by Ther Renard
"Mine!"
She lunged for the chocolate with such speed and fury that Kira couldn't stop her. Atrocious wrenched the chocolate out of the warrior's hand, gave her a swift bite for her troubles and retired back to the hearth where she started stuffing the candy into her mouth for all she was worth, leaving Kira nursing her hand, which now sported a chocolate and red ring of teeth marks.
No longer able to contain herself, Ayla burst into peals of laughter. Kira looked utterly bewildered, as if she'd just been attacked by something so small and insignificant she still couldn't bring herself to believe that it had happened.
"Never come between a woman and her chocolate," she advised Kira. "Especially at that certain time of the month."
"Mnpghf fring," Atrocious muttered through a mouthful of candy.
Determined to save face any way possible, Kira drew herself up to her full height. "I'll deal with the robber, then I'll deal with the biter," she declared, turning to the place Rogette lay. There was just one problem. Rogette wasn't there anymore.
Kira turned back to Ayla, who was still smiling a broad smile. "Where is she?"
"The spell wore off two minutes ago. She slipped out whilst you two were arguing," Ayla informed her.
"Well why didn't you do something about it?" Kira threw her hands in the air and glared at Ayla.
"She wasn't trying to rob us anymore, so I rather thought I had done something about it." Ayla still sounded calm, but there was a slight edge to her voice and her smile had faded.
Kira snorted aggressively. "So you let robbers escape and have a servant who bites. Charming. What ever happened to keeping order?"
"I still know how to keep order," Ayla said crisply. "Would you like a demonstration?"
Atrocious was still stuffing her mouth, but her eyes went a little wider as she caught the gist of Ayla's threat. The witch was looking at the warrior with a steady, almost imperious look on her face. Kira, on the other hand, looked almost petulant. Hoping against hope, Atrocious prayed she was about to see Kira get her just desserts.
There had been a few instances in the past where the two women had butted heads, but none of them had the quiet intensity of that moment. Ayla sat cross-legged and perfectly still whilst Kira shuffled uncomfortably. Atrocious could sense that Kira had already lost before they'd even begun, but why? She was strong, incredibly powerful in her own right.
Now that Atrocious' temper had settled she was amazed she'd had the nerve to go after the warrior at all. Overnight, Kira had shed some of the weight of her armor and was wearing a simple leather tunic and pants. Her arms were free and bare and covered from shoulder to elbow in curling tattoos that Atrocious knew must have hurt like hell to get. Underneath the tattoos, toned muscles rippled with even the slightest movement of her arms.
In comparison, Ayla seemed weak. She was not quite delicate in appearance, but the naturally refined set of her features did not lend themselves to violence. By all rights, Kira should have been able to dominate Ayla easily, and yet she did not. For all her bluster and insistence on order, Kira came second to Ayla.
Nibbling at the remnants of her chocolate, Atrocious noted that Kira wasn't pleased by the fact. Her handsome features were slipping ever closer to a full blown pout, making her look incongruously childish.
"Are we going to need a demonstration?" Ayla pressed the question softly.
"No," Kira muttered. She moved away from the witch and sat at a bench that was set against the far wall. "Are we going to get going?"
"I think we'll stay a few days," Ayla said.
"Here? In this little shit hole where we get robbed in our sleep? Why?"
"Atrocious isn't going to be feeling well."
"How can you possibly know that?" Kira scowled at Atrocious, as if it were her fault that Ayla wanted them to stay.
"Call it instinct," Ayla sighed.
Atrocious said nothing, but was silently very grateful. Ayla was right. The next few days were not going to be pleasant for her. Each and every month held a certain hell for her, a two full days of crippling cramps if she was lucky, more if she was not.
~~~
"We should move on," Kira insisted. "We need to find out why the Imperials are after us."
"There is no great rush," Ayla said reasonably. "This place is fairly remote, it is unlikely they will find us here any time soon. Besides, the less we travel, the lower the chance that we will be seen by someone who reports us."
"You're wasting time," Kira insisted.
"You're beginning to try my patience."
The warrior grumbled and scuffed her foot on the floor. Impatience was in every line of her frame as they all sat in silence. "Fine," she said, pushing up off the bench. "Then I'm going to track down that robber. If I can't find her, I'll find the innkeeper who buggered off and left us to her tender mercies. They must all be in on it."
"Sit down," Ayla said firmly.
"You don't give me orders, witch."
"Kira." Ayla said the warrior's name very quietly. "I will deal with you if necessary."
Pressed by temper, Kira started visibly appraising Ayla once more. "It has been a very long time since you last laid hands on me.”
"It makes no difference to me," Ayla replied.
"Your spells won't work on me," Kira reminded her.
Again Ayla was unmoved. "I don't need spells to deal with you."
Kira sniggered. "Then how are you going to do anything?"
"You'll present yourself for discipline if I tell you to."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because you know as well as I do that you need it. Because you know what happens when you don't do as I tell you."
Kira's shoulders slumped in defeat and Atrocious' curiosity was thoroughly piqued. What did Ayla have on Kira? She looked at Ayla very intently, but couldn't see any sign of threat from the witch. With nothing to go on there, she thought about her own experiences with Ayla. The witch dominated through a mixture of raw sexuality and magic, so if magic didn't work on Kira, Atrocious could only conclude that Ayla must have something sexual on the warrior.
"Pussy whipped," she muttered under her breath to nobody in particular.
Across the room, Kira's head snapped up. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," Atrocious lied. She could barely keep the smirk off her face. So it was something sexual.
Kira stood up and walked over to the hearth where Atrocious sat finishing the last little bit of candy. "Don't think that the witch will protect you from your actions forever," she warned.
"I'm not intending on protecting her from any of them," Ayla said mildly.
The warrior turned towards the witch. "So you've no objection to me taking her to task for biting me?"
Ayla's gaze settled on Atrocious. "None at all."
Atrocious squeaked as a dark smile spread over Kira's face. The warrior had found an outlet for her frustrations, and it was her rear end.
"Come here, little thief," Kira said, beckoning Atrocious with a crooked finger.
"No way," Atrocious refused.
"I'm giving you a chance to make it easy on yourself," Kira said. But Atrocious was staring at her powerful arms. She remembered all too well what it had been felt like to be thrashed by Kira and there was no way she was going to have the warrior's power and rage unleashed on her bottom if she had anything to do with it.
When it became clear that Atrocious wasn't going to come along quietly, Kira made a grab for her. It failed and started a grand chase around the room with Atrocious jumping over chairs and diving under tables with Kira in hot pursuit.
"You can't keep this up forever," Kira called out. She was running too, but unlike Atrocious, she had no trouble speaking. She was not so unfit that a few turns around the room turned her into a puffing, panting mess. Atrocious knew all she was really doing was tiring herself out and making herself easier prey for the warrior, but she couldn't just stop running, no matter how out of breath she got. She needed a miracle, a
nd she prayed for one feverishly even as her last reserves of speed petered out.
Just when it seemed she would have to stop, there was a loud noise from above. A pool of bright sunlight lit the floor around her. Suddenly, Atrocious found herself rising skywards at in impressive rate. As she rose up through the top of the inn she saw that the roof had been kicked in and that she had been lassoed by a familiar person. With feet still running in mid-air, she was hauled up and dumped on the thatch.
"Rogette," she gasped, breathing heavily. "Thank you."
"At your service," the pretty robber smiled and took a bow, bracelets clattering as she did. "One good turn deserves another."
"Atrocious, come down here this instant!" Kira shouted from below.
Rogette smirked and kicked some loose thatch over the hole she'd made, obscuring the warrior's view. "Out of sight, out of mind," she quipped mischievously. Atrocious giggled with pure glee and turned over on her back, feeling the sun warm her face as she reveled in her escape. With a friend like Rogette on her side, things were looking up.
Not content to gloat about her daring rescue, the robber danced down off the roof. She was supremely graceful in her acrobatics as she leaped from the thatch to a tree then slid down to the ground. Atrocious, who was not quite so ready to come down and put herself back in the warrior's path, stayed safely above the fray as an observer.
“Come out here, crone!” Rogette called from the clearing in front of the inn. She was staying well clear of the door, keeping her flight options open. One funny move from Kira and the robber would be able to disappear into the dense undergrowth.
Kira came out and stood a sword's length away from the robber, her arms folded over her chest. Kira was an impressive sight, especially when her temper rose. All the leather and steel she wore seemed to bristle with her, making her something more than just a woman. She was a deadly weapon in woman form, that's what she was. Atrocious hoped Rogette knew what she was doing.
“Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?” Rogette inquired, her hands on her hips, her feet planted shoulder-width apart. She didn't seem to be afraid of Kira at all. She looked like a cocky little bird, all bright colors and posturing and loud chirping.
“Because it's always the little upstarts who cause the most trouble,” Kira said. “Nice rope work, by the way. I'm a fan of the discipline myself.”
Rogette ignored the dry compliment. “Are you going to leave your friend alone?”
“I am not.” Kira said, glancing up at the place Atrocious remained hiding. “The moment she comes down, I'm going to tan her hide, then yours.”
Rogette laughed a delighted laugh. “What a threat to make.”
“It's not a threat, it's a promise,” Kira smiled.
“Maybe I like that sort of thing,” Rogette suggested flirtatiously. Atrocious covered her mouth and tried not to laugh as the pretty robber turned around and began wriggling her backside suggestively at Kira. She had a very shapely bottom, and she knew how to move it. The globes of her ass wriggled and jiggled in an enticing dance designed to drive onlookers to distraction.
When Kira failed to do anything besides watch her shake her rump, Rogette turned back around with an exaggerated pout “You're not going to take me up on the offer?”
“I'll have your hide soon enough,” Kira said. “And on my terms, not yours, you shameless flirt.”
“Ugh you're too old to remember how to have fun,” Rogette said, rolling her eyes.
Kira unfolded her arms, letting one hang loosely by her side, her sword hand resting lightly atop the pommel of her sword. “I'm old enough to know a robber when I see one. You should spend less time shaking your rear at strangers and more time finding a trade that doesn't involve taking what isn't yours.”
“Don't tell me what to do with my life,” Rogette sneered. “You don't know me.”
“I don't have to know you to know that you'll end up dead within the year if you keep going the way you're going, not unlike your little friend on the roof up there.”
“Well it's not any business of yours if I do,” Rogette maintained.
“It's not, but you tried to rob me, and that is my business, young lady.”
Atrocious giggled. Kira was speaking very strictly indeed. It was having a definite effect on Rogette, though probably not the effect Kira wanted to have.
The robber appeared not to have been lying when she said she liked what Kira had on offer. She sidled closer to the warrior, coming within arm's reach. “Let me make it up to you,” she said, looking coquettishly up at Kira under her lashes. “Let me lick your pussy.”
Kira's brow rose. “Young lady!” She exclaimed, sounding very strict and almost maternal. “Who taught you to speak to strangers that way?”
“I taught myself,” Rogette said, ignoring Kira's question. “I'm very, very good.” She pressed her body up against Kira, arching like a cat. “Don't you want to find out?”
Kira looked down at the robber, whose head only just came up to her shoulder. “I want to thrash you for daring to try to rob me.”
“Fine, spank me then fuck me, whatever you want,” Rogette said with an exaggerated wink.
“Oh by all the gods,” Kira said, raising her eyes skywards. “Cut that out.”
Atrocious realized that what she was seeing was a very clever ploy. By pretending she wanted to be whipped, Rogette was going to avoid punishment entirely. The robber was still rubbing herself up against Kira quite shamelessly and the warrior had yet to lay as much as a finger on her.
“Go help Atrocious down before she breaks her neck up there,” Kira ordered.
“I'm not going to get her down if you hit her,” Rogette pouted prettily.
“Fine. Nobody gets hit. Just get her down.” Kira sighed a long sigh and retired back inside the inn.
Atrocious' eyes were wide. Rogette had completely disarmed Kira and gotten away with near murder without a single slap having landed on her shapely bottom. It had been a masterful piece of work and Atrocious was in absolute awe.
Chapter Seven
In the aftermath of the advent of the robber, Kira was clearly still interested in punitive action. She stood with her back to the fireplace, her arms folded across her chest, her expression watchful and grim. Atrocious and Rogette sat very close together at a little table, smiling and whispering all sorts of little secrets and jokes to one another, which only served to make Kira glower all the more.
"How long are we planning on staying here?" The warrior's impatience got the better of her yet again as she turned to her magical friend.
"A week or so," Ayla said calmly. She had lit the fireplace and was boiling a travel sized cauldron atop the flames. A scattering of various dried herbs was laid out around her and she seemed quite absorbed in her work, though she had not stated precisely what her work was. A few strands of her pale hair had worked their way loose and floated about her face, making her look ethereal and somehow dainty.
"It's good you're staying," Rogette said to Atrocious. "I can show you a few things."
"You can show me how you climb the way you do," Atrocious said admiringly. "I've never seen anything like it."
"It's easy, you just need some practice," Rogette said. "Come on, I'll show you in the forest."
The two young women scraped their stools back and made for the door, but were stopped by Kira's voice.
"No." Kira said firmly. "Atrocious isn't going anywhere."
Feeling sure of herself and being backed up by Rogette, Atrocious sneered boldly. "You can't tell me what to do."
Kira raised a dark brow. "Want to bet?"
"Relax..." Rogette fumbled for a name, "...lady," she eventually said. "We're just going to train a little."
"Her name is Kira, and you don't have to answer to her," Atrocious said. She took a couple of steps towards the door before she realized that Rogette wasn't with her.
The robber was gawping at Kira, her mouth hinged open. "You're Kira? The Kira who kil
led ninety-nine men in a single battle with nothing more than a dagger and a farmer's scythe? The Kira who vanquished the Blue Baron? The Kira who the bards sing of?"
Ayla looked up from the fire. "She is Kira. The one and only."
"Wow," Rogette breathed. "I thought you'd be..."
"Taller? Scarier? Meaner?" Kira suggested a few words in a bored tone.
"Younger," Rogette finished her sentence.
Ayla and Atrocious burst into laughter even as a low growl rose in Kira's throat. "I let you off once, I will not do so again," the warrior warned Rogette.
"I'm just saying I thought you wouldn't be so old," Rogette shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Kira cocked her head to the side. "I suppose everyone looks old when you're still a milk drinker on your mother's teat."
"I am not!" Rogette stamped her foot, rather undermining her attempt to appear mature.
Triumph gleamed in the warrior's eyes. "Of course you are. Why don't you run along home before you get into trouble, little girl."
"Shows what you know," Rogette said snippily. "I don't have a home, so there!"
"You don't have a home?" Atrocious butted in curiously.
"My home is wherever I is. Am," Rogette declared proudly.
"Wow, that's so..."
"Stupid," Kira interjected. "A little wench like you should not be sleeping rough."
"I can take care of myself." Rogette lifted her chin as she made the proud declaration.
"Is that so? What would you do if a bandit tried to attack you?"
"I'd smite them down," Rogette boasted. "I have smited at least ten bandits before."
The words were barely out of the robber's pretty mouth before the room burst into activity and squealing. Kira, who had been standing a good five feet away from the robber, suddenly wasn't there anymore. Instead she was holding Rogette with one arm twisted up behind the robber's back. Kira's other hand was at Rogette's throat in a fist, her thumb extended across the robber's jugular vein in the same way a knife might be.