Drowning at Dusk Ch. 07 - Finale

"And our friends?" Xelari asked. "How are they faring?"

"Terakh was quite angry. He all but threatened to storm the tower to free you. Kivessen and Dazyar calmed him down, though." Rowela gave a small, soft smile at the mention of Dazyar.

Xelari snickered.

"Yes, Dazyar does have his charms. Though I recommend you not allow his pretty face and voice to enchant you too much. He is a bard, after all. A true heartbreaker."

Rowela shook her head fiercely.

"No, no, you misunderstand. I don't...fancy him. He just performed a very nice song during my visit to the Songhouse. This somber but lovely story about two lovers trapped in a storm. And it's been stuck in my head all day."

I laughed.

"Did he say it was a new one?"

"Yes. One that he'd just written."

"I think that one's about us," I said with a sideways grin at Xelari.

"Oh?" Rowela asked, her eyes widening before giving another soft smile. "I wonder it's like to have a song written about you."

"You may one day find out," I said. "Once Synrik falls, we'll have you to thank for his demise. You may yet get yourself a line or two in the eventual ballad written about this crisis."

Rowela snorted and took a deep sip of wine.

"Nonsense. I've barely done anything."

"You were the one who put the pieces together about Reynard and the stolen documents. And those old royal coins you found and looked into? Without all of that, we'd have never even known to look at Amberkeep for answers."

After a wrinkle of her nose, she allowed herself another smile.

"Yes, I suppose I did contribute. And I certainly wouldn't lament getting a bit of credit in a song about all this."

"I'll make sure Dazyar includes at least a line or two about you in his next work," I said, grinning.

She relaxed after the first cup of wine and lingered to play a few games of cards with us. When she noticed the books Xelari had been reading, her face lit up and she burst into an excited anecdote about some dead old king. Despite my own obvious disinterest, Xelari listened with rapt attention and the pair soon chatted away about the old dynasty and its implications for Synrik's motives.

Once we'd finished the bottle of wine, Rowela rose to her feet, giggled a little as she swayed, and I helped her over to the door.

"Thank you, Rowela," I said, nodding at the large book she'd used to smuggle in the contraband.

"Of course." She gave me a devious little smirk: an expression I didn't think she was capable of. "Have fun, you two."

Once she was gone Xelari let out a soft, sultry laugh.

"Weren't you tempted?"

"Are you serious?" I asked with a laugh of my own. "That frail, blushing woman? She wouldn't even know what to do once we got her clothes off. Or she'd probably just faint away."

"Well, someone has to teach her," Xelari said. "And it could be quite the amusing diversion the next time she visits."

Admittedly there was a certain wicked appeal to seducing a blushing, innocent young woman like that. And my pulse did quicken at the thought watching Xelari exploring Rowela's lithe, pale body. I shuddered.

"You see my point," she said.

"I do. But I'd much rather focus on the matter at hand."

"Oh?"

"Getting reacquainted with those toys."

I tore at the buttons of my doublet. Laughing, she peeled off her vest and shimmied out of her skirt. By the time I'd gotten undressed and joined her on the bed, she'd collected the enchanted dildo and the rope.

I was a bit too tipsy to fumble around trying to tie her up, so I grabbed the rope and tossed it aside.

As I loomed over her, she reached up, hands grazing over my sides.

"Tell me what you'd do to her," I murmured, leaning down to lick and nuzzle against her breasts.

"I would, of course, be very patient and sweet," she said in between soft little moans. "At least at first."

"She'd be spared the same torment you inflicted upon me during our first time, then," I said, giving her nipple a sharp bite as if to take vengeance for that wicked treatment.

"Of course. You, after all,deserved that torment."

I switched to lick and suckle upon her other breast, then reached over to collect the enchanted toy.

As I affixed the harness around my hips, Xelari continued describing her wicked fantasies about the bashful Rowela.

"I would start slow. Soft kisses to her lips and neck while I undressed her. Gentle. Tender. I'd suckle her neck and tell her how pretty and clever she is, as I slipped my fingers between her legs."

Grinning, I reached down between Xelari's legs and started to tease.

Gentle. Tender.

"And I'd keep suckling at her soft neck," Xelari continued, her breath rising at the touch of my fingers.

I leaned down, my lips finding her neck.

"I'd bring her to at least one climax before I even undressed and would guide her to the bed. Then I would step back and make her to watch while I took off my clothes. I would give her a nice, slow, delicious little show."

Recalling how Terakh had so brutally teased me during our tryst on the way back from Amberkeep, I took hold of the toy and rubbed it from her clit to the dripping entrance to her sex, and then back again. Xelari cooed with delight, her hands reaching up to grasp my shoulders.

"Keep telling me what you'd do to her," I murmured.

"I would kiss and lick from her lips to her toes. And back again. Make her writhe and moan and weep."

"Cruel of you."

"What is cruel about languishing beneath my touch, malrixi?"

I laughed, knowing full well that such treatment could be among the cruelest of tortures, and continued to tease her with the fake cock. Since I hadn't yet thrust it inside her, the magic didn't yet reflect any of the echoes of her pleasure back into me, but the heat of her words and the rising anticipation sent shivers down my spine nonetheless. A fire ignited deep within me, but not fiercely enough to make me lose control and fuck her properly just yet.

"But I would not let her languish there for long. After kissing both of her nipples and giving her a deep, sweet kiss, I would finally relent and go between her legs. No teasing or torment. Just firm licks, and my fingers inside of her. I'd make her scream quickly. Let the sounds echo through the tower."

Licking her lips, she stared down between her legs, watching hungrily as I teased her.

"And then?"

"I would teach her. I would recline upon my back, guide her fingers between my thighs, and show her a whole new set of tricks. She's a clever one: I suspect she'd be an apt student."

All of those silly fantasies, of course, depended upon our assumption that Rowela was a bashful virgin. It was completely possible that she was quite experienced and was just uncomfortable talking about sex. For a moment, I fantasized that Rowela was in fact a wicked, domineering lover and that she'd unleash her true self once the tryst began.

"And what wouldyou inflict upon her, hmm?" she asked, her eyes fluttering as I guided the tip just a few inches inside of her, before breaking away.

"More or less everything you described. Except for two key differences. One," I said, grinning down at her. "I'd have you tied up on the bed beside us, so you could watch every moment."

She gasped, her hips rocking up against me, but I shoved her back down.

"And the second difference?"

"I wouldn't just lick between her thighs. I'd fuck her. Gentle but deep."

"Just like how you're about to fuck me?"

My harsh laugh bounced off the walls and I gripped her by the throat.

"No. Not in the slightest."

With that, I used my other hand to shove the toy deep inside her. As her neck tensed beneath my grasp, I laughed at the blissful shock in her eyes. I silenced her first moan with a fierce kiss, biting down on her lower lip. Her legs rose to wrap around my waist, her shaking arms coiling around my shoulders.

There was no further teasing or toying, only a fast, brutal fuck. I recalled all the ways that Terakh had used me, how rough and demanding he'd been and decided to follow his example. When her hand slipped from my shoulder to reach between her legs, I snarled and slapped it away.

"Please," she murmured.

Instead I gripped her throat a bit harder: not nearly enough to choke her, but simply to remind her that I could, and that she was beneath my power.

Even without any stimulation other than my powerful thrusts, I could sense from her wild breathing and the tensing of her core that she was close.

That wouldn't do. Not yet.

Growling, I pulled out of her. She whimpered, her legs tightening against my waist in a futile attempt to tug me closer. I shoved her legs away, grabbed her by her shaking hips and flipped her onto her stomach.

A moment later she was crying out again as I plowed into her from behind. One of my hands gripped her silvery curls and the other grasped tightly at a soft, beautiful hip.

I didn't stop her when she reached between her legs. The reflections of her bliss erupted from the toy, flooding my own body with the faint echoes of what I was unleashing upon her. It was enough to make my eyes roll back and my chest heave, but I didn't slow or adjust my pace in the slightest.

My mind drifted back to the night she'd tortured me; I imagined her in chains, with me brutally using her as her screams bounced off the walls.

I gripped the back of her head, shoving her face against the sheets as she came. The muffled screams no doubt made it out into the hall. The climax echoed through me, and I snarled and panted, my hips trembling and losing their rhythm. I bit her shoulder, leaving a faint red mark against her violet-gray skin.

I fucked her for another minute or so, drawing out the ripples of our shared climax, and she lifted her lips from the sheets to let out an exultant laugh.

"Again," she rasped. "But slower this time. Gentle. Tender."

"Are we even capable of that?" I said, grinning as sweat rolled down my face onto her back.

I pulled out of her again, resulting in a needy moan from both of us, and turned her over. Xelari's eyes, though hazy and wide from the climax, possessed another sort of gleam I hadn't recognized before. A tender, deep affection that had been hinted at but never fully expressed.

Another shudder went through me.

I gently gripped the back of her neck and guided the toy back inside of her. We both murmured with delight. Once more her legs rose to wrap around me, trapping me in a gentle, warm vice.

When she reached a hand down between her legs I leaned back a little to give her easier access and brushed my fingers over her lips.

Slow. Tender. Gentle.

"I adore the cruelty," she murmured, eyes wide and staring up at me. "But I also want more of this."

Unable to find the words, I simply nodded, then leaned in for a quick kiss. Before I could pull away, her hand reached up and gently gripped my neck. We continued to kiss and lick at one another while my hips worked. After a moment I rested my forehead against hers, staring down as her breath quickened and her hips bucked.

When her orgasm struck, the echoes sent me right over the edge a heartbeat later. Our soft moans turned to soft cries, the sounds intermingling and rebounding across the walls and down the hall. In between those blissful sounds we shared kiss after kiss, our lips fumbling for purchase against one another. Her legs tightened around my hips and she leaned up to whisper something in my ear.

The words were in the dusk elf language, but the adoration still burned bright enough for me to understand that she'd whispered something intense, something meaningful, something that was perhaps hard for her to even say.

I slowed and then stopped, going nearly limp atop of her as I caught my breath. We lingered there for some time, making no sounds except for pants, sighs, and the occasional whimper unleashed by an aftershock of our shared bliss.

"What did you say?" I murmured, kissing along her jaw.

"Mehelna taviish," she repeated, before pressing a hand to her chest, and then to mine. "A dusk elf concept that is hard to convey. It is used to describe the way the light of the moons intersects. How the radiance from one moon can be enhanced by the radiance of another. Both moons are bright and beautiful on their own, but the light they create together..."

Her smile was brighter than the radiance of any moon.

"So we've moved on to a new metaphor, then," I murmured, with a radiant smile of my own. "From storms to intersecting moonlight."

"No. The old metaphor remains. The light of two moons can still shine brightly amidst a raging storm."

I slipped out of her but did not pull away and instead rested at her side, gently wiping up the sweat running between her breasts. As I did so, I pondered the implication of her words and what it meant for our radiance to join together like that.

Love?

I was still not sure.

But that unanswered question no longer terrified me.

***

We'd been prisoners for just over a week when I smelled smoke. Alarmed, I took a break from my exercises and wandered into the next room where Xelari knelt in one of her meditative poses that she would sometimes hold for hours.

Her eyes flashed open as I walked past her to the window. I sniffed again, confirming my suspicions. The fires must have been quite large indeed to overcome the aroma of the enchanted forests ringing the city. Scowling, I swept my gaze over the courtyard below, wondering if another wing of the compound was ablaze. Red-cloaked knights scurried about and a bell rang from one of the other great towers.

I trotted out into the hall and into one of the empty rooms. Through a barred window I spotted a pillar of smoke rising from the docks. Bells and horns echoed across the city. After a few minutes of confused staring, I saw more smoke from the Deadcrown District.

Xelari peeked out to see for herself, and I went back into the hall to find that the door was guarded only by a single knight, rather than the usual two.

"What's going on?"

"I know as much as you," he said with a faint tremor in his voice.

"It must be serious indeed," Xelari said, joining me in the hallway. "If they pulled your comrade off sentry duty."

"Return to your chambers," he snapped, tapping his fingers against his sheathed sword.

Even without a proper weapon, I was confident that I could take him, but I didn't want to add to whatever crisis was brewing out in the city. We wandered back to the window, watching as more smoke rose from the docks.

After a few minutes Xelari muttered a string of harsh dusk elf words that I assumed was another long, inventive curse.

"The timing. About four days to reach Amberkeep by horseback."

Frowning, I counted up the days since our confinement: just about a week. Which meant that the expedition had likely reached Amberkeep, and a swift rider could have already returned with news.

"Has to be a coincidence," I murmured. "Why would the city be ablaze? There's no bloody way Synrik could have launched an attack by now."

More red-cloaked knights moved through the courtyard below. Nearly a hundred of them mounted their steeds and rode through the great iron gates. I lost sight of them in the maze of streets down below, but they seemed to be splitting up, no doubt heading to the various fiery spots within the city.

After an hour the last towers of smoke died out. Mourning bells rang out a few hours later and yet still more of Heroth's knights thundered out of the keep and into the city.

I returned to the hall to check for an update from the guard but he merely snarled at me to return to our rooms. After a bow of mocking subservience, I obeyed.

Dusk had started to fall when we finally received visitors.

Rowela and Patrigan strode in; their faces were grave, and Rowela had bits of dust and ash clinging to the hem of her dour black dress.

Xelari and I rose as one.

"Details are scarce," Patrigan said with a sigh, raising a hand to forestall our storm of questions. "But it appears that something...quite awful befell the expedition to Amberkeep."

"'Quite awful,'" Xelari repeated, her words sharper than any blade. "They failed, you mean."

"It seems so. A few survivors straggled back in and the resulting rumors sparked a panic, causing the unrest you surely noticed. The news sparked other simmering crises and disagreements. Rival guilds and gangs used the panic as a pretext to ignite old grudges and feuds. Half of the carnage out there today had nothing to do with the expedition itself."

I nodded, completely unsurprised. Every city was a barely-contained mess of rivalries and feuds; sometimes only a single spark was necessary to set the whole thing ablaze.

"How many did he send?" Xelari asked.

"Five hundred."

"Only five hundred?" she snarled.

Rowela flinched back as if struck.

"It was not an unreasonable number," said Patrigan. "You told us there were less than a thousand undead and no more than a hundred mercenaries. Not terrible odds for five hundred well-trained knights and battlemages. They were also supposed to scout and then retreat if the odds were not in their favor. It seems, perhaps, they were lured into an ambush of some kind."

"And Synrik's army just got five hundred new recruits," I said, my voice just as sharp and cold as my lover's. "Not to mention all the poor souls in the outlying farms and villages who may have already fallen to Synrik's strengthened horde."

"And the Lord-Protector?" Xelari asked. "Does he blame us for this disaster, or does he have enough sense to recognize this was his own failing?"

"Be glad he's not here to hear you say that," Patrigan said with a snort. "He's in quite the mood, as you can imagine. But no, his focus is on the unrest and Synrik, not on you. Before he rode out into the city to assist his troops in restoring calm, he did order me to release you. You are free to go out into the city, reunite with your allies and prepare for what is to come."

If only the cost of our freedom hadn't been five hundred deaths and a scourge of discontent across the city.

"And what is to come?" I asked.

"Another push to the north. We dare not linger here and allow fear and uncertainty to spread. Once calm has been restored in the city, Lord-Protector Heroth will march out with a larger and more prepared force to find and crush Synrik's undead horde. This time we'll be more careful, so as not to fall for another trap."

"And we shall be a part of that force," Xelari said, her tone brooking no argument or rebuke.

"Of course, of course."

Patrigan cleared his throat and nodded to his niece, who stepped forward and handed over a large satchel. Within were ten silver bars, more than what Xelari had promised me for helping her.

"For provisions, the hiring of mercenaries, and whatever else you need," Rowela said.

We split up the bars between the two of us. Given that we'd been allowed to bring nothing with us into the tower for the meeting, we didn't have much to pack. Two knights escorted us back down, then bade us good luck upon showing us to the gates.

"Let's just hope the watch and the knights have the unrest under control," I murmured as we set off, trotting past patrols of soldiers and groups of confused citizens still out on the streets. "Last thing we need is to get dragged into a riot on our way to the Songhouse."

Our journey took us past a few panicked citizens, including a group dragging a cart loaded with wood, which they were selling to their neighbors to help board up their windows and doors. Armed civilians roamed the streets; I was certain their paranoia and fearful sense of vigilante justice would lead to bloody mishaps as the panic continued.

Nobody gave us any trouble, though, and we returned to the Songhouse to find that it had been turned into a veritable armory.