Mage and Consort Pt. 02

"Leo, I have need --"

"Of course," he said, bowing perfectly. "But perhaps I should supply myself --"

"Don't use the herb," she blurted. She didn't know why. "Just come in, please."

He bowed again and followed her inside. A strange musk followed him in, and suddenly she knew.

"Melina kept you," she said. "You've been with her."

Leo looked miserable, but he didn't deny it. "Lady, I had no choice."

"Of course you didn't," Anya said, sighing. The musk was vaguely familiar. She'd smelled Melina on him before, but usually he must have cleaned better. It wasn't even a bad smell. It reminded her uncomfortably of Alishe, the taste of own fingers after they'd touched another woman.

Leo waited, then bowed again, even more formally. "Lady, I regret that without the herb I may be of little use until the evening."

"But you used it with Melina," she said. "Probably too much."

He didn't disagree. Anya sighed.

"We can't fight over you like this and expect you to bear the consequences. So we'll bear them together. You won't use the herb with me, and if it means we wait, then we wait. I've been doing that anyway."

Leo shook his head. "But I am in a shameful state, Lady. I would prefer you not see --"

Annoyed, Anya broke him off. "I have need of your Seed, not your stiffness, Leo. My Consort. Isn't that all the herb really helps with? So it seems to me. Don't hold so strongly to your pride."

Leo's mouth fell open in shock, and Anya reddened. She'd gotten on the wrong foot again, despite everything.

"Apologies, Leo --"

"My Lady is correct," Leo interrupted. "My foremost duty is to you, and my pride should hold no place. If you are truly not offended by my lack of readiness, then I must accustom myself to that."

Anya looked more carefully at him. "Sit, Leo. Beside me, yes. I just had a thought. Lady Carwen upbraided you repeatedly about your readiness. Am I guessing correctly?"

Leo looked even more miserable, but he nodded slightly.

"So perhaps you worry more than you should. Perhaps Lady Carwen was impatient and unkind. No, that's obviously true, and I barely know her. And I assume Melina is also unkind to you, in her own way."

Leo jerked. "I would prefer not to talk of the other Lady, please."

"So, clearly yes. And have you been successful at giving Melina Seed? As successful as with me, on those better instances?"

He shook his head. "No, Lady. I doubt I will ever do my duty with her as easily as with you." He continued quickly. "But that is because you are my Lady, and your talent reaches for mine. Other factors are not important."

Anya shook her head. "You mean, you don't want them to be important. But I'm running out of time, Leo. Melina is thinking about when the best time will be to toss me aside. And I have to get powerful enough to stand up to her before then. Remember that, Leo. I do want your Seed. We are partners in this, and maybe I'll never be Lady Karlov, but it doesn't mean I can't help you with your duty."

Carefully she stood up, lifting her shift over her head. Leo's eyes were locked on her own, not her naked body.

"I have been preparing myself for you," she said. "Tell me, Consort, did I guess right? The herb helps with your body's natural reactions, but is no great help for producing Seed? Perhaps even counterproductive?"

Leo nodded slowly, never looking away from her face. "You are intelligent, Lady. I have gathered as much, though none have told me so. Perhaps it is a peculiarity to me."

"Then think of this as an alternative to the herb," she said. "Does it aid your stiffness to look upon me? I am not a beauty like Melina, but perhaps it is still --"

"Do not toy with me, Lady," Leo interrupted. He was practically shouting. "You are far more beautiful than the other Lady, but that is irrelevant!"

"You mean, you wish it was irrelevant," Anya said. "Just like you wish you didn't need the herbs. Are there lingering negative effects from looking upon a naked woman? On a purely physical level, can it function as an aid, just as the herb does?"

Leo's eyes flicked downward, just a moment.

"Yes," he finally admitted.

"For Skies' sake, some actual progress," she said, exasperated, flopping back on the bed next to him. The stonestorm had intensified when she wasn't paying attention. A particularly large pebble clanged above them, and she didn't miss Leo's startled reaction.

"Is this a bad storm?" she asked him.

He hesitated, perhaps confused by her change of subject. "Not so bad," he said. "There have been worse within the past few years. It is the duration that troubles me, and the timing so soon after the previous one."

"Perhaps the Mages need some help," Anya said, rubbing her eyes. "Too much politics and not enough doing their duty. I guess we should get going on that ourselves. But I was in too great a hurry last night. We can afford to be slow, this time. I want to get on the right track again, Consort. Are we agreed? We will each do what is necessary for your Seed to find me?"

He gave her a strange look. "Lady, I am ever in your service. I will follow your lead."

Anya bit her lip. Obviously Leo wasn't going to tell her what he wanted, and she felt like an idiot. She lay back, bending her knees and opening her legs.

"Get between my legs," she said. "I'm getting myself ready. But I'm also doing this for you. Do you understand what I mean?"

Leo sighed, moving to kneel in front of her. "I understand, Lady. I -- have hesitated to bring it up, but I do not want to waste your sacrifice. If you would permit, I can help myself more directly."

Anya stared at him, understanding dawning. A sudden flush came over her face.

"Then please, do so, and do not be embarrassed. I suspect watching you will aid me as well."

She began touching herself, trying to be natural about it. But Leo wasn't Alishe, and she'd been half-mortified with Alishe as well.

Leo slipped quickly and easily out of his breeches, his manhood somewhere in between its extremes. Half hiding himself, he gripped it around the shaft and began working vigorously. It was much more violent than she'd expected.

The stones came harder, a strange irregular drumming of clattering and banging noises that she found unexpectedly enticing. Now that Leo was here, and they were safe. Anya closed her eyes, steadying her control, feeling the power still within her. Five breaths, ten, twenty. She would be a great vessel, an immense ship to hold Leo's power. It was there, despite whatever he'd given to Melina. She felt its throbbing.

"Lady," Leo gasped. She opened her eyes, and blinked, because he'd let go of his shaft, and now it angled toward her, purple and menacing. She knew intellectually he would be gentle, but part of her still quailed from the thing, and all that it represented.

There was another bang from above, and Leo jerked again, his manhood bobbing. "Lady, perhaps we should hurry. Even a moderate storm has some risk, and my Lady's window --"

Anya shook her head. Finger up, down, into her cleft, watching his eyes dart down to her. "Not much risk, surely. We are going to do this properly, Leo. Can't you feel it? I need to help you, with my talent. That's what you need now, isn't it?"

He nodded, licking his lips unconsciously. And so Anya retrieved the disk, laying it carefully between her breasts.

"Come closer," she said. "No, do not enter yet. That was my mistake last night, wasn't it? I should have waited, until we were both ready. Hold yourself close over me, but do not touch. Simply be ready."

"I do as my Lady asks," he said shakily. "I trust your instincts, Lady."

The bulbous head of his manhood bumped her hand lightly, and then Leo quickly lowered himself over her. He held his body on his forearms, chest a mere six inches from her. Muscles straining, sweat beading on his forehead. Anya closed her eyes and felt the lines of force, tried to nudge and tug, but it was like gathering mismatched sheaves in her arms, everything spilling back out and sticking into her unpleasantly. She felt the wooden disk wobble, and something new: the same sort of slowing down she'd felt before, only Leo hadn't even given her his Seed yet. She felt it like a living fire, his sacks burning with heat between her thighs. Above her thundered the pebbles in their slow descent, and she reached upwards in wonder, trying to cradle one.

It was like grasping a hot coal. Even as that one banged on the tile, she felt the lines of force from other pebbles, all stretching up, and up, and up, towards the place she'd been warned against ever looking.

Nothing stopped her. No hint of the Force web from the Castle Mages. The Sky was a sea of stones, crackling with heat and building thunder. Something had gone horribly wrong, and her mind was only just comprehending it.

"Now, Leo! Oh, Skies!"

Time slowed further, and a terrible weight settled on her body.

He was so achingly slow, and she felt every painstaking moment as he ponderously slid inside. Desperately she grabbed, pulling, willing his Seed to her, knowing it was all too late.

His Seed boiled, erupting langorously, and she felt its strangely circuitous passage up and into his manhood. But by then it was already in her, nestled in his shaft even as his shaft nestled in her sex. Before it reached the tip, she began drawing its power, bolstering every ounce of her talent, though it could never be enough. Anya screamed, shoving weakly against him and trying to drive it deeper, anything that might help. Her fingers finally locked in position and she flung everything she had, up and out. The weight crushed her, snapping something within, and then the world narrowed to nothing.

#

Everything happened in an instant. Leo's mind had shouted in alarm, because he recognized the noise, a hideous rising thunder and a concussive crack from somewhere across the castle. The very walls seemed to shake, but his Lady had cried out for him, and his Seed was in motion even before he was.

He lost time then. There was pain, unpleasant weight on his legs and back. He was utterly drained, crushed against his Lady, manhood still buried deep inside her and obscenely hard. He had given her everything, more than he'd known was possible. It was a sluggish, joyful thought. There was something wrong with his thinking.

He couldn't service her again, not with what he'd given her. It was wrong for him to lie inside her, and yet it was profoundly satisfying, far beyond simple pleasure. And they had to get to safety, that was what he was going to tell her. This was a terrible storm. He could still hear its thunder, strangely muffled. Why was it so difficult to move?

"Lady," he said, but dust coated his tongue, and he began to cough. The Lady didn't reply. She didn't move at all. He hadn't even opened his eyes. What was wrong with him?

The dust, that was it. He'd closed his eyes against it. He opened them carefully, seeing little but murk and the Lady's shoulder.

With a grunt, he shifted slightly, but he couldn't even move enough to extract his manhood from his Lady's warmth. He couldn't turn over. Something painfully heavy lay on his legs, pinning them. Leo got his arms aside his Lady, took a huge breath, and then pressed, as though doing pushups in the yard. The weight on his back slid, and he had more leverage. Finally he slipped out of her, his faltering manhood sluggishly beginning to catch up with the dire situation. The Lady's eyes were closed, her face covered in dust. He had to avoid panic. He put his ear to her lips, and felt the soft tickle of her breathing.

Gritting his teeth, he found purchase with one foot, then heaved with everything he had.

The weight shifted, and now he had leverage with the other foot. Heaving and groaning, he rolled until the weight finally slid sideways, scraping and nearly crushing his foot. But he could move his legs.

Leo drew up on his knees and realized it was a large timber that had pinned him. A corner of the room had collapsed, as if struck by an immense -- rock. Dirt and sod had spilled in, from the protective reinforcement under the roof tiles.

Shock filled Leo. The storm still raged outside, though it sounded less fierce. Still, he heard the distant crackling booms that accompanied the larger stones. A rock capable of doing such damage to her chamber -- nothing like that had happened for many years, not since the great storms. He should have insisted that they find shelter deep within the compound. But it had happened so fast. Probably it had been too late anyway, but he needed to rouse her now, so they could find shelter from any further danger. How had the Mages allowed this?

Debris lay everywhere, though it seemed his Lady had been protected by his body. Thank the Skies for that. His back ached and small pains stabbed everywhere. When he reached back, he found his leather jersey torn and studded with splinters and pebbles. Another stroke of luck, that he'd been on top. That she hadn't told him to remove it.

She hadn't come out unscathed. Under the dust, her beautiful skin was covered in small cuts where he hadn't protected her. Blood trickled from a gash above one wrist, and both arms were somehow wrong. She'd thrown them back over her head, and now they lay limply. One wrist was bent, and he suddenly understood it was badly broken. Swallowing bile, he touched her face, but she didn't respond.

"Help," he called weakly. But her wing of the fort was nearly empty, and the storm still raged outside. He would have to find someone: a teacher, a Lady medic.

He found his breeches, shook the dust from them, and laced them rapidly. He'd never even removed his shoes, all the better. Leo found a clean sheet and tossed it over his Lady, and then picked his way to the door.

It didn't open. He pulled harder, and it barely budged. Nothing blocked it on the inside, and it was not locked. Leo stared in confusion at the heavy wooden frame, and saw two large cracks in the stone mantel above.

"Help!" he yelled, banging on the stuck door, but there was no response. He kicked at the door, shook it, leaned with all his weight.

Suddenly someone knocked lightly against the door, and he banged harder in response. The door rattled, to no effect.

"Back!" he heard, barely. A woman's voice. "Quiet, fool, and give me space."

No doubt now. He backed away, both relieved and unsettled to hear Lady Karlov.

Leo smelled smoke, and for an instant he saw blinding light at the very top of the door. More ordinary sounds followed, banging and shoving.

"Help me now, you idiot."

He yanked on the door with all his weight, and the Lady came stumbling in, carrying a heavy bag. He briefly saw a corridor full of rubble, but the Lady closed the door immediately.

"Leo," she said, looking past him to the Lady. "We have to go. All of us."

"Leave? Lady Tur needs help," he said, shaking his head. "She is unconscious, one or both arms broken. Thank you for getting the door open, but now --"

"You fool," Lady Karlov hissed, scurrying to Lady Tur's side. She touched the Lady's forehead and examined her arms with an air of knowledge that filled Leo with a pathetic hope. "Do you understand what's happened? What your Lady did?"

He shook his head.

"We are without protection," Lady Karlov said. "I doubt you've fully realized what that means. This fort is badly damaged, and there are a number of dead. Anya saved both of your lives, with a power that I felt all the way across the fort. Others have felt it too. They may not know yet who produced it, but they'll figure it out fast enough, and she will be taken by whichever faction first gathers their resources and finds her. She and you both, of course."

"And you can't have that," Leo said, anger rising. "You can't let me out of your grasp. I've heard enough. I'm getting her help."

She slapped him hard enough to knock him down.

"You. Don't. Understand. There is no one in control, Leo. Everyone is desperate, and she is hurt. By the time she recovers, she will be a slave, or no better than that. And you will be passed around to the desperate Mages who still radically outclass her in talent and experience. Yes, I can't let you out of my grasp. And yes, I am still your best option. Don't you see that? Neither of you can navigate outside this compound."

"I grew up in the city," Leo said, hating how weak it sounded. "I can get Lady Tur out on my own."

"You knew the city when you were a child. And you have a child's instincts about politics. I don't think Anya has even that. Yes, I'll help Anya. I have some medical knowledge and I know about women's needs. If she's so badly hurt, you need another to watch her when you use your cunning to steal food, or whatever you're thinking about now."

"You don't need her," Leo said, jumping back to his feet. "You always wanted just me. You'll leave my Lady behind as soon as you can."

Lady Karlov walked up close to him, and Leo stepped back, hating how she intimidated him.

"Listen," she said.

Leo listened. The dull roar was still there, though weakened. The rain of pebbles was still punctuated by the crack of a larger rock.

"I underestimated her," Lady Karlov said without apparent rancor. "Or perhaps the unique efficiency with which she can draw on your power. It makes little difference, because she did something I am not yet capable of, nor many Mages. The stone she diverted was heavier than a barrel of ale, and its speed unthinkable. That is why I'm not leaving her behind. If the High Mages are gone, then I need her power. And yet you need me, for my own talents and knowledge. So we are bound. I will attend to her with your help, and then you will carry her out while I clear our way. There is no more time to argue."

Leo swallowed and nodded, following her to Lady Tur's still form. Beneath the sheet, covered in dust, she could pass for dead. Leo would never abandon her, and he suspected that whatever help Lady Karlov provided would be more than any fast alternative.

He ripped the sheet as the Lady instructed and retrieved the heavy pitcher of water, miraculously unbroken. All the while he thought, as hard as he could. Something didn't add up in Lady Karlov's story. She was trying to rush him, keep him busy so he didn't figure it out.

Leo picked the splinters from his Lady's legs, washing her carefully while the other Lady cautiously adjusted and wrapped his Lady's arms. From what little he knew she seemed to be doing it properly, as hasty as it all was.

Hasty. That was it.

"You had a bag packed," he said slowly. "You already planned to leave, before my Lady displayed her power. Perhaps taking me with you."

Lady Karlov sighed impatiently. "Of course I was prepared, Leo. I felt the loss of protection, and I knew how nasty it might get. So I packed in a hurry and went running towards the cellar, the way any intelligent woman would."

"No," Leo said. "That's not it. You have powerful backers, Lady. You warned of factions finding Lady Anya and me -- and what better opportunity than now? Your prestige would rise, you would probably still have access to me, you -- why are you laughing, Lady?" His face burned.

"Not an unreasonable theory," Lady Karlov said. There was less humor than he'd realized, and more bitterness. "Here is what you don't know. The moment the High Mages stopped protecting us, I knew what had happened. My faction, as you call them, had made a profoundly rash move, thinking their timing brilliant. There is no chance that they killed all the High Mages, and such would never have been their intent. They would have planned a quick coup, taking control of the castle so decisively that it would be accepted as inevitable. The situation now means they failed at that, and there is an all-out battle in the castle. The Savilias and their allies will lose badly in the end, but it will be a disaster for both sides, and soon enough I will be hunted down as well. My fate would be about what I described for Anya. Probably worse. Now, find me her clothes and help me dress her. I assume you already know how to accomplish the reverse."