Flurries of activity started. The girls were already prepared to move with their elegant camouflaged robes. They brought black silk capes for discretion. Kaarthen noticed how Dulia and Augussi held court in the map room already preparing to watch from the sky every moment of their travels. Everything seemed well rehearsed. Remy re-inspected all the weapons for sharpness. Marssel re-arranged Kaarthen’s clothes to look like a traveling noble woman with a Marcos as a bodyguard and the girls as maidens. She knew her role was new in this, but the experienced stagehands guided and directed her through her part until she was standing in Marcos’ quarters with her girls ready to go. The prince had been brought in gagged, blind folded, and hooded. The women could resist and had tied his hands behind his back and exposed his little girl cock. They could be so ruthless when they wanted to be.

Marcos addressed them. “We travel to Leethon now. The travel would take three days with a double crew or more than a week by horse. Leethon is a pretty place. The city is right where the tip of the mountains meet the coast. It is our west capital and sits nearly on the border. The heavy infantry will be several days in movement but it will be unlikely we’ll need them. We are going to travel by my gate to Leethon and save sometime.”

Ein spoke up real quick, “How will we know where we’re going?”

He marched them in through doors and hallways into the depths of his apartment till he found a map. “Okay let’s try this…” Marcos held out his right hand and placed it flat facing up with his fingers straight together, and his thumb along the palm.

“If the wrist is the eastern shores then the heel of the palm is the great eastern mountains. The Moxle comes after and Astrokos is the thumb across the top. Directly below them is us, and Alcanton to the east going out until the sea. The ridge of the finger joints is the chaos lands, and Osmuun is at the pinky finger joint. Leethon is to the north east of that kinda.”

“What about the rest?” Mara asked staring at her hand. They were all doing it now and stared intensely as if a cartographer had actually written something somewhere.

Marcos cleared his throat. “Well…If you drop the pinky from the other fingers and pretended it was wider that would be the swamps the mud people come from. If you cut off the fingers above that into small pieces those would be the colony islands. The one joint above that is Sellis where we’re going, but it’s only a city on the coast. Dar Delis is the crossbow trigger finger joint, but that’s just where it is since it’s an island. Munklin is on the mainland between them and Astrokos, so that would make them the tip of the thumb.

Ein asked her next question looking past him at the wall map. “What’s it like out there?”

Marcos shrugged. “Mud people live in swamps and used to live across the entire west coast. Sellis is a bunch of tall fair haired people who came by ship to trade long ago. They don’t even remember that, but what they found was mud people. Actually, mud people are pygmies who like mud. They use it for beauty, farming, cooking, curses, mix it with cow piss, the women decorate their hair with it. People don’t like them because they’re always trying to push their mud on people. If a mud person doesn’t like you they throw it at you with a grin, if they love you they drip it on you with a smile. Do you think Queen Mensillin sits down with a diplomat from there?” He asked rhetorically.

“When the water pulled back, the mud people followed, and Sellis is alone now. In Munklin, the dark people are taller and forgot their mud since the shit freezes up there. And it’s not just them, Astrokos has deserters all over up there, werewolves too. That country is as big as Astrokos, or Menthino but their internal politics are stunted by the sisters to the west and Astrokos to the east. In Alcanton, you can disappear stepping outside your village, you don’t know who your neighbors are in that forest. In Munklin, they have factions. Some allied with the sisters, some try to just build what they can, others are off doing their own thing all the time. Some people plot their return to Astrokos in conquest, or to aide their people.”

“They are all barbarians generally and excellent fighters. Dar Delis sends people over on vacations, and too poach a man or two. In fact, they have most of the enclaves up there just for visits. In other areas, there are only city-states. Most of the west and the east are just wild lands.”

He looked over and caught Mara idly wanking the prince. He snuck over to the prince’s ear and pulled her hand away for a moment. “Damn got myself a cramp…” then let her try to finish him off with her hand as he squirmed and wriggled in protest.

He stepped back and watched Mara win and finish off the sobbing prince.

Marcos brought them to another door in the very rear of his apartment and turned back to address them. “These are all private areas. Now, what is going to happen is, you will step on the platform I tell you to. Place you hands on your shoulders, step on, step off, and wait on the other side. The place where you go may be dusty or dark but be patient and we’ll all go from there. Who’s first?” He said looking around.

Inside the closet sized room, four clear grey platforms a yard square stood with the names of cities over them.

“Why didn’t we go to Cardin this way?” Ein asked aloud.

“The prince wasn’t allowed in here, and it wasn’t important or necessary.” Marcos responded. “Hence, the blind fold and leather hood.”

Mara stepped up first and Kaarthen watched as she popped out of the room.

“Amazing.” She said, reflecting everyone’s surprise. The link was still there and strong but the distance made an odd echoing resonance between them. She and the Goddess synchronized and watched the language of the machine on its next three runs. It was different than the other flowing pieces of the god’s magic because of the man made controls and its purpose built nature, but she could see the stifled elegance. And more importantly she learned its magic.

Her journey was instantaneous. She felt the power wash over her. The science that Ein had learned was re-written in the god’s language. It was odd to see and feel it. After watching the machine several times, she understood how it looked at her and simply re-wrote her somewhere else.

She would try later, perhaps after understanding the where of the place it picked. For now, she looked around and found out the room she was in was a small parlor. Dusty and ragged in disuse, the room had no windows, but a paneled double door was open leading to a dark hall.

“Okay, not bad. We are in an apartment in the tower here.” Marcos said after popping in last.

He moved forward through the room’s door and led them out into the hall. The hall lead through the abandoned apartment and ended at a larger set of elaborate paneled doors. Marcos barely turned to count them before fumbling the lock and opening the door. On the other side was dark until he opened curtains to reveal a sunlit corridor.

The hall was quiet and clean with a window and skylights letting light in through frosted glass. The floor was pale marble with red and gold carpets lining the edges of the walkway. Columns studded the walls along the gently curving corridor and curtains in between created a closed in feel. Kaarthen didn’t figure a room was behind every set of curtains but they kept her guessing.

“We’re in a wing of the castle. I think the western side. It’s not obvious now but the castle was built up and into a mountain. Leethon has some of the largest iron forges in the world. The design of the castle is a half circle that slopes up along a cone shaped mountain. It’s actually an elegant defensive design that allows for an incredible layered defense.” He said as they walked to the right. Marcos seemed slightly unsure as he looked around trying to remember.

They didn’t travel too far before they found people. Around the curve and near a column they heard lovers energetically expressing themselves. A lady’s ankle came up out of a curtain at almost eyelevel. The parted curtain showed a curtained abscess with a dark haired woman in satin standing up against the column embracing a richly dressed man. The woman’s dark thatched pussy was visible and seemed to already have spunk glistening in the hairs as the man pistoned into her.

They passed quietly with hardly a giggle and came to the top of the curves arch. Wide bay windows and a pillowed benches of ruby velvet was on their right, and gold and red stairs led down to the lef. Ein and Mara looked curiously out the window.

“Wow we’re pretty high up. The whole city is like a tiered tower all the way down to the flat grassy shore.” Ein said amazed.

Marcos walked over to tell them what they saw.

“It helps to think of it as narrow cone. The city is cut into the side of half the mountain. You may not see a wall but from that window, the grass out to the river is the border. Beyond that is wilderness. Forest people, villages, and city-states are out there. Leethon is like a towering beacon to all that. We can see a lot from up here.”

“Like Pyressel?” Mara asked leaning back into him.

“They are northwest of us hugging along the mountains much too far to see. But yes, they are there.” Marcos said pointing out the corner of the window.

“Amazing.” Ein said looking around.

Rinis turned, unhooded, and ungagged the prince for him to see. She had fallen into her puppetmaster role like a fish to water.

“Prince Monto will look,” She said quietly urging forward.

He looked at the view shocked.

In the daylight, they saw the roofs of buildings and balconies jutting out in the same white cut rock. The similarities of the flat surfaces made it difficult on the eye to understand what was what.

Out to the left the canal came in on a raised aqueduct. The aqueduct was almost hundred meters tall, on the sides were what looked like widen streets. They could see people and carts enter the city along the Canal. Watercraft floated along slowly before their traffic disappeared into the labyrinth below.

Out in front, the beautiful blue sea languished against a rocky cliff below an open narrow grassy strip that surrounded the mountain.

“So this is another Fortress?” Kaarthen asked bemused.

“Yes, one with a front door.” Marcos said smiling. “Follow me, eventually we’ll find someone else, it is better if we’re together.

The stairs were surprisingly steep and took them down several floors. People in red, white, black, and gold livery came scurrying around and were more and more common as they went lower int ot tower. Finally after four floors the stairs stopped.

“The stairs are on either end now. We’re in the more traveled areas now.”

They walked around servants carrying scrolls and others with dishes. They were reminded of the internal bustle of the Citadel in Mavvus.

Shortly they excited the tower and with little fanfare stood outside. Marcos arranged for horses, to Kaarthen’s disappointment. They rode down streets that switched back. Just as servants slowly became more common soldiers and guards became more numerous.

“I don’t remember seeing a single guard in the castle. Why are they all down here?” Prince Carthin asked suddenly.

“That was only a tower, this is the castle.”

“What about the people here?” The prince asked.

“The citizens of the castle?” Marcos answered facetiously with a grin.

“But they can’t just go in and not be stopped?” the prince asked confused.

“Who would stop them? Why go in?” Marcos said grinning further.

“Surely the rabble can’t be allowed everywhere.” The prince pointed out.

“Leethon is our best steel producer. It smelts and forges iron, steel, bronze, and even gold. It trades locally with Osmuun and other land locked cities to the west. The people are too busy for walking idly up steep stairs and all that. But, if they had the time, why not go up?”

“Then an assassin could kill the Marquis.” The prince pounced.

Marcos blinked. “Oh? Well that’s why he has bodyguards, and besides that’s not even his tower.”

“What?!” The prince looked back up at the summit and was surprised to see a cluster of four slender towers each one taller then the next.

“Wait till we’re a distance away you’ll see more. This mountain is big. It’s amazing what these earth moving people have done to it.” Marcos said cynically as they were continuing on.

The front door Marcos referred to was exactly that. They walked to the castle wall then along it to an area forgotten by the sun. They stood in a forgotten portion at the far end of the city. Kaarthen felt the whole city was atop her shoulders. A wide wooden door they had to de-horse in order to cross stood in front of them. Standing in front it, it seemed Kaarthen and Marcos would have to bend in order to go through.

“Most things come by the causeway but that doesn’t matter for us.” Marcos announced. “Once we leave we’ll continue to Pyressel and to Sellis.” He finished looking at them.

“If we ever get separated go to Pyressel.” He added. Making Kaarthen raise a brow.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” He shouted startling everyone.

From up above came groans and creaks of mechanics long unused and coming to life. The door lifted in to the wall. Showing the sunny, yellow grasses that went out all the way to the sea.

They led their mounts slowly until they stood surrounded by the grasses. Behind them, the door closed loudly until it fell into place.

“Well, thanks to that we are a hundred feet from the border.” Marcos said mounting.

Kaarthen looked around in a hundred feet nothing changed. In one hundred yards, nothing changed either. Perhaps two miles away they crossed a stream their horses easily forded.

She looked back at the city then to him. “Why is there nothing around but you made a boundary? How will anyone know?”

“State secret.” Marcos said grinning.

“You’re having too much fun.” Kaarthen said shaking her head.

They continued deep into the night. The six travelers finally camped in a wooded area among tall wide trees. No one was willing to start a fire despite the prince’s pleads.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Merris and her younger sister Heppi stood in the dirty alley waiting for a paying stranger. Her daddy had thought it a good idea to take them out of the house and have them wait in the alley around the corner. His friends were all broke now and work throughout the city was drying up. It seemed that all the money had dried up in Pyressel recently. Now there were more fights, less smiles, and the city seemed colder and spiritless for some reason.

The cloudy day seemed to add to a feel of gloom. Today wasn’t shaping up to be a good payday. Customers don’t like to fuck street girls in an alley when it rains. So far, a drop hadn’t fallen but the traffic was slow on the shop street they looked out onto.

Merris was twenty but she made her money by looking young. Most of the look came from her freckles and light eyes. The rags she wore helped her with the look of young misfortunate innocence. Her hair was long and feathered with a deep tan on the top of her arms and shoulders. People thought her some stupid farm girl caught up in the city. Being in the forgotten alley in Pyressel’s low district, no one misunderstood how these young tender things made ends meet.

Her younger bulkier sister Heppi stood with her. Quiet as usual, she laid back against the wall. Her gut, shoulders, and thighs bulged with more than just muscle. Despite her size, she was pretty flat chested. Heppi had grown from a tomboy into a woman who could be mistaken for a large man. She wore little more then a shift but her body didn’t look sexy in it at all. She looked more like a rough middle aged woman ready to scold her man. Some men wanted her, but they were the kinkier or ‘confused’ sort. She was mostly paid by men who wanted her back hole and called her men’s names as the franticly used her, or those who sat on her face while they jerked themselves off. She had the bulk to fight some men who wanted free peaks and perks from them.

A new girl named Mara had came to the alley that day and quietly soaked up business. Heppi thought she could scare her off, but from under her robe, she produced a wicked knife and twirled it like a street performer. Heppi was mesmerized by the dancing blade until she realized tiny Mara had stepped close and poised a stiletto to the side of her neck like some assassin. They left her to stand on one side of the alley where she waited as if she was expecting someone. She stood with an unchanging smile giving everyone a hungry bright eyed expectant look.

Mara was beautiful with pale blue eyes that seem innocent, inviting, and cold somehow. She seemed to be better suited for a brothel in the high end. Her unmoving inviting manner seemed like exactly what a brothel girl at the front window would do to attract business. Her body covering purple robe seemed odd but elegant, and she already was quite popular. She serviced several men in a private corner. Merris was sure, there was no way out from back there, but no one returned from the dark corner with her.

Merris was able to get her own action despite losing regulars to Mara. She was usually bought for a fuck right in the alley. Men would bend her over and drop their robes over her till just her head and shoulders peaked out. They usually tore into her clothes and groped her body under the rags. They liked her dark hair and brown tan. The last man she had this morning had paid well but he fucked her for much longer then normal. His cock felt long and hard like his body.

Like the others, he just had her bend over a crate, lifted, and dropped his robe’s hem on her back. He fucked her with little regard to her preparation not that it mattered she enjoyed it immensely and didn’t have to act. He went deep but didn’t rub her raw. Within a few minutes, as she moaned he quietly held her still and spurted heavily but kept on fucking. Again, several minutes later ans she came, he thrust deep as his cock twitched and emptied several thick spurts into her. Finally, after what felt like hours more intense pleasure, he thrust deep again pulling her up by the hair, and shot himself into her a few more times in strong gushing splashes. For the briefest of moments, he was still. Then he was gone leaving a handful of the fake ‘guild money’ to pay her. Her pussy dripped as she counted the money he left. It wasn’t accepted everywhere but she had quite a lot already for anyone who would take it.

Oddly, Mara pulled her aside after she wearily tried to stand and got her hot for the next one. Well, more than hot, she was sure she got what men tried to pay for. Mara’s sucking and slurping tongue made her moan loudly and writhe drawing the attention of people passing on the street.

It wasn’t too much longer before the next guy came along.

“Hey girls,” said a man in a long cloak. It was a heavy velvety green that she though only a noble would wear. Next to him was another man she recognized from days ago. He was the quick sort, done fast, and off like a shadow.

“Won’t two of you be enough? What do ya say Ebbert?” He asked the second man who stayed quiet.

“How about a suck here?” The man in green mused parting his cloak and fumbling for his robe pull. He walked into the alley grinning slightly and pulling up his red robe under the cloak.

“No,” Mara stepped in. “You are from Sellis, take us to your inn and tell us things in your room.”

“What?” Merris and Heppi said. They were street girls, not brothel whores, or courtesans. Going to a room was attractive, but dangerous.

Mara stepped before them fluttered her lashes. “It will be cheaper. You will want us all night.” Mara pulled the arm slit of her robe open exposing a huge leather clad tit. In her small hand, it poured out over her wrist promising a warm, soft, and bountiful body to fuck.

“Oh you’re a leather girl huh?” The man in green said looking her up and down. “Look Ebbert we got something extra premium here.” He said elbowing his suddenly more interested friend.

“Okay, how much for the three of ya?” Ebbert said finally with his eyes locked on Mara’s goodies. He pulled out real money.

Merris couldn’t take her eyes off of it. “My sister is only for protection. You won’t have to pay but she’ll just watch.” Merris said looking at them both in turn hopefully.

Mara smiled and walked among them, looping Ebbert’s arm. “We can count how many times we fuck and pay later.” She said while rubbing herself against the man in green. “I like that!” they said already squirming.

“Well then, I suppose come on the Harpy’s Nest is up the street.” He replied smiling.

Merris and Hepi fell in with the group. Mara’s supreme confidence helped her calm down. She hoped she wasn’t about to disappear like the rumors of other girls. Without protection, they could disappear off to become these men’s slaves or worse.

The group walked up from the low district’s empty shopping area past low-end tailor shops and cobblers. They rounded up corners into a deserted avenue of restaurants, inns, and bars.

They came to the Harpy’s Nest and walked through the door. The place seemed quiet, at a table near the back a man in black sat almost in the shadows next to three women and a gangly boy. One of the women looked stunning with pale Amazon features and full lips. She was hugely muscled and looked like she could go fishing barehanded wading in some wild stream. She exuded haughty arrogance as though the world didn’t touch her. Her eyes were oddly shiny from the windows grey light, and her hair shone white in the faint light of the cloudy day. The other two were smaller than normal and were dwarfed by her. They had cloaks similar in fashion to Mara’s. Merris thought it must be the style in richer places.

Out of the back of the serving area, they took a well-lit dark wood staircase up to the third floor. The hall was lit by windows casting their grey light on the wood floor. It seemed gloomier to Merris in the barren hall. She felt fleeting apprehension. She looked out a window for her alley but wasn’t surprised to see nothing but roofs and chimneys.

“This is it ladies.” The man in green said smiling, and opening a door.

The room was tiny. Two beds on either side along a wall, and a window took up the space in between. It was crowded in the room with five people. Mara happily jumped over to a bed and Merris sat next to her, the men stood opposite looking between the girls expectantly. Heppi leaned against the wall by the door.

“So look, get naked. I’ll order some food or something for you all a little later.” The man in green said excitedly. He pointedly ignored Heppi, despite how he had to lean around her to look at them.

“First tell us what the guild is doing in the city.” Mara said biting down on her lip as she smiled cutely. Merris thought she must have been trying to hold in laughter.

“Wha… What are you talking about?” The man in green said undressing.

“Get naked.” Demanded Ebert, who by now was naked himself.

“Hmm come here Ebert.” Mara said raising her arms to him. He walked forward happily. She moved lithely reaching out to him. She slid her hands along him across his abdomen and thighs like she was blind and needed touch to see.

Her hands slid inwards on either side of his groin. A thumb flipped his cock up, she caught it into her mouth, and as she slid down onto it, her tongue popped out of her mouth everywhere at once. Sitting next to her, Merris was entranced, this woman was extremely skilled. The focus of the tiny room locked on the two, Mara and Ebert’s cock. Only obscene wet slurps and his labored gasping were heard. Ebert was average size but in her small hungry mouth, he must have been carried off. In few moments, he came hard squealing and moaning as his hips came to life on their own.

She watched Mara hungrily continue to suck him down. He must have cum like a bull because she didn’t quit swallowing until he fell back. Exhausted, he hit the floor barely clearing the other bed. It was only two minutes, but Merris just learned a lifetime of technique by just watching.

Already the man in green struggled to clear Heppi and step in. “Damn the looked good lemme…”

“No. I want answers. What is the guild’s business in Pyressel?” Mara demanded standing on the bed with hands on hips. She was too cute to be a good interrogator. The man formerly in green wasn’t thinking interrogation. He thought he wanted to get his cock smoked like his friend on the floor.

“Who are you? Why you little.” The man yelled pushing off Heppi and stepping around his prone comrade.

As he reached for Mara, she slapped his hand aside. He tripped and toppled to the bed and Mara rolled in onto his back with a knife out already as he fell next to her.

The chaotic sound of the wood door exploding shocked them. A man in black kicked the rest of the door out of the way. Wordlessly, he stepped in and hauled the naked man off the bed by his legs and out the door like a vengeful spirit.

Mara hopped off the bed following them out the door. In her cute way, she seemed to march along smiling. After a moment, the massive white haired woman appeared. Her massive frame blocked the doorway. Her shoulders and elbows were wider then the door and her eyes and forehead were above the doorframe. She leaned in and a sinuous arm snaked down and grabbed Ebert who was still asleep by the shoulder. He too disappeared through the doorway as she tugged him out.

Merris and Heppi watched the open doorway scared to leave the room. They looked at each other quite surprised. ‘Somebody was late for a very important date’ as the streets sometimes say. Plenty of quiet rumors of people getting dropped in scandals and plots usually mentioned that no one survived serious things like this. Judging by the likes of the beautiful and talented Mara, they were very serious.

Marris and Heppi fled the inn incase they came back to silence witnesses. They wouldn’t say anything, ‘who would listen to them?’ Merris grabbed the men’s clothes, purses, and anything else she could figuring nothing was owned anyway.

@@@@@@@@@@

Ebert opened his eyes slowly, the warm buzz the girl’s mouth gave him had worn off quickly. He felt his hand tied above head with rough rope and noticed he was naked. He seemed to be in a large barn with straw on the floor. The walls were cheap uneven wood planks that let in day light. Directly in front of him, he saw his comrade bound similarly, he was naked with his hands and ankles bound to a wood post.

Ebert felt different from how his friend was. He couldn’t see it, but the post he was on had a fence that ran along it. His ankles were stuck up behind him supporting his weight along the fence beside the rail.

Slowly he became aware of a silhouette. A great black shadow that stood to the left. It was hooded with dark eyes above a black mouth. The man in black regarded him closer now and saw him moving.

“I see our friend has awakened. I understand you are Ebert. I am new in town and I wish to know some things about you and your friends. How long has the guild been in this town?”

“What? I was here for six months.”

“What are you doing in this city?” He asked taking a step closer.

“We were designing a sewer and building it. We are in the city still because they tried to make us use local labor.”

“Is that why Nobleman Rocert was here?”

“What? He just guided the contract, he already left.”

“When did he leave?” The man demanded suddenly in his face.

“Uh…” Ebert’s slow mind was starting to click. He suddenly realized he was likely speaking to an assassin. “I don’t think I should tell you…”

“Oh?” The man danced back two steps towards his friend while facing him, then pulled a dagger out. He spun and the dagger blurred as he swung it wildly like a side show performer about to do a trick then turned back to face him.

“Wait! don’t hurt Argiole! Fuck! What are you doing?” Ebert pleaded.

The man came closer. “I won’t hurt Argiole, you will. It’s your choice, if or how, you walk out of here. Now answer my questions, it’s a pretty straightforward exchange.” Marcos paused and stepped forward again toward Ebert. Stepping, or standing close to ‘Argiole’, would be better for pressuring. “Okay?” he asked looking for agreement.

“Okay, sure.” Ebert committed. “Uh, Guildman Rocert was here for a new contract. We do various services here now. Nobles in this city sure are happy with our service. We wanted to impress and get a good deal. For big deals, we go all out and have them meet with our leaders. We got high rated pleasure girls for the nobles that have them ready to sign the next day.”

“Why are they so happy to sign and join the guild?” Marcos asked.

“They aren’t joining the guild yet. Pyressel is gonna be a good base for trade from this region into the south. But, they haven’t signed on yet. Rocert tried to offer the nobles titles and matching lands in Sellis. In a few months it won’t matter, we do the logging here now and the carpentry. We sell them their base supplies since they ain’t got nothing but trees around here anyway. Guisel to the north wants Pyressel to stay out of the guild because they control the woodworker’s guild.”

“How sad,” The man said bored. “So where’s Rocert?”

“I don’t know he should be heading back to Sellis.” Ebert guessed.

“Really?” The man said stepping past him out of sight. “I believe you.”

Ebert only heard the snip before he fell flat to the floor. He was quickly dragged to his feet by the man to look him in the face. “I’m gonna let you go. Take your friend.” He said and pushed him over to Argiole.

He tossed a blade to Ebert. “Here take this and cut him down.”

Ebert rushed behind Argiole quickly and cut through the leg and hand ties. Argiole dropped limpy to the ground unmoving.

“Argiole wake up! Argiole…” Ebert stopped as he knelt over and touched him. It wasn’t how cool his body was that stopped him. An ugly wound was on the center of his lower back. The wound was a wide slightly gaping bloodless slit. The edges were puffed and darkened black by poison.

“What did…?” A heavy hand came down the back of his neck as another snaked in taking his knife in his hand and stabbed for his heart. For an instant, he felt heavy breasts on his back and soft thighs on his rear before he was released and dropped dead onto the back of his co-worker.

“Well, I don’t want to chase Rocert all over the western region. We’re going to head him off in Sellis.” Marcos said looking at Kaarthen’s handiwork. The two naked men found alone atop each other would look like a sick crime of passion. Their deaths wouldn’t look anything like it actually was. Scandal would be reported and they could ride the wave of rumor and if they were lucky find more people who knew the two. In Sellis, he would avoid the guild and focus on his real mission of finding the condition of the royals.

“The girls are already readying the horses outside.” Kaarthen said fingering a sixth skull on her hip chain under her robe.

Marcos smiled. “Good, we’ll get moving then. In these northlands, we’ll be better off in inns then out in the wilds. Unfortunately, inns will be few and far between.”

They crept out of inn they broke into. They had used a ‘sleep room’ that was locked for the day in an inn across the street from the Harpy’s Nest. By tonight when the deaths will be discovered, they will be long gone already.

Outside, Kaarthen and Marcos’ horses were saddled and waiting, as the girls and Prince Carthin sat mounted watching them.

“Rinis did you arrange for our guest to get a robe?” He asked after mounting and leading them out.

“Yes Master.” She replied flatly.

“Now would be a good time to put it on, Guild people are only going to get more numerous, we don’t want Prince Monto getting killed yet.” He could hear the prince jolt up in his seat.

Four hours later, they found a town on a wide trade road. The inn was a decent size. It was built for passing merchants and had a worn but comfortable atmosphere. The serving area was suitably large and had tablecloths and chairs instead of the usual benches and planked tables. The group was served by an old waitress who showed as much titflesh and nipple as she could without falling out of the dress. They were guided to a table as they found out what was to be served. They dined quietly in the back of the serving area. Marcos sat with his swords across his lap.

“Prince, tell us about Sellis right now.” Kaarthen asked after she and her angels had finished. They had eaten a warm dinner of stew, bread, and honeyed wine. Marcos had tipped rather liberally for privacy. He received instead, the attentions of a suddenly horny waitress, and an anxiously friendly barkeep.

“We are still pretty far. One week or two by horse and well get to the grassy fields Sellis over looks.
The court will accept us as ambassadors I’m sure.” The prince said.

“Who are the heads of house in Sellis?” Marcos asked for specificity. Intrigue never sleeps and he wanted to know what the names are of the other kids in the playground.

“There are about a dozen families and five major ones. Blacksail, Grann, Perest, Ovvan, and Perstavy. The last two are closely related to our family, their heads are Dukes and Duchesses. They are cousins and uncles of my mother. The others are close and have served for generations as trusted friends, stewards of the crown, ambassadors, captains, and admirals. The Ovvan house has many great statesmen and ambassadorships, and Perstavy has several positions in the navy and cavalry. They are traditional families that have made good money as we have expanded. The others are merchant families who bought and kept titles, or others who were minor nobility but gained power as we expanded.”

“What do you think of the other families?” Marcos asked searching for bias or some slighted family.

“The nobles all scheme and have plots to bring favor, or bring ruin to others. The other families are not as distinguished or storied, but are as well placed. They all have relatives that hold high offices, though not in as frequent numbers as the larger older families.” The prince answered equitably.

“Sellis doesn’t have Barons, Counts, or Marquis. What equivalent kind of the title or rank is the senate?” Kaarthen asked curiously.

“They are ‘Senators’ but equivalent to Counts. They are selected in assembly areas by the commoners’ family who live in the area. The families get together and vote for whom they want among themselves. It’s helped on the local level to keep us aware of what the people want.”

“Interesting.” Marcos said finishing his meal. He rose, paid for the meal, and arranged rooms with the happy innkeeper. They bunked in two rooms, both were at the end of the hall on the second floor. Mara quietly followed Marcos and Kaarthen while Prince Carthin followed Rinis and Ein into the room across the hall.

After a bath, Marcos found himself in bed naked lying atop Mara and Kaarthen. In the wide bed, Mara was dwarfed by Marcos and Kaarthen’s long frames. She curled between them like a warm, soft, wriggling core to their embrace. Marcos’ long hard cock was ready like a fierce javelin. The women teased him and rubbed his cock along their slick holes beneath him.

Kaarthen moved up and sat back against the headboard with Mara and Marcos atop her. She was could feel Mara’s light quick fingers scouring her pussy now that she was between her legs. She could also feel Marcos’ hard iron cock rubbing between them, dripping along her thigh. It wasn’t too long before horny Kaarthen was pushing her teats at them urging them to take from her.

“Drink me babies.” Kaarthen giggled and lay back. Marcos and Mara latched on making her writhe and mewl. Marcos kept his lips on her as he got on his knees and moved around behind Mara. He pulled her up by her hips and prodded her purposefully, sliding his cock along her crotch. Finally, he pushed up his cock and slid across her pussy into her ass. After the initial thrust, he paused for the experienced Mara to get ready. With a long steady push, he sunk into her as she made small choking grunts around Kaarthen’s breast.

Kaarthen felt his slow steady thrusts into Mara and allowed her to feel the acute pleasure of her milking. Marcos fucked her for a long time in short deep thrusts before finally releasing into her the countless thick heavy spurts of his seed. When he rolled off, Mara spun and sucked his cock clean savoring the mixing tastes.

They slept that night quite satiated. By morning, they gathered down in the inn’s stable. They all felt the winter approaching and in the light fog of the chilly morning they mounted and rode west for Sellis.

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High above the campers, one lone figure stood upon a branch. It was a faceless quiet vampire hidden in the shadows. Quietly as the wind, two others came. One was a slender man the other was a shorter blond woman.

“You only watch them Mellion?” The youthful woman asked. “They should be bled and driven from our territory.”

“Are you numb in the head Karassel? Can’t you feel them? They didn’t start a fire. I don’t think any one down there is mortal. I’ve never felt this power before either. Is a delegation of covens crossing our territory Micus?” Mellion asked the man.

“No one announced themselves or an intent, but they are pretty deep in the territory.” The second male ‘Micus’ replied.

“That makes them violators.” The woman ‘Karassel’ pressed. “They may be headed off further to attack Asskil, or Creamus.”

The three bickering vampires didn’t sense movement as Marcos dropped his mundane guise and shifted into the shadows. Repressing himself was a good exercise that few could understand or appreciate. Usually it caused people to mistake him as a mortal and to underestimate him. Even better, it allowed him to blend in so the eyes passed him over and didn’t stop.

In full form, the darkness hid him well as he turned into a portal of the abyss with a similar shape of a man. Like the absence of light itself, he crept along under the moon light in the brush to the base of the tree’s own shadow. Though the distracted vampires were quiet, he was silent. He climbed quickly to them clawing up the tree.

From out of the tree’s shadow, he reached out and grabbed for Micus’ across the shoulder. His gauntlet slashed down across his face, neck, and chest before Marcos shoved him off the branch. Vampires have stellar balance, and can jump very high in the air but they can’t actually fly. As the other two turned and tried to jump clear, Micus, was too distracted to save himself and the wet crunch of bones was heard from the bottom of the tree.

Mellion the first watcher, turned to face him. He jumped backwards to get away as he saw his attacker but was caught across the legs by Marcos. They tumbled in the air, before hitting a nearby tree, and landing in a heap. The vampire was on the bottom and drew a short sword as Marcos rolled off. They stood facing each other and Marcos could hear the less than graceful exit of the female as she tore through the forest in a panicked sprint.

The vampire attacked first seeing him unarmed. He tried a low quick one-armed thrust and was kicked in the hip and slashed across the face by Marcos’ guantlet. Marcos then sprang in knocking the stumbling vampire over. Once Marcos was over the vampire, he grabbed both arms at the shoulders and stood while stepping on his gut, dislocating the joints. He stepped back, then brought his other foot over the left knee and stomped. The joint reversed and snapped under his weight.

He turned and pursued the female through the brush. He didn’t want witnesses spreading the word, vampires gossip too much. As he pulled up to her, he drew his own curved specialty sword. He hacked her as she turned back to look at him and cleaved through her shoulder and out her hip. Her body seemed to spiral as it fell apart before the underbrush pulled it out of sight as he ran past. He slowed and stopped returning for her. That effect was well worth the trip. Marcos knew of other ways to keep oneself entertained with two and a half vampires it had been so long… he had forgotten how good it felt.

“Can you still talk pretty? Where does it hurt?” He called out and stepped in closer. “Hmm? Come along now.” He grabbing her wrist and dragging her back to where the other vampires were spending the rest of their lives.

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Kaarthen awoke by the Goddess’ forceful insistence. It literally tore open a dream, reeled her out, and opened her eyes. The sky was starting to lighten above her through the trees and the moon had set.

She was brought to full wakefulness by a tune being hummed in the distance. She rolled to her feet and pulled Lourndai from her bedroll. Crashing through bushes, she stumbled into a clearing.

A shapeless writhing thing stood in a clearing. Around it was a testament to sadistic creativity. Wooden pikes too many to count suspended the broken body of a man into the air. The way his legs bent under him suggested he was thrown or dropped and impaled onto the spikes, or that every bone and joint in his lower body had been worked to move differently. His body was fully penetrated in several places as he wriggled. Under him, small lights flickered as a small fire struggled to burn the wet wood.

To either side of the clearing body parts of one or two other people were shredded and broken.

A head on a pike caught her attention the open mouth surprised her. Its fangs detracted from its sorrowful expression of agony. Only a mother could be sad for a face like that.

“Marcos,” Kaarthen tentatively called. She stood frozen in the edge of this area of repressed hate and cruelty unleashed. “Marcos, what happened?”

**So this is what happens…** The goddess remarked.

She was surprised that was the best she could say. Behind her, the girls had been shocked awake by the nightmare image she was surrounded by.

“Don’t worry go back to sleep.” Marcos said without turning. His voice was even, unstressed, and devoid of emotion.

The goddess wrapped itself tightly in some unseen shell within her mind and prodded Kaarthen forward. She fumbled with her robe pulling it tighter mimicking what she felt inside her head.

“Marcos, I just want to see if you’re okay.” Her voice was shaky and sounded as scared and small as she felt.

He turned, he held by the wrist a human upper torso trimmed delicately of fat and skin. It was remarkably bloodless. The firelight picking it up showed the exposed muscles and even some bones clearly where he was a little too forceful with the blade. In his hand, it wriggled like a worm on a hook still alive and trying to escape. His other hand held a short curved knife.

“I’m fine, thank you. These were just scouts checking to see what we wanted.” Marcos said wryly.

“What are you doing to th…that?” She pointed with Lourndai.

“Well she,” Marcos said drop kicking it across the clearing against a tree. “Was answering the questions the others wouldn’t, in his case couldn’t.” he said pointing at the impaled head.

The fire behind him was picking up and the figure on the bundle of spikes started to wriggle and moan.

“Don’t worry I have to destroy the body and the heart and separate the head to kill them. That one up there will survive if I let him. And, I’m sorry, and her too, she’ll survive.” He said crossing over to grab the pitiful creature. It was pulling itself along and inching into the brush. “They don’t know death unless I help them. They play their little games amongst each other. Vampires think they’re always the top of the food chain. Dark Mother’s night children are lost and bicker among themselves.” Marcos finished nearly whispering. Both his hands locked onto the skinless torso’s neck tightly trying to choke it. They silently struggled in Marcos’ sadistic pointless game.

His appearance was changing as he spoke to her. His long habit of ability repression was winning out and ‘normalizing’ his appearance. Formless dark swirled into the dark haired tanned man she knew.

The goddess was pleased to see the change. It wasn’t comfortable being on the same plane with the presence of his full form. Kaarthen wasn’t sure this apparent control was good, it just meant he was consciously torturing these creatures.

“Kill them and be done with it. What have you learned?” She asked finally.

Marcos loudly snapped the torso’s neck, spun the head, and popped it off before tossing it into the fire. His hand gouged into its chest dug around plucking out its beating heart and tossing it.

“They just wanted to control their borders. There are others ahead but I know now how to avoid them.” He said and walked to the fire. He hacked the pikes down collapsing the man and hacking him to pieces. He snatched a tea kettle from the fire and turned to her with a smile of a child caught being naughty. “I was heating tea. Let me bring it. It’ll be good for the morning.”

Kaarthen felt the Goddess’ love for him explode seeing his look of feigned innocence. The strong feelings hardwired into her from this other half were hard for her to dispute or dismiss.

She gave him smile. “Don’t worry, the Goddess understands. I should help you kill from time to time it would help us both.” She said turning and leading them back.

They walked back to the campsite and found the girls dressed and the prince ready. They enjoyed tea together and ignored the prince’s question of what was cooking. They started traveling as the sun broke over the trees.

I hope people enjoy this. People who post these stories are looking for many things. I just enjoy comments, and knowing people enjoy the story.

I would like to know, if you do Jack/Jill off that the stories help. If, as you are enjoying yourself, you peal another layer of the dark onion of desire in the back of your mind, and think to yourself “wow, if only they….”.

Leave a comment. You’re likely not alone. Honestly, know you’re not alone even if you are one percent, there are millions of us. So just know even the comments are free. if you want to PM ideas, questions, or random non related stuff. BTW this is now just over half of what was written, editing is slow…

The idea may not be in every segment, but you will certainly be more likely see your fetish if you request it. I write because I haven’t seen enough stories they way I like.

There will be a three part story (called ‘Sweat’, ‘Spit’, and ‘Tears’) about the Spear Mistresses and their rather single minded efforts to purge the elves. you haven’t seen the last of them.

Also (restitution of love) is being edited too. It’ll be the sequel for dissolution of love.

Look for series ‘Victorious’ it’s a present day work, and more involved. (I hope) It fell out of my head, it works, and I enjoy it. I hope we can share.

So please enjoy and comment freely.

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