by Mark Albany
She looked up when she realized I was watching her and smiled. It was one of the sincerest smiles I’d ever seen from her.
“Come,” she said with a small smile, indicating one of the chairs. “Sit.”
It was interesting how she managed to speak without breaking a single note of the wordless song she was singing. I did as I was told, though, moving across the room and settling down in my seat. I still wasn’t sure how to react around her, almost afraid to look her in the eyes after what we’d done the night before. It had been delicious and very satisfying, but afterwards, thoughts brought doubts about how much she had enjoyed it and if she was ever going to want a repeat.
I wasn’t surprised that my body was already begging for another go with the two most beautiful women I’d ever known.
My doubts were cast aside as Norel moved closer, lightly kissing my neck and running her fingers from my shoulders down over my chest with a soft moan mixed with a sigh as she filled a goblet with cool water.
I suddenly found myself trying not to grin like an idiot, even as Frarris jumped up on the table, drawn by the smells of food and drink. She paused in her path across it, marching toward me while avoiding the plates of food and cups as she came over, butting her head gently into my shoulder and emitting an odd growl-like sound that still felt happy and excited.
That done, she moved over to where Norel had taken her seat at the head of the table, walking around in a quick circle before curling up on the woman’s lap.
Aliana was the last of our little group to arrive, looking refreshed and unchanged as always. Unlike Norel or me, she was dressed in what looked like the same clothes she’d been wearing the night before. I made a note to ask her how that was possible, right alongside the questions of how she managed to pull her daggers out of thin air and if she ever planned on teaching me how to create those portals of hers. I could only imagine that if I were the one to make them, they would be a lot more comfortable to travel in.
The meal went by mostly in silence, not unlike how dinner had gone the night before. Unlike last night, though, when emotions had been running high and the three of us all had something we needed to process before talking with the others, I couldn’t help but feel that now they were both a lot more relaxed.
The silence was comfortable, and thoroughly enjoyed.
Unfortunately, even though we were all feeling better thanks to our exertions, there were still problems that needed solving. Issues that only the three of us could handle.
Even so, I couldn’t keep myself from grinning like an idiot as I chewed on a piece of bread that tasted like it had been freshly baked. It was even warm, I realized, smearing it with a heavy, creamy butter. Aliana noticed and winked at me, reaching across the table to gently squeeze my arm.
“So,” I said softly as the meal drew to a close. “As we are soon to set off to find your sister, Braire, is there anything about her you think I should know before we meet? Anything I should be alerted to as a simple matter of precaution or the like?”
Aliana and Norel shared a quick look. The latter sat back and Aliana leaned forward, apparently having decided that she would field my questions for the moment.
“Like Norel, she retained her original appearance,” Aliana started out. “From what I was able to decipher she has kept to it, rigidly refusing under any circumstances to abandon what makes her unique. She is what you humans call a beastmaster. She could speak to animals even when she was a child. Remember that time, Norel, when she called on that snake to wind its way into Mistress Allieesta’s robes? When the woman wore them, she told the snake to tighten its grip as Braire was convincing the woman she’d learned a spell that could make her fat.”
Norel grinned. I tilted my head as I watched them. This was the first time that either had shared any kind of story about their past. I’d never even realized that they’d been together when they were young, however long ago that was. Yes, I knew they were sisters, but I also knew they weren’t related by blood.
I found myself leaning forward, wanting to learn more about what made these women who they were.
Unfortunately, there were no more stories forthcoming. “Anyway, Braire is a beastmaster, although she always held more of an affinity for snakes and other reptiles. She was the one who found poor Frarris abandoned by her mother and brought her to Norel to be nursed back to health.”
I made note of yet another detail of their history together, nodding and letting Aliana continue.
“Eventually, Braire found herself a circle of creatures she loved, more than children, I think,” Aliana said. “One was a massive snake that I could never really abide. I’ve always disliked snakes. Then there was her bear, a monstrous thing with black fur and missing an eye. There was a story to that, too, but she never shared it with us.”
Norel nodded. “She also had a wolf, as I recall. She rode her into battle like a horse.”
“Must be one hell of a massive wolf,” I said with a chuckle. My own encounters with wolves had been during the winter when they were trying to find a way into Vis’ barns to get to the livestock he’d locked up inside. They were larger than the hounds that were used for the hunts, but not big enough for anything over a child’s size to ride. For a fully-grown woman to ride the wolf like a horse, it had to be at least six feet tall at the shoulder, which would mean that its jaws would be large enough to crunch my head like a melon.
“She could speak to all kinds of animals, and even more than a few of the less sentient monsters too,” Aliana recalled. “I remember that if pushed, she could summon them from other realms and dimensions.”
“That was how she got that massive snake, remember?” Norel said, engaging a bit more in the conversation.
I leaned back in my seat. I recalled learning a bit about beastmasters in the past. It was almost extinct as a magical practice these days. The only ones who could still master it were those who lived in isolation in the wilderness that stretched out in the south of the Empire, and they protected their secrets to the point of violence.
I remembered reading something about requiring a connection with nature to be able to master that kind of power, and the longer someone remained isolated from the wilderness, the weaker their connection grew.
It was interesting. There were four of us now. Aliana with her combat and djinn magic, Norel with her spellcasting, and me using the roguish arts to connect to what I knew was closer to mysticism than anything the other two were practicing. And now with Braire practicing what sounded like a form of animancy to add to the mix, our powers would be rather varied indeed if we needed to use them as a foursome. It would require some getting used to, I knew. Coordination was the greatest obstacle when it came time to train oneself to fighting alongside others. A small mistake could end up not only leaving me exposed, but possibly injure one of my teammates.
It wouldn’t be a problem for the three sisters. If I had my facts right, they had been fighting and working together since they were children, to the tune of what I assumed was decades, if not centuries. Even though they had been isolated from each other over the course of recent history, I imagined that all that would be required for them to fall back into their rhythm was a bit of knocking out the rust.
There was also the matter of sex. I could feel my power starting to grow each time Aliana and I slept together. The strengthening bond seemed to help the development of my skills, and Aliana’s as well.
I’d noticed the same thing when Norel had joined in on the fun, but it felt stronger than it should have. I wasn’t entirely sure if it wasn’t just me feeling the lingering afterglow from having thoroughy enjoyed Norel joining us, but at the same time, the bond had felt more powerful than before.
Now all that was needed to test these theories was to actually apply them in combat.
I couldn’t help the thought of what it would be like if Braire joined us that way, adding her personal touch to everything. The thought had barely crossed my mind when I immediately felt ann
oyed. I hadn’t even met Braire. For all I knew, I wasn’t even remotely what she wanted in her partners. Besides, I was already enjoying the attentions of two beautiful women, so why I was already lusting after another I didn’t even know?
I kicked myself in the shin, putting the thought out of my mind as I leaned back in my seat. Aliana and Norel had gone on talking about their past but as they sometimes did, they’d started speaking in their language, forgetting that I still needed to learn more than just the curses I’d committed to memory thanks to Aliana using them so often.
I took a sip from the cool, clear water and watched them interact with a small smile playing on my lips. There’s no need to be greedy, I thought to myself. I have everything I need right here.
13
A small part of me wanted to thank Vis for everything he’d done.
I still wanted to murder him—plant something sharp in his chest and watch the life flee from his eyes. But as I lay on my back, breathing heavily and trying to bring my mind back to focus, I couldn’t help feeling like I might also want to thank him for his actions. Sure, they had been conducted out of greed and self-preservation. The murder of my parents was something I’d never forgive. Taking me into his home and treating me like a slave that owed him something was just salting a festering wound, but at the same time, I couldn’t imagine that my life would have reached these kinds of heights if I’d remained a farmer or a blacksmith or whatever my parents had been before Vis got to them.
I was on my back, gripping the ground, looking up into Aliana’s eyes and seeing a shadow of the murderous intent I always looked for when we were training together like this. It was a beautiful thing. Mostly because I knew she was keeping those urges under tight control and would never do something that would hurt me.
Well, not hurt too badly, I thought, seeing fire start to form in her palm as she closed on me with a jump.
I rolled out of the way, watching as a ball of fire scorched the ground I’d been lying on only a half-second before. I pushed myself to my feet, looking around for some kind of cover. I was still no match for Aliana in a head-to-head confrontation, but I’d found that my strength lay in a battle of attrition, using my wits and guile to stay alive until my enemy made a mistake. That was how it was supposed to be done.
Aliana didn’t offer me any space to retreat as I pulled away, throwing up defense wards to push her attacks away. It didn’t take too much intellect to realize that I was better off deflecting her attacks than absorbing them directly. Aliana was breathing fire today. While it was only a training session, she seemed more than willing to make sure I was ready for a real battle.
“What are you doing?” Aliana asked. I watched her flick her wrists, bringing her knives out and gripping them firmly.
“Defending myself?” I took a couple of steps, trying to take advantage of the perceived break to give myself some breathing room.
“Well, obviously. Running away and deflecting attacks is all well and good, but at what point during that exchange did you consider fighting back?”
I tilted my head, eyeing her closely, anticipating that the break wasn’t going to be lasting that long. “I just thought you wanted me to avoid attacking when we got this intense. I can’t really keep my power under control and I might hurt you without wanting to.”
Aliana grinned, shaking her head. “I’m not particularly worried about you hurting me, Grant. No offense.”
“Some taken,” I growled, eyebrows raising as I clenched my fists. She doubted I could get past her defenses. It was time to prove her wrong about that and many other things. She moved first. I reached into my power, whispering a spell and feeling the runes in my palm burning. A gentle shimmer could be seen rising just above my fists as I jumped forward to meet her attack. If I misjudged anything, her blade would have to be dug out from my arm.
The dagger impacted with the small yet powerful shield I’d wrapped around my hands, flashing and sending sparks flying as the blade fell from her numbed hands. She looked up, surprised, raising her other hand in response to mine quickly careening toward her. More sparks flew as my shield hit her defense. My other hand, now free of the shield, quickly reached down and gripped the back of her leg, pulling up as I charged her midsection with my shoulder, knocking us both to the ground with me on top of her.
I quickly straddled her waist, whispering the spell to shield my hands again, raising my hand to bring it back down. She’d been the one who told me she didn’t need me to hold back, but I wondered if I was taking it too far. Either way, there was no turning back. I was committed.
Aliana whispered a spell I’d never heard before and I felt something wrap around my hand. It wasn’t as effective as she imagined it would be, but it slowed the downward trajectory of my fist enough for her to buck up under me and roll to the side, throwing me off balance. My hand impacted with the ground, hard. I could feel the shield protecting my hand for the most part but a jolt of pain shot up my arm.
I looked up just in time to see her gleaming dagger arcing for my face. Time seemed to slow as I pulled myself away, feeling the blade lightly graze my cheek as she brought her knee up hard into my ribs, knocking the breath out of me and sending me rolling the rest of the way off her.
Pain fueled something in me as I came to my feet almost immediately. Aliana was still struggling to regain hers. For whatever reason, the fact that this was a sparring session meant for practice somehow disappeared. We were both fighting for our lives. Pain was no longer a reason to stop and recover. I pulled up as much power as I could in such a short amount of time, pushing forward as I crashed into Aliana. Her attempts to stop me did nothing but knock me off balance as we found ourselves on the ground again, this time with her straddling my waist.
I watched lightning crackle in her fingers for a split second before I reached up, grabbing her wrist and twisting it upward. I heard the bolt of lightning shoot out to crash into a nearby wall. The power was still in me, I realized, ready to be used. I pushed it all into my right arm, roaring as I punched at her face. She grabbed my hand just in time, making it miss the target, but lost her balance and fell sideways. I rolled to pin her, the both of us struggling to bring our attacks to bear.
The heat between us was oddly distracting as I lay over her, panting for breath while sweat trickled down my bare chest to mingle with hers. She was looking up at me, a wildness about her as she struggled to wrench her hand free of my grip while still desperately holding me off. I groaned as I pushed her arm back, finally managing to pin her hand on the ground above her head when she noticed I wasn’t trying to bear down on her anymore.
And I was smirking.
“What?” she asked, trying to catch her breath as well.
“Nothing, really,” I replied, relaxing my grip on her as I felt her pay me the same courtesy. “Just… couldn’t help but let my mind wander to when we were in a very similar position, but very different at the same time.”
She looked down, biting her bottom lip as she wrapped her thighs a little tighter around my midsection before looking up into my eyes with a gratuitous squirm of her hips. “I really hope this isn’t where your mind usually goes when in a combat situation.”
I grinned, leaning down to gently kiss her lips. “Not usually. You just happen to be the exceptional woman capable of distracting me like that.”
She blushed, but quickly pushed me off.
“How’s your hand feeling?” she asked, seeing that there was some color starting to show from when I’d hammered it into the ground.
“Just some bruising,” I said, rolling the wrist to make sure nothing was broken. “Nothing to be worried about.”
“It might be best if I took a look at it anyway,” I heard a female voice say from the other side of the garden we’d taken over as our training ground. I looked up, seeing Norel following the stone path over to where we were already on our feet, brushing the dirt from our bodies.
She was dressed in something different. I realiz
ed she’d taken to wearing less of the tight, form-fitting robes the nobles around here were known to use and going with longer, more flowing robes of lighter colors instead. Today’s version was a light blue. She moved close to me and took my hand, raising it to her eye level as she whispered something while running her fingers over the patterns of bruising. I felt what could only be described as a pinprick, uncomfortable but not quite painful. Certainly not compared to how much it was already hurting.
“How did you get an injury like this, anyway?” Norel asked, looking up at me.
Aliana stepped in to answer for me. “He wrapped a shield around his hand for a physical strike.”
“Using your defense for offense,” Norel said with a smirk. “An interesting strategy, if a little risky.”
“I know, but I was running out of ideas at that point,” I said. “The whole of my strategy thus far has been to avoid any attacks until my enemy shows an opening, or until I get desperate enough to do something that others consider to be… well, too stupid to consider. My survival thus far has shown that to be an effective strategy.”
“And very reminiscent of the rogue mages of the past,” Aliana said, rolling her neck. “Although they usually manage to combine elusiveness with pinpoint strikes using accuracy and speed to their advantage.”
“That settles it then,” Norel said. “You’ll be taught some offensive magic to be used in that kind of situation next training session. Although, if most of your sessions end up with you lying on top of your trainer, sweating and out of breath, I must admit I find myself tempted to give you some training myself.”
I opened my mouth but shut it again when I looked over at Aliana. More sessions than I cared to admit ended like that, but not quite the way it had today.
Instead, I changed the subject while looking at Norel.
“You’re home early today,” I said with a smile. “What brings you back before sundown?”
