by Tamryn Tamer
Since the materials were good quality the only real variable was the tailor, which was why the design was simple. Even apprentice tailors could complete the design satisfactorily and if they applied the ability points that they earned crafting that pattern back into it, they could increase the quality further.
Almost all of the tailors applied several points to the basic sundress design resulting in easily mass-produced high-quality clothing.
Unfortunately for Ruvaen and Elion, the tailors didn’t put nearly as much effort into their basic trouser and tunic designs. The two men’s outfits were basic black pants and white tunics with leather work boots. If they wanted something nicer, they were going to have to start doing tasks for the tailors.
The elf women were completely enamored with the dresses while several others seemed unsure about them. The women fidgeted uncomfortably while carefully avoiding bumping into anybody.
“Are you sure this is okay?” one of the women asked Desdemona while pointing at her four daughters. “It’s a really nice dress and they might get it dirty. I don’t want…”
“Oh,” Desdemona shook her head while gesturing at her clipboard. “I must not have been clear. These are yours to keep. Everybody gets two sets of everything.”
“I get two!” one of her children said excitedly. “Really? Two dresses?”
“Must we take two?” the elf looked at Desdemona worriedly. “How much in debt will it put us?”
“Oh dear,” Desdemona glanced at Frost as he approached the large group. “Just in time! Did Brynn really tell you it would only take an hour?”
“Yeah,” Frost chuckled as he approached the alabaster skinned Demoness. He smiled at his crimson-eyed bride as he brushed some of her red hair from her face. He leaned down and gave her a peck on the forehead, careful to avoid her large prominent horns. “Having trouble explaining it again?”
“I’ve explained it three times,” Desdemona said sullenly. “But it’s the same as usual. Maybe they’d be more comfortable if somebody else explained it.”
“This again?” Frost sighed while wrapping an arm around his slender wife’s waist, pulling her next to him as he faced the large group of new arrivals. She blushed as he ran his fingers up and down her soft waist. “New dress?”
“Mmhm,” Desdemona nodded as Frost moved his hand behind her and squeezed her ass through the silky fabric. “Do you like them?”
“A lot,” Frost grinned impishly while admiring the crimson gown and the way it enhanced her already generous bust. “Red is definitely your color.”
“You’ll really like what I’m wearing underneath then,” Desdemona whispered as her face shifted pink. “More red.”
“Ahem,” Brynn cleared her throat loudly as she exited the temple with what appeared to be the last set of elves. The three women were carrying dresses, towels, and packs as they headed toward the bathhouse. “Didn’t you already have enough fun handsome?”
“What do you mean by that?” Frost chuckled as his raven-haired princess smirked at him.
“I know you’re not a bard but surely you know about sound amplification, right?” Brynn gestured at the large bathhouse to the north. “The entire village heard what you were doing. Thankfully most of the children are at the academy during the day.”
“Oh,” Frost said, realizing that the bathhouse's stadium-like design amplified everything. “Noted for the future.”
“For the future,” Brynn scoffed, trying not to laugh at the absurdity. “Anyway, we need to explain the living situation as well as the school and work situations for them.”
“Fine,” Frost said while running his hand up and down Desdemona’s side. The busty Demoness reflexively leaned toward Frost, pressing her ample chest against him. He smiled at his sexy crimson-eyed wife. “Where were we again?”
“Explaining that they don’t need to pay for the clothing,” Desdemona answered.
“Right,” Frost nodded as Brynn handed him a large list of the current living situations. Most of the elves preferred to have their small cottages filled to the brim with friends so it wasn’t as if there was a shortage of potential houses. He began scanning the crowd of elves as they waited patiently. “So, first thing’s first, you don’t owe us anything for the clothing.”
“A-are you sure?” a nervous elf asked.
“You can be honest,” another elf said. “We know that when people give us things, we have to pay them back.”
“Even if it’s just offering food,” another said. “We know we’ll have to work for it after.”
“It’s really too nice to just give to us.”
“I understand that some people offer you food, shelter, or clothing and then demand payment for it after,” Frost said as the elves murmured. “It’s a common scam throughout the kingdom. As far as I’m concerned, these are paid for in full. If you like Desdemona can give you a receipt saying you owe nothing for them. Also, if you wish to earn more clothing or nicer clothing just talk to Mira, Lishri, or one of the elves at the tailoring center. It’s the large building with dresses in the front window,” Frost gestured toward the western side of the village where all of the shops were located, “You can’t miss it. They’re always looking for people who’ll pick up deliveries from Linna and…”
“Linna?” an elf asked nervously. “Is that a place or a person?”
“Is it far away?” another asked.
“Traveling is dangerous,” another added.
“Right,” Frost sighed while pointing to the south. “Linna is the Arachne village just south of us. They’re not really great at using wagons so they normally rely on others to pick up and deliver fabric instead of carrying it here themselves since it would cause a lot of wear and tear on their enchanted packs. But Mira always has other tasks as well like gathering plants that she uses for dyes or even delivering wood to be made into toggles.”
“Toggles?”
“We’re getting off track handsome,” Brynn chuckled. “How about we focus on the living situation.”
“I forget how confused they get,” Frost sighed, reminiscing about how easy it was to convey ideas in his own world. While his world had baseline educational standards he could count on, most of the people in Nivara could barely read and demihumans were some of the least educated. “Okay, your hosts will probably be able to answer most of your questions. They’ll help you settle in and figure out how things work here.”
“Hosts?” the three wives of Ruvean quickly latched onto his arm, glancing around suspiciously at the passing villagers. The green-haired wife that Frost had decided was in charge of the group glared at Frost, “We will not share our husband.”
“Right,” Frost grumbled as he glanced back and forth between Ruvaen and Elion, trying to figure out how to handle them. “So, it’s not as though we don’t have men in the village. There are werewolves, centaurs, Durra, Myrran and plenty of other men. But you would definitely be our first elf males. Not really sure what to do about that.”
“They could stay with Aila and Lith,” Brynn suggested with a wicked grin. “They’ve been complaining about how we never let them host anybody.”
“The last people they hosted begged to move out within the first week,” Frost answered. The two assassins were extremely territorial when it came to their relationship and frequently terrified anybody they viewed as a potential threat to that. “And Ruvaen has three wives and six daughters. Asking them to host ten people is a lot.”
“Good point,” Brynn nodded while staring at the children. “There really aren’t a lot of homes with enough room for ten people.”
“I can host them.”
The crowd of elves turned to see Lishri, the giant crimson Arachne Queen approaching from behind. The pale redhead was wearing an elegant black blouse that ended right where her spider body started. Her gorgeous red hair was tied in a bun but was so long that a wavy ponytail hung down past the middle of her back. She smiled excitedly at Frost as the elves nervously moved out of her w
ay.
“What’s with the outfit,” Frost asked while staring at the reserved look. He would have described her new look as shockingly professional compared to the glamorous stylings she typically wore. “You kind of look like a sexy schoolteacher.”
“You think I look sexy?” Lishri excitedly wrapped her arms around him and kissed him as the elves in the crowd gasped. “Would you like me to wear it on our next date?”
“Maybe,” Frost smirked. “I have a few fantasies involving school teachers that we can incorporate…”
“Handsome,” Brynn scoffed while gesturing at the crowd. “Save it. And don’t turn her teaching outfit into something naughty.”
“Teaching outfit?” Frost asked while glancing at the academy. Children and adults were filing out and heading toward the main square. “Oh, it’s already that late.”
“Yeah,” Brynn said pointing at the sun. “So, maybe we should get a move on?”
“Right, right,” Frost pointed at Ruvaen who stood terrified while staring at the massive Arachne. “Ruvaen, you’ll stay with Lishri.”
“But she’s…” Ruvaen stared at the woman that was nearly twice his height. “I mean…”
“It’ll be fine,” his wives said, not even bothering to hide their smug grins. “Didn’t you see how friendly she was with Herald Frost.”
“Herald Frost I don’t suppose…”
“Oh,” Lishri hung her head disappointedly. “Right, I forget that not everybody…”
“Ruvaen,” Frost’s eyes narrowed as he scowled at the blue-haired elf. “My wife has offered to let you stay with her.”
“Your wife?” Ruvean’s eyes went wide as he realized the implication of turning down the offer. He forced a smile and bowed politely at Lishri. “I only meant that I wasn’t sure if somebody of your station should host somebody of…”
“That doesn’t matter to me at all!” Lishri said cheerfully while glancing at the little girls. “And I’m sure that being around children a little more will help me come up with new designs that I can teach the children in my classes!”
“Wonderful,” Ruvean squeaked out, careful to maintain his smile as Frost glared at him.
“Elion,” Frost said pensively while looking through the list of available homes. “You can probably stay with Lyra but she’s going to attempt to sleep with you constantly if that’s alright.”
“She’s going to what?” Elion said nervously. The red haired elf gripped his daughter’s hand. “Must I sleep with her?”
“No,” Frost chuckled. “In fact, I’d recommend you don’t because she’s a bit…”
“I’m a bit what?” Lyra said, approaching from behind with Callie and several baskets of berries. Lyra grinned wickedly as she stared at the crimson-haired elf male. “Oh, I would definitely be happy to host him. Although he’s really not a substitute for you Herald Frost.”
“Herald Frost!” Callie pouted. The violet-haired elf was completely in love with Lyra despite her more libertine tendencies. “Did you already forget what happened last time you let us host?”
“This is different,” Frost said reassuringly. Lyra was tentatively banned from hosting after three separate incidents where the elves she was hosting became equally obsessed with her, causing arguments and fights. “Elion doesn’t have any interest in remarrying or sleeping with other elves. Isn’t that right Elion?”
“Right,” the red-haired elf said, gulping nervously as he stared at the young gorgeous elves standing in front of him. “I’ll just sleep on the floor…”
“Absolutely not,” Lyra grinned wickedly. “You’ve traveled so far! You absolutely must sleep in a nice warm bed…”
“Hear that daddy!” Elion’s fiery haired daughter hopped excitedly. “We get to sleep in a bed!”
“I hear it,” the elf male said, forcing a nervous smile.
“Now,” Frost glanced at the other elves waiting patiently as villagers slowly came pouring in from their hunts or from school. “Onto the rest of you.”
Frost moved through the list assigning elves to various homes based on how many family members they had and the space available. It didn’t take very long and pretty soon everybody was assigned. And then the bell on top of the academy rang, signaling the official end of the day.
“Right,” Frost pointed at the academy. “If you have children or are unable to read, you’ll want to talk to your hosts to find out how to enroll at the academy.”
“How much…”
“It’s free,” Frost interrupted as the elves began their normal questioning. “But sometimes you have to wait for a class to have an opening. Just worry about getting situated first and when you’re comfortable just go to the academy and Cassia will get everything sorted.”
Several elves muttered to each other at the name Cassia. Frost’s murderous mother-in-law’s reputation had a tendency to make newcomers uncomfortable. It was to be expected given the number of people she’d killed in the past.
“Hide me!” Renna came sprinting from the academy. The emerald-haired troublemaker recently took a role teaching stealth, lock picking, and general thievery since she was the highest leveled thief in the village at twenty-nine, surpassing both Fayeth and Ena in overall level. It was mostly due to the tutelage of her new girlfriend, who also happened to be Lysandra’s mother, Cassia the Prophet of Shalia.
Ever since the two started dating they spent virtually every waking moment together. From the moment Renna woke up to the moment she went to bed, Cassia was obsessively hovering over her, telling her how beautiful she was and how much she loved her. Because of Cassia’s obsession with Renna, the emerald-eyed elf hadn’t slept with Frost in over a month.
“What’s going on?” an elf asked as several of them jumped out of her way and looked around worriedly to figure out what the danger was.
“Herald Frost!” Renna shouted as she rushed toward him. “Hide me! Hide me! Hide me!”
“Ren…” Frost was interrupted by Renna practically leaping onto him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue down his throat. He held the emerald-eyed elf’s petite body with one arm as she wrapped her toned legs around his waist. She was wearing a loose-fitting white dress and knee-high stockings which he assumed was her idea of teacher’s attire. She pulled away and smiled before hopping out of his arms. “I’ve missed you too.”
“You have to hide me,” Renna said, glancing back at the academy. “She’s doing it again.”
“I’ve told you before that I’m not getting involved,” Frost smirked at the pouting elf. “You brought this on yourself so you need to handle it yourself. Lysandra even tried to warn you. She said multiple times you can absolutely not date her mother.”
“I thought she was just angry that I was sleeping with her mom!” Renna stomped. The tan green-haired elf pouted while looking up at Frost. She looked so innocent in her short white dress with a pleated skirt and ivory knee-high stockings that he almost wanted to help her. Almost. The truth was the young elf was reaping what she sowed and he actually found it somewhat entertaining. “Please, you know how much I love you. Help me.”
“Just break up with her,” Frost said.
“You know I’ve tried!” Renna whined. “You know how she gets when she’s upset! She cries and cries and begs and then she offers to do things and she’s so pretty and…”
“You decided to start a relationship with a crazy bipolar woman with an obsessive personality,” Frost grinned wickedly. “What did you think was going to happen?”
“Renna my darling!” Cassia shouted. Her blazing white hair and violet eyes streaked across Frost’s line of sight as she practically teleported to them, wrapping her arms around Renna and showering her in kisses. The high-level prophet was faster and stronger than Frost in pretty much every way, making escaping her virtually impossible for somebody like Renna. “My perfect fiancée. I’ve missed you so much. Did you miss me? You did, right? Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t tell me you didn’t
miss me…”
“Of course, I missed you,” Renna said as tears filled Cassia’s eyes.
“Fiancée?” Frost asked curiously. “Did that happen while I was gone?”
“She asked me to marry her while you were gone and even though I said no literally hundreds of times…”
“She finally said yes!” Cassia said swinging Renna around excitedly. “I asked her two hundred and eighty-four times and on the two hundred and eighty fifth time she finally said yes!”
“Lysandra allowed this?” Frost turned to Brynn for an answer. “Seriously?”
“She’s actually started to enjoy it a little,” Brynn smirked. “And if Cassia’s busy showering Renna in love and affection…”
“She’s not doing it to Lysandra,” Frost chuckled as Brynn nodded.
“I love you so much,” Cassia said while pulling Renna into her massive chest. “You are so beautiful. So amazing. So perfect. Every day I love you more and more. Let’s go inside and spend the entire night together. You can tie me up and…”
“New jewelry?” Frost asked while staring at Cassia’s thick gold choker that looked more like a collar than jewelry. She was also wearing matching bracelets and anklets. Every one of the binds had rings on them that were clearly used to lock her in place. And although her white priestess robe wasn’t transparent, it was thin enough that he could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra and small clamps were attached to her nipples. “Gifts from Renna?”
“Yes,” Cassia said, excitedly showing off her necklace and bracelets. “She had them made especially for me! She said that pretty pets need pretty jewelry.”
“They’re meant for the bedroom but she wears them everywhere,” Renna said, with a rare hint of embarrassment.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the things she’s made for me!” Cassia said excitedly. “She’s such a talented inventor! I’d be happy to show…”
“Cassia,” Brynn shook her head at the excited elf while gesturing at the nipple clamps. “We’ve talked about this. The bindings are fine but if you’re going to wear those you need to wear something underneath.”
