Sufferance Ch. 12

They blinked and stared at me, able to see the many clear marks on me from the struggle, her bloody lip and nose, and also able to see the fact that Thena was still fully clothed. Jael tossed her belt and weapons on top of her and stepped back behind me, holding on to one sheathed dagger.

I said, "Please tell Elder Rausery I may be a little longer, but will bring Jael to her quarters when I'm finished."

After a silent moment while I waited to see if these three would decide to attack Jael and me, I saw one notice Thena's obsidian dagger and a second cover her smile behind a glove. They each looked at the other, and at last the ranking one nodded, staring at Thena's unmoving form.

"Sure."

I bowed with a smile. "My hungry cunt thanks you."

They chuckled as I hooked Jael's waist eagerly with one arm, taking the dagger from her—which she surrendered willingly—and pulled her away with me. I listened for an attack at our backs and was ready for it, but it never came. My witnesses had decided to let me keep what I'd earned, and it was up to them what to do with Thena.

I considered it a very good sign.

There were no words as we made our way back quickly to the room, but I could sense genuine excitement in my prize. I slid my hand down to cup her rump once and squeezed, and again there was that soft laugh.

I was glad she could still laugh.

Once inside the room, Jael turned and kissed my mouth first, pressing herself to me. I reacted on instinct, clutching her hard and keeping our mouths locked, stroking inside hers with my tongue. I pushed her to step backward toward the bed. She explored my back and my backside, squeezing and scratching, and as we settled onto the mattress on our knees facing each other, she leaned down to suckle my breasts. I lobbed the dagger to the side, still within reach for either of us.

Even though I had expected it, Jael's intense enthusiasm nearly left me spinning. It was so different from before. My skin was now bruised in many places and my bedmate pressed a lot of those sore spots without thinking, but I couldn't help chuckling, kiss after kiss. Something buoyant and powerful surged in my chest as she whispered that she wanted me, wanted to please me, and did I like it *this* way...?

I groaned, threading my fingers into her loose hair, and soon I was not feeling a lick of pain now that didn't blend with pleasure as she moved down my body. When I felt her fingers slide inside me, I sucked in breath to say, "Fuck...don't stop..."

Perhaps as my reward, or a show of gratitude, she made me cum quickly with her fingers and her mouth while I was still kneeling and leaning back. I had been more than ready.

Jael was surprised to learn that I didn't have a Feldeu to use on her but accepted the fact, adjusting her expectations. She still lay back with her legs open, holding and tugging on my wrist to pull me to her. "Cover me."

I believed I knew what she wanted and I found I was eager to try this. I had watched her do it before, but only she had been on top.

I lay on her now with our legs intertwined; my left thigh was between her legs and pressed tight to her bare bound, her own left thigh in the same place tight against mine as she crooked her knee to apply pressure. Oh, yes...

I moved my hips similar to a thrust, grinding my sex against her thigh and I felt her doing the same against mine, sharing the heat and slickness of our bodies. I shuddered and breathed raggedly, both hands clutching her hips, my mouth pressed to her neck. Jael arched her back, breathing quickly as she moved her hips faster against me.

"...ah...ah..." she moaned in rising volume. "Yes...oh, oh! Oh!"

The sound of her voice made me fuck harder, moving in a powerful rhythm and I bit her neck with a growl. She squealed, starting to thrash beneath me as she screamed, "YES!"

My thigh became so slick between her legs I almost couldn't hold the pressure and friction hard enough. She clutched her hands to my back, digging in her nails, and helped us by thrusting her hips up and riding her peak as long as she could, hollering as she coasted. She was one of the most vocal Drow I'd had, and the excitement at hearing it so raw and uninhibited—something I hadn't been expecting—pushed me to my second climax with her. I marked her thigh with my juices as thoroughly as she had marked mine.

My face was buried in the mattress at the crook of her neck and I gasped hard trying to catch my breath. Jael moaned softly and kept stroking my back, trailing her fingernails slowly down toward my buttocks. We were covered in sweat and I thought our legs might stick together if we fell asleep like this...

When I felt fingers combing my hair, I also realized that her breath was stifled; I was putting a lot of my weight on her again. I shifted some of it onto my elbows and felt her chest expand farther in response. My eyes were still buried against her and she remained quiet.

Waiting for something to happen.

The warmth and stickiness was pleasant enough, earthy and humid like a steam bath, but eventually reality returned. I felt some tension rise in her right about the time it came to me that I didn't know what to do next.

In my Court years, after a fun or intense bout, I'd get up and stretch, say something amusing if there wouldn't be a next time, or something suggestive if there would. Sometimes I'd clean up there, or sometimes I'd go to my own quarters first, the scent of sex wafting behind me. All those had been male.

With Jaunda or any of her team, I was sent away when they were done; with Gaelan, we'd either be hustling to our next summons or would fall into reverie, exhausted, knowing only too soon we'd be working again. With D'Shea and Rausery....oh, those were more a series of lessons. And Kerse? Well, I had plenty to see to afterward.

In one form or another, I'd always left a lover relatively soon after climaxing.

It didn't feel...smart. Not at this moment. As if I'd be missing some opportunity.

I lifted my head to look down at Jael's face. She was wary and a little uncomfortable, looking up at me and meeting my eyes. The simple reality was that the youngest Red Sister didn't know what to expect from me now, and my being so caught up in my victory— standing against yet another ranking Sister—well, I hadn't thought quite far enough ahead to know myself.

It was up to me what happened next. I could get off and let the cool air separate us and take her back to Rausery. I could start touching her again and delay the inevitable....

But half of maintaining control of any situation was acting like one knew what she was doing. I didn't know quite yet but I could bluff it.

I reached to cup her face, my thumb running lightly over her bottom lip, darker and swollen from the intense activity. I smiled. She relaxed, just a little.

"I've wanted to ask...why your eyes are that odd color," she said quietly.

"Are you asking now?"

She nodded. "Yes, Sister. I am."

"Born that way. Somewhere back in my line, another Drow had blue eyes."

"Mm. It's memorable."

"I bet that was the point at the time. I tend to forget until others bring it up, and often it's too dark to tell."

Jael nodded but went quiet again, lying still beneath me and relaxed for once. As her eyes drifted and ceased looking at anything inside the room, I squeezed a breast to get her attention.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Qivni," she admitted, lowering her chin a bit.

"What about her?"

"I think I see why she dislikes you. But...I don't. I have no reason, and more reason to... I...I'm uncertain...how to—"

"How to handle liking one of D'Shea's Sisters?" I asked.

She nodded. "Near enough."

That was indeed an interesting dilemma. It gave me several ideas at once.

"I have a suggestion."

"I'm listening."

"The more you show any preference for me, the more they'll put us at odds with each other. When you get an order to test yourself against me, because you will eventually, I won't hold it against you. I'd expect you to do your best. You have to expect the same in return."

She nodded reluctantly. "At odds...but we've never been. Not since slaying the Illithids' creatures. And then the Duergar..."

"Defend me too much to Qivni, or show in public anything you've shown in this room, and we *will* be fighting each other, 'Thietti. Guaranteed."

She frowned at my tone. "And you'd fight to win."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

The tension I felt now was mostly muscles hardening, and she sounded more feisty, as I'd overheard before. "I wouldn't just *give* you victory, Sirana."

That made me smile. "Good to hear. My suggestion, in case I haven't been clear, is to be neutral toward me, or show a slight distaste if you like. It's reasonable to prefer me to Thena after what happened, we've got witnesses, but still focus on impressing Qivni and Rausery, not me. They are the ones who decide your fate, not me."

She smirked in amusement. "You, being the one who gave me this second chance at having a fate at all."

"The importance of that will fade with each future test and achievement. Even to you."

"I almost feel like proving you wrong. Perhaps I was captured by the wrong team."

I shook my head. "That thinking will hold you back. It was a well-timed potion, nothing more. You're alive and in the cloister of the Sisterhood. So now what?"

She didn't realize I was requesting an actual answer until I repeated it: "Now what, 'Thietti?"

Jael swallowed and nodded. "I want to convince Qivni to teach me those Draegloth commands, eventually."

I raised my brows; she had surprised me. "Ambitious goal. Are you going to tell her that I told you about them?"

She shook her head. "No. I believe I saw something like that in the Sanctuary during my trials. I will bring it up from that angle."

Nodding, I shifted off of her halfway, unsticking parts of our skin but still lying close enough to drape a leg over hers and stroke her abdomen. I propped my head up again, studying her face. It was rounder than mine but not by a lot; the jaw and chin softer. Her eyes actually seemed to tilt slightly downward and always had a fierce glint to them even when she was in repose as she was now. Her mouth was small but shaped perfectly, her nose smaller and more pointed than mine, and each ear possessed more of a flare leading down from the tip—more like a curved, wide blade than a long spear head.

Jael still possessed the Nobility features and was not someone I would ever call plain, but her style of beauty was a bit older, I thought, which made sense. House Aurenthin was one of the oldest ones, even being near the bottom. It had had a long, long slide backward over the centuries, and it was expected to disappear before another two had gone by. It had avoided extermination or a coup somehow—the more common reasons a House might disappear entirely and a new one take its place—but had lost resources, connections, and power steadily. I didn't really understand why.

With the classical, older beauty, Jael's face was more exotic to me. The Consorts had been bred for different features since the last time House Aurenthin may have possessed a Consort of their own to breed.

"What happened at the Sanctuary?" I asked quietly. "That was one time I was not able to watch you."

She looked from the ceiling to me and anger passed over her face at my second time bringing that up. "Tell me about *your* trials, Sirana."

That was one performance every Sister who'd been available at the time had been able to watch, from beginning to end. They knew the story and heard my confessions with their own ears. It was easier for me to talk about now as a result.

I nodded. "Like you, I faced a Draegloth first. I handled it differently and was willing to couple after an agreement—any agreement, it almost didn't matter what. I had never encountered one up close before and found him interesting."

Jael did not look impressed. I grinned at the twisted expression and continued, "Second I took on two male Drow, also like you. However, no more than that were sent against me. Again, I was more willing. Overall. "

"Manipulator," she said.

"Well. Yes. Fighting as you did would have only made me too tired to climax."

She blinked, then looked amazed and shifted away so she could get on her elbow and look at me straight on. "Wait...you climaxed during your trials? Even when you were forced?"

"Yes."

"Even when it hurt?"

"That depended on how much damage I took. I tried to minimize it."

Jael narrowed her eyes at me. "You are right for D'Shea, then."

"And you're right for Rausery."

She paused, looking between my eyes, one to the other. "What was your third trial?"

I smiled more tightly, almost a grimace. I no longer felt the hot, impotent anger of before, not fully; it was distant anymore because I had so much more to look toward, I thought. But I wanted to show Jael that I had once been more like her.

"They recreated a ritual from my childhood. My older sister used to practice on me; she wanted to be a Priestess. One of the rituals involved the Drow on the altar to accept a blade into her cunt to heal her barren womb—not that I understood it at the time. Of course there was no true divine magic in my sister, so it didn't work. It only made me bleed. The Red Sisters brought in a Priestess to show me how it was supposed to be done and I went through it again on the altar."

Jael's eyes had widened significantly. "And...you made it here so...you must have overcome it."

I nodded. "I'll wager it was the same for you, although you still seem to be angry about it."

She flexed a hand, looking down at it as she played with the blanket. "I just don't like the half-breeds."

"So what happened in your third trial?"

She didn't want to describe it or discuss it—that was plain—but she was hesitant to refuse me after what I'd told her, after what I'd done for her.

"You can make it brief," I smiled. "So long as there is a beginning, middle, and end."

Her eyes became vacant a moment as she relived it, and she blinked, drawing in a breath. "Um..."

"They lifted you off the ground in the candle chamber, after you took six males and still had energy to spit at them," I coaxed, leaning my head down like her and looking up, trying to match her gaze.

"Put a bag over my head again," she murmured, continuing my narrative. "They bathed me quickly, used a cloth with something on it to close my wounds and make me less sore. Hauled me somewhere else—it took time to reach it, through a passage. When they took the bag off, I was in a darker chamber. No candles this time, no light. I could feel them, three of them."

"Draegloth?"

She nodded. "Like in...my childhood, too. I'd wake up to one in my bedroom. Sometimes crouching at the foot of my bed, close enough to touch my foot."

Yes, now I recalled Rausery saying something to that effect after the first trial.

"The same one each time?"

She shook her head. "I knew of at least four distinct ones over a score of years."

Now it was my turn to be amazed. "Why were they there?" I asked.

Her mouth pursed tight a moment. "I never knew. It stopped when I was old enough to bear young."

"What stopped?"

"The stalking. The whispers. Occasionally they would reach out of nowhere and cut my arm or ankle, only to disappear. They'd disturb my reverie, hide belongings, move things just to make me doubt my sanity..."

Four Draegloth...four Priestesses plotting? Why in the Underdark would a group of Priestesses want to send their sons to harass one child, and a mere fourth daughter at that! And having them stop such activities once Jael was old enough for breeding...it did imply someone or several had sent the creatures and had then kept them away to prevent unwanted results.

"Is that experience unique to you?" I asked, and Jael blinked at me, confused.

"What are you asking?"

"Has anyone else in your blood family been visited so?"

She went through a series of expressions and nervous gestures before settling on a frown and a finger tap. "I don't know. We didn't compare stories."

"So you never told anyone?"

She shook her head.

"May it be possible?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. No one likes the half-breeds at House Aurenthin."

Interesting.

"Then what happened in the dark chamber with the three?" I reminded her. She clearly wished I hadn't.

"They remembered me," she said. "Knew my name, whispered it over and over. And since I was grown and they were not restrained, it...was like with the first two trials."

"You fought and they dominated you."

She stared at me in silence, but I took it as a yes.

"Did any of them have a bulge in his penis?" I asked plainly.

Why ask so blatantly? Because there was no chance of coaxing details in a more subtle way out of Jael about this; I could see that scrawled on her face. I was lucky to have gotten what I had so far.

She gave me an odd look. "A what?"

"A bulge. A very wide, round spot, like some of our phallic toys. You've probably seen them with some Sisters. You'd have known it if one of the Draegloth had it. It tends to get hung up inside and he can't pull out for a while after climaxing until it shrinks back down."

Jael's face flushed brighter with energy and her horrified expression almost made me laugh. "...oh. No. No... I hadn't even known some of them were shaped like that."

So it was possible for me to assume Kerse hadn't been one of the three harassers—in the chamber, at least. Who knew exactly which half-breeds had been visiting that low-ranking House and its superfluous daughter for twenty years? Someone knew, but who may be something Jael or I never discovered. It had already been more than half a century in the past.

Although the three still remembered her name...

Surely D'Shea and Rausery both knew a lot more about this?

"I wouldn't mention that detail casually to anyone," I said, "about the bulge."

"Why?"

"It might draw the wrong kind of attention at a time when you're still vulnerable as a molted spider."

"Why bring it up at all, then?" she asked testily.

I smiled and found my voice silent. Maybe I could understand a bit of D'Shea's position here...questions leading someone around. After a while she just might not want to answer the questions one could figure on their own.

In this case the answer was: because I knew a Draegloth who was shaped like that. The answer should be rather obvious, shouldn't it?

I wondered whether I looked to D'Shea's eyes as Jael did to me now? Something about teasing her mind was thrilling. The detail would stick now and Jael would continue to think about it and might come back to me with more information or new questions to consider... this newest Sister knew a side of the Draegloth that I didn't.

Huh. This was probably what D'Shea habitually did. I supposed I enjoyed interacting with my Elder like that as well. I often brought her more information than she'd given me—unfortunate for me—but my consistent reward was to be given enough lead to discover more on my own.

Jael herself might not be like that, or enjoy it as much as I did—I didn't think Gaelan would—but this might be a good way to find out.

So I didn't answer her.

"What was different about the third trial from the first that they decided to test you further in the wilderness?" I asked instead.

"Other than the number of paws and cocks involved?" she spat.

"Yes." I kept watching her face as she struggled to keep her patience with me.

"What does it matter?"

"I was sent out to capture you. That would not have happened if it had been a repeat of the first trial. You didn't do anything impressive then."

She gave me a meaner look which, oddly, reminded me of Shyntre. "I'll try to put more 'impressive' flare into the rape the next time you're watching."