by Sarah Hawke
“That’s better,” she breathed, dragging her fingertips across the thick, milky strands on her cheeks and nose. Mere seconds later, her dormant Senosi tattoos flared back to life beneath her skin. “No woman should have to sleep on an empty stomach.”
***
I slept almost bizarrely well, considering we didn’t have bedrolls or cushions or anything else resembling basic creature comforts. Valuri had never been the snuggling type, either, so I didn’t fall asleep with her in my arms. The last thing I remembered was watching in sordid fascination as she feasted upon the invisible magic in my seed.
She wasn’t there when I woke, which almost caused me to panic before I saw Kaseya standing nearby, her eyes sweeping the horizon. “Your friend is cleaning up in the stream,” the amazon said. “If you wish to join her, I suggest you do so now. We need to get moving as soon as possible.”
I cleared my throat and leaned up on my elbow. My eyelids felt like they had been tied down with sandbags, and my back ached like I had been sleeping on top of a sharp rock—which apparently I had been, as it turned out.
“Figures,” I muttered, grabbing the jagged stone and chucking it down the hill. When I turned back to face Kaseya, a fresh wave of guilt crashed over me. “I’m sorry about last night, by the way.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Jorem. I knew you would wish to copulate with your friend once you were reacquainted.”
“Yeah, but…” I paused and wet my lips. “Did you even get any sleep?”
“It would have been a serious tactical error for all of us to rest at the same time while we are being actively hunted by my sister,” Kaseya said.
“So in other words, no.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know what happened. I meant to start a fire and place some wards, but I just…I completely passed out.”
“The Senosi must have drained you quite thoroughly.”
I bit down on my lip and studied her profile. Kaseya didn’t look or sound jealous, but there was no way in the bloody abyss my antics hadn’t annoyed her at least a little bit. I would have been upset if I’d been forced to feel her fucking another man all night. At least Silhouette had given both of us a piece of the action.
“I’ll figure out a way to make this up to you when we get to town,” I told her. “I promise.”
“You do not need to—”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You deserve better than this. Escar’s mercy, you deserve better than me…”
Kaseya finally turned. “I am not sure I will ever understand your need to saddle yourself with guilt.”
“Join the club,” I murmured.
“Your friend brought you a great deal of pleasure—pleasure I was able to experience through our bond.”
I cocked a curious eyebrow at her. “So…you enjoyed it?”
“Of course I did. I was nearby—I’m certain you heard me cry out.”
“Once or twice,” I said, grinning despite myself.
“The conditions were not ideal for a silent patrol, and I had some difficulty concentrating upon my work.” Kaseya smiled back. “Still, it was…pleasant. Your friend obviously knows what she’s doing.”
“That she does.”
“I am grateful that our bond can grant me the benefit of her experience.” Her smile turned almost dark. “I am also grateful that she has no means of benefitting from mine.”
I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Kaseya set down her bow and offered me her hand. I took it, confused, as she helped me off the ground and led me over to a nearby stump. “Sit.”
“I don’t—”
“Sit.”
I paused, tempted to activate my ring and figure out what she was up to, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and do as she asked. “All right,” I said, tucking the cloak onto my backside so I could sit on it. “Now what?”
“The sun woke you before I could this morning,” Kaseya said, kneeling and pushing apart my knees. “An amazon does not neglect her duties.”
My cock was in her mouth before I could respond. It hardened in mere seconds thanks to the loving caresses of her lips and tongue, and my hand instinctively clasped the back of her head. Her slurps and licks soon drowned out every other sound in the forest.
As my eyes rolled back into my head and my member swelled in her throat, I became convinced that I was, without a doubt, the luckiest son of a bitch in the entire Northern Reaches. Sure, I was being pursued by an insane amazon-turned-mageslayer who less than a day ago had tried to castrate me. Sure, I was almost out of a coin and had no legitimate gold-making prospects on the horizon. And sure, in all likelihood I would die at a young age, either to the blades of fanatics or the corruption of the Aether.
But in the here and now, two gorgeous women were vying to see who could milk me dry first. If Escar himself appeared in front of me offering eternal life and salvation in exchange for Kaseya and Valuri’s affections, I would have gladly told him to go straight to hell.
“Shit,” I gasped. “Here it comes!”
I held her tightly against me as I pumped every drop I had left into her waiting mouth. Kaseya groaned from her own collar-induced climax the instant the first jet struck her tonsils, then again when I fired another four solid volleys down her throat. When my eyes finally refocused, I saw Valuri standing on the incline a few feet away from us.
“And here I was thinking about picking berries for breakfast,” she said, crossing her arms and smirking in amusement. “Just make sure you don’t waste any, girl.”
Kaseya slowly pulled away and licked at her lips. She flashed me a contented smile, then turn towards Valuri. “We should get moving. The longer we’re out here, the more likely my sister will catch up to us.”
She grabbed her bow and shield and started down the nearby path. Valuri chuckled and reached out a hand to help me.
“She and I are going to get along great,” Valuri said, her eyes glimmering coyly. “I can feel it.”
***
We arrived back in Highwind a few hours before dusk. Rather than attempt to stroll through the gate naked, I sent the girls ahead to buy me some clothes. I was a little worried about leaving them alone together, given Valuri’s penchant for pointless antagonism, but to my surprise Kaseya didn’t get irritated even once. Her mood remained calm and focused, and a few times I even sensed mild amusement. That actually worried me more than if she had suddenly gone into a rampage. It belatedly occurred to me that Valuri could—and almost certainly would—tell Kaseya embarrassing stories about me all day.
The realization made my stomach flutter, and I was tempted to sprint through the gate and risk a public indecency charge just to separate the two of them before Valuri could completely sabotage Kaseya’s opinion of me. Thankfully they returned before I did anything incredibly stupid, though Valuri’s smile was far too smug for comfort…
“I hope you have a plan besides waiting for this half-elf whore to contact you,” she said as I laced up my new boots. “If Ayrael isn’t back in the city already, I suspect she will be soon. And we’re not exactly inconspicuous—she won’t have trouble tracking us down.”
“It’s a huge city,” I reminded her. “There are plenty of places to blend in.”
“You and I, maybe. But our friend here tends to stick out.”
I glanced back at Kaseya and pursed my lips. Her amazon armor was pretty memorable on its own, and her pretty face and long, shapely legs practically guaranteed that every man she passed would remember her.
“I’m afraid Val is right,” I said. “We might have to get you a disguise.”
“We purchased a few additional outfits,” Kaseya said, nodding towards the bag they had brought with them. “I can wear one, if necessary.”
“That might not be a bad idea. You should probably change now before we head back in, actually.”
“I’ll help you with those straps,” Valuri said, winking at me as she helped Kaseya disrobe. My cock stirred ins
ide my new trousers, but only for a moment. The girls had only brought back a few silvers, which meant that after dinner and a room tonight, we would officially be broke.
“It’s too risky to stay at the Knight’s Lantern again since Ayrael knew to contact us there before,” I murmured. “We’ll swing by the Silken Rose and see if Silhouette left us a message. If not, our best bet is probably the Iron District.”
Valuri eyed me quizzically. “Which is what, exactly?”
“The place with most of the city’s smelters and smiths. It’s heavily populated and we should be able to blend in easily enough.”
“We cannot hide from my sister forever,” Kaseya said. “We need a plan to confront her.”
“One problem at a time,” I muttered, eyeing her new outfit up and down. Seeing her wear a simple, no-nonsense blouse and skirt was incredibly bizarre. It also wasn’t particularly convincing—she still walked and moved like a soldier. For the moment, however, it would have to do.
Night had long since fallen by the time we returned through the gates. I wasn’t particularly worried about Ayrael or the Senosi catching up to us just yet, but we stuck to the main streets just in case. I had assumed that the Silken Rose would be incredibly busy at this hour, and I was proven right. Unfortunately, the long line of men standing outside weren’t customers.
They were Highwind Guardsmen.
“Oh, shit,” I hissed.
There were at least thirty soldiers fanned out in front of the brothel, including six Knights of the Silver Fist and three wizards from the Mage’s Guild. A small crowd had gathered nearby to watch and see what was going on.
“Why are they arresting the whores?” Kaseya asked, frowning at the sight of several half-naked women being escorted out in manacles.
“I’ll give you one guess,” I muttered. “Come on, we need to get out of—”
“Hello again, Mister Farr. What a coincidence to find you here.”
I swore under my breath as I slowly turned around. Strolling up behind us, flanked by guild wizards on either side, was Magister Rethon.
“Magister,” I said, struggling to keep my expression neutral. “Is something wrong? We just strolled by and noticed all the commotion.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did,” the man murmured. He sized up Valuri and eyed the crossbows on her hips. “You have a new friend, I see. Another bounty hunter?”
“One of my many talents,” she said with a smirk. “Are you looking to hire someone, honey?”
“No,” Rethon replied, not bothering to hide his contempt. “I would actually like to thank Mister Farr here. Without his help, we never would have been able to track down and identify so many of the Black Mistress’s assets.”
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up. “What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t buy your ‘explanation’ at Artificer Dieran’s shop, so I ordered my wizards to scry upon you for a few days and see what they could learn,” Rethon explained, a faint but unbelievably smug smile tugging at his lips. “You left quite an Aetheric trail, I must say—one that led right to a young woman calling herself ‘Silhouette.’ She didn’t want to talk at first, but I eventually convinced her that it was in her best interests to help us out.”
My lip twitched despite my best efforts to stop it. This was bad. Not as bad as hanging naked from the ceiling with my cock in a vise, probably, but bad enough.
“Evidently some of the other whores here have been working for the Black Mistress as well,” Rethon went on. “At least three of these women are guilty of channeling the Aether without an Academy license, including enchantment and illusion magic—very dangerous and very illegal. But of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Jorem is a sorcerer—of course he knows about such things,” Kaseya said. “Why would you ask such a pointless question?”
I resisted the urge to smack my forehead. I really, really needed to work on her social skills…
Rethon’s smug grin grew even wider. “What a charming young woman. Though I must say, you looked much better in that armored skirt of yours.”
“I did not ask for your opinion,” Kaseya said. “And I do not require your approval.”
The magister’s expression sank. “I am afraid that is no longer true, my dear. Perhaps the four of us should return to the Grey Citadel and have a private chat. I’m sure we could learn a great deal from one another.”
“We’re a little busy, but if you ever have a job for us we’d be happy to stop by and talk about it later,” I said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us…”
The two mages flanking him on either side stretched out their arms and whispered the words to a spell. An instant later, a pair of glowing magical manacles materialized in their hands.
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear,” Rethon said. “That was not a request. By order of the Highwind Council, I am placing the three of you under arrest.”
To Be Continued
THE BLACK MISTRESS
1
“In hard times like this, it’s important to remember that things could be a lot worse.”
All five of the other prisoners sharing my cell turned and glared at me. Collectively, they had about as many teeth as I did with probably five times as many scars. It wasn’t exactly the optimal tooth-to-scar ratio I looked for in potential allies, but a man in my current position couldn’t afford to be picky.
“I’m just saying, we could have all been stripped naked and tied to the ceiling,” I went on, grinning. “Then they could have threatened to castrate us and handed our crazy, bitter ex-girlfriends the knife. I mean, that would be worse, right?”
If their previous glares had been caustic, their new ones could only be described as “murderous.” Maybe, just maybe, a bunch of men who had just been arrested by the Highwind Guard and caged within the Grey Citadel weren’t looking to make new friends.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” one of the men snapped. He looked like he enjoyed eating rocks for breakfast, which at least would have explained his conspicuously poor dental hygiene.
“Just trying to lighten the mood,” I said. “It’s not—”
“Shut the fuck up!” another of men growled. “Or I’ll break that pretty face of yours before your screams reach the warden’s ears.”
I sighed and slinked back into the corner of the cell. Suffice to say, our little return trip to Highwind hadn’t gone according to plan so far. After Magister Rethon had arrested Kaseya, Valuri, and I outside of the Silken Rose , his men had tossed us into different cells here in the bowels of the Grey Citadel, Highwind’s maximum security prison for dangerous and magically deviant individuals. I hadn’t seen the girls for the better part of a day now, and for all I knew they had already been interrogated and released. It would be the height of irony for me to have finally rescued Valuri only to end up in a different prison with her on the outside…
I had tried my best not to think about it. Kaseya wouldn’t abandon me so easily, but Valuri…well, it was entirely conceivable that she would just cut her losses and run. I still loved her and always had, but she could be a real cunt sometimes. It was part of her charm.
I sat silently in the corner for what felt like an epoch before I heard the shuffling of movement outside the cell. One of the grey-hooded guards approached the door, a jingling keyring in his hand.
“You have a visitor, sorcerer,” he said. “Keep your hands where I can see them. Try to channel and you’ll get to spend a week in the Vault.”
“You don’t have to worry about me,” I said, resisting the urge to fire off another ill-timed quip. The guards here seemed even less interested in chatter than the prisoners.
He opened the door and gestured for me to walk slowly in front of him. Even if I’d wanted to try and escape, channeling wasn’t an option. They had fitted me with a suppression collar the moment I’d arrived, and when I closed my eyes I swore I could feel the vatari crystals embedded within actually siphoning the
Aether out of me. They were the same stones that gave Valuri and the other Senosi their magic-eating powers.
The guard and I eventually reached dungeon’s processing area, a wide, plus-shaped chamber that acted as the final hub before prisoners were assigned a cell block that fit their “needs.” There were only a few other prisoners here at the moment, though I immediately recognized the slender, silver-haired half-elf in the skimpy skirt, thigh-high boots, and black bandeau.
Silhouette turned and looked at me, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her lips. I couldn’t imagine why. Her hands were shackled behind her back, and as far as I knew the guards had arrested her and several of the other Silken Rose whores for conspiring with the Black Mistress. If anything, she should have been enraged to see me—Rethon and his goons had followed my Aetheric trail right to her doorstep, after all.
I didn’t say anything for fear of angering my escort, but when he randomly struck up a conversation with the other guards Silhouette leaned and whispered into my ear.
“I delivered your message.”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
“My employer wishes to meet you, now more than ever,” she went on, her voice a smooth purr. “Moonshadow Plaza, the Skittering Spider . Anytime you’re ready to talk.”
My mouth opened but nothing came out. This was not the conversation I’d been expecting to have this morning…
“Tell your amazon friend I’m looking forward to seeing her again,” Silhouette added.
Before I found my voice, my escort turned and gestured for me to follow. “Come on. Trust me: you don’t want to keep your visitor waiting.”
He dragged me along behind him, and when I glanced back over my shoulder Silhouette had already turned away. I still wasn’t sure what to make of her words. I had assumed that her employer, the enigmatic Black Mistress, would have lost all interest in me the moment I’d been so stupid as to get myself and a bunch of her contacts in the city arrested. But Silhouette hadn’t seemed the least bit concerned about it—I could only assume that was a good thing.
