Chapter 12
The rocks on the banks of the River Joi were jagged and uneven, and Tau missed his footing on one, landing him up to the middle of his thigh in the cold water of the shallows. In front of him, Kiera leapt to another perch, overgrown with moss and lichen, nimbly scrambling to her feet.
“Kiera,” he called.
“He could have been swept down over here, and gotten caught in the roots,” said Kiera, pointing to where the Joi narrowed and began to make a sweeping cut around a small wood. Heavy, thick roots were exposed where the water had eaten away the dirt from around an oak tree.
Kiera leapt to a new rock, and then another, then to the shore, and Tau waded after her.
“Look, here,” she said, pointing at a patch of reeds that lined the bank. “These have been broken. He could have washed up here, and lumbered up onto the shore. I’m not sure he even knew how to swim, to be honest, so he probably walked up here.”
She knelt on the bank, staring at the mud. She pulled a handful of mud up to examine it more carefully in the light from the sun that managed to slip through the forest’s canopy.
“Yes, I think this is mud from the river bottom. You can see how much darker it is from the vegetation. He probably tracked it up here and…”
She looked into the underbrush, then crawled along on her knees towards it, examining the branches of a brier.
“Yes, here, broken too. He’s gone this way.”
“Kiera…”
“We should follow this trail, Tau.”
“Kiera, that’s not him,” said Tau, sitting on the bank. He took off his boots and poured the water out of them.
“How do you know?”
“Because those aren’t even human prints. And even if they were, they could just as easily be someone wanderer wading barefoot through the river or, worse, Dragon Clan scouts.”
“But they could be Pol.”
“Sure, if he survived the fall. If he didn’t drown. If the Sorcerer we saw him fighting didn’t kill him outright before either of those things had a chance to kill him. If he regained consciousness right here, at this exact spot, and if he swam up out of the river into the shallows to this bank and not the opposite bank and then he might have trampled those reeds there, and then headed off through that brier.
“Or it just could be a deer,” he added.
Kiera stood up, not looking at him.
“I’m going to find him, Tau. I know he survived, and I’m going to find him.”
Tau was slow putting his boots on, knowing she was waiting for what he would say next. He stood up and brushed himself off, and she glanced over her shoulder at him.
“If it were me missing right now, would you be just as confident in denying reality?”
Again, she didn’t meet his gaze.
“That’s not fair, Tau. This isn’t about us. Pol’s my friend. I convinced him to come to Tia Vashil and join the Guild. Without me, he’d never have been on that bridge. I owe him.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Well, I don’t know how to answer your question, because you’re still here and Pol’s not!” she snapped at him.
“I’m going to keep looking for him,” she said, after a moment when he didn’t saying anything back. Her voice was softer, more in control. The calm, collected Kiera he knew. That had charmed him out of his pants in the medicus tent at the vai Tischer House Tourney all those years ago. Only she wasn’t talking about him, but another man.
He spat at the ground, and turned away from her.
“The princess has been alone for too long so I’m going back to the camp,” he said.
“Fine.”
“If you don’t find Pol by nightfall, we need to move on.”
“Fine.”
“And by move on, I mean away from the river and away from the road, where it won’t be as easy for the Clans to find us.”
That one knocked the starch out of her, her shoulders sagging.
“Fine.”
Tau looked at her for a moment longer, but she said nothing, made no moves towards him.
“Fine,” he echoed, turning away and heading back up the river bank towards the camp they’d made.
He scrambled back over the rocks until he came to the small cairn he’d set up to guide him back the way they’d came. He turned left into the forest, careful to lift branches out of his way, but mostly lost in thought about Kiera and her preoccupation with the missing Sorcerer. She’d kissed him, on the bridge, when they’d left him to fight the Clan with his magic. She’d offered the same sort of parting kiss to Tau—long, and hungry, and hinting of what would happen at their next meeting—when she’d left on the mission to Coulain.
But she hadn’t kissed him like that since.
The galling thing was that, even if she’d cooled to him, he hadn’t stopped loving her. He was ready to pick up where they’d left off over a year ago, and for a few weeks, he had. For a few—
The tell-tale whistle of an arrow sounded through the air and he threw himself to the ground.
“Shit! Fuck! Sorry!” called Fione. “I thought you were Dragon Clan.”
“No, it’s okay,” said Tau. He picked himself off the ground, fresh grass stains clinging to his clothes. He looked at where the arrow had embedded itself in a tree, about a foot above where his head had been, then reached up and pulled it out.
“You’re getting better,” he said, offering. “Arm strength, if not aim.”
“I fenced, daily, before all this,” said the Princess of Tia Joi. Tau had to remind himself of that sometimes. Royalty. He lived a pampered life in Tia Vashil, as a member of the Five Noble Families, but it was hardly much better than the richest burgher’s life. Fione vai Joi ruled a city and controlled its purse.
“Well, it’s not quite the same,” he said.
“Of course,” she said, taking the arrow from him, her fingers trailing over his hand before they closed around the shaft. She put it in the quiver at her belt. They’d packed light to get to Tia Joi quick enough, which had left them with little in the way of clothing for her. To her credit, she did not complain when they outfitted her with the clothing Pol had discarded before they’d put on their Dragon Clan disguises. Most of them were too big for her. She’d tied the excess shirt up above her stomach. Tau had cut the sleeves and pants down, and used the removed material to pack the toes of Pol’s boots for her much smaller feet. The man hadn’t worn much in the way of underwear, but it didn’t appear to faze Fione.
“I mean to say, I have some experience with the martial arts.”
“Ah,” said Tau. Somehow he doubted it. “I’ve never met a princess who cursed like you.”
“I have the common touch,” said the Princess. “Where is Lady Kiera?”
“Out looking for the Sorcerer,” said Tau. He walked to where the horses were tethered, behind a thick set of brush that masked their presence from the road, if not their sound, and pulled his saddlebags off Courage, giving the two destriers and Pol’s old converted cart horse a carrot each out of them. He slung them over his shoulder and walked back to where Fione had settled down on her bedroll.
“Join you, your highness?” he asked.
“Of course, Sir Tau,” she laughed at him.
“Hungry?”
“Incredibly,” she said. “Can we have a fire tonight?”
“Sorry, no,” said Tau. He and Kiera had banned fires to keep the Clan’s scouts from noticing them. Fione had been less than enthused.
“Hardtack?” he offered, snapping the stone-like circular biscuit into halves and handing her one.
“Uggh,” said Fione, accepting it. Tau poured her a tin cup full of water from his canteen, then handed it to her. She dipped the hardtack into the cup, softening it enough to make it edible.
“Not exactly fit for royalty, is it?” he said.
“I’ve grown used to it,” said Fione, chewing away at the bit of biscuit she’d managed to break off. “If I got used
to the spices the Clan used in what passed for ‘cuisine’ in their culture, I can get used to some dry crackers.”
Tau tapped his half on a rock. The hardtack seemed more likely to break the rock before the rock broke it.
“I don’t think ‘crackers’ is the right term, but I understand the sentiment,” he said.
They ate their dampened hardtack in silence for a long while. When Fione had finished hers, she looked at Tau.
“Lady Kiera is very concerned with finding this Sorcerer. Is he an important man in the Guild?”
“I couldn’t say. The Guild very rarely tells us anything,” said Tau. “But Kiera’s main concern is finding her friend.”
The word “friend” fell a little too harshly from his lips.
“Ah,” said the Princess. She reached out and rested her hand on Tau’s. “One of those friendships?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Will she be long, do you think?”
“Nightfall, I’d expect. I told her if she couldn’t find him by then, we’d have to move on to keep you safe.”
“And are we safe here?”
“For now. As safe as we can be while being pursued by all five Dragon Clans.”
“Hmm,” said Fione. She took off Pol’s boots, wiggling the toes of her rather dainty feet. She lay down, away from Tau across her bed roll, so she was lying back on her elbows, and shook one of the bare extremities at him.
“Would you do me a favor, Sir Tau? My feet ache from our ride. Rub them for me?”
“Of course, your highness,” said Tau. He took Fione’s foot in his lap, his hands starting at her toes, then traveling down the pads to the arch, down to her heel, his thumbs rubbing in small circles as he went. Fione groaned and rolled her head on her shoulders.
“Ah, that feels nice,” she murmured, her eyes closed. Tau switched to the other foot, running the same process over. He was barely considering it, watching the princess’ reaction instead, her moans and groans as his hands worked almost orgasmic.
Before he was ready to stop, he was done.
“Oh, thank you, Sir Tau,” said the princess, her voice breathy and sedated. Tau thought she might roll over and go to sleep, but instead, she turned away from him, her hands fiddling with something on her chest. In a moment, she’d shrugged her shirt down to the base of her spine, held in place by the curve of her elbows, and Tau was staring at the naked skin of her back, the tresses of her platinum blonde hair splayed down her shoulders.
“Would you mind massaging my back as well?” she asked.
Tau stared at Fione’s back for a moment, and she tucked her hair in front of her, revealing her fine smooth skin, the muscles, the cleft of her spine disappearing beneath the waist of Pol’s pants, the movement of her shoulder blades, the curves of the sides of her full breasts spilling past the sides of her body. The sight of her alone was enough to set him stirring, but Tau ignored it. He was a knight of the Vashili, after all, and this was the Joian princess. Nothing untoward would happen.
“No. It would be my pleasure,” said Tau. He reached out a hand and touched her.
The princess had a much different back from Kiera’s, than Tau was used to running his hands over. It seemed to him to be perfect, like the flawless skin of a statue, and so soft she felt like the finest down. He scooted closer to her so he wasn’t stretching out to touch her, his fingers pressing into her shoulders, locating a knot and working it loose. Fione let her head sag, and her shoulders slumped.
“Yes, oh my, yes,” she purred. Her whole body seemed to relax, and Pol’s shirt dropped away completely. She raised her arms to lift her hair away, and Tau ran his hands up the sides of her back, his fingers narrowly avoiding where her armpits gave way to the flesh of her breasts, running back up to tease the vertebrae in her neck.
“Sir Tau?” she asked, cocking her head back. “Did I see you had a bottle of oil the other day?”
“For treating my sword, yes,” he said.
“Would it be okay if you used some on my back, do you think?”
“I’d be happy to lend you the use of it, Princess,” said Tau. “Just let me get it from my saddlebags.”
“Oh, no, I’ll get it,” said the Princess. She leaned away from his hands, turning to her right and crawling on her hands and knees the short distance to Tau’s saddlebags. Tau couldn’t help but stare at her bare breasts as they fell into his view. He might have imagined it, but it seemed like she took far longer than necessary to retrieve the small bottle of oil. Tau shifted uncomfortably against the tightening of his trousers.
Fione sat back down in front of him, handing the bottle to him.
“The Dragon Clan chieftain oiled her skin quite regularly, and I had cause to notice that it kept her skin quite soft and pliable,” she explained. “She often had her thralls massage some into my skin.”
Tau unstopped the bottle, dripping a bit of oil into his palm and then spreading it to the other. He rubbed his hands across Fione’s back, smoothing the oil into her skin.
“Ah, yes, it does make everything feel so much better,” she said. “I guess you could say I’m used to it now. Please rub lower, Sir Tau.”
Tau’s hands had been well down her back at the last statement. He rubbed lower, fingertips pushing against the waistband of her borrowed pants.
Fione fiddled with something at her crotch and the waistband relaxed so that the next time Tau’s fingertips pressed against it, they slipped under, pressing against the top of the firm round curve of her ass. She’d undone the laces, Tau realized. But, if anything, the Princess seemed to be enjoying the massage more, sighing contentedly.
“I’m very sore from the saddle,” she announced, raising up onto her knees. She pulled the waistband of her pants down, exposing the fine globes of her buttocks to him. “I know it might seem improper, but I would consider it a personal favor if you would continue.”
“As you wish, your highness,” said Tau. His hands caressed her ass, kneading the soft flesh. He picked up the bottle of oil again, drizzling a little over the tops of both cheeks. Fione gasped, then giggled at him, and he pressed it into her skin. She began to lean forward a bit, and he could see the narrow folds of her pussy, the platinum blonde hair around it poking between her legs. Tau ran his hands down across her thighs, then back up, cupping both of her buttocks at once, one in each hand. He continued to knead at her thighs and ass until his hands began to cramp.
“We’ll have to stop there,” he said.
“Oh,” said Fione, disappointment heavy in her voice. She shuffled around on her knees to look at him, and Tau paused, drinking in her petite form, her perky breasts, the smooth tummy and the pale trail of hair leading from the navel down to the junction of her legs and the enticing pink lips there.
Tau stared at the ground.
“Please,” said Fione. “It’s okay. Simple warriors of the Dragon Clan saw far more than this, and they were my captors. I don’t mind one of my rescuers seeing my body. Certainly not one so cute and fetching as you, Sir Tau.”
“I’m sorry, your highness,” said Tau. He glanced up at her, coming face to face with a radiant smile. His eyes traveled back down her long, slender neck to her breasts, each nipple standing at attention in the coolness of the air. Oil clung to her sides, making the skin along her ribs glisten. Without thinking, his eyes fell back to the grass of the camp’s clearing.
“Sir Tau,” said Fione. She leaned forward and took hold of his chin, lifting his face to gaze on hers. “You have been very kind to me—not just rubbing my feet and back, but also your daring rescue. You deserve a reward. A kindness I could bestow upon you in return, one that, even robbed of my throne, and all my possessions, I could give you now. Indeed, I would be happy to reward you with.”
“Any reward is an unnecessary one, Princess,” said Tau.
Fione clucked her tongue at him, a grin wider than a good mouse-hunting cat might possess.
“Sir Tau, there are certain... rumors...
that tend to swirl up around me. Have you heard what they are?”
Tau had. They were scandalous and far reaching and the principal reason that the ambassadorship to Tia Joi had been the most hotly contested office among the young men of Tia Vashil. To put it quite simply: the princess was a maneater, and her appetite was insatiable.
“Yes, your highness.”
“They’re all true, Sir Tau.”
Tau swallowed, then wet his lips. Fione continued.
“And, as part of Chief Olene’s torture, she deprived me of the thing I took the most joy in, for the long weeks of my captivity. It has set me on edge, Sir Tau. Riding that horse was agony, watching you settle in each night, alone in your bedroll, this wonderful body of yours made for a woman to ride, was suffering beyond belief. So if you will not accept my gift as a reward, consider it an order instead.”
She did not wait for him to respond. Instead, she fell onto his lap, undoing the laces of his breeches with a practiced ease, then fishing his already hardened cock out into the air, her hand sending shivers up his spine as she stroked.
An honorable man, the sort of righteous knight out of story, when confronted with such temptation, would have stopped her. He would have slept with his sword between them, or whatever precautions they took in fairy tales. He would have sworn on Vash’s fire that he was celibate until he’d defeated all his enemies or until he was married. He would of—Kili’s breath, what was she doing?
Tau realized what he had long suspected, but only now fully comprehended, with the Princess of Tia Joi naked save for a pair of pants bunched around her knees in his lap, bathing his cock in her lips’ embrace, that he was far from an honorable man.
The princess fell to her task with an assurance and enthusiasm that was unparalleled in Tau’s experience. She ran her lips from the tip of his cock down to its base, her tongue tracing the center, her saliva clinging to the length as her mouth traveled the distance. She reached his balls, sucking one into her mouth, pulling it a slight distance from his body while her hand rode the warm rod up and down, working the spit into his skin.
Dragon Jade Chronicle: The Warlock And The Warrior Page 28