Chapter 3 : Birthdays and New Beginnings
"What's wrong?" Hector asked as Solyma suddenly hunched down out of sight underneath the carriage's window. They were just entering the main courtyard of the palace as Duke Quiton and Dravon were being presented to the Queen of Taladros. The Queen was standing at the top of the short flight of stairs that led to the main entrance of the palace. Solyma smiled at Hector and the two elven girls sharing the carriage while trying to look relaxed.
"Oh, nothing," Solyma said as she tried to sneak a peek over the edge of the window. There was a brief jolt as the carriage pulled up in front of the main entrance to the palace and the sound of a footman approaching it. "Say, did that man who threw those flowers look familiar to you?" Solyma said suddenly. Hector looked blankly at her. "He looked like- oh, damn-" Solyma muttered as the footman opened the door and placed a small set of stairs in front of it.
"Your majesty, we have arrived," Laros said with a bow to Penelope as he offered his arm to her. She smiled at him and took his arm in one hand, her skirt in the other, as she stepped out of the carriage and onto a forest green carpet laid there for her.
"Are you coming or should I just bring your meals out here?" Hector said as Ismene left the carriage escorted by the footman.
"I'll just wait a bit," Solyma said as she peeked out the door. Penelope was warmly embracing an elven woman who looked perhaps thirty in human years. They shared the same golden hair and exquisite facial features. A shining crown of pure platinum studded with three emeralds of extraordinary size was set atop her hair. "Queen Amadrin," Solyma sighed and managed to supress a leer at the thought of having both mother and daughter in her bed. "Damn!" she cursed as she ducked back around the door.
"Solyma?" a rich and beautiful voice, perfectly suited for a mezzo-soprano at the Corannon Opera, said from outside the carriage. "Is that you?"
"Yes?" Solyma said weakly as she slowly got to her feet and stumbled from the carriage.
"It's been so long," Queen Amadrin said with a slight smile. "How have you been?"
"Very well, your majesty," Solyma mumbled, managing a clumsy curtsy when Hector nudged her in the back. Damn skirts, she cursed silently as she rose.
"No need for that, Solyma, we're friends, aren't we?" Queen Amadrin said with a slightly larger smile. Penelope gave her a puzzled glance as the queen extended her arms to Solyma. "Come now, give me a hug."
"Yes, your majesty," Solyma said in a small voice as she hesitantly walked over to Amadrin and gave her a quick hug. Solyma gasped in surprise when Amadrin pulled her into a close hug, their breasts pressing together for a long moment before the elven queen let her go. Solyma felt heat rising in her face when the elven queen let her hand slide over Solyma's bottom and then gave it a pinch.
"Penelope has told me all about what you have done for her," Queen Amadrin said to the furiously blushing Solyma. "Please, come visit me later after the official business of state is completed. I wish to thank you personally." With that, Queen Amadrin nodded to Solyma and Hector before entering the palace with Penelope and Laros by her side.
"Oh gods," Solyma mumbled as she collapsed onto the stairs leading to the main entrance. Several lesser nobles being escorted into the palace by a high ranking servant gave her odd looks as she cradled her face in her hands. "Out of the kettle and into the cooking fire," Solyma moaned.
"Solyma," Hector said tiredly. "Perhaps we should let this gentleman escort us to our quarters before you decide to make a scene."
Solyma peeked out through her fingers at a elven man dressed in palace livery standing in front of her. He seemed totally unperturbed by her behavior and politely bowed as she rose.
"May I escort you to your quarters? They are located in the west wing with a beautiful view of the lake," he said.
"Yes, please," Solyma said as she stood and managed to regain some composure. She followed the servant as he led her into the palace, taking a side hallway to avoid the clumps of Corannite nobles being escorted to their quarters. Behind her she heard the sound of the rear guard of the procession riding up and leading their horses to the stables.
"What was that scene about?" Hector whispered to her as they climbed a flight of wide marble stairs up the fourth floor of the palace and turned down a wide hallway.
"Remember when we were here last? Twenty years or so ago?" Solyma whispered back. "And we left very suddenly?" Hector's usually blank featured helmet managed to look even more blank. "Yes," he finally said slowly. "What did you do to her?"
Solyma sputtered in anger and waved her hands wildly, nearly striking a passing maid. "I," she said loudly, "I did nothing to her!" Solyma looked around and lowered her voice as she leaned over to whisper to Hector. "I was just looking around the palace when she..." Solyma looked at the servant walking a few paces in front of her and lowered her voice even more. "She- we- had a relationship."
"These are your quarters," the servant said as they stopped at a polished wooden door at the end of the hallway. A stained glass window at the end of the hallway let in rays of delicately colored green and blue light. "Your luggage has been brought here already, there will be a formal reception tonight. Until then you may go anywhere you wish, if you need any assistance whatsoever any of the servants will be happy to help you. There is a bell pull if you wish to contact them from your rooms. This is your key," he said as he handed Solyma a key about as long as her hand. "But do not worry about your possessions, they are perfectly safe even with the door unlocked." With that he bowed and turned to leave.
"A relationship?" Hector asked as Solyma opened the door and stepped into the room. "Solyma?"
Solyma was staring at the pile of wooden crates neatly stacked in the corner of the spacious and sumptuously furnished living room. "What are those?" she said absently as she closed the door behind them.
"Your wine collection, you wanted me to bring it for some reason-" Hector said.
"Oh, yes, sell it when you can, will you? But give a couple of bottles of the good stuff to the queen and save another couple for me," Solyma said as she headed towards the bedroom.
"I see the humans have already arrived," Loradros said as his carriage pulled up to the palace's main entrance.
"Yes, my lord," Derwin said from his seat across the carriage. "There is a dinner scheduled for tonight. You will be expected to-"
"You are telling me what I am expected to do?" Loradros said evenly as a footman opened the door for him.
"N-no, my lord," the human said nervously. "I was just-" Loradros laughed uproariously and slapped Derwin on the shoulder.
"Derwin, you need to learn to appreciate a good joke," Loradros said as he stepped out of the carriage. He glanced back into the carriage and Derwin felt his heart stutter when he saw the elf's eyes. They were as cold as the glaciers to the far north and carried all the threat of a knife to the throat.
"Of course, my lord," Derwin managed to say.
"Ah, well, we're having pasta tonight so you won't need that," Duke Quiton said lightly as he reached over and picked up a silver knife by Solyma's plate. "Excuse me, could you take this?" he said to a passing servant. "No need to risk someone getting cut, is there?"
Solyma barely noticed as Adelard began to chat with her idly. She glanced around the long table placed lengthwise along a platform at the head of the dining room. Queen Amadrin was to her right at the center of the table with Penelope to the Queen's right. Tancred, Kerrith, and Jaric were to her left past Adelard while Dravon was seated beside Penelope.
Taladrosian dinners and events were notoriously informal. If the same dinner had been held in Alathan or even Krisephyr, there would have been a strict seating arrangement by sex and station. In Taladros, honored guests generally sat at the same table as the Queen with everyone else seated according to when they arrived at the dinner, much to the dismay of a few Krisephyrian nobles attempting to be fashionably late.
Solyma had been hoping to be one of those late to dinner and seated at the far end of the room, unfortunately, she had been called on by the Queen's first bodyguard and brought to the dinner on time.
"You're so quiet tonight, Solyma," Amadrin said in a soft voice. Solyma jerked and flushed when she felt Amadrin's hand sliding up her leg. She bit her lip and felt her hand tighten on her fork as Amadrin slid her hand between Solyma's unresisting thighs. "I missed your company so much."
"Please, Amadrin," Solyma managed to say in a quavering voice. "We can talk-" she barely managed to stifle a gasp of pleasure as the elf woman rubbed her quim through the fabric of her dress and underwear, "-later."
"You all right, Solyma?" Tancred said from down the table. Solyma glanced at him and narrowed her eyes at the leer he had plastered across his face.
"Er, you do look a little flushed," Adelard said, inching his chair away from Solyma. "Have you been drinking much?"
"Yes, have you had too much to drink?" Amadrin said with a slight smile. Her fingers pressed more insistently against Solyma's quim. She raised one perfect eyebrow slightly as Solyma grabbed her wrist and reluctantly pushed her hand away.
"I think that I'm just tired from the journey," Solyma said, her breathing hard.
"Then you must join me after dinner, we can relax together," Amadrin said with a smile.
"Solyma, what was that all about?" Hector said in a low voice as he and Solyma hurried back to their room after dinner.
"Nothing," Solyma said in a quick voice. "Nothing at all."
"She was fondling you under the table."
"How did you see- I mean, what do you mean?" Hector stared at Solyma until she finally cracked. "Alright! Alright! The last time we were here, I had snuck into the palace, just to look around, of course..."
~~~
Solyma pinched her nose and barely stifled a sneeze as she crawled through the narrow air ducts of the Royal Palace of Taladros. She felt her hair catch on some sort of outcropping and hissed in pain as she tugged it free.
"I'm cutting it as soon as I get out of here," she muttered to herself as she tried to wrestle her waist-length copper hair back into some semblance of order. She groaned and continued to crawl along the air duct, checking her map every so often by the light let in by ventilation grills. "The Queen's chambers should be a hundred feet or so down this way," she said to herself as she turned to her left and crawled down another duct.
"Solyma, where are you?" she heard Hector say in her head.
"Um, just looking around the city," Solyma whispered back.
"Why are you whispering?"
"I'm, uh, watching a play," Solyma said and stopped to look at a grill set in the bottom of the duct. What she saw made her palms sweaty. "I've gotta go, our luggage is packed, right?"
"Yes, it is, but why-" Hector said before Solyma severed the link between mage and familiar.
Solyma quietly brought her face closer to the grill and licked her lips at the sight below. She could feel steamy heat rising from the room below, a bathroom, and felt sweat beading on her brow, although not only from the heat. Below her was a sight few had seen, the Queen of Taladros taking a bath.
Solyma pressed her face against the grill and watched as the elven woman leaned back against the edge of her bathing pool, her long golden hair loosely bound atop her head. Her full and deliciously shapely breasts could be seen half-submerged in the steaming water, her smooth and slightly golden skin flushed with the heat.
Barely conscious of what she was doing, Solyma reached down and fumbled with her breeches, tugging them open and shoving her right hand into her underwear. As the Queen stretched out in the water, her breasts rising as she placed her hands behind her head, Solyma began to rub herself furiously. Solyma froze for a second as the Queen looked upward but relaxed when she realized that the elven woman's eyes were closed.
Solyma panted quickly, biting her lip to keep from groaning, as she imagined having the Queen's face, those delicately slanted eyes, a straight and graceful nose, and full lips that were beautiful and lush without being wanton, between her legs. She imagined sucking on the elf woman's breasts, their bodies pressed together in the steaming water as-
Solyma yelped in surprise as the grill gave way, spilling her upper body into the room. As the Queen opened her eyes and stared at Solyma in surprise, her eyes widening at the sight of Solyma's hand jammed down her breeches, Solyma began to lose her balance. She tried to pull her hand free of her pants and fell headfirst into the room as the motion set her completely off balance.
Solyma sputtered and panted for breath as she surfaced from the pool, thanking the gods that she hadn't broken her neck in the fall. She tensed for the inevitable scream and call for the guards as she wiped her soaking hair from her eyes.
"And who are you?" a sultry mezzo-soprano voice said.
"I- what?" Solyma said in surprise as she watched the elven Queen modestly covered her bare breasts with her arms, at no time showing any embarassment. "Solyma van Dolceis," Solyma said without thinking.
"Ah...Solyma," the Queen said with a smile. "Why were you spying on me in the bath?"
"Um," Solyma said, uncomfortably aware that her stiff nipples were easily visible through the soaking fabric of her shirt. "I was cleaning the ducts but I think I took a wrong turn somewhere-" she started to say before she was interrupted by the Queen's rich laughter.
"Come over here, Solyma," the Queen said. "You're not human are you?"
"Er, no," Solyma said, amazed that the Queen could tell the difference. Her race was superficially the same as humanity and a weave of illusion should have covered any remaining differences. "I'm a succubus."
"I've heard many legends about your people," Amadrin said as Solyma waded through the pool towards her. "Are they true?"
"Not really," Solyma said. "Your majesty," she added belatedly.
"Don't worry about such honorifics," Amadrin said as she reached out and pulled Solyma closer by her shirt. "So you're not a sexually charged race of demons who try to seduce anything they can? How...disappointing," she breathed as her eyes slowly traced over Solyma's soaked shirt and easily visible breasts.
"They aren't, I am," Solyma said in a distracted voice as she stared at the Queen's uncovered breasts. Were her nipples hard or was that her imagination?
"Ah, good, good," Amadrin said. "Why don't you show me? I could be convinced to let you go without calling my bodyguards."
Solyma looked around nervously and licked her lips again. "Why don't I just immobilize your with a weave and sneak out of here on my own?" she said in a cautious voice.
"Because," Amadrin said with another smile. With that, Solyma felt magic snapping into existence around her. She tried to summon her counter-weaves but the Queen was far too skilled. In seconds she felt her clothes being torn away from her body as she was lifted into the air to float, stomach down, in front of the Queen.
"I-I see," Solyma said as she felt her arms pulled straight out from her body and her legs spread apart. "Hey, stop that!" she yelled as Amadrin idly reached up and began to run a finger around Solyma's left nipple. Solyma closed her eyes and moaned in pleasure as she felt herself lowered to the edge of the pool on her back, her lower legs dangling in the steaming water while Amadrin crouched by her side, her elbows resting on the edge. She stared down at Solyma with heavily lidded eyes as she lightly stroked Solyma's stomach. Solyma gasped again and stared upward when she felt the elven woman's fingers stroking the patch of hair between her thighs. Her eyes widened and she arched her back when Amadrin's fingers slid slowly into her.
Solyma reached up and grabbed at Amadrin's shoulders as the elven woman moved up out of the pool and crouched over Solyma's body. Solyma closed her eyes as Amadrin leaned down and kissed her, first softly, then more fiercely. Solyma ran her hands up the damp skin of Amadrin's shoulders to bury them in the queen's thick mass of soft hair.
Solyma moaned when she felt the elf woman's body collapse onto her's, their breasts pressing together. Solyma sighed as Amadrin broke the kiss and began to trail her lips down Solyma's cheek and neck, lightly nipping and kissing until she reached Solyma's breasts. Solyma cried out and managed to bite back any more screams to keep the guards from bursting into the bathing room. Amadrin's teeth scraped over Solyma's stiff nipples, eliciting a shuddering groan through her clenched lips.
The elf woman's lips continued to work over Solyma's body, kissing and sucking at her breasts. Solyma moaned softly as Amadrin lay beside her on the warm tile floor, the elf woman's hands caressing Solyma's breasts as they kissed.
"Your breasts," Amadrin whispered as they broke from their long kiss, "they are quite large for an elf. I don't think I've ever been with a woman like you."
"Thank you," Solyma said weakly as Amadrin continued to squeeze and knead her breasts. The elf seemed to be quite enamored of them. "I'm not going to get into trouble, am I?"
"We'll see about that," Amadrin said with a sly smile as she lifted Solyma into the air with a gesture and lowered her into the pool. Solyma found herself kneeling in facing the edge as Amadrin sat in front of her. The elf's shapely legs gracefully swung up and onto Solyma's shoulders as the elf leaned back on her hands. "I may be convinced to let you go with a reprimand if you are sufficently...contrite."
"Promise?" Solyma panted. Not that I mind, she thought to herself smugly. I came for a pile of royal jewelery and I got to fuck the Queen, not a bad trade off. Gods know I've done worse.
"You have my word as Queen," Amadrin said with a smile as she leaned forward and ran one hand across Solyma's cheek and patted it gently. Solyma leaned forward, trying hard to mask her eagerness, and began to lightly kiss the insides of Amadrin's thighs. The elven Queen shuddered delicately as Solyma moved closer, her hands resting on Amadrin's thighs for support.
Amadrin looked down at Solyma and stroked the woman's coppery red hair with one hand. Solyma glanced up at the elf woman and smiled as she leaned forward, her nose brushing against the incredibly soft hair between Amadrin's thighs. Amadrin moaned loudly as Solyma began to lick softly at her quim, the succubus's tongue flicking over Amadrin's clit. The elf woman reached down and brought one of Solyma's hands up to cup her breasts as she lay back on the floor and placed both hands on Solyma's head.
Solyma continued to lick at Amadrin, gently sliding her tongue along the elf's quim before lavishing attention on the woman's swollen clit. Solyma felt Amadrin's hands clench at her hair as she took the elf's clit into her mouth and began to softly suck on it. Solyma continued to lick and suck on Amadrin's quim until she heard the elf woman cry out in a long, low moan. A gush of sweet tasting honey flowed from the elf's quim into Solyma's waiting mouth...
~~~
"I don't think there was any reason for you to go into such graphic detail," Hector said disapprovingly as Solyma changed into a pair of breeches and a loose blouse.
"Well, it was."
"Was what?"
"Sweet. I swear to Liaya that I've never tasted anything like that. Except maybe Ismene. She was similar but there was just something-"
"A simple, "I seduced the Queen of Taladros in order to keep from being thrown in jail' would have sufficed."
"I did not seduce her!" Solyma said as she laced up the front of her blouse and tied her hair back in a severe ponytail. "She seduced me!"
"I'm sure she did," Hector said patronizingly.
"Don't use that tone of voice on me!" Solyma yelled as she checked her appearance in the mirror. As plain as she could manage without using magic.
"Yes, mistress," Hector said in the same tone of voice.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Solyma said as she pulled the tails of her blouse out of the waistband of her breeches, letting them drop down to cover her bottom. "If I didn't know better I'd think you were going to be watching and pleasuring yourself."
"Not that I'm able to, even if I wanted to," Hector said. "Why are you making yourself look more dreadful than usual?" he said as Solyma mussed her hair.
"So she doesn't get any ideas," Solyma said.
"Oh, so I'm supposed to believe that you don't want to be naked in her bed by the end of the night?"
"Yes!" Solyma said, a little too forcefully.
Kerrith swung the practice sword in a smooth arc terminating at the target dummy's head. The smooth lacquered wood of the sword shone under the warm glow of the magical lights strung overhead throughout the training hall. He took a half-step backward and lunged, the sword stabbing out to catch the dummy in the chest.
"You're very good," Ismene said as she walked onto the floor of the hall and stood next to the dummy.
"Thank you," Kerrith said as he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel. "Did you want a lesson, Ismene? You're a very promising student. If you ever need a job, I'm sure the Shield would be willing to accept you as a candidate."
Ismene cocked her head and smiled slightly. "Thank you," she said as she turned to face the dummy and ran her hand over the battered wooden surface. "As for a lesson," she paused and looked over her shoulder at Kerrith.
Kerrith blinked in surprise as she undid the laces of her dress and let it fall from her slender shoulders to the polished wooden floor. She turned, wearing only her thin, diaphanous chemise and walked towards him, her hips swinging as she reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You can teach me many things, I'm sure."
"Ismene, please!" Kerrith said sharply as he pushed her hands off his shoulders and took a step backward. "That kiss was an accident. I should have never let it happen."
Kerrith watched apprehensively as Ismene let her arms fall to her sides and her head drop. He took a half-step forward, trying to figure out what to do when he saw her body begin to shudder as if she were weeping. "Ismene, I'm sorry. You're a beautiful woman, but I'm in love with someone-"
"I know," Ismene said as she raised her head. Kerrith's eyes widened when he saw the mirth dancing in her eyes. "Gods, I know. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Look at me!" she said as she laughed. "I'm trying to seduce anything I can." She bit her lip and her laughter faded as she stared off into the distance. "You look sort of like him. The hair and body," she said suddenly with a faint smile. "How long do you think it would take to get to Cielcroix?" she finally asked after a long pause.
"A few weeks, maybe less, depending on the weather," Kerrith said in confusion. "Why?"
"There's someone I need to talk to," Ismene said with a smile. She turned and picked up her dress, holding it in front of her in a semblance of modesty. "Now, let me change and you can give me that lesson."
"Um, hello?" Solyma said as she stepped into the royal chambers and heard the bodyguard shut the door behind her. She glanced back at the door and swallowed nervously at the sound of the lock clicking. "Your majesty?"
"In here, Solyma," she heard Amadrin call out. From the bathing room.
"Ah, hello, your majesty," Solyma said as she nervously stepped over to the door and peeked in. She closed her eyes for a second to regain her composure at the sight of Queen Amadrin lying in the bathing pool and then stepped into the room. "How are you doing?"
"Foreplay, Solyma? Not like you, not like you at all," Amadrin said as she stood and slowly waded across the pool towards Solyma. Billows of sweet smelling steam rose from the heated water to collect in the warm air of the room. Already Solyma could feel herself sweating from the heat. "Come, take off those clothes and let us get reacquainted with each other. It's been too long."
"Your majesty," Solyma said, fending off Amadrin's amorous hands weakly. "I can't."
"And why is that?" Amadrin said with a tilt of her eyebrow. "Playing hard to get is not like you at all."
"Believe me, if things were different, I'd want to," Solyma said fervently as she stared at Amadrin's nude body, the elf's skin gleaming with sweat and water. "But," she paused and took a deep breath, "I'm in love."
"Really? With whom?"
"Jaric. Jaric D'Allovet, he's a Knight of the Shield from Corannon," Solyma said and suddenly felt as if a window in her soul had been opened, allowing a fresh breeze to blow for the first time in so long. She smiled broadly, knowing that she probably looked the fool with her clothes plastered to her body with sweat. "I'm in love," she said again, feeling the words in her mouth. "I'm in love."
"Splendid night, isn't it?" Dravon said as he walked across the broad stone terrace towards Jaric.
"Yes, sir," Jaric said as he got up from the bench he had been relaxing on and saluted.
"Ah, no need for that, we're off duty," Dravon said as he sat down with a groan of relief. "All that riding, I'm not as used to it as I was," he said with a smile that flashed his white teeth in the moonlight.
"We did ride hard, sir," Jaric said as he sat. He glanced to the west and the splendor of the moonlit lake beyond the gardens of the palace. "I'm tired myself."
"It's not just that," Dravon said as he leaned back and watched a couple by the lake, no more than silhouettes at that distance, walk side by side. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Sir, you're barely ten years older than me," Jaric said solemnly.
"You're right, I suppose I just feel that way sometimes. There aren't any wars, thank all the gods above," Dravon said as he leaned forward and ran a hand through his short cropped tightly curled hair. "You weren't around for the last bit of skirmishing with Kilasat, were you?"
"No sir, I didn't join until a year after the fighting ended." Dravon nodded and continued to watch the far off couple.
"That's good, those skirmishes were always nasty. Good soldiers, those Kilasatians, damn good in the open. Some good men too. Damned shame to have to fight them." Dravon sighed. "I'm just glad that they finally signed another peace treaty." The Guardian Knight stood and slapped Jaric on the back. "I've got to head off to bed soon," he said as he stretched his arms over his head. "But how are you and that professor doing, what's her name? Sally?"
"Solyma, sir," Jaric said as he stood. "I don't know if we're really anything. I mean, I like her. A lot. But-"
"Still haven't begun to court her?" Dravon said with a smile.
"No, sir."
"Well, do it soon. Life's too short to waste. We're having a wonderful party day after next, dance with her. Bring her out here to enjoy the view," Dravon waved at the gardens, lake, and forest beyond, all shining under a nearly full moon. "Go for a walk by the lake. I've seen the way she looks at you, she'll say yes."
"I- yes, sir," Jaric said with a crisp salute.
"That wasn't an order, Jaric," Dravon said with a sigh. "Just some advice." He looked up at the stars far overhead and pushed his hands into the small of his back until there was a satisfying crack. "Life's too short, you hear me, Jaric?" he said with a wave as he turned and began to walk towards the palace. "Life's too short!"
"Are you happy to be home, your majesty?" Laros said as he and Penelope walked slowly by the shore of Hiali Illuios. "You've been quiet."
Penelope nodded and looked back out towards the lake. He stopped when she did and watched as she continued to stare out at the lake.
"Do you know who my mother chose for the Teliaos?" she asked, her voice faint.
"Yes, your majesty," Laros said. "She chose Lord Loradros."
"And?"
Laros hesitated. "I don't know what you mean, your majesty," he finally said.
"It's too much to hope that you'd be jealous, isn't it?" Penelope said.
"Your majesty?"
"The Teliaos used to be the way for a young woman to choose her husband," Penelope said as she wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "The dance was the first part of their marriage."
"But it's just a ritual today, your majesty. No one expects you to marry Lord Loradros."
"The Teliaos is supposed to be sacred."
"Yes?"
"I don't want to dance with him. I don't even like him," Penelope said, painfully aware that she sounded like a spoiled little girl. In truth she really hated him. He had eyes that were like cold glass unless he was leering at you like you were a piece of meat. She'd also heard the stories about how he treated his servants, like they were somehow less than him.
"I'm sure your mother has a good reason for choosing him," Laros said as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. He watched as Penelope's shoulders sank and then tilted her head back to gaze up at the stars. Her golden hair shone like silver in the moonlight, the faint breeze wafting a lock of her hair across her cheek.
"I'm sure she does," Penelope said with a glance over her shoulder at Laros. "Let's go back inside. I'm tired."
"Are you sure you don't want a massage?" Amadrin said as she handed Solyma a tall glass of chilled wine.
Solyma hesitated and then said, "No. Thank you."
"So the wild Solyma has fallen in love," Amadrin said as she sat across the card table from Solyma and picked up a deck of cards. "A foot massage? Maybe? No?" Amadrin shrugged and looked down at the cards. "And with a knight, no less." Solyma shrugged and took a long sip from her glass.
"Deal the cards," she said.
"-and then I threw my spear right at the dragon's eye," Tancred said to the elven maid doing the wash. She glanced up at him through the steam-filled air and smiled quickly before going back to pedaling the twin treadles that powered the washing machine. Tancred paused for a moment to admire the elven girl's legs, firm and toned from her daily bouts of pedaling. Her skirts were tied up above her knee to allow her to pedal freely and her skin was damp with sweat.
"At the last moment, I realize that the dragon isn't attacking us," Tancred continued. "So just as I'm throwing, I change my aim and miss the dragon by a hairsbreath." The maid smiled quickly again. "Not many people can do that. Of course, I'm not like many people." Tancred smiled his most charming smile and leaned back in the wooden folding chair he was sitting in. The elf girl smiled again and he leaned forward. "So, when do you finish with your chores?"
Tancred was interrupted as another maid walked into the steamy laundry room and said something in the elf's musical language to the pedaling maid. The girl looked at Tancred and then back to the newcomer before responding. They both giggled and hid smiles behind their hands.
"So, who's your friend?" Tancred said with another smile. His smile faltered as the two elf's said something to each other and giggled again. "You don't understand anything I'm saying, do you?" he said. The maid operating the washing machine smiled politely and gave him a blank look. "I'll just be going," he said as he stood and folded his chair. He managed to walk out of the room with a semblance of dignity, only slightly spoiled by the peals of laughter coming from inside the room.
"Do you have a...Lord of Shadows?" Solyma said as she glanced over her cards at Amadrin.
"Throw your net," Amadrin said with a grin. Solyma cursed as she reached out and plucked the top card from the deck. "So, what's your man like in bed?"
"I-we, we haven't done anything," Solyma said as she hid behind her cards.
"Oh, come now," Amadrin said with an amused smile. "Tell me! It's been ages since Odryas died. I haven't laid with a man since. I rather miss it."
"I mean it," Solyma said. "We haven't done anything. He hasn't even kissed me." Solyma set her cards on the table and glared at Amadrin as the elf woman bent over with laughter.
"You're joking?" Amadrin said when she regained her breath. She glanced at Solyma's face and shook her head. "You're not."
"No," Solyma said as she finished off her third glass of wine.
"I'm so sorry, Solyma," Amadrin said with a barely suppressed smile. "Why haven't you dragged him into some dark corner and had your way with him?"
"I don't do that!"
"Anymore."
"Yes, anymore."
"Good, watch where you put your feet," Kerrith said as he retreated from Ismene's sword. "Keep them apart, don't lose your balance!" he shouted as she overextended and allowed him to knock her practice blade to the side. He ducked in the opposite direction and tapped her on the back with his blade. "You'd be dead now."
Ismene shook her head angrily as she straightened up and resumed a ready stance. A few loose strands of her golden hair were sticking to her forehead. She wiped her arm against her forehead and took a few deceivingly delicate steps foreward before launching herself at Kerrith.
The knight lurched backward and knocked her blade up, barely avoiding a nasty cut to the head. Ismene continued to press the attack and forced the off-balance man to the edge of the fencing circle. "Ah, I yield!" Kerrith said as he tottered on the edge and fell backwards onto his rump with a laugh. "Skilled fencing, Ismene. I think we could find you a place in the Knighthood if you ever wanted one."
"Do you mean that?" Ismene said, her eyes wide. "I thought only humans were allowed."
"There's nothing in the charter that says that," Kerrith said, taking her proffered hand as he staggered to his feet. "It's just that so few of the other races fight for the Krisephyrian army." He stretched his arms above his head. "There are a number of dwarves in the infantry and one or two elves that I've heard of, but that's it."
"Times are good, I suppose there isn't much call to run off and join another kingdom's army, is there?" Ismene said as they collapsed onto a wooden bench running alongside the wall of the training room.
"True," Kerrith said as he wiped his face with a towel. "No wars in-" he paused and thought, "a hundred and seventy-one years. Not since they signed the Treaty."
"My parents told me about that," Ismene said as she leaned against the wall. "Kilasat and Krisephyr were fighting, right?" Kerrith nodded.
"Nearly two hundred years of on and off fighting. I'm glad I wasn't around for that." He stood and ran a hand through his sweat-damp hair. "Care for one more match before we call it a night?"
Jaric jerked himself upright at the sound of someone scratching at his door. He stared towards the bedroom door and could make out the doorknob moving in the dim moonlight shining through the window.
"Hello?" he called out, wondering if someone had mistaken his room for their own. "Is someone there?" He watched as the doorknob turned and the door slid open slowly. A shadowy figure stepped into the room and closed the door behind it. "I think you have the wrong-"
"Jaric," Solyma said. "I've wanted to do this since the moment I saw you."
"Solyma? What are you doing here?" Jaric said as he reached for his shirt. Solyma remained silent as she lifted a small bust from its place on a pedestal by the door. She hefted it for a moment and turned back towards the door. Jaric jerked in surprise when Solyma brought the bust down on the doorknob, knocking it from the door. "Why did you do that? Now we won't be able to open the door from this side," Jaric asked as he started to get out of bed.
"Exactly," Solyma said with a grin as she dropped the bust onto the edge of the pedestal, ignoring it as it toppled to the floor. "You're not leaving until I say you can."
"Solyma, I-I don't think this is proper-"
"Damned right this isn't!" Solyma said with glee as she advanced on Jaric. "I sure hope you've got as much stamina in bed as you have out of it," she said as she shoved him onto the bed.
"Solyma, I'm not sure what you mean," Jaric said and then gasped as Solyma began to pull off her blouse. He closed his eyes and tried to scrabbled backwards until his back bumped against the headboard as he heard the sound of clothing being dropped to the floor.
"Thank you," Solyma said as Hector drifted out of the shadows and obediently picked up her discarded clothing.
"Oh, I'm happy to serve you, mistress," Hector said with an obsequious helmet bob and salute. "Anything you want, anything at all, I'll get it for. Nothing too great or too small for my mistress."
"Mmm, get Penelope and Amadrin, will you? I want them here too," Solyma said as she pressed her index finger to her chin in thought. "Make sure they're wearing lingerie. And bring something to tie everyone up with."
"You wanted us?" Amadrin purred as she stepped up from behind Solyma with Penelope standing next to her. Both were wearing matching white lace lingerie including stockings, garters, and bustier. Amadrin still had her crown on.
"Not just yet," Solyma said happily as she pecked each elf woman on the lips. "I want him first," she said as she pointed to Jaric with a smile like a cat with a bowl of cream. He still had his eyes closed and was huddling beneath the sheets like a frightened virgin on her wedding night.
"Solyma-" Jaric protested as she slid into bed beside him and ran her hand over his chest. He opened his eyes nervously and gulped when he saw her wearing only a half-shift and some skimpy underwear. He groaned and reached out to pull her into a close embrace as their lips found each other.
They lay beside each other on the bed, Solyma's hands tracing circles across the muscle of Jaric's chest and stomach. She panted and moaned into his mouth as his hands slid down her back and cupped her bottom. He squeezed her gently before running his hands down her shapely legs and then back up again. When they finally broke their kiss they were both breathing heavily and starting to sweat. Jaric smiled up at Solyma and sat up slightly to kiss her forehead before he fell back and buried his hands in her tumbling mass of coppery-red hair.
Solyma rubbed herself against Jaric, her hands caressing his skin as she pressed her body against his. His hands were strong but gentle as they roamed over her body, sliding over her bare shoulders to gently squeeze her breasts through the thin cotton of her half-shift.
"Yes, gods," Solyma moaned as she threw her head back and pressed Jaric's face to her breasts. She could feel him kissing the tops of her breasts as his hands slid up beneath her shift to caress her breasts. Each motion of his hands sent a jolt of delicious pleasure through her body as she shifted herself to straddle him. She could feel the hardness of his cock through their underwear as she felt him pull her shift off. His lips kissed the soft skin of her breasts before he began to run his tongue over her nipples-
"What?" Solyma gasped in surprise as Jaric grabbed her hands and flipped her over onto the bed beneath him. She smiled in delight and kissed him, her legs wrapping around his waist as she felt her wrists pinned to the pillow above her head. She smiled when Penelope and Amadrin climbed onto the bed to hold her wrists down.
"Oh, Jaric," she said in a sultry voice, "I didn't know you liked it so rough."
"I'm going to ravish you, my- Solyma!- dear," he said.
"Oh gods, do your worst!" Solyma moaned as she kissed him again and frowned. "Your lips are so cold, Jaric, let me warm them for you."
"Solyma!" someone yelled in a muffled voice. "Solyma!"
"What?" Solyma moaned as she blinked groggily and opened her eyes.
"Solyma, will you let go of me?" Hector said. Solyma looked down and saw she was clutching Hector to her breasts. His helmet was covered with...something. Something wet and sticky, anyways.
"Sorry," she mumbled as she sat up and let him go. She glanced around and stared at the tangled mess of sheets on her bed. "What happened to Jaric? Where is he?"
"Jaric? I should hope he's still in his own bed," Hector sniffed as he grabbed one of Solyma's blouses and began to dry himself. "Of all the indignities," he muttered. "I come in here to investigate your disgusting noises and I find you flopping about like a landed fish."
"What?" Solyma said. She blinked again and looked around the bedroom. No trace of Jaric but ample evidence of wine bottles. "What happened?"
"Solyma! You get so drunk that you can't even remember staggering in here well after midnight? Poor Queen Amadrin had to help you into bed. It was absolutely shameful."
"But Jaric was right here-"
"And plan on making another familiar if you want some sort of sex toy," Hector continued to say. "I, for one, will have nothing more to do with slaking your desires! The gods gave you your own hands for a reason!" He was still ranting as he floated out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind him, enough to make noise, not enough to risk damaging the wood. Solyma gave one last, slow look around the mess of sheets and bottles and groaned before slumping back into the bed.
"Are you well, Solyma?" Jaric asked in a worried voice as Solyma sat down across the dining table from him. "You're so flushed, are you running a fever?"
"No, no, I'm fine. I just ran up here a little too fast," Solyma said as she reached for a platter of fried potatoes. "Too hungry, I guess." Her stomach said otherwise as she spooned a helping of the potatoes onto her plate. One glance at them sent her stomach into gyrations suitable for any of the ladies of the night back around Corannon's harbors. She turned her gaze back up toward Jaric and felt a different sort of churning in her stomach, something unfamiliar and almost terrifying.
She blinked and looked away as she felt her heart start to race from the thought of kissing him. Why was she feeling like this? She'd never been this disoriented around anyone, man or woman before-
"Solyma? Ah, it is you, my dear," a pleasant male voice said from behind her. "How long has it been? Twenty? Thirty years? Far too long in any case."
Solyma froze like a deer staring down a hunter's arrow. Her eyes slowly moved up from her plate to Jaric's face. The knight was smiling in a puzzled way at the person standing behind her.
"Solyma, who is this?" Jaric asked as he stood and extended his hand to the person behind her. Solyma could see them shake hands. The newcomer's hand was slender with long, fine fingers perfectly suited for playing music.
"I should think to ask the same question," the voice said. "Menelaus Tamrasyos, Aphas Sielos."
"I'm sorry, I'm not as fluent in Melosaos as I'd like," Jaric said.
"First musician," Solyma said, still staring down at her plate.
"Well, aren't you going to give me a hug?" Menelaus said with a smile Solyma could hear. She stood stiffly and turned to face him with a sigh. He had been the one who had thrown the flowers. He looked the same as he had twenty-five years ago. He still wore his light brown hair in a shoulder-length ponytail. His eyes still were the same shade of mouth-watering brown.
It was with less than total reluctance that Solyma embraced him. Her stomach lurched as he swept her up in his arms and twirled her around with a firm kiss on the lips. His hands were busy sliding down her back and began to lightly grope her bottom as she was set down on the floor. What was it with elves and groping in public?
Solyma blinked as he finally set her down, barely noticing his hands. She was about to say something regarding his lack of manners when she saw the look on Jaric's face. His cheeks were red and the muscles in his jaw were visible as he ground his teeth together. And there was something in his eyes that she had never seen before, a longing that she had grown too familiar with seeing in the mirror only.
"Oh, Menelaus, it's been too long," Solyma said with a nervous smile. She turned her head away and blushed. "And t-thank you so much for those flowers." Over the elf's shoulder she could see Jaric flush an even deeper shade of red. Roll the dice, she thought with a sigh. Maybe anger would get him to finally say something. She was getting rather tired of pretending to be the helpless maiden, but whatever worked...
Continued in Chapter 4
The World of Alderest - VI - An Unexpected Journey - Chapter 3
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