Mage and Consort Pt. 02

Lady Karlov examined him. "You are an excellent liar, but this is not the way you imagined your duty. And yet you performed it. I believe I may understand you better than you think, and perhaps you may begin to understand me. I have shown you a talent that I imagine you have not seen before. It would harm my position for certain information on my abilities to be shared. Are you going to tell Lady Carwen?"

He blinked. "Of course not, Lady Karlov."

"And Anya?"

He hesitated. "I tell her precious little of these meetings as it is. She would not enjoy the details."

Lady Karlov snorted. "Deftly avoided, Journeyman Consort. Yes, I imagine your romantic honor will compel you to tell Lady Tur everything, so it's pointless for me to forbid it. And it matters little. You and she are bound to me by circumstance. My fate is yours, and you had best not forget it."

#

Anya turned the knob. The door stuck. Annoyed, she slammed her shoulder into it, and it creaked open.

The space inside was tiny, barely big enough for the narrow bed and bureau. There wasn't even a window.

"I'm sorry," Anya said. "They told me it was large."

"It is, Lady, for a servant."

"But you're a Consort."

"Just so," he agreed.

Anya didn't even have the energy to disagree. Leo put his pathetically small bag on top of the bureau.

"Is there aught else my Lady desires tonight?"

Anya sighed. "Of course I have desires. But I have had a difficult day, Leo. Would you walk with me a time? I would welcome your talents later, if you can be patient."

Leo nodded. "I will be honored. But, Lady, I apologize. I have prepared myself, with -- the herb, you understand. Its potency will diminish, and I may have difficulties --"

"Oh, to Skies with the herb, Leo. I don't care if it takes you time, or it doesn't work."

"My Lady," he said. "I apologize. I know the herb is a crutch, and I only wish to guarantee --"

"Is she taking so much out of you that you need it with me? Is that the problem?"

Anya regretted the outburst, because he looked so miserable.

"Lady, this has always been a difficulty of mine. I am merely trying to do my duty with Lady Karlov, as you've asked me."

Anya rubbed her eyes. "Skies, I know what I asked you to do. I just didn't know how hard it would be. Come, let's walk outside. You are allowed that, are you not?"

He hesitated, and she wanted to punch him. "Yes, Lady, it is allowed, but it is not entirely proper to attend the Lady in public. Not unless his skills may be required."

Anya stared at him, feeling reckless. "Then maybe your skills will be required. Maybe we need a different place. Have you been taught how to service me outside of a bedroom?"

He nodded. "My Lady's desires reflect intuitions about her power. I will endeavor to perform my duty in whatever circumstance she asks. I apologize, however, that I have no direct experience to draw on."

Anya sucked in her breath. "Lady Carwen, Melina -- they haven't asked you to do it outside?"

He shook his head, and Anya heard herself laugh nervously. "Then that's what we'll do, won't we?"

"Of course, Lady."

There was a pocket of forest within the grounds, a stand of trees that had survived the worst of the stonestorms. Gnarled, twisted trunks, a few much older and larger than the others. All were a type Anya had never seen before the long trip west, and yet this was still a familiar place for Anya. The dense forests encroaching on the farm had been her refuge as a child, and certain patterns had not changed. She'd taken Alishe once to her favorite spot, but Alishe hadn't understood. Or maybe she had, and had been sparing Anya's feelings by keeping her laughing distance.

And it seemed certain patterns had not changed. Anya leaned against her favorite gnarled trunk, in the spot where she could believe she had freedom from this walled estate. And Leo merely stood, a careful distance away. The evening air lay heavy with stale humidity. Anya still couldn't believe the summer heat here.

"The Jeharias visited this morning," she found herself saying. "They surprised me, and forced me into a kind of test. I was able to satisfy them."

"I am pleased for you, Lady. I know you are stronger, and you will only become more skilled."

"But I'm not Melina," she said.

"Not yet," he insisted. "She has had so much more time than you."

"That she has," Anya sighed. "I didn't even know I had talent. No one knew, except Lady Zephyr. And I suppose in retrospect I could see how the farm was failing. I could never hate her, even now that I understand what she did."

Leo was silent a while. "I am sorry for my Lady's losses. Yet I am selfishly grateful that they have brought you to your current position."

"Nicely said, Leo, but you don't need me. If I were out of the picture, Melina would have found a way to grab you anyway. And the Jeharias are irrelevant now. Either I find a way to keep myself useful to Melina, or she discards me and keeps you. Neither scenario involves a peaceful life on that old couple's estate."

Leo hesitated. "Lady Tur, I have been learning of Lady Karlov's talents, and her political position. She talks to me, perhaps more than she should. The Lady does not trust her Sponsors, and I believe she is more desperate than she may appear to you."

Anya rubbed her eyes. "So you've been spying on her for me. You'd be better served doing the opposite, if she even bothers to think about me."

Leo stepped closer, and Anya found herself staring at his intense eyes.

"I don't care about power, Lady. I don't believe you do, either. You and Lady Karlov both come from nowhere. But she has forgotten that, and you have not. I would choose you over her even if you truly had as little talent as you think. I would choose you, and your kindness, and your dreams of modest comfort, and I would finally be able to perform my duty properly. If only I were able to devote my attention to you alone. Do you understand, Lady?"

She swallowed uncomfortably. "I understand, Leo. Consort. And I realize I have been extremely rude. As I said, I have had a difficult day. You are trying to tell me something, then. A path forward, something I refuse to see because I'm wallowing, and I can't bear to think about her, and you. Tell me, then."

Leo was flushed, and she watched him take a few deep breaths.

"Lady Karlov believes her Sponsors are fools," he said slowly. "I believe they are distant relations of the Royal family."

"The Savilias," Anya said. "I know little of them apart from the name."

"They have recruited other young Mages and candidates, spending resources that have made them noticed," he said. "The Lady has contempt for most of the recent recruits, but she does respect the power of their senior Mages."

Anya nodded. "Melina is singleminded, and power is all she desires. Everything Essia was born to, Melina wants."

Leo nodded slowly. "That is more true than you may think. I apologize for the description, but you asked me to tell you. Lady Karlov is utterly focused on extracting my Seed, more even than Lady Carwen. She does not hesitate to stoop to inappropriate methods, even though they are not effective for this, as I've explained to you. But I made a discovery, which may help us. It is her magic that draws my Seed to her. I suggested she employ it in great strength, and she did. Lady, she has a power I have never seen before. She explained that fire magic requires fuel just as ordinary fire does. But then she demonstrated fire, divorced from fuel entirely. It was from the air itself, like lightning. I think it may have been lightning, and it smelled as such. Have you heard of such a power?"

Anya stared at him. "No, I have not. I am terrible at fire magic, but I understand the theory, and it is as you explained. She showed this -- lightning to you?"

"Yes," he said uncomfortably. "She asked me not to tell anyone, but predicted I would tell you in any case. It could be a point of leverage, if she does not want it revealed."

Anya sighed. "Or it could be intentional, to spread a rumor that makes her seem more powerful."

Leo shook his head. "I think not. Lady Karlov cares naught but for power, as you said. But even in private, I believe she takes great satisfaction in demonstrating her power. It may be the only true satisfaction she takes. This is surely a weakness, Lady. I believe the display greatly drained her power, though I admit it was amply renewed afterwards."

"Oh," Anya said, feeling smaller than ever. The humidity had turned to something more like a faint drizzle. In the distance she thought she heard thunder, and she imagined Melina, standing on a mountain somewhere. Putting her hands to the air and bringing power down like Nature Herself.

"No, Lady, let me finish. My Seed found but a tendril of her power. When I join with you, your talents *reach* for me. This is the difference, though I do not understand it. I do not intend to explain this to Lady Karlov, as she is quite satisfied with our latest attempt."

"I see," Anya said. "And what exactly should we do with this information?"

Leo placed his hand firmly on her shoulder. "Use your power, Lady. Ready yourself as you would best like, and at the proper moment, unleash your power. I believe it will draw my Seed, more strongly than it ever would be drawn to the other Lady."

"I have so little power, especially after this morning," Anya said miserably. "And I am not ready to join, far from it. I hoped -- I had some pleasant associations, but perhaps it was a mistake to come out here."

Leo nodded gravely, seemed ready to speak, and then stopped.

"Spit it out," Anya sighed.

"Lady, even I am helped by pleasant memories. When I am with her, if I close my eyes, I can remind myself that it is for your sake I do my duty."

Anya's mouth dropped open. Leo had the stupidest ideas sometimes of what would be comforting words. But he meant them kindly. He was a strange, rigid creature, but he meant all of it for her.

"All right," she sighed. "I don't believe I have the courage left to undress out here, but I imagine you know the best ways to manage without. I'm going to close my eyes and leave you with all the hard work."

"It is what I've worked to learn," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "It is no burden at all, for you, Lady Tur."

He so rarely used even that much of her name. Anya sighed and leaned back against the tree. She was little surprised when his fingers and then his mouth found her breasts, though the sensation was wholly different through the layers of cloth. Not unpleasant.

So she sent her mind back, to a large room with three beds but only two young women. It had been a difficult day of work, cut short when a barrel had fallen and crushed Kelia's hand. Anya's last month at the farm, though she didn't know it. Her mind had been racing all sorts of lewd directions that evening, and she'd begun touching herself even before Alishe slept. Anya was always so quiet about this, though not all the girls were. That was why she'd been so shocked when Alishe sat on her bed.

Leo's fingers pressed between her legs, trying to help her, and she shifted until the leather seam rubbed properly.

Alishe's hand had found her arm. "Do you want to feel me?"

Anya had slid her fingers against Alishe's slick heat, like and not like her own. And Alishe's own touch had been cautious but tender. After that night, Anya thought she'd loved Alishe, and maybe she did. But Alishe had never treated her as worshipfully as Leo did.

Suddenly his hand was slipping beneath her clothes, finding a path even through the smallclothes, his fingertips wending through her bush to the top of her cleft. Anya gasped, leaning against him. Wondering how they could do it out here, with all the twigs and such.

"Lady," he said softly. "I feel your power. It is beautiful."

She opened her eyes, but his were closed, even as he touched her. Anya watched his calm face, looking so content, as if he'd rather be here than anywhere in the world, and something in her relaxed. She breathed carefully, and then she felt him.

"Your power," she said softly.

He opened his eyes, and she saw he was nearly crying. "Yes, you reach for me, Lady. Please, what do you need!"

She needed someone who would hold her when she cried. She needed strong arms around her body, someone she could hold tightly and never let go of.

"I feel shaky," she said, which was true enough. "I don't know how to do this out here, Consort. Can it be done standing? Is that possible?"

He nodded gravely, and under her breeches he kept moving his fingers adroitly. He'd paid attention to everything she'd told him. Everything.

"My Lady, you can turn around, if you like. It only requires a bit of undressing, if you can imagine."

She nodded, though she wasn't sure what he meant about turning around. Was he worried that she was shy with him, out here in the open?

Carefully she turned, letting him remove his fingers. A moment later, his hands were at her breeches, and she swallowed as he unlaced them. She really meant to do this out here.

When he'd finished, he pulled them swiftly lower, catching her smallclothes as well. Barely low enough. No, it wouldn't work like that, he'd see when she turned --

"Be at peace, Lady. I am nearly ready, if you are. I ask only that you gather your energy."

She nodded, feeling foolish. Perhaps he needed more of that herb, and was shy himself. Or he needed to help himself with his hand, and surely he was even more shy about that.

Anya's legs shook for real now, and she tried to concentrate. The drizzle had turned to a warm light rain, not unpleasant in itself, though the humidity was stifling. Again she heard distant thunder.

Leo's arm encircled her, diagonally across her bosom, and she gasped in unexpected pleasure. He was helping her lean forward, and suddenly there was gentle pressure on her sex.

Anya yelped.

"Lady?"

"No, Leo, continue. It's -- I never realized you meant like this. Oh, Skies, just hold me tighter. I'm feeling unsteady."

His strength was beyond what she'd realized. He was going to join her from behind! It was a vague fantasy, but she had no idea it could work standing up. And in this position, he couldn't help but press closer against her. She leaned back, until her back met his chest. He didn't shy away. And then his immense manhood began to enter her.

"Leo," she muttered. "Consort." He couldn't be any larger than he always was, but every inch seemed to belie that. She grasped at his iron arm, and finally felt the heat of his hips against her buttocks. The sensation of fullness was such that she was almost surprised not to see a bulge pushing out from her abdomen.

"My Lady," he whispered. "I am very ready. It would be better if we stayed just so, until you can summon your power."

She nodded, closing her eyes. Nothing but the soft hum of her talent, and the sense of immensity awaiting. Skies, but he felt huge. And she was so wet that he had slid all the way in, not the slightest tug.

It would be force magic, of course, but she had so little to work with. He would give her more, though. Leo sounded convinced, and she'd have to trust him.

One breath, two. She gripped his arm, stretching her fingers above, into the rain. The sense of slow time had returned, as though every fat raindrop struggled in its descent. Weak lines of force, guiding them to the Earth. One little raindrop, and it took a whole planet to bring it down. And so Anya cradled it in her mind, imagining severing its connection with the planet, replacing it with her own. Heat swelled in her loins, and she didn't know if it was her or Leo. He was making a deep sound now, and everything was so impossibly slow

The fire filled her, and she gasped. She was a vessel, but so much more than that. The Seed flowed madly from Leo, and she grasped for every drop, spinning it through her body. At some point she had let go of Leo's arm, both hands beginning to stretch upward, heat flowing through her veins to her very fingertips and transformed outwards into dozens, hundreds, millions of lines of force.

"Lady Tur," she heard, and she opened her eyes.

The rain above them had stopped. A perfect circular lens hung above them, slowly gathering water, even as the rainfall continued unabated around.

Leo was quivering inside her, holding her plugged up with his immense manhood, but it was no longer Seed. Surely he could feel it. The power was in her now, and yet she could still feel him --

"More," she said. "Can you give me more?"

The power flowed tautly, controlled. She would spare enough for this and no more. The lens of water thickened every instant, but there were none nearby, and her focus was absolute.

"Yes, Lady," he breathed in wonder. "I have more. I will need to move, my Lady. To stimulate the -- emission."

Anya smiled, where he couldn't see. That would suit her, just fine.

"Proceed, my Consort," she said. "I have never been more ready."

When he moved, the sticky wetness spread further. Some dripped into her smallclothes, but she cared not at all. The feeling of his manhood withdrawing, nearly all the way -- oh, Skies, she felt every inch, in and out and in and out. There was more Seed within him, and it had its own lines of Force, but they were so difficult to grasp. She pulled, and pulled, and finally something responded, though she doubted it had much to do with her clumsy grasping.

"My Lady," he whimpered, and then everything went slow again. Seed erupted into her this time with less focus, less volume, but she felt it spread along her inner surfaces, and her own nerves exploded in pleasure. A few glorious contractions, and then her leg cramped suddenly.

Anya gasped, and in an instant the entire pool of water fell, drenching them. Leo shook gently, making a strange noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"I guess we needed a cleaning," she mumbled, grasping him tighter and trying to wait out the stupid cramp.

Leo slipped out of her, but he kept holding her tight, keeping her from falling over. That's what he would tell himself, she knew.

"You hold back the elements, Lady," he said softly. "With but a part of your power. Can you truly deny what you possess?"

She turned awkwardly, and he hastily supported her behind the back. He was so beautiful, water streaming from his angular face, care and concern in his eyes. Anya leaned forward, and she kissed him on the lips.

Leo made a strangled sound, and pulled back violently.

"Please, Lady," he managed. "Please, I know you are flush with power, and the pleasure, but --"

Anya's lip trembled. "But it's not appropriate," she finished. "You're correct, Consort. I forgot myself, because you succeeded so admirably in your duty. We are both still learning, after all."

He nodded gratefully, and for an instant she almost hated him. But it passed.

"Help me back," she said. "And perhaps we can talk some more. Because you're right, I don't want worldly power, but I also don't want to be chained to Melina or anyone else. I'm finally starting to believe it might be possible."

#

Streamers hung still from the heavy timbers of the great desolate hall. Lady Opparon stood to the side, waiting for the class to finish sorting themselves. To her annoyance, Anya found herself with Prala. She'd woken feeling rich with power, though it slid around unpredictably inside her. She didn't imagine Leo had been able to give much to Melina this morning. She couldn't show off against Melina, but at least she could flex her power a bit.

Wind magic was Prala's strongest talent, though. Anya had to let the idiot win.

"It is commonly thought that Wind is simply a matter of raw power," Lady Opparon said. Prala rolled her eyes, because the Lady began most of her lectures with the same harangue. "But air has its own tendencies. A bulk of moving air encourages a broader circulation, and yet all is balanced. Elsewhere the air moves to replace. Power is necessary, but understanding is vital. It is the mind that controls this power, and a trained mind is the greatest talent of all."