Chapter 43: Spring (2/2)

“Enough! I—I told you that… Enough of this, we should, err, go to the banquet now!”

“So soon?”

“It’s already early afternoon. We can most definitely go now. And should. I’m hungry.”

And thirsty, Viv judged. She still accompanied the mage down and they left, following the main road to the edge of the forest, then to the same open ground where they had celebrated the arrival of the convoy. Arthur flew after them, but prefered to stick to the rooftops.

There, the same white tents and pavilions had been erected to welcome the revelers. Large platters of hearty food were spread on the long tables with breads and rolls garnished with nuts and fruits. Thin slices of cheese and cured meat provided fillings with egg-based sauces and small cakes overflowing from baskets. There were older villagers sitting around drinking a local watered beer while, in the distance, young men and women competed on the grass in games of strength and skill. The ambiance was already festive and the pair was led to the dais by an excited young guard. They plopped down at their assigned seats, on the edge, and looked on as young couples danced in circles. The music was provided by a few players using flutes and drums. Viv had to admit that they were pretty amazing.

The music reached them, an enticing gigue that made Viv smile. She realized that her companion did not share her enthusiasm and realized that a few of the older folks were casting hostile glances at them. Or more specifically, at Varska.

“Hey,” she said.

“What?”

“Didn’t you say you were hungry? Here, have some meat,”

Viv placed food on Varska’s platter. Most of the stuff was cold with roasts and cakes coming later, but it was still pretty good. Viv sneakily served a sweet fruit wine to her prey in tiny goblets that she often refilled.

“How about telling me about your trip?” Varska asked, eager for a distraction.

Viv started her grand tale. Varska gasped in shock at Koro’s directness, laughed at Arthur’s attempt to eat a creature fifty times her weight and wondered at the tribe’s welcome of one who spoke the ancient tongue. Viv mentioned the obelisks, the enchantments on them, and how she thought they were perhaps suboptimal.

Varska then went on a lecture on basic mana shaping and that yes, the working was inefficient, but it was also extremely resilient which was the main concern here. She went on to explain different configurations including some that could be used to power up Solfis with ambient mana, but would take a lot of time and effort to set up. Time and effort that Solfis had so far preferred to spend on her.

All the while, Viv nodded and made sure the fetching maiden had enough liquid fire to whet her whistle. A non sequitur led to Varska explaining that the spring was celebrated in one form or another across the entire continent to mark the beginning of the year, and the return of warm days. Helock was closer to the sea and Varska spoke of fantastic views from the tower tops. It made her a bit melancholic.

During that time, dignitaries came and went including Farren and Tom Manitaradin the banker. They were warm and welcoming, and they all congratulated the pair on killing the acolyte with minimum loss of life. Marruk came to skulk around the bun piles. As the sun was setting, Varska leaned and rested her pretty head on Viv’s shoulder. The curly strands fell on Viv’s dress and the smell of flowers tickled her nose.

Varska suddenly moved back and glared with slightly unfocused eyes.

“You… you are tricking me. Using alcohol!”

“And how, pray tell, am I tricking you?” answered Viv who had also grown tipsy.

“You are trying to, err, seduce me! I already told you it’s not good for you!”

“Is it working?”

Some measure of anguish filled the beautiful woman’s brown eyes. She looked young and lost without the mantle of authority she always wore in public.

“Damn you. Yes. You have no right, I’ve told you that I needed to keep you away.”

“Or people will assume that we’re together and I will be branded as a pariah as well?”

“Yesh.”

“Well, look around, that ship has sailed.”

Varska blinked and stared at the guards studiously avoiding her gaze, the closest villagers, now more numerous, suddenly very focused on their plate, and Farren two seats aside who coughed discreetly into his sleeve.

Viv leaned and whispered in the mage’s ear, eliciting the tiniest moan.

“You wanted to protect me and I find this very commendable, that whole sacrifice thing. But you forgot something very important.”

“What?” the other breathed.

“I decide if I value my social standing or us more. Not you. Me. I make that decision for myself. And I happen to fancy you quite a lot, and if anyone has complaints, I shall stand in trousers before Neriad’s temple so that they may line up and collectively kiss my ass. Now, little mage, do you want to feel alive with me?”

Varska turned and her eyes were a bit liquid. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally managing to gasp out words.

“Not the tower. I hate it there.”

“My place then, come.”

Viv dragged the mage through a knowing crowd and through deserted streets at a trot, only stopping once or twice for a deep kiss. They closed the distance to Viv’s door at a sprint.

Far behind, a mercenary watched the door close from a distance. He licked his lips in consideration, then froze when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

The man turned around. The last thing he saw was a massive fist before a titanic right hook sent him flying into a garbage pile.

Marruk massaged her knuckles, picked up her bun and munched it thoughtfully.

“Good eye,” she said.

“Squee.”

“Let’s find some more food.”

“Squee!”

Viv and Varska made love. Passionately at first, then with more patience and time spent exploring each other. Viv guided her partner with affection on the path to bliss. They teased and kissed and licked and caressed late into the night, far from the hum of the crowd but close enough for flutes and drums to provide an amusing background. They fell asleep in each other’s arms at dawn, happy and sated.

Golden light woke Viv up. The noon sun had warmed her bedroom to comfortable levels, and she could hear through the closed shutter the tweets of birds.

Varska lay asleep by her side. Her face was peaceful in a way that Viv had never seen before. Without the haughty mask of a court mage, she had an innocent look that radiated serenity. Even the brand on her cheek seemed less pronounced. It was more a scar and less a status of shame.

Varska had lifted up the heavy blanket to cover her nudity before she had fallen asleep. She had shifted during her slumber and now, only the modest intent remained. A dark nipple peeked from above embroidered cotton and the vale of her breasts could be seen, as well as the elegant curve of her back. Viv drank in the sight and passed a delicate finger along the smooth pale skin. It elicited a tiny moan.

Varska frowned and blinked herself awake.

Viv smiled.

“Oh,” the captured mage said.

“Oh!” she repeated. Viv waited, no longer masking her smugness. She almost expected complaints, or some affronted comment about how the canny, roguish witch had stolen her virtue. Instead, Varska searched the room with disbelief, finally returning her attention to Viv.

“Well, this is not how I expected my year to start.”

“Hmm hmm? Not too disappointed, I hope?”

Viv stretched in bed, sneakily letting the covers shift. Viv was comfortable with her body. She knew that she had won the genetic lottery. She had also worked hard at improving what nature had bestowed. She knew that it would make things interesting. And it did. Varska blushed and averted her eyes.

“S—stop that!”

“Why?”

Varska’s answer was covered by the abominable growl of a starving beast, a warcry as primitive as it was intimidating. It came from the mage’s stomach.

“No one to cook for you, uh?” Viv asked smugly.

“Quiet! I simply have not found the time to find a new housekeeper.”

“Don’t worry honey, you can eat my food and even wear my clothes.”

“I will certainly not wear those barbaric garments.”

“You could take ten minutes to dress up in your elaborate robe… or we could go out and eat now.”

“...”

“Rolls, nuts, fruits, meat jerky.”

“You have won. Do not be so insufferable about it.”

Viv lent her one of her super comfy inside dresses and underwear. They walked out of the bedroom into a council.

Both women froze. Marruk sat at the table with a grumpy face and pockets under her eyes. Irao was there as well, studiously using a nasty-looking dagger to carve a piece of wood. Solfis’ yellow orbs glinted from a corner.

“Squee.”

Arthur waddled to Viv and jumped on her with a flap of her wings.

“Hellooooo and a good morning to you too, sweety!”

“Squee!”

“Sorry, greetings, oh mighty beast of Kazar.”

“Squee.”

“Who… What are you all doing here?” Varska demanded, mortified.

“We live here,” Marruk grumbles. Irao nods wisely.

“Are you… a Hadal strain?”

Iroa nodded again, then refocused his attention on the sculpture.

“Errr. By Neriad’s buttocks, how thick are the walls here?”

“Not enough!” Marruk bellowed in an expression of pure frustration, “this is my half week off. You two go back to your tower. I need to sleep! SLEEP!”

The Kark stood up, bottomed up her cup of klod and returned to her room in sulky silence.

“It does not matter that the walls are thin because I can hear through walls anyway, so that’s fine,” Iroa helpfully added. He then also left.

“Very tactful, you lot,” Viv reproached with a glare.

“Apparently the only person with a hint of politeness here is the golem,” Varska spat as she approached the table. Platters of cold rolls and what look like leftovers raided from the spring party covered its surface. There was a steaming pot of klod and Varska picked up two cups to fill them. Someone had fried eggs recently. They were still warm.

//I turned off my hearing abilities to afford you some privacy.

“Very kind of you, Solfis,” Viv said.

//Besides, I can monitor your physical condition through your aura.

“... Excuse me?”

//Orgasm causes a strong reaction, akin to a trauma.

//I had to calibrate to understand the difference.

//Every time you mastur—

“Yayayaya I don’t want to know, I don’t want to knoooooow.”

“We are going back to the tower,” Vraska declared firmly. She grabbed a few pieces of stuffed bread and walked imperiously back to the bedroom.

Viv took the time to feed and care for Arthur, and the three left soon after. The streets of the city were mostly empty, and the few people out had the constipated air of those in the throes of a massive hangover. There were even a couple disheveled folks doing the walk of shame without much care, which led Viv to believe that the Enorian conservatism had not pervaded Kazar despite the city being nominally part of the kingdom. They arrived in the tower and Arthur once more climbed to the greenhouse. Varska drew a bath, then swatted Viv with a towel when she tried to join her. They eventually reconvened in the eating room, with Arthur pleased to have two people pet her scales.

“It appears that you have outplayed me. Well done,” the mage finally admitted. “I was under the impression that you were… inexperienced in the ways of the court.”

“First, you assumed wrong, and second, seduction transcends cultural barriers, at least to an extent. I was raised to be savvy. I just… the transfer here, it did something to me. I feel more raw. It’s more difficult to control or hide my emotions or to put on a mask.”

“The soul wound?”

“Yeah. Probably. Sometimes, I wonder if people in my world get those as well but never find out.”

Viv’s mood turned sour. Sometimes, life had a way of grinding people until they broke. She had noticed that long before joining the army and learning about PTSD.

Varska patted her hand.

“There, have some tea.”

“Thanks. I’ll ask Gogen about a replacement housekeeper. She’s some sort of professional cleaner or something. She might know someone.”

“Thank you. Now, finish your tea and join me downstairs. There is something I would like to show you.”

Varska left first. Viv finished her cup and found the mage’s dress and knickers properly folded by the door to her room. Viv smiled and knocked.