by Cebelius
Prada was still within him.
He stood up, and said, "You guys hang tight. I'm going to go get the newest member of our crew and bring her over. She deserves an introduction."
They watched him go.
He knew where she was because Prada gave him the knowledge, and when he met the edge of her distortion she brought him in.
She had no fire, and lay in amid her coils, her humanoid upper body draped artfully over the bulk of the rest of her. In one hand she held a book, though she turned it over as she focused on him. As he looked at her, with the moon gleaming dully from her scales, he realized that she looked lonely.
"Najaha, would you like to join us?" he asked.
"We still close to the tiger-kin. Will they not object?" she asked, though as she spoke she began sliding over herself as she came closer.
"With all my bonds around? No one would dare make a move."
He hesitated, then sighed and said, "Najaha, you know that I don't approve of the way you lived your life until now. I've let that rule my thinking about you. But as has been pointed out to me ... many times, I'm surrounded by monsters. I, am a monster. I'll do my best to accept you for what you are now, if that's truly what you want."
"What changed your mind?" she said as she slid up to him, straightened, then rested her lowermost set of arms on his shoulders. With Prada inside him he was seven feet tall, but she was easily over ten. She looked down at him curiously.
"I just ... needed to have things put in the proper perspective. Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."
"May I ... enchant them?" she asked. "It makes things easier."
"No. Sometimes doing things the easy way isn't as rewarding as doing them the right way."
"That not my exberience."
"You're in love with me now because I did things the right way, at least, as right as I could manage."
"Hah! If not for little devil, I would be dead, yes?"
"Yes."
"She here?"
"I am," Prada said, speaking from the knot of his sash.
"Thank you. For saving my life. I not like devils. I think ... I make excebtion for you. You like me. You not feel love naturally. When enchantment broken, I still not kill you."
Terry tipped his head back toward the camp as he said, "Come on, join us."
"I will. Thank you."
Najaha dismissed her distortion and slid alongside him as he walked back toward the fire. As they moved, Prada said, "My husband told me something once that you might benefit from. Would you like to hear it?"
"Tell me."
Najaha tipped her head down, looking at the knot of Terry's sash as it spoke. Terry felt around for what Prada intended, saw it, then hid his smile and said nothing.
"He once explained love to me. It is not a feeling. Not, purely a feeling. Love, to him, is simply to will the good of another."
"Oh? That ... Terrence, question."
"Shoot."
"You love me? In that way she sbeaks of?"
"Yes."
"Truly?"
He stopped and looked up at her and said, "I have been convinced that you may be useful to me, but that isn't why I'm bringing you back to the group. I'm bringing you to them, because I want you to see what love can bring. Real love, the kind that acts for good no matter what we may feel at the time. That's the kind of love that saved you. The emotions I have for each of those you will meet are different, but I love them all."
"They all love you?" she asked.
"I think they do, yes. Just don't ask me why."
"You not know why?" Najaha seemed startled by this, and Terry shrugged as he said, "I never asked."
"This curious to me. I always know why."
Terry started walking again as he said, "Welcome to a brave new world."
"What brave about it?"
As Terry rolled his eyes, Prada answered for him. "It's an expression from where he comes from, that's all."
"Ah."
Najaha clearly wanted to continue her line of questioning, but she said nothing more until they reached the fire. Terry introduced each person in turn, both those Najaha already knew, and those she didn't.
She dipped her head respectfully to each person but did not speak until the introductions were done, then said, "I try not to cause trouble. I serve Terrence Mack well."
Then she curled her serpentine body and asked, "Would you lay with me, Terrence, while we talk of many things?"
She was patting a place on her lowermost coil that was buttressed by the next coil up, making a space that would serve for a seat. Terry put away his lingering doubts and shifted to sit on her, then leaned back.
Her body was warm, and comfortable to relax against. After a moment, she shifted a bit to lay across herself, her uppermost set of arms draping over his shoulders as she looked around at the now silent group.
"Question, for each. You ask in turn," she said. "We get to know each other this way, yes?"
No one objected, so Najaha looked at Asturial and asked, "You, Asturial. Why love Terrence Mack?"
Asturial blinked as Terry — completely mortified — lowered his head into his hands. Najaha cupped his cheeks and tilted his head back up, pointing him at Asturial as she said, "No, look. See? I know love. She does. Now you can know why."
"I ... love Terrence ... because ..."
She trailed off and looked plaintively at Terry as she said, "Must I? This is humiliating."
"Not if you don't want to," he said hastily.
Najaha shook her head and pointed at Asturial with one of her middle hands, then made a come hither gesture as she said, "No. Answer. This love not born of enchantment. I want to know more. I break such bonds countless times. They always seem weak to me. But, Terrence beat me at my own game. He told me he loves all of you. Even the man, I think. So ... these bonds strong, because he strong. That why you love him? His bower?"
"I love him because he is strong, yes. But that isn't the only reason. He has qualities I admire. He ... makes me feel ..."
Asturial sighed. "He makes me feel like my father once made me feel. Like ... like he cares about me, wants me to be happy. Initially, I just wanted his seed so that I could have progeny. Perhaps I would have kept him, as my mother kept my sire. Now? I still want to conceive, but I also just want to be with him. He makes me better than I was."
"Better how?" Najaha asked.
"That's two questions," Asturial snapped.
"Fair," Najaha shrugged, easily conceding. "You have question for me?"
"How long will this enchantment, the one that forces you to love him, last?" Asturial asked.
"As long as I wish," Najaha replied. "My bower fuels this love. He turned it against me, and that never habbened before. The feeling ... fills me. Always before I hunger. Always I thirst. Now those needs ... they not drive me. They not force me. It seemed easier to me to win the love of this man I love, than to go back to my endless hunger, my endless thirst."
As she spoke, Prada said within Terry's mind, 'Well, Husband? Dodged a bullet there, didn't we? Who knows when she would have ended her enchantment on her own had you not gone to her.'
Did you know this? Terry thought.
'I had no idea. I like this game of Najaha's. We should keep playing.'
Terry couldn't help but agree, and offered the flame-faced Asturial a smile as he caught her looking at him. "I'll do my best for you."
Her embarrassment faded into a warm smile. "I know. That's why I love you."
"You. Isthil. Why do you love him?" Najaha asked.
"I dinnae love him," she replied, obviously having anticipated the question. "Oh, I'm fond of him, aye. He's fun, and I like the company he keeps. But love? Ach, takes time. He and I still have a ways to go, and some issues to iron out, before I'll call it love."
"And your question?" Najaha asked.
"D'ye think ye could see yer way through to lovin' the rest of us, the way you love Terry Mack?" Isthil asked.
Najaha paused for a long
moment, and Terry glanced back at her. Her expression was pensive, and at length she shook her head slightly and waved a hand idly as she said, "No. He turned my seduction against me. If I use it on you, you fall in love with me. Unless you cast the same sbell he did ..."
The demon trailed off and shrugged before adding, "If I could, I would. Love feels ... very good. It would kill me quickly ... but I would die habby."
'Your ritual magic could fill that gap, Husband,' Prada thought slyly.
Do NOT suggest that. Or mention it, to anyone. I'll think about it, but Najaha is right. Loving everyone would be a death sentence for her. You're changeable. You can learn and grow. Demons aren't built that way. Love does not exist on their native plane, except as a weapon.
'Koschei's knowledge?'
Terry nodded slightly, but didn't reply. Instead, he got up and said, "Laina? I have neglected my duties, and I'm hungry. Care to join me in the wagon?"
"Sure, Boss." Laina's reply was quick and slightly nervous. She obviously hadn't wanted to answer Najaha's question.
"Prada, why don't you stay here? I'm sure eventually Najaha will ask you a question too," Terry said, mentally adding, And you have a job to do.
As the sanguine devil withdrew from him, he looked up into the demon's disappointed face and said, "It's all right. You haven't made me uncomfortable, but I don't want you to feel as though you have to waste all your questions on me. Just bear in mind that I do love everyone here, each in their own way, even if it's just wanting the best for them. Take your time, get to know them. Let them know you. You may never love them the way you love me, but respect isn't out of the question, is it?"
Najaha considered that, then shrugged and said, "Burhabs not. Before she goes, Laina? You love him. Why?"
Laina covered her face with a hand and shook her heavy head, then looked up at the night sky as she sighed. "Oh hell. I love him because he thinks I'm a sexy beast, and he fucks like a champion."
Terry chuckled, and the two of them left the firelight amid a chorus of laughter, wolf whistles, and ribald comments.
He took her into the relative privacy of the wagon, drank his fill, milked her of the rest, then fucked her like she deserved.
He murmured his love for her, held her until she fell asleep, and then quietly disentangled himself and settled in against the barrels. With a simple spell, he caused the blood circulating through his hand to glow, and by that subtle radiance, began to write.
28
It's Not What You Think
The next morning, Terry woke as Laina stirred next to him, and found himself wishing he'd racked out earlier than he had.
Laina's heavy arm draped over his hip as she leaned up, which put her massive, naked breasts on his chest. Thoughts of his rather short night faded as she kissed him, then fed him.
"It's good to have you here with me," she murmured as he drank his fill. "I missed this. Asturial ... isn't really good at it, and Euryale barely eats."
He chuckled as he wiped his mouth and got the gear out, and they spent the next twenty minutes together as he milked her.
As he was finishing up, Laina asked, "Boss? If ... if I hadn't found you when I did, would you still have wanted me?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, "Like, if I saw you here, for the first time?"
"Yeah. Somethin' like that."
He thought about it, then shrugged and said, "I'd still have been impressed. You look amazing."
"But, would you have ... gone for me?"
"No, but not for the reason you probably think. I wouldn't have gone for you the same reason I don't go for anyone anymore. I don't want more people involved."
He grinned and gave her breast a squeeze through the damp towel he was using to wipe her down. "Besides, I didn't go for you to begin with. You went for me."
She nodded, settling her heavy arms on his shoulders as she said, "Yeah. I know. Just like you know I only went after you for your dick. I ... worry about that sometimes, you know? You needed me back then, but now? You're surrounded by all these ridiculously powerful girls, and I'm just ... kinda strong. I don't even have the ax anymore."
"You don't?"
She shook her heavy head. "Euryale didn't tell you? We wound up fighting a hobgoblin wielding Tyrfing. That sword cut my ax in two. Euryale's still got the pieces."
As he was reminded of where she'd been, and how she'd fought for him, he looked over her and saw a blaze of scar tissue low on her side that hadn't been there before, along with other scars across her belly, sides, and shoulders.
She watched him as he reached out, running his fingers over them, his expression pensive. Finally she cupped his cheek with a hand and turned his face back up to hers. "I don't regret it. Any of it. I just worry a little bit about getting lost. You've got all these other girls now."
"Laina, you stand out in any crowd. I love you, and the way you look. More than that, you care for me, fought for me. You never have to worry about getting lost."
She smiled, leaned down to kiss him, then murmured against his lips, "Promise me something?"
"If I can," he said, abruptly wary. "You know there are some promises I can't make, hon."
"I know, but this isn't ... at least, I don't think it's much."
"Tell me."
"Promise me I'll be your only minotress? Shy's got plans for you and the Powers only know how she'll push you in the future, but I don't wanna share you with any other tresses. Just me."
He nodded, smiling as he said, "That's no problem. I can honestly say I've never seen another minotress that'd make me look twice. You're the only one I want. That would be true even if we'd never met. Of all your kind I've ever seen, you're the only one for me."
He felt her smile against his lips, and she kissed him again. The kiss deepened, and their tongues met, slid past each other, and played as he reached up and gave one of her voluptuous breasts a squeeze. She moaned and her arms tightened around him, but before they got any further, they heard a throat being pointedly cleared from just beyond the canvas.
"Ah, hate to interrupt you, Boss, but ... can we talk?" Yuri asked.
Laina broke the kiss, sighed, and called out, "I'll send him out in a minute, Chief Running-Mouth."
Terry started chuckling as Laina shoved him lightly back. She glanced down at him, then smiled as she added, "Unless you wanna see how big he can get."
"Ah, no. A minute will be fine. In fact, take two. I will wait."
Now having to suppress his laughter out of consideration for those who were probably still sleeping outside, Terry glanced up at her as he reached for his pants, muttering, "That was mean."
"No, mean was interrupting me getting more of that," Laina said with an arch glance at the relevant portion. "If it's not important, I'm going to flatten him later."
"I really doubt he'd bother us for anything less."
"Yeah, I know. He's good people. That's the only reason I'm puttin' up with this."
A few minutes later, dressed and, more important, presentable, Terry stepped out the front of the wagon and hopped down from the bench. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, and Terry blinked in the brightening morning light as he saw Yuri waiting for him.
Twisted stood next to him.
Terry noticed that she was principally white today, and asked, "Spar with her this morning?"
"Yes."
"How's she coming along?"
Yuri glanced at Twisted, whose ears drooped along with her tail as he said, "If there is a word for the opposite of talent, it would apply to her."
He reached out and set a hand between her ears, scratching lightly as he added, "At least, I would say that if I did not know for a fact she was being deliberately slow. She likes being hit. Her need for pain makes it hard to judge her true progress."
"Damn. I can't tell if that's kinky or cruel," Terry said, glancing from one to the other. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Yuri glanced around and Terry followed his look.
She was reclining against her tail with an open book in one of her upper hands, and within the ring of her body lay the other members of his harem, mostly propped up on her somewhere. Prada — currently shapeless — supported Asturial's slumbering proxy. Isthil's upper body was wrapped over the top of Najaha's serpentine form, one hand almost touching the ground on the far side. Halla was curled around Mila as though the latter were a plushie. Shy was just opening her eyes, and Terry waved at her as she saw him. She smiled lazily and spread out in a spot where the rising sun would reach her.
"While I do not think this matter should be kept a secret, perhaps we should not bother everyone. Shall we walk?" Yuri asked.
Terry turned away, choosing a direction away from both the village and the herd encampment. Yuri fell in at his right side, Twisted at his left.
"I'm not being set up for anything, am I?" he asked.
Neither of them said anything, and Terry began to feel ill at ease as he led them further out onto the steppe. They rounded a low hill, and Terry stopped.
"Okay? What's going on?" he asked as he turned to face them.
Yuri glanced at Twisted, who nodded at him before he spoke. "You are a template, and so this is something that you may not know. The various races of Celestine cannot interbreed. It is not ... typical, for pairings such as Twisted and I to exist."
"Okay? Do you think it'll be a problem for you in becoming chief?" Terry asked.
"No," Yuri said after a moment's consideration. "Vlad's directive is clear, and it has weight. There is no question that I will be chief, but if Twisted and I are to remain together, she wants ... assurance."
"Oookay? Still not sure I follow."
"You're Yuri's brother. You could give us pups, and they would be in the family," Twisted said.
Terry's eyebrows shot up, and he looked at Yuri in disbelief as he saw the tiger-man's slow nod.
"Dude, no," Terry said, chuckling nervously. "No, hell no. I am noooot cucking you. Not happening. No."
