by Russ Primo
"We are responsible for a thousand islands' worth of territory," she said, "And a single town in the middle of nowhere, with no ports and only a small temple—I mean no offense, of course, Mette—is simply not a priority."
I stared blankly at her, feeling fury at this treatment rise up in my chest. Almost without realizing it, my arm shifted the shield into position, as though ready to pummel her with it.
Lyst, however, was aware of my actions, and stared me down.
Our eyes met, glaring at each other for a solid minute, before I realized that she wouldn't budge in her ways.
Some people, I guess. I’ll just have to hope Wex is okay, until I can get back there.
"Fine," I grunted, standing up from the table and stomping back towards the stone door to the tunnels. “It’s a priority for me, though.”
As I ran my fingers down the nearly-invisible seam between the two halves, I noticed Mira's fingers searching, too, and Kacie's.
"Didn't think you'd go back there without us, did you?" Mira chuckled, shifting her back so that the bowstring fell more securely between her breasts. “You can’t get rid of us, Pryvet.”
"Of course he did," Kacie laughed, her long fingernails finding the seam between the stone slabs, and starting to pry at the stone. "It's exactly the sort of thing he'd think; along with, ‘Oh, it’s fine for me to drag two half naked women out of bed, against their will, when they're too groggy to realize they're being shot at.’
“He’s just like that, it seems. And it’s up to us to make sure he knows he can’t get rid of us.”
Mira gave a short, sharp laugh, and fit her fingernails in beside Kacie's, starting to pry, herself.
Well, if I’m going to be talked down to, at least it’s by two beauties, one of whom desperately wants my seed, and the other of whom almost-certainly-wants my seed.
Evidently, Kacie and Mira weren't the only ones who found humor in the situation, though, for as I attempted to wedge my own fingers (unsuccessfully, owing to my short-cropped fingernails) in between the stone slabs, Lyst gave a harsh, barking laugh.
"And where do you three think you're going?" she asked. "No sword, five arrows, two of you without even pants, and one without a shirt? Do you fancy yourselves warriors?"
I grimaced at the door. She was trying to get a rise out of us, but it wouldn't work.
"Pryvet, Mira, Kacie," Mette whimpered. "The door can't be opened from this side. It doesn't matter who tries. That tunnel is for escape to here, not escape from here."
Unheeding, we kept prying at the stones. I would be damned, if I'd have escaped all that, only to let my friends be killed by those same elves.
But, straining, the truth started to become clear to each of us, little though we would admit it.
I hate it when I’m made a fool of.
Behind us, Lyst banged her helmet down hard on the table, the sharp metallic ring surrounding the whole room.
"Come away from there, you little warriors," she commanded. "Let me show you what a real fighting force looks like. Then, we will outfit you with proper weapons, if you still decide to attempt this foolishness."
Groaning, we had little option but to agree.
"Can you outfit us with some pants, too?" Kacie laughed exasperatedly, as she gave up at the door. "And maybe a shirt for Pryvet? Although he does look really, really good like this…"
When I looked over at her, I saw her biting her lip, staring at my bare chest.
Good to know she likes me shirtless.
I’m sure I could use that to get her excited later on.
“Excellent," Lyst smiled, "Follow me, please, and we'll get your clothes."
Without another word, she turned on her heel, swung the helmet back up under her arm and trooped out of the room, clearly expecting the rest of us to follow her, wherever she was leading.
I’ve got to trust Mette, for a little while, until I figure out what’s going on better.
But, if she leads us into another woman like Lyst, whether or not she’s a killer body, I’m going to have to take the lead from Mette.
One Lyst is proving to be way more than enough.
Where she was leading, it turned out, was the end of the small hallway that her office let out into, lined with thick carpets, and into which four doors were set.
"Please," Lyst said, bowing low, and sweeping her helmet up in to her shoulder, "You will find me at the room, after you have changed, and freshened up. You will not need your weapon, Mira. Pryvet…"
Lyst looked me up and down, as though curious.
"…You may bring your shield with you. A man should always have a reminder of his Debt, wherever he goes.”
With that, Lyst spun on her heel again and walked curtly back down to her office.
What a nasty little…
I turned to face the women.
"Well," I grumbled, starting to feel my lack of sleep press against my eyelids, "I suppose we each have our own room? They must really have sent word to you, Mette and Mira. Only, how did they know I was coming? And, for that matter, which rooms do we each go into?"
Although the three women were all gorgeous, they each had very different body types, and if they had stored changes of clothing inside, then it hardly mattered that they were all women.
Mette's bust, I could tell, would never fit in a shirt made to fit Kacie's chest.
Mette sighed.
"I really wish I knew any more than you three did about this whole thing,” she sighed. “But, at least I know how to check rooms."
She approached the first door, and laid her palm upon it, closing her eyes and listening.
"Ah," she said with a small smile. "It is as I thought. These doors are sealed to any but the occupant intended. This one is mine."
Grasping the handle, she opened it wide and looked inside.
It was well appointed, with a tall, wooden wardrobe along one wall, a desk along the other, and a plush bed that came up to about knee height.
A separate door, beside the wardrobe, seemed to lead into what might have been a washroom, for I caught sight of some shiny handles and what looked like a luxurious wooden tub.
Though, what caught my eye most in the whole space was the window, which had a stained glass figure of a full-chested woman in it, who was completely nude, and admiring her assets.
Strange, fuzzy dark lines in the light, which ran down the window's length put me in mind of iron bars, and I hoped that we hadn't just come to safety, only to be captured by whomever these women were.
I was already starting to regret coming here.
Confirming my suspicion, Mette sighed, looking at the window, and commented, "It seems we are guests in name only. I hope that I'm wrong, and those are not bars behind the window. Or, at least that they are only on mine, and not on any of yours."
As she closed her door, I doubted that was the case.
The next door that she laid her palm upon, she declared to be Mira's.
It was appointed much the same as Mette's had been, though the stained glass window showed a smaller woman than the other, her belly starting to bulge with a baby. Further, it seemed a little smaller than Mette's.
Sighing deeply, Mira said, "Oh good, it's got a bath. I needed one desperately!" before bouncing off into the room, and throwing her bow onto the bed.
She dropped the arrows by the dresser and almost immediately started taking off my shirt, which caused Mette to cluck her tongue and swing the door shut.
Great timing, Mette. You could have given me a better look, now that it’s looking like I actually can sleep with you two.
The third room Mette checked, to my dismay, appeared to be mine.
Unlike the others, it did not have a large wardrobe, or any wardrobe at all, really.
There was a small dresser, before which there sat a pair of worn-looking traveling boots, that only just barely appeared to be in better repair than my own.
The bed within looked like it had sat made for some months, an
d the bathroom had a certain, unplaceable funk coming from it.
"Oh, that is terrible!" Kacie groaned when she poked her head in, clearly as surprised as I was at the lack of care given to this room. "I hope mine isn't like this!"
"Don't worry," Mette said shortly, "It won't be. The Valkyries know little of men, spending so much time together in Aegid. I think most have not seen a man in years, and this gives them a very peculiar view of them. I'm afraid that it's commonly held, among the Valkyries, that men revel in sparse furnishings, and dank, smelly wash-rooms.”
Of course this place also smells like shit. It really just puts a capper on this whole experience.
As I stepped in, I sighed longingly at the state of the place, thinking that although I'd love a good soak, I'd probably come out the other end of it smelling worse than I did at that moment.
Opening the top dresser drawer, I was surprised to see the clothes inside appeared clean and pressed.
At least I had that going for me.
"Do you want to just come stay in my room, Pryvet?" Kacie asked coyly, as though seizing on an opportunity she hadn't expected to see.
Mette clucked her tongue.
"That's a lovely offer, Mette," she said, "But although the Valkyries are all devoted to a religion that praises human unions, they… take a very shallow view of it, in these halls. The bars on our rooms are not the only things that constrain us here. Perhaps, after we meet with Lyst, we can work out other arrangements."
With that, she closed my door, and I groaned, stretching my sore muscles and trying as hard as I could not to breathe in through my nose as I slammed the washroom door shut, keeping the horrid scent at bay.
"You found your accommodations to be… lacking?" Lyst asked, confusion writing itself across her face. "But, I was under the impression…”
That I was raised in, and preferred, filth? That I wanted to smell so bad that no woman ever approached me again?
We were standing in Lyst’s office, each on either side of the desk with the map upon it.
I had decided to forego the bath, thinking that although the trail we'd travelled had indeed been hard, it had not left me smelling so bad that I wouldn't inflict the smell upon my now-apparent captors.
"That is to say," Lyst continued, glancing away from my eyes, and shifting her helmet in her hand, idly passing it from one to the other (no doubt a sort of nervous tic), "I will send word to have your room made up like—you really mean to say that you want a room like your women? You do not want your masculine touches?”
Sighing, I pressed two fingers to the bridge of my nose, thinking that if siring children to satisfy my Debt would be as difficult as getting a clean bathroom, I should probably cut my cock off now, and give up on ever finding the wizard I still sought.
"It does not have to be exactly like theirs," I said at length, hoping that by making a request a hair more manly, I might be able to get Lyst to give me one that was at least livable, at least neutral smelling. "I don't need pretty comforters, or large wardrobes. But, there's only a single sheet on the bed, and we're coming onto Autumn. The weather is not commensurate with that sort of bedding. And the bathroom smells so foul that I think I might come out of it smelling worse than I already do!"
I was beyond tired, and my muscles were still sore from the little sleep I'd managed on the floor with Mira, Kacie, and Mette using my body as a pillow.
I had no doubt their necks weren't so stiff, but I’d had nothing to lay mine on, and now my whole chest and back felt like it could do with a really serious cracking and massaging.
I wonder if I can convince Kacie to give me one? Maybe as a warmup for something more…
"And men," Lyst began, cocking an eyebrow at me, and devouring me with her gaze, "they don't like to be smelly? I thought that your types liked such things? Certainly, it seemed that your woman, Kacie, enjoyed it. I saw her nose sniffing the air around you, when we were leaving?"
Confused expectations weren't anything new to me; after all, I'd been a wanderer for over four years now, and had seen many cultures that appeared almost totally alien to me.
But, in not a single one of them had a woman tried to argue me away from taking a bath and cleaning myself.
"Lyst," I sighed, moving my fingers from the bridge of my nose to the spot between my eyes, pressing into my skull gently to keep me from developing a headache, "You'll just have to trust me on this. Although, thank you for the bit of information about Kacie.
"And, you should know, none of them are my women, Lyst. You can see from my Debt that not only are none of the branches completed, not a single twig has its end, either."
I lifted my arm, holding the shield parallel to the ground, to let Lyst examine it.
She clucked her tongue.
"Pryvet," she bent forward to whisper conspiratorially to me, over my shield, "Just because you have not satisfied your Debt upon their bodies, that does not mean they are not yours.
“I may be a simple Valkyrie, and so no man is able to satisfy his Debt upon my body, but I can sense their devotion to you. It must have been a dangerous, the way you saved them. I can see it in Mette's face, the poor woman."
Now it was my turn to cock my head at that.
"What do you mean, you 'can see it on Mette's face?'" I asked. "Isn't it disallowed, to settle one's Debt upon a priestess?"
"Oh," Lyst said quietly, her fingers imitating a pair of jaunty legs waltzing upon the surface of my shield, "It is frowned upon, to be sure. She might even lose her position, if she were to allow you to satisfy any portion of your Debt, upon her. But, I've known her for a little while now, and I think she might be willing, for you. She owes you her life, now, and you do have an awfully large Debt to settle. I think she knows you'll need the help."
"Who knows Pryvet will need the help?" Mira asked brightly from the doorway, her red hair glistening with water, contrasted beautifully against her emerald eyes. "I mean, aside from everyone, of course! He even still smells!"
Giggling, Mira walked in, wrinkling her nose as she went to stand by me.
"You allergic to baths, Pryv?" Mira chuckled. "I know the Valkyries are infertile, so you won't have a chance to settle any Debt while you're here. But, for our sake I'd hoped you would, even if there was no point in sleeping with any of them!”
Pryv? When did she decide upon that pet name.
Mira made a show of waving her small hand in front of her face.
"Ah, yes," Lyst said, curtly, a thin blush stealing up from her exposed chest. "One moment, Pryvet, and we can continue our discussion."
Lyst turned to her desk and pulled open one of the drawers with a golden handle. Retrieving a surprisingly large book from within it, she let the back cover slap onto the table before reaching down to fish around in the drawer for something further.
After a few moments of her search, I posited a simple, "Can I help you find anything, Lyst?"
I had no idea what she was looking for, but I felt a little useless, standing there watching her search for whatever it was.
"No, Pryvet," she said apologetically, really shoving her hand to the back of the drawer, so deep that it nearly swallowed her arm up to the elbow. "Aha!"
Smiling, she withdrew her hand, which clasped a delicate quill between two fingers, and an inkwell between her thumb and the other two.
Unstoppering the well, she flipped open the book, dipped her quill, and began to write.
Curious, I couldn't help but lean down to see what it was that she was writing. But, although I could tell that it was in some variety of language, I couldn't read it at all.
"That's The Mother's tongue, Pryvet," Mira explained, thankfully having given up her teasing of my smell, and coming around to look. "Oh! Lyst, you didn't give him a clean bathroom? That's good. I was hoping that he wasn't just some kind of slob. I didn't think he was, but you can't be really sure, after only a little less than a day."
"Who doesn't have a clean bathroom?" Mette asked from the doorway,
Kacie following close by her. "Mine was divine."
"Pryvet doesn't, apparently!" Mira giggled. "He really smells… interesting. It's not a bad smell, Pryvet. But, I think you could use a bath."
I grunted my agreement.
"Would if I could, Mira," was all that I said in response.
The small blush stole up Lyst's chest, settling into her neck as she finished writing.
"Do the maids have a book of their own, too?" Mira asked Lyst, as Lyst set the quill down and re-stoppered the inkwell. "We only had one, at our temple? I thought they were really rare."
Lyst closed the book, and tucked all the various paraphernalia back into the drawer she'd withdrawn them from.
"This is The Mother's own temple, Aegid, Mira,” she smiled. "Nearly everyone of import has one."
"Wow!" Mira sighed, leaning down onto the desk, amazement showing in her eyes. "That is so cool! And you think that they'll be able to read it, too? You wrote to us, after all, and it never showed up in our book?"
Lyst frowned.
"I see no reason to believe it won't, although we still have to uncover what happened in the connection between yours and ours. It isn't something that's supposed to happen, and The Mother told us nothing about it."
Mira nodded, her face stern and clearly attempting seriousness, in spite of her girlish amazement.
"But," Lyst continued, "We can do that tomorrow, after you have all rested. In the meantime, would you like a tour of Aegid? I believe that Mette has not seen it in some years, and you would not have before becoming a priestess, young Mira."
Mira's eyes practically danced with excitement at the prospect of a tour, making Kacie laugh as she walked into the room as well.
“Well, we’re all here. So, lead on, Lyst," I said.
And she did.
I'd had some experience with the religion of the Free Isles, already, having travelled them extensively after all.
In Vermouth, I attended my first service at a temple much smaller than Mette's.
In Scotch, I attended my second, in a temple carved out of a rock-face by the sea.