weeks ago, so I just got like an extra bounty for it. It's fucking sweet!" "Yeah? Right on! Don't blow it all on hookers this time though." Mark laughed. "Aww dude, don't remind me, alright? Fuck, who knew pussy could be that expensive!" "At least you're not married. That shit'll bleed you dry in a second." "True dat," Evan nodded. "Anyways, I haven't seen ya in a fucking long time. Why ya coming back to this dump?" "Listen, I'm looking for some people to do a job for me." "Yeah? What kind of job? You've got some fine people right here, ya?" the short man frowned. He thrust out his chest indignantly. Mark looked around, and leaned into his ear. "No offense, man, but I'm looking for freaky people. You know. Magic lightning mindfuck shit. You know what I'm saying?" The little man's eyes went wide. "Oh shit. I see. You want the fucking Rogues? Dude, what the fuck are you doing, man? Those guys are bad karma, I'm telling ya! If those guys in pointy hats at the Society finds out you're even thinking about talking to them, you're proper fucked, you know?" "Yeah, well, I just gotta make sure they don't hear about it, right?" Mark waved dismissively. "Anyways, you know where I can find them? Or know anyone who's hired them recently?" "Uh," Evan thought for a moment as he stroked his messy beard, but shook his head. "Nah man. I don't think I know anyone who could get you talking to the Rogues. I can ask around if you want?" "What? No! You want word getting to those Society fuckers that I'm looking for Rogues? What did we just say about not letting them find out?" Mark scowled. "Oh yeah. Right. Well, I don't know what to tell ya, man." Mark frowned. "Damn. You haven't heard of anyone else hiring them for anything? "Not around here, man. You can try asking around the southern gates? Or maybe even the docks?" "Alright, thanks man," Mark said as he tossed him a small bag of coins. "Don't mention this to anyone, alright? I don't need the Society coming down on my ass." "Yeah, I got it." Evan nodded. "I don't need them coming down on mine either." Mark nodded as he began to make his way to his next contact. He had already searched the fifth ward for clues, but the heavier presence of guards still investigating the incident had driven most of the people he knew there into hiding. The guards themselves seemed to know little beyond the basic facts, and none of them recognized any of the dead kidnappers. Mark was beginning to suspect that maybe they were not from Astrin at all. If they're not from Astrin, then where are they from? He questioned. Hek? Mamet? One of the houses? No... he frowned. They would not so openly deal with Rogues like this inside Rancer and risk losing favor with the Society... would they? Or perhaps the kidnappers had already taken her outside Astrin? Mark quickened his pace as more and more worrying scenarios formed in his mind. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was being irrational, he knew. The city guards are already on extra alert to check any form of transportation going out of the city, and the Society have been extra careful about monitoring people using Jump or Gate spells. He knew in all likelihood that Amanda was still in the city, but still... it worried him. Even before he had gone through his entire list of contacts, it was already easily apparent that no one had heard of this group that had kidnapped Amanda. A few knew of the kidnapping, and had mentioned seeing some Rogues, but there were scant details as to where they might be. The sky, as if reflecting his mood, darkened with rain clouds. It was not a good beginning for his search. Remember... Ch. 06 Remember... Chapter 6: Moments of Delight *** Yet another chapter that I hope you will enjoy. CCG *** Thunder and lightning crashed outside as the annular rain storm raged on the other side of the tall, ornate window. Jaraad sat at the head of a long table looking out as the men behind him reported on the latest development in Mamet. "My lord, while I don't think House Norfald would risk outright conflict with us or the drows in the short term, I suspect they may try to probe our readiness, and I would not rule out more overt aggression in the next six to twelve months." Jaraad frowned. "Sure, Norfald wouldn't likely attack us or the drows any time soon, but they could move against Hek instead." The soldier blinked. "Um. Yes, my lord, but the treaty... That would be a declaration of war against both Rancer and Azin. Norfald would not risk a two front war." Across the table from Jaraad, a happy, portly man shook his head. "That's fine and dandy, Charlie, but what if Norfald's got some sort of a secret agreement with Azin? Even if they don't, what if the drow just don't show up? We would be left fighting Norfald alone, while they can come in afterwards and just clean out the survivors." "Yes, General, but that's always been a concern, and we have no reason to believe-" "Right," Jaraad interrupted. "But Norfald's just re-arranged their whole ruling house. There's no telling what new relationships might have been forged behind our backs. Right now, we treat them as an unknown." The soldier considered this for a moment, and nodded. "I'll have my men reevaluate the situation, and report back tomorrow, my lord." As the soldier took his leave, opening the door to the meeting hall, Jaraad spotted Mark pacing in the halls outside. Their eyes met for a moment. Jaraad gracefully excused himself from the room of generals and stepped out. "Hey, what's up?" He patted Mark on the back. "What happened to you? You look like crap." "Hey, I need some help," Mark sighed. "This might take a while. I'll wait till your meeting is finished." "Don't worry about it. We're done in there anyways," Jaraad smiled as he walked them to an adjacent room. Once he closed the door behind them, granting them some privacy, he turned to Mark. "What do you need my help with? And seriously, did you not sleep or something?" "Something like that," Mark shrugged. "So you remember that incident last week with the Rogues?" "How could I not? The Society Enforcer guys are still complaining to my guys about how we let rogues into the city and what not," he frowned. "How the hell were we supposed to know that they were rogues? It's not like they have a freaking sign around their necks. So now they're all 'Ooooh, you guys don't know how to do your job,' or 'Ooooh, the city can't be trusted to inattentive people like you'. I mean by the fucking spirits, I was about to just tell them to shove it and do it themselves if they think they can do better." "Uh. Yeah, that one," he blinked. Jaraad paused. "Sorry, about that," he smiled apologetically. "But yeah, I remember it. Some elves going through a bad part of town got grabbed." "Right. One of the elves was the girl I was seeing." "Oh woah, I'm sorry to hear that! I'll see who else I can spare from the flood preparations to put on that case-" "Wait, wait, no, you don't have to do that. Probably better if you didn't, really." "Err. Would you rather that she not be found? Because we can do that-" "No! No, I want her," Mark shook his head. "I want her to be found, of course, but... well, basically, I didn't know she was even kidnapped, but her guardians contacted me because they thought I could help... because they're starting to suspect that I'm not a merchant like I've been telling them I am." "Oh. That's... not good." "Yeah, to put it mildly," Mark said as he ran his hand through his hair. "So basically just feed me whatever information you can get, but don't make it obvious that we're throwing more people at it." "I see," Jaraad nodded. "I'll do what I can, but you should tell Andrew and Chris if you haven't already." "Yeah, I'll do it later this afternoon. I'll see them anyways." "Mark, once we find this girl, you must address the issue regarding her guardians' suspicions. You may need to leave her if necessary." "I know, I know," he sighed, looking away. "I'll deal with that when the time times. It's not like this is the first time I have had to do this. Let me do one thing at a time ok?" After a moment, Jaraad spoke again. "I'll do what I can, but you might also want to speak to the Society Enforcers. They were there first, and it's possible that they might have seen something that we didn't. They aren't really forthcoming to us with information about Rogues, so you might have to go ask them personally." "Oh? Thanks for the tip. I'll check with them. And anyways, thanks for your help, and keep me updated." Jaraad patted his brother on the shoulder. "No problem. Get some rest, will you? It's not good for you to be so tired when you're with Andrew." Mark nodded as he opened door and stepped back out into the hall of the war ministry. Sleep was the last thing he wanted to think about. Thoughts of Amanda's kidnapping had occupied his mind since he found out five days ago. This sense of urgency and worry was strange and unfamiliar, something that he had only felt once before, when he had first received news of the Thelan earthquake so many years ago. Back when, the fate of Andrew's... no, his father and mother were still uncertain. Mark shook his head. As he breathed a small prayer to the spirits, he hoped that this time he would have better news. -+-+-+-+-+ "You do want to help her, don't you?" the man with the ponytail asked with a voice oozing with false sincerity. "Right now, you're the only one that can help her!" Amanda trembled as she picked up the large purple dildo from the floor, tossed in to her cell only moments before. It was almost the size of her forearm, and it had wooden handle at its base. "But this will kill her!" "Nah! You'll need to lube her up a bit, sure, but she'll love it!" Amanda looked at the massive tool in her hands, then back up at her guardian, bound to the metal bars of her cell. Ellisa's short blonde hair was a tangled mess, and hand-shaped bruises covered her otherwise flawless skin. She stared back at her charge with empty eyes, while a large red ball gag filled her mouth. The collar around her neck held only three charms this time, but even so, her hips still thrust absentmindedly against a bar of the cell, coating it with her juices. "I can't!" Amanda shook her head. "I can't do this to her. You've hurt her so much already!" "Of course you can. And you will, if you don't want her to suffer even more," Ponytail said, annoyed. He walked behind Ellisa and spanked her ass. Her eyes went wide for a moment as a wanton moan escaped from behind the gag. "If you don't fuck her with this dildo here, we'll rape her ass with it. You can be sure that'll hurt her a tad more than if it went in her cunt." "You monster!" Amanda sobbed. "Fine. I'll... I'll do it." "Oh don't look so upset. This whore here wants it, don't you?" he said as unbuckled the gag from her mouth, and spanked her again. "She just can't wait for you to rape her worthless cunt with it. C'mon, you slut, tell her how much you want that cock." Ellisa moaned again like an animal in heat. "Fuck me. Rape my cunt. I want it all in me." "See? She wants it bad," Ponytail winked at Amanda. "Now get over here and get this started." Holding the dildo in her hands, Amanda tried to calm her nerves as she walked to her guardian, whose lidded eyes did not meet hers. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she knelt in front of her. Ellisa looked down at Amanda blankly, and spread her legs to offer herself. "No! I can't!" Amanda shook her head fiercely . "I won't hurt her!" Ponytail sighed. "Shame. I was so looking forward to this bonding experience between you girls too. I guess we'll have to rape you with it now." A sudden rising sense of fear threatened to overwhelm her, but Amanda fought it, betraying nothing to the man who would only use her emotions against her. "Hmm. Not even a peep, eh?" he pursed his lips. "Well boys, since technically we're not the ones raping her, let's find out how lovely her screams-" "Fuck me, my lady," Ellisa moaned. "Fuck me like the whore I am." Ponytail smirked and raised his hand to stop his men. "Ellisa, no! I won't hurt you-" "I want that cock!" she moaned again as she grinded herself against the metal bars of the cell with increasing urgency. She paid no attention to Amanda's gaping mouth. "I want to fuck. I want to fuckfuckfuckfuck and fuck. I need a cock in me. I need that cock. Now!" "Ellisa..." Amanda gasped. "Fuck me," she panted. "Rape my mouth with it." Amanda blinked. "Ellisa... I..." "Rape my mouth, then rape my cunt with it," she said. "Please! Just fuck me. Just fuck me." Biting her lower lip, Amanda stood and raised the purple cock to Ellisa's mouth, who, with a bit of struggle, took it in enthusiastically. She bobbed her head back and forth, fighting her gag reflex as more and more of the dildo disappeared down her throat. Tears from the gagging streamed down her face, but from the look in her eyes it was obvious that she was truly enjoying it. Holding back tears, Amanda kept feeding the large dildo to her guardian until Ellisa's eyes began to roll up from the lack of air. Gasping, she quickly pulled it out. "I'm sorry! I-" "No!" Ellisa panted, "Give me more! I want it all!" Wide eyed, Amanda complied. Once Ellisa's breathing returned to normal, she again offered her the purple dildo. This time, the bound elf took it down much faster, until all that was left was the handle. Pulling it all out, Amanda eyed her guardian with fear and uncertainty as she smiled a proud and triumphant smile. "Now fuck me with it!" Dropping to her knees, Amanda aligned the purple cock with Ellisa's well lubricated sex, and gently pushed. It was going to be a tight fit. Ellisa moaned loudly as she tried to still her body. "Oh goddess! Rape me! Hurry!" With a forceful push, the head of the purple cock, along with almost half its length, disappeared into Ellisa's needy cunt. "Yes!" Her scream of pain and pleasure echoed through the room. While Amanda froze in shock, Ellisa gripped the cell bars and began to thrust herself on the cock buried inside of her. "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop..." she moan over and over again as her voice took on a higher and higher pitch. With a final downward thrust, her body went rigid as she fucked herself to her first orgasm on the purple cock. Amanda sobbed as Ellisa's eyes opened again. It was plain that whatever effects the charms had on her mind had worn off, if only for a while; a look of pain and humiliation replacing her previous enthusiasm. Even so, her guardian once again began to thrust up and down on the dildo. "Please," she moaned softly to her charge. "You must continue." Sobbing, Amanda nodded and began to thrust back. It wasn't long before the pleasure overwhelmed Ellisa again. --- "I'm sorry, but we will not speak about pending investigations," said the woman behind the counter with the "Hello my name is Miriam" nametag. "You will have to wait for the official announcement from the Society Enforcement Office just like everyone else." "Wait, but I haven't even told you which investigation!" Mark objected. "This is important. I just need to know who I can talk to to find out more about what happened," Mark said as calmly as he could manage. He came off as rather icy. After queueing for hours at the Society Enforcement Office his patience was already running thin, and this woman who didn't even want to listen to him only made it that much worse. "Yeah, well, lots of things are important, but that doesn't make your case any more special," My-name-is-Miriam admonished him. "You'll just have to wait for the announcement." "This cannot wait- " "Sorry-sir-it's-now-my-break-time-have-a-good-day!" The woman said quickly and immediately walked away, leaving Mark at the counter. Mark stared daggers at the back of the woman's head as he took a deep breath to calm himself. Having spent most of his day waiting in the queue, there was little time to seek alternate sources of information now, but later tonight, one way or another he would get the information he needed. He stormed past and through the lines of people still waiting for their chance to be neglected by My-name-is-Miriam's associates, ignoring the murmurs of complaints coming from the people around him. He had almost made it past the door when he felt a small hand grab him by the wrist. "Hey!" a woman shouted. "What?" Mark yelled testily as he turned to face the new annoyance. It was Mari. "Urk... Hey Mari," Mark choked back the unpleasant things he had prepared to say. "Finally! Did you not hear me?" She asked quizzically, "I was shouting your name." "Err. No. Sorry about that," said Mark as he offered her an embarrassed smile. "I was... thinking." "What were you thinking about? You ran over like half that line back there," she gestured with a nod of her head. "Sorry," he muttered, and started walking out towards the open courtyard. Mari followed. "Mark, what's wrong? You look kinda disheveled." He was silent for a moment, in thought again. "I think I need your help," he said finally. "Can we talk privately?" "Yeah, of course!" said Mari as she lead him to the nearby Society campus and into an empty classroom. They made small talk along the way, but Mark was obviously distracted by something, so she didn't force the matter. "What do you need?" she asked as she sat down in a chair facing him. "Amanda has been kidnapped, and I need to know if the Society Enforcers have had any Rogues locked up here from when that happened," said Mark as he watched Mari's eyes widen. "I was trying to find out, but my contact here isn't in town, and that lady there was less than helpful. If you can't help me, I might have to break in here later tonight." Mari finally blinked. "Spirits! I'm so sorry! Is this why that elf, Falalie, wanted to see you last Friday? They think you had something to do with it?" "No... well, kind of," he shrugged. "I don't think they suspect me, but Falalie figured out that I probably wasn't a merchant like I said I was, and asked me to help them find her. Either way, that's not important right now. I know Amanda was attacked by a group which included a few Rogues, and I need to know if they captured any afterwards, or if they know anything that might help." "I don't know what I can find out, but I'll do everything I can to help. I'll find you the moment I know anything." "Thank you, Mari," he said as he hugged her. "Thanks. I need to run now. It'll be my turn with Andrew soon." "Alright. Say hi to him for me," Mari said, returning the hug. "Don't worry, Mark. I know you must be worried and stressed, but you need to get some rest." "But-" Mark tried to protest. "No 'but's Mark," she said as she held him, "You don't look like the usual calm and controlled Mark that I know. Being like this doesn't help you, and doesn't help Amanda. Give me one day to find out what I can, and take this time to rest and collect yourself. You need to think straight and be at your full strength for when we do find her." Mark was quiet for a moment. He didn't want to stop his search, but... he knew she was right. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Alright. You're right. I'm just... I don't know. I haven't felt like this since the Thelan earthquake. It's... hard to explain." Finally releasing him and stepping back, Mari smiled at him. "You're worried. It's normal. Haven't you felt worried before?" "Not like this, no," he said, shrugging. "Well, don't worry. We'll get her back." +-+-+-+-+- Chris patted Mark on the shoulder. "You should've told us this earlier. We'll ask Jaraad to get more guards to look for her." "Wait, I just said that her guardians are sus-" Mark protested, but Andrew shook his head. "Actually, this morning Ambassador Raelin asked us to 'redouble our efforts' to search for the girl." "Huh? He told you that?" "Well, he didn't seem too happy that our guards let some Rogues kidnap one of theirs. Apparently something like this hasn't happened in like... dozens of years," Chris shrugged, "and he was quite insistent that we do something about it." "That's good at least," Mark said after a moment of thought. "But all this is assuming that she's still in the city. Damn, for all we know she could be in Hek or somewhere by now." "You mean, 'Heck, for all we know...'" Chris began, but seeing Mark's scowl, quickly stopped his terrible pun. "Sorry... Cheer up, man. Don't think so negatively. You know she's still here. We've been monitoring shipments out of the city by land or water, and the Society has been monitoring Jump and Gate spells. She's definitely still here." "Yeah, I know, I know," he shook his head in irritation. "It's just... I wish I knew where to even start looking. My contacts haven't really turned up anything, so I'm thinking whoever took her isn't a local group, but that just makes it worse because we have so many visitors and they move around so much for whatever reason that makes it really hard to keep track of where anyone is. The Society Enforcers are also mum about whether they know anything that could help, so I asked Mari to help me, but I don't know when she'll be able to find out anything." "Mark. Calm down," said Chris. "You can't do this in a panic. You need to collect your thoughts and proceed in an orderly manner. Let's walk through this, ok?" Mark nodded, but said nothing. "You pursued your sub-legal contacts. That's good. It didn't turn up anything. That's fine for now. Don't just dwell on that, though. You next asked the Enforcers. That's good too. Trust Mari to do this for you, and stop worrying about it." "Easier said than done," he said quietly. "Yeah, well, try anyways," Chris shrugged. "Anyways, what's your next step?" "I'm not sure," he frowned. "I was planning on speaking to some of the guards that were there that day again." "Have you tried speaking to Amanda's guardians again?" Andrew asked. Mark shook his head. "Of course not. They're suspicious of me enough already." "Well, they might have useful information. They must have noticed something before the kidnapping, especially if they said they were betrayed by one of their own." "I guess I can ask, but then I'll be pretty much dropping my 'merchant' facade completely. So even if I get her back, it's not like I'll be able to see her anymore." Chris shrugged. "It was never meant to last anyways." "Chris!" Andrew frowned. Mark drew in a sharp breath, but said nothing. He knew it was true. "Hey, I'm only telling the truth," Chris protested. "It's not like we can keep anyone around for that long if they're going to start asking questions, you know?" "Yeah, but Mark knows that, right Mark? You didn't have to say that now!" "It's ok, Andrew. I knew this was coming. It's not like I've had much luck with elves anyways," Mark observed cynically. "Well, ok. I'll go talk to them again tomorrow, and see if they've got anything." "I'm sorry, Mark," Chris said. "I wish you luck in finding her. Anyways, I need to run. Got to go tsk-tsk at Hek for a while." "Chris, remind them that they need to enforce stricter border controls. Tell them that the Society won't tolerate crap like that," said Andrew. "Yeah, I'll tell them, but..." he shrugged, "I'm pretty sure they'll just shrug and put two guards at the border as a token gesture that does nothing. You know how they are." Remember... Ch. 06 "Just try, ok?" "Yeah, sure. I'll see ya guys later," With a wave, Chris ran out of the hidden armory, leaving Mark and Andrew alone in the stone chamber. "What did Hek do?" Mark asked as he donned his masked helmet. As he did so, his voice became distorted and metallic. "Some Magus found an undocumented shipment of strange magical plants in a caravan from Hek a few weeks back. The driver gave some bullshit story about how he couldn't remember where they came from, and in the end some other Magi came and burned it all." "Huh. Smuggler?" "Yeah, though they usually smuggle these kinds of things into Hek, not out of it." "Eh. Wherever there's a buyer, I guess. Anyways, Andrew, you're going to want to hear this: I think I have some news about Mamet for you." "Oh?" "There's a new cult in Norfald, and Empress Grendaline is... not pleased." +-+-+-+-+- The darkened corridor of the Society's dungeons was not a place that Mari frequented, especially in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Being alone in such a large anti-magic field made her nervous. Well, she wasn't really alone: there were always a couple Enforcers within eyesight, but she didn't really know any of them. They did know her though, often smiling and nodding as she passed by. Finally, after getting lost and asking for directions several times, Mari arrived at the warden's office. She knocked. "Come in," a woman's voice called from the inside. "Ah, Miss Izer! What are you doing down here? Your father isn't making you run errands for him, is he?" "Hello Warden Bartlet," Mari smiled slightly for her benefit. The warden always creeped her out a little bit; Mari would sometimes catch her staring. Not in a sexual way, or so she thought, but it was definitely a predatory stare, which would disappear as suddenly as it had appeared. "No, I'm here for personal business." "Oh? How can I help you then?" She asked as she pointed Mari to a chair across from her desk. "I've heard that there was an incident about an elf being kidnapped in the city last week," she began, "and that the Rogues were involved in the incident. Were any of them captured by the Society?" "Hmm... yes, I do believe so," she said, flipping through some files on her desk. She stopped on one with perfect accuracy. "Yes, here, a man named Rufio Steegle. Why?" "I was wondering if there's a chance that I can ask him some questions?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "What questions?" "I want to know where they're keeping the elf they kidnapped. She was a friend of mine." The warden shrugged. "Sure, I can allow you to ask him that, but Inquisitor Cain is not in today, so can you wait until tomorrow?" "What about Inquisitor Herschel?" "He got transferred to our Hek office just last week." Mari frowned. She had promised Mark an answer from her soon. "What if I just went to question him myself?" "Um, you're welcome to try, but that's not how interrogation works, Miss Izer," she laughed. "They're not just going to tell you if you ask them nicely enough." "I know that, it was just a manner of speech; but since I don't have much experience in this, how would you normally do it?" "We have our ways," the warden shrugged mysteriously as she once again stared at Mari as if she was a piece of meat. "It's not very nice." "Well, just let me try. Please?" "Ok, go for it. I'll tell someone to bring him out to the interrogation room for you." Minutes later, as Mari paced the hallways outside of the warden's office wondering just how she was going to persuade the prisoner, she realized that she really didn't have much in the way of leverage. Sure, she could go in and hurt him, but she'd learned enough from Mark and his brothers to know that physical pain rarely brings about true or useful confessions. This was doubly true when under time pressure. Suddenly, a thought struck her. What if it wasn't actually pain? She mused. Sprinting down the corridor, Mari only paused long enough to shout, "I'll be back in half an hour! Get him ready for me!" +-+-+-+-+- Mark sat alone in a small room with a window overlooking the palace gardens outside. There was barely anyone out there at this hour except for the gardeners. He absent-mindedly flipped through a few sheets of a report, part of a series of weekly reports he receives from each of the regional heads of intelligence. He was currently reading was from Mise, which was uninteresting as usual. Elves, whether it was because they were good at keeping secrets or because they just had fewer drama-prone officials, rarely had notable stories. Maybe there'll be something this time, he thought hopefully. Maybe there's something worth telling Andrew- His thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Only a few people knew of this door and those who did know generally entered without knocking. "Yes?" Mark said, puzzled. "Mark! Here you are!" A silver-maned girl pushed open the door, looking relieved, "You know how long it took me to find you? I went to your house, found that you weren't there, then I had to jump here and look around and still couldn't find you and finally I had to ask Jaraad. He told me that you might be here." "Heh, hey Mari. Sorry, I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd try to do some work." "Well, I need the charms and collar that you have. You know, those charms." "Oh. Err. Why? I hope you're not thinking of using them with Andrew... actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know what you do with Andrew," he laughed. "Shut... shut up, Mark," she said, flustered. "We haven't... done anything yet." "Then why do you need them?" he smirked. "I need them to interrogate a guy we have at the Society." In an instant, Mark's smile faded. He thought for a moment before reaching into his pocket. "You know, normally I would say that interrogation doesn't really work... but your Enforcers at the society have had amazing results in the past, and I've never tried interrogating anyone with these charms before. Here are the keys to my house. The charms are in the nightstand by my bed." The sorceress took the keys from his hand and smiled. "Thanks. I'll be back with the good news soon," she said encouragingly as she closed the door behind her. Alone again, Mark took one look at the summary on Mise in his hands, and put it aside. He needed more interesting things than the elves to keep his mind occupied. He quickly flipped to the one on Hek. Half an hour later, he had finished the reports on Hek, Mamet, and Azin, when there was another knock at the door. Before he had even looked up, Mari had already run inside. "Mark! I got it!" she beamed. "Warehouse 106, east docks." +-+-+-+-+- In the dawning sun, the warehouse seemed just like any other that lined the Misspi River, with the sandbags already piled along the bank in preparation for the upcoming flood season. In the distance, three gaunt men busied themselves with offloading large barrels from a ship. "Ma'am, we've checked here before," the dock guard said to Lena. "Just yesterday, in fact. We've been making regular patrols around here." She looked to Mark, who nodded confidently. "Well, it doesn't hurt to check again," she said as she marched on, with Mark close behind. As they approached the doors of the warehouse, Mark noted one of the workers disappeared, leaving only two in view. "You should stay out here, and let us handle this," Lena said to him. "No, I need to see-" "Mark, I need to work with people I trust. I trust my men. They know how to work with me. I don't quite trust you enough for that yet," she said to him evenly. "I promise I'll get you if there's anything in there at all." "But-" "Mark! This is an order! Just because the Major said to take you along doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want!" Mark fell silent. He nodded after a moment. Lena shook her head in annoyance, and knocked on the door. A few moments later, a small man opened the door a crack and peeked outside. "Uh... Can I help you?" he asked. "I'm Captain Banks of the Royal guards. We're here to conduct a search of the premises." "Of course, of course," the man said as he opened the door fully. He looked rather messy, seemingly having dressed himself in a hurry, and despite the fact it was only just past noon there was an unmistakable stench of cheap beer in the air. As Lena and some of her men marched in, he approached her again. "May I ask why are you conducting this search?" "We received word that there may be illegal goods being stored in this warehouse," Lena said as she looked around the entrance. Barrels lined the corridor, along with a random smattering of empty bowls and dishes. Her men were already spreading out in twos, into other unseen rooms. "What kind of illegal goods? We are rum merchants from Hek, but I assure you that we're not carrying anything that is considered illegal in Rancer." "No, not rum," she shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes on the man. "Elves. Elven women. Would you happen to know anything about that?" "Goodness no! We're not stupid enough to bring slaves into Rancer!" He said in shock. "We would never stoop that low!" "Good to hear that. Now I'll just wait for my men to confirm, and we can be out of here," she nodded. The man visibly smiled and relaxed. "However," Lena continued, "that's only under the assumption that we won't find anything." Minutes passed as Lena stood in the entrance corridor. Eventually, her men returned one by one, empty handed. Signaling her men to stay, Lena walked outside. "Mark, none of my men found anything. Are you sure this is the right place? They just seemed to be Hekian rum traders." "I hope so..." he muttered under his breath. "What?" "Nothing. Say, can I take a look around?" Lena shrugged. "I suppose. The Hekians inside look harmless enough." "Thanks," Mark said as he rushed inside. As he carefully looked over the entrance corridor, he paused. Something felt off. There was a strange kind of silence that left a ringing sound in his ear. Of course, he could still hear the other guards talk amongst themselves, but... He shook his head and began to check over each room with Lena right behind him. Moving almost automatically, he checked several barrels to confirm their contents and examined anything that looked like it could be used for hiding things. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Everything except that ringing silence. "Lena-" he caught himself. "Captain Banks." "Yeah?" "Do you hear that ringing noise?" Lena frowned. "What ringing noise?" "It's like a ringing... whining silence... do you hear it?" "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mark. I think you should probably get some rest." "You're... you're probably right..." he sighed, and shook his head once again. Lena looked around and sighed. "This place looks pretty normal to me. Are you sure your information is accurate?" "I... I don't know," he frowned. "Let's go, Mark. Let's check the next warehouse. Maybe there was a misunderstanding in the directions," she said as they walked out. It was long past midnight when Mark finally fell back into his bed. The look of disappointment on Mari's face when he had told her that the information she had given him was a lie was still freshly etched in his memory. She had apologized profusely, and given back the small bag of charms. She had frowned and mumbled something under her breath about "make that bastard pay for it", but he didn't really pay much attention, and only thanked her for her efforts. Staring upwards, Mark focused on the small pouch of charms he held above his head. It was not hard for him to imagine what interrogation techniques that Mari and employed. Even so, he knew the chances of success were not high. Even if the man had not lied, it would have been easy for the kidnappers to move locations, he thought, or keep Amanda in a different location than their original meeting point, and if that was the case I could probably look up the warehouse's rental logs and trace the tenants from that... As his thoughts drifted and the weariness from the sleepless nights claimed him, his grip on the pouch of charms faltered, dropping it next to his head. It took several moments for his sleep deprived mind to register it, but through the pre-dreaming haze, Mark heard a noise. A quiet whine. His eyes snapped open as he sat up immediately. He was sure he heard it, but now... there was nothing again. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he lay down again. And this time, he heard it for sure. The sound of that ringing silence. +-+-+-+-+- Plink! Opening her eyes slowly as she rolled onto her side to look at the window, Mari was sure she had just heard something there. She stared at it for a moment, almost contemplating the thought of going over to look outside before the comfort of the bed convinced her otherwise. Her eyelids, heavy with sleep, slowly closed again. Plink! So I'm not imagining things, Mari mused unhappily as she opened her eyes again. Plink! This time, she saw the tiny pebble hit her window. Yawning, she lazily climbed out of bed to check who it was that interrupted her sleep. She just reached her windows, about to open them, when suddenly a shadowy figure appeared in front of her on the other side. A small scream escaped from her throat before she could stifle it. "Mark! What the hell!" She shouted at the man in a hushed tone as she opened the windows. "Sorry Mari! I tried throwing rocks at the window but you weren't responding," he offered apologetically. "I really need your help again. Here, look at this." Before Mari could get in a word, Mark had placed a small pouch in her hands. She looked at it, confused. "Yeah? The charms. What about them?" "Do they make a sound to you? Like, a really still silence, but with a ringing or whining noise." "What are you talking about? The charms don't make sounds." "No, seriously! Put them up to your ear." Frowning with suspicion, Mari held the bag up to her ear. It took her a second to notice, but there was a definite ringing... but it wasn't from the charms. "Oh, you mean the magic silence. It's not the charms, Mark, it's the concealer bag." "Huh? The bag?" "Yeah, here," she said as she emptied the pouch onto her desk before giving it back to Mark. He held it to his ear. "Yeah! That's the noise! It's a really weird ringing." "Yay, problem solved. Can I go back to sleep yet?" Mari asked dryly as she longingly eyed her bed. "Actually, I have another question. What does it mean if I'm hearing this in a building?" "Erm..." Mari tried to think as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. It doesn't seem that Mark is going away anytime soon. "Where did you hear this silence?" "In the warehouse where you said they're keeping Amanda." The mention of the elf girl's name seemed to have cleared her foggy mind just a little bit more. "I guess it means that you're in a giant conceal..." she paused. "It means that there's an anti-magic field inside the building." "An anti-magic field," Mark narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, it stops magic from being cast from the inside and detection magic from finding it from the outside. It's how concealer bags work." "Then, if the warehouse has this, then..." "Mark, we need to go see this warehouse. Now!" +-+-+-+-+- A series of loud gasps and moans pulled Amanda from her dreams. Ellisa sat against a pillar, restrained only by the damned collar, and a length of chain that leashed her to the pillar itself. She panted and moaned as she continued to fuck herself with a large dildo, not seeming to care whether or not she could free herself from the torture. As Amanda turned her back to her guardian to try to go back to sleep, she shook as her imagination ran wild with what horrors awaited her when she met the mysterious dark lady again. If a woman as strong as Ellisa was left in such a wretched state in just a few days at the hands of these humans, what hope would she have in the clutches of that lady? Suddenly, the door on the far side of the room opened. Amanda froze, pretending to be asleep. She swore at herself for not hearing the footsteps earlier. It was only because Ellisa's climax had made her turn around that she was saved from the harassment from the men. "I need you," Amanda heard Ellisa moan to the group of men that entered. "Please, I need your cocks!" "I know, you cock hungry slut," A man growled. It was the voice of the ponytailed man. "But I'm not here for you tonight." Amanda tensed as she felt the skin on the back of her neck crawl. "She wouldn't know what to do with you. Fuck me instead!" "You boys take this slut upstairs and do whatever you want with her. Just leave me and the fresh one down here," he slurred to the men behind him as his voice came closer to Amanda's cage. "Hey boss, I thought that drow bitch told us not to touch her?" Someone asked. "Fuck you, and fuck that cunt!" Amanda could smell the alcohol now. It was almost as if he was drenched in it. "She won't know about this, because none of you are going to say a fucking word. And that includes you, my sweet." Amanda hugged herself tightly as he addressed her. "Oh come on, I know you're awake. At least look at me," he said as he unlocked the cell door. Turning around to look behind him, he yelled, "and all of you, take that slut and go upstairs. This little thing here is mine." Sitting up and turning around, Amanda hugged her knees to her chest, and stared past the ponytailed man, at Ellisa. There was a desperate and pained expression on her face as their gaze met. "I'm sorry," Ellisa mouthed to her silently. "Be strong." The men mumbled something, unchained the elf from the pillar, and finally led her upstairs. With the heavy clunk of the door latch, the ponytailed man turned around and stared at her lecherously. "Spirits, I've wanted to fuck you the moment I laid eyes on you." Amanda knew what he wanted. The past days spent seeing everything that he and his men had done to Ellisa gave her an all too good idea of what he wanted from her: to scream, to cry, to beg for them to stop. He would laugh, then rape her. She suppressed a shiver. Steadying herself, Amanda met his gaze and willed herself to face him, even as her heart raced in her chest and a part of her screamed for her to run away and hide. Even if she could not avoid her fate at his hands, she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had cowed her. She wanted to tell him to just get it over with, but she didn't trust her voice not to betray her fear. "What's with that look?" Ponytail frowned as he walked to her, and pulled her to her feet. He pinned her body against the wall with his as he roughly groped her. "You smell like shit," Amanda said with what little spite she could manage. It wasn't much, and her voice shook a little as she said it, but in his drunken state, the ponytailed man didn't seem to notice her fear. To her surprise, the man stepped back and shrugged. "Yeah, I know. That idiot Norman spilled a whole fucking pint of that shit beer on me at the pub. Cost him two of his teeth for that fuckup," he said as he demonstrated an imaginary punching motion. Amanda frowned in confusion, but said nothing. "Fuck, now that you've brought it up again, I can't stop smelling it," he sniffed his sleeves. "Fuck, this is horrid." He swore as he wandered over to the corner of the room with the water hose they used to clean their captives, pulling off his clothes as he walked. "You just sit tight for one minute, and I'll be right back." Amanda looked at him strangely, not believing her luck. She slowly, quietly walked out of her cell, towards the door on the far side of the room. Remember... Ch. 06 Ponytail took a look behind him, and shook his head. "You don't want to do that," he said as he started the water. "My guys upstairs are busy fucking your slut of a friend there. You'll get pulled into that orgy and I'll tell you now, it's not going to be pleasant." Amanda froze and looked at him angrily. He paid no attention to her, washing himself with the water. On the ground, amidst a pile of discarded clothes, Amanda saw the hilt of a dagger that he carelessly dropped when he stripped. The opportunity was too good to be missed. She made a run for it. Pausing only to grab the dagger, she charged at the ponytailed man, who's back still faced her, and lunged. To Amanda's astonishment, the man sidestepped her at the last moment and at the same time tripped her. The last thing she saw was a wall of wooden crates approaching her at high speed as she fell. +-+-+-+-+- "City guards! Open up!" The man shouted as he pounded on the warehouse doors. Lena folded her arms and looked at Mark, annoyed. If it wasn't for the fact that King Andrew's fiancée had also come with him to the barracks this time, she would've completely brushed aside his attempt to recruit her to lead some guards on another aimless search. Finally rousing half a dozen men from their sleep, they once again left for the warehouse. When they had first arrived, despite it being around three o'clock in the morning, they had definitely heard some shouts and noises from what seemed like a party on the inside. "We'll be right there!" Someone from within called out. "Open this door right now!" the guard shouted back. Almost a minute later, someone gingerly opened the door. "How may I help you gentlemen?" Lena pushed in without a word, followed by Mark and Mari, and the rest of her men. As she stepped in, something strange happened: Mari's hair slowly turned from a light aqua blue to a bright scarlet red. Mark noticed as well, but he said nothing of it. "Do you hear it?" Mark asked instead. "Hear what?" The man who opened the door asked. He looked like a mess, as if he had tossed on his clothes in a hurry, and smelled like he was literally drenched in beer. "Yeah, of course! There's definitely an anti-magic field here," Mari replied as she inspected a lock of her hair. She looked at the messy man with narrowed eyes. "Where is the control device?" A wide eyed look appeared on his face. "What? What are you talking about?" "Don't play dumb," Mari said coolly. The panicked look remained on the man's face, but he did not move. Lena patted the man's shoulder roughly. "You might want to consider your answers carefully. This lady here is a sorceress. If she says there's a control device here, then there is one here. Now, would you care to point it out for us?" The man swallowed, but stayed rooted on the floor. "Fine. If this is how you want to do this..." Mari's voice trailed off as she walked down the corridor. "Mark, come with me. We'll find it ourselves." The man tried to hurry along with them, but Lena held him by his shoulder. "You! Stay here. If those two find this control thing... it will not go well for you." --- Amanda groaned as the dull ache that pulsed from her forehead roused her from her unconsciousness. Slowly opening her eyes, what she saw made her instantly wish that she hadn't. The ponytailed man loomed over her with a malicious smirk, his intentions for her entirely too clear. In a panic, Amanda tried to push him away, only to realize that her ankles and right wrist had already been bound to a leg of the table that she currently laid on. Ponytail held down her left arm with ease, and began to wrap a length of rope around it and the remaining table leg. "I was worried that you weren't going to be awake for this," he said as he smiled. Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door. Before Ponytail could even respond, a tall man charged in. "Boss! We have a problem!" "What?" The ponytailed man shouted in surprise, angered by the sudden intrusion. He swiftly stood, and marched over to his underling who, despite his height, wilted under the ponytailed man's gaze. "Um. A couple of the visitors we had in the morning are back, including that woman," he stuttered out. Ponytail audibly sighed and, taking a look back over his shoulder at the bound elf girl, pulled the tall man outside. As soon as they were out of sight, Amanda tugged at the as yet untied rope around her left wrist. In seconds, it was free. Her right hand, however, was tied securely to the table. With one hand, and without much leverage, she struggled against the knot that just didn't want to budge. Occasionally glancing at the door, she tried to keep an ear out for when the ponytailed man returned. Fortunately, while the two men spoke quietly, Amanda still managed to hear their conversation. "Why are they here again?" ponytail asked. "There is a sorceress with them this time. She said that there's an anti-magic field here and they want us to turn it off." "What? No, we can't let them do that." There was a pause. "How many of them are there?" "Eight, including the sorceress." "Only? Fine. Kill them. Don't let any escape. We'll need to leave tomorrow morning before they're missed, but pushing our plans ahead by two days shouldn't be a problem." With the sound of the man ascending the stairs signaling the end of their discussion, Amanda redoubled her efforts to untie the knot around her right wrist. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the knot loosened and, seconds later, her wrist was free. She sat up on the table. "Huh, I guess I should've tied that tighter," the seemingly sudden appearance of the ponytailed man next to the table caused Amanda to yelp in surprise. Frozen by a tumultuous sense of fear and anger, Amanda could only stare at him as he took one of her wrists and brought it to his face, rubbing the back of her hand against his cheek. "Your guardian was getting boring, but I'm really glad that you've still got that fight in you," he said with a laugh. "I prefer more lively prey." "No!" Amanda said sharply as she lashed out with her free hand. The punch, though poorly wound up, cut him right across the jaw. A brief look of surprise appeared on his face before it was replaced by another laugh. He quickly grabbed her free hand as well, and brought them to his chest. With a push, he forced her back down into a lying position, slamming the back of her head against the table with enough force to make her see stars. "I hope you'll continue to struggle like this when I start fucking you. I wanna hear you scream. I wanna taste your tears. I want to feel your despair," Ponytail whispered into Amanda's ear, licking her cheek. She shuddered with revulsion, which only seemed to further her captor's amusement. With a smile, he began licking her neck, then down to her shoulder, collar bone, and finally her breast. "No!" unable to maintain her composure any longer, Amanda cried out weakly as tears trickled from her tightly shut eyes. The sudden arrival of the sound of battle brought them out of the trance. The ponytailed man looked back at the still open door in annoyance. He sighed as he got up, not even bothering to secure Amanda's hands again, and walked over to the still open door. "Keep it down up there! Some of us are trying to fuck!" He shouted with a laugh, and slammed the door shut. +-+-+-+-+- "It's in this room. I can feel it," the crimson haired sorceress nodded to Mark. The pair was in a long, seemingly empty room of the warehouse. The only things of interest were a dozen or so barrels filled with fruit and a plain looking wooden table in the center. A couple of coils of rope were strewn about, but other than the untidiness, nothing really appeared out of place. "Is it in one of these barrels?" "Must be. Let's check." "What should we be looking for?" Mark asked. "Something that's not a fruit?" She answered rhetorically as she carefully dug through a barrel towards the back of the room. "They can look like just about anything." Mark shrugged and knocked over the only barrel near him, spilling its contents all over the floor. They were all pears. "Hey!" A tall man shouted from the doorway. "Be careful what you do to other people's stuff!" Mark looked up and frowned. There were maybe ten or so people standing around the double doorway. All of them were noticeably armed with swords and other weapons that didn't belong to simple warehouse workers. "Mark?" Mari said with alarm as the men drew their weapons and walked in with ill intent written all over their faces. "Keep looking, Mari. I got this," Mark said to her as he drew his own sword. "Don't look back until I say so. This isn't going to be pretty." Mari nodded and went back to the barrels, knocking another one over. Turning back to the armed men, Mark smiled at them. "I guess this is too late to ask you fine gentlemen to drop your weapons and surrender," he said, more as a statement than a question. The men looked at him strangely. "What? Why would we do that? You're right that this isn't going to be pretty: none of you are getting out of here alive tonight," the first man said as they approached Mark. "Guys, careful with the sorceress. Maybe we can keep-" His sentence was cut short by a pear kicked unerringly into his adam's apple. As the man stumbled backwards, clutching his throat, Mark charged forward. Mari cringed and shuddered as she listened to the clash of metal and screams of men behind her, but willed herself to focus on her task of finding the controller device. She knew it was close. It has to be in one of these barrels. Is it in this one? No... Or maybe this one? As she pushed over a barrel of limes, something that definitely did not belong fell out. "Got it!" She exclaimed as she held up a red octagonal prism. "Great! Now turn the thing off." She pressed one of the faces of the prism and, over a few seconds, the prism changed colors, fading from red to a simple grey tone. +-+-+-+-+- The trance was broken by the sound of battle. Biting her bottom lip, Amanda willed herself to stop crying. She pulled herself up to a sitting position on the table again to look at the ponytailed man. He wanted her like this. He wanted her to cry and to struggle before he raped her. She shook her head. Even if he did take her against her will, she would not give him the satisfaction. "Keep it down up there! Some of us are trying to fuck!" He shouted to some unseen people upstairs, and slammed the door shut. "No. I will not." Amanda said as calmly as she could manage. The ponytailed man looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? You will not what?" "I will not scream, or cry, or do anything for you," she said as she steeled her heart against oncoming ordeal. The ponytailed man narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that," he said as he retrieved a long bullwhip from a dark corner of the room. "We'll see how long you can keep this brave face up after you have a taste of this." He stopped a distance away from the table, twirled the whip around to test its weight and balance and, with a flick of the wrist, snapped it in the air. Amanda shivered at the loud crack. She had never felt the sting of the whip before, but had seen the cuts and welts it could cause. It did not look pleasant. She wordlessly prayed to the goddess to give her strength to withstand the impending pain, but deep inside, she knew better. "If you start begging me now not to whip you, I will still consider it," he offered with a smile. Amanda clenched her jaw in response. She knew she would probably not be able to hold out for too long, but even so, she'd try for as long as she could. "Alright. Suit yourself," he shrugged, cracking the whip. Just then, Amanda felt something change in the air around her. She looked down at her hands. A sensation that she had not felt in days suddenly washed over her. "Magic..." she said quietly. She didn't know how it had happened, and in that moment, she didn't care. Forcing herself to ignore the man swishing the whip before her, she concentrated and spoke the incantations. "What?" The ponytailed man said with a frown. The girl's sudden change in composure, from barely contained fear to obvious distraction surprised him. He raised his whip. "Look at me!" Before the whip even reached the apex of the stroke, a white ball of force exploded forth from Amanda's hand, striking the man squarely in the chest. He only responded with a half-scream as his body flew backwards at high speed before colliding with the stack of wooden crates that lined the back wall, producing a loud wet crunch. Amanda stared at the debris briefly, shocked by her own power, before quickly untying the rope that bound her legs. Not having thought past what she'd do after she had dealt with the ponytailed man, Amanda quickly devised a haphazard plan for her escape. She knew that the noise would have alerted anyone nearby upstairs, so as quickly as she could, she found the dagger that she had dropped earlier, crouched near the door, and waited. It was perhaps two or three minutes later before she heard the rush of footsteps down the stairs on the other side of the door. Focusing her mind Amanda spoke the incantations of the spell, putting into it all of her strength. She waited for the perfect moment. --- "What the hell happened here?" Lena asked in shock. The two guards with her didn't look any better. Before her were nine bodies lying in pools of their own blood. Mark held the tip of his sword at the throat of a man kneeling on the ground, clutching his own throat and wheezing, apparently having difficulty breathing. Mark ignored her question. "Where is Amanda?" he asked the kneeling man. The man shakily pointed a finger in a direction. In a heartbeat, he was off. "Keep an eye on him," Mark said to Lena as he ran past her, down the hallway. "Wait, Mark!" Mari shouted, chasing after him, but he had already turned a corner. "Damn it. What the hell?" Lena cursed, turning to the two guards at her side. "Karlson, go to the nearest guard station and get some back up; Tam, watch this guy here," she said before running after the two as well. Once again, she heard sounds of fighting up ahead, but by the time she had reached the source, it seemed to have been over already. Mark stood between two bodies, looking at a third man, who stood with his back against a pillar and one foot stepping on a bound and naked elven woman. Lena recognized her as Ellisa, one of Amanda's guardians. Mari looked at the man in disgust as she hid behind Mark. "Drop your sword!" The man said. He pointed his sword down at a bound figure on the ground. "Drop it, or the elf dies!" "Mr. Raven!" Ellisa shouted, "My lady is-" "Shut up, bitch!" The man cut her words short, pressing his foot into her throat. "It's ok, Ellisa, I'm here to get you and Amanda," Mark said evenly, taking a slow step towards the cornered man. "Stop! Stop right there!" He shouted, nervously watching Mark's every move. "I'm really going to kill her!" "No, I think not." As Mark said this, a blindingly bright flash suddenly appeared just above his head. The man instinctively put up his arm to block out the light, but before he had even realized his mistake, Mark had already covered half the distance between them. It was over before the light had faded from the room. Mark pushed the body from his sword and quickly freed Ellisa from her binds, along with the cursed collar from around her neck. He tried to help her up, but she pushed him away. "Mr. Raven, my lady is held in the basement over there," she pointed towards a corner of the room, where there were several large wooden crates. "The door is disguised as two crates on top of each other. Hurry, these men's leader is down there with her!" Mark stiffened, and looked up at Mari and Lena. "Take care of her." "Got it. Be careful!" Mari shouted after him. Quickly finding the hidden door, Mark flew down the darkened stairs, fearing the worst. As he approached the thick wooden door at the bottom, he felt a strange noise, but in his haste he didn't recognize the signal until it was much too late. He put up his arms and turned his head just as the wooden door in front of him exploded into a shower of splinters, the force of the explosion launching him backwards through the air. Even before the dust settled, Amanda had already charged out from room, towards the stairs in front of her. She saw a man-shaped shadow lying on the stairs. It stirred, trying to get up. Not hesitating for even a moment, she dove on top of the figure and raised her knife. "Amanda!" A hand reached up and grabbed her wrist. She froze. The last man she had expected to see stared up at her. "Mark?" "Oh thank the spirits you're safe," he breathed as he visibly relaxed. He let go of her wrist, and wrapped his arms around her. "I finally found you." Still dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, Amanda's mind took a moment to reboot itself. "Mark! You're here!" A wide smile appeared on her face, tears of happiness formed in her eyes. "How? Tell me I'm not dreaming!" Mark smiled too, leaning forward to gently kiss her quivering lips. "You're not dreaming. I'm here," he said, wiping away her tears. "I'm here for you." Dropping the knife on the ground, Amanda threw her arms around the man beneath her, burying her face into his shoulder. She sobbed quietly as emotions overwhelmed her. Mark smiled as he gently stroked her hair. "Did you find Ellisa upstairs as well?" She finally said after a moment. "Yeah, we found her. She's safe. Lena is looking after her." "Good, good," She nodded. "Lena... Captain Banks is here too?" "Yeah. She was available when we came." A flurry of footsteps brought them out of the moment. "Mark! Are you alright?" Mari yelled as she hurried down the stairs. "Yeah, everything's fine, Mari. I found Amanda." The elf looked up to see the crimson haired sorceress smile with obvious relief. Quickly taking off her robe, Mari covered Amanda's nakedness and helped her and Mark to their feet. It was only then that she noticed the smattering of wood on the floor and what remained of a thick wooden door, hanging precariously off of its hinges. "What happened to that door?" "I was trying to knock out the person on the other side," Amanda shrugged as Mark held her hand and lead her up the stairs. "I used the Push spell." "Let's get Amanda back home first. We can talk about everything else later," Mark said. Mari frowned, but nodded. Taking one last look at the destruction, she hurried up the stairs to join the others. Upstairs, Amanda found Lena supporting Ellisa as they walked towards the basement entrance. Her guardian's worried expression quickly turned to relief as she saw Amanda step out from the hidden door. "Ellisa!" Amanda shouted as she ran into her guardian's arms. Lena smiled, stepping aside for them. "My lady! Are you alright? Did that man hurt you? I'm so sorry that I couldn't help you," she said, her voice trembling. "No, I stopped him," Amanda said as she shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You've done far more for me than I would have ever dared to ask. I have nothing but gratitude for you. Thank you. Thank you Ellisa." Her guardian smiled softly. "You're welcome, my lady. Let's go home." Soon, more heavily armed city guards showed up at the scene, arriving by the carriage-full. There was very little left for them to do, but Lena used the opportunity to commandeer a carriage for the two elves. Being the only one who knew the way, Mark took the reins and it wasn't long before they arrived at the familiar elven mansion. Falalie opened the door almost before Mark had a chance to knock on it. She wore only a pair of simple pants and a long robe, clearly not expecting anyone at this hour in the night. Remember... Ch. 07 Chapter 7: Mirrors ***** Finally, this chapter is done. Yay. (Sorry for the delay =S) Hope all of you still enjoy reading this! Content Warning: Consensual non-consent, bondage. Comments and feedback always appreciated (in addition, editors...). CCG ***** The sound of gentle raindrops falling against the window was rather calming, Mark decided. Although he could sense the light of day through his eyelids, he didn't want to wake up just yet. He stayed unmoving, listening. Minutes, or so it seemed, passed before Mark noticed the movement next to him, followed by a shadow over his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Amanda smiled down at him. She leaned on her elbow, balanced gingerly as to not fall on him. "Good morning," he said. "It's almost noon," she corrected him. "Eh. I'm not wrong. It's still morning," he shrugged as he brought an arm around the naked elf and gave her a nudge. Amanda squealed in delight as she lost her precarious balance and fell on top of him. "How long have you been staring at me?" He asked as he held her. The sensation of her skin touching his calmed him. "Only a little while." "I never thought you'd be the type to watch people sleep," he smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Creepy." "I'm just happy to see you," she smiled, ignoring his teasing. Mark gave her a gentle squeeze. "Me too." They laid there in silence, enjoying each other's warmth. Mark realized that he must have drifted off again at some point, because the next thing he felt was a soft hand reaching down below his waist. "Mmm?" He mumbled. "You're poking me," she said as she took his shaft into her hand. "Well, that's not my fault. It's the morning," he laughed and rubbed his eyes. "Who says I'm complaining?" Her hand stroked him as she looked back with mischief in her eyes. Mark blinked as his brain registered what Amanda had said. It took only a moment before he smiled again and rolled on top of her, with his face inches from hers. "No, not complaining. Quite the opposite, in fact," he acknowledged with a smirk as he removed her hand from his member. "Oh?" she breathed as she tilted her head back, bringing her lips closer to his. "Really?" Without answering, Mark kissed her offered lips. It was only a quick peck, really, but he left a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck, nibbling along the way. He kissed each of her breasts, drawing out soft sighs of pleasure, then continued down her belly until he reached the apex of her legs. "Wait," she gasped even as she raised her hips to meet his lips. Her hands reached down to her lover's head, but did not push him away. "Yes?" he looked up with a raised eyebrow, meeting her gaze. Making a show of extending his tongue, Mark licked along the length of her sex. "Mm. You're so ready." Amanda threw her head back and shuddered, a small whimper escaping from her lips. "Wait, Mark," she moaned, trying to keep her voice quiet. "I think... Falalie will know." "I think she'll approve," Mark grinned as he began to lick in earnest. Amanda flirted with the thought of protesting, but her lover's talents dissuaded her from vocalizing any of those thoughts. Instead, she rewarded him with happy gasps and mewls of appreciation. As her breathing quickened to shallow pants, she mustered every last bit of her will and strength to pull Mark up and kissed him with carnal hunger. "Don't..." she pleaded between kisses and moans, "Don't tease me anymore. I want you." Mark grinned, surprised by her boldness. He felt her legs wrap around his waist, pulling him in. Mark was more than happy to comply. They relished in the first moments of intimacy as their bodies joined. Amanda panted in shallow breaths, her eyelids fluttering. She looked up at her lover, taking pleasure in the way he split her flesh. His confident yet warm smile and the look of control in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. It was as if he knew exactly what her body wanted even if she herself could not voice them. "Mark," Amanda gasped as he entered her fully, a wanton moan threatening to escape from her parted lips. As if reading her mind, Mark's lips descended upon hers, swallowing her passionate cry. "If your voice were any louder, the whole house would know," He teased, his hands brushed her breast and neck. She bit her lip and looked away in embarrassment; but as her lover's hand gently guided her head to face him again, she recovered her composure and looked up with narrowed eyes. "Isn't that what you wanted?" Mark laughed, but said nothing. Instead, he started to move his hips, drawing out from Amanda the vocalizations that he so desired. Soon, as their bodies settled to a common rhythm, Amanda breathed deeply and let the blissful tingling wash over her in waves. She felt Mark's hands roam about her body, caressing, grasping, overwhelming her senses. In return, she willed herself to overcome whatever bits of modesty she still felt, and did what she could to reciprocate. Her hips were already almost beyond her conscious control, but her hands grasped at her lover's back and shoulders, offering wordless encouragements. While she indulged in her lover's attentions, Amanda caught a look of amusement flash across Mark's face. His hand ran along one of her arms until he held her wrist, securing it above her head. Biting her lips, Amanda closed her eyes and reveled in this helplessness as she weakly struggled, testing the limits of her freedom. But as quickly as it had come, it was once again gone when Mark opted instead to hold her hand, fingers intertwined. It was a different feeling, but Amanda was soon distracted by other pleasures. -+-+-+-+-+ "Good afternoon, my lady, Mr. Raven," Vin greeted the couple on the stairway. She carried a silver tray, on which was a bowl of soup, and some rye bread. "Would you like some lunch?" "That'd be great," Amanda nodded. "Is this for Ellisa?" "Yes, she had just woken up a little while ago herself, and had asked for something light." "How is she? Can i see her?" Amanda asked, her hands clenching at the sides of her dress. "Of course, my lady," Vin smiled. "I think she would like that." "I'll be right outside," Mark said as he took Amanda's hand into his. "I'm not sure if she'd want to see me right now." A small frown formed at the corner of her mouth, but she nodded without protest. As Amanda opened the door to Ellisa's room, she saw that Ella was already there, sitting by the bed. Ellisa herself still laid in bed, speaking in quiet whispers to her companion. "Hey Ellisa," Amanda said, her voice cracking. "My lady!" Ellisa greeted her with a smile as she pushed herself up to a sitting position on the bed. "I had not expected-" "Don't get up," she said, crossing the room in hurried steps to be by her guardian's side. "How... how are you?" Her breathing quickened. "I'm fine, my lady. I'm just glad that you're safe." "Are you hurt? Did Celes check up on you yet?" Amanda's hands balled into fists. "She could heal you." "Both Celes and Fal have examined me already, and there were no serious injuries." "But I saw them hurt you," she said, her voice rising. Her body shook as she crossed her arms under her chest. "I wanted to help-" "It's ok, my lady. It wasn't as bad as it looked. Most of the bruises have already faded, see?" Ellisa took Amanda's hand as she presented one of her arms. "Please, don't think of it anymore. It's behind us. You are safe. You have no idea how much of a relief this is to me." "But-" "My lady, it is my duty to protect you," Ellisa said as she brought Amanda closer to her, a gentle smile on her face. "I will do anything towards that purpose. And now you are safe. I am safe. Everything is ok, so please don't worry yourself over this, over me, ok?" Amanda scowled as she looked down, but finally nodded. "Thank you, Ellisa," she said with a small smile, and embraced her guardian. "You're always welcome, my lady," Ellisa hugged back. "My lady," a voice calling from the doorway roused Amanda from Ellisa's arms. It was Celistra. "Falalie has asked to speak to you in private down in the garden." Amanda blinked. "Oh. Sure. What about?" "The trip back to Luminare. We may need to re-schedule that." "Oh! Ok," she said as she turned back to Ellisa, who gave her her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Go, my lady. I'll still be here when you finish your conversation with Falalie." With a small smile, Amanda stood up and followed Celistra. "Can you give me a minute, Mark? I'll try to be quick," She said as she passed by him outside of Ellisa's room. Mark, for his part, only nodded as he watched her descend the stairs. He listened to the pitter-patter of her footsteps towards the rear garden, and the click of the door as it closed behind her. At this moment, Vin emerged from Ellisa's room. Her smiled seemed genuine and friendly, he decided. "Mr. Raven, if you don't mind, Ellisa would like to speak to you for a moment." "Sure," Mark shrugged, and stepped in. Ellisa still looked as relaxed as she was when talking to Amanda, but her eyes betrayed a sense of alertness. "Hello Ellisa." "Hello Mr. Raven. I noticed you watching our conversation from the doorway earlier. You could have come in, you know." "Please, it's just Mark. I'm sorry for intruding. I just thought maybe you didn't want to see me, but I guess I was mistaken." "On the contrary, Mark, I do wish to speak to you. But first, I want you to know how thankful I am to you for rescuing my lady and me," Ellisa smiled a little, but her expression otherwise did not change. "You've done us - all of us here in this household - a greater service than you can imagine." "You're welcome, but I would have done this even if Falalie did not ask me." "Of course. While I still disagree with Falalie regarding the propriety of your relationship with our lady, I don't doubt the sincerity of your feelings for her. My objections stems from the fact that our lady's father does not want this for her, and more importantly, I do not fully trust you." "I'd be disappointed if you did." Ellisa chuckled. "That being said, your familiarity with Captain Banks suggests that you are at least trustworthy to her. Our lady wouldn't tell us of how she managed to obtain the captain as her trainer, but I suspect that was your doing as well." "Money can buy many things," Mark said. "Everyone has a price." "Oh I don't doubt that, Mark. But I've seen you in action, and I doubt that your familiarity with Captain Banks was fostered through monetary means." Mark remained silent, impassive. "The reason I'm telling you this is because while I still don't know who you are, I believe that my lady will be happier and safer with you around than without. But make no mistake: if you would spend time with her, then I, along with everyone in this household, would seek out your identity." Ellisa said with a confident smile. "I see," Mark said, his hands suddenly feeling uncomfortably clammy. +-+-+-+-+- "Yes, just like that, Alex. Make sure you construct the spell termination just as neatly as the rest of it." Mari nodded to her student as she guided her student with her own weaves of magic. "Aaaand... There you go! Now release it." The young man bit his lip in concentration as he gingerly released the flows. The results of his labors became evident as the chinchilla before him began to float. "Finally," He breathed. "That took a while." "Good job. Now try it without my help this time," the magenta-haired sorceress patted him on the back as she approached a different student. "Clare, you don't need a dozen fuzzy balloons. Put them back down." Mari's entry level transmutation course had an almost perfect attendance, despite the class's awkward post-dinner schedule. Part of the reason for that was because the class was a general prerequisite for most other higher level classes at the Society. But there was another reason, which was that this year, unlike all previous years, the class's instructor was none other than the Lord Magus's daughter. And whether the rumors were true or not, most did not want to risk their academic careers by doing poorly in Mari Izer's class. The hour long class passed by all too soon. As her students filed out of the room, Mari looked upon the legion of furry critters that still floated in the air. The airborne chinchillas looked back at her with expectant eyes. Mari sighed. "Hello fuzz-butt," she muttered to a white chinchilla as she lowered her into her hands. The fuzzy rodent squeaked happily before leaping into her cage for a dust bath. Mari walked around the room, dispelled the float spell from each of the chinchillas, and returned them to their cages. As Mari opened up the last cage, she heard a knock at the door. "Mari?" Inquired a familiar voice. "Hey! Amanda! What are you doing here?" She greeted her visitor with a smile as she promptly forgot about the last floating rodent. Despite being rescued only days ago, the elf girl looked cheerful. She wore a loose sleeveless white blouse and a grey pleated skirt. Knee high black stockings and a pair of flat ankle boots completed her reserved style. "How are you?" "I'm fine, thanks," Amanda smiled. "I've been resting at home the last few days and answering a bunch of questions for the city guards that came to my house. I finally got Ellisa to agree to let me come out again. I've been so bored." "Ellisa was your guardian who was with you when we found you, right? How is she now?" "She's fine, I guess," Amanda shrugged with downcast eyes. "She says she's ok, and only rested for a day before getting right back to the stuff she usually does. I can't read her that well, and she's pretty good at hiding her emotions from me when she wants to." "I see. I'm sure she'll be ok. Don't be so hard on yourself for it," Mari rested a hand on the elf girl's shoulder. "Anyways, what brings you here tonight?" "I'm here to ask you about tutoring me? I mean, if you're busy, maybe we can just plan it today, and work out the actual days later?" "No, no! This is fine! It's Thursday, isn't it? I did say Tuesdays and Thursdays are good. By the way, how did you know I was here?" "Mark told me earlier, and I asked some of the students out there," she pointed towards the hallway. "What? How did Mark... nevermind," she shook her head, and turned back to the remaining floating rodent. "Of course he would know." "Why do you have all these chinchillas here?" Amanda asked as she looked over Mari's shoulder. "Do you guys breed them or something?" "Eh, something like that," she shrugged. As she lowered the last chinchilla into her hands, he stared at her with disapproval. Or, at least the chinchilla version of disapproval with whatever emotions their little black eyes can convey. But Mari felt it. The white ball of fur barked and nipped her thumb before hopping into his cage. "We used to have an entry level organic replication course here. There was an accident in that class a few months ago, and that's no longer offered, but we did get a bunch of organic specimen to practice other spells on." Looking up into Amanda's disapproving gaze, Mari quickly shook her head to explain herself. "Nonono, Amanda, nothing that would hurt them, I swear! Just stuff like levitation in this class, and in some classes for the younger students, changing the color of their fur and stuff like that. Of course we always change them back to normal at the end." "Alright," Amanda nodded with relief. "I guess that's ok." "Anyways, let's go find an empty practice arena so I can start teaching you some stuff!" Mari said as she lead Amanda out into the hallway. Two elven women stood outside. "Good evening, Sorceress," said a familiar looking face. It took a moment for Mari's memories to catch up. "Hi! Falalie, right? You came to me last week to find Mark." "Yes, I'm glad you remember me," she smiled. "Hello, I am Celistra," the other elf said, holding out her hand. "Thank you for bringing lady Amanda back to us. I think we've met the other night, but unfortunately I was taking care of Ellisa at the time, and did not make proper introductions." "Hi, I'm Mari," she took her hand. "And you don't need to thank me. I was just helping a friend." "Mr. Raven requested your aid?" "Huh? Mark? Oh yeah, I was helping him, sure, but I meant Amanda." Amanda beamed. "Thank you anyways!" she said as she hugged her from behind. "You're welcome, then," Mari laughed. "Let's find an arena, ok?" She said as she led the way down the hall. The three elves followed close behind. "Sorceress," Falalie said, "I heard the students refer to you as Miss Izer earlier." "Yeah? That's my last name." "Would you happen to be related to Lord Magus Nigel Izer?" "He's my father." The two elven women shared a look. "Wait," Amanda said as she reached out and held Mari's shoulder. "Your father is the Lord Magus?" "Yeah. Not as great as it sounds," Mari said, shrugging. "You're THE Mari Izer? I've known about your talents since I was in Luminare!" Amanda gawked. "I've been taught magic based on your patterns! Oh goddess! I can't believe I have you as my teacher!" Mari smiled self-consciously, "Don't mention it. I'm still a student here at the Society too." "Wow. I have Mari Izer as my teacher," Amanda breathed. A sudden thought brought a small frown to her face. "Wait, how did you meet Mark? He said you two were old friends, but it doesn't seem that your social circles would overlap much, if at all." "Yeah, I met him a long time ago," she smiled, recalling the memory. "I was like 8 or 9 years old at the time, and I think I got mad at my father for some reason, so I ran off, and jumped right into the Jita markets. After I ran and hid from my father and the people that were looking for me, I realized that I was lost, and was too tired to jump back. That's when I ran into Mark and two of his friends. They were friendly, and I remember one of them buying me a lump of gooey butter cake. They kept me company and played with me until their guardians came to fetch them, and then took me home as well. I've been friends with them ever since." "Aww, that's cute!" "Heh. Back then, his friends and I, we used to hang out a lot more often. But then I started my formal magic training, and they had their own stuff to do, and we kinda saw each other less and less. Now I just see him or his friends maybe once or twice a month at most, unless they're looking for me for something." "Oh. That sucks," Amanda pouted. "Nah, it's alright. I still get to see them sometimes, and they are still some of my best friends. Anyways, this arena looks unused," Mari said as she peeked inside the large chamber. "Let's teach you some magic." Amanda followed Mari into the spacious arena, while Falalie and Celistra stood outside the doors. Once they were far enough in, Mari pulled Amanda close. She whispered to her in a hushed tone. "So have you and Mark talked about... uh..." "Um. Ropes and such?" Amanda blushed. "Yeah, we've talked about it, and I'm ok with it, though it's not like we've actually done anything with it yet. He's been fairly... gentle, since I got back." Mari nodded. "Alright, I guess that's good enough to start. I'll teach you some ice magic today. You can both defend and attack with it, so it's pretty useful. Now, I saw what you did to the warehouse door that day, so I know you can do a pretty powerful spell. But, this isn't just a simple push. Combat spells can potentially be much more powerful, so be careful with how much energy you imbue it with. And because you can imbue it with more energy, you have to be more careful with how fast you cast them in succession, or you'll run the risk of exhausting yourself quickly. You elves generally have better stamina, but it's still something you should watch out for. Remember... Ch. 07 "Also, be careful to never cast these in the city limits. The Society Enforcers are the 'shoot first, ask questions later' types. If you need to practice, you can either rent an arena here at the society, or go outside of the city. There are a couple fields nearby where some people practice." Amanda simply nodded. "Ok. Now, watch my construction, and follow my lead." Almost an hour later, Amanda laid panting on the ground. Mari stood over her with a smirk. "I told you not to overdo it," she said. "You only need so much power each time. The ice walls were fine, but-" "I... " the elf panted. "I would've. Been fine. If the shard. Didn't get so big." "Yeah. You definitely need to learn to control your spell potency better. You imbue them with way more power than they need most of the time." With her elbows behind her, she pushed herself into a sitting position. "But more power is good, right?" "Well. I guess sometimes? But it's not like you need a giant shard to down one person. A regular sized one is enough. Really, if you're accurate, even a small one might be good enough. And besides, right now we're only dealing with low tier combat spells. If you're not careful with the power for some of the highest tier spells, it's possible to drop dead from the exhaustion." "Oh." "Yeah. Just be careful. You and I, we're not like Maguses. We can only cast spells through our own power." "Hmm? What do you mean?" "Eh? Don't you know the difference between elven and most human magic mechanics?" Amanda shook her head. "All elves, and human Sorcerer and Sorceresses like me are only able to use what strength we have within ourselves to cast spells, while human Maguses cast spells using the ambient magical energy in the air around us." "What? You mean they don't get tired like this? That doesn't sound very fair," the elf grumbled. Mari shrugged. "Well, there's up and downs for each. We can cast spells until we drop dead, while the worst that'll happen to them is that their spell fizzle out from a lack of power. But this also means that we can almost always cast spells no matter the circumstance, while Maguses would be able to cast spells until they've drawn out all the power from the air. It actually happens pretty frequently when there's a bunch of Maguses casting in close proximity to each other. This is why despite most human casters being Maguses, most of our combat casting specialists are Sorcerers or Sorceresses." "Huh. That's interesting. Weird too. I wonder why there's no elven equivalent of Maguses." "Yeah, I don't know either. There's equivalents for almost every race except elves and dwarfs. Doesn't really matter though. We're a far more reliable bunch of casters than they are," Mari grinned as she extended a hand to Amanda. "Now, break's over. Let's practice some more!" +-+-+-+-+- "Hey, Andrew, did you read the intel summary on Hek yet?" Mark said as he took off his helmet, restoring his normal voice. "Mmm... Not yet. You know I always save the most interesting one for my bedtime reading," Andrew admitted sheepishly. "Hah, ok. But really, read it. I'm not a hundred percent certain, but there's a chance that we might have a mole in the Hek branch. I'm suspecting House Norfald or House Casidus, but that's just pure speculation at this point." Jaraad had by this point finished putting on his suit of armor. "Do you want me to have some troop moved to the area and see what information gets passed on?" He offered, his voice hollow and distorted by the helmet. "It's something I should do soon anyways." "No, that's too obvious. And besides, I'm not absolutely certain yet," Mark shook his head. "I'll keep an eye out on it, and see what I can do, but I think for now the best course of action is to just observe. We'll have to filter what information we send to Hek, and be more careful of what information we receive from there." "Yeah, ok. Keep me posted on that. Should we let the Society know as well? They have people there too, right?" "They do, yes, but it's too early. Even if there is a mole, they might tip him off. I'll send them a note when I'm ready to tell them." "Ok. Sounds good. Have a good night, then," Andrew said as he walked towards the far door of the hidden armory with Jaraad a few steps behind. He stopped mid-step. "Oh right, how's it going with that girl? Amanda?" "Huh? Oh, good. Though, I think her guardians are going to try to dig up stuff about me." "Oh. Uh oh. So what are you gonna do?" Mark shrugged. "Mark," Jaraad spoke up, "this is going to sound obvious, but she can't know what you are, and more importantly, neither can her guardians. Giving someone that kind of leverage is dangerous to Andrew, to all of us." "Yeah, I know. I'm handling it," he said as he opened another door that lead into one of the many servant passages that ran throughout the palace. "Good night, guys." After a quick detour to grab a bite near the drow night market, Mark found his way home. As soon as he stepped inside, he sensed something was off. There was the distinct sound of someone's breathing. A quick glance around the dark living room assuaged his momentary alarm. Curled up on sofa armrest, Amanda slept peacefully, her stocking covered feet tucked under her. Mark smiled. He sat down on the coffee table, and stroked her hair. As he looked at her form, he noticed that the hem of her skirt was bunched quite high, revealing her slender legs. The blouse, too, had the top button undone, revealing the gentle curves at the top of her breasts. Mark licked his lips. He took in her innocent beauty even as corrupt thoughts formed in his head. He was fairly certain that she'd be more than happy to be woken up and make those fantasies into reality, but... Mark shook his head and purged those thoughts. Instead, he contemplated on how to move her to his bed without waking her. It was at that moment that Amanda's eyes fluttered open. "Mark?" She mumbled, blinking away the cobwebs. "Hey there." "Hi," she smiled and stretched, her eyes still half closed. "How long have you been there staring at me?" "I only just started," he laughed. "Creepy," she smirked as she spoke a magic chant. A small globe of light appeared next to her, bathing the room in a gentle glow. "Not nearly as creepy as a girl who would show up to my house unannounced," he shot her a playful look. "How did you get here?" "I met up with Mari earlier to have her teach me some spells, and she offered to jump me back here at the end of the night." "That's nice of her. Now come on, lets get you to bed. I'll need to deliver you to Captain Banks in the morning, or she'll be mad at me again." "No, not tomorrow. Lena said she had something in the morning, so she canceled tomorrow's class," she said as she sat up, patting the spot on the couch next to her. Mark was more than happy to move over, putting an arm around the elf as she pressed against him. "Oh? Ok. Well, I guess you started seeing Mari now? How was that?" "It was great! Mari taught me lots of new things. She totally wore me out and had me on the ground panting by the end, though. I was so tired," she laughed. A fleeting image of blonde and red, limbs entwined together, flashed through Mark's mind before she continued. "But on that note, you never told me that Mari was THE Mari Izer!" Mark blinked. "Uh. Yeah, I guess. I didn't think that was important." "Not important? I don't even know where to start!" She exclaimed, her voice rising. "She's like... really famous for her magical abilities! Not to mention it's rumored that she's engaged to King Andrew!" "Ok, ok, yeah, I guess," Mark held on to Amanda's flailing arms, her excitement overflowing. "I've known her since I was little, so I never thought it was that big of a deal. She's just a good friend." The elf girl tilted her head and gave him a funny smile. "Alright. You have other interesting friends that I should meet?" He laughed. "You should ask Mari. She's the one with connections to the king." Amanda rolled her eyes. "Ok well, she did tell me something else. Part of the reason she offered to jump me here was that she said that we should... uh..." she looked down and mumbled something inaudible. "Huh?" Mark leaned in closer. "She said that we should... try your hobby. With the rope," she squeaked. Mark frowned. He thought for a moment before tilting her chin up so that her eyes met his. "Are you sure you're up for it? I want you to feel safe and comfortable. The rest can wait." The elf girl nodded. "I am." There was a small, shy smile, her cheeks turning a rosy red. "I've noticed that you've been tamer with me since that day, and I want you to know that you don't need to be. Being with you means that I am safe. I know you won't hurt me, not really. And..." She bit her lip. "And?" "You don't have to be so gentle with me. I'm not going to break." Mark smiled slightly and nodded. "Ok. Come," he said as he led her up the stairs by her hand. The glowing ball of light floated behind her. Amanda swallowed as she climbed the stairs. Mark held her hand with an iron grip, leaving her no other choice but to be pulled along. As they reached door to his room, he turned towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I know you might have had second hand experience with seeing things like what we're going to do, but let me go over some things with you." Amanda said nothing, but nodded. "We will be playing a game of sorts. And in this game, the most important thing is trust. You need to trust me to not push you further than you're ready to be pushed. I need to trust you to know your own limits, and stop me if I intentionally or unintentionally overstep any of your bounds. "During the game, I may hurt you, physically and emotionally, but only to make the game more fun and interesting for the both of us. There is almost nothing you say or do that will make me stop, although that doesn't mean you shouldn't complain or struggle. In fact, I encourage it. It will make it more exciting for the both of us. The only thing that will make me stop is the safeword. When you say it - when you say the safeword - I will know you've reached your limit, and I will stop everything. Do you understand everything so far?" "Yes," she nodded again. "Good. The safeword is 'remember'. When you say 'remember', I will stop everything. Now, what is the safeword?" "Remember," she answered, her voice confident, yet trembled with just a hint of her nervous excitement. Mark grinned, his smile almost predatory. "Shall we begin?" "Yes." Stepping up close, Mark grabbed her hair and forced his lips upon hers before Amanda could even cry out in surprise, and as quickly as it began, the kiss ended. "You're mine," he snarled, his body forcing her against the door. His leg pressed between her's, the firm pressure against her sex making her knees weak. "Yes!" She gasped. "'Yes'... what?" he asked with narrowed eyes. "Yes... master," she tested the word in her mouth. She felt a warm tingling along her spine. "Good pet." Mark opened the door to his bedroom, and pushed her inside. Before she even had time to recover, he seized her from behind, and pulled her close. His hands roamed her body, groping, unbuttoning her blouse. "No, wait!" Amanda protested as she hugged herself tightly, trying to prevent Mark from stripping her bare, but Mark grabbed her wrists, and twisted them behind her. He held them there with one hand while the other continued to strip and molest her. As his hand reached beneath the waistband of her skirt, the elf began to struggle. "Stop! Please, no!" She whimpered as the hand reached the apex of her thighs. "Your cunt is so wet," he spoke into her ear, his hand rubbing along the outline of her labia against her panties. "You're getting off on this, aren't you, slut?" Amanda moaned, his fingers extracting pleasures from her that she did not yet want to feel. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze, trying to deny to Mark and herself that she was becoming more and more turned on from this carnal abuse. "Don't lie," he growled, pushing her in front of a full length mirror. "Just look at yourself!" In the mirror, Amanda almost didn't recognize herself. Her stocking-clad legs were spread, her hips grinding against the hand beneath her skirt. Her blouse was unbuttoned and slightly open, displaying a strip of flesh from her stomach up to her neck. Her breasts were pushed forward from Mark's hold on her wrists. The lacy white bra that remained was almost a mockery of how they were displayed for presentation. Her neck stretched up and back, leaning her head against Mark' shoulder. Her mouth in the shape of an "O", panting in shallow breaths. Her eyes... she was almost afraid to look at them. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the lust behind her own eyes, yearning for even more depraved things to be done to her. "Do you see what you are now? You are made for this, slut. Now you're going to cum for me," Mark said as he slide his hand under her panties, running his fingers against her moist flesh. Amanda cried out and leaned back, her muscles tensed up. His fingers pressing, stroking, until finally she moaned and gasped, crying out her release, and her legs gave way from under her. Mark allowed her to fall to her knees. Amanda sat on her heels and hugged herself, her breaths quick and shallow. She looked down at the ground, afraid of making eye contact with her visage in the mirror. If she saw herself again, she might not be able to control herself from doing what those eyes were telling her to do. She did not even realizing that Mark had left her until he came back some time later, with a coil of rope in his hands. Her top was yanked off, and her hands forced behind her. The sensation of coarse rope against her wrist sent panicked warnings to her brain as she tried to struggle free, but it was too late. An arm picked her up by the waist and threw her onto the bed, face down, her legs dangling off the edge. Amanda felt her skirt hiked up, and her panties pulled off, and the sudden intrusion of Mark's fingers into her slick depths. A lustful moan escaped from her lips. "You can't get enough of this, can you?" He taunted her, his fingers fucking her with slow, steady rhythm. "Tell me you want this." "No," She moaned. The brief moment of panic had, if not cleared her mind, at least made her more alert. Something definitely felt wrong. "Then why are you thrusting your pussy against my hand?" "Because... because... I don't know!" It was the truth, and it terrified and aroused her. Her body seemed to be acting on its own, disregarding warnings from the still rational part of her mind. From a dark memory of not too long ago, she knew that it wouldn't be long before even her mind would betray her to the pleasures. "It's because this is what you are made for. To be my pet," he hissed into her ear. "My fuck toy," He removed his fingers from her cunt, and thrust them between her lips. Amanda whimpered with shameful need when she realized that she had started to suck almost on instinct. She did not even notice that Mark had positioned his cock between her spread legs. "My slave." Amanda's body froze at the first moment of penetration. A sharp inhale quickly followed, sending her own lustful scent that still coated her master's hand deep into her consciousness. The exhale of her breath came in squeals and moans as her master thrust into her, driving all contrary thoughts away, leaving only the carnal ecstasy that chained her to her master's desires. The slave felt her desires rapidly rise once again, and sucked harder on her master's fingers, hoping that she could please him enough to be rewarded with release. But it was not to be. Her master withdrew from her cunt and pushed her on to her knees on the floor. "Suck," he ordered. Amanda licked her lips as she took in the head of his cock into her mouth, the scent and taste of her master's pre-cum and her own juices making her eyelids flutter. Mark groaned as more of his member disappeared between the elf girl's lips, until the head reached the back of her throat, kicking up her gag reflex. But unlike her past attempts at fellating his length, this time she did not stop. Instead, she willed herself to fight against it, trying to relax, all the while forcing more of his cock down her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes as her gag reflex tried to rebel against the violation, but she was determined. It wasn't long before her lips were wrapped around the base of his sex. A perverse sense of pride filled her heart when she looked up and saw her master's approving smile through teary eyes. Mark grabbed the base of her hair and slowly pulled out, savoring the feeling of her throat around his member. He allowed her to catch her breath before he slowly thrust in again. This time, Amanda took much less time to swallow him whole. He held her head in place while he stared into her eyes. How would she react when she realized that he was not going to let go, he wondered. A sadistic smile formed on his lips. Moments pass. Amanda finally realized that her master was not letting go. She struggled feebly against her master's grip to no avail. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the panic welling up from inside. Her master would not be so cruel... would he? "If you want to breathe, you're going to have to learn to beg," she heard him say. But how? She wanted to ask. With her throat wrapped around his member, she couldn't even make a noise to convey her thoughts. As the seconds ticked by, with her body's movements all but restricted, and her lungs burning, Amanda looked up into her master and pleaded with her eyes. Mark grinned in approval. He held her there for a few more tortuous seconds, and pulled free from her mouth. She gasped for breath, whimpering. He gave her just a few scant seconds to catch her breath before he place his cock against her lips again. She took him in with barely a moment's hesitation, and began to bob her head back and forth, her emerald eyes never wavered from his gaze. "Good girl," he smiled as he grasped her hair again, and began to thrust. Amanda tried her best to fight down the gagging sensation whenever her master's cock hit the back of her throat, but the abruptness of the thrusts made it difficult. Tears once again welled up in her eyes, her body shook as she tried not to gag. It was a losing battle. Very quickly, Mark pulled away. Amanda's reprieve, however, was short lived. From a nearby drawer, he took out a familiar looking pouch. A whimper escaped from the elf girl's lips as her body remembered the wicked sensations that the collar forced upon her. She could see her master doing something to the collar - perhaps adding more charms to torture her further? But she could not be certain. When he turned around to face her again, his fist gripped the collar so that the charms were hidden. He looked at her with a sly smile, his eyes narrowed, as if to say that he knew she would want to count the charms that he had put on there. "Please no please no," Amanda quailed as the memories of the night that they had first met came back to her. The unwanted but irresistible desires that had made her lose control of her very self. The overwhelming desires that had left her so vulnerable in the dangerous situation. Her own lust and the desire to please her master quarreled with the fear in her mind. "I'll be good. I'll be a good girl. Remem..." Mark stopped mid stride as a look of concern replaced the smirk on his face. Amanda paused for a moment, and shook her head, leaving the rest of the safeword unvoiced. "No, please don't please don't," she continued protests as she bit her lip. A brief smile appeared on Mark's face before he continued to her. "Stop please please please no no... Oh..." Her protests turned into a sudden moan the effects of the collar took hold on her body. Remember... Ch. 07 All lingering sense of discomfort in her throat disappeared as a sudden wave of pleasure rippled through her body. "Oh, master," she breathed as the sensations overwhelmed her mind and body. Five charms, at least, she guessed as Mark's lingering hands on her neck sending a shiver of arousal down her spine. Those hands soon once again gripped her hair and forced her to take his member into her mouth. This time, as her master pushed deeper into her mouth, the dreaded gagging sensation was replaced by one of pure ecstasy. A moan escaped her lips before it was abruptly cut off as her master proceeded to force his entire length into her welcoming mouth. Settling into a steady rhythm, Amanda eagerly sucked and licked as her master used her. She looked at him with adoration as each thrust sent a shiver of pleasure to her sex. She tried to grind her thighs together to release some of the pressure, but it only served to heighten her arousal while her release stayed as elusive as ever. She whimpered and tried once again to beg her master with her eyes, but he only groaned as he continued to thrust even faster, each thrust bringing her closer and closer to her peak, but never reaching. She struggled with her bonds, but even that very action only served to reminded her of her helplessness, amplifying the sensations. Her mind screamed inside of her as she felt herself slowly driven insane by lust. She prayed to her goddess for release. She prayed to her master for release. A brief moment of concern crossed his mind as he saw tears flow down Amanda's cheeks, but her bright green eyes showed nothing but maddening desire. She bobbed her head faster around his cock, slurping and licking whenever she could. Mark groaned as he felt his orgasm quickly approach. When the moment arrived, he saw her take his whole length between her ravenous lips. Her throat milked his cock as he released into her, swallowing every drop he offered. By the time Mark had pulled out of her mouth, she was feeling a little light headed. Amanda leaned against her master's leg with lidded eyes and gasped for air, all the while trying her best to lick along his shaft with her outstretched tongue. A gentle hand stroked her head. "Good pet," she heard her master say. Moments pass before Amanda's breathing calmed, and she looked back up to Mark. Her glazed eyes revealed a barely contained frenzy. "Master," she whimpered, her voice dripping with desire, "I need you. Please, fuck me. I'll do anything! I need-" Mark silenced her with a finger against her lips, turning the rest of her words into a lustful mewl. Pulling her up on unsteady legs, Mark kissed her parted lips as he loosened her skirt, letting it drop to the floor. Her bound wrists were briefly loosened to allow her bra to be slipped off before her wrists were once again tied above her head. Now naked except for her stockings, Mark stood back and admired her body, glistening with sweat and shivering with lust. "Undress me, pet," he ordered. The elven slave tried to follow her master's order as quickly as able with her bound and unsteady hands. Fortunately, her task was simplified by his pants having already been pulled part-way down. When she had finished with her task, her hands almost unconsciously went to her aching cunt, only to be grabbed by Mark, a disappointed frown on his face. Amanda's eyes widened at her mistake; her fear of not being allowed to cum almost brought tears to her eyes again. He held her hands above her head for a beat, expression unchanged, until he lead her backwards, away from his bed. "Did you just try to make yourself cum, slut?" "I'm sorry, master. I wasn't thinking. Please fuck me! Please let me cum!" She pleaded, her voice laced with desperation. "Punish me, but please let me cum!" Mark seemed to ignore her pleadings, still pulling her her backwards. She tried to turn her head to see just where he was leading her, but her master gripped her by her hair to make sure her gaze only fell upon him. "You are mine," he declared as she felt her back touch the stone wall behind her. The coarse, uneven surface scraped against her back; the pain only added to her delirious pleasure. He released her hair only to pick her up by her waist, and position her cunt over the head of his cock. "You will cum only when I let you. Do you understand, slave?" "Yes, master!" She nodded in need as she spread her legs, desperate for the penetration that she has longed for. Her master lowered her slowly onto his cock, inch by agonizing inch until their pelvises touched. The slave bit her lip as she moaned in delicious agony when she realized that her feet still did not touch the ground. She was pinned to the wall by his cock and his hands around her waist. Her thighs tensed and her toes curled as she relished in the feeling of powerlessness, while at the same time, tried to follow her master's order to not reach her peak. It was pure torture. "Oh master, please let me cum," she begged, her emerald eyes pleading. "I... I can't... Ah!" She almost screamed as Mark violently began to thrust against her, sending her over the edge almost immediately. "Are you cuming already?" Mark asked a clearly incoherent Amanda. Her eyes rolled back while her lips parted in unbounded ecstasy, vocalizing her release with wild abandon. He continued to thrust against her, groaning, as he felt her sex clench around his cock. "I'm going to have to punish you for that," he grunted. As for Amanda, she barely heard her master's words as her world exploded in white. Her orgasm claimed what little there is left of her conscious mind while her body responded in the only way it knew how: by wrapping her legs around her master's waist, and doing what she could to grind against that wonderful cock, sending her over from peak to peak. It was difficult for her to determine whether it was one continuous orgasm or multiple in rapid succession but it was hardly relevant to her at the moment. Mark slammed into her again and again, using her for his own selfish desires. His earlier release into her throat had sated him enough to last through the delicious eagerness of his slave's hungry cunt, but he knew that it wouldn't be long until he would empty himself into her once more. He grinned as he saw Amanda regain some of her senses, marked by a sharp gasp as her eyes regained their sharp focus, staring into his own eyes. "Master... ah..." she panted, biting her lip. It seemed like she was concentrating with all her will to remain lucid. "I'm so sorry!" Her voice rising in pitch as another orgasm washed over her. She recovered quickly, but the sharpness of her eyes faded just a little bit. "I can't... I can't stop cumming!" "You don't sound sorry at all," he growled, staring back into her. He relished in her helpless as he watched her lose a bit of her composure each time he thrust into her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? Since you can't control your own cunt, let me do that for you. You'll stop cumming when I let you stop." Amanda only had time to vocalize a distressed whimper before she peaked again. And for what felt like forever, she begged her master between each orgasm with incoherent pleas for mercy. He gave her none. With a final helpless cry, the slave girl felt her mind break as she surrendered to the unending pleasure. -+-+-+-+-+ The large granite bath was something of an oddity in an otherwise ordinary house such as his, but Mark enjoyed warmth of the water surrounding him, and the floating sensation that accompanied it. Drifting in the water, he closed his eyes to relax, but memories of the debaucheries he had just shared with Amanda came rushing back. He had tried to push her a little too hard, he admitted to himself, but the the elf girl took to it surprisingly well. A small smile came to his face. It had been almost twenty minutes since he had laid Amanda down on his bed after the conclusion of their intense coupling, and Mark was getting a little worried. She was barely conscious, but seemed to receptive to the idea of a shared bath, asking for some time to calm herself. Just as he thought of going to check on her, he heard light footsteps coming from the hall. "Hey," Mark greeted mostly naked elf as she stepped through the bathroom door. She still had on her black stockings, and her wrists were still bound, but Mark noted that she had taken off the collar around her neck. "Hey... master," she added with a coquettish smile. He laughed. "Come here, you," he gestured towards the bath. Amanda obediently sat on the rim, next to him. Rising out of the water, Mark let her lean against his chest as he took off one satiny stocking, then the other, caressing her calves and feet. "Do you want me to untie you?" He asked. She considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "Ok, try not to get it wet, then." Mark picked her up, and gently lowered her into the bath between his legs. She leaned back against his chest as she nuzzled against his neck. A content sigh escaped from her lips. She draped her arms behind his neck as an embrace. "Thanks for that," she said, her voice just above a whisper, but in the quiet room, it was enough. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. You did great too. I was getting worried that you had forgotten your safeword until you almost said it," he told her, his hands wandering, caressing her offered body. "I 'remember'-ed it," she gave a small laugh. "But..." "Hmm?" "But you know, I was actually really scared at some points. Not of you! No. More scared of myself. There were moments that I felt I had lost control of myself. Of my mind and body. I don't think the 'me' at the time would've allowed myself to deny you anything, even if I would have wanted to." Mark wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Why? Was it because of the collar?" "Maybe," she admitted. The lingering memory of that day when Mark took her in that alley came to her mind, but... Amanda shook her head. "Maybe... can we try this without it next time?" "Yeah, sure. I only did it this time because when I had asked Madam Kessing about them before," Mark said sheepishly. "She had said that one or two charms would be enough to remove any discomfort for you when we're doing stuff. I didn't know you would react so strongly from it, though." Amanda giggled. "I thought you had put five or six charms on me, so maybe part of that was just my own mind playing tricks on me. I swear I don't remember just two charms being so powerful." "Well, I think the circumstances around your wearing the collar this time is a little bit different," Mark laughed. "You mean tied up and helpless, while being subject to horrible abuse?" She looked at him, her face completely serious. "Touche," he laughed again. "But was it really that horrible? I thought you rather enjoyed the abuse," he emphasized his words by cupping her breasts in his hands, and pinching a hardening nipple. Amanda hissed as she arched her back, pushing her breasts up above the water. "Horrible. Cruel," she moaned. Her eyes narrowed with playful annoyance. "Spirits, you're a horrible liar." His fingers clamped down on another nipple and twisted, eliciting another moan from his elf girl. He held his hands where they are, above the water, so that when Amanda tried to relax her arched back, she found herself pulling on her own nipples. She whimpered helplessly as she tried to keep herself in a comfortable position. "Hey! You're an evil sadist. Do you enjoy hurting- Ah!" Her words were cut short as Mark pinched down harder and pulled up. She felt almost as if her whole weight was lifted by her breasts alone. "Slutty masochists like you will take whatever abuse I feel like giving you," he said, releasing her abused tits from his grasp. Amanda sunk back down into the water with a gasp. However, her reprieve was short lived. Almost immediately, she felt a hand at her sex. A finger thrust inside her with almost no warning. "You'll take it all, and you will like it. And you will thank me for it." Biting down on her lip, Amanda stifled a moan as she weakly tried to grind her hips against his hand. "Ah... thank you, master." Mark rewarded her obedience with a few more thrusts of his finger before he withdrew. With an arm around her waist, Mark rose out of the water, picking her up along with him. He sat down on the ledge of the bath, with Amanda on his lap. He placed his legs between hers, keeping her spread for him. His cock rested between her labia, teasing her as she tried to grind herself against him, but his arm around her waist prevented her from obtaining the object of her desire. Amanda whimpered as she turned looked up to Mark, finding him looking down into her eyes. His hand held her by her chin as he kissed her, almost tasting the desperation on her hungry lips. Finally, he lifted her up and and penetrated her slick cunt. The elf sighed in satisfaction. Still mostly immobilized by Mark's arm around her waist, Amanda gyrated her sex against his, drawing out mutual gasps and moans. As their lips parted, Mark leaned back against the wall with Amanda's body draping on top of him. His hands toyed with her breasts and clit, giving her wordless encouragements to continue her performance. Bring her arms forward, Amanda braced her hands against his legs while she impaled herself on his wonderful cock over and over again. It wasn't long before her enthusiasm brought her close to her edge again. "Oh master!" She gasped from between breaths. "I'm going to... Ah." "Are you going to cum without permission again?" Mark growled into her ear as he leaned forward. His hands grabbed her legs, holding them up from behind the knees. He held her immobile, folded at the waist, helpless and completely at his mercy. Amanda whimpered in frustration, but shook her head. "No, master. May I cum?" "No. You may cum when I do," Mark answered as he leisurely used her, moving her up and down his cock. The elf moaned as she tried to delay the inevitable. The slow pace helped, but she knew that the tempo would increase in time, and she would be powerless to stop her own body. Her master will punish her again. Torture her. And she will love every moment. Mark felt Amanda's body tense up more and more as his own desires rose and he picked up the pace. And as seconds became minutes, her loud moans became quiet squeals; the tendons in her neck and shoulders strained against some invisible force. He knew she was close, desperately trying to hold back what her body could not deny. She had put up a good fight, but when he saw her pointed feet and clenched toes, he knew it was over. "Cum for me, my pet." Amanda threw back her head against his shoulder and opened her mouth in a silent scream as she let herself go. All of the ecstatic pressure released in an explosive moment, sundering her conscious mind from her body as she shook in her master's arms. Mark, for his part, only thrust into her faster, as her orgasmic display brought him closer to his own limit. Quiet whimpers of gratitude fell from Amanda's lips even before she was fully conscious, which then turned into obscene encouragements as she her mind took control of her own body again. As she felt his hold on her body tighten, she knew that he too was close. "Fuck me, master. Fuck my cunt," she moaned into his ear. "Use me. I'm yours. I'm your pet. Your slave. Fuck me and own me." Her words send him over the edge. With a loud grunt, Mark slammed deep within his willing slave and released his pent up pleasure. He felt Amanda's cunt clench around his member, trying to draw out all of him as he closed his eyes and relished in the blissful moment of ecstasy. Slowly, he opened his eyes again. He had released her legs at some point, but they were both still joined, with her lying on his chest. He heard his own heavy breathing intertwined with the elf girl's as their bodies unwound from their second coupling of the night. Mark finally untied her as the pair bathed each other in the now cooling water, and fell into bed with flirtatious smiles on their face. As Amanda closed her eyes, lying in Mark's arms, she prayed to the goddess that the rope marks on her wrists would still be there in the morning. -+-+-+-+-+ "This is going to be awkward," Amanda murmured, nibbling on her chocolate pastry. As they approached Amanda's mansion, she began to slow down. "Oh please. I bet they all knew what we were doing even before last night. Falalie knew for sure. She knew the time we did it in the alley, too," Mark smirked. "What? She did?" Her eyes widened. "She... she never said anything to me!" "Just relax. She knew exactly what we were doing yesterday morning in your bed, probably in explicit detail, and you went to have a nice talk with her pretty much right after. I'm pretty sure she doesn't really care," he laughed at her obvious discomfort. Amanda cringed. "Oh goddess! I'm never going to be able to look her in the eyes again!" She stopped dead in her tracks. "Amanda! Relax! It's fine! Your guardians' job is to protect you. They're professionals, so they're not going to be judging you on what you do in your own time, or how you want to live your life." "But-" "No buts! I'm serious about this. I... I've done this before, protecting someone," Mark held her by her shoulders. "It doesn't matter what I think of the person's actions, it's my duty to protect them. There can't be any conflict of interests between me and them, or else I can't guarantee their trust, and thus their safety." He paused for a moment, Jaraad's reminder of his own duty from the previous night surfacing in his mind. "So trust me when I say that your guardians doesn't care about what you do, as long as you're safe, ok?" The elf calmed down a little. Biting her lower lip, Amanda nodded. "I guess they trust you too, now?" She asked with a small smile. "No, not really," Mark chuckled. "They don't really know who I am, so they don't know where my loyalties lie, but they know that I will keep you safe." "Maybe I should just hire you," she suggested, half joking. "Well, you should've thought of that earlier," he laughed as he pulled her along again. "I'm still on contract with someone else, until further notice." "Aww. You're not hired to seduce me and kidnap me, are you?" "Oh spirits I wish! I'd have lots of fun with that." "I bet you would," she rolled her eyes. "But I guess I can trust you for now." Mark smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. As they walked up to the front gates of Amanda's mansion, he sighed. "I really do wish that was my job. That really does sounds fun." "Oh shush. You're doing that already anyways," she poked him in the ribs. Celistra was at the door to greet them, and it was then that Mark noticed something seemed off. The red headed elf seemed somewhat distant as she lead them to the sitting room. "Is everything alright?" Mark asked Celistra. Before she had a chance to answer, Ellisa emerged from the back of the house, a grave look on her face. "My lady, may we have a word with you?" Amanda frowned, glancing at Mark with uncertainty, but she quickly followed. Celistra forced a smile as she stayed with Mark. "Don't worry, it's not anything against you, Mr. Raven," she tried to assuage his concern. Mark nodded, but his suspicions remained. As minutes pass, hushed sounds of a conversation emerged from the dining room area before Amanda came back, a look of sullen confusion on her face. "Amanda? Is everything ok?" She sat down next to him, staring at a spot on the coffee table as if not totally aware of her surroundings. "A courier this morning just deliver a letter. It was written by Linae, dated almost two weeks ago, right before Ellisa and I were taken. We... we've suspected that she was the one that betrayed us, but now we know for sure."