“As you desire, Matriarch Gothy.”
Alvin waited for them to return, and when they did, his jaw dropped. He stared at Becky, and at the black dress hugging her body and displaying her ample, creamy skin in all the right ways.
“Hero?” Becky said, pausing when he started staring at her.
“Damn, Gothy… just… damn,” Alvin said, finally pulling his eyes back up to her face. “I want to get you another dozen dresses now.”
Cheeks heating, not knowing what to say, Becky gave him a slow turn to show off the rest of the dress. “You really like it?”
“Fuck yes,” Alvin said, crossing to her, pulling her in close and kissing her deeply.
Kuro had followed her out of the back and had stopped in the doorway, watching the two of them. Her lips trembled, not sure if she wanted to smile or frown.
“Is everything okay?” the seamstress asked from behind Kuro.
“Yes, please wait,” Kuro said, not looking away from the couple embracing.
Standing Becky back upright after he had dipped her slightly with the kiss, Alvin smiled. “I always thought you were beautiful before, but when you dress up like this, it elevates that to a whole new level.”
Holding his shirt as she leaned against him, Becky smiled. “I haven’t blushed like that for ages, but the way your eyes were shining when you looked at me... I know you love me, but for a moment… it looked like more.”
“That would be because you looked like a goddess,” Alvin said softly as he kissed her head. “I would have totally sold my soul for you in that moment.”
“Now you’re making fun of me,” Becky said, thumping his chest slightly.
“No, I’m not. Honestly Gothy, you look amazing in that dress. You come close to how I always view you,” Alvin said softly as he tightened his hold on her. “I wish there was a way to help you understand how deeply I love you.”
“Damn it, Hero,” Becky murmured feeling heat rise in her face again. “Stop making me feel so much. It’s hard to deal with.”
“I’ll consider it, if you do so first,” Alvin whispered.
“No…” she said softly.
“Well, looks like we are stuck with each other forever, struggling to understand our love together,” Alvin replied.
“Okay, give me another kiss.”
Alvin did as she asked, dipping her again and kissing her with all the love and passion he felt. A small sound of distress caught his ear, and he opened one eye to see where it had come from. Kuro stood there in her dress, her eyes tight with conflicting emotions as she watched them.
When the kiss came to an end, Alvin let go of Becky once they were both standing again. Looking to Kuro, his smile was bright, “Kuro, your dress makes you shine.”
Kuro’s cheeks darkened as she stepped slowly out of the doorway. “You don’t need to concern yourself with me.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Becky said, turning to look at Kuro. “Like I told you before we came out of the back.”
Kuro ducked her head. “If the Matriarch says so, then it must be true.”
Alvin decided to take a risk and stepped up to Kuro, holding out his hand. “Kuro, may I have your hand, please?”
Becky’s lips ticked up, knowing what he was about to do. Kuro looked from him to Becky with a questioning gaze.
“Your choice. It’s a request, not an order,” Becky said.
Slowly extending her hand, Kuro seemed afraid of what might happen. Alvin gently took her hand from below, bringing it up and kissing the back of it. “You are beautiful in your own way, Kuro,” Alvin said as he stepped back. “I will only say the truth. I won’t lie or flatter you falsely.”
Kuro’s cheeks were dark, the blush extending down her neck. Her lips parted as her hand stayed where he had let go of it. “I…”
“Hero likes you as well, Mousie,” Becky said. “Just like I’ve said before. Now, are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” Kuro said, dropping her hand and looking away from Alvin. Her dress vanished and leather suddenly covered her form.
Becky’s dress vanished the same way, and Alvin held back his sigh. The visual of the two of them in contrasting styles was an image he wanted to hold onto: black skin against a white dress, and creamy white skin in black— curvy and lithe forms showing the two ends of the spectrum. No straight guy could have seen them and not wanted one or both, and Alvin was really starting to want both.
“After you, ladies,” Alvin said, pushing the idea of both women from his mind while he opened the door.
As they left the shop, Alvin looked at Kuro. “Kuro, we still have hours until the summons. What would you suggest to kill the time?”
“Matriarch Gothy liked the park, and we only saw a small part of it,” Kuro suggested.
“That sounds good,” Becky said, going to Kuro’s side. “Why don’t we lead him? We can talk a little as we go.” Putting her arm around Kuro’s waist, Becky turned them toward the park.
Letting them get ahead of him, Alvin trailed along behind, watching their asses as they walked. He pulled his eyes away to give the few people watching them a nod as they strolled down the empty streets.
~*~*~
Making their way back toward the inn hours later, Alvin walked along behind Becky and Kuro still, his eyes drifting from them to his surroundings. The street was still deserted, making Alvin feel like they were in a ghost town.
The sudden impact to the back of his head staggered him. Trying to stay upright, Alvin saw Becky and Kuro turn to face him when the next impact, this time to his back, shoved him into the ground.
“Assassin,” Kuro hissed as she looked at the top of a nearby building where an archer stood, already drawing the bow back for another shot.
Becky reached into space and the Remington 700 appeared in her hand. She brought it up to her shoulder and used the scope on it to aim at the archer. The arrow hit her in the chest above her heart, but her armor absorbed the damage easily. Because she had been ready for the impact, her balance wasn’t disrupted.
“Goodbye, asshole,” Becky said as she squeezed the trigger.
The archer wasn’t prepared for the shot, and was knocked off his feet. Kuro was already racing toward the building, both blades out, wanting to help kill their attacker.
Alvin groaned as he got to his feet, his Type 56 appearing in his hands. “What the fuck?”
“Archer hit you and me,” Becky said as she put the rifle away and summoned her shotgun. “Mousie is going for the building. Come on!”
Alvin ran after Becky, thankful they had kept their armor on. As Kuro approached the two-story structure, five Elven men in leather armor came out of the alley and cut her off from it. Stopping her rush, she turned to face the new threat.
“Kill the demons,” one of the men yelled and led the charge at Kuro.
Alvin and Becky came to a halt, raising their guns. Both of them held their fire as Kuro exploded into her dance. The five attackers had various melee weapons, but none of them held Dancer’s Souls, nor did they have shields.
Catching movement above them out of the corner of his eye, Alvin looked up to see the archer with blood dripping from his face as he aimed down at them. Manic smile forming, Alvin flipped the rifle to full auto and emptied it at the archer in one long burst. Slumping as his head fragmented, the body of the archer slipped off the roof, landing with a thud on the stone road.
Two of the attackers had been able to avoid getting caught up in Kuro’s attack and were coming for Becky and Alvin. Becky had her shotgun up, the shots thundering in the street as she assaulted the attackers.
Knocked off balance from the sheer force behind the slugs, the two assassins tried to push forward, but were met with two more slugs. Alvin had exchanged his rifle for the UMP, and began to use controlled bursts to keep the Elves back, damaging the armor they were wearing under their black clothing.
“I didn’t expect Elven ninjas,” Alvin growled as he peppered the attackers.
The fight ended up a chaotic mess as the combatants tried to murder each other. Alvin was impressed with how well the knives worked. Knowing his armor would hold up to the attack, he let the Elf hit him, reaching out to grab the arm of his attacker. Smiling as he pulled himself nose to nose with the assassin, Alvin’s arm pumped furiously as he drove his blade into the Elf again and again. After the first few hits, the Elf screamed when the blade finally broke past the armor and plunged repeatedly into the soft flesh.
Becky’s blade had also dug into soft flesh after a number of stabs; she had grabbed her attacker like Alvin had. Letting the dead fall to the ground, the blood covered pair looked to Kuro and watched her take the head off the last assassin with a pirouette, her blade slicing through his neck like warm butter. The crimson spray fountained over her as the body collapsed.
Exchanging nods with Kuro, Becky smiled as the blood slid off them thanks to the upgrades and runes they’d used on their armor. The sound of running feet brought all three of them around to face the oncoming group of armed and armored women. Seeing the three standing waiting in pools of blood, the guards slowed.
“What happened here?” the Elf at the front of the group asked, her insignia indicating she was a Captain.
“We were attacked by these guys,” Alvin said as he wiped his knife off and sheathed it. Kneeling, he pulled the cloth covering the face of the assassin off. An Elf with a complexion similar to Kuro’s stared at him with sightless eyes. “I’m assuming these men didn’t want us seeing the Queen.”
Coming forward slowly, the Captain seemed to relax when both Kuro and Becky put their weapons away. “This is Cyran Stormheart… he’s the husband of Matriarch Alessa Stormheart,” the Captain said with a hushed voice.
“The Queen should be informed of the traitors,” Kuro said bluntly. “What is your name, Captain?”
“Captain Thalia Steelheart,” the Captain said, shaking off her shock. “Secure the dead and identify them if you can,” she instructed her squad. Meeting Becky’s eyes, the Captain bowed her head. “Honorable guest, we were sent to let you know that the Queen will see you in an hour.”
“We’ll head back to the inn to freshen up,” Becky said. “Mousie, lead us back.”
“As you desire, Matriarch Gothy,” Kuro said, striding away from the carnage.
Becky followed Kuro with Alvin trailing behind the two. His eyes met the Captain’s for a second, and he could clearly see the distrust she held for him. Shaking his head, Alvin wondered why Jarvis’ company had made such a flawed world. Pitting the men and women against each other seemed idiotic and simplistic.
Making it back to their room, they walked straight through the portal into the base to find Jarvis waiting for them. “I trust you are all uninjured?” Jarvis asked.
“I think my jacket took a beating,” Becky sighed. “I’m going to need to get it fixed. Other than that, I’m fine. Having a knife was a good idea. They weren’t expecting their attacks to do nothing.”
“That means they didn’t understand what the dreams were about,” Alvin chuckled. “All I care about is that we survived. We should grab a quick shower to get the sweat off; we have less than an hour before our meeting.”
“Walk over in our armor, then switch before we go in to see the Queen?” Becky asked.
“That is the idea,” Alvin nodded. “We’ve been ambushed once today already. I’d take the Humvee, but I’m fairly certain they won’t allow that inside the castle walls.”
“I’ll prepare you a snack, in case the audience runs long and they don’t serve dinner for you all,” Jarvis said, heading for the kitchen.
Alvin headed for the bedroom, trailed by Becky and Kuro. Letting his clothing vanish, Alvin pulled the chest band off. He planned on selling it, seeing as he no longer needed it. Pushing the band into his bag, Alvin glanced back to see both women standing naked. They were eyeing him, one with hunger, and the other with trepidation.
The shower was fast. Becky behaved herself, but her eyes promised fun later. Kuro stayed on the far side of the shower from Alvin, but he caught her looking him over a couple of times. Stepping out, Alvin handed both of them towels then dried himself off with a third one.
Becky walked to the sink, using her favorite brush to start getting the tangles out of her hair. Kuro put her towel aside and took the brush from Becky to fix her hair for her. Alvin let his eyes linger for a moment on the athletic Elf before he summoned his clothing, hiding his interest. Stepping past the two, Alvin gave Becky a wink in the mirror.
Jarvis had a cheese, meat, and cracker tray on the table along with some tea. Alvin took a seat and helped himself to the food. Becky and Kuro joined him after a short time, both of them wearing dresses instead of their armor. The cracker with cheese paused halfway to Alvin’s lips as he watched them.
“Good, I wanted to make sure you really did like it,” Becky said as her dress was instantly replaced by her normal gear. Her jacket was scuffed, worn at the cuffs, and had holes in the back.
“How much armor is left on that?” Alvin asked.
“Fifty-two,” Becky said. “I’ll have Olmera look at it when we get back to Alinaholt.”
“Good idea,” Alvin said, his eyes flickering to Kuro, who was also back in her leathers. “You two are going to be distracting as hell during the audience.”
“I should probably be the one to do the talking,” Becky said.
“All yours. Gods know that I don’t handle stupidity well.”
“We’re all aware, sir,” Jarvis said dryly.
“Thanks,” Alvin chuckled.
When they had finished the food and tea, they rechecked their stuff, used the facilities, and went back through the portal to Svargax.
Chapter Twenty-nine
When they came down from their room, Captain Steelheart was waiting for them. “Captain, are you our escort?” Alvin asked.
“I’m here to bring you to the Queen,” she replied evenly. “It wouldn’t do to let another incident happen…” Her words trailed off as she looked them over. “You are going before the Queen in those clothes?”
“No,” Becky said. “We are traveling to the castle in these clothes. Once we arrive inside the walls, we will change.”
“Once you are brought into the castle, there won’t be time for you to change,” Steelheart sighed.
“We’ll be fine, Captain,” Kuro said.
Eyes narrowing slightly at Kuro, Captain Steelheart turned toward the front door. “Follow me. If we delay any more, you’ll be late.”
A small contingent of guards waited for them just outside. “Fall in around those summoned,” Steelheart said. The guards made way for Alvin, Becky, and Kuro, encircling them.
“Most guys would kill to have this many women around them,” Alvin chuckled under his breath. “It just makes me nervous.”
“I’ll protect you from the big bad guards,” Becky smiled.
“My Gothy,” Alvin smirked.
“My Hero,” Becky replied as they began to move.
Their pace was slow, with all the guards focusing their attentions around them. Nothing approached them or happened on the way to the castle walls. Looking up at the imposing structure, Alvin noted some of the bones from a large beast. The skull of a huge dragon gaped at them, the double doors into the castle set inside the jaws of the beast. Crossing the courtyard, Alvin took in the well-maintained gardens. Over half of the plants were things he’d never seen before. What surprised him was recognizing some of them at all. Coming to the castle doors just as the sun began to set, Steelheart saluted the two guards in ornate armor standing outside the door.
“The two d
emons to see the Queen,” Steelheart announced.
“They are expected,” one of the guards replied. Only her voice gave any hint that she was female, her form entirely hidden by her armor. “Take them directly to the throne room.”
Saluting again, Steelheart waited for the guard to rap on the door. One of the two doors opened, and Steelheart led them inside. A light-skinned Elf waited for them beside the door. When they passed the threshold, he shut it behind them and went back to his position, sitting in a chair at a table by the closed door.
Steelheart didn’t pause or wait, marching down the long hall toward another pair of double doors. Two more guards stood beside this set of doors. Neither spoke as the group approached, but one of them opened the way for them, allowing Steelheart to march right on past.
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