Sacrifice Ch. 04

He held himself over her with his elbows to keep from crushing her and she could hear him panting harshly in the wake of his release. She glanced up at his face to find his eyes still closed.

She breathed a sigh a relief and turned her face away to wipe at an errant tear before he saw it. But it wasn't her hand that wiped it away. She looked up at him to find him frowning back.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" His voice was rough, still horse with passion and exertion.

Calliope turned away and expelled a harsh breath, running the back of her hand against her eyes before swallowing hard and turning back to face him. He was still frowning...and for some reason, the combination of that frown, the tightness in her chest, the throbbing of her sex, and the feel of their slick bodies still pressed together even as his even slicker cock slowly softened and slid wetly from her as he pulled away...well it all seemed so strange and overwhelming to her just then that ...she laughed.

Not hard or loudly, just a soft, gasping chuckle. His frown of concern turned to one of confusion, which didn't help the bout of mirth, and she wiped the dampness from her eyes and took his face in her hands with a shaky smile.

"Woman, you've gone mad." He rumbled softly.

Still laughing she nodded and pulled his face down to hers to plant a soft kiss on his parted lips. "Yes...it would seem that I have," she murmured back. She sighed and shook her head with a pained expression. "I don't know what came over me, I'm fine...I just..." She huffed out a sigh. What was wrong with her?

His expression cleared and he gave her a little smile of his own. "Are you going to get in a tizzy again and try to run off like the last time?" His smile twisted a little into a smirk.

She pushed at his shoulders lightly and smirked back when he didn't budge in the slightest. "Doesn't look like I'll be able to. A vicious, fanged beast seems to be blocking my path."

He sighed theatrically. The sight made her laugh in earnest. It was such an absurd thing, this huge, horned, and yes, fanged giant engaging in melodrama...and with her laughing watery eyed beneath him...completely absurd. Even without the sweating, sticky, and thoroughly sated bodies thrown into the mix.

"I suppose I'm stuck with an annoying, teary wench all over again." His eyes rolled heaven ward as if praying for deliverance. "The gods give me strength." He muttered. She slapped his chest, still laughing lowly.

"Get off me you brute."

He laughed heartily and complied, rolling onto his back. She rose with a groan and was about to pull herself to her feet to clean herself up when his arm caught her about the waist and pulled her down on top of him. She wriggled to get free, but it was useless. There was no escaping that grip. Even one of his arms was enough to encase her waist and keep her pinned. She poked at the thick bicep which pressed against her ribs. Instead of giving, it flexed and crushed her tighter against him.

She scrunched her nose and pursed her lips at him in annoyance until his other hand came up and chucked her chin, and he slid the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. She softened against him and gave in with a sigh, propping herself up on his chest with one arm and adjusted so that she was leaning against him instead of sprawled across in every which way.

"You're fine then, truly?" He wasn't frowning but his expression was serious. She nodded and leaned froward to kiss him lightly.

"Yes. I'm fine. Really. I just....I don't know." She shrugged embarrassed, but the arm around her waist kept her from turning or pulling away. "I guess I just got a little...emotional...or something" she added lamely. She hadn't meant to say that, but the way he was looking at her..well it just came out on its own. It felt strange saying that...but it felt like the truth as well, and an uncomfortable truth at that. She flushed and chuckled nervously. "I guess I'm just a little mad, as you said." He stared at her with those intense fiery eyes and her stomach clenched as the silent seconds started to drag on.

To her relief his lips finally twitched into a smile. "Just my luck. Twenty girls to choose from and I get stuck with the crazy one," he drawled, tightening his grip and pulling her a little closer.

She arched a brow at him, pleased that they had moved away from awkward admissions and back into the much safer and familiar realm of teasing one another. "Well Sir, you know what they say..."

"Hmmm...what is it they say?"

She closed a little more of the gap, until her she could feel his breath against her lips and fought to control her own twitching smirk. "If the dress fits..."

He laughed and his arm flexed around her again, squeezing briefly. He threaded a hand in her hair and tilted her face up to his so that he could see her eyes. He grinned and his eyes darkened, sending a shiver up her spine. "If the dress fits?" His brow arched suggestively and the shiver coalesced somewhere in the pit of her stomach and spread out into the rest of her in an all out shudder.

"Wear it?" She had meant it to be taunting and flippant, but her words came out as a tremulous whisper instead.

He let out that low purring growl which never failed to tie her stomach in knots and his fingers tightened in her hair, tilting her head back so that the length of her neck was exposed to the heat of his mouth.

"What a novel idea," he rumbled in a low tone against the base of her throat, "I think I shall." He released her hair only to pull her across his body and onto the skins beside him.

She managed to get out a broken "O-oh" of surprise and nothing more before finding herself on her back with her wrists over her head wrapped in one massive fist and the rest of her trapped under his equally massive body. His semi-hard cock rubbed against her thigh as he reached down and hitched her leg up against his hip, forcing her open beneath him. She managed another inarticulate stutter and glanced down between their bodies.

He leaned in and brushed the edge of her ear with his lips. "What's wrong? Afraid I'll wear it out?" Though he taunted her, his voice was hardly more than a deep growl. She wanted to respond with something clever, but she got stuck on "oh god" as he hooked her thigh over his forearm and thrust back inside of her swollen but still receptive channel. He paused, buried oh so deeply in her quivering, sensitive flesh, and leaned in again and pressed his mouth to her ear.

"I don't think we can...but it gives us something to aim for, doesn't it?"

He chuckled, but the soft sound was soon lost beneath her breathy cries.

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"I have to go back again."

Calliope started, and looked up from her washing. Thelios was standing in the door way, filling it with his impressive bulk. She frowned at him.

"Go back?" He nodded. "So soon? But...you just got home?" She let the plate in her hand slip back into the tub of water and turned to face him as she dried her hands on the towel hanging from her belt. He stepped into the room with a small smile, and folded his arms across his chest, mimicking the stance she'd taken. She in turn uncrossed them self consciously and rested her hands on her hips instead, cocking her head at him as she waited for an answer. He just smiled that odd smile. "Well?" She prompted.

His smile widened just enough for the points of his fangs to show. "I only came...home, to tell you I would have to be away for some time, and, before you ask, I'm not sure for how long."

She was able to school her features enough to hide her reaction, but she couldn't stop the tightening in her gut and throat. "So...no idea at all?" He simply smiled at her again. She was starting to get irritated.

"Why on earth are you smiling at me like that? This isn't funny."

"No, it's not." He agreed, his smile dimming and falling slowly into a frown. "It's damned inconvenient is what it is, but it can't be helped for now." He huffed out a sigh. "We have three days, and at sunrise on the fourth, we leave. You and Demitri will go by boat and I'll meet you at our destination." He paused and looked her up and down thoughtfully, completely and casually ignoring her look of shock as only he could. "Dress nice." he grunted before he turned and made to leave.

But he didn't quite make it, and paused in the door way once more and looked back over his shoulder. "And I don't mean the gold dress." He added giving her an unusually stern look, before turning away once more and denying her the opportunity to question him further.

Calliope loosened her rag from her belt and tossed it on the edge of the wash tub, shaking her head at the grayish water. Such a strange, infuriating man. But...he was taking her with him? The corner of her mouth twitched up...then down again. What did he mean by not wanting her to bring the gold dress? It didn't matter, she wouldn't have anyway...but it was odd that he should mention it.

She shrugged. "Mine," she murmured to the piece pottery she'd rescued from the dish water, "is not to question why." She rinsed the plate, and dried it with the raggedy towel, and slid it into place among its fellows on the shelf above her. "At least not until he's had enough wine" she amended with a small smile and flicked out her drying cloth to catch and hang from its little hook.

She eyed the even stacks of plates and bowls along the overhead shelf critically, nodded her approval, then turned and headed to her room, considering what constituted 'dress nice' in the mind of a grey skinned giant who spent the vast majority of his day in a state of near undress. "Not the gold one, at least." Or its fellows, she surmised.

A sudden thought occurred to her which made her freeze in the door way.

"Whose going to look after the sheep?"

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The day was clear and air had a peculiar sharpness to it which encouraged the use of a light cloak. The sharpness was made all the more poignant by the brisk wind whipping up from the sea. Calliope cursed again the deceptive sun which shone so brilliantly overhead, but seemed to give precious little warmth...at least not enough to counter the native chill of the morning's air. She wrapped her cloak tighter about her shoulders and scanned the field blow the rock-studded ridge. When she finally spotted what she was looking for, a grin spread quickly over her face.

She waved and let out a laugh when the figure waved tentatively back, the surprise on his face evident even from where she stood.

As she picked her way down the side of the ridge, sliding and skidding over the small loose stones, the young shepherd made his way toward her. His youth became evident the nearer he approached. He didn't look a day over 14 winters, and that was a generous surmise. She waved again as they came within speaking distance.

"Hello there. It was you I saw earlier, wasn't it?"

The boy blinked and nodded. His arms hung limp at his sides, one clutching a long staff. She couldn't help but notice the strength of his grip was slowly turning his knuckles white. His expression made his uncertainty more than evident as well. "Please," she continued, "don't be frightened."

He blinked. "How...how is it...why are you on the beasts land?"

She blinked back. "Oh, yes, ah...well," she cleared her throat, "I'm one of his servants." In her haste and her eagerness to get on with her business, she had forgotten the awkwardness of her position, but now that she'd recognized it, she was determined to push past it. She straightened her shoulders and pasted a warm smile on her face. "I don't know if you noticed, but I have, on occasion, tended my lord's flock for him." she paused to allow him time to respond. He only stared.

"Well," she continued staunchly, "I'm not going to be able to for a while, and was wondering if you might consider taking them on."

His eyes widened, and she pushed forward before he could protest. "I wouldn't expect you to do it for free...or course. I could pay you. In coin, or in sheep if you prefer. I know there are several who are due to deliver...to start I would offer you any lamb which is born in your care...of either sex, and one adult for each week we're gone...would that be satisfactory? Or would you offer some other price? Either way I'm afraid my time is short, and would know your answer relatively soon." She paused and sucked in a long breath, then watched him with hopeful eyes.

It took him some time, but eventually he managed to sputter out a response. It wasn't encouraging.

"W-What?" He gasped, staring at her as if she were the one with the horns. She sighed and mentally counted to five to compose herself. It wasn't the boy's fault after all, seeing as how unsettling this must be for him.

"I had thought," she smile, "that since your land boarders ours...or the master's, rather, that you might not find it too difficult to take them on. You'd be welcome to use these graze lands for your flock as well of course while you do so." He held up a hand to stop her.

"I...yes...I mean, that's a more than a fair offer... but, ah, I..."

"I know. It's a little strange isn't it?" She chuckled. "You should try living with him." She shook her head when fear replaced confusion in his eyes. "I don't mean that it's frightening or the like...just...occasionally strange. And you wouldn't have to meet him." That seemed to ease his anxiety somewhat.

"Ah...I suppose I could." He looked at his feet with a frown and rubbed the back of his neck. He took a deep breath, looked up, and plastered on his own smile, thrusting a hand out toward her. "Eschelus, son of Caemon. Nice to meet you miss..."

She grinned and took his offered hand. "Calliope. Just Calliope."

"Like the muse? Do you sing?"

"Yes. Just like that. And no, I don't."

His smile turned lopsided and he flushed. "You hear that a lot don't you."

"You have no idea....and before you ask, my skill with the lyra is only fair to middling. Unfortunate really."

"Well...if you tend sheep you should at least be handy with the pipes, yes?"

"When sheep fly my friend."

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Calliope returned to the cavern in one of the better moods she'd ever been in. Not only had her new acquaintance agreed to watch the flock, but even offered to teach her to sheer the little beasties when she returned. She'd learned to wash and pull and spin the yarn from her mother, essentially everything which came after the sheering, but not that vital step of actually getting the stuff off the sheep in the first place. Once she did she could create a new source of income...one that didn't involve sacrifices.

Of course she hadn't mentioned the idea to anyone yet, as she was hoping to put it to work first, to make sure it was really and truly a profitable course...but she was hopeful. Thelios didn't seem to care where his money came from, and if it meant not having to deal with people, which seemed his preference, then so much the better. Right?

Maybe. She was still cautious, and even though he treated her well and was amused by a little playful insubordination from time to time...her position was still that of a slave, and she was not anxious for that first moment where she crossed the invisible line and overstepped her bounds.

The fact was, she liked pleasing him. It wasn't hard, and he tended to please right back. The thought of angering or disappointing him didn't sit terribly well with her, and it was not fear that drove that desire or fueled her anxiety. Not of him at any rate. The thought of him really hurting her...maliciously and intentionally was, well, unthinkable.

Her thoughts dampened her mood slightly, but only until she saw Demitri hauling a chest into the caverns entrance and was reminded of the trip they would shortly be taking. Nerves warred with excitement as her mind began envisioning the wondrous sights she might soon see. Where were they going? Who or what would she see?

"Hey. You packed yet?" Demitri called gruffly, pulling her from her distraction.

"Ah, yes, mostly."

"Well hurry up, I want to get everything together as soon as we can. I don't intend to be tapping my toes while you scurry around looking for jewelry or shoes."

She arched a brow at him. "Demitri, do I honestly seem like the sort of woman who scurries or worries about what jewels she should wear?" She frowned as another thought followed on the heels of the last. "Can I ask you something?" He shrugged which she had learned to translate as permission. "He told me to dress nicely, but not to wear the gold dress...do you know what he might have been getting at?"

"Hell if I know." He paused though, rethinking the obviously instinctive answer. "Well...no, I don't know. Sounds like he don't want you showing off too much though. Too much skin or whatever. Makes sense. I was only half joking when I told that fellow you liked so much that he was a jealous sort. Doesn't happen often, but he can get possessive...and I imagine it'd be more so with you than with nick-knacks. So...he meant just what he said I imagine. "

She frowned. "He wouldn't be expected to ...share...would he?"

"If you're asking if he'd pass you around, I sincerely doubt it. And besides, whether they expect something or not doesn't hold too much water for him. In my experience, he could give a damn what the others want or expect of him. You'll see what I mean." He smirked. "He tends to rub them the wrong way, and I suspect he does it on purpose just for the pleasure of watching them squirm."

"Well that's not very polite."

He chuckled. "No darlin', I don't expect it is. And I'm sure he's quite fine with that."

"So. Nice clothes, no skin...should I keep to myself?"

"Probably...but it don't matter too much. I suspect that so long as you don't do anything foolish...which I know you're not inclined to anyway, then you'll be just fine. There isn't much to this really. Don't be surprised if the whole experience is a bit of a let down. Or maybe not. You might find it alright, but those people don't really do it for me, you know? One or two of the regular type servants aren't bad...but those women..."

Now her curiosity was really peaked. The infamous women...the fabled nymphs...her stomach twisted uncomfortably. "What about them?"

"Remember what you said about women being 'protectors of the status quo?'" She started, then smiled at the remembrance, then laughed.

"I can't believe you remember that."

"Yeah, well...remember my answer to it?" She flushed and chuckled.

"How could I forget."

"Well...they're pretty much just that."

She cleared her throat. "Judging..."

"--Bitches."

"Right." the twisting in her stomach settled into something like a nauseating lump and she sighed. "Sounds delightful."

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The trip thus far had been uneventful. Painfully uneventful.

The first day was beautiful. The sky was clear, the seas placid, and the breeze gentle. Nothing but gleaming azure for as far as the eye could see, and it was all that could be seen once the land had become nothing but a distant gray shadow.

The second verse was much the same as the first...and the third...and fourth...

To be fair they did come across islands, and distant shores could be spotted, but they never went close enough for them to be anything more than green-gray masses of non-sea and thus broke up the monotony in only the most nominal of ways.

That, she admitted looking out over the rail of the small ship and down into the hypnotic swelling and falling of the undulating waters, wouldn't really be that bad if the men weren't avoiding her like she were some sort of plague carrier. She cast a glance over her shoulder to where the handful of crew were sitting and chatting while ladling out food and flat bread from a small clay oven. The few eyes that had been turned in her direction snapped immediately away, causing her to sigh and gnaw absently at the inside of her bottom lip. No one was rude, but any attempt to engage them was met with one word answers and pardons as the engagee made their escape. So she stopped trying.