“I’m sorry. I should trust you both more than that. I’ve just been so worried. You’re really going to stay at home, at least for a few weeks? That’s all I need to finish the blessings I’m working on.”
“That’s why I’m trying to make it so our people can do everything that needs doing,” I assured her. “If Cerise and I do go out it will only be for a few hours, and only if we figure out a way to do it safely.”
Cerise smiled, and started unbuttoning Avilla’s dress. “I think our girl needs more reassurance than just some words, Daniel. How about we remind her how much we love her?”
It was a good while before I got back to work that afternoon.
Cerise’s suggestion turned out to be a good one, though. The flight magic she’d stolen from that dragon worked on a completely different principle than my force sorcery. Watching the field of magic that formed around her wings when she tried to fly gave me a lot of ideas. We spent several hours in the garden the next morning, experimenting with various improvised attempts at flight buffs while she bounced around flapping her wings.
They generated a lot more lift than they should have, because each one projected a field of magic that grabbed hold of the air around it and effectively doubled her wingspan. Her flight muscles were fantastically strong, too. Not surprising, considering the blend of demonic and draconic attributes empowering them.
Watching them work proved a lot more distracting than I’d anticipated, though. When she manifested her wings the flight muscles wrapped around her rib cage to her sternum, and most of the actual muscle ended up in front. When she flapped her wings her breasts swelled and rose, shifting with the motion of those big muscles underneath them. It was pretty damned eye-catching, especially once Cerise realized what was happening and started teasing me on purpose.
“See something interesting?” She grinned.
“Wench. Don’t you ever get enough?”
“Of you looking at me like that? Fuck, no. You don’t think it’s weird, then? I was kind of embarrassed when I first realized what was happening.”
“I suppose some people would think it was strange,” I admitted. “But it looks pretty hot to me. Kind of reminds me of this stripper I saw once who could make her breasts bounce using just her pectoral muscles.”
“Stripper? What’s that?”
“Dancers who put on a show that involves taking off their clothes while they prance around on a stage,” I explained. “For money, obviously.”
She grinned. “Sounds fun. I love how decadent your country is, Daniel. Too bad I’ll never be able to see it. So, are we gonna figure out this flight thing, or am I just showing off my sexy boobs?”
I laughed. “I’d tell you to turn around, but you’re just as distracting from any angle. Okay, seriously, it just caught me by surprise. Let’s give this another try.”
Once we got back to work I realized that there was something else going on with Cerise’s flight magic. Part of her weight was being negated when she tried to fly, by a really odd knot of magic that looked more like a banishment than anything else. No, not one banishment. Two of them, with targets that weren’t really compatible.
“I think I see what your problem is,” I told her after I’d studied the interaction for a bit.
“Really? Sweet! Enlighten me, oh wise and benevolent wizard.”
“Oh, boy. What are you buttering me up for now?”
She bounced impatiently, drawing my gaze back to her barely restrained breasts. Where was she getting all these skintight outfits, anyway?
“I want to fly, silly! Now come on, tell me already.”
“Alright, alright. It looks like you’ve got two different kinds of magic trying to reduce your weight so you can get yourself off the ground, but they’re interfering with each other. I’m not quite sure how applying a banishment to your weight is supposed to work, but having two different enchantments playing tug-of-war with it certainly isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
“Huh. Yeah, that makes sense. Hang on a minute, let me see if I can suppress the demon part of that.”
I have to admit, watching Cerise manipulate her internal magic was pretty impressive. It only took her about a half hour of meditation to identify the part that was causing the conflict, and suppress it. With that done she was able to make some impressive wing-assisted leaps, although she still had trouble actually getting airborne. Then I just copied the lift enchantment onto a ring for her.
Suddenly, she had no trouble at all with her takeoffs. In a matter of minutes she was swooping gleefully around the garden area, laughing like a maniac. Her first attempt at a loop ended in disaster, but she was far too tough to be hurt by a little tumble onto dirt. She just launched herself back into the air, and tried again.
Tina wandered out onto her balcony, attracted by the noise. She did a double take when she saw Cerise flying. Then she clapped her hands, bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Cerise! You’re flying,” she shouted.
“I know! It’s awesome!” Cerise answered. She alighted on the railing next to Tina for a moment, gave her a quick but enthusiastic hug, and took off again.
Tina beamed. “I’m so happy for you. Daniel, did you do something?”
“A little,” I replied.
“You fixed my wings!” Cerise landed in front of me, and threw herself into my arms. “Fuck, I love you! You are so getting lucky tonight. Are you going to try it?”
“I’m not eager to try growing wings,” I said. “I think I can come up with a viable alternative, but it’s going to take some work. What about you? Is the ring good, or do we need to add some refinements? Maybe a variable strength lift field instead of just an on/off switch?”
She got a thoughtful look.
“A controllable field would be better, yeah. But I don’t want to depend on a ring to be able to fly. Do you think we could put the enchantment directly on me? Or maybe just strengthen that aspect of my flight magic?”
Well, that was an interesting idea. I had to stop and think about it for a minute. I could see what needed to be done. Normally a person’s magic would resist any outside force attempting to change it, but this was Cerise.
I gave her a skeptical look. “You want me to change your personal magic? That isn’t going to be easy.”
She met my eyes, and opened herself to our coven bond. “We can do it, Daniel. I just have to open myself up completely, and then relax and let you work. Right?”
Yeah, like that was a small thing.
“What are you doing now?” Tina’s curious voice interrupted from right beside me.
“Daniel’s about to ram his massive sorcerous power deep into my soul, and reshape my magic to fix the problem with my flight magic,” Cerise purred.
Tina’s breath caught. “Oh, my! That sounds exciting. Can I watch?”
“It’s not as dramatic as she makes it sound, Tina. You really get off on that kind of thing, don’t you?”
Tina blushed. “You know I do, Daniel.
“She’s not the only one,” Cerise said. “I keep hoping you’ll get the hint.”
It was hard not to, with the coven bond wide open. Cerise’s darker desires still made me a little uncomfortable, and her fascination with power exchange was rather different than Tina’s reflexive submissiveness. But was there really any harm in giving her what she wanted?
Not that I could see. But if we were going to play that way, I should put in the effort to do it right.
“We aren’t going to do it here on the lawn,” I said firmly. “It could take some time, and I don’t want to be interrupted. I’ve been meaning to set up one of the empty labs for transformation experiments anyway.”
“Okay,” Cerise said slowly, clearly wondering where I was going with this.
“It’s going to be delicate work,” I went on. “There’s no telling what kind of phantom sensations it might cause, either. I’ll need to restrain you so you don’t thrash around too much. As strong as you are, I’
ll need to build a heavy iron cross to attach the chains to.”
Her eyes lit up. “Chains?”
I nodded. “Definitely a nine-point restraint setup. Wrists and ankles wouldn’t cut for you.”
“Nine-point restraint?” Her breath was coming faster now.
“Ankles, thighs, wrists, shoulders, neck,” I explained, touching each point in turn. “I’d better do something with that naughty tail of yours, too.”
Tina looked a little confused, but also quite intrigued. “Can I help?”
I looked down at her and smiled. “Well, Tina, Cerise is going to be completely helpless for a couple of hours while I work on her magic, and it’s very important that she not resist. Do you think you can make her feel… cooperative?”
She licked her lips. “I can do that.”
“Hours?” Cerise squeaked. Her thighs pressed together, and she squirmed in place.
“Hours,” I confirmed. I waited a couple seconds, and then went on. “After lunch.”
Avilla had just stepped out the breakfast room door to call us in. She smiled when she saw I’d already noticed her, and I started in her direction.
“What? Wait, no, you can’t stop now!” Cerise whined, reluctantly trailing along behind me.
“You don’t want to miss one of Avilla’s lunches, do you?” I asked innocently.
“That would be terrible,” Tina agreed. Either she was completely oblivious to Cerise’s distress, or she was a better actress than I’d thought. “She works really hard to make everything perfect for us.”
“But-”
I gave her firm behind a light swat. “No buts, pet. Come along, now. We’ll play with you later.”
She gasped. For a second I was afraid I’d gone too far. The sharp spike of pure joy that erupted across the coven bond ended that worry, though. She molded herself against my side, and snaked an arm around my waist.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I assured her.
I gave Avilla a kiss on the way in, and went to take my place at the head of the table. A new table, with a polished surface of dark wood and decorative carvings on the legs. The chairs were new, too, and a lot more comfortable than the crude pieces the carpenters had thrown together during our first few days in the keep.
I’d noticed a lot of subtle changes like that in the last couple of days, since Avilla had retired from her former duties as castellan. Rugs appearing in high-traffic areas. A couple of paintings on the walls. A supply of big, soft white towels in the bathing area. It was nice, watching this cavernous maze of stone I’d thrown together gradually turn into a home.
Elin was already at the table, wearing a fluffy house robe with her hair still damp from the bath. She had her nose buried in a book, as usual, but she looked up with a smile as we came in.
“Hey, Elin. Enjoying being home?”
“Immensely. I’ve finally caught up on healing all of our people, and today I intend to take full advantage of this decadent paradise you and Avilla have created. I shall lounge about all day without bothering to properly dress, repeatedly stuff myself with delicious food, and soak in hot baths until I wrinkle into a prune.”
“But Elin, you don’t get wrinkles in the tub,” Tina pointed out.
“Precisely,” she replied. “If I go missing for a few days you shall know where to find me.”
“Good thing we aren’t having a staff meeting today,” I observed. “What are you reading?”
Her eyes returned to the book, and I’m pretty sure she was reading again when she answered.
“Benito’s Commentaries on the Philosophers. The Runesage had a fascinating perspective on the insights and shortcomings of the Greek classics. I’m in the middle of his deconstruction of the Sophists, and it’s really quite devastating.”
“No doubt. I don’t remember seeing that one before, though.”
“I, ah, may have made a stop at a bookseller or two while I was out healing the other day. I hope that’s alright? I understand we’re about to become rich beyond the dreams of avarice, so I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“She had to get two guys to help carry the books in from the skimmer,” Cerise put in.
I chuckled. “Sounds like we have similar book-buying habits, Elin. No, it’s fine. I’m sure we can afford it.”
Avilla came in with a big tureen of soup, and rolled her eyes. “Really, Elin? Do I have to make a rule about no books at the table?”
“Oh, I’m sorry Avilla. I suppose that was a bit rude of me. I was just passing the time until everyone arrived, and I got a bit caught up. It shan’t happen again.”
She closed the book, and got up to carefully place it on a side table against the wall.
“‘Shan’t?’ What a funny word,” Tina said.
“Elin’s all edumacated,” Cerise said sagely.
“She’s really smart,” Tina agreed guilelessly. “What’s a Sophist, anyway?”
“A long time ago there were a bunch of really smart guys who tried to figure out all the secrets of the universe with their huge brains,” Cerise explained. “Only they disagreed on all kinds of stuff, so each of the famous ones founded his own school to teach the answers he thought were right. The Sophists were one of those schools.”
“Oh. Were they wizards?”
“That’s right. They were the guys who invented wizardry, actually. They did a bunch of really famous stuff, so smart people are always reading about them. Only, they always end up arguing about the same things the ancient schools did. A lot of their arguments were about things that no one really understands, even today.”
“Oh.” Tina seemed to pause, thinking about that. Then she beamed at Cerise. “Thank you, Cerise. You’re really good at explaining things. I think I even understood that.”
“She is, isn’t she?” Elin agreed. “Oh, this looks lovely, Avilla. Thank you for the meal.”
From what I’d seen lunch in Varmland was usually pretty basic. Cold cuts and chunks of bread, or these funny open-faced sandwich things. But Avilla was never satisfied with simple meals. Today she’d made a hearty potato soup topped with cheese and spices, and the maids were setting out baskets of fresh bread sticks and bowls of salad. The last one carried a covered platter that turned out to be full of little bite-sized cuts of steak wrapped in bacon.
I noticed the maids looked different today, too. They had new uniforms, not too different from the old ones but a lot nicer looking. Black dresses with white aprons, a bit tight across the chest and cut scandalously short by local standards. The new version was a finer cloth, with a bit of lace decorating the short sleeves and the hem of the knee-length skirt. They moved differently, too. More confident, skillfully coordinating without getting in each other’s way. That, and their smiles seemed more genuine.
“I see you’ve been putting your newfound scheduling freedom to good use,” I told Avilla. “How are things going?”
“Wonderful,” she said happily, taking her place next to me. “I know things have been awfully slapdash around here until now, but I promise it’s going to get better.”
“I don’t have any complaints,” I said.
“You haven’t lived with her while she had all her magic set up and working,” Cerise said knowingly. “She’s going to knock your socks off.”
She took a bite out of a breadstick. “Mmm, that’s my girl’s special recipe alright. What are you starting with, honeydew? This doesn’t feel like your health and healing blend.”
“We hardly need that with the amulets Daniel made us,” Avilla pointed out. “I’m focusing on might, both physical and magical, and working in protections against different kinds of hostile magic around the edges. Give it a week and you won’t have to worry about subtle curses like that magic wine the elves gave you anymore.”
“I’m just happy you cook for us,” Tina said. “Everything you make is so good! I feel guilty about not helping out with the work, but I know I can’t compete with you in the kitchen.”
Avilla’s smile was a little smug. “Don’t worry about it, Tina. I love cooking, especially now that I’m not running around all day like a chicken with its head cut off. I’m sure you’ll find something else you can do to help out. Looking after the children, if nothing else.”
“I can do that,” Tina agreed.
I paused with a spoonful of soup halfway to my mouth. “Children? Plural?”
“Not just yet,” Avilla assured me. “Goodness, the look on your face just then was priceless.”
“I guess that was silly of me,” I admitted. “It’s not like it’s going to happen by accident.”
“Of course not. But speaking of children, I would like to start thinking about plans. Maybe once you’ve finished the Black Citadel, and we have enough men and magic weapons that we aren’t worried about being attacked?”
I swallowed. “You’re serious about this?”
She leaned towards me, putting her hand on my chest and gazing up at me through hooded eyes. “Yes, Daniel. I want children. I want your children. I want to be smart about arranging things properly, so I can take good care of them. But I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to. Will you give me a child soon, Daniel?”
“I, um, wow.”
“Oh, do let the poor man eat,” Elin interrupted. “There’s no need to ambush him with the decision.”
“Thank you, Elin,” I said.
“The Yule feast would be an auspicious time,” she went on. “A new beginning amidst the destruction of the old world. I’m sure this mighty erection of stone and iron will be suitably vast by then.”
“Dibs on the spring equinox,” Cerise said. “Unless you want to share it, Elin? Actually that would be perfect. Give my little demon brat a faerie playmate the same age to grow up with?”
“Spring equinox?” Elin repeated, sounding flustered. “I’m still not sure it would be safe, Cerise.”
“Oh!” Tina said. “I completely forgot. I asked Bast about it, Elin.”
“She answers your prayers?” Elin said uncertainly. She glanced at Tina’s baby bump. “But she’s… how does that work?”
Tina shrugged, unconcerned. “She’s a goddess. She said she gave you the good kind of motherhood blessing, not the dinky one. Oh, and you shouldn’t doubt her so much, or she might get ticked off.”
Extermination (Daniel Black Book 3) Page 27