Unforgettable Ch. 02

The only swimming Vittoria had ever done was in her mother's belly. And she didn't remember it, not one bit. Never in her life had she seen a tub of water big enough to bathe her large half elven body. All the elves around her were either small of stature or did not share their bathing facilities with the impoverished children of the forest. So, it was with common familiarity that Vittoria bathed in the rain. Those rains that came so rarely through the dense dark green canopy of leaves far above her head were all that she could rely on to clean all of her. Sometimes, the seasons and the gods made those rains pour down so hard that they brought thick leaves from high above raining down all the way to the forest floor. Vittoria imagined that snow might be something similar, just white instead of green.

On a particular morning that would change her life forever, the half elf bard was standing near a tall oak and staring up into the sheets of heavy raindrops that were tumbling down from above. Leaf after leaf fluttered like mad to graze across her cheeks, making her skin tingle and her lips smile. It was more than she could resist.

Peeling off her tunic, Vittoria ran her hands over her young, slightly grimy body. The rain came down harder, and felt so good. She unlaced her breeches and slid out of her leggings, kicking them into a pile to one side. They would be wet, too, with this continuous downpour; but no matter, because they were even dirtier than she was.

A quick glance confirmed that no one was around. Vittoria smiled to herself mischievously and began to wash herself all over. The water felt good, running in streams over her skin. She followed the trails with her fingertips over the curve of her hips, up her rib bones, and then exploratively over her breasts. She had grown so much these last few years, regardless of how little she found to eat. Her body was no longer the lean androgynous form of a child. Now, she had a woman's beginnings, her breasts becoming slowly rounder and protruding more than she could hide.

The boys had noticed. Vittoria giggled, opening her mouth as her fingertips dared to light over her hardening nipples. She imagined what they thought of her. They were forest elves with few manners, and it was common practice to whistle and give catcalls to pretty girls that wandered by. Surely Vittoria wasn't one of the prettiest they had seen. But she was taller, leaner than the other elves they might know. And her breasts were larger, her bottom rounder. There was little left of the gangly girl she had been. And there was so much of the woman she was only beginning to become.

Vittoria's fingers teased at her nipple's bumped flesh, making her gasp in her boldness. Would it be like this when a man touched her? Her hands found their way to her abdomen, sliding down over her hips. She looked down, eyes narrowed as she stared at the rounded curve of her pubis. What did men and women do that was so special? Did it feel like this?

Carefully, she began to touch her own sex. Her fingers began to explore the thin snowy curls that covered her mons. But soon, she could not resist exploring herself further. Her fingers pried open her swelling labia, pinching eagerly at the pouting lips.

There was a wetness between them that was nothing like the warm, soothing rain that fell all around her. It was thicker, slightly slimy. And yet, it was natural. She hadn't wet herself, this was not urine sliding along the tips of her fingers. Vittoria played with the newfound wetness, and trembled, her entire body reacting to the stimulus.

This was such a wonderful feeling. She had never experienced anything like it before. How much more pleasure could she draw forth from herself?

She slid a finger into her deepest crevice and gasped as it stretched her vaginal walls slightly. She withdrew it, and found that even that caused her pleasure. Then, she slid the finger back inside her warm, tight hole. Pulling it out again, she realized that it was the combined action of her finger going in and out that made her whole body shake.

It's not unlike the things men and women do in the shadows of the night, she thought to herself.

Vittoria leaned against the tree in front of her, forehead resting on her forearm as the other hand busied itself in her cunny. The one finger was soon soaked, drenched in her natural nectar and juices. Still the rain poured down. Vittoria shuddered, feeling her insides and guts suddenly tighten. But her finger wouldn't stop. The feelings it was eliciting from deep within her womb were so foreign, and yet so comforting. Addicting, almost. She couldn't stop, not until she had seen this act through to whatever end might come.

Her gasps were louder, almost melodic now. Her skin was hot, all parts of her tingling with anticipation. What she was anticipating, she didn't yet know; she could tell it would be something worth waiting for. But her finger couldn't wait. It plunged in and out of her cunt, deeper and deeper. She wriggled and writhed against her own hand, seeking something but not knowing what she sought.

Then, finally, her mind exploded at the same time as her senses. Her nerves were on fire. Her skin was shaking as if alive. And her finger tickled and plunged and continued to draw forth from her cries and grunts she had only heard from afar, from the houses and homes of those in love and duly wed.

Was this intimacy, then? This burning mind-searing feeling of satisfaction?

Vittoria tumbled down to the soaked grass of the forest floor, body curled up the one hand tucked still in between her thighs.

And that was how the guardsmen found her, once the rain had ceased.

"Come with us," they said firmly, averting their eyes when she sat up, naked and still wet.

"Why? I haven't done anything wrong. What do you want from me?"

"Are you Vittoria? The young bard?"

"Yes," she answered, hurriedly pulling on her soaked clothes. "What's this about?"

"We've got a command from one of the elder clerics to bring you in. He wants to see you personally. I suggest you come quickly, girl, and ask less questions."

Vittoria considered for a moment what her chances were of running. The forest was her home, the grass-covered floor beneath the tree city her territory. She could probably dash off quickly enough; but the firm grasp each of the guardsmen had on their staves made her think twice. They were likely paladins of some sort. They were high elves, not forest folk. And their serene, solemn faces showed they were very serious.

Whatever their purpose was, Vittoria would be a fool if she tried to escape. Dropping her head, she nodded and plodded along ahead of them, letting them point her way up to the ramp and lift that would take them up into the city. As the lift rose past the first, second and third levels of the city, she wondered if she was being framed. Had one of her fellow bards or usual companions gotten into trouble and given out her name instead of their own when questioned? It wouldn't be the first time. Luckily, the magistrate was a patient man who understood the troubles of the poor people that lived off the scraps of those he really meant to protect. He knew Vittoria on sight, and loved her music. If she sang nicely, he would let her go without any trouble.

She wriggled nervously in her greaves, her sex still tingling from her earlier playtime. She'd fallen asleep with her finger still twitching seductively inside her. And even the presence of the somber guards didn't take away what she had only recently discovered about her own body.

Up the lift went, to the fourth, then the fifth level of the city. Vittoria gulped. She had never been this high up, not once in all her life. There were no merchants this high up. Where other platforms in the city supported several small businesses bordered here and there by a gathering of one or two-room homes, these higher platforms belonged solely to those with vast wealth to their names. Whole families purchased such levels, and only they and their servants traveled this far up the trees. It was almost far enough upwards to reach the sky, Vittoria thought.

Finally the lift stopped. The guards nudged the half elf bard and she departed the lift. They didn't follow, only nodding to where she ought to go. She turned and looked at the foreboding hall before her. This was the home of one of the more elite forest elves, a man Vittoria knew by sight but not by name. It was to him that the people went to purchase or contract new homes in this city.

What was she doing here, she wondered.

Slowly, she walked forward. Then suddenly the house merchant came out of the double doors of his hall, smiling brightly at Vittoria and taking her by the arm as he gushed loudly over her presence.

"Ah, here she is! The bard you were mentioning, yes? This is the right one?"

He pulled her inside, smiling falsely all the while. He'd never been free with his coin, so Vittoria felt no amiability towards him whatsoever. But she didn't pull away as he lead her into his large, open offices.

To her amazement, the cleric she had sung to only a handful of days ago was standing there. As she entered the room, he turned, hands clasped behind his back. He eyed her, eyes narrowed, and then nodded.

Vittoria stopped short, tugging her arm free of the platform merchant. He grasped it firmly again, but didn't bring her any more forward. Then he turned slightly and put his lips near her ear, whispering through his tight, smiling lips.

"Whatever he wants, give it to him. He's about to purchase a very large piece of property. I have no idea what he wants with the likes of you, but if you know what's good for you, you'll smile, nod, and curtsey just the right way. When was the last time anyone of your ilk found their way this high up? Smile and nod, girl, smile and nod."

Vittoria gulped and blinked several times. The sight of the cleric from the ramp had caught her off guard, but she was soon back in her right senses.

"Pardon me, good sir, for my rudeness. I am Vittoria. If there is anything you require of me, please let me know."

With that, she curtseyed deeply and stayed, head bowed, immobilized as much with fear as with anticipation.

The merchant had released her arm and stepped away. It was only when her eyes took in the sight of the toes of a set of fine plate boots that she realized why. The cleric had moved at last and was now standing in front of her.

Carefully, Vittoria held her pose, frozen now from doing anything else. Much of her was screaming that she should flee, that she was about to be trapped into something she wanted no part of.

But then a finger, gently placed beneath her chin, was lifting her head up. As she let her chin be drawn upwards, she straightened, standing to her full height, back straight as a sword as she looked into the cleric's icy gaze.

Even standing poker-straight, Vittoria was dwarfed by the tall high elf's stature. He looked down his straight nose at her, his lips drawn tightly into a fractional smile that touched only the corners of his mouth.

"You are Vittoria," he said, repeating her name.

She nodded.

"I am Lucidus."

Vittoria gulped, trying to force herself to memorize the name. It was burned into her mind already, along with his face which she had never forgotten.

"Lord Medici!" the merchant was saying, now interrupting. "As requested, I had the girl brought directly from below. Perhaps you should want her bathed before you, um, touch her so?"

Vittoria shook her head slightly and the cleric released her chin from his fingers. She furrowed her brows and looked over at the forest elf, then back at the cleric.

"I am not for sale, m'lords," she said firmly.

She took a step back, but the cleric followed, touching her shoulder lightly.

"You misunderstand," he said softly.

He seemed to sigh as his fingertips lit onto her bare shoulder, touching her soft rain-washed skin.

"I'm afraid I do," she stuttered, looking from the cool touch of his hand back to his face.

She was not about to be sold by someone she didn't know to someone she didn't know any better. And the merchant was implying just that; it was an insult to Vittoria and no matter how handsome this cleric was, she was not a common trollop to be someone's mistress for any amount of coin. That was not what she aspired to be at all.

"You are a homeless child, yes?" the cleric asked her.

She nodded.

"I am new to the city. I come from nearby, of course, from the palace of the King and Queen. I will be living here though, for trade reasons."

Vittoria blinked, still not sure what any of this had to do with her. She could appreciate the man's touch on her skin, but she wasn't yet sure he realized she wasn't for sale.

"I am in need of a guide," came his deep voice.

When he spoke, it was smooth, like liquid metal being poured into a mold before becoming a sharp sword. It ran through her blood and cut through her brain, and made it hard to focus on what he was saying. But the way he paused before speaking anything made Vittoria think he was usually a man of few words. He was struggling, and needed her help.

Carefully, she took his hand in hers, lifting it from her skin and holding it like a merchant or trader might, in a handshake. The platform merchant nearby gasped, but the cleric just looked from Vittoria's small hand in his own up to her face. She smiled comfortingly.

"And so you seek someone to keep your house for you until you are settled in? And to help you become accustomed with our fine folk here in the tree city?"

Again the cleric attempted a smile, and it almost made it all the way to his mouth, almost.

Vittoria smiled brightly back, shaking the high elf's hand firmly.

"If you need a guide, I'm your girl," she said confidently.

"I can make your life...easier," Lucidus said.

Vittoria nodded. No doubt he could. He was one of the wealthiest people she had ever seen. His carefully picked jewels and armor gave away his upbringing and status. If she could finagle a deal with this guy, she could be set for life -- or at least until she had finished learning more bardic tales and traits. The bard guild cost pretty coins that Vittoria did not have. Whatever this cleric wished, she would almost surely be able to give without compromising her morals and beliefs.

"We'll discuss payment later. For now, how about you show me your new place, or where you're planning on living, and I'll tell you if this guy here is giving you a good deal or not!"

Again she smiled, leading the cleric over to the ramp. The platform merchant seemed flustered and was jabbering at one of his clerks to write up a deed to a piece of property right away. But before they could get it and a quill to the cleric, Vittoria had lead the high elf to the ramp, and they were lowering down, arm in arm.