The Use

by D. L. Carter

  But, he could not use Sex Magic now. There was no way he was going to risk his fragile new relationship with Halidan for any reason.

  His first destination was the library to select a map of the Hub of Harmony and the surrounding areas, then to his private rooms to find an item he had kept close for several weeks that had served to remind him of Chandri's foul nature. After that, he stalked through the house to the Ritual room.

  He pushed the door of his workroom open, and glancing neither to the left nor right, began gathering what was needed for a basic ritual. He would try all of the scrying spells he knew. If Chandri had placed protections over his daughters to conceal them from scrying, then Eioth would try and overwhelm them with greater power. He would do the spells over and over until someone, anyone, of Chandri's followers gave him a clue.

  He paused and closed his eyes.

  Of course, there was the possibility that Chandri, expecting such a thing, had ordered his friends to sit gossiping about alternative theories, all of them wrong, with the intention of misleading a scryer.

  “Eioth?”

  He spun, searching the room. When he spotted Halidan seated behind his desk, he froze then began walking toward her, smiling. So rare it was for her to seek him out, the very sight of her filled his heart with joy. And for her to voluntarily enter a Ritual chamber? Astonishing.

  “My dearest Halidan, why . . . ?”

  “You said there was no Elemental spell that will serve,” she said, rising to cross the room to stand before him. “That Chandri would have prepared for them.”

  “That is so.” Eioth nodded and turned away, picking up colored candles and placing them in their holders at the cardinal points so as not to see the despair in her eyes. “However, I have a plan. If all else fails, I have been thinking. It may be possible for me to raise enough power in my own body to use the Sex Magic spell and invoke a vision.”

  Halidan considered this, then shook her head. “No. That would not work. I have read that book as well as you. You would be too distracted trying to pleasure yourself to do the Ritual, and as for performing the chant and trying to pay attention to the vision at the same time, impossible! No, I will assist as before. You cannot say that I do not know what will happen.”

  “Halidan, no. This will not happen. I swore I would not use you that way, again.”

  “And I swore that I would not let you,” she smiled and placed her hand gently on the side of his face. “It seems we are both foresworn. If you do not tell anyone, I shall not.”

  Eioth's expression softened. “Halidan, my love, I have no wish to harm you.”

  “And I insist on my right to participate in the magic. We must do this.”

  “I shall not.”

  “I insist!”

  “You cannot command me. I am the one who performs the magic.”

  “I insist.” Halidan stomped her foot. “I know what to expect. I shall not be frightened and you will not forget to dismiss the spell. Come, you know I am right.”

  “No.”

  Halidan paused, pulled herself up to her full height and smiled at him.

  “You commanded me to tell you when I disagree with you. You demanded that I should fight, argue, resist you if I think you are wrong. You want me to treat you as if you were real. Well, High Lord, you are really wrong. In this case, Sex Magic is the appropriate action and I am the appropriate tool.”

  “Halidan, in this area I am the expert . . .” He sighed, grimaced, and pulled her into his arms. “I cannot complain if it is something I have desired for so long. If it were not so important, I should let them all go hang, my love. But, you are right, we cannot permit Chandri's plotting to come to fruition.”

  Another firework burst outside their window. Eioth's eyes narrowed and he stepped away from Halidan, gathering energy from the Air, from the Earth, from the sky itself, from his own anger, before releasing it at the same time as another magical light was launched into the sky.

  A crash of thunder roared simultaneously with the burst of light, then rain flooded down. Eioth smiled thinly.“Well, that felt good. It has been a burden trying to remember not to use magic.”

  “Rain?” Halidan was astonished. “But, it is not the proper hour!”

  “It is the morning rain come a little early. That should dampen Chandri's premature celebration. Come, my love. We have work to do.”

  Halidan stood in the center of the room, watching as Eioth assembled the remainder of the equipment he required.

  “This looks as if it were transported out of an epic,” said Halidan staring at the heavy, dark stone walls and massive furnishings, so different from the light and airy equipment of Eioth's principle House room.

  He glanced up and around before smiling at her. “This was my father’s and grandfather’s room before me,” he said, “all the way back to when this House was built. I rarely perform Rituals while attending the Synod so have made no attempt to change the room to reflect my tastes. Although, if you continue to insist in joining me to perform magic, I shall have to have a bed installed here.”

  He spread the map across the floor and reached into his sash, drawing out a loose bundle of ribbons.

  “What is that?” asked Halidan, surprised.

  Compared to the heavy, dignified equipment Eioth had assembled the colorful bundle of ribbons seemed frivolous.

  “We need a token, something bound or bonded to what we seek.”

  “What token did you use when we went searching for the crown?” asked Halidan, after a brief search of her memory. She was not surprised she hadn't noticed anything; she’d been a little distracted that night.

  Eioth held up his hand, fingers spread. On the littlest finger of his right hand was a narrow ring decorated with colored stones.

  “My father found this miniature replica made, so he said, by the same craftsman who made the original crown. Whether it was true or not, it served as enough of a link for us to find the crown. But, for the girls,” he held up the bundle of ribbons. “Chandri had his youngest daughter give me a lover’s token. Usually that would not be enough, but there are a few of her hairs caught in the pin.”

  “Sympathetic magic,” said Halidan. “Like calls to like.”

  “Exactly so.”

  “Well,” Halidan began loosening her clothing, “we should begin. First, I think, you must activate my skin.”

  “No, not this time.”

  Her head came up and she opened her mouth to protest. Eioth did not permit her that opportunity, seizing her and drawing her close to kiss. With her face held gently in his hands he sank into her mouth, tasting, exploring its sweet depths, drawing forth a startled gasp of pleasure and surrender. When he drew back, Halidan's eyes remained half closed and she clung to him for stability.

  “Dear Halidan, it will not be as before. Until it is necessary, I shall not use the spell in your skin.”

  She blinked and tried to focus.

  “But, the spell needs power . . .”

  “Even so,” said Eioth, running a soothing hand down her spine. “I have learned your skin. Your sensitivities. I believe I know my first mistake. In my ignorance, I behaved as if your skin were as a candle for a flame. That it was either lit or not. Therefore, I activated all of the power that your skin was capable of, all and at once, instead of only creating and taking what was needed.”

  Halidan stared at him, confused.

  “We found the High King's crown too easily. Too soon. If the spell had lasted longer, or our search been more difficult, then the power raised would have been consumed. This time I shall raise the power slowly, arousing, building only what is needed.”

  “You have been planning this? I thought you had no intention of using Sex Magic.”

  Eioth shrugged. “Would you have me turn off my mind? My speculations were intended to be theoretical only. Now,” his hand drifted under her shirt and found her breast, soft and warm, “I shall raise a little power at a time and feed it into the spell. Given how
passionate you are, we can accomplish much, my love.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Focus, let nothing distract you from your objective. Train your mind. Nothing else should be in your mind at the moment of magic. Enter not the circle unless you are capable of ignoring all else. A fly, a flea, a noise of any kind should not shatter your concentration. Heat, cold, time of day, none of that is important. Remember always, it is the Working that is King!

  The Use and Complexity of Sex Magic

  Eioth stepped away and cast the Circle of Protection, enjoying for a moment the sensation of freedom as well as the swift rush of power. Under his breath, he added an entreaty to the Elements to protect Halidan as well as a prayer that his theory was correct.

  When he turned to face the center of the circle he found Halidan nude and perfect as a shadow carved of moonlight, glowing and smiling.

  His lips curved in response. There were only a few steps separating them, but by the time Eioth had crossed that distance, his clothing was gone as well.

  She came to meet him, stepping willingly into his embrace. Chest met breast, arms enclosed bodies, and lips met lips in a kiss that, while it may not have raised magical power, raised both Eioth's temperature and cock.

  She expected the command to chant, but it did not come. Instead his hands claimed, his arms enfolded, and they stood in the center of the circle, the center of the world, and loved each other. Her mind was not on the Ritual, but on worshiping his body. She gave herself to him without words, without limits and received the same from him.

  Halidan’s hands wandered over his back, learning the curve of muscle, the strength of his shoulders. The span of him, enclosing, supporting, protecting. His skin was velvet over steel. She could find sanctuary here with him. The world could not find her, harm her, within the barrier of his arms.

  The caress of her fingertips, so much longed for, had Eioth’s back arching as her hands traveled down his flanks to his hips. With his kisses he urged her further, to his buttocks. His hips moved slowly, restlessly, grinding his cock, trapped between their bodies. Halidan shuddered at the pressure and her fingers dug into his hips, urging him on.

  His fingers claimed the center of her desire, slick and hot, waiting for his possession. He drove his fingers between the folds, stroking delicately over the tight bud hidden there. Halidan moved in rhythm with his movements, her eyes tight shut, her lips parted. Eioth could feel the power rising with her passion, her unmet needs.

  Some unknown time later he turned her to face the map and eased himself into her welcome heat.

  The words of the chant came easily to her. She did not need his word, his command to know this was the time to begin. She could sense the magic moving between them. The balance, the rhythm of the spell as familiar to her as a dance. This time the magic did not ride her, drive her. It was not a monster raging through her, but gentle and familiar as riding a horse. Eioth's hands and will remained on the reins as they flew in each other’s embrace, over the city and out into the countryside. They traveled so far that at first Halidan feared the girls truly had been kidnapped, but after a time they descended through a roof into a small Low Court farm house.

  Their flight paused at the bedside of two sleeping Elves, husband and wife entwined together. Halidan could feel Eioth's nod as if satisfied with his discovery, then they were off again, soaring back to Hub of Harmony.

  They found Chandri's youngest daughter sleeping in a large chamber in the center of a storage facility near the wharf. Despite the late hour, her sisters reclined on nearby couches, idly playing a game. Several guards slept or gambled nearby and a young High Court male amused himself with a selection of fine wines in another chamber.

  “The groom,” whispered Eioth and tapped her shoulder, and gasped out the words ending the spell.

  Pressing his face against her neck he curled her body into his embrace, the beat of his thrusts sure and deep. Halidan's fingers dug into his wrist as he drove them both to pleasure. Past pleasure to delight. Past delight to unity, to the stars, to release.

  Spent, they collapsed to lie boneless and gasping on the map. Halidan welcomed his weight on her body. Her security. Her home. Her lover.

  “Comfortable?” inquired Eioth when he had his breath back.

  Halidan only laughed as his hand moved over her.

  “Oh, yes,” she gasped. “Any more comfortable and I would die of the pleasure.”

  His laugh she felt as a rumble through his chest and into her heart.

  “What did it mean,” she said, when her breath returned. “That visit to the farm house?”

  “I think that is where Chandri found his children.”

  “What?” cried Halidan. “You think Chandri betrayed his wife with a Low Court woman?”

  “No,” said Eioth. “Worse. I think he purchased the children!”

  “Elements! But, how could he persuade his wife to agree to such a thing. It could only be done with her cooperation. Pretending to be pregnant. Raising them as her own. Why. . .?”

  “Think, Halidan, how it raised her in the opinion of those who she knew. Three children? There are those who count jealousy and envy directed toward themselves as equal to respect and admiration.”

  “Even so,” protested Halidan.

  “Even so, my love.” Eioth pressed a finger to her lips. “At this very moment, a search for those children, believed to be High Court and Chandri’s, are the cause of hope in the hearts of those seeking the High King’s throne. Do not discount the importance of this deception.”

  “Yet more proof that Chandri is unfit for the throne he seeks.” Halidan considered this for a moment. “But, if you were to say . . .”

  “What? Announce to the Synod that Chandri has purchased his precious daughters? How is it to be proven? Bleach-scented hair is not enough. Especially since the daughters are not here to be examined and if I were to make the accusation those girls might never be found.”

  “Even he would not . . .” Halidan opened her mouth to argue further, but fell silent, considering the matter. Accusation was not enough. Not without proof. And how was proof to be provided without the children? Eioth nodded, as if he followed the path of her thoughts.

  “Indeed, a complicated matter. For now, forgive me, my love. I must think on this.”

  “What shall we do now?”

  “Indeed. That is what I must consider. In truth, I have not the faintest idea of what to do next.”

  Fatigued by the disturbances of the day Halidan did not protest when Eioth carried her to bed. They had been asleep a bare hour when a thunderous knocking came at the door and Jendi and Lenneth charged into the room. Only the fact that his arms were fully occupied embracing Halidan saved both Elves from a magical attack. As Eioth freed himself, he glared at the intruders.

  “What, by all the Elements, possesses you to come in here in such a manner? Have you no further use for your lives?”

  Jendi sagged, clutching the wall for support as Lenneth crossed the room to stand before them.

  “Did you drink any of the wine?” he demanded. “Even a taste? Tell me now!”

  “Which wine?” asked Halidan, drawing the blankets up over her breasts.

  “The wine my cousin brought?” asked Eioth, his voice hardening. “No. Not a drop. Why?”

  “Oh, bless you,” cried Jendi, sinking to the ground. “I was doing a last walk through to be sure everything was in place for the morrow when I found the servants I’d assigned to clean your meeting room, dead!”

  “A bottle of wine, opened and full was too much temptation for them,” continued Lenneth. “It was poisoned. They drank it, and died!”

  “Your cousin,” said Halidan, when Eioth merely sat silent beside her in the bed. “That must have been Chandri’s plan. With you dead he would promote your cousin and out of gratitude he would vote for Chandri!”

  Eioth waved that assumption away.

  “Promotion to High Lord is not as easy or as sure as Justovan a
ssumed. No. I cannot be certain of Chandri’s hand in this, but he would have benefited, nevertheless. I need not immediately be replaced. With the North West’s seat empty in the Synod he would need only seven votes. The search for a replacement for me would have been postponed until after Chandri’s vote.”

  “What shall we do?” demanded Halidan.

  Eioth settled himself against the headboard as if there were nothing unusual about consulting with his House manager, a healer, and his lover after midnight in his bedchamber. He rubbed a weary hand over his face. “I do not know, Halidan. Truly, I have no idea how to proceed. I had thought that if I discovered where the girls were hidden, I would know how to act. But, I am at a loss.”

  Halidan could barely hold in her cry of despair at his words. How could he not know? How could they have waited so long and not know, not have a plan? Chandri must be defeated!

  “You know where they are?” asked Lenneth.

  Eioth gave a tired smile. “Why? Do you fancy yourself as consort?”

  “Not I,” said the healer. “High King is considered an unlucky profession for a Water priest. But, if you know where they are, we should find them. Free them.”

  “They are not prisoners,” replied Eioth. “They were never kidnapped! Instead they rest in a chamber with food, drink, games . . . their presumptive groom and a respectable number of guards, no doubt awaiting some signal from their father.”

  “A small, select group could fetch them out,” said Lenneth. “Where are they?”

  “In a storehouse near the Wicker Worker’s gate. What do you suggest we do? The lad who is with them will declare he found and free them the instant prior to your arrival. Given the crowds filling the city now, I cannot think of a way of freeing them that will not cause a riot! I am certain there is some plan in place for such an eventuality. The return of the girls will only add to the frenzy in the city. Chandri will call for yet another vote . . .”