Sufferance Ch. 09

"I will bathe now," she said. "I'd like some privacy. You two will remain here."

I wasn't entirely against this idea. "Just don't lock the door. Watch for spiders in the tub."

She gave me a look. "You sound like my mother."

I grinned. "It's sound advice."

She harrumphed again and led herself to the bathroom, closing the door. I did not hear a click, but once I heard water running, I stepped over to test the old-fashioned handle anyway. It turned fully and was unlocked. I let it go without opening the door.

Shyntre hadn't said a word for hours as he stood or sat by the Priestess once we'd arrived, and he was crossing his arms and watching me right now. His expression still conveyed stubborn dislike, but he looked about to say something.

*Yes, wizard?* I signed. *What is it?*

*Give it back,* he returned, taking the hint and remaining speechless.

*Give what back?*

*My pendant. I know you took it.*

I slowly raised an eyebrow; I'd already practiced looking bewildered. *What?*

I heard a small sound of frustration almost leave his chest. His fingers and hands flew furiously, I almost didn't catch it all. *Don't play this game! Just give it back! A sapphire set in platinum half-cupped by a silver moon.*

Now I was honestly confused. *Silver what?*

He sneered. *MOON! The sky-body in darkness! The opposite of the Sun! Are you that stupid?*

Okay. I was fully distracted.

My sudden charge sent him stumbling back as he tried to dodge, but he simply wasn't fast enough. I grabbed hold of his robes, swung him around, and sent him bouncing onto the bed where I forced him to his stomach and sat on his lower back. He hissed a curse but it wasn't too loud. I leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"How about you raise your robes and take what I give you, and you can push it back out and see if it's your pendant or not?"

He started to move his hands and I flicked both his ears; he gasped in pain.

"Keep your hands where I can see them. Keep your fingers straight."

We were both still for the most part, listening to each other's breath, and when I didn't speak first, he slowly drew in air, his body pushing against my crotch in a pleasant way.

"You have it," he whispered. "I know it. It went missing just after you found me at the Tower. You were touching me, you had plenty of opportunity to pick my pocket."

"Simple enough deduction," I teased. "Why keep a pendant meant to be worn around the neck in a pocket, anyway?"

"None of your business."

"What if I want to know what it is, then I'll help you find it?"

"It doesn't need to be found. Just returned." He was gritting his teeth.

"Will you die without it?"

"No, but it is mine, Sirana. Not yours."

"I think I like it when you use my name, Shyntre. The last time you did, you were pleasuring me with your cock and your tongue, one after the other."

He huffed a breathy, bitter laugh beneath my weight. "I have no relation to you. You are the one making this out to be more than it is. I was instructed by the Red Sister Prime to rape you, and I did. That's all. You're the one who can't let go of the fact that I enjoyed it."

"Only to a point, it seemed. You protest too much. I find it curious that both you and Kerse were there, and you've served Wilsira before."

"Coincidence."

"And the soldier?"

"Random choice."

"How could they be certain he'd do as told, then?"

"Very well, an *educated* random choice."

"Where is he now?"

"Probably long since digested and passed back out by cavern creatures. That was my other assignment immediately after stretching out your back passage."

I chuckled. "Careful, mage, you're making me horny. How did you come to gain such 'assignments' from the Red Sisters, anyway?"

He stiffened and the half of his face that I could see glared hotly at me. "Maybe I earned it."

"By getting their attention, yes. Was it Priestesses or Red Sisters who sought you first?"

He shook his head and started to wriggle enjoyably. "Get...off...me!"

He flicked his fingers just so, before I could react, and a burst of light exploded in front of my face. I really should have expected that.

It hurt as if daggers had literally gone into my eyes, but it didn't force me to release him. I dropped and grappled him instead, focusing the pain and blindness into orienting myself differently, holding on tighter to his body not jumping away like some startled lightning bug. Giving distance to a mage was always a mistake; when in doubt, get closer.

Clumsily I got an arm hooked around his neck and I started to squeeze his arteries on either side between my bicep and forearm. He wheezed a protest just before I bore down harder on him. I was still blind and my head still throbbed, but eventually I could feel the tension drain from his body, then he finally went limp. I held on for a few more seconds before letting the blood flow back to his head. I listened intently for him to start breathing again, and he did.

The bathing room door opened, and after a moment as I held still sitting astride the unconscious wizard, a smooth chuckle came from Wilsira's throat. It sounded like she rubbed her hands together.

"I leave you two alone for a quarter mark and this is how I find you?" She tisked. "My dears...how easily I could be attacked while you are fighting each other. I may have to bring in additional assurance of my well-being."

I heard the quiet shuffle of clawed feet next, and, coupled with the deep breath of a chest much broader than a Drow's, it sounded exactly like noises inside the Abyssal chamber at the Sanctuary. The next moment, I recognized the musk of scent.

Definitely Kerse.

I really wished I could see right then. The nuances of expression in both their faces might be vital to my anticipating anything that was coming, either now or later. It wasn't an option, though; it was lost to me because of my tussle with Shyntre.

"My apologies, Priestess," I said, staying on the wizard for as long as possible so I might better sense when he was about to wake up. "We had a disagreement on the purpose of this journey. Tell me, did he volunteer? Perhaps he only wanted to test a Red Sister's temper."

She chuckled. "Formidable when the right switch is flicked, I've heard. To answer your questions, he accepted when I asked him. He knew nothing about you. He's been on this trek before." She paused. "What is wrong with your eyes, my dear? That razor-sharp focus is gone."

The oily glide of her words matched the Draegloth approaching the bed. As before, I didn't move from where I was and drew no weapon, though I couldn't hold a gaze this time.

I turned my head and smiled at him instead; simple enough to hear where his nose and mouth were. "A non-sleeping guardian. Good choice, Priestess. Does that mean Shyntre and I will receive breaks to rest? I'd hardly expect we'd be at our top form after five cycles without reverie."

She was quiet a moment, but still sounded amused when she spoke. "Of course. You'll have to forgive his tardiness, it was always in the plan to have my son with me."

"Off playing, was he?"

I heard a soft snort from him, almost like a voiceless laugh, though his dam made a scoffing sound at the same moment that drowned it out for her.

"Completing a task for me."

I heard her robe swish as if she'd just made a gesture with most of her arm. Immediately after, Kerse leaned closer to me; I heard him inhale my scent and sensed him reaching out toward me. I did not know the best path here. Roll off the wizard and dodge? Let him do whatever with his clawed hand?

I reached out my own hand deliberately and succeeded in taking his thick wrist. He stopped; even his breath stopped, for a second, and I could feel the heat of his body through my glove.

"Priestess. What are you doing?" She hummed briefly. "I am just curious, Sirana."

Finally I could start to make out spots of candlelight and color in my vision; it would take some time, but my sight was recovering. I wanted to hold on to Kerse's wrist until I could finally see his expression, but that would linger too long. I opted to release him and get off the wizard in the same motion, stepping casually to give myself some space from all of them without turning my back.

"Curious about what?"

"Whether he liked you. I think he does."

When I looked her way, I could barely make out that she had crossed her arms low beneath her breasts, pushing them together. She did look clean and more relaxed, sexier, her headpiece gone, her hair down and combed out.

"Sometimes my son needs release on these journeys and I am too busy or too tired to see to it. At times, it has caused some awkward conversations when he would seduce a servant of the House instead.

"Tell me, Sirana, would you be willing to tend to him that way, to spell me, the way he can spell you and Shyntre when you need to rest? There will always be at least one of you three to guard me. You know I trust my boy, and in satisfying him for me, I would consider you to be protecting my body and my health, just as your Prime has instructed."

I blinked as my vision came back fully, as I heard the wizard take a much deeper breath that indicated that he'd awoken. I looked at Kerse first; his dark face was strangely neutral and he wasn't showing his teeth for once. Then I looked at his mother. She watched me every bit like the predator she was, a small smile on her lips as she waited for me to reply.

Then I looked at Shyntre. He was awake and blinking at me, reaching gingerly to touch his throat, then he turned his head carefully toward the Draegloth beside and above him, then at Wilsirathon as well. He remained perfectly still.

Shyntre was afraid but trying not to show it. From the look of it, Kerse knew anyway with his next inhale, demonic eyes flicking briefly down but soon returned to me.

What in the Abyss was the right answer here?

"Wilsira, this is a bad idea—"

"Come now," she snapped, tucking a gold lock behind her ear almost as a nervous gesture. "How is it? You roll and knock-out my wizard the first moment I am out of sight. I cannot trust you to spell each other as you each rest., but rest you must! I have infertility draughts for you to take, Sirana, of course I wouldn't catch from my own son. And I know you have the energy where I do not. Your very training sees to it."

If I had been wondering whether I'd ever seen the genuine face of the Priestess before, I had my answer now: I had not, not even a glimmer. Not until Kerse stood in the same room with us.

The jealousy D'Shea had been so concerned about was absolutely there, but it wasn't the kind of jealousy I was used to, the hostile kind where one only wanted the rival out of the picture. Nor was it a simple desire to create personal benefit from of the situation in spite of herself—even though her offer could be interpreted that she was doing just that.

No, it was a possessive, unsettling covetousness...she wanted to see what she'd missed during my trial, what her son had enjoyed so much about me, and somehow control it, make it her own. I could see more plotting, more desires there behind her eyes which I did not want to see, but my mind was unraveling it anyway.

"I expect it, Sirana," she said. "You will assist me this way, it is how you may serve me best. I will send a glowing recommendation back to your Prime on your behalf if Kerse is well taken care of."

The warnings in my head didn't stop there. It might not end after a five cycle trip. Not if she could find a way to bargain for my services again...and again.

What had Qivni said to me oh-so-elegantly at the worship ball...? *You should offer your gaping netherhole to serve him and his mother permanently...*

That was the danger, yes, but I wouldn't think D'Shea would leave me to it so easily. Not unless we were both backed into a corner. She had said she had plans for me that didn't include Wilsirathon.

...and had also said that I hadn't been experienced enough to take on this Priestess and not end up like Curgia, and the imagery had been clear even then: being bred repeatedly by her son, his weight covering my back and his cock rutting my hole whenever either of them wanted.

Not exactly how I wanted to spend the next few decades, and this journey might determine just that.

"How old is he?" I asked, neither accepting nor declining her order just yet.

"What does that matter?" the Priestess asked.

"I'm just curious. I can't tell his age, but I can tell yours. Seven hundred or so?"

She drew herself up straighter as, out of the corner of my eye, I noted Shyntre moving slowly to the far side of the bed where he could get to his feet, much farther away from the Draegloth than I was.

"Seven and two score. Kerse has lived with me for five of those centuries. He is one of the oldest at the Sanctuary." She smirked. "Does that make you feel as young as you are, Sirana? Have you even reached your first century yet?"

"Give me two years, I'll be there." I found it easier to smile than to feel intimidated, particularly when the mother was essentially saying she needed a younger snatch to help fuck her boy into docility.

Apparently Kerse could and did mount other slits without his mother's knowing, but according to her had kept it to servants thus far and she found out about them later and handled it somehow. All because...?

I glanced at his crotch, covered by a green loincloth before, but he was straining it. All because he had a much stronger drive for sex than she did? Those valued twins of mine, perception and inspiration, made me think she might be struggling more than anyone had thought to keep him under control, her own jealousy twisting into the need to possess other females who shared her burden. Who shared her son.

Mostly, it was that soft snort he'd just made that led me to this line of thought, loud enough for me but not for her. That and the way he'd looked behind him when I'd been spying; he had sensed something, I still couldn't discount that feeling. He had revealed that he'd known he was being watched, but only after his mother had left the room.

He was growing more independent, I was sure of it. D'Shea hadn't wanted to consider it based on the impulsive nature of the younger Draegloth but she was wrong. Wilisirathon was trying to placate him while thinking she still knew what he wanted, how to keep him content. But he was changing.

...did he really only want more sex than he was getting? That was a good question.

The immediate situation was not so different now than it had been in the candle chamber the first time I'd laid eyes on Kerse. I could refuse and be forced anyway and learn nothing. Or I could try to direct it, to participate, and possibly earn knowledge even D'Shea didn't have.

"You agree you will tell the Prime that you are pleased with my service?" I asked, as if that was my first concern, and Wilsira perked up a bit.

"Of course. If I can avoid having to clean up after him, I will be quite satisfied. It will save me so much time and effort. No doubt, for you, having the positive link with the Priesthood will set you up for better assignments with the Prime. You'll earn your rank faster, my young Sister."

I nodded, looking eager for such a thing to happen. "And how many couplings during this journey would be realistic to satisfy him?"

Kerse's mouth stretched back in a smile at last. There were those long, sharp teeth on full display. Shyntre made a noise that, coupled with a glance, confirmed that he was thoroughly disgusted with me.

"I still prefer his company when I am about to retire, Sirana, you only need tend him upon waking and once during the waking hours. Your choice of time, as long as Shyntre is awake and with me."

So the mid-cycle coupling could be just Kerse and me, alone. I had to assume Wilsira would stay to watch the waking one. "Two for one, huh?"

She chuckled, seeming to relax a bit. "You are trained for physical endurance. You are perfect for this."

"How long has he been making these little messes for you to clean up?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Only the last decade. It is temporary."

"What makes you think that?"

"That is privileged," she responded brusquely. "Suffice to say, you will be helping with a short-term goal. Do your part, you'll be rewarded appropriately. I'll be glad to do it."

A reward...which was wide-open to interpretation. She was relying on my age and my assumptions not to know which questions to ask. Except that I did; I had several more in mind if I truly considered this a binding bargain, but since I didn't, let her think I was easily guided, and even more easily fooled.

The truth was I still had more interest gleaning what was on Kerse's mind, not as much hers, and I'd have one opportunity per cycle to be alone with him. Those interactions would be my self-chosen reward in exchange for the risk of being trapped in the future, because this whole journey would quickly go against me if I refused to serve at all.

Afterward was when I would greatly need the experience and the wisdom of my Elder, to learn how to best use whatever I found out. The "bargain" I was making now with the Priestess was, in itself, of little value. That was why simply a positive word to my Prime was good enough for me, since threat of a negative one was the alternative.

"Very well, Priestess. I agree."

"Excellent."

I noticed that her nipples were visible through her robes as she uncrossed her arms, and she was more tense as she moved out of the doorway to the bathing room. Kerse had shifted to look at her at last, and he emitted a soft churr ending in a distinctly carnivorous whine of pleasure when she laid her hand on his mane, stroked it down his back, all the way to his loincloth. Shyntre made a very uncomfortable noise when she removed it and I couldn't help shooting the mage a smirk.

It seemed the balancing act began immediately. Could I expect anything else?

"Undress, Sirana," the Priestess commanded softly, reaching to barely touch, barely stroke the Draegloth's erection. "You'll both be nude, no weapons or tools, just like during your trial. He will not kill you, you will not kill him. As for injuries..." She shrugged delicately. "Well, I can heal, and the wizard has a collection of potions."

She reached up and cupped Kerse beneath his heavy jaw, stroking the soft flesh beneath and looking at him but speaking to us both. "Do what comes naturally. I want to watch. See what I missed."

"And the birth control?" I asked.

"Yes. I've taken care of that. It's too late for you, I won't wait a whole candle mark for a draught to take effect, and neither will he. I've already cast a temporary effect on him that stops the seed from forming in his sac, but not the semen. You'll have to trust in my considerable power as a Priestess and a healer, Sirana."

Great.

Shyntre stared at me incredulously as I removed my cloak and draped it over an opulent chair farthest from him, then reached for my belt. I could only think that my Elder had been right; the Priestess could be very persuasive about getting one out of one's reds.

Wilsira's son shifted excitedly as I placed my gloves atop my belt and began unlacing my boots. The Priestess herself snapped her fingers in the mage's direction.

"Shyntre, look at me," she demanded.

He did so reluctantly, clearly wishing he were anywhere else but in this room.

"Disrobe as well and get on the bed."

I smothered a laugh as I set my second boot down and began unhooking my leather armor, soon to shed my tunic, shirt, and pants. As Kerse remained where he was, vibrating with energy, I found an unexpected boon in watching my wizard so reluctantly strip and eventually joining her on the soft blankets after more coaxing on her part.