by Aaron Crash
Della thought about the scholar who had sabotaged Ymir’s First Exam. And who had intercepted her messenger? Could it be Professor Leel? It could. More likely, it was one of the men he’d bested, the Cujan man, or the Corry lad, or even the Farmington viscount. But what if it was another agent of the Midnight Guild?
The Princept would have to keep watch, keep scrying, and keep sending sand letters to her contacts at the various universities and guilds. A hidden enemy was about, one who would kill scholars if it fit their agenda.
Della would acquire her own allies in the fight against them. Perhaps Ymir would join her.
She raised her hand to sniff Ymir’s spit on her skin. She grinned at her shame, curled her hand into a fist, and tapped her lips. She was two hundred and fifty years old, and yet, at times, she could still be such a horny schoolgirl. That idea was thrilling and just a bit unsettling.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
NEARLY ONE IN THE MORNING, on the most exhausting night of her life, and Jennybelle Josen stood in the Librarium Citadel, conflicted.
Should she walk back to her apartment and slip on a gown? Maybe find one for Lillee? Or should the two go into the Throne Auditorium as they were—damp from the AngelTeeth Islands, their hair a mess, and their energy levels depleted. Still, Ymir would be there. He’d visited them, told them about his long conversation with the Princept, and then offered to stay.
Jenny could see how much he wanted to go down to the Throne Auditorium, and she knew why. At least that was one mystery that didn’t need solving.
The Josentown princess was feeling good. The Princept’s healing magic had held, as did some appann root they got in the infirmary. And no one was getting kicked out. Jenny couldn’t believe how well it had gone. They wouldn’t be expelled. They wouldn’t be punished. Even better, Ymir wanted him and Lillee to move in with her. That would be tricky. The longer they kept their relationship a secret, especially from Nelly, the better.
Jenny finally made up her mind. She latched onto Lillee’s arm. “We’ve got to go freshen up. This is our first feast together, and we look like ragamuffins.”
Lillee grinned at her. The elf girl didn’t say a word, but she drew close.
They ran to Jenny’s apartments, threw off their clothes, and threw themselves under the warm water to get some of the brine off their skin. Lillee soaped herself while Jenny watched. The elf girl was singing a beautiful melody to herself. The lyrics were in Ohlyrran.
The Josentown princess was tempted by the slender figure of the singing elf, and those big pink nipples, and her fleshy oheesy. Lillee still had her cuff on, though. That was probably for the best. They could have sex later.
Jenny had a blue gown she zipped up with matching blue slippers. Finding anything to fit Lillee was going to be much harder. The elf was far taller and far less busty, and her hips were not as lush. Also, her coloring was different than the swamp princess’s.
They finally went with a white dress that Jenny pinned in place, careful not to stick the Sullied elf. She did kiss Lillee’s back after giving the soft skin a little lick. All that fighting and drama had the swamp woman’s juices flowing. Lillee, with her essess in place, wasn’t moved by her lust.
For Jenny, however, it was better she focused on her own desires than the memory of killing Siteev Ckins. That murder felt like a scream inside the princess.
Jenny had engineered the death of her enemies in Josentown—she’d hired killers and she’d mixed poison, but she’d never taken a life herself. This was her first, and her mind wouldn’t let her alone. Wine would help. Or the thick beer they brought up for the Harvest Festival.
Better, she’d kiss Ymir, get him randy, and then run him back to their apartment where he could unleash his passion on her, on Lillee, on them both.
First, though, the dancing.
Jenny stepped back and appraised her work. With Lillee’s brown sandals, the lacy white dress was cute, if you didn’t look at it too long.
“We’ll have to buy you a whole new wardrobe,” Jenny said. “That tunic you wear has me dying—no, really, dying of boredom. The blue cape doesn’t help, Lillee! It doesn’t help at all!”
The elf girl rolled her eyes.
A little hair styling, a little makeup, and out of the apartment they went. The pair raced through the corridors, through the Librarium, and into the Throne Auditorium.
Nellybelle Tucker was with the Swamp Coast women, and they swayed with her near the side of the hall where a few of the pews had been set up. Darisbeau, Odd Corry, and the Viscount Roger Knellnapp were with them, which shouldn’t have happened. The Cujans and the Josens were enemies, yet Daris seemed to be getting familiar with a few of the women.
Jenny and Lillee both drew stares, from them and from everyone at the dance. Already the rumors were spreading about them. For one instant, the Josentown princess wanted to run back to her room.
Then she realized Nelly didn’t know a thing about her and Ymir. And in return, the two hadn’t talked about the toad spell Nelly had cast on the clansman. So each had their own secrets.
Doubt seized her. What was she doing with Ymir? Nelly and the others would exclude her. Auntie Jia might very well send assassins. This was unwise.
Then Jenny’s eyes went to the main floor, where Ymir stood in a line across from Professor Issa Leel, who seemed like she was five minutes from unleashing an ice storm on her least favorite scholar.
Of course Ymir knew the steps. He’d read three books on courtly manners and arts, and at least one tome had gone into great depth on certain dances from the Akkridorian Empire that had remained popular.
Watching him step, with that shit-eating grin on his face, put a smile on Jennybelle Josen’s face. That was why he’d wanted to get to the dance. He’d wanted to rub the professor’s face in the fact that he was staying.
Jenny exchanged glances with Nelly. The smiles they gave each other were as fake as they were frigid.
Ymir had told Jenny about the Princept’s message to him after his First Exam. Someone had intercepted the messenger. That someone? Nelly, of course. She’d wanted Ymir expelled so they could take him home right away. Seeing her old friend fed the anger in the swamp princess’s belly. That anger turned into certainty. She’d made the right decision in sleeping with Ymir and Lillee. Together, the three of them were going to take over the world.
Might as well start with Old Ironbound.
WHEN THE SONG FINISHED, Professor Leel didn’t say a word to Ymir. She stomped her way out of the Throne Auditorium.
The clansman had told the elven teacher he’d dance with her. It took a minute to figure out his placement in the line so that he’d end up as her partner, but he’d figured out the math. Poor Professor Leel. She’d so hoped that she’d be done with him forever.
The Princept had already sent messengers to tell the faculty that Ymir had been reinstated. They’d reconsidered his performance during the First Exam, and he had passed. Then there was the unfortunate matter with Siteev Ckins, which would be addressed at a later time.
That night, Ymir was free to do what he wanted. First, he’d drink a bellyful of beer. Then he’d talk with his friends. Lastly? He wanted to spin with Lillee and Jenny, who were both gorgeous, their hair fixed, and a bit of makeup marking their faces. He was getting used to the paint. It did make their eyes pop.
Ymir had to show them the basics of another kind of dance, but both picked up the moves quickly. Lillee was a natural dancer, but then, she did all the arts so well. The three of them moved through other threesomes. Since this particular dance was from the Age of Withering, it had been designed for threesomes.
There was still so much he didn’t know about Theran history, and he was anxious to delve deeper, to figure out this strange land that he’d found himself in. There was still the matter of Siteev’s friends, her mysterious “we,” and he knew he’d not seen the last of them, whoever “they” were.
There were other items on his list...to talk to
Toriah Welldeep, who stood alone. And he wanted to mend his friendship with Professor Slurp, who sat with his many Gruul wives on a bench, quaffing down cup after cup of the thick, bitter beer.
Brodor Blackfoot danced along with Nile Preat, his history professor, and another woman, a tall shapely woman with greenish-blue hair and skin that sparkled. She had huge, round eyes, also greenish-blue, and her movements were graceful. She wasn’t an elf—no pointed ears—yet she didn’t appear to be exactly human. Then it struck him—she was a mermaid, out of the water, on two legs barely covered by her shimmering silver gown.
He’d heard about merfolk at the Majestrial, but there weren’t any in the Flow imprudens class. Then his eyes caught a few flittering fairies, twelve inches long, and nearly naked. Their flight matched the rhythms to the music, and it was like they were dancing.
He’d not seen fairies since the opening ceremonies. He wondered why. Perhaps there were also Wingkin from Reytah at the school equally as hidden.
His education had only started. He thumbed the Black Ice Ring on his hand. He’d take it off. He’d secret it away. But was he done with the Akkiric Rings? No, there were seven others, and if one could focus his power, wouldn’t he be more powerful with two? Or maybe he’d craft two others for Lillee and Jenny. Either way, he was curious. Were the rings evil? He’d do research and find out. All he knew for sure was that he didn’t feel any different with the ring on.
As he danced, he reminded himself he couldn’t become too comfortable with this magic nonsense. His true power was in his muscles and his cunning. Magic was only a weapon he would yield when it made sense to do so.
And he had to be careful as well, since the dusza had been a curse from the Lonely Man. And who was the sleeper? It seemed to Ymir that it was him, waking up to his own power.
His heart still longed for the tundra. He knew the homesickness would never leave him, but he had found a new home at Old Ironbound.
After the dance, Jenny left first since for the time being they had to be careful. As for Ymir and Lillee, both walked through the ranks of the Swamp Coast women. He marched up to Nelly, curled his fist, and went to hit her. He was quick. She was surprised. She offered up no defense.
He tweaked her nose between his index finger and his thumb. “I know you cursed me, Nelly. This is the only warning I’ll give you. Stay away from me, witch, or I’ll do worse than pinch your fucking nose.”
He turned and nodded at Daris and Odd the Smirk. “You two will still cover Lillee’s work study. I’ll do my own for now. I’ll be throwing cards more in the Unicorn’s Uht, or maybe I’ll take my game to StormCry. I’m in need of money, and while you southerners believe differently, I find money relatively easy to come by.”
Both were as speechless as Nelly.
Ymir patted Lillee’s hand. “I need to do one more thing before I leave. Are you okay to go back to Jenny’s alone?”
The elf girl nodded, kissed his cheek, and walked away. The white dress didn’t flatter her figure any, but he knew what lay underneath. And a naked Lillee was a fine thing indeed.
Ymir approached Toriah Welldeep. She was so pink, so wide, so pretty. Her gorgeous red hair framed her cute freckled face in a waterfall of braids. Her green eyes were so bright and cheery.
Then she saw him approaching. The Morbuskor woman blushed, turned, and nearly ran out of the auditorium. Tori had said they could never be together. What could that mean? He didn’t know. Sometimes these Theran woman could be as mysterious as the coastal clouds.
Speaking of which, Ymir strode into the Librarium Citadel to find Gatha reading under a Sunfire lantern. He went over and closed the book right under her eyes.
The orc woman leaned back in her chair. “I should cut your throat, boy. I’ve killed others for less. But I won’t.”
He laughed. He took in her white hair, rose-colored eyes, and green skin. With her wide jaw, she was a strange-looking woman, yet so strong, so muscled, still so beautiful. He imagined that fucking her would be very close to fighting. “So many of the women I’m meeting tonight have murdered before. And why won’t you cut my throat, Gatha?”
“Because it seems you fought and won tonight.” She nodded at him. “I respect strength, boy. Keep being strong, and you might win the honor of my scrutiny.”
“You, girl, can keep your scrutiny. I don’t want it.” He opened her book back up to the exact page she’d been reading. He stabbed a finger at the paragraph where her eyes had been.
Then he walked away from her, a little thrill in his belly. Getting a kind word from Gatha was just one more victory. He really didn’t need her scrutiny. Her hate-filled flirtation was amusing enough.
He walked to the archway leading out of the citadel. The cloudy gray skies continued to pound rain onto the Flow courtyard’s cobblestones.
He crossed the bridge over the moat and hurried through the downpour to the covered walkway which led to Jenny’s apartment. He pushed open the door to find the two women sitting on the couch. Rain streaked down the glass doors and windows.
He heard Lillee say, “They’ll find out about you and Ymir eventually.”
Ymir closed the door behind him. “Nelly will,” he agreed.
Jenny shrugged. “I get love, and I get trouble, and ain’t that the way it’s supposed to be?”
They talked more, until the dawn brought a cold wind that rattled the apartment and churned the sea. The sea alley would have a foot of water in it, at least. The sea cells would be misty and freezing.
Not Jenny’s suite.
Ymir sat on her bed.
Jenny had stepped out of her slippers and unzipped her dress. It was creeping down her big breasts, her nipples still hidden in the fabric. She stepped up and put Ymir’s hands on her hips. He squeezed them and kissed her cleavage.
Lillee was already naked and smiling at him and at Jenny. Her essess cuff lay on the table in the other room.
“I thought I’d never find another home,” the Sullied elf said. Tears brimmed in her eyes.
Ymir had never seen anyone look so naked and vulnerable. He felt a lump in his throat. He swallowed it down. “I didn’t think I would either. But here we are.”
“Welcome to our home.” Jenny slid her dress down. “Soon enough, you two will be the only family I have.”
The three outcasts made love until sleep claimed the two women.
Ymir lay awake. He knew they would have other enemies and other adventures, but they could find rest in the warmth of each other as the cruel winds brought freezing rains.
He thought of his first day at Old Ironbound, the day he’d passed the Open Exam. His father’s words came to him once more: When you strike, strike hard. Always use your full
Barbarian Assassin (Book 2)
There’s something new, dark, and sweet at Old Ironbound
YMIR MADE A VOW TO master magic and to take care of his women. To do that, he'll stay at the Majestrial Collegium Universitas, but he'll stay on his own terms. He has a new business idea that will make life at the college sweeter and keep all the scholars randy. Ymir’s new business scheme requires a kitchen girl: the flirty dwarf named Toriah Welldeep, whose cheerful smile hides a broken heart.
It's not all work, though, and he finds love, laughter, and passion with Jennybelle Josen and Lillee Nehenna, though the elf maiden is struggling to come to terms with the short lifespan of her new family, and something is giving Jenny nightmares.
Could it be one of the new professors working at Old Ironbound? The incoming teachers are not what they seem. Is the Midnight Guild coming to finish what they started?
Barbarians don’t wait for assassins to murder them in their beds. Barbarians murder first.
Disclaimer: Barbarian Assassin is a steamy slice-of-life harem adventure in a magic university on another world. The story burns slow and hot, as hot as the depraved women in Ymir’s life. The sex scenes are explicit. You’ve been warned. Enter a brand-new world from Aaron Crash, the bestselling author o
f the American Dragon series.
Chapter One
YMIR, SON OF YMOK, formerly of the Black Wolf Clan, growled at the rain coming down in sheets on the Sea Stair Market. The Weeping Sea was a froth of waves and rage. It matched his own ill temper.
By the Ax, this place has rains and cold. He’d have to soak his bones in Jennybelle Josen’s hot shower. Of course she had hot water. She was rich, well-connected, a swamp princess who grew up dodging watertooth terrors and the poison of assassins. So far, her supposed friend and treacherous minder, Nellybelle Tucker, didn’t have any firm proof that Jenny had betrayed her people. Ymir and the Josentown princess had kept their relationship secret for weeks now, ever since that fateful night they’d had sex before crafting the Black Ice Ring.
However, Nelly would learn the truth eventually. Then everything would change.
Foul weather brought foul thoughts. It was the afternoon before Solstice Day, and Old Ironbound was empty of most people. Many had gone home for the holidays, especially those who lived relatively close, in the Sorrow Coast Kingdom or the Farmington Collective.
Ymir had spent the day cleaning for Gurla, the Janistra Dux. The ill-tempered she-orc had him washing the outside windows of the Librarium Citadel. Dangling on ropes, clinging to ledges, he felt like a spider under the watchful eye of a hungry bird.
By the Axman’s beard, the Solstice break seemed interminable—far longer than six weeks. He wasn’t at the damn school to clean. He was there to perfect his power, learn control, and study up on the lives of these southerners. He had other reasons for staying as well—two of them: Jenny and Lillee.
Now, his belongings in hand and rain dripping from his storm cloak, he hurried up the Sea Stair. Most of the places were closed because of the holiday. However, lights, bright in the gray day, twinkled in a new shop on his right. Inside, he could find some respite from the torrential water. He stomped through puddles and stopped for a second at the door, water streaming off the hood of his cloak. Etched in the glass on the door was the name of this new place in Pidgin: The Paradise Tree – Fine Xocalati and Quality Confections.
