by P. S. Power
Riven, when it came down to it, just didn't.
He was happy with the power he had and didn’t think of the responsibility he should have, for his people.
Chapter three
Debbie, being a complete sweetheart, had come simply to make sure they were doing all right. Her shop had been doing brisk business, since Tor had made a point of sending her things to sell in her shop. Magical items the likes of which could only rarely be found outside of Harmony now. They were friends however, so even though the Wizard lived on one of the special stations that circled Mars, a different world altogether, he made a point of seeing that his friend was well provided for.
The idea made Maria want to cry, actually.
Not in a pleasant way either. The man was darling. He always had been too. Sweet, kind, gentle and brave. So attractive that anyone sane would have bed him, even before he'd gotten his growth and become clearly one of the high nobility. When she'd known him, he'd been small still. Tiny really. Delicate and pale of skin. So fair that he would have shone in the moonlight.
So, when he'd asked her out one time in school, what had she done? Accepted like any reasonable girl would have, and spent the night of the party servicing him so well that he'd want to do it again? No... She'd thought that he'd been set on her by his roommate, Prince Alphonse, meant as a distraction. A way of telling her she wasn't fine enough to be Queen someday.
Yes, she'd been stupid to think that sleeping with the tall redheaded boy a few times would be enough to win his heart. He was a Prince after all, and well enough looking, even if he were hiding his identity at the school. She'd been young though, and had honestly believed that her looks and skill in bed would be enough to win him over. Men liked sex, as a rule, so why shouldn't it? To her fourteen year old mind it had simply made sense, way back then.
So, rather than simply feel a bit sad that she was being put off, and grabbing the proffered replacement that he'd set at her, she...
Well, it was the worst thing she'd ever done that didn't involve actual violence, wasn't it?
Maria, being youthful and stupid, screamed at the very pretty boy as he rather cutely asked her to one of the student dances. It had been done so properly the whole thing practically screamed that he was being put forth as a replacement for the heir. It had been incredibly rude of her, bad enough that several other older girls pulled her from the dining room after she'd thrown his very nice flower arrangement in his face.
Then they'd beaten her enough that she couldn't stand for several hours after. Worse, each of the three had been huge girls, muscular and well trained in fighting, unlike her. She'd had the basic tutoring, but wasn't slated for that kind of thing at all. These three had known what they were doing at the time, and harmed her just enough, in exactly the right ways, so that no one would back her in any kind of claim against them. Not short of a duel.
Which of course, any of them would have won against her. Easily.
They'd been careful not to damage her face beyond simple bruising, and left her major bones unbroken.
To add salt to the whole mess, each of them outranked her, too. She was the third daughter of a Baron. The other girls were all Conserinas. Karen Derring, Holly Printer, and Petra Ward. All of them were beyond her reach now too, for different reasons. Holly was a Countess, and her lands bordered Ward on the north side. Petra wasn't just Marvin's sister, but he actually liked her. Not that Maria couldn't see why now, years later, but back then it had been pretty hard for her to deal with. She'd rather pushed him not to be too kind to the girl over her pride being hurt about the beating she'd received.
The worst one though was Karen. Oh, she was a Conserina First now, meaning she stood in line to inherit an entire county, but that hardly mattered compared to the rest of it. The woman had managed to become immortal. An Ancient. As if to personally spite her, the Wizard Timon had also made the fairly plain and boxy looking girl incredibly lovely when he'd magically transformed her. So the one thing that Maria had really been superior to her in had been stripped away, in mere moments.
On the good side, she'd come to realize years before that she'd sort of deserved the thrashing she'd taken that day. The knowledge of that had come a bit slowly, since she'd been called away from school by her parents, who had arranged a marriage with Marvin for her. They knew of what she'd done, making herself into a Doretta like she had, but neither of them had even so much as scolded her for it. That was for one simple reason, naturally.
They’d both had expected her to understand her error without being told. It was one thing to beg off such an invitation, if a person were truly foul, or gross. Even then it had to be done with care however. It was like with the situation that she and Riven had been in, if in a less intimate manner. More dangerous too.
Riven might, possibly, take umbrage at what she'd done with him. But it was done with his consent, and not in a way that would leave him scarred, physically or mentally, after that day was done. At least if she'd done it all correctly. By the time he was back home, he would, hopefully, just think it a new game that she and Marvin had played with him. A punishment, but only the naughty kind that lovers and friends might arrange.
With Tor... She'd taken a sweet and innocent boy and damaged him for years.
The story of Doretta was a simple enough one. A woman of good standing had scorned a common man, only to find years later that he rose in power and came back for vengeance. Her power had grown too, but not enough to protect either her or her people from the rage that she'd created.
It was one of the first stories her nanny had told her. There was no way for her to claim that she hadn't understood the reasoning either, since it had been covered in classes. At school, and with her private tutors before that.
No, she was a Doretta, and the very next time she'd encountered Tor, he'd grown from a young looking, very lovely, boy she'd encountered that one day and abused, into a powerful Wizard. It had only been a few years time, too. He was so strong that when Marvin had been goaded into a combat rage, along with Prince Alphonse, the tiny, very common, looking man had simply stood between them, and refused to let them fight.
No one did that. More to the point, no one tried it, because anyone who did, died. Except for the Wizard Tor. He simply held out his hands and refused to let them harm one another.
Then, weeks later, it turned out that he was a Countier, and had been the whole time. Refusing to attack her even though he could have, because he was that good of a person. Countier Lairdgren, having been in his own county when she’d mis-stepped like she had. He could have ordered her dead for it at the time, and even her own family would have been hard pressed to take him to task for it. Instead, he let it all go, as far as she was concerned.
It was worse, in a way than if he'd tried to kill her for what she'd said to him. Then she might have at least pointed at his actions and been able to say that his beastly nature was what had driven her that day. Instead, he first saved her county from a foolish war, and then, when she'd been taken prisoner by seven Larval Assassins, all of them much larger and stronger than he was, and faster than a human rightly should be... He accepted a duel with all of them, in order to let her escape.
Seven super human men, and at that they required him to face them naked, unarmed and with no magics at all.
She hadn't seen the battle, but her friend Patricia had told her of it. How he'd made the world explode around him, nearly dying in that act of magic, and then battled, deaf and blind, against the remaining killers. Until he won.
To save her. The bitch of a Doretta that had left him feeling like he wasn't good enough to be loved by anyone, for years.
Honestly, he should have let her die there, and simply walked away. There was no real reason for him to do what he had. The rest of the people had already fled, after all. Marvin would have fought, and perhaps a few others, but Tor could have pulled one of his powerful weapons and easily killed them all where they stood. No one watching would have thought that wasn't enough. Not ev
en her Count.
That wasn't what he'd done however. No, he'd risked certain death, a battle no warrior could hope to win, to save her from the clutches of those evil black eyed beings.
Blinking she realized that she'd faded a bit, and not managed to get her husband away for a meeting, like they needed to have. He was standing very close to Debbie, who kept touching his arm gently, trying to not make it seem like they were together. That was the polite thing to do, when you were with a lover,in front of their spouse. Of course, most of the time when that happened, it was to spare the poor husband or wife, who may well not have been as well liked as the chosen partner was.
It might have been ego, but she really doubted that Debbie was loved more by her husband than she was. It would be fine, of course, if it were the case, but they had a rare relationship that way. They were actually very close. If she'd felt threatened or hurt by Debbie getting his attention, he would have sent her away, just because Maria asked. He'd even hinted at that.
She wouldn't hear of it though. The woman was very nearly her best friend anymore. They might have been of different stations in life, Debbie being a merchant as she was, but short of Patricia, she couldn't think of anyone that she was actually closer to. That would probably have been even more so, if they were lovers.
Blinking a bit, she let a slow smile play over her lips.
It was pretty clear that she wasn't going to get her attentions that night, wasn't it?
"You know, I think we should all take a trip together. If I can entice Prince Gerent to take us, we could all go to Harmony for a time? We haven't been in ages. Over a year. We should make certain we keep in touch with our friends there, don't you think?" It was sound logic, for all of them, but a bit out of the blue, as well.
Plus, she didn't exactly have Prince Gerent in her pocket. That was a mistake, of course. The former midget had grown to good proportions, and if he wasn't comely, he was certainly well enough aspected to pay attention to. Also a nice person, which did mean she'd been a bit neglectful of him.
Married now to Petra, so family after a fashion, too. That was enough of a reason to get in touch with him, she decided. Not that she really needed a reason for that kind of thing. They were, more or less, friends. Really, she was on better terms with Gerent than with her own sister in-law at the moment. That she hadn't had sex with either of them was a reflection of that, honestly.
Petra was lovely, in her own way, after all. It had been the hard feelings they both shared for so long that had prevented it from happening. At least Maria assumed that to be the case. She'd never actually asked, or even hinted, that Petra be anything more than what she was to her. Sure, when she'd had some troubles, a few years past, Maria had tried to be there for her, but it hadn't been even what she should have done for a person she barely knew, much less a family member, had it?
Wincing, internally, she tried not to let that insight show on her face. She failed though, it was clear. Marvin put his large hand on her shoulder, and looked concerned.
"Are you well?" It was his way of asking if she was about to lose it, Maria knew. In his mind it was probably all about Riven, and what he'd made her do to the man. She loved her husband, but he sometimes tried to take on too much responsibility for what she did. Out of love, and concern, but it could be a bit hard to let him know that she was the guide of her own life, at times.
Rather than defer, which was what she'd always done on the topic in the past, she glanced at Debbie, her friend, and then hugged both of them. It was a little awkward, given the relative sizes, but got the point across.
"I was just going over that I've been a rather huge bitch to Petra, and should fix that. I said that we were friends, but never sought to actually become closer to her, have I? That needs repair. I'm not going to get to it any sooner by putting it off, am I?" It was a real enough idea, but for some reason her husband softened a lot, and let his hand fall to her upper back.
"That would be good. I haven't wanted to suggest anything, since I know that there are old matters involved, but..." People were starting to come out, so he hesitated to speak.
It made some sense, given that Debbie was right there with them. She was Tor's good friend. Possibly lover, though if that was the case, it was hard to see when they might have met up for such things. Not that she'd blame either of them for taking the chance, if it did come up. They were both wonderful people.
The thing there was that her friend didn't know about the harm that Maria had once done to Torrance Baker, when they were both so very young.
For some reason, possibly foolishness, she let her face go wry and touched the other woman on the shoulder. She froze a bit, which was strange, since she was used to being touched by Maria, in a friendly fashion. It probably meant that she was worried about giving offense at the moment. Why though? Did she think that Maria was about to go into a combat rage? Since she didn't have that condition, it wasn't likely. Still, she was a Countess, so possibly that was enough to set the woman on the defensive?
Blinking she realized that Marvin had touched Debbie at the same time. That could, no doubt, be hard to work out, using normal social rules.
Nodding she grinned a bit.
"I'll see if I can set something up? For now, Debbie, would you be free tonight? I'd like to spend the evening with you, and Marvin. We've never done that sort of thing. If that's objectionable, or if you have other plans, I'll understand. I don't mean to come between you, but I do think of you as being one of my best friends." There. The truth was out, and if anyone in the world had a problem with it, they could go and fuck themselves, because she certainly wouldn't be doing that kind of person.
To her relief, Debbie smiled back and reached out to her.
"That would be most welcome. I've been trying to think of a way to bring the topic up for a while, but... Well, I didn't know if that was a thing that you'd like? Count Ward is your husband, and I don't know if you... enjoy women that way. We've never spoken of it." She seemed very shy, and a light rose color came to her face.
She really looked very attractive, in the early evening sun. It would be light for a few more hours, and like her, Debbie didn't seem to feel the heat of the day. Things were a bit damp, but not that trying. It was the same reason for both of them, Maria didn't doubt. Despite her lower social position, Debra Smalls was a very wealthy and powerful woman, with extremely good connections. She sold magic amulets and items and could no doubt afford her own without hardship.
Maria smiled and took the slightly smaller woman's hand. She was about five-nine or so, and not tiny really, but Maria was nearly seven inches taller, which made a difference.
"I do enjoy women that way. I didn't know that you not having that information would be what was stopping us, or I would have brought it up before. Still, I promise Marvin, I won't steal her away all the time. I know that you two are close. Now, let's get settled for the meal? I think that you should sit with us?" There was a sidelong glance at Marvin, but the Count looked down, smiled and then gave a slow nod of his head. It wasn't exactly appropriate to have a common woman at the high table like that, but this also wasn't a state dinner with high ranking people being displaced for it either. Not yet at any rate.
Sighing, Maria ran inside to find her communications device. It would work best for her anyway, in case she had to actually beg and wheedle Gerent into coming to take them on a trip. You could buy passage, after a fashion, but most had to go on a very long waiting list, and more gold didn't get you to the top faster, for some reason. Suggesting that a Prince come and service her whims was a bit too much, really. Even if she was a Countess.
Still, halfway to her room, she noticed that a rather worried looking Debbie was with her. That was interesting, but not that huge of an issue. If you couldn't beg and plead in front of your best friends, then who could you do it in front of? All that would really leave was strangers and enemies, which she didn't need more of, personally.
The other woman followed her in
to her main bed chamber, the one that she actually shared with Marvin, and once inside tapped the front of her chest, making her clothing vanish. Maria understood then. She'd thought that they were supposed to have sex right then, not the later that had actually been intended. It... Well, there was almost no real way to tell her no without being insulting or making things awkward, was there? Dinner would be served soon too, and she really wanted to make the contact with Gerent, if he was available.
So, smiling, she nodded. She could do more than one thing at a time, couldn't she?
It was tempting to have Debbie kneel in front of her while she spoke over the device in her hand, using her mouth and tongue on her in a pleasant fashion. Still, that would be a little selfish, wouldn't it? They hadn't done anything before, and she'd asked the other woman for her attention, not the reverse. If anyone was responsible for pleasing the other, it had to flow that way.
"Here, lie down on the bed? I need to talk to some people, so try not to moan too loud?" That got the naked, and rather nicely figured, woman to lay down as requested.
Her skin was soft looking, and bare, since that was the fashion. Maria needed both hands to tapped the code in on the moon glass rectangle in her hand. It took a bit to find the right name, since she wanted Prince Gerent, not Petra. Probably because she really was a bitch and avoiding her sister in-law more than she needed to.
As soon as the strong face of the man himself appeared, she sat, her soft skirt brushing the exposed and tender flesh of the other woman's side. There was a small gasp as she started to stroke her stomach gently. Her skin was so smooth it felt almost like silk.
"Hello? Gerent here." The man had a deep voice, nearly as much so as Marvin did. It hadn't always been that way. He'd been made to grow, by the Wizard Tor, who'd fixed things for him, so that he'd become what he should have been, instead of a warped and sickly midget.
She hadn't been the only one that had been a bit shocked to find that he grew into a tall and powerful noble man. She looked deep into his blue eyes, held on the device in her right hand, and let her left trail down toward Debbie's womanhood. She had a patch of soft black curls there, which was a deeper color than what was on her head. Almost absently, knowing that she couldn't possibly be ready for much more yet, Maria simply let her fingers gently brush the top of the curls. Teasing a bit.