After the Ninth Bell

Encouraged by Daniel's gentle hands, Freya set up a rhythmic motion, letting out little grunts of delight each time her buttocks reached his thighs. If only Triss could see her now! She began to feel as she had done the first time she had fingered herself; something rising and building within her. Slender hands slipped around her waist and moved up to caress her breasts. A low, sultry voice in her ear. "Tell the nice man what you want, Freya. Tell him you deepest desire."

Daniel began to push against her as he had done to Drusilla. Emboldened, she thought hard, going through her words in her mind as she rode him. She was getting close. "Oh fuck me you dirty fucking crabbit, making me fucking come. Fuck my cunt until I scream."

He did.

Drusilla pulled Freya's head back and clamped her lips to the girl's. She came, screaming into Drusilla's open mouth as the woman pinched her nipples, sending shockwaves through her. Daniel was ramming into her, his big hands gripping her hips, pulling her down hard as he rode up. He looked at her beautiful face contorted in absolute ecstasy and it was all he could do to hold on himself. But he knew there was one more thing Dru wanted to see.

As Freya pulled away from Drusilla, sobbing for air, her chest heaving, he slowed. He felt her muscles grip down on him as she ground out one last racking orgasm. He groaned in pleasure. No virgin should be as good as this. Drusilla was right - this was going to be a very special girl indeed.

She put her forehead against his and moved down to kiss him. "Thank you Daniel. I shall remember my deflowering until my dying day!"

Between Drusilla and Daniel, they lifted her off his still rock hard erection. There were traces of blood on it from her defloration. Drusilla produced a damp towel and cleaned him off. She gestured to Freya with an open hand. The girl took the huge cock in her small hand and stroked it. It felt so hard, so hot, so beautiful. Daniel knew he had little left. First Drusilla and now this exquisite young girl had left him on the brink.

Guided by a gentle hand on the back of her head, Freya slowly moved towards the head of Daniel's cock, her rosebud mouth opening as she got closer. He could feel her hot breath on his glans and groaned as she closed her lips around it. He knew from the first instant that the girl was a natural.

She stroked, nibbled, licked and sucked. From the first touch of her tongue on the velvety head, she was hooked. She held her mouth open over the head, breathing on it before closing down and sucking gently. Drusilla came ever closer. She had been expecting to show the girl some moves but she had no need. Daniel came as they worked their way up each side of his shaft, lips and tongues mirroring each other as they got higher and higher before meeting at the top.

Freya felt the pulse in his cock as her lips worked, but she had no time to accept her reward. She felt the now familiar lurch in her stomach and was ripped backwards as the salty white jet burst forth hitting Drusilla on the cheek, chin and shoulders.

Drusilla held out her hand and Freya, seemingly in mid-air, grabbed at it. She clung onto the woman hoping she could stop the inevitable. She screamed out, "Fuck no! Not yet, please let me stay!" She felt her grasp slipping as she began to spin. She saw Daniel reach out, also trying to stop her but whatever magic the Ice-fire had weaved was done. Drusilla had her hand to her cheek. She ran it through Daniel's cum and held it up. Just before she was whipped back down into the vortex, Freya stretched her fingertips and touched them to Drusilla's. As she crashed back into her tiny bed, she could hear a small voice echoing inside her head. "See you on Sattersday, sweet Freya. Latrissa will be proud of you!"

Tears of pure joy and no little frustration ran down her face. She looked at her finger ends, sticky with the Daniel's cum. She held them over her open mouth and sucked the salty fluid, holding it there, running it around her mouth and face, getting used to the feel of it. At last there was nothing left but a sticky residue. She moved over to her wash basin and poured out some cold water, reluctantly washing the last of the spoils from her hands and face.

Now the effects of the Ice-fire was wearing off, she began to feel a dull ache deep inside where her maidenhead had been broken. She felt a sharp pang of guilt as she realised there may come a time in the future when she would need to prove her virginity.

She quickly buried that thought and shrugged off the discomfort. If Triss was right, there would be no need to worry. The pain wouldn't last and they'd not be working taverns for long.

As she fell into a deep and untroubled sleep, Freya Lindgard sent out a little prayer of thanks to Latrissa Stensson, the best friend any girl could wish for.

Chapter Six - The Motive

At that moment, Latrissa Stensson was lying in the arms of Lady Drusilla in the Grand Castle having just watched - unknown to her - her best friend lose her virginity inches from her own face. She snuggled into Drusilla. "Saints, Dru - her face when she cummed. It were so fuckin' beaut'ful I nigh on cried." She paused. "Then I done did fuckin' bubble when she got dragged back. Look on her face - jus' missin' out on Daniel's lovely load. Saints, what a way to lose yer 'ginity. So much better'n a fumble in Dragon's Nest cellar wi' the brewer's lad!"

Drusilla laughed, stroking Triss's cheek. "Ah, sweet Latrissa - no more fumbles in the dark for you. No more brewer's lads. Only sheer euphoria and fabulous orgasms. Don't worry about Freya. She'll learn to control the Ice-fire. You're getting so good at it - look at you tonight. I could see you there next to us even though you were in the adjoining room. You flickered once or twice, but you kept going to the end!"

"How's it work?"

"We don't know. All we know is, it slows ageing and enhances... other areas. In smaller doses and distilled as Willow-weed it induces mild euphoria - which is quite nice when you are having beautiful sex. Then in larger doses, you can literally teleport. Your body stays where it is but somehow another part of you ends up where you want to be. It becomes easier with practice. That's why poor Freya missed her little reward - just not enough experience. Look at Daniel - he was here for nearly three bells tonight, and he was back to his home in the West Marshes in an eye-blink."

Triss purred. "It's 'mazin'. Loves it, I does! Loves you too, Lady Dru..."

Drusilla's heart melted. "You's 'mazin' too, Triss. Loves you too, so's I does!"

Triss looked up at her in wonder. "When's you learn talk Southland?"

The woman laughed. "When I were borned there. Just learned posh when I done got Elevated!"

"Shudda knowed you were a True-blood! Does that mean I need learn posh when I's Elevated?"

"No, sweet girl. When you are Lady Latrissa and running your own Grand Banquets, you can introduce them as you wish." She switched to Southland dialect. "So roight then, I's is Triss. Welcomes to uzz Bank Wet. Noine Bells azz chimed. Start fuckin'!"

Triss was in hysterics. She slapped Drusilla on the tummy. "Stop takin' piss. I talk funny, but I fuck serious."

"Oh you certainly do, young Triss, you certainly do."

Triss became serious for a moment. "Dru... why you's all do this? Elevates us and stuff? Not complainin' nor nuffin', but what's in it for you's?"

Drusilla edged up onto one elbow and looked down at the sweet young girl. "Time you heard it all, Triss. I think you're ready."

Triss lay entranced as Drusilla explained all about Ice-fire and how it had changed the first people who found it. "First they found it gave them extra sex drive, made the pleasure all the more intense. They sniffed and licked the bare crystal they chiselled out of the rock. It's only found deep underground. Then someone discovered how to distil it and add other ingredients. When you break the seal, everything reacts together. As you use it more, you become more adept. You can transport yourself somewhere else; you can enhance your own experience. Help others like we did with Freya. It all depends on you and how you want it to be. When you first start, it is hard to control - hence poor Freya lying almost paralysed before she subconsciously began to desire to see what was happening at such a deep level. Once she wanted it so badly, it freed her hands so she could react to us at the Banquet. Then earlier tonight - with her lack of experience, there was no way she could have joined us. So Daniel and I helped her. Unfortunately, she is so new to it, we couldn't keep her there until the end. But I get the impression that soon, young Freya will be teaching us all new skills with Ice-fire."

She went on. "We are always looking for new veins of Ice-fire. It is rare, but when you find a good supply it can last decades. We have a team of alchemists always looking for new sources. They use a breed of hound called a Calipha. It is a beautiful animal - almost as tall as you. It can sniff out Ice-fire for miles. Five turns ago they discovered a huge seam here underneath the Castle. The then-owners were struggling with the upkeep. We offered them a good price. The seam will outlast us all, even with our extended lifespan.

For the first time, Triss interrupted. "How long you's live?" She thought for a moment. "Me... will I?"

Drusilla stroked her cheek. "How long since you first took Ice-fire?"

Triss counted back on her fingers. "'Bout a quarter-Turn back. Done 'bout six, seven lots now..."

Drusilla nodded. "Then you'll have aged about five days."

There was a long silence. "Fuckin' five days? In a quarter..." Triss's eyes were wide. "No ways - fuckin' can't be right. That's impossifying!"

"Triss, I took my first Ice-fire at the same age as you. How old do you think I am?"

Triss pondered. "Dunno - thirty Turns mebbe? Li'l bit more? Yer fuckin' gorge, so hard to tell!"

"I'm seventy-two next quarter-Turn, Triss. Fifty-four years since I first took Ice-fire. Anders is eighty- two, Daniel fifty-three and Phobe is over one hundred Turns. Answer your question?"

"You shittin' I? Phoebe - 'er wiff the black'n'whoite hair? What does that thing with her 'and? Over a hunnerd?"

Drusilla switched back to Southland. "Shittin' no-one. All's truly said. You's won't live fr'ever but it'll be a fuckin' long stretch." She snuggled into the girl. "Just think of all those years of sucking and coming and, as they say down south, gettin' yer old noggin fucked off!"

Triss was incredulous. She could barely take it all in. A quarter-Turn ago, one of the girls from the Tavern wondered if she may like to work a few hours at the Castle and earn few extra Crowns. Now she was being told she was going to live into her hundreds. She may be a dotty little girl from the South, but she couldn't help wondering if there was an ulterior motive behind all of this.

"So, likes I sez at the b'ginnin'. All seems too good for truesies. Why's you do it? Gotta be downsides. Must be some bad effex of Ice-fire?" She now rose up onto her elbow and glared down at Drusilla. "We's gonna end up lookin' like you's, in't we? Yeller eyes and pointy ear-oles?" She stabbed down at Drusilla's pudenda. "Fuckin' big clit size of a fuckin' sore fumb..." She pulled away, her eyes boring into Drusilla's golden orbs. "C'mon Dru. All of it. Fuckin' whole story. All the nasty bits as well."

Drusilla held her hands apart. "Fair enough, Triss. You deserve the truth. Yes there'll be changes - your eyes will become like ours. Your Southland ears will grow a little more pointy - hair will become silver or white." She paused for a moment and her voice became scornful as she ran her hand through her silvery white hair. "Fucking men skip that one - never worked it out..." And yes, your clitoris will get bigger, but much more sensitive..."

"How much more sens'tive?"

"A lot... and so will your tongue."

"What'll that feel like?"

"When you're sucking cock or pussy, it will feel similar to when your clit is being stimulated."

"Ooh sounds orright so far. Quite likes the eyesies s'well. Look fuckin' sexy. You may go on..."

"Very kind, my dear. Men get larger as well. Much larger."

Triss's eyes widened. She said nothing but the smile on her face encouraged Drusilla to continue.

She sighed "The only downside is that you will not be allowed to bear children. The only real negative effect of the Ice-fire is that offspring are born feral. It is not a pretty sight, and we have made sure that over the last twenty or so Turns to incorporate a contraceptive element into the drug."

"Fort you sez there wuzz a downside?"

Again, Drusilla laughed. "You are amazing, Triss. Is there nothing can faze you?"

Triss shrugged. "No brats? Hundreds o'Turns wiff fuckin' great sex and no brats? Keep jabberin', you'll convincerise me yet!"

Drusilla winced. "Ah sorry, forgot about the nasty bits."

"Oh fuck, 'ere we goes. Knewed there'd by narsty bits..."

"Yes sorry. I forgot about the bit where we gouge your eyes out with white-hot spoons and replace them with our magic yellow ones. And where we hang you up for a quarter-Turn by the ears to stretch them." Drusilla almost burst out laughing at the look on Triss's face, but she went on. "But the poor men. When we hang them from the battlements by their cocks - the way that metal clamp cuts into them; the screams as it stretches and finally snaps. The months of agony as they lie in a filthy dungeon until it grows back twice as big..."

Triss now realised the joke. "Fuck, only twoice as big? Nah - counts I out. Not havin' me eyes gouged for anyfink less than three times."

The two women fell into each other's arms, giggling and laughing. After a long while, they pulled apart completely breathless.

Despite their little time-out, Triss hadn't finished with her questions. "So the boysies then. Where's you recrootin' thems?"

"Oh we have our little schemes. Harder with the boys as when they go missing people tend to notice more. Us women - well, we've gone to seek our fortune; run off with a sailor. When a farm-hand, blacksmith or brewer disappears, he's hard to replace. A bar-girl? Ten a penny. Daniel was once such. Maybe you and Freya can become our emissaries to recruit the Southland men?"

"Ooh yeah, sounds roight peachy! Still not said why you's do it tho'..."

"Oh, Triss, for fucking Saints sake! We do it because we fucking love it. We can swan around this beautiful world selecting exactly who we want to join us in this fabulous life. We do it the way we do because we need to be sure. We only want people who are utterly committed, who are utterly and completely suited to what we do. People who do things on such a sub-conscious and instinctive level that they often as not don't even know they want to do something until they are doing it. People who will go out into the world afterwards and recruit more and more completely uninhibited, wonderful people."

She looked at Triss. "Just like you, Freya, Ingrid, Lolli, Gerda - all the others. No inhibitions, no regrets, no limits. It's a fucking side better than religious lies and dogma or going around with armies, swords and cannons, don't you think?"

Triss was buzzing. She'd never have to work a tavern again. She and Freya would be free to do as they pleased. She slowly moved her hand down to Drusilla's enlarged clitoris. She shuddered at the thought of having one that size. She licked along the woman's lips, imagining her tongue giving her feelings like her clit did.

"Fuckin' sides better indeeds. Now - 'nuff talkies - you turns me insides out now..."

She groaned and stiffened as Drusilla's slim left hand slid straight into her up to the wrist-bone. She grunted, "Fuck, don't get much better'n that!"

At the Third Bell, they were still entwined as Lord Anders returned from his Ice-fire trip to the Northern Steppes. Then Triss realised that things could get 'better'n that'.

Chapter Seven - After the Ninth Bell

Freya stood in line next to Triss, Ingrid and Heidi. She was trying to stop shaking and kept looking between her friend and her newly shaven pubic area. She bit her lip and smiled at Triss, her eyes wide. She was longing to touch it again, to feel the silky smoothness of her skin down there.

She composed herself as Lady Drusilla entered the room with Nadia. "Good evening, ladies. A pleasure to see you all. Heidi, Ingrid, please go and prepare yourselves. We very much look forward to your company as ever." The two girls scurried off through a side door giggling.

She looked hard at Freya and then back at Nadia. "Nadia, did I not say Lolli? I am sure I said Lolli, not Freya?"

Freya's heart sank.

"I's sure you sez Freya, Lady Drusilla. But Lolli's outside if you's prefer."

Drusilla's voice was soft, almost sounding distracted.. "Yes, please send her to get prepared, Nadia. Show Freya out - no further tasks for her tonight."

She turned to a distraught Freya who was standing open-mouthed, fighting back tears. "Sorry my dear, your time will come. Not... quite... ready yet." She watched as Nadia led the girl from the room. As Nadia reached the door, Drusilla winked and nodded at her. Nadia returned the gestures and the door closed.

Triss glared up at the woman she had first called 'Her Ladyship', now 'Dru' and thought of as a true friend. Her eyes were burning, her fists balled. "Lady Drusilla - that were as fuckin' shitty as a fuckin' crabbit's arse-hole. Of all the fuckin'..." She tailed off, almost in tears.

Triss raised her fists to Drusilla, who merely shrugged. Her tone was dismissive. "If you say so, Latrissa. No idea what a crabbit is to be honest."

Triss spat out the words. "It's a fuckin' stinky weaselly little bit o' vermin wi' a poison bite that toys wi' its prey for fuckin' fun." She looked into Drusilla's eyes. "Like summ'un else I's knows." She dropped her head. "Fort I could trust yer's, Dru. Fort yer was me friend. Thass'it - I'm fuckin' outta here. Fuck yer long lives, fuck yer fuckin' freaky eyes. Who want's be lookin' like a fuckin' tree-cat anyhows?"

"Well I do for a start... find it quite attractive actually." Drusilla held her arms out but the girl pulled away. "You can trust me, Triss - I swear. I am your friend, and I am Freya's friend too. Please trust me tonight - please put every ounce of your faith in me and your little friend. Believe me, Triss - something very special is going to happen tonight. Don't walk away. Please - don't walk away now."

She lowered her voice and clung to the girl, hugging her to her breast. "For the fucking Saint's sake, please don't walk away, sweet Triss. I couldn't fucking bear it if you did."

There was something in the sound of her voice, the words she had said. Triss let her shoulders drop. Her voice had gone from angry to sulky. "You's no' shittin' me?"

Drusilla looked at her. "As I said the other night, I's shittin' no-one. All's truly said." She put her finger under Triss's chin and raised her head. She kissed her on the nose. "I don't shit people who are my own kind - or my friends, Triss. You are both. I love's you, Triss and I hopes you still loves me..."

Triss pulled a face. "Din't a minnit ago but does agin' now - for the mo'..."

"Good, now go and dry those sweet little eyes and get ready. It's going to be a memorable night!"

As Triss was drying her eyes and getting ready, Freya was trudging disconsolately down the track to the town. She thought about going for a drink in the Empress Galina, but it would be busy at this time of night. She didn't trust herself - the way she felt, she'd leave with the first man she clapped eyes on.

She heard the Ninth Bell ring as she reached her room. She should be there with them. She recalled the look of sheer horror on Triss's face and had no doubts the girl did not know she was about to be replaced. Judging by the raised voices she had heard as Nadia led her away, the girl was giving Drusilla some well chosen thoughts.