An Ode to Uncertainty Ch. 23-24

A shiver ran through Sigrid's body at her words.

"In fact," Mirja said, glancing over at the door where the seamstress had disappeared a moment before.

Then she went down on her knees and before Sigrid could protest Mirja had climbed under her dress. An instant later she felt Mirja's hot breath against her quim. The seamstress had forbidden her from wearing undergarments under the dress. She said it destroyed the look, whatever that meant. Then Mirja's tongue found Sigrid's wetness. Sigrid closed her eyes and almost stumbled as Mirja's tongue made her body tremble. All the stress in her body melted away and all she could think of was what Mirja was doing to her. And it felt divine.

Sigrid was uncertain how long Mirja pleased her before she quivered like a leaf under the Kelivese woman's ministrations. Letting out a long sigh Mirja got up from under her dress and gave her a wet kiss on her lips. Someone cleared their throat and they both spun around seeing the seamstress standing in the doorway looking suspiciously flushed.

***

Sigrid checked the compass one final time as their carriage ran through the gate of the imperial palace.

Nothing.

"No need to worry. I will keep my eyes open," Master Olgric said, taking her hand and squeezing it slightly.

Sigrid looked at the old man's hand and couldn't help but smile. Which she then promptly wiped off her face. He had become very protective of her, and she didn't think that it was all due to his seed growing inside her. It was a feeling that was completely alien to her. No one had ever had her back. That was her job.

She realized that she hadn't been with Aelric in over a month. The Master's flesh in her quim was all she needed now to be satisfied. That and the fact that Leopold had her rear every time she came to visit, she had all the man flesh she needed. What she couldn't get enough of was Xanna's quim. Leopold had found it so amusing when he found Sigrid with her face buried in his maid's crotch that he had given the maid to her. Sigrid didn't know what she thought of that. It was not like she needed a maid. And it wasn't like she could bring her to the little tower room in Jarl's mansion. But every time she went to Leopold's palace, Xanna was there, and she was hers. Her quim tingled at the thought.

No. No thinking of that now. I have to be focused tonight, she thought, shaking her head.

Her hand went to her side and a chill ran through her body. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Not having her daggers was worse than being naked. It didn't go two drops of the lead between the times her hands went involuntarily to her sides trying to locate her daggers.

"Are you all right?"

Sigrid looked up at Master Olgric. She nodded. The Master smiled a strange little smile of someone who barely ever smiled. Sigrid liked it and offered the same back. The Master was wearing a black robe with three ribbons. It made him look very sophisticated. Sigrid decided she liked that also.

The carriage ground to a halt and they exited. There was a long line of similar carriages ahead of them. She could see at least a hundred guards with halberds lined up against the wall of the palace.

At least it is well protected.

"Come," Master Olgric said, taking her by the arm.

They walked inside and Sigrid couldn't help but stare at the opulence. Everything was marble and gold. A single one of the statues that lined the walls could have fed a village for a decade. And everywhere she looked there were women in dresses that made her own look like a rag used to clean sewers with.

"You look wonderful tonight," Master Olgric said.

Sigrid looked up at him. It was things like that which convinced her that he was truly reading her mind. They kept walking, following the stream of rich people. Half a bell later they made it into the ball room. Sigrid had to blink. At first, she had thought that they had passed through the palace and exited on the opposite side. But then she realized that she was in a room big enough that it was hard to see the other side, let alone the ceiling.

"Master Olgric," came a voice that Sigrid recognized.

She stopped staring at the ceiling like a peasant and saw Master Cerdic walking towards them. She blinked once more as she saw who was on his arm.

"Irese," she breathed.

The courtesan looked more beautiful than Sigrid had ever seen her. She was wearing a shining green dress that revealed an obscene amount of her ample bosom. Her dress was wide enough at the bottom to host a medium sized family. The vision brought Sigrid back to the first time that she had met Irese. In Jarl's cramped quarters on the Longrunner. Just like then, she had to stop herself from reaching out and touching the woman.

"Sigrid. It's so good to see you again," Irese said and before Sigrid knew it, the courtesan had pressed a pair of fragrant lips against her cheek, the bottom of her dress pressing against Sigrid's legs. "We just have to meet more privately soon again," Irese whispered in her ear.

***

Irese and Master Cerdic left after the two Masters had exchanged a few pleasantries.

"By the Seventh, I despise that man," Master Olgric said shaking his head.

Sigrid frowned and looked at the Master, but the comment did not match his passive face. Then Sigrid stood silent next to Master Olgric just watching. Even though there were at least a few hundred people in the room, there was plenty of space in between the groupings.

A bell rang and horns sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen. His excellency emperor Woldenmark, fifth of his name, and family," a herald announced.

"Who is the emperor?", Sigrid said, trying to stand on her toes to see the new arrivals but there were too many people in between.

"To identify members of the royal family, all you have to do is to find the most inbred runts in the room."

They waited for another few drops, then Master Olgric spoke up.

"See the man over there with the drooping eyes?"

Sigrid nodded.

"The emperor's younger brother. And he's the pretty one of the two."

Sigrid couldn't stop staring at the man's accident of a face.

"Do not stare. Men, and women, have lost their heads for far less."

Sigrid quickly looked down at the floor, then up at Master Olgric. She always forgot how tall he was, she barely made it to his shoulders. There came the ringing of another bell and the entire hall went silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the empire. The first dance of the evening is upon us," said the herald.

Sigrid could see him now, dressed completely in blindingly white clothes, standing on a dais.

"Shall we?" Olgric said.

Sigrid tried to protest but found herself dragged onto the floor along with a few dozen other men and women.

"I can't," she started.

"Not to worry. Just follow my lead."