by Pam Uphoff
They sliced all the wood, not a saw cut needed, and then they all worked to assemble it and the Mages magicked it together, tighter than nails or pegs.
The witches handed over iron hinges and brass doorknobs, and Harry brought out the ale. They made a bonfire of the wood bark, and roasted chickens and potatoes. Furniture and blankets and curtains started showing up. At midnight, the new home owners were all tucked into bed and the rest of the revelers headed home.
***
The Sheep Man listened to the household's sounds, old Blissful snored a bit, Elegant was restless. Question was so quiet he kept finding himself holding his own breath so he could hear hers. The babies were next door, so he could listen to them easily. Justice's aunt and little sister, and his twins. Three daughters. He had three daughters.
And Justice was snuggled up, curled up with her back against his chest, her butt against his loins. His arm was draped across her, cupping a breast.
"You're going to leave, aren't you?' she asked.
"I need to find out if anyone is after me. They can see me now." He breathed in the scent of her long black hair. "I'll come back." His arms tightened. "Besides, you're a nasty independent little witch. Everyone knows you don't need men."
"That doesn't mean we don't love men. Sometimes."
"Once every fifteen years?"
"I was curious to find out if I could remove what I thought was a curse. And then I was frightened by what I found beneath it."
He chuckled. "Did you picture a nice well educated town boy?"
"A soldier, actually. You had the scars. A wizard," she breathed. "I had thought they were all dead, all gone."
"We are, mostly, mostly. You returned me to life."
She shivered. The stories of wizards, the magical wars that destroyed whole cities. "I was mostly trying to not hurt you."
He captured her hand and kissed it. "But you do hurt me. You are a witch. You won't marry me."
She snorted, relaxed and trusting in his arms. "Witches don't marry. And, and, sometimes I don't know the man under that spell, nor whether he is the same as the man under all those spells."
He tightened his arms. "Sometimes I don't know either."
"The, the chain. It was completely null."
"It wasn't even real, the way most people use the term real. Chains are a spell, a very special spell to stop all magic from getting out."
"The myths talk about chaining wizards. I had envisioned damp dungeons away from the Sun, and shackles."
"Oh, they did that too. Fools. They depended on the chain spell, and didn't check the state of repair of their dungeons. Damp means rust. Crumbling rotten mortar. Following seepage, digging through mud. Sewers." His brows knitted. "From somewhere I got the sense to just turn and walk away. To not go back and continue the fight. The stupid spell was still ripening—deliberate slow torture, watching helplessly, feeling my mind failing. So I can't blame it for my sudden acquisition of common sense." He smirked, "Although I did bring my nice little goats with me."
"You were there. In the Wizard Wars."
His brows tightened. "Only the last one. That I know of. Do your stories name the Wizard Wars? Or was it so long ago they all blur together?"
"I've seen a list of the Wizard Tyrants. It started with Zapolo and ended with Deldrio."
He chuckled, a warm little sound, "Zapolo was a mage king in the Old World. He came to power in the ruins of the last war between the old gods and the witches and mages who had made themselves godlike. I think your history books got a bit mixed up, lost a big chunk of history in the middle, and picked up with the Wizard Kings of Scoone. Deldrious—ah yes, Deldrious threw me in the dungeon. I'm glad to hear that he was the last. We were not good people."
"The wars between . . . there are myths that the wizards threw down the gods. That was then?"
"No, that was long before. And it wasn't wizards. The Mages and Witches were taking power, making themselves gods. The gods fought back, because the others wanted to rule. That was that war. Then heaven closed, and there was only the World. Now? Now there are a few confused old gods and nine nasty old wizards. Eight."
"I didn't know what I was getting into."
"I didn't know what I was getting into either. My mind turned back on—and I discovered I like minding sheep. They're ever so much smarter than nobles. It gave me time to think, to dig at the other layers."
She ducked her head, shyly. "I thought you'd try to get one of the other witches, break more spells."
He scrubbed his cheek on her head. "I was too busy thinking. I had a lot of thinking time to catch up on. And a certain witch to woo. And a daughter to keep an eye on." She stiffened a little in his arms. "She's a wizard, Justice. If she can keep her mind off boys she'll be a good one."
"You can't castrate a girl." she said dryly.
"No. Girl wizards are different. But they get distracted by boys, and then babies and neglect their studies. Question's a late bloomer. She may go all the way to practical wizardry before she gets distracted, if she ever does. The most powerful wizards were women who never had any thing to do with men."
"A bit like witches."
"No, they need to not allow that sort of flow. Wizards don't pass the power on, they hold it."
"No wonder they're all supposed to be insane. You pass power."
"I had a good teacher, I think she knocked the arrogant shit out of me and taught me to care. And give up power." He started kissing his way down her body. "Anyway, I can't leave until after lambing and shearing."
"Good, because I think the Mages were a bit too enthusiastic about calling the snow."
"Ah, they get drunk on magic, hence the orgies."
"Hmph. I just hope no one slipped any of that wine in. I think the Valley has enough babies for a few years." Even so there was a wistful note in her voice.
He chuckled. "In a few years. Till then, we'll just practice." He nuzzled into her hair. "We could sneak up to the hot springs . . . "
***
Question learned more about reproduction during lambing season than she figured any girl ought to know.
And as the days warmed and the sunlight strengthened, she even managed to help her Father with the sheering. To find the interface between the fire of the living ewe, and remove everything beyond that. Several fleeces exploded all over the corral, but she got the hang of it. She counted carefully, and including the exploding fleece, she sheared twenty sheep.
Of course, the Sheep Man sheared the other one hundred eighty-two sheep and two hundred and sixty lambs in the same amount of time.
"You caught on quick, girl."
She opened the corral and let the naked sheep run off to the meadow, kicking up their heels in freedom from the weight of their hot coats.
"What do you do to the wool, now? What makes your wool so valuable?"
He laughed. "Nothing. The wool is special because of the breeding stock I brought here . . . a very long time ago. I've been doing selective breeding for a very long time." He ambled over to snag a wad of exploded fleece. "See this?" he untangled the wool, straightened out a hair. "Damn near two feet long, very fine. That's the whole big secret."
"Most sheep aren't like this?"
He chuckled, "Nope. You've been spoiled by growing up surrounded by the very best spinning wool in the world. And you didn't even know it. Well, that's the hard work done for the year. All that's left is haying so we can feed them next winter." He looked down at her. "Will you watch them, for me?"
"I will." She blinked back tears.
"Now, keep an eye on your mother too, and kiss your little sisters a whole bunch." He leaned down, not nearly as far as he'd had to last summer, and hugged her. "Soak up the Sun. Do those exercises." He paced around in a tight circle. "My timing is so bad. I should be drilling you on everything. But I need to find out if Scoone is still hunting for me, if they have wizards that can find me. I don't want to draw a swarm of wizards down on Ash. I should have gone last summer."
"Ha! My own damn fault for breeding all the mares. All the teams are needed for plowing. And all the riding horses are pregnant."
"Take Chocolate."
He blinked down at her. "He's your favorite."
"Except maybe for Kite. You need a horse. It'll be faster, and right now he's the only one we really don't need."
He sighed. "It would speed things up. All right, girl, I'll take your horse, and I'll try really hard to bring him back, too."
***
"Strictly speaking," Never told the elders, "It's not the witches' business. But it could be a problem for the valley."
The Sisters of the Dark Crescent and the Waning Half, all with babes in arms listened attentively.
"Juli and Fava are having trouble connecting with two of their babies. I can't think of any man around who could have given the babies that black hair, and the only thing I can think of with those honey brown eyes are . . . well those black goats the Sheep Man used to keep. What were they?"
Elegant sat up frowning. "Earth, Moon and Stars! I should have seen it!"
"They were, or rather are, wizards." Answer frowned at Elegant, "They were bespelled to be goats. They've broken loose and are gone now. Seven of them. The one, of course, is dead."
"Is that how those first three escaped?" Blissful wrinkled her nose. "They could break the spells controlling them by deflowering a virgin. Fava, Juli, and who else? Are any of the other girls having problems?"
Break spells by deflowering a virgin? Never thought about the goats she'd seen raping their way through the Ba'alists army. Well, men start out virgin, too. And then there was the goat that not-quite-raped the Inspector General. Breaking spells. Whose spells? The Sheep Man?
"If that's all it took, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner!" Delight snapped.
"Oh, they wouldn't dare deflower a witch. Even with goat brains they had more sense of self preservation than that!" Curious sniffed. "And the Mage girls usually lose their virginity on their sixteenth birthday. I wonder why the Mages made those two wait?"
"I'll go have a talk with the girls." Elegant sat forward suddenly. "I understand their problem."
"Elegant?"
She pressed her lips together, and blushed. "When I was young and stupid . . . well, I didn't get pregnant with my first, so I was just experimenting with the power flows, waiting for some likely fellow to come through. I thought those randy goats would be an interesting test . . . it got . . . quite nasty. I hadn't intended to actually . . . I mean I was just going to pull power in and out and see how it affected a male animal. I certainly learned a bit about how to control males that night. Eventually. It was quite a shock to have to fight like that. It was an even bigger shock to fall pregnant, though."
Answer hid her face in her hands. "I don't suppose you know which one you seduced?"
Seduced isn't quite the right, term, Grandmother. Never thought about the oversized diseased pizzle on the goat she'd seen . . . Eww!
"I didn't realize what they were, and no, I don't know which one was the father. I couldn't tell them apart. Except for the huge one."
"Elegant! Surely not more than one!"
Never boggled quietly.
"It got badly out of control for awhile." Elegant shrugged ruefully, "Like I said, I understand what is bothering those girls. And Justice turned out very well, and maybe talking about that will help them see that it isn't the babies' fault."
Blissful frowned. "Have you spoken to Justice about this?"
Elegant looked shocked. "Certainly not!"
"Sired by a wizard and consorting with one. No wonder Question . . . well, no matter. Thank you, Never, for bringing this to our attention."
Never nodded and stepped out quietly. Odd, the things one took for granted. She'd grown up around the goats. Thinking nothing of them, apart from shying a rock at them if the smelly things got too close. Apparently safe because the wizard-goats had enough sense to know a virgin witch could kill them, and a non-virgin wouldn't give them the power they needed to break spells. Why had those nasty creatures suddenly felt safe enough to rape the girls? Had something else happened that night? Where had the Sheep Man been?
Chapter Thirteen
Spring1353
Havwee
Dydit Twicecutt polished off the last tidbit of his most excellent dinner. There was nothing like eating grass, hay and twigs for years to make one really appreciate a good dinner. And the chubby woman who ran the kitchen here knew what to do with spices.
He had lingered here for an extra week, just for her cooking. If he had a castle, he'd have kidnapped her and chained her in the kitchen . . . no wait. His father'd done that once. She had come close to killing him. Botulism in the green beans. Humph, so maybe he'd better just go before he did something really stupid.
". . . so leave that to your betters." The man walking through the door was wearing the tabard of the Church of Ba'al over a city suit.
Dydit felt his mouth go dry. He squinted and looked a bit sideways. A rosy glow surrounded the man. Dydit sighed in contentment. A virgin of Ba'al. Life was good.
The woman following him was plain as pudding, a clumping big girl, also in the tabard, but with the plain border that meant she was some sort of menial. He squinted. Drat. Not that he couldn't rape her, but it wouldn't break anything. May be he should just travel on . . . no, first break another spell, rape the woman, and then travel on.
He sighed. He didn't dare disobey the old Wizard King. He rubbed his bandaged arm as a chill ran down his spine. He could feel the Wizard King to the north, which was why he was traveling south. Away from him, away from her. Not that he cared. The witch had just been a way to break spells. And she'd nearly killed him. And he didn't care. It wasn't the way of Wizards to care about anyone but themselves.
He leaned over the counter and caught the eye of Mistress Hephyr, "Mistress, I'm going to be leaving first thing in the morning. Would you like me to pay up now or in the morning?"
"Oh, Mister Twicecutt, we're going to miss you. I'll work the bill up now, and you can pay it whenever its convenient."
"Thank you mistress, and I'll certainly miss your hospitality."
But he could still rape the servants of Ba'al. That was permitted.
He shouldn't do it.
Yes he should, he was hungry for it. Raping virgin servants of Ba'al just joined business to pleasure. Pity about this recent spate of the female virgins giving themselves to Ba'al, ripping their maidenhood with the butt of a Holy Flail. And so odd that it removed them from the magical realm of 'Virgin'. Rumor had it that the Inquisitor General was actually pregnant with Ba'al's child. Now that would be a trick. From the stories, though, Maleth had spewed all over her. He'd bet some had gotten in there, and that she was pregnant with the child of the Black Beast of Scoone.
He rubbed his bandaged . . . left hoof. He'd been a goat for so long, he had a little reminder. What if the baby was similarly marked? Wouldn't he love to see the look on the Inquisitor General's face when the baby arrived! Wouldn't happen though, they'd only been goats on the outside. Their essences had remained human, the better to torment them.
Anyway, he wouldn't wish this on an innocent baby.
He shook his head. Fuzz in the brain, one half arguing with the other or something. What did he care about some wretched baby? He stepped up to his room and started packing. He would have to leave, soon after, if he played any games with the Ba'alists, and it would be even better if he were thought to have left before anything happened.
Coming down the stairs he passed the two Ba'alists.
"Bless you, son. You should come to the Temple grounds and pray for healing," the male smirked.
Figures he can get a big donation from me for their building project.
"No time, I'm leaving in the morning, I want to travel only in broad daylight. It's dangerous to be outside after dark, the uncanny things that
are about." Dydit clutched his bandaged goat foot to his chest, as if reliving an injury.
The man's eyes brightened. "Uncanny? Where? Show me!" He grabbed Dydit's shoulder.
Dydit shook his head vigorously. "No. I'm never going near the place again. If you're fool enough, go out the north gate, and then west on the river's bank!" He gave a realistic shudder. "I was only looking for a place to camp!" He pulled away from the man's restraining hand, and hustled down the stairs. Oh Ba'al! Say farewell to another Virgin.
He left town through the west gate, early in the morning. Once out of sight of prying eyes, and with a breath of a spell to be sure of it, he circled the town proper, and headed for the river. The foliage was just starting to show tender green leaves, the fields were freshly plowed. Light breeze, cool spring air. It was a wonderful day for a rape.
***
Dydit had a hideous feeling that he might be turning into a nice guy. Barely enjoying rape anymore. They were Ba'alists. They didn't matter. They shouldn't matter. He didn't even hardly enjoy the horror his victims seemed especially prone to while he was changing, anymore.
Although slowly raping his way through an army might be fun. Again. Heh. Twice Cut indeed! Once as a lad, to prevent puberty at a critical juncture of his wizardly development, and again last year when Nil had realized what they'd done, enabling three of them to escape. He'd had to sodomize with his hoof and then blow three virgins before he'd been able to regrow his testicles and start raping properly. That had been a memorable battle. He'd only actually killed a score of Holy Warriors himself. But he'd raped seven of them while he was doing it. In the middle of a battle. Now that was how to fight.
He checked how the transformation back into man was coming along. Ah, hands were such handy things! Better in pairs, but even one was lovely for poking through the Ba'alists things for money. They always carried so much. He hadn't had any financial problems all year.