Mud and Magic Ch. 09

"Four." The wood creaked dangerously and the wine goblet swayed. "The combined might of our and the Dree'vex troops beaten by... four of Thurguz' runts?"

It was quiet for a long time. Carver knew that Faedal couldn't abort the connection. He could, however, remain quiet.

"Yes," the fallen Paladin eventually said. "I have seen that Rhys boy. In fact, I have beaten him."

"Tell me you are bringing his battered shell back to the Fortress. Tell me you have at least salvaged one tiny little thing," Carver growled.

"I had him beaten. The fool thought he could win a duel against me." A hint of Faedal's usual fire was back. Carver shivered as Faedal's arousal touched him. Images of the boy's naked ass flickered in his mind. Carver willed them to stop.

"You didn't kill him while you amused yourself with his ass, did you?" Carver asked.

"No." As quickly as it had risen, Faedal's bluster was gone again. "That red demon thing snatched him and fled."

Roaring, Carver leaped to his feet. The heavy wooden table did a double somersault, spattering wine and glass shards everywhere. It shattered against one wall of Carver's office.

"Where are you?" Carver asked, wrestling with his anger.

"Still in the elven woods, following his trail. The demon thing had to carry him. She can't be too far ahead of me and my men. When I get my hands on him-"

"If you get your hands on him, you'd better deliver him to me, alive and in one piece. I think this Rhys and I need to have a chat. And Faedal - don't fail me in this."

Fuming, Carver did the one thing he had never done to Faedal before. The connection allowed other signals to pass between them as well. Carver picked up a large glass shard and slowly, deliberately, drove it through his palm, closing his fingers around it. The pain was excruciating. And only Faedal would feel it.

* * * *

A delicious smell tickled her nostrils. No, that wasn't quite right. Short fur tickled her nose but the smell wasn't bad either. Lishaka opened her eyes. Her head rested on a snow-white, furry thigh and an arm had been draped over her hip. She pulled herself into a sitting position. Alheri, the graceful catgirl, smiled up at her. She yawned, caressed Lishaka's thigh and said something.

The goblin shook her head. "Sorry, I don't understand," she said slowly in the Common tongue. The potion Chassari gave me must have worn off. Drat.

"Don't worry," Alheri purred. "I also speak Common. I merely asked if you'd like breakfast or more cuddling, nya." She squeezed Lishaka's thigh.

In response, her stomach growled. Alheri laughed and sat up as well. She pointed behind Lishaka. The goblin followed her gesture. Thorn knelt next to the bedroll, a small table in front of him. Several bowls and plates were on it and everything smelled simply delicious! Lishaka scooted over and inspected the offerings.

"What... what is all this? And most of it is hot? Did we sleep until midday?"

Thorn grinned. "Nah. Around here, breakfast is served warm." He pointed at the bowls and plates in turn. "We have miso soup - a broth with noodles and vegetables in it. This white stuff is steamed rice and this-"

"Grilled fish!" Lishaka exclaimed. "You're spoiling me." She sniffed at another bowl, wrinkling her nose. "That... smells rank."

Alheri snuggled up against her, the catgirl's fur-covered breasts a weird, new sensation on her scarred back. "That's natto. Fermented soy beans. Very tasty, once you've grown accustomed to it." The catgirl reached around her and filled up a bowl for herself. "If you're less adventurous, you could try the dried seaweed." She moved to the side, graceful even though she never got off her knees, and began to eat, using a pair of thin wooden sticks.

Lishaka rubbed her hands. "I haven't seen any of this before - the fish maybe excluded."

"That's tuna," Thorn said. "Grilled and seasoned to perfection."

"As if you knew good food if it hit you in the face," Alheri teased. To Lishaka, she said: "He once tried to feed me fried spider legs. Gross, I tell you!"

"Hey! First, that was Cave Fisher, not spider. And second, they are a dark elven delicacy!" Thorn grinned. "Like I am, right, Lishaka?"

Lishaka blushed a deep green. Wait a minute. I'm... much better than before! She stretched then picked up a bowl. "I haven't seen any of this before but I'm gonna try it all."

"That's the spirit. Why limit your experiences, right?" Thorn shot her a friendly grin.

Lishaka tried everything. Or rather, she wanted to. But before that, she had to learn how to manage the sticks which were the only cutlery. She groaned. "First, I had to learn to use forks and spoons, now this. What's next? Levitating food?"

"It's not that difficult," Alheri said. "Look." She held up her hand and clicked the sticks together like a pincer. Lishaka mimicked how she held them.

"The secret to eating with them," Thorn said, popping a piece of fish into his mouth. He chewed, then continued: "is exercising restraint. No need to squish hard. You can even eat rice without having to move it grain by grain." He picked up a clump of rice and effortlessly brought it to his lips.

Lishaka tried but her first attempts resulted in the white stuff going everywhere in her bowl. Picking up fish bits or veggie cuts was much easier, followed by the noodles.

"And I thought I'd finally made it to civilization when Thurguz took me in," she muttered. Most of her tribe barely managed to eat using their hands and here she was, rather skillfully using these strange sticks. She felt incredibly good about herself.

Lishaka managed to finish her breakfast without making a fool of herself - although she needed to visit the bathroom afterwards to wash off some soup splatters. She had just left the basin when Alheri joined her, bringing with her a small robe like the one she had worn the day before.

"This will be a bit large for you but, until your clothes have been cared for, this will have to do."

"I could have simply magicked the dirt away," Lishaka said. "Thanks." She slid into the garment. The arm holes were rather large but the hem barely tickled her feet. She wound a sash around her waist. "Now what?" she asked.

Alheri grinned. "Chassari-sama... Lady Chassari has instructed us to see to your every need." She caressed herself, between her breasts and lower, until her fingers dipped between her thighs.

Lishaka grinned up at her. "That's a tasty proposal. And I'm definitely coming back to that." She hugged Alheri. "But since you mentioned my purple-scaled friend... I have sooo many questions! I didn't know she had children!"

"You want to learn about our mistress?" Alheri sounded disappointed.

"Come on, humor her," Thorn said. He had carried away the breakfast table. On the way back to the sleeping quarters, he had dressed in a similar robe Lishaka wore.

"Easy for you to say, nya. You already played with her," Alheri complained. "And what would Mistress say if we spilled all her secrets?"

Thorn grinned. "I asked her the same thing when I oiled her up earlier." He caressed a bulge in his robe. "She said 'I have no secretsss, not with her.'" He even managed her usual hiss perfectly. "I wonder why." The dark elf fully opened the sliding doors, allowing for a beautiful view of the garden.

"Chassari and I are... well, I thought we were good friends," Lishaka said. "Considering how much time I've spent with her, I know precious little about her. She taught me so much about civilization and courtship and sex... but nothing about herself." She sat down on the outside porch. "And you are her servants?"

Thorn sat down next to her, laughing softly. "Sex slaves." He caressed Lishaka's cheek. "Don't look so shocked. Slavery is common in the Radiant Empire. Criminals are put to good use as slaves, working off their sentence. Those who have incurred debt can opt to work it off as well."

"You don't sound like either a criminal or a debtor."

"My story is a bit convoluted," Thorn said. "Let's just say that back home I committed a heinous crime and that, after some twists and turns like the bowels of the earth, landed me here. It's not bad, even if the fashion choices are limited." He tugged at the golden ring around his neck.

"What was your crime?" Lishaka asked.

"I was simply sick and tired of being the whipping boy of my mother and sisters. The sex was great but the abuse... not so much. I fell in with the Trickster's crowd and got caught wearing their icons by one of my sisters. I could have been killed for heresy but instead she said 'Since you're so fond of the surface, I'll see to it you'll be there until you die.' So she sold me to Empire slavers the next chance she got."

"That's horrible!" Lishaka said.

Thorn shook his head. "Not one bit. Chassari's mother bought me for her amusement and as a status symbol. Not many serpentkind can boast to have a real dark elven sex slave. They treat me exceptionally well here. When Chassari was old enough, her mother decreed I show her the ways of the pillow. And when she asked questions, I showed her some other things as well." His eyes gleamed. "No one beats me anymore. Or threatens me with a swift blade to the heart should I say something wrong. The worst which could happen to me now is that Akane rejects my advances."

"But you're not allowed to leave, are you?" Lishaka asked, caressing his thigh. Thorn grinned and threaded her hand under his robe. Lishaka squeezed his rod once.

"I am free to move about the city when my services are not required. And frankly, I don't need to go anywhere else. Below, my allegiance paints a huge target on my ass. Up here, no one gives a shit if I honor the Trickster or Kano-Teki."

"Who's that?" Lishaka asked.

"You might know her as Allura, nya, or The Lady of Silks," Alheri said.

"What about you?" Lishaka asked. "Do you like being a sex slave?"

Alheri smiled. "I don't know better. My grandmother was one, my mother as well. I've been raised like this. But Lady Chassari is kind and likes what I do to her. And I was allowed to teach her boys," she said, purring.

Lishaka shook her head. "I still don't understand why she never told anyone she had children. Isn't it hard on them that her mother is a whole continent away?"

"Lady Chassari loves her secrets," Thorn said. "But she loves her independence even more. As a member of a minor noble house, she was at the Emperor's beck and call. When he deemed it necessary to marry off one of his trusted allies to an Oni warlord, he picked her."

"Only, Lady Chassari didn't want to be shipped off to the farthest corner of the Empire, forced to spread her legs for a brutish giantkin," Alheri said. "So she made a deal with Lord Vasuki, the minister for Foreign Affairs. In exchange for an heir, he made sure the Emperor picked someone else. To everyone's surprise, Lady Chassari bore him twins, which is seen as a very lucky omen, nya!" Alheri's hand slipped into the wide arm-hole of Lishaka's robe. Grinning, the catgirl caressed the goblin's green curves.

"You don't seem to have much of a problem with me," Lishaka murmured. "Where I come from, people are disgusted by the thought of a sexy goblin."

"Well, that sentiment exists here as well." Akane's level voice cut into their discussion. "How often have I told you? If you have to indulge, please close the shoji!"

Thorn sat up straight and stopped caressing Lishaka's thigh and Alheri flinched, withdrawing her hand.

"Can I help you?" Lishaka asked, looking at the stern half-dragon.

"Yes. Follow me. We need to talk."

Thorn sighed. "So much for 'seeing to her every needs.'"

"I can smell that it's your needs you're grieving for," Alheri snickered.

"That too. Well, unless Akane's taking her to the kitchen, we should see her soon. And finish what we started," Thorn said. "In the meantime..." He scooted closer to Alheri.

Lishaka had to make two steps for every single one Akane took. They moved through the sleeping chamber then into a narrow corridor, past a few more of those sliding paper doors. Eventually, Akane pushed open another door, motioning for Lishaka to enter the room beyond. Hesitantly, the goblin walked past her. The room - like most she had seen so far - was rather spartan. A low table sat in the middle and a few waist-high cabinets were pushed against the walls. Akane gracefully went to her knees next to the table, arranged her tail beside her shins and motioned for Lishaka to sit down as well.

Lishaka sat down across from Akane. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Akane looked her up and down through narrowed eyes. "I'm trying to understand. What is Lady Chassari doing in the company of a kawaruhito? Are you one of this Thurguz' associates?" Her tone made it sound as if that was preposterous.

"What does kawa... something mean?" Lishaka asked.

"Kawaruhito," Akane explained, "literally means 'changed person.' It's the word we use for all those beings the Oni use as slave labor. Orcs, goblins, giantkin."

Lishaka decided to ignore the implied insult. She felt rested, sated and slightly horny, thanks to the skillful hands of both Thorn and Alheri, but she didn't fancy the half-dragon's teeth or claws near her. Not to mention her ice breath. If she behaves like a proper silver dragon in that regard.

"Thurguz is my master, my teacher. I'm learning sorcery from him and Idunn."

Akane eyed her suspiciously. "And what is your business with Lady Chassari? Why is a diplomat of the Radiant Empire associating with a greenskin?"

"Chassari and I are friends!" Lishaka proclaimed. "She teaches me about being civilized." A wicked grin spread from ear to ear. "And she has already taught me so much about sex!"

Akane sighed, her long-fingered hand over her mouth.

"Why do you care anyway?" Lishaka asked. "You're not her mother, are you?"

Akane blinked then laughed. "Me-? Heavens, no. I am merely a simple servant. I have nothing but the best interests of House Fusaki near my heart. And that includes making sure that Lady Chassari behaves appropriate to her station."

"Which she seldom does, I presume?" Lishaka asked.

Akane fell quiet. Another sigh was all the goblin got.

"Thought as much," she said. "So why are you so surprised? She has made a lot of friends. Humans, elves, me, whatever Borna is..." Lishaka shrugged. "If you ask me, she's a damn good envoy. Not that we goblins would know but from what I've read in the books-"

"You can read?"

"Now, just wait a minute!" Lishaka snapped. "Not only can I read, I can write too. And cast spells. Want me to show you?" Her eyes gleamed in a dangerous crimson and two small flames appeared on her palms. The aroma of sulphur suddenly saturated the air.

Akane made a soothing gesture. "Please, forgive me." She almost bent double, her scaled forehead hairs away from the lacquered table top.

"You're probably wondering why we're here," Lishaka said. "That's rather easy... and a bit embarrassing. We agreed to help a friend of ours, Rhys, to destroy one of Carver's supply depots." Lishaka's eyes lit up. "It was a grueling battle, with Chassari and me tearing down the front side of the camp and frying dozens of enemies!"

"What was your friend doing in the meantime?" Akane asked, her brow furrowed. "Where was he while Lady Chassari was in danger?"

"He and Borna were around back, freeing slaves and- what?"

Akane gnashed her teeth. "So he put Lady Chassari and you in harm's way while dealing with slaves?"

"From what I've seen, they had to deal with an ogre on their end. And Borna took down the commander. The enemies barely hit us because I teleported Chassari and me all over the place. And when it was time to leave..." Lishaka hung her head. "I was completely wrung out. I thought I had enough for one last Teleport, and I almost had. Only thing... I somehow got us here."

"And thank the Heavens you did."

"True. Landing in El-Abessin would have been harsh," Lishaka admitted. "Say, where is Cha... Lady Chassari?"

"She is reporting to her former husband, I presume. She left just after dawn and should hopefully be back any moment." Akane brushed her hands on her robe and rose. "That should suffice for the moment. Feel free to roam the grounds. I can't keep you from leaving but consider that your kind is not overly welcome outside of these walls."

"Strange. With all those interesting creatures around, I would have thought that people here would be more open-minded," Lishaka said, rising.

"You are mistaken, I'm afraid. You see, the Eastern Continent is still at war. Dragonkind versus what remains of the giants. Granted, many of the colossi of old have perished but their lesser and more numerous kin are gnawing at the edges of the Empire, trying to steal the fertile ground we live on."

Lishaka wriggled her bum. "I'm no giant."

"No but everyone knows that goblins are giantkin."

Lishaka snorted. "Oh, I have heard stuff like that so often. 'The only good goblin is a dead goblin. Let's make kakel bakel out of that one.' All that crap. That's like saying every elf is a haughty tree hugger, every human a dumb farmer and every dragon a greedy treasure hoarder." She looked Akane up and down. "Say, how does one become half-dragon?"

Akane sighed, a sound coming from the deepest corners of her soul. "One does not 'become' half-dragon. If you have to know, my mother was a Shrine Maiden in the Black Iron Mountains. She tended to the temple of a remote village. One day, a wounded stranger was brought to her. Most people thought he was an elf, going by his strange silver hair and the pointed ears. She nursed him back to health as she had done with so many before but when he left a year later, things were different. She had lost her powers and it soon became obvious why - she was with child." Akane made a sour face. "The monks in the temple asked her to leave and staying in the village was no option. The shame was too great."

"Why? What's so bad about falling in love and bearing a child?" Lishaka asked.

"Shrine Maiden. Maiden." Akane emphasized. "My mother gave up the blessings of the gods for earthly sins. She forsook her duty only to lay with a man."

"But without that, you wouldn't be here," Lishaka said.

"I might look more kindly upon my own history were it not for the fact that in order to come all the way here, my mother, once a holy being touched by the gods, had to sell her body to make ends meet." Akane gnashed her teeth, a truly terrifying sound. "And since she had no useful talents beside playing the flute and-" The majestic half-dragon sighed. "One of her clients slit her throat over a pay dispute. Or drugs she thought he owed her." Her hands twitched, the fists opening and closing. Long claws glinted in the light coming through a window.

"How old were you?" Lishaka asked, her voice full of sympathy.

"Old enough to find and kill him," Akane hissed. "But not old enough to be tried for murder. I got off lightly. Fusaki-sama, Lady Chassari's grandfather, bought me from the slave market. His then-majordomo tutored me until I was able to assume his duties, which I have been doing ever since."

"You're wearing no neck ring."

Akane's hand went to her slender neck, touching the scales. "No, because Lady Chassari bought my freedom when she assumed her role as head of household." Akane shook her head. "Enough about that. Is there anything you need?"

"Not really. But since we're talking so nicely, why don't you show me around a bit? This place is so big and I'd hate to be lost when Chassari returns."

A furtive smile played around Akane's snout. "Let me show you then. This way, please."