by Robin Roseau
“Trust starts somewhere,” she said.
“Make a promise.”
“How long does the magic last?”
“Until you remove it,” I said.
“And then the charm dies?”
“No, although it, like the others, will only last so long. If unused, it would still carry potency two months from now. In a year, you might feel a glimmer of desire. Worn, it would last less time. You would burn it out after two or three weeks, if you never took it off, but I dare say, you would want to take it off.”
“It is that powerful?”
“At the beginning, yes, and the more you wear it, the more susceptible you become to its influence, assuming you’ve given in to it.”
“It trains me.”
“I suppose it does,” I said. “So, would you abuse such a charm?”
“Provide me with one. I will wear it myself or perhaps share it, but only with someone who knows what it is.”
“The effect upon a person is somewhat durable,” I explained. “But it takes a little time to build. You cannot readily share it together, trading it back and forth.”
“I wouldn’t expect to need to.”
I reached into my pocket, the other pocket, and withdrew one more charm. The shopkeeper laughed. “You had that ready.”
“I hadn’t decided if I was going to offer it,” I said. “Please do not abuse this.” Then I set it on the counter and pushed the four items towards her. “Remember. My name is Jeraya. I’ll check back with you, but it may be by post.”
She nodded and held out her hand. “Margie.”
We touched, her touch lingering, and I smiled.
* * * *
Outside the shop, Shi`nual said, “I don’t like buying supplies and prefer to trade. Now, where are the baths?”
We went to the baths, and then we took massages together as well. We had lunch in one place, and then we walked the city, going nowhere in particular.
We exchanged touches, and kisses. And inside, I tried not to cry. She would leave. Everything would change. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. My friends – and they had become friends, or so I thought – wouldn’t see her again, either. Lal Keshia may never be able to return home, but even if she did, her wife would no longer be her wife, and who knew what welcome she would receive.
We eventually returned to the inn, and once there, we undressed together, and then we powdered and painted and dressed each other again, all of us deeply beautiful.
We went to dinner, and then to a show. It was terribly funny, and inside and out, I laughed. But at the same time, I grew sadder and sadder.
During the walk back, I whispered, “Could I ask a question?”
“Yes, Jeraya. You may ask.”
“Is night here the same as night there?”
“The times are different, and the length of the day is different. Midnight is not midnight. I’d like us to return to the inn now.”
“How many are inviting you?”
“Many,” she said. “Six that most interest me. Please don’t ask more, Jeraya.”
“I wish you could stay.”
“A part of me wishes that, too, but it is time for you to have your life back, before I am tempted to jump off another cliff.”
“You shouldn't do that.”
She laughed. “I could find another snake.”
“You really shouldn’t do that!”
She laughed again.
* * * *
As soon as we were in our room, I turned to Lal Keshia. “Make love to me. Make love to each other. Share pleasure.” And then I spread my arms.
Lal Keshia stepped to me, and the others. They removed my clothing, and they helped each other. And then Alyidil and Burquiri, laughing, grabbed my arms and pulled me to the bed. Alyidil stayed, and Burquiri turned to Lal Keshia.
I quickly became lost in the pleasures, and more pleasures, and more pleasures, for hours and hours it seemed.
And then, in the middle of all this pleasure, Shi`nual called out, “Jeraya! I love you. Please, be happy.”
And then, between panting breaths, I felt her slip away.
And I began sobbing. She was gone.
Recovery
I knew little for days, only bits and pieces. Lal Keshia and my friends saw to my needs, fed me, bathed me. I barely moved, half lost in my own mind, and barely aware of what happened around me. One constant was Alyidil, and she rarely left me, and never for more than a few minutes. Most of the time, others were there, but there was more rotation. Lal Keshia held me as often as the others.
It was while I was in her arms that I spoke my first words. “She’s gone.”
“I know.” She kissed my hair. “You’re going to be okay, Jeraya. Everyone goes through this. When I said we would take care of you, this is what I meant.”
“Thank you.” And then I faded away a little, although not as badly.
They took care of me. They fed me and bathed me and clothed me. And always, always someone held me.
I cried. A lot.
But they simply held me, and then helped me to clean up.
It took time, but I began responding to more complicated suggestions, and they began to take me for brief walks. The first time, I didn’t recognize anything, but on the second or third trip, I realized we were still in Rosegrove.
That night I asked Lal Keshia, “What are your plans?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“We’re still in Rosegrove. Aren’t you anxious to return home.”
“Our plans are to take care of you,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”
“I want to know.”
“You’re more awake.”
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Because I can’t make plans until you and I have talked, and you’re more awake, but you’re not that awake.”
“Give me enough to think about.”
“Three basic plans. You come with us. We all stay here. You stay here, and we leave. I prefer either of the first two plans, although there would be nothing to stop you from finding us, even in our travels.”
“Looking for a coven.”
“Yes.”
“I bet you have a plan.”
“I have two plans,” she said. “One involves you; one does not.”
“Hold me.”
* * * *
It was another week before I whispered, “It’s all changed.”
“What has changed?” Alyidil asked.
“Everything.”
“Tell us,” Lal Keshia suggested.
“You all made love to her,” I said. “You wanted her.”
There was shifting, and then soft lips brushed against mine. It was Alyidil holding me from behind, and so I wasn’t surprised when I lifted a hand and found a tall, elvish ear. Then she moved her lips near my ear. “That has definitely not changed, but you’re not ready, and you’re not her. I imagine it would be different.”
And then, from behind me, Alyidil nipped at my ear. “I have wanted you from the first moment I saw you, and that hasn’t changed.”
“Please make love to me,” I said. “If you want.”
“Together?” Alyidil asked.
“If you want.”
“I want,” she said. And then Lal Keshia answered by kissing me again.
They touched and kissed, and in a way it was a little like when Shi`nual had been there, in that I experienced, but passively. I encouraged them to do whatever they wanted to me, and to each other, but I wasn’t proactive. Neither of them seemed to mind, as they shared me and they shared each other.
It was long, and slow, and sweet, and later we entwined together.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Lal Keshia, if you want my help, I’ll help you.”
Plans
It was two months to the day. I woke, and this time, it was Alyidil who was in the middle. I’d asked to hold her, and she was holding Lal Keshia. I stared at her beautiful, bare back for a w
hile, smiling. “I love you.”
“Mmm,” she replied. “Someone finally woke.” She rolled over, and then Lal Keshia appeared, leaning over her. We exchanged kisses and sweet touches, and then Alyidil asked, “Were you talking to me or her?”
“You, but I love both of you. I love the others, too, but not the same way.”
“That’s probably best,” Lal Keshia said. “Filfoyss has become somewhat… insatiable herself, and she’s been trading back and forth between Burquiri and Mayolin.”
“They haven’t figured out what to do,” Alyidil added. “I think they were hoping we’d give you to them, and then you and Filfoyss would swap back and forth. I told them to dream on.”
I laughed and caressed her cheek. “Thank you for stealing me.”
She laughed. “Any time. I mean that, by the way. You belong to us now.”
“Good. So, I suppose you don’t want me to apprentice myself to the jeweler.”
“Actually,” Lal Keshia said.
“No!” Alyidil said. “She can get her own.”
“Just listen.” And so, we did.
“That has potential,” I declared. Alyidil simply grinned her approval.
* * * *
The six of us dressed and left for breakfast. An hour later found us in a particular spice shop. The daughter was watching the shop. I walked up to her, but I thought I was going to go away disappointed. “Do you know who I am?”
“You’re the charm maker! You came in months ago. Mother was wondering if you’d ever come back.” She looked down. “I broke the charm.”
“I find that unlikely.”
“I got it snagged, and it broke.”
“Oh. The leather broke.”
“Yes.”
“It’s just leather. Did you lose the charm?”
“No.”
“Then replace the leather, but it’s best if you use a fresh piece. Don’t just tie a knot. You can, but it’s better if you use a fresh piece, so it lies in the same place.” I gestured on myself.
She smiled broadly. “Thanks. I will. Mother is going to want to talk to you. You’re here to talk to her, right? You didn’t just come in for sugar.”
“I didn’t come for sugar,” I agreed.
“I’ll get her.” And she hurried to the back.
Lal Keshia and I roamed the store; the other four were waiting outside for us, enjoying the day. “Do you have a plan?” I asked.
“I thought you had a plan,” she replied.
“I have a small plan here with the spice merchant. I was asking about a much, much longer plan.”
“I have a plan, and you’re right. It’s going to take a long time.”
“How long?”
“I’m not completely sure. Decades, probably.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m making a life here. Even if I build a coven here, I may decide to stay. I don’t think there will be anything waiting for me if I go back. Maybe Shi`nual will come back and help guide me again.”
“Maybe she will.”
Then I heard the curtains. We turned, and Margie, the spice merchant, was there, her daughter following after. They both came to a stop on their side of the counter. I smiled and stepped up.
“My daughter needs a new piece of leather.”
“It’s just leather,” I said. “The magic is in the charm itself.”
She nodded. “You were right.”
“About?”
“Abusing a particular charm.”
My tone turned cold. “What did you do?”
“Not me,” she said. “My daughter’s other mother.”
The girl snorted. “Now I have three mothers.”
“What?” I yelled. “What did you do?”
From behind both of them, I heard laughing. Another woman appeared, and she wrapped an arm around the waist of the spice merchant. “Hi. I’m Zeltari.” She held out her hand.
I eyed it. “Are you Mother One, Mother Two, or Mother Three?”
“Three,” she said.
I accepted the touch then said, “I think I need to hear the story.” But I eyed the girl.
“Don’t mind me,” she said. “I’m short for my age, but I’m 16. I think it’s funny as anything.”
“What happened?”
“I tried your charm, the first night,” said the shopkeeper.
“I take it that you found it… effective.”
“I found it entirely overwhelming, and Mother Two was quite impressed.” She folded her arms. “You omitted one important detail.”
“Oh?”
“I couldn’t take it off.”
“Of course, you could.”
“No. Seldissa had to do it for me.”
“You should be able to remove it.”
“Oh, I probably can, but I can’t bring myself to do so.”
“Oh. Well, if you wear it too long, that might be true. So, I’m not a fraud.”
“Apparently not. Seldissa wore it the second night.”
“Did you have a nice time?”
“Yes,” she said. “Are you gloating?”
“Not at all,” I said, trying to put on a straight face. I turned to the girl. “Do you really know what’s going on?”
“They were loud,” she said. “Really, really loud. It was pretty obvious what they were doing, but they’ve never been that loud before.”
“In our younger years,” Margie said. “Ahem.”
“We haven’t come to Zeltari yet.”
“Yes, well,” Margie said. “Zeltari is a terrible flirt.”
“I’m a very, very good flirt,” Zeltari objected.
“She’s been trying to invite herself home with us for a long time.”
“That part is true. I almost caught them once. This was before Laurette came along.”
“Before this story goes further, someone tell me you didn’t use the charm on Zeltari,” I said.
“They did,” Zeltari replied. “But that comes later.” She grinned broadly and fanned herself. “Got more?”
“I’m not at all sure I do,” I said. “Keep going.”
“Seldissa suggested we go dancing,” Margie said.
“And she sent me a note telling me they were going dancing, and where,” Zeltari said. “Imagine my surprise.”
“Imagine mine when Zeltari sat down at our table,” Margie said. “Now, understand something. I always thought she was just teasing, and the times when Seldissa said we should accept, I thought she was teasing, too.”
“What happened?”
“We were having a nice evening,” Margie said.
“I was behaving myself,” Zeltari added. “I didn’t blow in their ears when we danced or anything.”
“And?”
“And, Seldissa had the charm with her, and she dropped it over my neck,” Margie said.
Laurette snickered.
“She made sure it was in just the right place, then began whispering into my ear. She told me to keep it right where it was. And then she told me to dance with Zeltari.”
“And she whispered to me that if I wasn’t serious, I should take off,” Zeltari said. “I’ve always been serious, although I admit it had become a game. At first, we were just dancing. Then the musicians began to play a slow song, and Margie pulled me to her. She’d never done that before, and the times I’ve tried, she’s pushed me away. But she pulled me to her, and it didn’t take long before I realized she was… um. Happy to see me.”
“That means she was horny as a teenage boy,” Laurette said. “If you didn’t understand the euphemism.”
“I think I got it, Laurette,” I said. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” said the girl.
“While we were dancing, I finally asked Margie, ‘What are you doing?’”
“And?”
“And she said Seldissa had dropped a lust charm around her neck, and whatever happened next wasn’t her fault.”
“She swept me from the d
ance floor and shoved me into Seldissa’s arms,” Margie said. “I tried to get her to come with us.”
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Zeltari continued. “But I didn’t want to do a thing that might destroy a friendship that means a lot to me.”
“So, I told Seldissa to make her come home with us.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Zeltari explained. “Seldissa simply smiled and said, we both love you, and we’d like if you came home with us.”
“And if I thought two of them could be loud,” Laurette said. “The three of them are terrible.” She didn’t look upset about that.
“And now?”
“She hasn’t left since,” Laurette explained. “I think she’s afraid they’ll lock her out.”
“I am not!” Zeltari said with a laugh. “Jeraya, do you have any meek and mild charms?”
“I’m afraid not, but if I learn how to make a silence charm, would you like one?”
“Definitely.”
“Hey!” Laurette complained. “Wait. Does it silence them?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe it makes you deaf.”
“Only while I’m wearing it.”
“Sure,” I said. “If that’s what you want.”
She eyed me. “I think you’re making it up now.”
“I did say I’d have to learn.”
“If you can make one that makes me deaf while they’re at it, I’ll take a dozen.”
“I think we wore out your charm,” Margie admitted. It was her turn to fan herself. “Jeraya, you have our attention.”
“I want to ask. Have you noticed the other charms doing anything?”
“I still go to school,” Laurette said. “And some of the kids are real jerks. They haven’t been paying attention to me. Well, until I broke the charm.”
“If that was all it did,” Margie said, “You would have our attention.”
“How about the other one?”
“I believe Seldissa was wearing it when she dropped the lust charm around my neck.”
I laughed. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Should I apologize?”
“No.”
“All right. I’m new at this. I had help making the last ones, and I don’t know if new ones will be as effective. It might take some practice. I need herbs, spices, incense, flowers, seeds, and probably other things you don’t normally carry. Until I experiment, I won’t know what is most effective.”