Palace of the Amazon Queen

"A drink to the fallen! Pour one out and say a prayer to Kanaron!"

"Aye!" Bromm agreed. "To Kanaron and my lost crewmen! For my carpenter was not the last. A half dozen other men were laid low by splinters or shot. And we had yet to make for the reefs so the enemy drew into range for muskets and sharp words!"

"Ah, the deadliest weapon of a pirate!" cried a Mellisan sailor in the rear of the crowd and the crowd laughed as one.

"My man Gan, the deadeye shot," Bromm indicated the sailor, who smiled and raised a mug. "Struck down three of the damnable Aurics with his bow. The enemy replied with a hail of small shot. I was struck in the hand by a ricochet, but none the worse for the wear." Bromm raised his right hand, where a fading bruise was barely evident against his wrist. "We assailed them with arrows and shot, musket and cannon, but they still drew closer. In short order, they were throwing grappling hooks across to fasten us in place. My brave crew fought hard, sweeping the gunwale with case shot from the guns and hurling more grenades than I knew we had bought. But the first boarding party swarmed across all the same."

"A clash of cold steel! The truest measure of a man!"

"And am never one to shy away! With saber in one hand and pistol in the other, I went into the fray. But I crossed swords with a giant of a man, a Garexian, if my knowledge of the Empire's peoples is correct. He towered a head and more over me, tall as I am, and hewed his way through the press with a worn and notched boarding axe. When I parried his blows, my shoulder rang and my arm felt as if it were about to fly out of the socket! He pushed me back with a furious onslaught until I was nearly pushed over the opposite gunwale."

"Overboard in a fight is the only worse fate than overboard in a storm!"

"Aye, but I was overboard in neither! I gritted my teeth and struck back with all my might! The giant wavered and I dodged aside. His axe fell and hewed splinters from the deck, and I slashed open his arm. He rallied and struck back undaunted. I fell to the deck and he raised his axe for the killing blow!" Bromm paused for dramatic effect, the crowd hanging on his every word. "But Apliss blessed me that day, for as the giant's axe fell, my hand closed about the grip of a pistol and I turned it on him and fired! The shot tore through his massive chest and in a spray of blood and bone, he fell!"

"A giant felled! Hurrah!"

"It was then I saw that we had nearly reached the reefs. I cried out to the men 'we are nearly there!' And they rallied, as I knew they would. We surged forward and drove the enemy back to their ship. With blunderbuss and grenades, we swept them from out decks and cut the ropes. Their boarding planks splashed into the water between our hulls, and we roared in triumph, for it was then that we entered the shallows. Our pursuer turned hard to starboard to avoid running around, and in doing so brought her broadside to bear on our battered stern once again."

"A terrible place for any sailor to be!"

"Aye, but they had been beaten and battered by our battle on the decks. Their guns fired slowly and wildly off target. They scored no more than four hits on us as we fled, and sent no more men to Kanaron. It was a bloody battle, but soon enough we escaped the range of their guns and made it out to sea."

"Well fought and well-captained!" the crowd roared. "Another black eye for the hated Golden Armada! A tale a of bravery and derring-do! Three cheers for Bromm and the Fortune!."

Bromm, all smiles as the crowd cheered his name, stopped and looked around. The crowd had grown. The pretty blonde Amazon was still staring meaningfully his way and had been joined by perhaps a dozen other Amazons, along with half as many foreign sailors filtered in from the streets. Crowds were gathering, not only around his table but at others throughout the tavern. And behind it all, the tavernkeeper was cheerfully serving up drinks - for a price.

"A fine tale! Who is next?" several sailors cried, and an eager man jumped onto the table across from Bromm. He was tall and thick, his worn white tunic cut low to show a hairy chest scarred many times over. When he spoke, his missing teeth caused his Auric-accented voice to whistle slightly.

"Let me tell you a tale of fortune and greed, for long ago I once sailed with a crew in search of Kalis, the City of Wonders."

Bromm stepped down from the table and conceded to the Auric sailor. The blonde Amazon across the table took notice and moved her way around the crowd to his side.

"You tell a gripping tale, captain...?"

"Bromm," Bromm offered, extending a hand. She took his broad hand in her own and shook it.

"I am Turasi, a neophyte of the Leopard Lodge. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Her accent was light, which was uncommon among the usually insular Amazons.

"You speak the Common tongue well," Bromm complimented.

"Aye, my mother is a merchant and my father foreign-born. I spent much of my life on the docks until I joined the Lodge. Where did you grow up, Bromm of the ship Fortune?"

Bromm shrugged. "At sea, mostly. I was born to sail, to see the world and all its beauties."

"How many of its beauties have you seen?" she asked, sliding a bit closer. Behind them, the storyteller drew a great laugh from his audience.

"Not so many as I'd like," Bromm replied, and Turasi smiled knowingly.

"What brings you to Skyrra?"

"I have heard it is a wonderful place to ride out the winter storms. And I have always wanted to see the Amazon Isles up close." Bromm hoped his previous visits, and their circumstances, would remain in the past.

"To see its beauties up close?" Turasi suggested.

"Aye, to see all its beauties up close."

"The island's greatest beauties can be seen upstairs," she said. Bromm thrust his thumbs into his swordbelt and laughed a great belly laugh.

"Lead the way, Turasi!"

Turasi pulled him toward the stairs, tossing a few coins to the tavernkeeper along the way. An eager smile played across her face on the way up the stairs. Bromm took the opportunity to admire her shapely ass beneath her kilt as she climbed the stairs. When they reached the top, Turasi turned around and smiled over her shoulder at him. She knew where he had been looking.

The upstairs hall was lit by windows overlooking the street, while potted flowers hung from the ceiling. The windows were open, allowing the sweet smell of the flowers in planter boxes outside them to drift in on the sea breeze. Somewhere outside, gulls cawed.

"That room at the end of the hall," Turasi said, pointing toward the door.

From the street came the clarion call of a trumpet. Bromm stopped short of the room, Turasi's hand slipping from his grasp, and leaned out a window. He looked down the street toward the source of the sound. Crowds gathered below him along the street's edge. Turasi came back to him, leaning out the window such that she pressed her back into his chest and her hips into his, grinding against him sensually.

But Bromm's attention was stolen away by another blast of trumpets. From the harbor marched a procession of Amazon warriors, resplendent in their polished armor and carrying their weapons shouldered. Bromm marveled at their discipline as they moved in a lockstep as practiced as that of the dreaded Auric legions. They marched in alternating ranks of spearwomen and archers, followed by a contingent of matchlock musketeers.

"The queen returns," Turasi gasped. "And she was victorious!"

"Returns? From where?" Bromm asked.

"She went raiding, but would not say where. But we will know soon enough. Look, prisoners!"

Behind the musketeers came scores of prisoners, naked and shackled together in files. Men and women marched in their own files, most with heads bowed and backs slumped. Warriors marched to either side of them in loose files, carrying whips and batons to keep them in line. One prisoner staggered, and an Amazon set upon him straight away. The whip cracked, the prisoner cried out, and the crowd cheered.

"What becomes of an Amazon's captive?" Bromm wondered aloud.

"The men who fought well will be sacrificed to Torthun or sold as concubines to the wealthy. The rest are bound for the mines and fields."

"And the women?" Bromm asked.

"They will be put to work, or sold to foreign slavers and the orcs." Turasi answered without looking, her attention fixed on the procession below, for next came the spoils of war. Carts piled with gold and silver effects, tapestries, richly colored rugs, captured weapons and armor, and crates loaded with all manner of goods. As the carts of spoiled passed beneath the window, Bromm looked into them and saw bolts of cotton and silk, chests of coffee, and ivory tusks.

"Look!" Turasi gasped, her finger pointing down the street. Following her direction, Bromm saw a chariot appear, pulled by four horses, and in it stood a proud conqueror. She wore a crown of gold and jewels and wore a gilded cuirass and greaves. Behind her, on a lower step, stood an attendant carrying a spear and shield. Also in the chariot were a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"That," Turasi declared proudly, "is our queen." Bromm nodded to himself. The queen was tall, well-muscled, and olive-skinned. Her face was regal, an aquiline nose and thin, arched eyebrows beneath hair of dark gold. She turned from one side of the street to the other, beaming triumphantly and waving with practiced timing to her admiring subjects.

Unconsciously, Bromm's hands went to the Amazon in front of him, working their way under her tunic to caress her taut stomach. Turasi giggled softly as she ground her hips against his again.

"You are excited by the sight of our queen?" Turasi teased. Bromm withdrew his hand guiltily and felt his cheeks grow hot.

"I grow tired of this distraction," he lied as a cover. "What did we come up here to do?"

Turasi turned around to face him, her lips mere inches from his own. "You've already forgotten, haven't you? Here, let me remind you." Her hand slipped past his belt, and she wrapped her fingers around his cock.

"Oh, yes," said Bromm suddenly. "That." Turasi's mouth crooked upwards. Bromm's breath came heavily as she began to stroke his cock and he put his hands on her again, the procession below fading from his mind even as the warriors of the queen's household, resplendent in their polished armor, plumed helms, and colored cloaks passed by, perhaps a hundred of them marched in lockstep behind the queen's chariot, faces grim and feet tramping in time on the cobblestones.

Turasi pulled him away from the window, leading him by his cock, and made for the room. Bromm's lust began to overcome him. His hands climbed her chest until he grabbed her breasts in both hands. Turasi wrapped her free arm around his shoulders and pulled him close for a kiss. Her lips were warm and soft, and an eager moaned escaped her mouth as they locked lips.

Bromm found himself pressing Turasi against the door of their room, or was it theirs? He cared too little by now. He had even forgotten that they came to whore themselves to the Amazons, and all thoughts of payment had fled his mind. Turasi's hand found the door handle, and they half fell into the room together.

Turasi separated from him, unclasping her cloak in one swift motion. Bromm shed his jacket and pulled off his shirt as he kicked out of his boots to stand barefoot on the wooden floor. Turasi's swordbelt hit the floor with a thud, and Bromm's followed soon after it. She pulled off her tunic and Bromm bit his lip in anticipation as her big, soft breasts fell freely down her chest. Turasi shook her golden hair loose and it settled about her shoulders in flowing locks, one of which fell down to cover her left breast. She saw Bromm staring and paused, tunic in one hand and the other cupping her breast. She squeezed them together with one hand and laughed at him.

Bromm swallowed her up in his embrace, burying his face in her big, pale breasts. Her nipples were soft pink mounds in wide rings of soft flesh, and into his mouth they went. He sucked at them, kneeling before her as he did. Turasi wound her fingers through his hair and moaned with delight. Bromm squeezed her breasts in his hands, exulting in their softness. He felt his cock straining against his trousers and reached down to pull them off. He rose to his feet as he stepped out of them and Turasi used the chance to pull off her kilt. All she still wore were her high sandals that laced up to her knees. Bromm was not about to wait for her to take them off.

With his hard cock waving before him, he scooped up Turasi in his arms and held her against him. Her blues eyes danced with delight. Slowly, Bromm lowered her onto his cock. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and leaned back to watch him slide into her. Bromm thrust into her up to his balls, her breasts shaking slightly as she settled onto his cock. Once his manhood was fully engulfed by her wet, shaven sex, Turasi turned her eyes to stare into his own and Bromm began to fuck. She was warm and wet, and her sex welcomed his cock inside her.

Holding her by her plump ass, he stood in the center of the room thrusting into her with increasing vigor. He kneaded the soft flesh of her plump ass with his hands, and it shook with each thrust of his cock. Turasi moaned and squirmed on his cock, her big breasts bouncing with each stroke of his hips. She bit her lips to stifle a squeal as Bromm fucked her harder. It was no use, and her muffled squeal escaped her mouth anyway. The sound of it drove Bromm to fuck her harder.

Standing in the middle of the room naked with a gorgeous young Amazon suspended on his cock, he suddenly realized they had never closed the door. He could see through it into the hallway, though it was thankfully empty. With a bemused smile and a shake of his head, Bromm turned away and put it out of his mind.

His arms were growing tired, and Bromm waddled forward to press Turasi against the wall for support. She pulled herself closer to him, her lips finding his again as they locked in a passionate embrace. Bromm heard the wall paneling creak as he pressed against it, as did the floorboards beneath him. But he did not stop. He pinned her legs back against the wall in a full body press, her sandalled feet shaking in the air by his shoulders. He clenched his asscheeks as he felt his cock nearing climax.

Turasi could feel it too. She suddenly broke away from the kiss and lowered her feet to the floor. She planted a firm hand on his chest and pushed him back. Bromm slowed his thrusting and then stopped entirely. He was near to coming. Turasi pulled him out of her and stepped away.

"I won't have you coming yet, I'm not done with you." She pointed authoritatively to the bed. "My turn," she declared.

With one hand clasped about his cockhead to keep from coming, Bromm obediently lay himself down on the soft featherbed. Above him, a simple candle sconce hung from the ceiling. But his view of it was quickly blocked by Turasi's pretty face as she lay herself atop him. She pressed herself against his chest even as she wormed a hand down between their bodies and grabbed hold of his cock to put it inside her. Bromm wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Turasi began to bounce her plump little ass on his cock as Bromm kissed her lips and neck. Bromm squeezed her tightly in his arms, his cock throbbing as he thrust into her in time with the bouncing of her hips. The Amazon grabbed his head in both hands and held him steady for her to kiss. Bromm contented himself with two handfuls of her ass.

Abruptly, Turasi broke the embrace and sat up. She threw back her head and let her long golden hair fall down her back, staring up at the ceiling with two palms planted on Bromm's chest. She let out a long moan of pleasure that Bromm could almost hear reverberating out the open door and down the hall to the tavern's common room. He looked to the door, half-expecting that they would have an audience, but found it empty.

Looking back to Turasi, he was immediately seduced by the siren sight of her large, gorgeous breasts bouncing on her chest. Bromm reached up with both hands and grabbed tight hold of them. The feel of her big, soft breasts in his hands was overwhelming, and he lost the rhythm of his cock strokes. Turasi noticed.

From her seat on his cock, the pretty Amazon looked down at him with amusement as he played enraptured with her bouncing breasts.

"What is it about men that leaves them fascinated by a pair of tits?" she wondered aloud.

"I've traveled the world and fucked hundreds of women, but a pair of tits will always get my attention. And, if I may say so, yours is one of the nicest pairs I've seen."

Turasi laughed and brushed him off, but he could see from her flushed face that she took the compliment to heart. She saw him looking and swooped her pretty face down to his lips again. Locked in another passionate embrace, Bromm regained the rhythm of his thrusts and soon enough felt close to coming. He squeezed her tighter as he came, spurting cum into her sex until he felt it spray out of her and drip down his cock onto the bedsheets.

Bromm gave her a peck on the cheeks as his chest heaved against hers. She responded with an affectionate pat on the cheek. Turasi stood up, her wet sex trailing a sticky spiderweb of cum between it and Bromm's cock. She nearly hit her head on the ceiling above the bed, and braced herself on the soft mattress with one hand against the ceiling timbers. Looking down at Bromm and teetering slightly on the unsteady surface, she chuckled with satisfaction.

"You've got quite the cock on, Bromm. Nystra Herself would do well to ride it."

Bromm gave an exhausted laugh of his own and waved one hand ambivalently. "She knows where to find me," he gasped. A drop of cum fell from Turasi's glistening crotch and splattered onto his naked chest. "Damn," he muttered, "I'm such a mess now."

"Let me help." Turasi knelt down atop him again and extended a long pink tongue. Her blue eyes locked with Bromm's own, she ran her tongue along his cock and stomach, licking up all his errant cum.

"When you've had your rest, let's have the tavernkeeper draw us a bath," she said, and Bromm's chest heaved in agreement.

In the courtyard before the palace, Queen Kannitara pulled her chariot to a halt. Stepping down from it, she watched her assembled warriors disperse to their homes and posts. Palace guards descended from their watches to speak to friends and hear stories of the raid. They formed tight knots in the courtyard, eagerly showing off new scars or trinkets plundered from the enemy.

Through the crowd, Kannitara spied the approach of her second, Pythira. The warriors were quick to step out of her way with an apology and a quick bow.

"Your Grace," Pythira said with a reverent bow before her queen. "All has been well in your city while you were away."

"Good, for all was well with my raid. We lost a score of warriors, in exchange for two hundred captives and much plunder. The foreigners will learn respect for my name."

"Most heartfelt congratulations, your Grace. Shall I make a gift of some of the worthiest males to another queen? Syme, perhaps? It might smooth things over."

Kannitara rolled her eyes. "We will talk gifts later. For now, have someone take this chariot away and stable the horses."

"Of course," Pythira beckoned to a pair of grooms, who did as ordered. "Also, Lahana wishes to speak with you."

"Again?" Kannitara groaned. "What now?"

"The same, really. She is stubborn, like someone else I know." Kannitara ignored her remark and looked toward the palace gate, where her Mistress of Spears stood waited. Lahana was once again accompanied by her son, a spindly lad of no more than twenty. The older woman glared down at the queen with hardly restrained disdain. She will always be a problem, Kannitara thought darkly.