A Long Time from Home Ch. 22

A sound from the other room made me look in that direction. At first, I couldn't see anything in the darkness of the other room, but then I noticed four eyes looking at me. Nofret and Khenut, the two Bastet acolytes, were sitting in the other room and with the door having been smashed by the pirates, they had been able to see everything Sevina and I had done.

I sighed. It seemed like I kept forgetting thing today. I did send the Phoenician down to help the armsmen clean-up but had forgotten about the acolytes.

Fortunately, there shouldn't be any problems as there wasn't any nudity or sexual taboos in Kumet.

Seeing that I had noticed them, Nofret rose from the pillows they had been sleeping on and walked towards me. She was wearing a linen top that waved as her breasts moved and a skirt that draped beautifully over her legs. The sight instantly made my slightly deflated dick hard again.

As she entered the low light of the bedchamber, I noticed that Master Healer Sheng's healing lotion had worked its magic: The scars were gone, leaving smooth unblemished skin, and revealing that the acolyte was a good-looking young woman, with the coppery tan most Egyptians had.

She had even found time to shave her head and apply a little bit of make-up.

Instead of apologizing as some might have done, she stopped in the doorway and quietly asked, "Who are you really? Are you a personification of Maahes?" as she nodded towards a small alabaster statue of a lion on the bedside table.

According to the mythology of Kumet, Maahes was the son of the sun god Ra with the cat goddess Bastet (Known as Sekhmet in Upper Kumet) and was one of the many Kumetian war-gods, as well as being a protector god and god of knives.

"No, I'm just a merchant." I said, as I walked over to a chair to sit down. Despite our civil conversation, my dick was still hard and Savina's juices reflected the light from the oil lamps, making it shine in the semi-darkness. "Why do you ask?"

Her eyes left my dick and returned to my face. "You move as graceful as a cat and excel in fighting with knives, using them to protect other people. You have lotions that works like Bastet herself had made them and you're obviously well versed in the art of sharing pleasure." She paused. "All signs of Maahes."

With a shrug, I repeated. "As I said, I'm just a merchant."

Nofret studied me for a few heartbeats, but then smiled with a nod and said, "I think you have been sent by the goddess to rescue me and my sister without you knowing it..." She walked closer while she talked and there was a seductiveness in her steps and voice, that hadn't been there a moment before. "and I don't argue with my Goddess."

She stopped right before me and before I had the chance to say anything, she kissed me. It was a hungry, lustful kiss and as our tongue danced, a hand was sliding around the back of my head to tangle in my hair. The other hand reached down to touch my cock, fingers sliding down the still wet shaft, caressing it.

Then she broke the kiss, whispering. "I need to have you."

The soft whisper prompted me into action, and I slid a hand over her warm smooth skin of her legs, feeling their firm softness as I followed the inner thigh, going upwards.

Nofret moaned softly as she spread her leg to grant me better access. Her mouth returned to my mouth, kissing me hard as she started stroking my dick.

My fingers found her shaved pussy, making her moan into my mouth. She was so wet she was almost dripping, getting my finger nice and slippery. Apparently, seeing me sharing pleasure with Sevina had really turned her on.

Nofret gave a little shudder when I slid my finger in between the lips of her pussy, circling the opening a few times, before I slowly inserted a finger in her, enjoying the feeling of the moist warm tunnel even as she squeezed and clenched around me.

My thumb found her love-pearl, adding to her pleasure as I added another finger and found the pleasure zone just behind the pubic bone.

With a groan she let go of my dick and straightened, her eyes closed in pleasure caused by the fingers inside her.

"Yes!" she whispered breathlessly, moving her hips to meet my fingers. "Goddess, it's good!"

"Take your top off and I'll make it even better." I promised with a smile.

Two heartbeats later, the thin linen top was gone, revealing a pair of nicely rounded breasts, with dark nipples that begged to be licked. Since she was standing up, her breasts were now in front of my head, so I just leaned in and took one of those tempting hard nipples into my mouth, nibbling and licking.

She let out a loud low groan and put an arm around me, clutching my head to her breast, her hips starting to rock just slightly to the rhythm of my hand.

It didn't take too long before Nofrets's breathing started coming in short little breaths.

Still licking and nibbling her breasts, I put my other arm around her, groping her firm butt. Her whole body tensed up and when I suddenly jammed my two fingers into her while using the thump on her love-pearl, she came in an orgasm that wracked her body. Her arm around my head tightened its grip as she fought to stay on her feet, helped by my equally tight grip on her butt.

Concentrating on absorbing the Vis, I kept fingering her through her orgasm until I sensed that she had enough.

Now it was my turn.

She was still dizzy from her climax, when I stood up, dragged her to the wall and placed her on my travel trunk, with me standing between her legs. The height of the trunk was perfect for what I had in mind and judging from the smile on her face, Nofret totally agreed, as she leaned back against the wall and lifted her legs.

A few heartbeats later, I positioned the head of my dick at the slippery entrance of her pussy and pressed forward, sinking my rock-hard dick into her wet pussy.

"Oh yes!" Nofret groaned and a big smile spread across her face as she wrapped her legs around my back. The feeling of having my cock slide inside her was wonderful. I pulled out a bit, and then slid it back in. Little by little, I started stroking in and out faster and faster.

Nofret groaned with pleasure as I slammed into her, using her legs to signal that she wanted it hard and fast. Every time I tried to slow down, her strong legs pulled me in, leaving me little choice but to continue.

I wouldn't last long, and it must have shown on my face, because suddenly Nofret gasped. "Tell... me... when... you're... about... to... come."

I nodded and groaned as her inner walls twisted and pulsed around my dick.

A moment later, she came with a loud groan, grinding herself against me as hard and fast as she could.

It took all my self-discipline not to come right then and there, but I held out until her orgasm faded, before through clenched teeth I said, "I'm coming."

Hurriedly, Nofret removed her legs from me and a moment later, she was kneeling on the floor with my dick in her mouth. Soft lips encased the head, sucking lightly while her tongue played, and her hands stroked the shaft. Unlike Sevina, the Kumetian was really good and it was heavenly, but short.

She was too good, and I felt my hips starting to move in involuntarily little twitches. With a groan, I came in her mouth. She moaned slightly as she drank it all, continuing to use her mouth and hands, until I became too sensitive and pulled away.

"That was fantastic!" She said as she stood up with a slightly dazed expression on her face.

"Yes, it was." I agreed and yawned. "I'm sorry, but now I really need to get some sleep."

"Yes, Sir. Sleep well." Flashing me a smile, she turned around and walked out, remembering to pick up her linen top from the floor on the way.

Even with the amount of Vis I had absorbed, I was tired to the bone, so I walked over to the bed, moved Sevina to the side and lay down to sleep.

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Wilusa/Troia, Anatolia (Modern Turkey). Between 1223 and 1220 BC.

Five months later, I was putting the last touches on yet another bronze sword, when Varro materialized in a corner of the old stable, I was using as a workshop. As he had warned me before he arrived, I wasn't really surprised and it's always nice to see a familiar face.

He did his usual casual wave as a greeting and walked closer, smiling as he saw what I was doing. "Shouldn't you be doing something more constructive than making inferior weapons?"

"I would love to, but the weather doesn't allow it." I said with a sigh and held the sword up, so I could inspect its edge. It needed a little refinement, but it was nearly there. Then I looked at Varro again. "We could trade places. I go back to Arcem and teach, and you stay here instead of me."

"In your dreams." He replied with a snort. "You're better at working with humans than I'll ever be, so you're stuck with the job of investigating the Pulcher family outside Baylon."

The day after the attack on Alashiya, I had done a deeper reading of Paula Flavia Pulcher, the human fire mage, and while she didn't know much about the Pulcher family's trading, the reading had confirmed that the family had a stronghold on an island. As trading with the humans was supposed to happen only through the colonies, having a stronghold was illegal and strong evidence against the Pulcher family... if we could find it.

Unfortunately, there were hundreds of islands in the sea here and as none of the captains or navigators had survived, I had spent a week reading the minds of the few surviving pirates in an effort to get a location.

As luck would have it, several of the pirates had been to the island and from their memories, I got a general idea of the area, which was near Wilusa (or Troia as some people called it), and mind images of how the stronghold looked.

That was as close as I could get, so when Varro returned with a small group of trainees and orders from the Dominus Grande to find the stronghold, I had put Nofret, Khenut and Batnoam on a ship to Tyre (as I had promised) and went to work.

The merchant identity was too good to let go, so I loaded the pirate loot onto two of the captured ships, crewed with Baylon-born sailors and sailed north towards Wilusa.

Once there, I set up shop and sent the trainees out on the two ships, so they could search the islands under the guise of looking for trade, while I stayed in Wilusa to see if I could find someone with connection to the Pulcher family there.

It didn't go according to plan. Summer was over and with autumn came strong winds that made it almost impossible to navigate the small islands without violently meeting a rocky coast.

Consequently, the two ships were now harboured on two different islands, while the crews took a break, and the trainees was back in Arcem Discendi for more training.

I wished I could do the same, but as I was still playing the part of a merchant, I couldn't just disappear and return in the spring without people wondering where I had been.

So, I stayed here in the city, patiently waiting for spring to turn into early summer.

"Anyway..." said Varro and held up a bag. "I only came by to give you this."

Surprised, I lay down the sword and took the offered bag. Inside there was a bunch of Phoenician Shekels: A silver bar that was widely used for trading all over this part of the world.

"It's from the Old Man. He thought you would be short on wares by now."

Now it was my turn to snort. The loot we had taken from the so-called pirates on Alashiya had included linen, papyrus, silver, copper, bronze, perfume, oils, pearls, ivory, and several barrels of tin. Added to that was the 31 swords, 43 daggers and 10 bows that had been their weapons. It might not be a king's ransom, but it might just be enough for a minor noble and even after having stayed here all winter, I still had most of it left. "I'm not that bad at trading."

Varro chuckled at my snort. "I know, but I don't argue with my commanding officer."

"Wise of you."

He nodded sagely. "I'm like that... Oh, you remember we agreed that the Hittites weren't going to be pleased with the pirate scheme?" He waited for my nod and then continued. "King Tudhaliya's fleet was sent on a punitive expedition and Alashiya now have a new king."

"Not really surprising. They need a lot of copper for bronze weapons."

"Yeah." Varro agreed. "It seems like ...."

The sound of voices reached us and made Varro stop talking. Wordlessly, he waved a quick goodbye as he retreated into the shadows and disappeared just as suddenly as he had arrived, using a silent Vis power, instead of his usual magic.

As soon as he was gone, I turned towards the doorway, as one of my armsmen come to inform me, that we had visitors. I gestured to him to let the visitors in and a moment later, a giant of a man opened the door and walked inside, looking around with watchful eyes.

The sheer size of him marked him as belonging to one of the northern steppe people, but even then, he was big. Some of the tallest of their nobles was about my height, which is tall for a human, but this guy was about the same size as Varro and just as wide.

Like most other steppe people, he was dressed in linen clothing with an outer layer of leather and fur. He had a shield on his back, but curiously, he appeared to be unarmed. It took me a moment to realize, that he was wet, despite the dry weather outside, and he was limping slightly.

As soon as he saw me, he stopped and held up his right hand to show he didn't have a weapon in it. "Greetings good sir. We're looking to speak with Tazkul of Dilmun."

Instead of the Hittite language I had been expecting, he was speaking Assyrian or at least the version of Assyrian that was commonly used as a trade language further south.

"I'm Tazkul. How can I help you?" I asked in the same tongue.

"I'm Ligish of Aea." He introduced himself. "We're in need of weapons and tin. Can you supply that?"

"For the right price, yes."

He nodded and said something in a language I didn't recognize. A few heartbeats later, a woman entered the room. She was dressed in a finely crafted leather armor and somewhat to my surprise, she had a sword by her side, which was unusual for this part of the world, where it was usually only men that carried weapons.

She was also tall for women of this area. Not Baylon tall, but she was about the same size as most of the men around here. Another curious thing was the finely crafted bronze headband she wore. Most likely some kind of jewellery, which, along with her height, marked her as a noble. She was also good looking, with light brown hair, a finely chiselled face, and grey eyes.

The two of them spoke quietly for a few moments. Then Ligish turned back to me. "We have silver to trade."

"Excellent." I replied with a nod and gestured towards to other door in the barn, which led into the lower part of the two-story building I was using as a base. "Why don't we go somewhere warmer and talk it over?"

Ligish translated what I had said, but I noticed the woman eying the bronze sword I had been working on when Varro had arrived. It was still laying on the workbench, glittering dimly in the low light from the two lamps. Then she nodded to the giant and said something.

"We have two more people outside. Can we bring them inside as well?" asked the giant.

"If it's only two."

A little while later, we were all inside the warm house. The two additional people had turned out to be two more women. One old, one young and both were hurt and soaked. Not that they were bleeding, but the older one had to be supported by the headband-clad woman, while Ligish carefully lifted the younger one and carried her inside.

None of them had any luggage to speak of and pieces started to fall into place. Wet from head to feet, hurt and without belongings, weapons or horses, they had cleanly suffered a major mishap of some kind and the clues pointed to a shipwreck.

Located at the coast by the Thracian Sea, just at the start of the Strait of Dardanus, Wilusa was perfectly situated as a middle ground for long distance trade as reflected by the wares offered on the marked. Exotic goods such as oils, perfume, ebony, and ivory were sold side by side with jewellery, metal and glass ingots, as well as bronze weapons and tools. Some of it was supplied by Phoenician ships, but the Hittites came here as well, trading metals and other goods for the furs and ambers from the tall steppe people like the ones that had just arrived at my door.

However, to get here, people from the north had to cross the Grey Sea, sail through the narrow strait by Lygos, cross the Marble Lake and finally sail through the Strait of Dardanus.

In summer, this journey was fairly safe and easy, but at any other time, it could be treasonous.

The only reasons I could think of to travel it now was either that they desperately needed something or simply wanted better prices for their goods.

"What is wrong with the Lady?" I inquired, when one of my two armsmen had giving me a cup of steaming hot tea. With seven people in the room, it was somewhat crowded, but I didn't want to give the four newcomers the impression, that I was an easy target. Not that I expected a fight. The older of the women had been placed in a chair, while the younger, but wounded one, was laying on one of the armsmen's bed.

Ligish looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "A blow to the side, some broken ribs. She'll be ok."

"That happened when your ship went down?"

His expression went from curious to suspicious in a heartbeat. "How do you know about that?"

That made me chuckle. "You're all wearing damp clothes, none of you have any heavy objects or weapons and most of you are hurt. Not really that hard to guess."

Ligish thought it over for a moment and nodded. "You're right. The ... ladies thought that they could get good prices for their goods if they were here early in the year." He grimaced and explained that they had been hit by a hard crosswind as they cleared the Strait of Dardanus. The wind had driven the ship towards the shore and before they knew what happened, rocks had torn a hole in the ship. It quickly sank and only the four of them managed to get to safety.

Taking whatever was left, they had walked the short way to the city and since unarmed people were easy targets, the first thing they had wanted to buy was weapons. When they had asked if someone sold good quality swords, the person asked had directed them to me.

The most surprising part of the tale was that they were from two different areas, with Ligish coming from the city of Aea, while the women came from a city or area known as Azzi.

Ligish had wintered in their city and in return had agreed to go with them to Wilusa as their translator, since none of the women spoke Assyrian.

"Just a warning." He finished. "The women from Azzi are called Antianeirai by the Yauna... It means 'equivalent to men' and they got it because the woman from Azzi fight men on the battlefield. They're not meek women."

"I can deal with that." I said drily and looked over, as the woman on the bed coughed violently. The woman with the headband helped her, but when the coughing fit was over, she said something to Ligish in a worried tone of voice.

He replied, also sounding worried and the two of them talked for a little while, before he turned towards me. "We have bad luck. Toxophone, the woman on the bed, is coughing blood. She was thrown into a rock by the current."

I nodded slowly. They did indeed have bad luck. Especially if the woman had been hit so hard, that she had broken ribs and a penetrated lung. In my experience, that usually led to lung infections and death within weeks.

"We will go to the temple in the morning." He said with hope in his voice. "Maybe their healers can help."

"If the Gods will." I answered, but privately I doubted they could do much. The healers at the temple were far from being as skilful as those in Kumet or Lescare, and when it came to wounds inside the body, any healing done by them was likely to fail.