by Russ Primo
"And who said that I wasn't disguised?" I teased her. "You think I'm handsome now? Why, I had to save myself from having every woman in these Isles throw herself at my feet, until I could use them to help settle this Debt that I've been saddled with!"
The rider in front of me snorted her laughter, which I though quite rude of her.
"All Free women can smell magic, Pryvet," she giggled. "That's how we know whether the man flirting with us will simply use our wombs to settle his Debt, or whether he is truly interested in us. Temple maidens can smell a poorly-executed spell from a hundred yards. And you, Pryvet, have no smell on you, whatsoever! So, don't try to get too cocky with me."
She turned in her seat and winked flirtatiously at me, pursing her lips and blowing me a soft kiss before facing forward again.
"Well!" I cried, tickling her waist as well as I could through the thick robes and drawing a few giggles from her. "You may be able to smell The Mother's magic, my dear. But, I am a foreigner; and we have a magic all our own! You clearly just can't smell it, beneath my manly odor! Kacie certainly could, which is why she’s so desperate to remain by my side. ”
The rider squirmed beneath my fingers, wriggling in her seat and making the horse sound very exasperated to have to ferry two such childish types on his arrogant back.
Meanwhile, I raised my hands in their tickling, slowly rising higher and higher, until they were tickling around the sides of her breasts.
"If you know what's good for you, Pryvet!" the rider declared. "You'll not sully my dignity, at least before you've had a chance to bargain with The Mother. She'll be much more amenable to your suggestions, I think, if you haven't already taken one of her maiden's virginities!"
So saying, she gave a great shove with her hips, forcing my body away from hers and making me grab once more onto her hips for a safer purchase.
"Besides," she continued, chuckling to herself as though this was the most fun she'd had in years, "Shouldn't you ask a girl's name first, before you feel her up?"
"Fine," I laughed, holding tight onto her as she spurred the stallion on ever faster. "I suppose I can't really call you ‘hag’ anymore, after seeing how beautiful you are. So, ‘ex-hag,’ what's your name?"
To my surprise, far from me as she was, the little blush stole up her cheeks again, her neck shivering in pleasure as she said, "Mirabelle, Pryvet. My name is Mirabelle.
“But, my friends, and those who would like to be my lovers, call me Mira."
"Well then, Mira," I laughed, hauling myself close to her again, and testing the waters to see whether she'd be amenable to my sitting skin-to-skin with her again, "Let's test your nose some more, see if you can't discern the magic that I'm using, that I'm hiding with my manly odor."
To my surprise, Mira leaned her back against my chest, sighing contentedly as she did so.
"You have no magic, foreigner," she whispered. "But, that's all right. Because I don't think you'll need any magic, anyway…"
I chuckled.
Sworn to chastity or not, only a fool would think they didn't have a chance with this girl.
I said, "Thank you for the compliment, Mira."
Chapter Six
The rest of the ride was mostly quiet.
After the flirting, it seemed that Mira lost either interest, or energy to continue. Kacie, likewise, seemed a bit down.
Probably, it was the liquor leaving her with a hangover.
Either way, I was given the opportunity to survey our surroundings.
When I'd come into Clanesse, weeks prior, I'd come from the South, through the thick forests, rambling brooks, the birdsong, the bear-growl, the shade.
The forests through which I'd ridden were, like most forests on the Free Isles, older than memory.
Constantly, on a turning in the trail, I'd sense the eyes of some creature or spirit on me, watching me as though with the curious interest of an ancient body unexperienced with the modern world.
My short-sword remained at the ready, it's steel flashing cold and gleaming, and apparently scattering whatever eyes watched me, to my pleasure.
But, now, Mira's stallion bore us north.
I had not travelled North of Clanesse, yet.
And when I entered the town, it was made clear to me how they thought of weapons. I’d neglected to bring it along, on this ride. Though we saw no more enemies amongst the wheat, nor monsters lurking in the forests, I felt its lack keenly.
I was always very good, with a sword.
Perhaps I could bargain for an enchanted one, from The Mother?
There were no forests beside us, or even in the distance, as we sped on further and further from the shore and the more habitable lands which ringed it.
Field after field of dry wheat rose up alongside us, struggling to ripen amidst the rocks and the sharp, piercing sunlight, the sky having banished those clouds which Mira had brought with her into Wex's bar.
Precious few roads branched off from ours, and those which did bore no signposts that might tell one where they were headed.
I suspected that these few crossings led only further out into the fields, to ease the collection of the thin grain at harvest-time.
There was no reason to go out this way, otherwise. Save, of course, for the temple which must be out here.
It seems a little odd, of the Free Folk, to build a temple way out beyond where anyone would ever want to go.
On the mainland, we are much smarter, and build our worship halls in the center of towns, to make it easy to flee them to drink when service is finished. These people would be traveling all day, just to get there and back again!
Though Kacie was a local to the town, it seemed that she had little idea of where Mira was taking us, either.
Between flashes of her oncoming hangover, when her large, dewy eyes weren't trained on me and my proximity to Mira, Kacie would stare wonderingly off down the few roads that branched from ours, as though surprised to see them at all.
She does seem to be getting a bit jealous of the way I sit so close to Mira though.
Would she rather have me behind her, with my hands on her hips instead? Would she rather that my hands were elsewhere on her?
With her hair the same color as the wheat, it seemed as though Kacie was a sort of wheat-woman, a harvest spirit of fertility, perhaps.
Her nipples stood out stiff enough against her white shirt to make me think of how fertile she might be, even knowing that she wasn't a harvest spirit.
She blushed, when she noticed my eyes upon her.
To my delight, instead of hiding her womanhood by hunching, though, she sat up even straighter in her saddle, drawing my eyes to the full rear that sat below her feminine hips, and making her breasts sit more noticeably on her frame.
Presently, we began up a long, winding incline between the rows of wild wheat that had apparently been abandoned by their owners.
Back and forth, the stallion between our legs swayed, as it took turning after turning.
Back and forth, Mira lurched in her saddle.
Her face turned greener and greener with every hitch in the road.
At each opportunity, I crept my body more firmly into Mira's, expecting her to make a comment about it at some point. But, her lips remained sealed, and it was this that made me think we must be drawing close.
Perhaps the temple is at the top of this hill?
Although, if it were, shouldn't I have seen it from far off? Unless, of course, it's a small thing?
It would certainly be embarrassing, to have a temple so small one couldn't even see it on a rise.
Mira's face was starting to look very green, indeed, and I worried that she might be sick before we even got to where we were going.
"Is the temple at the top of this hill?" I asked Mira, tugging her waist into me as the stallion took one of the last turns, on the way up to the rise. "Is it a small one, and are you embarrassed to show a foreigner it? If not, I'd like to take a break when we get there. This is hard
riding, and I'm used more to walking on my own two legs, than I am to having another creature do my work for me."
Though I didn't explicitly mention Kacie, she turned her eyes to me, regarding me happily beneath her furrowed brow and mouthing a soundless, "Thank you, Pryvet.”
Huh. So, it seems Kacie is more of a walker, as well. It’s weird that she would have a horse to bring here, though, if she weren’t used to it.
The sun hung low in the sky to our left, lighting up the wheat like it was an ocean of roiling gold, swaying gently in the oncoming night's breeze, and shifting the sound of grasshoppers within it as each blade turned, batting them towards us.
With each gust the chirping of the grasshoppers, the crickets, the smaller buzzing insects rose in my ears like a wave crashing upon the shore.
And with each lull the soft noise fell away like the same.
In spite of Kacie's uncomfortable expression, I couldn't help but feel hopeful about how this whole Debt situation would shake out.
Nothing can seem very dangerous, when you're riding behind one beautiful girl, have another to your side, amidst golden fields of wheat on a warm day, with the setting sun lighting up these beauties like they were candles.
Plus, I'm able to bargain for magical powers, in exchange for impregnating women. If these two I'm riding with are any indication, the Free Women will fairly jump out of their bodices, when I ride by!
In front of me, shifting in the saddle, to lean her strawberry hair against my shoulder, Mira cooed out, "Almost there, Pryvet. And we've got just the thing to shake that illness from your pretty face at the temple, Kacie!"
Turning to see what the damage to Kacie's beauty was, I saw her look up to the sky, sighing in relief.
"That's good to hear," she said, not removing her eyes from the pinkening sky above us. "I think that I'll need it."
Yes. Everything seemed like it would turn out fine.
Even the elves that had nearly killed one of Clanesse's mages seemed far away and frail to me, and we rode on to the crest of the hill.
True to her word, as soon as we crested the rise, our horses breathing heavily, snorting great puffs of steamy breath into the coming night's cold, we saw that we’d gained the true height of the place, and not some false-summit.
At that moment, too, the wind whipped across the rise like a soldier slicing away at a well-placed foe.
Those small gusts which had carried us the sound of insects, on the way to the rise, had taken off their shackles and set about us like angry lovers.
Kacie's loose hair whipped around her heart-shaped face like banshees with a purpose, and even Mira's thick hood flicked up gaily in the breeze.
I would have brought warmer clothes, if I'd known how long it would take us to arrive. Or, how barren the land around us would be.
Surveying the landscape, I breathed a sigh of relief to see, down a gentler slope on the other side of the rise, a picturesque little stone building, in the shape of our temples back on the mainland.
"Beau," Mira said happily, turning to flash me a glorious smile, with her white teeth shining like the stars would soon be, and then over to Kacie's already-improving appearance, "and Babe. Welcome to The Mother's most remote temple. The place of easiest conversation with her. My home. And the site where Pryvet's future will be decided. Welcome to Smoterlich!"
I heard myself snort at how ridiculous the name sounded before I could stop myself.
"Unless one of us!" Mira said angrily. "Would prefer to spend the night outside, with the wind and the crickets? Kacie’s offered it, already… But I think that another of us might do better with the manners it will impart!”
These Free Islers have no idea how ridiculous all their names are.
"Consider my bad manners a direct result of how much longer this trip was than advertised," I grumbled to Mira. "I'm sure that, once I've had a decent sleep in a warm bed, I'll be feeling every bit the gentleman you know I really am, deep down."
Mira flushed a glorious red, so that her cheeks seemed to be a muted extension of her brilliant hair, in that sparkling sunset.
I smiled to myself, and let my hands rove about on her sides, teasing her frame with delicate touches.
She's thinking about who will get to warm my bed, no doubt. Let’s give her something more substantial to think on, then.
"You need too much, I think," Mira giggled, "After all, look how much improved your beauty looks, over there on her horse with her hair taking on the color of the sky itself."
"And who's to say," I grunted, seeing Kacie grin happily and turn her eyes to me, catching the gentle slope of her thighs as they gripped her horse firmly out of the corner of my eye, "That you're both not my beauties?"
Kacie gasped pleasantly at this, her flat, open palm flying up to cover her small, exclaiming mouth, exaggeratedly.
"You lecherous thing!" she joked, setting her horse off down the slope ahead of us. "Why, I'll have to punish you, Pryvet! You'll just have to watch as I ride away from you!"
I chuckled as she stood up in her stirrups the smallest bit, so that her whole lower body taughtened, in holding her up, her butt full and round and strong, yet supple enough that I couldn't help but think how much warmer my bed would be with her in it.
"Heeyah!" Mira called after a minute or two, clearly lost in the swaying of Kacie's ass just as much as I was, as she rode down the gentle slope.
Our stallion set off a trot down the road, until we rode just alongside her, and I could reach out and palm Kacie's bouncing butt appreciatively.
She looked at first like she wanted to continue the ruse, for her brow furrowed and her gaze darkened.
But, whatever playfulness was in her clearly lost out to how good my hand felt holding her butt.
"How many broken Tallies does your Tally Branch have, Pryvet?" she breathed heavily, glancing over at Mira's glorious hair and emerald green eyes.
"I'm not sure," I growled, squeezing her ass and listening contentedly as she sighed. "A lot more than two, I can say. So the pair of you will have to make do with sharing my bed with a good many more women as well.”
As we rode along, Kacie reached out with her fingers and grazed Mira's cheek.
"I think, so long as we start with us two, though," Kacie half moaned. "That I'll be all right with it. A girl needs time to adjust to it, after all…"
Though I felt Mira's body shudder as Kacie stroked her cheek, she shook her head despairingly and whispered, "I'm to remain chaste, remember you two. It's part of the requirements for my job…"
"Of course it is," I growled, leaning her head back so that her ear was right next to my mouth. "And I would never do anything that you didn't want."
Leaning against me, her whole body shuddered in unrequited need.
The Mother's Temple, Smoterlich, swam cleanly into view as we drew closer along the road.
Walls of large, regular stone showed the craftsmanship, and so the energy employed in its construction, to be quite grand. The mortar which held them together stretched from edge to edge across all the stones, running in clean, well-laid lines that showed great care.
Beside the Temple, a copse of trees sat, resolutely guarding a series of gravestones carved out of just the same clean stone as the Temple itself was constructed.
Having not seen trees at all since leaving that afternoon, I was surprised by how menacing this lot looked.
A brief gust of less-sharp wind picked its way through them, turned their leaves around, stretched their thinnest branches out towards us, as though grasping at us and wishing to do us some harm.
Perhaps it was this look at the trees that made my hair stand on edge, and perhaps it wasn't.
Either way, I felt Mira's lithe body tense up beneath my fingers, her muscles taughtening like they were readying themselves to spring her from the saddle.
Her own fingers reached down alongside the mare, to where her staff rested, strapped alongside the tired horse.
"What is it?" Kacie
whispered, edging her stallion nearer to us, a look of concern showing plainly on her face. "Something feels off, but I can't tell what.”
Mira squinted her eyes forward in the gathering dark, surveying the dark spots between the tree-trunks with interest.
We haven't seen the elves since Wex's bar. I wonder if she’s worried of more of them.
"Something's burning inside," Mira whispered back, finally, gesturing towards the door and unstrapping her staff from alongside our horse. "How much of a pummeling do you think you can manage with that Tally Branch of yours, Pryvet?"
Not all that much, if they have archers half as good as the blonde elf from earlier.
"Enough to keep you two safe," I growled back, eyeing the flickering light from the doorway with disdain.
Silently, we dismounted from our horses, and as quietly as possible, I withdrew my unbreakable Tally Branch from my bag, readying myself for whatever we would find inside.
Chapter Seven
I crept on foot towards Smoterlich's open front doors, from which spilled the harsh, flickering light of flames inside. My Tally Branch, for all that it was full of unfinished twigs, and was as wide as my chest, seemed to weigh nothing at all.
As though it had found being used as a club enjoyable, and longed to have the same happen now.
Should feel good, to give whatever's inside a walloping.
The brawl back at Wex's bar had reminded me how good it felt, to be part of a fight's chaos.
We had fights over everything, on the mainland. Although you would think that I'd be happy to get away from it all, the truth was turning out to be that I liked to be in the mess of things.
Behind me, Mira crouched down low as well, her large staff clutched tight in her slender fingers, horizontal to the ground so that it wouldn't make noise scraping along the crushed stone path.
Behind her, Kacie looked a little put-off, at not having a weapon of any sort.
"Aha!" Kacie exclaimed softly as she hefted a fist-sized rock from the ground alongside the path, "Now I won’t be just a tag-along!"