by A. S. Etaski
Aids the process? More that my Elder keeps Reishel alive.
That was enough motivation for me to want to stay out of trouble and not draw D’Shea’s focus at a bad time. I was stable; another Sister was on the edge.
I slept in no one’s quarters but my own during this time, and I was left to my own discipline to carry out my tasks. My Lead or a Lunent checked on me frequently enough to see progress—the collecting and inventory, the modest repairs, the distribution of supplies—and to prove my Elder had neither forgotten me nor had her orders expired. Whatever the Sorceress had wanted to do next about the Tragar in my skull had to wait, especially as none of my behavior suggested any impression of Kain at all. I felt entirely right in my own head.
I waited through the second span and avoided trouble for as long as I could. Through sixteen cycles of menial work and solitary martial exercises, without any attention from my Lead or Sisters, I managed well enough though grew bored and antsy in the closed space.
I wasn’t the only one.
Thena and Suna decided to take offense at my avoidance. They had not brought Panagan and Moria this time; it was two versus one, and I had a choice to make.
“Not fighting?” Thena sneered, her mouth too close as I was pushed to the wall, a set of knuckles digging hard into a pressure point in my back. I gritted my teeth, flinched at the way her breath fouled my ear. “Again? How disappointing.”
Wait, slit.
“Panni and Moria coming?”
“Soon, Corpora.”
“Good. Get her pants.”
Elder Rausery’s methods didn’t need my rage; in fact, it worked against me. I kept my temper as they bared my ass without letting up on the pain in my back; I took the first fuck from Thena without a fight, hoping the other two didn’t arrive while waiting for the contempt to rise, knowing the controlling pain would lift at the same time.
As soon as both knuckles and cock left me, the Corpora received an elbow between the eyes. She dropped like a stone.
“Cunt!” Suna cried, Feldeu already poking out, ducking low as I feinted a follow-up punch.
My Sister charged me as I relaxed into my next stance, slipping to the side to trip her as she flew past. Suna hit the wall cock first, and I chortled. Both Sisters were down but coming around, so I ran, righting my leathers as I went.
One detail they didn’t know that I did: Lead Qivni was in a nearby equipment room. I barged in, panting a respectful, “Lead Qivni.”
She read my disheveled state in a moment; her shoulders slumped, and her eyes rolled upward. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Lead, I request an assignment outside the Cloister. Anything you need done, I shall do.” I dropped to one knee, the fingertips of my left hand upon the stone, head lowered. “Keep me out of trouble here, so as not to distract my Elder and the Prime from Sister Reishel. I know it’s her last chance.”
Qivni paused, reconsidering in the face of my humility. We both heard the shuffling and grumbling down the hall, and she exhaled. “Come with me.”
We soon approached Thena and Suna standing at attention in the barely-lit hallway. The Lead paused.
“Exercise each mount in the stable, Corpora, Sister,” Qivni told them. “Clean up anything they pass outside our Cloister.”
I controlled the grin on my face as Thena’s jaw flexed and she narrowed her eyes at me. “Yes, Lead.”
I followed Qivni up a ramp and around two more bends, recognizing the way to the Prime Strategy Room. Elder Rausery waited inside with Lunent Agalia; it was clear each of them had expected the Lead, but not me.
“Well, well,” Rausery remarked, palms holding open a map spread on the table. “Having fun, Sirana?”
“Immeasurable, Elder,” I answered with a relieved smile, bowing my head.
Without replying, Rausery looked at her Lead.
“Thena and Suna have noticed she’s not leaving the Cloister, Elder,” the Right Hand explained, folding her arms. “They can’t resist.”
“Indeed, they can’t.” The Elder shared a look with the Lunent that I couldn’t read, then asked Qivni, “Recommendation?”
“No objection. Tradition suggests presenting a spread, Elder.”
I had no idea what that meant but it sounded like what I’d just endured.
“It was oddly timed,” Qivni added with suspicion, most likely against my Elder.
Agalia smirked. “Well, she is an odd cait.”
Rausery nodded, although not to agree, I didn’t think. She pondered something related to why she was here. “Right, then. Sirana, any orders from your Elder which might conflict with you coming with me?”
“None, Elder,” I answered with confidence. Just get me out of here!
“Grab your cloak and gear up. You have five ticks.”
That risk paid out like pure sex. I wanted to kiss her.
Equipped and ready in four ticks, I left the Cloister under the best protection I could wish for. Nobody told me where we were going, but I didn’t care. I received no dirty looks for excess noise, so I kept up well enough to the first jump circle. Like those in Phaelous’ Tower, I still needed an elder Red Sister to use these to shorten any distance.
I learned our destination only after we’d arrived, after leaving a second circle and coming out of a tunnel to see a familiar field where the Valsharess’ army conducted their drills.
I stared. House Aurenthin?
Elder Rausery crouched down, and we followed her lead. She observed the plantation in poor repair for a while then nodded to her Right Hand.
“Go do your thing, Collector. We’ll wait for you here.”
CHAPTER 5
Our wait was quiet for a little while, mostly still, although it struck me that we’d come in what would be the business part of the cycle for most plantations, when the most eyes would be watching. Not Aurenthin, more of them were resting now. I knew from my stakeouts that they were more active when the others weren’t, trading with more cautious Davrin from the slum or races other Houses wouldn’t—or couldn’t—bargain with.
Being on the Fringe has that facility.
The Valsharess would have all the justification She wished to destroy the entire House at any time because of this. Most saw them as a “weak spot” where other races could walk into our territory by crossing a stream, barely getting wet, and any outside merchant group who got too large for the tastes of Elves were always blamed on House Aurenthin letting them in.
For the time being, however, the Queen let them stand in their place, and had for some time. How long, I didn’t know, but even I could tell it had been some time since the last upheaval.
My Elder had shrugged during one of my earlier reports when I asked. “Remove House Aurenthin from their place, and another must act as the border hub, probably farther in from the Fringe. We’d lose ground. We watch the Twenty-Fourth House as well as we watch the others, Sirana, and you already know the army is sent to their grounds for training regularly.” She had paused to sip her wine. “And the Valsharess adds Her own intimidation from time to time.”
“Intimidation? Like what?”
D’Shea had smiled. “Watch long enough, you’ll see it.”
I hadn’t seen it by the time I crouched with Elder Rausery and Lunent Agalia, waiting for Lead Qivni to enter the bottom House. I hadn’t been told for whom we’d come.
But I rather hoped.
Elder Rausery focused on me with a shrewd smile. She signed, *How’s it been, novice?*
I had only received brief orders and tasks from the Elder General since she had taken me under her arm to train me both in defense of my body and in acting the elite guard for the Worship Ball earlier that turn. My recollection of pleasuring her the one eve alone in her quarters still warmed my middle, and she’d given such practical advice proven to be useful time and again.
Now she asks me how it’s been. Easy as that.
*Challenging,* I signe
d with a smile.
*As the recruit wanted when I asked?*
*Yes, Elder.*
*Good.*
Lunent Agalia relaxed, seeming content with my clear appreciation for the Elder General. I wished I could say more, but I had to wait until our Sorceress figured out what to do about the Tragar shard in my head. Before that could happen, I had to give the Sorceress space to deal with the Prime and claim Reishel once again for the Sisterhood.
I wondered what Elder Rausery might know about that. The timing of this other “Collection” seemed either entirely oblivious or full-on intentional. If asked, I’d assume Rausery knew plenty about what was going on in the Cloister, even if I’d learned she spent the least amount of time there, which explained the sparseness and lack of personal touch in her quarters. But did that mean the Prime wasn’t aware? How could that even be so?
Something drew the Elder’s attention—a message pellet from Qivni, I guessed—and Rausery looked to the plantation. Rausery reached into a pouch with one hand, signing with the other.
*Follow,* she signed to Agalia and me without checking if we obeyed.
As if I’d refuse.
The three of us slipped quickly a quarter-way around the rough perimeter before Rausery led us inward. We hid behind stone, in crevices, and under boughs of fruiting mushrooms, our cloaks masking us from the Dark Sight of other Davrin. Only the flash of true red in visible light would reveal us, and first rule was always to use that to one’s advantage to surprise one’s quarry and make them piss themselves.
Two sets of desperate feet scrambled straight toward us, making my skin prickle, and I watched the Elder rub the base of her ring finger with her thumb while holding the small stone she’d pulled from her pouch. Simultaneously, I heard a whispered word of power before she clenched her hand to make a fist. I assumed she had quickened some magical enhancement.
With her free hand, she signed, *Neutralize the Davrin. Do not kill. Do not let her escape.*
Agalia and I both answered. *Confirmed, Elder.*
Rausery chose her moment well, standing to step out and block our targets. She revealed her own light source in the palm of her red glove, her uniform blazing bright, shocking our targets and tripping them up.
With a shriek both angry and terrified, Jael Aurenthietti skidded and skirted the Elder’s side by grabbing a jutting rock, pulling to launch herself in a new direction sprinting away from us. Rausery let her go, her focus tight on the naked Sathoet right behind the youth. She was braced for attack, and it was perfectly timed; our Elder closed her fist, dousing the light, and drew her arm back.
She’s not—
Rausery punched the Priestess’ Son right in the face, so effective that it threw him backward off his clawed feet, his exposed erection bobbing and flopping with his balls. I gaped. Rausery was taller and stronger than me, true, but there was no way she was that strong.
Guess I know what that ring did.
Agalia was already running after Jael; in my distraction, I got a late start. It wasn’t a test of endurance to close the gap, however, as the Lunent only waited until she was close enough to pitch her own pellet at Jael’s back. It struck center mass and split with a small crack, then an explosion of webbing ensnared her, dropped her like a weighted net had landed on her, and she stuck to the stone where she fell.
Jael screamed so loudly it echoed off the stone above us. “NO! Noooo! Let me go! Let me GO!!”
Agalia had caught up to her by then and kneeled to force a gag on her, shoving something in Jael’s mouth to muffle her, although the young fighter still bellowed her fury as she struggled against the sticky webbing.
Caught in between the Elder and the Lunent doing what they planned before I had begged to come along, I glanced behind me, spotting Lead Qivni catching up to us. As she had sent Kerse away when he’d attacked me at the Palace, now the mage raised her hand in command, snarling a ruthless pattern of sounds that caused the demonblood agony just speaking them. The Sathoet howled once, growled as he contorted, doubling up to crouch on his knees upon the ground. Her body hot as his to my Dark Sight from the magical effort, Qivni jerked her fingers in the general direction of the Palace.
“Cryczefiina!” the Lead said with the confidence of any Priestess.
Snorting air, drooling, and with a whine, the Sathoet left at a flat run. I watched while I could but knew when he had cloaked himself; his outline vanished from my view whether there was a light source or not. Rausery stayed ready for a possible reversal until Qivni gave her some positive sign he was gone, then she noticed where I stood. She grinned, and my face flushed to the point I knew she could see it.
Well. I was utterly pointless to this task.
The Elder signaled Qivni and me to come with her, and we joined Agalia and her captive. As Rausery set a sound-dampening Ward in our vicinity and signed for me to keep a look-out, Qivni pulled one of the bottles at her belt and approached Jael. I had nothing to do but stand beside Rausery and watch.
Dampening a cloth with the liquid inside the bottle, Qivni kneeled and ran it over the white threads covering Jael’s hands, dissolving the webbing as the Lunent grabbed them. Pulled behind her back, Jael’s wrists were bound together then attached to her throat with a black length designed for that purpose—the more the Aurenthin struggled to free her hands, the stronger she choked herself. Fortunately for her, Jael figured that out before she fell unconscious. I wouldn’t say she was docile, but she stopped moving so that Qivni could break down more of the webbing to free her.
The Lead and Lunent then picked her up, one holding each arm, leaving her legs free as they expected her to stand or walk on her own. The Sisters turned her around to face us. Jael’s hair was long and straight, and earlier it had been pulled up into a simple band at the top of her head to flow down her spine. Now, however, it was a mess, with strands escaped and loops and tangles frizzing the back of her head, the main body of it spilling over both her shoulders. I also noticed how torn and rumpled her clothing was; far more than would have been caused by the webbing.
What happened just now?
Jael didn’t focus on Rausery first. Her fierce eyes landed on me, and she made it clear she remembered me. Her eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth, chewing aggressively on the wad stuffed in her mouth. Words tried to rise from her throat, but they were unintelligible.
“Remove the gag,” Rausery said, standing with hands on her hips as she looked the youth over.
Agalia obeyed, and Jael coughed and spat, seeming in no sweeter mood for having the dry packing removed from between her lips.
“What did you say?” the Elder asked.
“I-I said,” Jael gasped, looking at me, then the Elder, “I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
The cait quivered with rushing emotion, swallowing against the choker attached to her wrists, her eyes moist as she glanced back toward her House and back. “I knew… the moment she talked to me, after the battle… you would come to grab me.”
“Clever cait.”
Jael took a deeper breath, needing the air to speak all at once as she stared Rausery in the face. “I didn’t do anything! None of us have! Why won’t you leave us the fuck alone?! If you think I’m grateful you stopped them, you’re wrong! You sent them, you red cunt!”
Them? Who?
Qivni scowled at the blatant accusation and insult, and Agalia’s mouth was tight, but Rausery maintained a calm smile. It was only now that I stood close and still long enough that I could smell Jael’s sweat, soured from an extended period. She hadn’t been fresh when she sprinted out of the House and over the grounds. I smelled musk and dirt and spit all muddled together, plus a familiar tang like curdled milk. There were not only a lot of tears but also damp spots on the youth’s clothing caused from things other than sweating, and now I realized her bottoms were set askew, as if they’d been yanked up only as she started running.
“How many Sathoet were t
here, Lead?” the Elder asked.
“Four,” Qivni answered, both hands tight on the youth’s right arm. “In the barn. One of them escaped me and gave her chase.”
“Snared three on your first word, eh? Impressive.”
The mage nodded once, acknowledging this but probably not agreeing. Jael listened but wrinkled her nose in dismissal at what this might have told her. I could read it on her face: Lying, don’t believe you.
“Seems the trials started a little early,” Rausery said. “Red Sister?”
It took a moment to realize she meant me. “Yes, Elder?”
“Clean her.”
That was a familiar order.
Without the same hesitation Qivni had once known, I stepped forward and around behind the two Sisters holding the young Noble. I took hold of her rough-cloth pants, and Jael tensed and tentatively shook her head. She wanted to fight but was having trouble breathing.
“N-no, don’t,” she said hoarsely.
Sorry, cait. Knew this was coming for me, too. It could be worse.
I went to a knee as I pulled the torn clothing down to her knees, and she quivered again. The scent of multi-male sex filled my nose—I would know—and I could tell without touching that her skin was tacky with drying slobber and semen. I decided to take off my gloves to keep them clean, tucked them in my belt, and reached to part her cheeks with both hands. I recognized the look of two freshly-fucked holes even in the dark.
Qivni interrupted a gang-rut?
Unlike the young Aurenthin, I didn’t think Rausery had sent them. More likely she had caught some report of activity out this way and decided to act on it.
I leaned forward, and Jael flinched as my tongue touched one sticky thigh first. It wasn’t any worse than licking Kerse’s cum off the black-glass floor during my own trials—in fact, it was a bit better being warmed by the skin of a female I had been curious about anyway. I cut a wide swath across her legs with my tongue, twisting awkwardly to get as close to her snatch as I could. Jael breathed very quickly, I pushed my face in, and Rausery stepped closer; I saw her boots appear right in front of the cait, taking hold of her choker, giving it some slack. The Elder spoke quietly.
