by Randi Darren
“I’d prefer it. I’m not a mind reader,” Steve said. He suddenly felt a whole lot better about Lucia. Even if she was angry at him. Frustrated with him. Even when she couldn’t understand him and thought he was just goading her.
She still showed her love for him and didn’t just ice him out.
“A good point,” Lucia said, then smacked Steve on the rear end. “I’ll be sure to voice my grievances as well as my desires. Now, how shall we do this? We can’t let them remain in our lands like this without reaching out to them.”
“Use the witch-knights,” Nancy said off to Steve’s left side. “It’s their job.”
“Good thought,” Lucia mused, nodding her head. “I’d think… Felisa, Siena, and Kimor?”
“Yes,” Nancy said. “Hiren and Beati can remain here to protect Steve with me.”
Since becoming a Creep Witch, Nancy had been practicing her craft every evening. With Jaina, the Creep Witches on the farm, or the witch-knights. Every night for her was practice if it wasn’t sleeping with Steve.
“Hell with that,” Steve said. “Go get the witch-knights. We’ll all go together. Between the eight of us, we should be able to handle anything.”
Steve pulled his axe from its loop and let the head of it rest on the ground.
Nancy turned and vanished in a second, disappearing into the vegetation.
“For a while,” Lucia said, pulling the unstrung bow off her back. “I truly believed I’d made her my own creature.”
Reaching out, she looped her bowstring into the nock on the lower limb of her bow. Then she put it down against the grass on the side of her ankle. Pulling the string taught, she sighed.
“She really is completely yours, though,” Lucia said. “I’m thankful she never pretended otherwise. Did she relay anything truly embarrassing back to you about me?”
Stepping forward with her left foot, Lucia pulled the belly of the bow up against the back of her left thigh. Then she pulled on the back of it, the belly flexing around her leg.
Working expertly, she bent the bow into the correct shape while pulling with her hands and easily flicked the bow string into its position.
“Apparently you really want me to mark you,” Steve said. “She told me you wanted me to p—”
“That’s enough of that,” Lucia said, interrupting him. Then she coughed lightly into her hand before pulling her bow up. “Yes, I remember that conversation. And I’d like you to forget that—”
“I’ll do it to you,” Steve said. “Tonight.”
Lucia took in a slow breath, then let it out.
“Okay,” she said softly. “By the lake?”
“That’d be best, wouldn’t it? You could wash off after I’m done,” Steve said.
“Yes. That’d be… yes,” Lucia said.
After that, their conversation fell off. There wasn’t anything else to be said. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, thankfully.
Nancy returned within minutes along with the witch-knights.
Who were all fully armed and armored, prepared for anything and everything.
“I’ll lead the way,” Hiren said from behind her helmet. “Beati, Felisa, you take my flanks. Siena, Kimor, Steve.”
Giving his axe a spin, Steve and company moved off down the river. But the moment they got moving, a flurry of activity happened down near the boat.
Women began running in from the brush nearby. Those who had been working on the shore immediately took flight and started to load the raft up with everything they could.
Then an entire party of women in leathers stormed out from one side of the tree line and simply boarded the boat.
In a minute flat, everyone and everything was on the boat. Long before Steve and his party ever made it there.
“They were watching us,” Lucia said. “Though they weren’t close enough for me to see them or hear them.”
Really sucks being a Human.
“That’s fine,” Siena said. “Better that they run from us in fear than stand and fight.”
Says the woman who ended up on her knees for me rather than fight me.
“Agreed,” Hiren said. “We’re stronger as a question mark than a definitive answer.”
Oh. That makes more sense.
When he reached the point where the women had been working on the shore, Steve was mildly surprised. The entire time as they got closer, the raft hadn’t left. It had shoved out to the middle of the river, dropped something that was likely an anchor, and waited there.
“I think they’d like to chat,” Lucia said, an arrow resting in her fingers. “I hope they’re civil. It’d be a problem to send their corpses back downriver. I’m not looking forward to trying to fly after a boat as it sails downriver.”
A number of women were staring at Steve and his group on the bank. No one said anything, however.
Wish Misty was here.
“Hello, the boat,” Steve called, standing amongst his witch-knights.
There was no response from those on the boat, though a number of people looked around. Apparently trying to find someone but not.
“I’m the farm owner from upriver, and you’re pretty close to what we consider our territory. We came to see what you were about. We’ve had problems with bandits, so you’ll have to forgive our paranoia,” Steve called.
Again, there was no response at all.
“Hello?” Steve asked, trying one more time.
Many of the women on the boat walked away. Moving to other parts of the boat and to work on things there.
“Fine. Give me a pier of witch-stone to them,” Steve muttered. “And a wall behind them so they can’t move.”
“I’ll do the pier,” Nancy said. Then she lifted up her left hand, and a purple ball of writhing magic immediately sprang to life there. It was interspersed with black flecks.
She’s mixing magics.
The witch-knights held their hands up almost at the same time, their magic looking far more singular in color.
A wall of witch-stone slammed up out of the water behind the craft as a pier of witch-stone oozed up from the slimy shallow bank of the river. It ran straight to the boat.
There was even a small lip of stone that ran up over the side of the boat and locked it in place.
Three of his knights moved ahead, their shields raised. Steve and Lucia followed them as they walked down the pier.
“Move,” growled Siena to someone.
Kimor hopped up over the side of the boat and into it. There was a bang as something collided with her shield, followed by a single thud.
Siena and Hiren bounced up and over the side of the boat as well.
When Steve reached the jump point, he looked down into the boat.
A single woman was on her rear end with a lump forming on her brow, a club next to her on the ground. No one else was harmed, and everyone was staring at Steve’s knights.
“So, anyone going to talk to me?” Steve asked, looking around. “Or do I take you all prisoner and sacrifice you to the Creep?”
No one responded again.
“Fine, bind everyone up. We’ll take ’em all back home,” Steve said. “Maybe they’ll send another group after this and we can capture them too. Always need more hands working.”
“Stop,” said a woman near a large number of crates piled to one side of the boat. “We can talk.”
“Oh? Only now?” Steve said. “I don’t care anymore. Start tying them up. If they resist, kill ’em.”
“Stop! We’re… we’re here under the orders of our military governor,” said the same woman. “That’s why we’re here. We’re here to find out why the water repels the Creep and secure it.”
As one, his knights turned to look at him. Clearly asking if they should go through with his orders.
“Well,” Steve said. “I can answer that for you here and now and make this whole thing very easy.
“I’m the reason the water can defeat the Creep. Without me, it doesn’t happen. As for sec
uring it… no thanks. You’re not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, and honestly, I’m kinda deep in my harem at this point.”
Sighing, Steve realized this would be more problematic than he wanted it to be. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that this military governor would leave him alone. If she was anything like Geneva, she’d be looking to turn herself into a local power.
And Steve and his farm were power they needed.
“What were your orders if you ended up having to deal with another city, village, or town?” Steve asked.
“Leave, and return with force to take it,” said the same woman.
“Uh huh,” Steve said. He’d expected that answer, but he wasn’t at all happy to hear it. “I’m going to let you all leave after I search your ship for anything or anyone I want to keep.
“After that, you can go on your way. But I’m sending a message with you as well for your military governor. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” said the woman, lifting her chin up.
“Great,” Steve said, starting to inspect every woman he found.
He wasn’t about to let someone go who could be useful. Especially anyone who had the potential to be an enemy.
He was confident in his people and Geneva’s soldiers. If it came down to it, he doubted whoever was south of them could mount a defense against him.
“Tell your military governor that Military Governor Geneva Gosti’s husband welcomes his wife’s peer to the area,” Steve said, closing another information window on yet another sailor. “I’d be delighted to host her for an evening meal to discuss the situation as a whole and figure out what we can do for one another. Perhaps we can even form an alliance to ensure the entire area is stable.”
Shaking his head, Steve closed yet another information window. So far, every single person he’d checked was a sailor or a woman without skills, which meant a soldier. Neither of which he was willing to abduct for their skills.
“You… you’re married to the military governor,” said the woman.
“Uh huh,” Steve said. “A princess, a few nobles, a mayoress, as well as the military governor.
“Is this everyone? Is there anyone else hidden around here?”
He’d checked everyone visible, and it felt like that had been everyone he’d seen running on board the boat.
But he wanted to be sure.
“Yes,” said the woman he was treating as the leader. “This is everyone. Though there’s… there’s a few left out there who couldn’t get back in time.”
“Ah, yes, that’s another line of questioning I wanted to ask you about,” Steve said. “Did you know we were there? And how long did you know?”
“We knew. A scout saw your group and came back to warn us. They’d only just arrived a minute before you started moving,” said the woman.
“Hmm. Alright,” Steve said. “Do tell the military governor she’s welcome to bring a force of no more than fifty with her if she likes, or she can come alone. Either is up to her.
“I do look forward to seeing her, though.”
Steve turned his head toward Lucia.
“I don’t see anything I want. How about you?” he asked.
“No,” Lucia said. “Nothing.”
Nodding his head, he flicked his eyes to Nancy.
His mistress gave him a smile as her brows went up slightly. Then she gave him the barest shakes of her head.
“Alright, everyone back to shore,” Steve said. Stepping back over the side of the boat, he began walking down the pier without a concern.
This could be fruitful.
If I can bring the other military governor under my thumb, that’d give us a better area of control.
Or at the least, we can open trade with them. We could easily use the river to facilitate that.
Definitely a good idea on how to sidestep the little problem Nikki made for us.
Just thinking of the Faun gave him conflicted emotions.
He loved her. Truly. And he was determined to work his way through what they were dealing with.
But he couldn’t deny that he’d rather snuggle up with Lucia and be pampered to death.
Grunting, Steve turned back to the boat.
His knights were clearing the pier and settling into formation around him.
“Get rid of it all and cut their anchor,” Steve said.
Nancy flicked her right hand out and all the witch-stone instantly crumbled down into the water. There was an audible pang noise, and the boat started to drift free.
“Tell the governor I look forward to seeing her, one week from today,” Steve called to the boat as it slid away with the current.
Watching the vessel vanish, Steve wasn’t quite sure what to think of the whole encounter. It was quite likely this would end up as just another enemy to add to the pile.
“Think she’ll show up?” Beati asked.
“No,” Kimor said.
“Maybe,” Siena offered.
“She won’t,” Hiren said firmly. “Steve is too strong. She’ll not bother to face him at all.
“I’m not so sure,” Lucia said, leaning into Steve’s side. Her hand immediately went to his back, and she began to touch and stroke him once again. “Steve really is too strong, but I’d say the allure of a strong man is somewhat hard to resist. She’ll show up if only to see him. From there, it’s a question of whether she’ll decide he’s so strong he can’t be allowed to remain, or so strong she can’t even try to fight him.”
“Will you make her join us?” Felisa asked.
Join us…?
Oh! Oh.
“Unless she’s a knight, no,” Steve said. “Besides, Gennie might not want me to turn a military governor into a witch-knight.
“If she’s a knight, and Gennie doesn’t care, maybe? She’d need to be strong enough to keep up with you five.”
“Makes sense,” Hiren said.
Kimor snorted at that, turning her antlered head toward Steve.
“Is that why you got rid of Moora?” she asked. “She wasn’t strong enough?”
“Moora?” Steve echoed back. He didn’t know the name.
“Never mind,” Kimor said with a laugh. “That answers my question.”
“Moora was the name of the other champion you picked out as a ‘prize,’” Lucia said into his ear, disguising the whole thing as a kiss to his cheek. “Now, shall we go? I tire of this and would very much like to be back home. I’m all for adventuring, my beloved consort, but I am a woman with child after all.”
“Yeah, back we go,” Steve said. He needed to have a conversation with Nikki.
It wouldn’t do anyone any good to let his feelings dwell, and it certainly wasn’t an adult thing to do either.
Twenty-Seven
Steve found Nikki relatively quickly. She was sitting in one of the warehouses, working at a loom.
To Steve, the whole machine had a strange quality to it. It reminded him of far too many things at once that instantly vanished from his mind.
Every time he looked at it, he had a strange feeling of déjà vu that never left.
The Faun was busily working, the strange wooden contraption buzzing away in front of her. It hummed as she worked, lost in her own world.
Not wanting to surprise her, Steve walked past her and leaned up against a nearby wall. That way she could see him and acknowledge him when she was ready.
Nikki started to smile, her slotted eyes having only flicked to him for an instant before she got back to work. It was obvious she was glad to see him.
A minute passed before Nikki’s loom slowed down and came to a stop.
“Well hello, my love. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she questioned.
“Couple things,” Steve replied, moving over to stand in front of her. Leaning down, he kissed her for a moment, then promptly sat down on the ground in front of her. “First and foremost, we made contact with our southern neighbors. Lucia said some name, but I already forgot it
.”
“Odristan,” Nikki supplied with a grin.
“Burpfartistan,” Steve remarked and shook his head. “Anyways. They showed up. Apparently, a military governor is down there as well.”
“Oh? Goodness,” Nikki murmured and then sighed. “It seems I really underestimated the state of affairs.”
“Actually, it’s backwards. The capital doesn’t realize how bad it is out here. They had no clue. Geneva was completely unprepared for all of this,” Steve explained, holding his hands up in an “I don’t know” gesture. “Apparently communication was far more broken down than we realized. That and the Creep wasn’t reaching that far past where we were.”
“Hmmmm? I wonder. Do you think maybe we’re the reason for that?” Nikki mused aloud. “Maybe we became an accidental second barrier to the Creep. The water we sent south through the river probably went all the way to the border. Our reach is all of the east and some of the north, after all. And nothing got past us unless it avoided us entirely.”
“Which… doesn’t seem like a normal Creep response,” Steve muttered. “In other words, the Creep didn’t want to move beyond us until we were cleared?”
“I mean, it’s a thought. I have no way to prove that, of course. Anyways, our southern neighbors have their own Geneva,” Nikki said, then smirked with half her mouth. “Should I be expecting a new wife?”
“Hope not,” Steve immediately replied with a shake of his head. “Got enough lady problems. Don’t need two military governors battling for my attention. And that kinda leads into my next subject.”
Nikki raised her eyebrows but didn’t respond.
“I feel like a man torn,” Steve said, deciding to get straight to it. “I love you, Nikki. But it really felt like you just… tossed me aside when I left.
“It may sound petty, or stupid, or small minded, but I’m not… I’m not over that. Maybe it’s no big deal to others, but for whatever reason it’s sticking with me. I can’t shake it.”
Nikki’s face flickered from confusion to panic, then to a forced neutral state. She was clearly trying to work through whatever she was feeling while also listening to him.
