Mage and Consort Pt. 02

#

Leo stepped silently through the arched doorway. Inside was a second door, and a flicker of light. He'd never been to this old section of the compound. These seemed to be disused servants' quarters.

The door opened, and Lady Karlov beckoned him in, face unreadable.

"None saw you coming?"

He shook his head.

Two centuries ago the chamber must have housed multiple staff. Sometime later it had been reconfigured with a single, large bed. Today the linens were fresh, and Leo wondered what the servants had thought when preparing it. No doubt they'd known exactly what it was for, but not Lady Karlov's identity. Or his.

"My Lady sends her regards, and has asked me to do as you suggest. I am yours for the morning, Lady."

Lady Karlov smiled. She was really quite pretty, with her light brown skin and intense eyes that caught the candlelight. And he couldn't deny the strength of her talent. He had taken a half-dose that morning, but being in her presence seemed more than enough. The sensation was uncomfortable. That didn't matter. He understood his duty, and it seemed at least his ordinary responses would not fail.

"That has so many implications, doesn't it, Leo? Mine to do with as I please. Perhaps you expect me to belittle you, or inflict pain. Yes, I know the ugly habits of some of my peers. Let me be straightforward, Consort. You have a duty, and so do I. This world needs a Mage with my power, and I am being thwarted by petty politics. I don't intend to abuse you, as I expect you to be of use for a long time. Assuming you are of use, that is. Because I'm afraid I can't tolerate being deceived."

"I understand, Lady," Leo said. "I still cannot trust your confidence in my strength, but Lady Tur has told me to do what it takes, and I intend to do so."

"Oh, is that the case?" Lady Karlov asked, quirking her eyebrows. "Well, I'll just let you do that then. Go ahead, Consort."

Leo nodded, though he'd been hoping Lady Karlov would take charge again. Now she truly expected him to perform properly.

"Sit on the edge of the bed, Lady, and remove your clothes, if it pleases you."

Lady Karlov laughed. "I don't care one way or the other, Consort, but it does make certain things easier."

Deftly she undid her breeches and stepped out of her smallclothes, then sat on the bed and spread her slim legs wide. Her cleft was surprisingly clear, nearly hairless on the sides and bottom. Just a thick patch of black hair above. He'd heard that some women shaved much the way men shaved their faces, but never seen it.

Leo cleared his throat, stepping forward. "Your blouse, too, if it pleases you."

The Lady raised her eyebrows higher. "All right, Consort, easily done."

She undid the clasp near the neck, loosened the laces, and then she was bare, stretching her arms high and smiling. "Do you find me pleasing?"

Her breasts were quite small, with perfectly centered dark nipples. Leo felt foolish, disconnected. But his manhood throbbed.

"Yes, Lady. My Seed feels your power."

She nodded, satisfied. "Go ahead and get me ready, then," she said. "If that's what you intend. I have oils if you did not bring them."

Leo winced inwardly at the echo of Lady Carwen. Lady Tur hadn't understood how unusual some of her requests were. This Lady was nothing like his. And all he wanted was to be with his own Lady again.

Quickly, gracefully, he bowed and knelt between her legs. The Lady leaned back slightly, obviously expected his mouth on her sex, and he forestalled it by quickly putting his hand at her lower back, and touching her breast gently with his lips.

The Lady coughed, half a laugh. "What is this? Some kind of bygone courtly ritual? Come, Leo, that will not aid me. If you would use your mouth, do so more efficiently. You may disrobe, if you like. On occasion that hastens my readiness, if a Consort is pleasing to look upon. Your movements do have adequate grace."

He nodded. Not completely different from his Lady, perhaps. Just far more direct. He removed his clothes, noting with a bit of pride the stiff readiness of his manhood. He was capable of doing his duty, even under difficult circumstances. The Seed hummed quietly but steadily within him.

Lady Karlov nodded satisfaction, and he quickly knelt between her legs.

Her smooth folds were barely even moist. A sharp tang of dried sweat, and the feel of her talent. He began to lick, mostly following Lady Carwen's teaching. He'd already deviated so much from Lady Tur's desires.

Lady Karlov sighed. "That is acceptable, Leo. Lady Carwen isn't a complete fool. No, there -- yes. A bit more pressure."

Leo exactly followed her instructions, which he had to admit were both clearer than Lady Carwen's, and delivered with less scorn.

"Now, your smallest finger to my rear hole -- yes, harder."

Lady Karlov twitched unexpectedly, then pushed his head away firmly.

"Tomas can do better, but well enough. I am ready."

He nodded, though in truth everything felt distant. Her power was there, and his Seed -- waited.

Leo stood up easily, helped the Lady reposition herself. His head found her entrance, and she closed her eyes.

Slowly, carefully, he entered her. She frowned slightly, reached to adjust her folds, then nodded, and he pressed deeper.

She had a beautiful body. There was no question of it, and on a purely squalid level his body was responding eagerly enough. He pulled out, then in, using the motion to quiet his breathing, focus on the Seed at his center. Lady Tur wanted this. She'd asked him, and she wanted it. He closed his eyes, imagining Lady Tur, and his Seed shifted.

"I felt something," Lady Karlov said eagerly. "Yes, give it to me."

He swallowed, trying to erase her voice. Lady Tur's frightened, trusting face. Her full breasts, gentle curves. The way her talent saw him, reached out --

His Seed stirred, and Leo took the opportunity.

"Prepare yourself," he said, and the Lady drew her legs back slightly.

Warmth spread, building a crescendo in his loins, and the heat spilled into her. One wave after another, thin and copious. It was nothing like with Lady Tur, but there was Seed riding the emission, an amount he would have been proud of any time, if he hadn't known what joining truly could be. With his own Lady.

He held still a moment, manhood still firm enough to act as a plug of sorts, but Lady Karlov deftly swapped his member for a cloth, tipping her hips backwards in the manner of Lady Carwen, but with far more grace. Truthfully she had a fine body.

Finally the Lady rocked herself upright, muscles rippling in her flat abdomen.

"That was -- an improvement," she said. Her breath was fast, her eyes intense. She held up one hand, and a tiny flame flickered and vanished on her palm, almost too fast to see.

"You do have some power." The raw hungriness in her voice alarmed Leo. "I expected much more, but this is a start. You seem to have performed as you thought best, which suggests either your training or my understanding is at fault." Her voice made clear which she thought was the case.

"I am pleased to have served," he said cautiously. "I recognize I am only a Journeyman, and my training is not complete. If my Lady has suggestions, I will apply my full efforts to them."

She laughed, not exactly kindly. "I suppose I deserve this. Teaching, of all things. But there's no one else. We both know how useless Anya would be."

He kept his face expressionless, and she smiled. "Well, off with you, then. It looks as if you're not good for any more, and I haven't the patience this morning."

#

Anya glanced at her door again. The impulse made no sense, because only Melina would have the gall to break into her room. And she knew full well what Melina was doing now.

Except that wasn't true. In the week since the intolerable sharing began, she'd asked Leo only once about it, in a roundabout way. He'd replied that he was performing his duty well enough to keep the Lady satisfied, and that Anya greatly underestimated her own talent.

Did she want to know more? Of course she did, and of course she didn't. She dreamed of Melina opening her mouth absurdly wide, to swallow Leo's manhood completely, and suck the Seed from his -- sacks. Or slapping him, then throwing him down and joining with her on top, his manhood stabbing up through her body like a spike -- though she didn't know if that position was even possible or merely a joke Prala had made at her expense. She couldn't bear to ask Leo, because either he'd do it without hesitation, so she'd know that he already was doing it with Melina, or he'd freeze for an instant before finding a formal way to explain that it didn't work that way.

One thing was becoming clear: that grand explosion of power really had been a fluke. True, she was stronger, even at moments like these when all that was left of Leo's power was a sense of oily residue. But their joining had never been the same. She'd begun to fear that she'd seriously overstepped some invisible line with Leo. He hadn't had the wide-eyed enthusiasm since, and now the space was always there between them. Those few inches that secured him in a different place, unreachable.

Anya took her fingers away from her sex, wiping them nervously. She'd never been caught doing it, unless you counted Alishe, but that was different. The only other person who'd touched her. Alishe had told her it was a good, secret thing, that no one could take away from her.

But it seemed something had taken it away nonetheless.

There was a sharp knock on the door, and Anya jumped.

"A moment, please!"

She made herself vaguely presentable, which was the most anyone should expect, knocking on her door in the morning hours on a rest day. It wasn't Leo, and it wasn't Melina.

Cautiously she opened the door, only to look slightly down to Lady Jeharia's unsmiling face, and even worse, her husband. Now, when a minute ago she'd had her finger inside herself!

She put her hands behind her back, trying to wipe them inconspicuously. She was sure they could smell her.

"So, Anya," Lady Jeharia said. "Your instructor told me you'd made modest improvements. Let's see, then."

"Lady," Anya stuttered. "I -- the timing is not good. That is, my Consort --"

"They are supposed to teach you to conserve, to always have a reserve," the Lady said. "So I have been told. Are you such a poor student, or is this merely an excuse?"

She shook her head, stomach churning. No one had taught her that. Probably it was in the years of schooling she'd missed, but she couldn't point out it was the Jeharias' own fault.

What could she even show them? Something. More than they'd seen her do, that at least she could manage. Force magic was the most prized, and she did seem to have a knack for it.

"All right," she said, closing her eyes. A hand out, feeling for the invisible lines that connected everything. She remembered the feeling, at least.

It was like pulling a spring, letting one end stay fixed while she stretched the rest. Anya slowed her hand motions to suggest careful mastery, rather than a desperate attempt to pile her remaining power into one quick burst.

She twitched her fingers, and a small rock skidded off her desk, clattering onto the floor.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the Lady staring at the floor, blinking surprise. Behind, her husband looked stunned. And she remembered that for all their snobby demands, this pair was struggling to maintain a position among their betters. They didn't regularly see feats of magic, not even modest ones. Anya tried not to let herself visibly shake from the nausea and dizziness, a consequence of using everything she had.

"Kelesh, you were right," the husband said. He had an odd squeaky voice. "I didn't think it could work out, but she will do, won't she?"

Lady Jeharia frowned. "Yes, this is less disappointing than I expected. But now we must budget for a Consort."

"My Journeyman could stay with me up to two years," Anya said quickly. "He has proven to be humble and well-trained, and will not require any special --"

Lady Jeharia cut her off. "Of course we'll take advantage of your Journeyman, but there is still the lease fee."

"Kelesh, we knew it would be a difficult path. But it is open now, thanks to your boldness."

Lady Jeharia looked at her husband, and nearly smiled. And suddenly Anya wanted more than anything to make it work somehow. Anya and Leo, on a quiet estate, a position of privilege and modest responsibility. No one expected her to stand alone and protect them from the Sky. She would be there for prestige, for modest tasks her talent might accomplish, and as a dangerous wild card against anyone who thought to usurp the Jeharias. This much, she could do. She could marry, have children even -- that was ordinary for a minor talent like her. And she'd have a husband, a man who would be as close with her as she wanted. Not like Leo.

It was all a fantasy. Anya realized her emotions were showing too clearly, and Lady Jeharia had narrowed her eyes.

"This is everything I want," Anya said. "To serve your household. Thank you for the opportunity, Lady. Lord."

Lady Jeharia nodded, seeming satisfied.

When they'd gone, she crawled under the covers and cried herself back to sleep.

#

Lady Karlov ran the flat of her tongue down the side of his shaft, then shocked him by opening her mouth to mostly engulf one of his balls.

"Lady!" he squeaked. Though she was careful, she let the barest hint of teeth scrape him, and at that moment she wrapped her hand around his shaft.

"Please, don't," Leo pleaded. "It is -- not proper, Lady."

But the feelings were unlike anything he'd known. He couldn't pull away, not with her mouth where it was. And to his shame, he felt his manhood surging, tightening, ready to supply her with his emission, if not his Seed. Not much of it.

"Lady," he tried again. "I believe this is the -- ahh, wrong path. My Seed, it needs --"

Her mouth popped off of him, though she kept and easy grip on his manhood. "What? What's the secret, then, Leo? If you know, could you just spit it out? Perhaps you think this is inappropriate, and perhaps none of the highborn Ladies would stoop to such methods, but it is a means to an end. The greater the quantity of emission, the greater quantity of Seed, all else equal. Is this not likely to increase your emission?"

"It -- may have that effect," he admitted. "But I am not sure all else is equal, for me. You are distracting me from my duty."

Lady Karlov slowly uncurled her fingers from him, standing up gracefully. He took a small step back.

"You truly are not Tomas, are you," she said. "I didn't believe it, but if I could peel your layers away I suspect I would only reveal more duty. It is admirable in a sense, the way I might admire a sculpture. So tell me, Leo, what is missing? The proportion of Seed is fixed, for a given Consort and woman of talent. I have heard this proportion occasionally varies day to day, but the only variable in a Consort's control is the amount of emission, which you are trained to maximize. I'm sure you're consistently giving more Seed to Anya than to me. Is it just loyalty? Are you simply unable to perform your duty with me?"

"I give you Seed," he said defensively. "I would give more, if I could. To Lady Tur, as well. It is my failing."

Lady Karlov slapped him, and it shocked him as always. Still, she did not intend serious pain, not after that first time. It served as physical punctuation for Melina.

"Now you're hiding behind mediocrity," she said. "Not productive, and I've warned you about that. I fear we are at an impasse. That is a serious problem for you."

He nodded weakly. "Lady, perhaps we are going about this the wrong way. My Seed is attracted to your strength, as it should be. I have felt it deeply when you use your talent with great skill. Perhaps this is what is necessary to wake my Seed properly."

The Lady nodded slowly. "That is a somewhat plausible theory," she said. "A pity I do not have much spare power, but perhaps it will be a valuable investment. Seed money." She snorted. "Very well, then. Is it proximity you need?"

"It would probably help," Leo said.

She nodded. "Lie on the bed, and be still. Fire is a difficult talent to control. I am excellent, but it takes great concentration."

Leo lay back, and to his surprise the Lady straddled him. Her damp smooth cleft brushed against the bottom of his shaft, and she placed her hand on his chest.

"Are you attached to these hairs? They may be singed."

He swallowed. Already he could feel the power inside her, and his Seed was stirring. "I trust you, Lady, and have no vanity in that regard."

Lady Karlov nodded, and then she brought the other hand close, not quite touching his skin.

"Fire is destructive," she said distantly. "It consumes, and the ignorant believe the greatest power is in the most spectacular destruction. But fuel is necessary for fire. It is no great challenge to light a candle, or even a thatched house, and then it will burn on its own. A skilled fire Mage understands this, and finds opportunities to direct the flame where it requires the least encouragement."

Leo nodded. Lady Karlov was obviously intelligent, and she'd given him unexpected insights into talent, insights he intended to pass on to his own Lady, if he could phrase them properly. If he could be sure he wasn't belittling the Lady's own knowledge.

With one hand still on his chest, Lady Karlov began her careful motions with the other.

"But you wanted to feel power."

A great tension filled the room, and the air seemed to darken. An acrid smell reached his nose, as during a dry thunderstorm.

His Seed roared to life, seeking her talent, and he felt the Lady's lower lips sliding against him, swollen and wetter than before. But her focus was all in the space above him. She leaned closer, and closer, and the acrid smell intensified. He shifted slightly, and the Lady slid onto him almost as an afterthought, her quivering sex grasping him with too much friction for her best comfort. But her weight drove down, down, and she bent closer, holding him to the bed with one hand, gathering a thunderstorm in the other.

Her buttocks settled onto his hips. The Lady grunted, made the slightest gesture, and then the Skies themselves came blasting into the space between them.

He was blind, and it seemed time itself had slowed, but he saw the impossible beauty of the Lady, frozen in that instant of explosion, glorious and radiant with crackling power. His Seed roiled and reached for her, and finally met a tendril of her own talent. The wave rose, sluggish and unformed, but unstoppable.

Leo gasped, and in the sudden dark his cock surged, pouring immense amounts of Seed into the Lady's tight channel. Though it wasn't all Seed, not nearly as much as he wished. In the heady moment he truly wanted to give her everything, and he hated himself for it, but in any case it was beyond his ability. Leo pumped and groaned, and suddenly he realized she was thrashing as well, her sex spasming around him. She'd never reacted like this.

At the end she fell off sideways, shivering, and he hastened to find her towel, which she barely seemed to notice.

Finally she held up a hand, and a small flame flickered, on off on off. Barely there. And Leo understood something: this was her secret mastery. She was reminding herself that she could make a flame from nothing. From the air itself, if need be.

"That was a success," she said slowly. Her voice dripped with satisfaction. "You have performed well, Leo. Finally."

She sat up, taking the towel from him. "You are not without insights, Journeyman Consort. I believe we will go far together."

Leo nodded. "I am honored to be able to do my duty with you."