by Ther Renard
She understood what Ariadne wanted of her. Casting aside her pretty dress, she donned the travel wear. It all fit to perfection. The vest hugged the curve of her breast and sat neatly against her waist. The britches clung neatly across her bottom and were fitted to her thighs so that it almost felt as if she was wearing a second, harder skin. Slipping her belt through the loops in the sheath, she tethered her weapon, then looked at herself in a nearby mirror.
Gone was the high witch's servant. In her place stood a nimble robber ready to do her worst. Rogette very much liked the way she looked.
Leaving her dress behind without a second glance, she strutted out into the sunshine, cutting a very fine dash as she ambled through the pleasant green grasses of the little village.
Kira was the first to see her in her new finery. Upon spotting Rogette, the warrior let out a low whistle and smiled approvingly.
"Nice," Kira said. "I hope you're ready to get that kit dirty, little soldier."
Rogette blushed and beamed. "I... er...yes."
"Very cute," Kira continued, reaching out to spin Rogette around. "Made by someone who knows your bottom intimately, I see."
Craning her neck, Rogette caught sight of what Kira was talking about. There was a seam that ran right up the middle of her cheeks, making the most of her rounded derriere by parting, lifting and defining each globe. There was no doubt that Ariadne had made the pants that way for a specific purpose, and there was no denying that she'd succeeded in her intent. Rogette blushed profusely under Kira's admiring, lustful gaze.
"It has been too long since you and I were... acquainted with one another, wouldn't you say?" Kira leaned against the wall of the nearest house, the muscles in her upper arm rippling with the movement.
Rogette smiled coyly. "Aren't you intimate with Atrocious these days?"
Kira snorted. "Try prying that girl out of Ayla's hands for five minutes and tell me what it gets you."
"So I'm the consolation prize?" Rogette raised her head and gave Kira a haughty look. "I'll have you know," she said primly. "That I have standards."
Both of Kira's thick brows rose. "And I don't meet them?"
"Not even a little bit," Rogette sniffed.
"You have gotten high and mighty with Ariadne, haven't you," Kira smirked, the corners of her lips twisting with sexy amusement. "I will enjoy bringing you down a peg or two."
"Peg yourself," Rogette said, turning on her heel. "I'm not interested."
~~~
"Oh look," Atrocious said when Rogette poked her head into the cottage. "It's Rogette..."
"...And her ass," she added as Rogette stepped fully into the room, displaying her sleek leather clad derriere.
Upon seeing Rogette, Thorberta's eyes went wide. "Rogette," she murmured to herself. "Slut cake."
Rogette scowled in their direction. Thorberta whimpered and shrunk away whilst Atrocious smirked unrepentantly.
"We're taking the prisoner with us?" Rogette wrinkled her nose at the idea.
Atrocious waited for Thorberta to correct Rogette and threaten her in florid terms, but Thorberta didn't do any of that. She moved into a corner of the room, backing into it as if she were hoping to slip right into the walls. Her eyes followed Rogette's every movement, focusing on the swelling curve of her bottom as Rogette said hello to Ayla with a hug.
"You look very nice," Ayla complimented her.
"Thank you," Rogette beamed. "Ariadne made it for me."
"Ariadne made it for me," Atrocious mimicked in a quiet, screwed up voice.
Truth be told, she was rather jealous of Rogette's new clothing. It looked comfortable and practical and it made her look sexy as hell, which wasn't fair because Rogette would have looked sexy in anything.
Atrocious looked down at her own worn britches and scowled. Why did Rogette always get all the nice things? And why was Thorberta gazing at her with a plainly enamored expression? Thorberta hated everybody and everything. It figured that she'd make an exception for Rogette though, everybody made exceptions for Rogette.
Matters were made worse when Kira entered the cottage shortly afterward.
"Kira!" Atrocious waved.
Kira made a half-hearted hail in her direction, but she, like Thorberta, appeared to have had her eyes surgically attached to Rogette's bottom.
Atrocious was forced to watch as Rogette ended up in something of a butt sandwich between witch and warrior. Kira made the most of the opportunity to palm Rogette's ample behind - an action that drew a frown from Atrocious and a little snarl from Thorberta.
Kira lifted her head and looked straight at Thorberta. "Do that again and I'll gag you."
She returned her attention to Rogette, sliding her strong warrior hand down over the robber's hip.
It was too much for Thorberta. Her snarl erupted into a full fledged growl which abated only when Rogette slapped Kira's hand away.
"I told you," she said, turning to scowl at Kira. "I'm not interested. Now that I've had better I'm not planning on slumming it again."
Atrocious' jaw dropped in shock, whilst Thorberta cackled with glee.
"Rogette, that's rude," Ayla admonished.
"So is pawing me," Rogette replied, unrepentant. She spun about and stared up at Kira. "And don't even think about smacking me. I'll have my blade in you before you can get anywhere near my ass."
Glancing across at Thorberta, Atrocious saw that the little beast's expression had grown even more admiring. Kira, on the other hand, wasn't looking at all impressed. She was looking pissed. Atrocious liked that. Bad things happened when Kira got pissed.
"That's a big threat for a little girl," Kira replied, her eyes narrowing at Rogette. "You've forgotten how things work, haven't you?"
"I haven't forgotten anything," Rogette said. "I haven't forgotten your rough hands, your crudity. You will never lay hands on me again, if you wish to keep them. You are below me in every way."
Atrocious was sure she'd never heard anything so arrogant in her life. For a second, Kira looked as though she'd been hit in the face with a tonne of iron. She recovered quickly, drawing herself up to her full height, which completely dwarfed Rogette.
"As you wish," she said, her expression drawing closed.
"Rogette, I need some help packing herbs," Ayla said, defusing the situation with distraction. "Atrocious, would you please help Kira."
"Certainly," Atrocious said. "Maybe after that I will be free to attend to Lady Rogette. She will no doubt need a maidservant from the common classes to wash her hair and wipe her bottom when she is at stool."
Nobody laughed at Atrocious' snide jest, but Atrocious made up for that by laughing at it enough herself.
"Come along," Kira said, crooking a thick, callused finger in Atrocious' direction. "Daylight is wasting."
"Yes, let us go out into the fields," Atrocious smirked. "We will need to gather food for the lady's supper."
"Cut it out," Kira said, cuffing Atrocious lightly when Atrocious got into cuffing range.
"Ouch," Atrocious complained, rubbing the side of her head. "Am I to become whipping girl for her ladyship?"
Kira snorted. "You are busy enough being whipping girl for yourself. Now come on." She took Atrocious by the arm and drew her out of the house.
"Help!" Atrocious said. "Her rough hands are doing my fine skin harm!"
"I'll do your fine skin some proper harm if you don't stop that," Kira warned as they went out into the fields.
"So I get in trouble for mocking her, but she gets in none for being a complete ass? Why does she get away with everything?" Atrocious' tone took a turn for the whiny.
"Stop thinking so much about Rogette and worry more about yourself," Kira said. "We are about to face a great danger. Your petty bickering will solve nothing."
Atrocious put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. "I'm not being petty. She gets everything. She got all the pretty dresses, and now she gets traveling gear. I get nothing."
Kira stooped and sigh
ed, turning to Atrocious. "I didn't take you for someone who got jealous of clothing," she said. "Is that the sort of person you are?"
Frowning, Atrocious shook her head. "No, it's just..."
"You want something pretty?"
Atrocious screwed up her face. "Well, no..."
"So let Rogette have her little trinkets," Kira said. "She doesn't have half of what you have. She doesn't have someone who loves her to share a bed with. She doesn't have the services of a warrior at her disposal. All she has are her airs and graces. Let her have them."
Chapter Twenty Seven
Suitably shamed by Kira's words, Atrocious decided to let Rogette have her pretty trinkets. But when she got back to the cottage, she discovered that Rogette had taken a whole lot more than that.
Atrocious and Kira had spent the whole day gathering root vegetables from the village gardens. It had been hard, thirsty, peasant style work - and it had not improved Atrocious' mood in the slightest. She opened the door to Ayla's cottage and half lifted, half dragged her wicker basket full of potatoes over the threshold. She was tired and smudged with dirt where she'd rubbed her face and pushed her hair out of her eyes during the long day's toil. She needed a bath and she needed her bed.
As she dragged her haul inside, a small whimper caught her attention. She looked up to see Rogette, or rather Rogette's bottom, prominently displayed over the kitchen table. The fine leather britches had been taken down and hung around her knees, leaving her shapely thighs and full, round cheeks quite bare. There wasn't a bit of Rogette that wasn't visible to the inquisitive eye. From the soft down covering her mons, to the very slight glistening at the junction of the petals of her sex and the neat little creased bud of her anal aperture, it was all on display.
Rogette was in trouble! Atrocious could have danced for joy, but a warning look from Ayla had Atrocious clamping her mouth shut before she so much as made a comment.
Kira was not far behind Atrocious. Atrocious watched with glee as the warrior crossed over the threshold. She thoroughly expected Kira to give Rogette a good slapping, or perhaps find another way to take advantage of the situation. But Kira did not do either of those things. Kira outright ignored Rogette, even to the point of stacking potatoes, carrots and leeks right next to the prone young lady with the bare bottom.
"Thank you," Ayla said, including Kira and Atrocious in the sentiment. "We should soon be ready to depart this place. I have just a few more potions to prepare."
"And I have an appointment with a whetstone," Kira said, picking up Atrocious' basket with one hand. She deposited it on the table as if it weighed nothing at all, leaving Atrocious marveling at the easy strength that was hers to command. "Send Atrocious if you need me."
Ayla nodded her agreement. Kira left without a second glance back at Rogette. Well, almost without a second glance. Atrocious caught Kira sneaking a small peek just as the door was almost closed.
"What did she..."
Ayla shook her head, cutting Atrocious' question off.
"You would like me to pretend I don't notice the half naked lady on the kitchen table?"
"I would like you to mind your own business," Ayla replied.
Atrocious watched as the witch picked up a carrot. It was a proud specimen, at least ten inches long and quite thick around. The witch washed it thoroughly, then began to peel it. Her large, capable hands did not simply remove the skin from the vegetable, they shaped it into something with a rounded tip and ridges running around the circumference of the shaft.
Biting her lip, Atrocious couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, or at least, what she thought she was seeing. It looked as if Ayla was creating a phallus shape from the vegetable. It looked as if poor Rogette was about to be taken by entirely the wrong sort of root. If Rogette was concerned about that, she wasn't showing it. She laid quiet and placid on the table, her only movement an occasional squirming of her hips.
"Is she under some sort of spell to keep her in place?"
"No," Ayla said, holding the carved carrot up to the light. "She has assumed the position of her own free will."
Whilst Atrocious watched with increasing fascination, Ayla walked down the kitchen and took up position beside the robber's bare bottom. Laying her hand on Rogette's cheek, Ayla pressed the tip of the carrot against Rogette's soft nether lips. She then slid the glistening orange tip along the length of her slit, once, twice, three times whilst Rogette moaned.
"Wha... what..." Atrocious stammered the question. "What is going on?"
"I'm collecting ingredients for a potion," Ayla explained, gently pressing the tip of the carrot into Rogette's tight canal.
"Really?" Atrocious scowled. "Because it looks like you're fucking Rogette right in front of me."
"Hush," Ayla frowned. "It is important Rogette enjoys this. The juices have to be just right."
Atrocious began to fume silently. "You sent me out to collect potatoes so you could have your way with Rogette?"
"You wouldn't work for this," Ayla said absentmindedly.
"Why not!? Am I not enough of a lady? Am I not good enough for your potions?"
"This potion calls for the juices of a woman who has thrice climaxed on a root of the earth," Ayla said, sliding inch after thick inch of the carrot into Rogette's willing, waiting pussy. Rogette responded with more moans and a spreading of her legs that left her on tippy-toes, the muscles of her thighs taut as she made herself thoroughly available.
"I could cum on a carrot," Atrocious growled, her anger growing by the second.
"You could," Ayla agreed. "But it would not work. You are not a woman."
"Of course I'm bloody woman!"
Caught in a fit of jealousy, Atrocious picked up the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be a potato. In a high temper she dashed it onto the ground. It bounced once then rolled under the kitchen table, utterly failing to convey her outrage. Consumed with impotent anger, Atrocious got up, kicked her chair over and stormed out of the cottage.
Of all the ridiculous lies! Of all the flimsy excuses for Ayla to go around fucking other people! Atrocious' eyes filled with a misty of teary rage as she ran away.
Ayla did not follow. Because Ayla was too busy thrusting her handmade dildo deep inside Rogette, pleasuring her to not one, but three orgasms.
"Faithless wench!" Atrocious screamed, stopping outside the cottage to vent her rage. "Harlot! Hoyden!"
She yelled the words at the top of her lungs, screaming so hard her throat was sore. She would have continued on until she passed out, were it not for Kira capturing her by the back of the neck and applying a very hard slap to the seat of her worn, dirty britches.
"Stop that this instant!" Kira growled, shaking Atrocious like a puppy.
"She! She!" Atrocious was too angry and outraged to explain.
"I don't care what happened," Kira said, her dark eyes hard. "You do NOT behave that way. Ever."
Stunned by the total and utter unfairness of it all, Atrocious burst into gales of tears. She tried to run away again, but Kira held her firm, waiting until she stopped crying and carrying on.
"You're all terrible," Atrocious said when she got her breath back. "And I don't like any of you. Especially Rogette."
"Why?" Kira asked, her tone bored. "Did Rogette get a bigger piece of pie? Is her hair prettier than yours?"
Atrocious' eyes filled with fresh tears. "Ayla is having sex with her."
"Oh."
Kira's expression changed in an instant. From irritation to sympathy, her eyes softened as she released the tight hold she had on the back of Atrocious'sneck and replaced it with a strong armed embrace.
"Right now," Atrocious sniffed. "She's still doing it. Says it's for a potion."
"If she says that, it probably is," Kira said, scooping Atrocious up and carrying her to the far end of the village, where a round cluster of trees provided sanctuary for any who needed a little peace and solitude. In the center of the copse was a grassy hollow in which many bodies had
sat and lain, curled beneath the leafy bower. It was to that rounded spot that Kira took Atrocious. Together they sat, Atrocious in Kira's lap whilst the day turned to dusk.
"I don't understand her," Atrocious sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.
"I don't think anybody does," Kira replied.
"And I don't understand why we are being sent to fight this blood witch. Why do we blindly do whatever Ariadne says? Why can't we leave this witch to the Imperials? They are the ones who hate witches so."
"I do it because it is in my nature to do it. Ayla does it because she has a debt of service. Rogette does it because she thinks doing so will allow her a return to Ariadne's good graces. Thorberta does it because she is a puppy without a pack and will follow anyone who provides a kind word. The only real question is why do you do it?"
"I don't think I want to," Atrocious said. "I have no taste for combat. You know that."
Kira smirked. "I remember."
"Rogette at least has the courage to wield a blade. She is far better suited to this than I. And Thorberta, she will relish the chase," Atrocious mused. "But I am of no use to anybody."
"You have your own skills," Kira replied. "Have you forgotten what you did in Fortress Kavden?"
"I don't know what that was. I don't even know that it was me."
"Oh it was you," Kira replied. "There is something inside you, Atrocious. Something special. Ayla sees it. Ariadne sees it. And I see it."
Settling sideways into Kira's lap with a slow squirm, Atrocious rested her head against the wall of the hollow and sighed. She was so very confused, and more than that, she was afraid. She felt a creeping darkness, an ominous pall falling across the land and across her soul. She had once dreamed of greatness, but standing on the precipice of it, she was recoiling in horror. Greatness didn't mean glory. It meant bloodshed and loss and pain.
"Do not be sad," Kira said, brushing a tender thumb across Atrocious' cheek. "All is as it should be."