The Sorceress's Pet

by Noa Xireau

  “I’m sure you understand that I couldn’t turn him into a grown wolf, my dear princess,” Sera said with more sarcasm than she intended.

  “Of course not. But why turn him into a cub? I thought you’d kill him?”

  Sera stared at Rachel. “And who’s going to clean up the blood and bury the body?” Sera shook her head. Killing him hadn’t even crossed her mind. She preferred to teach people a lesson, and anyway, one could never know if they would need Sir Leylan in the future.

  Rachel snapped her mouth shut and stared at the growling little fur ball. “He’s cute. Are you going to keep him?”

  Sera was beginning to understand men when they complained that they didn’t understand women. “No. I’ll send him to Alana. I’ve never known someone better at manipulating people’s minds. If someone can get more information out of Sir Leylan or restore his memory, then it is Alana. Afterward, she can teach him good manners and how to keep clear of new conspiracies.”

  Sera bent to catch the cub. The little beast snapped at her with his tiny, sharp fangs.

  “Bite me, and I turn you into a frog instead,” Sera warned the wolf cub, looking into his blue eyes. Rachel was right. The little guy was cute. Sera almost felt pity for him. Alana was sometimes unpredictable.

  “For your own sake, Sir Leylan, hear me well. Don’t try to attack, deceive, or hurt Alana, because she won’t have any qualms about eating you, and I’m talking about literally eating you. Alana is a serpent-shifter, and you don’t want to make her angry and see her when she’s shifted, believe me.”

  * * * *

  The carriage with the cute Sir Leylan in his cage disappeared from Sera’s sight. She had sent Alana only a short message, but it would be enough information until Sera went to visit her. If Alana couldn’t get into Sir Leylan’s memories, then nobody could.

  Sera returned to the tower and closed the door behind her.

  “The guards are on their way with the fake message for your father. The carrier pigeon will arrive before them.” Sera left Rachel’s dress on a chair.

  Rachel sat down and let her head fall into her hands. “Goddess! I can’t believe it. They want to kill Aritz at the Moon Festival and poison my father afterward!”

  Sera didn’t remind Rachel that she, too, was on the list. “Get dressed. I’ll prepare the horses. The sooner you’re back with your father, the sooner I’ll be able to arrange Aritz’s rescue.”

  “What?” Rachel raised her head.

  “I told you to get dressed. You don’t want to ride all the way to the palace naked, right?”

  “Why would I go home?”

  “Why? Because you’ll be safer there.”

  “Forget it!”

  “What?” It was Sera’s turn to stare bewildered at Rachel.

  “I can’t go home. I need to speak to Aritz more than ever. He’s in danger, our kingdom is in danger, and he isn’t aware of it.”

  “You’re in danger. What part of ‘they’ll never get out alive from the Moon Festival’ didn’t you understand? There will be an ambush at the festival!”

  “I’m aware of it, but now that we know the danger, we’ll be able to make a plan to prevent any harm. The Moon Festival isn’t only my opportunity to warn Aritz, but also to find the man or men who are planning the conspiracy against my family. We are both aware that Sir Leylan is little more than a pawn in their plot and that the only way to stop the danger is to find the mastermind behind it.”

  Sera gaped at Rachel. Was this cold, brave, scheming woman the girl that only a few days ago had cried like crazy just because Sera had cut her red mane?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sera smoothed down her skirt when the carriage stopped. They had arrived. The I’maggus community had celebrated the Moon Festival in those caves for centuries. Sera wasn’t sure how she felt about bringing Rachel with her. Well, yes, of course she knew! She wanted Rachel as far away from that place as possible—and the danger it represented. Too late now!

  She took a peek at Rachel. The girl sat in front of Sera with her back straight and her chin raised high. Never had Sera seen the princess as pale as she was right now. With her shiny red lips, her amazing eyes contoured with kohl and painted in blue and golden hues, her pale skin made Rachel seem a goddess carved in marble.

  The girl’s beauty was stunning. The skimpy golden bustier displayed Rachel’s pink nipples like ripe fruits. The daring skirt made with a golden see-through fabric not only showed more than it concealed, but had also a long slit in the front to make sure the heart-shaped patch of red hair over Rachel’s smooth pussy was as visible to everyone as her big, round breasts lifted by the bustier.

  If they were at home, Sera would have been aroused just by seeing all that perfect creamy skin. Under other circumstances, Sera would be proud to display Rachel before her friends. Right now having to walk around with Rachel almost naked had Sera’s stomach churning.

  Sera bent toward Rachel and gently kissed her soft lips. Rachel kissed her back, the hungry passion revealing the girl’s desperation. Rachel was afraid. So was Sera.

  “We still have time to leave,” Sera said, even when she already knew the answer. Rachel hadn’t endured everything until now just to run home in the last moment.

  “No.”

  Sera nodded. She covered Rachel’s face and fastened the golden veil at the sides, leaving only Rachel’s eyes visible.

  “Let’s go.” Sera stepped out of the carriage.

  The giant gargoyles at each side of the entrance nodded in deference, and the large, heavy wooden door opened with a screech. Instantly, the music inside the caves reached Sera, wrapping her in a hypnotic haze that made her blood run faster and her body hum with the rhythm. Sera took a deep breath to clear her mind before she went into the cave.

  The first hall was already filled with all kinds of I’maggus. Reaching out with her senses, Sera made sure that Rachel was following her as she was supposed to do. The loud music and people’s chitchat made it difficult to hear the tiny bells. Maybe Sera should attach the golden chain to the collar she’d put on Rachel’s neck earlier. Sera didn’t want to lose Rachel in a moment of carelessness, and the girl would probably feel more protected with the chain on.

  Curious how sometimes the same thing that makes you feel humiliated can also make you feel secure.

  The doors closed at their back with a loud thud, signaling there was no way out anymore. Whatever they did from now on would decide their lives. Sera turned to Rachel, taking her time to attach the chain to the collar so that Rachel could peek around and get used to the strange environment.

  The big cavern was magnificent, with high ceilings and long, blue, glowing stalactites bathing everything in a mysterious light. Sera wasn’t going to tell the girl that the beautiful sapphire-like glow actually came from worms. Knowing Rachel as she did by now, Sera knew the girl would only get obsessed with the idea of those worms falling onto her nude skin.

  Under her fingertips, Sera felt Rachel’s fast pulse and her slight trembling. Sera admired Rachel’s effort to stay brave even when she was scared as hell. The girl knew the danger she was in right now—or at least part of it—and even so, she accepted the risk because her sacrifice was best for the kingdom.

  “Everything is going to be all right. Just keep your eyes downcast and never leave my side,” Sera murmured, wishing she was as confident as she sounded.

  Rachel nodded, staring transfixed at a high platform to their right where a hairy troll was playing with his human pet. A large audience followed, full of obvious curiosity at how the woman tried to stay upright while the troll used his large fingers between her legs. By the way the blonde pressed her lips together and her knees seemed to give out under her, it wouldn’t take her much to come. Goblets clashed, and people shoved one another away as the audience tried to catch some of the large stream of liquid that suddenly burst out from the woman’s pussy.

  Sera wasn’t as impressed as Rachel was by the display. Everybody
in the I’maggus community knew that faeries, trolls, and dwarfs considered a woman’s cum a delicacy—and of course, everybody used that knowledge in negotiations with them.

  “Let’s go. We need to cross the tunnels to reach the main hall,” Sera said when a wizard strolled toward them with his lecherous gaze fixed on Rachel’s stiff nipples.

  The wizard wasn’t the only one whose attention was on Rachel’s sensual curves. Not that the attention Rachel was raising came as a surprise to Sera. Human women with generous curves were highly appreciated as pets by the I’maggus community. If those women were as beautiful as Rachel, had skin as white and perfect as porcelain, and had special traits like large pink nipples with bells and a fire-red patch over their pussy, then those pets became an object of desire.

  Sera had made sure Rachel’s beauty would be exposed and enhanced because the more eyes that stayed on Rachel, the more difficulty the traitor would have kidnapping or killing her. Sera would probably receive more than one offer to buy Rachel before the night was over, but now was not the moment to begin wasting their time just to convince the wizard that Rachel wasn’t for sale. They still had to go through the tunnels and three other halls before they reached the main hall.

  Sera headed to the archway entrance that gave way to the tunnels. An elfin waiter neared them to offer his drinks, but Sera didn’t take the time to stop. They had to move fast if they didn’t want to give people the opportunity to hold them up.

  * * * *

  The tunnels were quite small, but the size didn’t hinder people from using hidden corners or wider parts to rest, chat, or enjoy their pets. Through the mirrorlike reflection of a huge stalagmite, Sera verified that Rachel was keeping her eyes down and following exactly three feet behind her. Good girl! Even scared, Rachel remembered her lessons. As always, when Rachel was afraid or nervous, her fingernails bit into her palms and her breasts rose with fast, short breaths. Tenderness filled Sera’s heart. The girl reined in her emotions by controlling her breath.

  Sera ignored the people they passed on their way to the main hall. She wasn’t interested in them as long as they didn’t represent a danger. Usually, Sera would have taken the time to enjoy some of the scenes they found as they walked through the tunnels. There was a certain kick to being a witness to other people’s pleasure, but today she only wanted to reach her family and ensure Rachel’s security.

  Desperate sobs reached them long before they arrived at a wider section of the tunnels. Sera tensed. At her back, Rachel shortened the distance between them. They found a male pet surrounded by three cackling harpies. Rachel faltered as they passed the sobbing young man. He was hanging from the ceiling, and the harpies took turns to make him spill his seed with their talonlike hands. Sera understood his suffering immediately. The harpies didn’t give him time to recover. They pumped and pumped while holding his balls and never letting his thin, large cock slack off.

  “Are you going to come one more time for your mistresses, baby boy?” one of the harpies asked, paying no heed to Sera and Rachel as they passed at their side.

  “Everything you want, mistress!”

  “Why, baby boy?” another harpy teased in a screeching singsong voice while she grasped his buttocks.

  Sera shuddered in disgust at the unpleasant screech, but the slave’s answer seemed to appease Rachel.

  “Because I love you, mistress; because I’m yours to do with as you wish!”

  They left the harpies and their pet behind and continued on their way to the main hall. Sera stopped at the top of the ancient rock staircase from where she could see the whole cave. Behind her Rachel gasped at the view. “Goddess! There’s enough space to build my father’s palace in its center!”

  “The main cave covers the whole inside of the mountain,” Sera explained, studying the space below. Nothing seemed out of place. There were bonfires everywhere, pets fucking or being tortured inside huge circles traced on the floor, troubadours telling their tales, singers and dancers entertaining the audience sitting at tables. The people’s joy and the festive atmosphere told Sera that the celebration had begun a good while ago.

  “It doesn’t seem like a cave! There are trees and grass, and there’s a cascade and a lagoon.” Excitement tinged Rachel’s voice. “It’s impressive!”

  “There’s a legend about this place. It says that at the beginning of humanity, the mountain had been an angry volcano under the magical influence of a spiteful dragon king who used the volcano’s eruptions to punish and terrorize the villagers living in the surroundings.” Sera pointed with her chin to the hole in the ceiling.

  “I can see the stars from here! We’re in a real volcano? Well, you know what I mean. What happened?” Rachel asked.

  “The dragon fell in love with one of the virgins that the villagers offered him each full moon as sacrifice. He extinguished the volcano’s fire and changed the volcano’s insides into a secluded and protected paradise for his human love.”

  “Wow! I’ll have to find myself a dragon king. I’d love to live in a place like this.”

  Sera arched an eyebrow at Rachel. “I’ll have to revise the love potion. I’m getting the impression that it doesn’t work as it should.”

  The golden veil rose slightly at Rachel’s huff. “I didn’t say I wanted to fall in love with him. Be honest. Wouldn’t you love to have such a place for yourself? And we could always play with him together.” A sassy sparkle appeared in Rachel’s eyes as her voice dropped into a husky whisper. “I’d love to see his face when he sees your shaft grow, and I’d love even more to know that I’m the only one who’s going to fuck you.”

  Sera clenched her hands at the warmth speeding through her. Now wasn’t the moment to get carried away by an impulse. They needed to either get out of here or reach her family.

  “Are you already giving me ideas? I thought I was the one deciding who’s going to fuck whom. Maybe I should show you your place as soon as we reach my family. I’m sure people will enjoy your cute mewls while you come for me.”

  With the veil, Sera couldn’t see the blush on Rachel’s cheeks, but she loved how the blue in Rachel’s eyes darkened. She took a step toward Rachel.

  “Sera!” Rachel’s cry came out strangled, but she didn’t move when Sera reached her goal between Rachel’s thighs with her fingers.

  “Yes, pet?”

  Rachel opened her mouth, but a moan escaped instead of the complaint Sera had expected. Sera removed her hand and studied the thin glistening web between her fingers.

  “Seems as if you were already prepared to take part in the celebration.”

  “Are you going to fuck me tonight?” Rachel asked with glassy eyes.

  “Maybe, or maybe I’ll wait until we’re back home to show you that you’re mine alone.” Sera preferred not to remind Rachel that it would be too dangerous if both of them took part in the festivities, nor did she want to consider the fact that Rachel would probably go straight back to the palace after the festival.

  “You should know by now that I’m yours,” Rachel whispered.

  Sera took a deep breath and turned her back on Rachel. “It is said that when his mortal love died, the dragon king’s agony was so terrible that he cried until he transformed into stone, and the tears over his loved one’s grave created the crystal-clear lagoon in the center.”

  “How sad.”

  “Beautiful and heartbreaking. Take a look at the waterfall. What do you see?”

  “It seems like a dragon crying. The water seems to flow from his eyes!”

  “Yes. I’ve always wanted to believe that the legend was true,” Sera admitted. “I don’t know if you can feel it, but there’s a magical energy flowing through the whole mountain, which is also the reason the I’maggus community has used these caves for our most important festival for centuries.”

  “I don’t know if it is the same as you feel, but yes, there’s something special about these caves.”

  Sera looked through the hole above their head
s to check the position of the full moon. There was a slight halo of light announcing that the moon would be soon visible through the opening, but it would take some time before it reached the center of the cave and thus the moment when the festival reached its peak.

  Great! They’d have enough time to socialize, go to her family’s table, and find Aritz and his witch among all the guests. Sera and Rachel couldn’t go directly to them without gaining the witch’s attention, nor would it be prudent to center other people’s attention on Rachel and her real identity. However, the biggest danger was Sir Leylan’s secret master.

  “Are you sure you want to continue with this senselessness?” Sera asked without turning to Rachel.

  Rachel’s breathy “yes” told Sera that the princess wasn’t as sure about her decision as she wanted to appear.

  “We could still go back to one of the other halls and try to stay unnoticed. Once the moon has passed over the mountain, we’ll be able to go out of here without raising any suspicion,” Sera insisted.

  “I can’t. Aritz is my brother. He’d have done the same for me.” Rachel’s whisper was almost inaudible.

  Sera let out a deep sigh. “Don’t speak again unless asked to do so, and don’t try to search for Aritz. People will notice if you don’t look down as a pet is supposed to do.” That would probably be the last of their concerns once they began to mix with the crowd and were compelled to participate in the games and sacrifices, but Sera didn’t mention it. “Nobody should be able to recognize you with the veil covering your face.”

  * * * *

  With a courteous smile pasted on her face, Sera went through the crowd, stopping here and there to greet, accept false, flattering comments, nod at a piece of gossip, and laugh at bad jokes. No matter if they were wizards, witches, sorcerers, faeries, or other I’maggus, everybody seemed to be enjoying themself, and nobody seemed to be paying too much attention to others.

  Everywhere, people were dancing, drinking, eating, laughing, and playing with their pets or slaves as an offer of pleasure or pain to the Goddess. Sera had already lost count of the times she had been asked about an opportunity to play with Rachel or to exchange Rachel for another pet for a while.