Diplomatic Relations - Part 1

Part 1

The recent months since the union of the Shattered Blade tribe of orcs and the White Mountain Clan of dwarves had been a time of prosperity that was relatively unique to either society. For the first time in memory, the dwarves and orcs lived and worked together in a state of acceptance and harmony. There were still, of course, disagreements and clashes of culture, but the benefits to everyone far outweighed the tension.

The dwarves' mines, damaged in an earthquake, were being put in good order once more, and the path to the Valley of the Mammoths was cleared once again following a rockslide from the same earthquake. A joint agriculture project, devised by Garauk, son of High Chief Magrul of the Shattered Blade, in which the dwarves and orcs would together raise grains and herd animals showed early signs of promise, and a set of plans by Princess Katernin Ironcrown to channel a mountain stream for use in an aqueduct and water mill had significant implications for the future, if they were successful.

But success internally soon brought attention from outside, and it came to pass that messengers from Lord Jamarh Khan of the Clan of the Crystal Dragon to the east, and Overlord Cheiros Duran of the Free City of Burvala to the south soon arrived, both asking for a generous showing of tribute to be paid to diplomats from each society who would arrive the following month. With this ominous news, the leaders of the White Mountain Clan and the Shattered Blade tribe met in a long cabin in the foothills within a few days to discuss their planned response to the impending visit and demands.

"This is common thievery!" High Chief Magrul grumbled, sitting at the long table they lately used for discussing politics between their two societies. "The only things the Shattered Blade will be sending these scoundrels are the heads of their diplomats in a bag! We must show them our strength."

"Let's not be getting too hasty," Queen Alya said. "They're sending diplomats, mind, not armies. They have a mind to talk."

"I'll remind you, dwarf, that your people have a sworn oath to work in unity with the Shattered Blade," Magrul said, pounding his fist on the table. "I would think that the least you could do to honor it is stand together with us against a threat from outsiders!"

"By all means," King Grennaur said, "ye have our full and unconditional support if they attack us. However, I'm not thinking it wise to send them their diplomats' heads. Ye averted a war with our people thanks to the union of our son and daughter." He glanced meaningfully at Garauk and Katernin, the son and daughter, who sat in at this council meeting. "Are ye so eager to start two other wars in its place?"

As Magrul pursed his lips, thinking of his answer, Garauk stood up at the large table and produced a scroll. "Katernin and I have discussed this news with one another privately," he said, "and we've learned some information, and thought of a few ideas." He looked at his father and the dwarves. "With your permission, father? Your Majesties?"

"This should be good for a laugh," Magrul groaned.

"Come, now," Queen Alya said, "we should all be remembering that it was the ideas of these young people that brought us to where we are now!" She smiled at Garauk and Katernin. "Please share what ye've learned."

Garauk nodded and looked at the scroll, where he had taken quick notes from his studies and a conversation with traveling merchants about the two societies in question. "It is true that we probably don't need to fear an imminent attack," he said. "It would take quite a lot for them to mobilize and extend force here to us. More likely is that they've seen us unite, and they're concerned, not knowing yet what our intentions might be. They want to send a message that they're not easy prey. But if we act carefully, we can make them into our friends."

"A lot of weakness and nonsense," Magrul muttered, shaking his head. "You disappoint me, boy."

Katernin scowled at Magrul when she stood. "With ye allowing, mama, papa, Magrul," she said, "us two are wanting to personally visit the diplomats when they come. Garauk will cook us a nice supper, and we'll give them some small personal gifts for their leaders to show we're potential friends, but not easy pickings." She smiled. "We've got an idea what kind of things their rulers are liking, and we've got people working on the making of the gifts now."

King Grennaur touched his beard thoughtfully. "It has possibilities," he said. "Ye believe this can be done? What manner of gifts are ye meaning?"

"We've researched their cultures," Garauk said. "Katernin and I have read about them in a few books, and I talked to the traders who passed through the area last. I think we've chosen specific gifts that will be seen as a sincere offer of friendship, not tribute paid out of weakness."

"The Clan of the Crystal Dragon is ruled by Jamarh Khan," Katernin said. "They're mystics, believing in the sacredness of fate, and magic orbs and stones and crystals. Biggest one they've got is a thing called the Orb of Prosperity. They keep it in Jamarh Khan's Grand Temple, but now and then the Empress in the East demands they bring it to her palace for a time, and she's the boss of Khan, so he can't be arguing. Seems that a lot of people aren't happy about that, and most of them want a replacement orb to take its place while the Orb of Prosperity's on a trip."

"And ye mean to give them such an orb?" Queen Alya said.

Katernin nodded. "Yes, mama," she said. "One of their most sacred kinds of crystal is opal, and we've got that big one that came outta the mines last year. I've got a gemcutter set to engrave a few runes of friendship and prosperity into it, and we'll send it as a personal gift to Jamarh Khan."

"I'm sure Khan wants a more useful tribute of food, weapons, and wealth rather than a single sentimental rock," Magrul said. "I doubt this will placate him."

"In time, he can have those things of us," Katernin said, "if he's agreeing to a trade treaty, and his merchants bring goods from his lands as well. That's where the negotiations are important."

"What of the other messenger's homeland?" King Grennaur asked. "The Free City of Burvala, isn't it?"

"It is," Garauk said. "It's ruled by Overlord Cheiros Duran, said to be a very proud man and a feared warrior... not unlike you, father." He looked at his father, the High Chief Magrul, hoping to at least gain his attention with this.

Magrul was unimpressed. "That supposed to win me over, boy?" he said testily. "Being compared to this two-bit human king? Let's hear the rest of it, and quickly."

"Burvala has one of the strongest armies in the region," Garauk said, "mostly because it relies on minotaur infantry as shock troops. It is a majority human state, but they do have a lot of minotaurs living among them, most of whom are admired and revered in their army."

"Truly, they don't enslave them?" Queen Alya said. "Or work them so cheap that it's little different from slavery? My tutors always told me, when I was a lass, that it was the way of the southern states to enslave or suppress their minorities."

"Not in this case," Garauk said. "They take great pride in their minotaur warriors, treating them as heroes, to the point that their flag is dominated by the figure of a rampant bull. That is where my idea comes in: I have set our finest carvers to work, carving an ivory figurine of the Bull of Burvala, and when it is finished we will dye it the same faded brown color as the bull appears on their flags."

"So a bull figurine and a fancy carved rock are going to buy us into the humans' good graces?" Magrul said with a snort. "You're naive, boy, and so's your wife. These humans understand one thing, and that's power. Best to teach them early not to send anyone up north that they'll ever want back."

"Ye don't know that, ye thick-headed dolt!" Katernin objected. She looked to have more to say, but her mother made a disapproving coughing sound, and she lowered her eyes and started in more softly. "Err, I mean, beg your pardon, High Chief. But ye see, they'll know this is a real offer of friendship, that we took the time to learn their ways and offer something fine made especially for them." She sighed. "It costs us nothing we can't afford, and if they spurn us, we'll know ye were right, they're not wanting friendship, and we'll arm ourselves."

"We'll be facing many of these problems as our combined society grows," Queen Alya said, "and we'll not be having the strength to respond to all of them with brute aggression. Best to work on sorting them out sooner."

"Very well," Magrul said. "If the humans can be bought with a few sentimental trinkets, that would be valuable information to have for the future." He stood up. "I will, however, bring our warriors from both the tribe and the clan into a state of readiness, because I am not a fool."

"Might we not send the wrong impression, if they come and see us bristling for battle?" Queen Alya asked.

King Grennaur shook his head. "Would be foolish not to prepare for the worst," he said gravely. "Beside that, they've asked us for tribute already. If they don't see the spear-tips shining in the background, that might send then the wrong impression worse."

Garauk knew it was true, but as the meeting adjourned he could not help but feel that the future of their society hung in the balance, and one wrong move could upset it. It was not a comforting thought. Thoughts of the diplomatic meeting next month dominated Garauk's thoughts that afternoon until he willfully pushed them aside. He had a plan, he felt that it was their best chance, and until further information made him reconsider, he knew he would do right to stand by it. Chewing at his own insides with worry accomplished nothing.

Late that night, when the day's business was truly concluded, Garauk returned to the bedchamber to find Katernin sitting naked on the edge of the bed, brushing her long blond hair with the boar bristle brush he had given her months ago. She was a beautiful sight, her hair flowing down to cover one of her breasts but leaving the other bare, a dark pink nipple sitting on a perfectly rounded globe that wobbled enticingly with each motion of her arm. He stood at the edge of the room, staring at her, for a long moment before she looked up with a smile. He was amazed at her beauty.

"Ye here to help?" she asked, offering the handle of the brush.

Garauk stepped forward. "It would be my pleasure," he said. He climbed onto the bed behind her and sat behind her, gently stroking her hair with the brush, combing it out to the ends at the middle of the back until it was as straight and soft as silk to the touch. When it was done, he nestled in against her back, his legs to either side of her, and breathed in the soft scent of her hair mixed with the gentle floral smell of the soap she used.

Katernin sighed and leaned back against him, her back pushing up his woolen skirt until he felt the head of his semi-erect cock poking her just above the butt. She felt it too, for she squirmed back against him and smiled over her shoulder. "Ye're not thinking of brushing my hair with that next, are ye, love?" she asked, nudging against his cock.

"Not the hair on your head, anyway," Garauk said with a laugh, gently stroking her shoulders. "I know how you hate getting cum in your hair." Taking hold of the hanging curtains of her hair, he pulled one back and raised it up, sending the silken strands sliding gently across one of her nipples. She gave a contented sigh.

"It's bound to go somewhere," Katernin said, "and there's always so much of it with ye. It gives me half a mind to start sneaking off to the druid's place to fuck again, just so we don't mess the bed here!"

"I can't help it," Garauk said, kissing Katernin's smooth, firm bare shoulders. "You get me so excited, and make me cum so hard." He reached around and took hold of one of her large, round breasts, stroking his fingertips gently along the underside, then fondling it. He had never seen anyone with a nicer pair of boobs than Katernin.

Katernin placed a hand on his knee as he gently fondled her breasts. "Do ye believe," she asked, "we can win over these diplomats and their human lords?"

Garauk turned his head so that his lips were nearly at her ear. "What I don't believe," he murmured hotly into her ear, "is that you expect me to talk politics with your boobs in my hands." He didn't want his nagging worries to creep back into his consciousness, not now of all times!

Katernin chuckled. "I could take them outta your hands, if it'd ease your focus," she teased.

"Don't you dare," Garauk said, and gave both breasts a firm squeeze.

"Fine," Katernin said, "then answer my question." She gave his knee a squeeze and shifted on the bed.

"What question?" Garauk purred, smiling. "Something like 'would you like to bury your face in my perfect breasts, darling?' wasn't it? And the answer is 'yes'."

Katernin shifted on the bed, turning to face him. "All right, ye horny, nasty orc," she said, and she smote him with a lustful smile. "I'll give ye all ye want, and more, so long as ye first say something about our mission with the damned diplomats."

Garauk frowned. Looking upon his naked, beautiful, but somewhat impatient wife, the last thing on his mind was politics. "We said so much at the meeting with our parents today already," he said. "But to be brief: if we were able to bring the White Mountain Clan and Shattered Blade tribe together as we did, I think we're already masters of diplomacy."

"That happened," Katernin said, giving him a kiss above the nose, "on very specific terms, love. I'd not be thinking they'll be eager to challenge us to a shkulak contest."

Garauk put his hands on Katernin's shoulders. "That was just the ending gambit, love," he said. "I was thinking more of the big picture: how I captivated a dwarven princess with my beauty, and my charms held her in thrall until there was no choice other than to bring our people together with the power of love." He kissed her lightly on the lips, despite her impatient scowl.

"Ye damned ridiculous orc," Katernin said, swatting him on the shoulder. "I'll hold ye in thrall, all right. Ye saying we should seduce them into friendship?"

"It is a powerful tool for persuasion," Garauk said with a warm smile. "Are you so skeptical?"

Katernin smiled knowingly. "I'm in need of some convincing," she said, drawing him closer. "Show me how seductive ye can be, love." Their lips met, and he found her tongue, warm and inviting, drawing him in. Her hands worked over his body, fingertips drinking in his rippling abdomen, then unfastening his wool skirt and letting it fall away. He was bare below that, and she knew it; her fingers traced down through his pubic hair, and then encircled his shaft.

"Mmm, that's nice," Garauk purred in her ear. "Touch me..."

"I suppose I'm not seeing how this is diplomacy, love," Katernin said. "It feels just like me stroking your bird." She stroked the foreskin up and down Garauk's erect cock, sending a bolt of pleasure lancing through his entire length.

It was hard to respond to her in this state. Garauk wanted to just throw his head back and gasp, and lose himself in the feelings as she stroked him. Only by deliberately concentrating was he able to form words that formed a coherent thought. "No, you see... aah!" he gasped. "Y-your friendly outreach there h-has convinced me to seek an arrangement that is benefi... bene... that feels good for both of us." His hands slipped down between her legs, drifting through her dark golden pubic hair and finding her pussy, already wet and inviting.

Garauk teased Katernin along the outer lips of her pussy with several soft strokes, letting his fingers brush along her sex, featherlike, softly caressing against her inner thighs now and then. She made a little whining sound and then leaned into him, her head on his shoulder, even as her hand continued lightly stroking his erect cock, sending ripples of wonderful, ticklish sensation into his core with each movement.

His stroke went upward, letting a single fingertip drift ever so gently over the hood of her clitoris along the way, then to her pubic mound where he provided soft strokes with a bit more pressure. She gasped and moved her hips against his hand, so that he was cupping her pussy lightly with the base where his palm met his fingers over her firm little rosebud, and then shifted side to side, rubbing herself against his hand with gentle pressure. Garauk continued those motions on his own, and Katernin let out a soft moan, her hand stroking his cock with slightly more urgency now.

Garauk continued his motions, stroking her pussy gently side to side, alternating sometimes by swirling his hand around or nearly drawing away before returning to his position. Katernin started moaning and humping his hand, and her own strokes quickened, heightening the pleasure quivering in his cock to a state of high tension. He was close, and in a certain right nothing seemed easier or more appealing than to collapse against her, surrender to the strokes of her hand, and cum all over her and the bed.

But Garauk didn't want to finish too quickly, nor give Katernin a mess to complain about, so he caught her wrist and led her hand away, then drifted down to kiss one of her breasts, taking the hard nipple in his mouth to suck on it and swirl his tongue gently around the tip. His cock jumped involuntarily as he did, a single bead of fluid appearing at the tip, and she gasped and shook against him. He slid one finger into her wet pussy, changing one of her gasps to a sharp moan in mid-utterance, and began stroking her sensitive walls as he rolled his hand against her clitoris with more speed and pressure than before.

"Yes!" Katernin cried out. "Faster, love! Faster..." Garauk had to pull back from her breast as he rubbed her faster and faster, his finger stroking her from within from inside. She grew tense, and held her close, her heaving, gasping chest pressed against his as she clung to him, tense and shaking.

Katernin went over the edge with a long moan followed by several soft, sharp cries. Garauk cradled her against his body, his hand on her back, himself overcome with feelings of adoration and arousal. Her hands gripped his back and shoulders, and her warm body trembled against him, the slick heat of her pussy rubbing tightly against his hand, as the orgasm shook its way through her body. His cock was pinned against her stomach, leaving a streak of pre-cum smudged over her firm abdomen, just above her navel. He would have gladly held her close and kept her feeling this way until he locked up with cramps, but soon enough the intensity of the orgasm seemed to fade away, and Katernin withdrew with a long, deep breath.

Garauk looked into Katernin's green eyes, still unfocused in a haze of bliss. Her lips were parted in a breathless expression somewhere between a smile and a silent moan, and he smiled back at her, his love for her and appreciation of her beauty momentarily overwhelming his unfulfilled desire. He started to reach up to gently stroke her hair, but abruptly she snapped to alertness and caught his wrist, stopping him.

"Garauk!" Katernin said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't ye thinking ye'd be liable to mess my hair up like that, so soon after brushing it?" There was a playful edge to her scolding, but she still held his hand fast.

Garauk looked at his hand. It was smeared with her wetness, and the fingers that had been inside her were nearly coated in her juices, two thick strands of fluid hanging between them when he parted them. "I wasn't thinking," he said with a grin. "Let me cl-"

Before he could do anything, Katernin brought his hand to her face and took the two fingers into her mouth, sucking on them and swirling her tongue about on them before releasing the fingers and the hand alike and pushing Garauk back on the bed. When he saw her loom over him, he thought perhaps his cock was the next thing to be sucked, and another white bead of pre-cum bloomed on the tip in anticipation as a shiver of arousal moved through him. Instead of stopping there, she crawled up his body until she was straddling him, and then kissed him on the lips, sharing the taste of the fluids she had sucked off of his fingers.

Katernin drew back from the kiss, and Garauk's cock, already quivering with arousal, jumped again when she reached between them to take hold of him by the base, then lowered herself down onto him. Soon he was floating in the warmth of her pussy, feeling its slickness sliding over him as she began to ride him. Already on the edge, he had to tense up and hold back, his hands rigid on her smooth, firm thighs as he tried to hang on through the immediacy of an imminent orgasm. She was showing no signs of stopping, and he didn't want to disappoint her by coming inside her as soon as they actually started to fuck.

Garauk drew back from the brink as Katernin leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips, then rose up to look down on him with an adoring smile that seemed to capture his own feelings of love perfectly. Her hips rose and fell and rolled on his, gently at first, but then at a greater tempo, as her loving gaze gave way to breathless lust again and her eyes screwed closed. Her breasts rippled with the motion, transfixing Garauk's gaze, and his hands drifted up her body to grasp them, squeezing and caressing and feeling her up, feeling the perfect, pliant flesh of the two round orbs.

Soon Katernin was no longer riding him lovingly, but grinding down on him as she fucked him, biting her lip in pursuit of another orgasm. She leaned back, grinding the inner walls behind her clitoris against his shaft, and incidentally giving him a clear view of his dark-green cock as it slid between her pink labia ringed with dark golden curls. The sight brought him closer still to the brink, and he reached down and put his fingers gently over her clitoral hood, then applied gentle pressure and rolled them in a circle as she rode him.

"Gah!" Katernin cried out in surprise, but it didn't seem to be an unwelcome surprise. "Garauk, ye... ye... oh, fuck I'm cumming againnn!" With another loud moan, Katernin climaxed again, gripping his cock snugly as waves of pleasure stole through her. She cried out a few more times, her wonderful chest heaving, her eyes closed in pleasure, and Garauk couldn't wait to join her. He started thrusting into her with his own rhythm, chasing the orgasm which had hung near for so long. He was finished denying himself, and wanted nothing more than to erupt inside his beautiful wife.

With Garauk near the brink, Katernin suddenly rose up from him. "No, wait," she said, "don't come. Ye don't need to come."

Garauk's voice was tight with need. "Wh-what?" he sputtered. "Don't come? B-but I..."

Katernin dismounted the bed and guided him so that he was sitting on the edge, facing her, and then she came forward and took his cock into her mouth. Her hand circled the base of his cock, stroking the foreskin up and down, as her tongue swirled over the sensitive head and along the underside of the shaft. Pleasure surged through Garauk's nerves, and he felt as though he wouldn't be able to hold back. He opened his mouth to warn Katernin of his impending climax, but couldn't manage to speak.

Katernin abruptly drew back. "Now, love," she said, "go ahead." Kneeling before him, she opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue to her chin, touching the tip of it to the underside of his cock's head, and continued stroking his foreskin up and down with her hand. Then she let out a little hum that carried through her tongue all the way to Garauk's cock, and that sent him over the edge.

Garauk had a moment's realization of the mess that was about to happen just before his ability to think fled him. Powerful waves of pleasure wracked his body, and his cock burst forth like a geyser, erupting long, thick bursts of cum not only over Katernin's outstretched tongue, but also her face and her hair. Strands of thick, white cum flew from his twitching cock and landed along the bridge of her nose, the side of her cheek, several over her tongue, down her chin, and over her neck and breasts. Each blast was accompanied by a fresh burst of pleasure that threatened to make his knees weak, until he ached from inside. Finally, the last several spurts dribbled out onto her tongue, and a single white bead formed at the tip of his cock as she drew away.

Katernin licked her lips and then swallowed what had landed on her tongue, and fixed Garauk with a lecherous grin. She was covered with his cum. Strands dripped from her chin and nipples, streaks running down her cleavage and onto her belly from her neck. Her hair was hopelessly sodden with it too, and a thick stream slowly ran down the side of her nose. Garauk could only look at her, awestruck and speechless. They'd made their share of messes together as lovers did, but he had never seen her quite like this before.

"I... I thought you didn't want to make a mess, darling," Garauk stammered. "You'd just bathed, a-and we brushed your hair!"

"Worth it to see that look on your face just now, love" Katernin said with a grin. She leaned forward and gave him a quick, slightly sticky peck on the lips, then turned to walk towards the bathroom. "I've got to go for another bath. Any chance ye'll be giving me a hand in there?"

Garauk stood up from the bed and followed her. After being so thoroughly drained, a hand was all he could give her for now, but that was his pleasure.

Continued in Part 2

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