Surfacing Ch. 22

Shyntre frowned deeply and she saw the resentment returning. "Care to make your point, Priestess?"

"Certainly."

She sat down upon the bed's edge well within his personal space. He tried to shift the tray to keep it from spilling but she took it from him and put it on the table beside them. She watched his nostrils flare as he became aware of her personal scent and, as expected, it made him uncomfortable. He was certainly a different sort of Consort than she had helped to raise and train before.

But then, no male from the Sanctuary had had quite Shyntre's particular... variety... of upbringing.

Lelinahdara took hold of the wizard's chin and turned his head so she could look at him as she spoke. "It is a bit late in your development, but it may yet be possible to give you that heightened fertility, Shyntre. To make you a true Consort in service to Her Grace, and not simply a strong mage from our nursery."

What she said had frightened him, she could tell, and he wanted to close his mind to it. She put her free arm around his shoulders and kept talking close to his face even as he wanted to look down to the side away from her.

"You would not have to breed as often, wizard, you would not have to endure the pressure or exhaust yourself rutting on the same Noble pussies over and over again. If the Valsharess ordered you to impregnate a particular female, you could do so with more control and be able to conserve your strength. Likewise, if you were to withhold or even destroy the gift of a fertile womb, that would be within your ability."

A hard tremor passed through Shyntre and he gasped quietly as he lifted a hand as if to touch his head. Something had hurt but the next he glanced at her, she recognized the glint of interest and hope, and pushed him harder.

"It would heighten your value tremendously, Shyntre, as you would have more time and will to continue learning magic as well. So much less effort and time wasted on ungrateful and demanding Nobles, yet you could efficiently fulfill the Valsharess's wishes and please Her."

His hand did not quite make contact with his temple but the quivering in it stopped and he whispered very quietly. "Do you mean what you say? Could you do this?"

She squeezed his shoulder again and, though her other hand finally let go of his chin, she stroked him along his jawline before setting it in her lap. "Yes, I mean it, and *you* could do this, wizard. It is what your sire did, you know, centuries ago."

The young mage did not react to that but she could suppose he was just covering it up. Either way it did not help motivate him and she said no more, waiting for him to think on it.

"What would be required of me?" he asked.

She covered any sign of the little flare of excitement she felt in her middle. "Close the circle, Shyntre. You have quickened new life as a Consort in training, now you must assist in a birthing of a Consort who has the magic that you need."

His face almost crumbled in disbelief. "Impossible. They're all dead."

"Not all," she assured him. "We have two opportunities, Shyntre. One in only a few weeks, maybe less. And another maybe four months from now. Two chances to transform you, as all Consorts have been strengthened the same way, helping to birth their brothers. Yet you would also be like me, a wielder of both arcane and divine magics. It will open so many more choices for you than you have now, as it has for me."

Tarra watched his pulse beat in his throat and felt the high heat of his body. She had almost forgotten how a male channeling the arcane not only seemed hot in a way that the soothing glow of a Consort was not, but also had more bite to his aura. Shyntre was badly bruised but it was starting to mend, the Priestess could see it, and having this new goal to think about would help distract him from his injuries.

She also thought it could work, and she had the Valsharess's tentative approval while at the same time that She had retracted any thought of using Shyntre to drag the true name out of the last Consort kept in the Cloister. Tarra had already ruminated on many possibilities involving Curgia and her unborn, to use her to bond with Auslan if she could have Shyntre do so, but now also making use of that doomed baby in order to achieve what the Valsharess now bid her do: to make Her Royal Consort stronger, resilient, and more fertile.

Now the arcane Priestess had a bit of a time limit as well. The Valsharess wanted Shyntre ready, or at least closer to ready, by the time Sirana returned. Lelinahdara was not used to working as quickly, to move up several aspects of her plans by years. But... as long as she was given leave to use the resources at her fingertips, she would do so. And succeed.

"Well, Shyntre? What do you think? Would you like to discover the secret of how the Consorts could once utterly control the fertility of the Nobility?"

The wizard wetted his lips and swallowed, staring down at the dark blanket that covered his legs. "I think... that I must."

*****

"You don't mind, do you?" Jaunda said as she stripped down again so shortly after dressing simply to move from one Elder's quarters to the other's.

The Consort Auslan probably did mind, based on how he could not sit still in the chair he had just taken, as his eyes flicked frequently between her and the bed she meant to claim. However, he shook his head in the negative.

"Thanks. It's been a really, really long month."

As she piled her equipment as neatly as she could in her Elder's room, Auslan cleared his throat.

"Maybe... Take a bath first before you lie down on the sheets?"

She smirked. "Not sure I can stay awake that long."

"I will help you," he offered. "I have served many Matrons who wanted me to bathe them. I promise I can make it feel good."

The Lead chuckled. "Yeah, so I can fall asleep in the tub and drown."

Auslan shook his head urgently, choosing to take her seriously despite her laugh. "Oh, no, Red Sister, I would make sure that did not happen."

She cocked a brow. "Really. Can just lift me up on your shoulders, can you? You must be stronger than you look."

The Consort squirmed again, wringing his hands. "Please take a bath."

"Why?"

"I just put on fresh linen. You will soil them."

"Ah, now you are talking straight. I like that better, you know, a lot better than the manners Matrons shove down each other's' throats."

Auslan gripped the sides of his chair then let go again as he took a breath with a nod. "As you wish." He stood up and began to draw a bath.

When he turned around, Jaunda was grinning and rested her muscular arms on her hips. "What if I just ignore you and sit my sweaty ass down on the bed?"

The Consort blinked an admittedly very pretty set of eyes and answered her question nonverbally: he picked up a fresh washcloth and placed it under the steaming flow for a few moments before wringing it and picking up a cake of soap to suds it up a bit, setting it down and then catching a bit more water to further moisten the soap. He held the readied cloth over the tub's lip so it would drip inside, but he watched her for her next move.

"You'll just start wiping me down wherever, eh?"

He nodded.

"You'll drip water all over the floor."

"Better than getting grit into the mattress of our Elder."

Jaunda snorted and shook her head, tiredly rubbing her eyes with one hand. "Our Elder, huh? You almost sound like Gaelan. She could be a pain in the ass this way, too." She took her hand away and blinked firmly, focusing on him again. "So why are you here instead of down in the cells where I left you?"

He swallowed and glanced down at his hand as he gently squeezed the cloth, foamy white suds flowing over his dark hand into the tub. "So it is you, then. You brought Sirana to me."

Jaunda ducked in a quick nod. "Sure as fuck is. Answer the question."

His lower lip trembled a little as he recollected something, looking off to the side, but it seemed he intended to stay straight with her as he looked back. "Your Elder moved me here after I was attacked in the cells by three Red Sisters."

Jaunda jerked her chin in another nod; she already knew that, given how D'Shea now needed to come up with some extra training for Thena and her gang. There was plenty of gossip about it even if she had been gone during and for most of the time since it happened. She just wanted to see if Auslan could say it, or if the broke him. It seemed not.

The last time Jaunda had had any contact with this male was when she had taken him out of House Itlaun with a bag over his head and a newly pregnant novice following behind her. The Lead had helped to hold him down as D'Shea had used a dagger to cut into his back and break whatever tracking magic he had on him. Then she had been there as Sirana nearly interfered with her Elder's interrogation of him; she would have if Jaunda had not grabbed hold and held her back.

Jaunda had felt at distant odds with what had happened. This pretty male had saved Sirana's life and put her shredded guts back together again when the Lead had doubted it was possible and figured they had lost her. He wasn't responsible for her getting sent away to the Surface later on, or for Jaunda being given the task that got her fucked by a Dragon.

But Goddess damn it, why did he have to get a Red Sister pregnant to heal her, and why was he still alive tending D'Shea's bedroom like it was his own? Especially when all the other Consorts were dead, torn apart by the Nobles if they did not die earlier in the Purge.

"Have you seen Shyntre recently?" he asked meekly.

Oh, yes. That was why. Jaunda had almost forgotten that it had been Shyntre's idea where to take Sirana after the explosion had singed off most of her hair, and it was Shyntre who had shown up at the Cloister with the urgent need to go chasing after a rebellious Draegloth...

"You know each other, don't you?" she said flatly.

Auslan nodded. "He grew up in the Sanctuary. He was one of the few non-Consorts whom I got to know before my initiation."

"Right," the Lead grunted, running a dirty hand through her dirty hair. She took a few steps closer and looked into the tub. "That's enough. Turn it off."

He blinked at her but looked at the tub to see it just over half-full and he turned the handles to close off the water as Jaunda simply walked over and got into the tub. She hissed through her teeth as she settled in and then moaned softly.

"Fuck me, that feels good."

The Consort tentatively smiled. "Do you want me to scrub you?"

"Don't you dare," she rumbled as she leaned forward to snatch the soapy cloth from him. "I can do it."

Jaunda could get herself very clean, very fast when she needed to, and she did so now. As decadent as the hot water felt as it sluiced off the grime, she needed sleep more than anything and wanted to lie down. The Consort was probably right though, it was D'Shea's bed and she shouldn't hop straight in to roll around like the proverbial spoiled pet in the taze room.

"Good enough?" Jaunda asked as she rubbed the towel vigorously over her short hair, letting it stick straight up in spikes when she was finished.

The Consort appraised her nude body for cleanliness but not in lust and he nodded. "Thank you."

She tossed the damp towel over the back of the chair and rolled her eyes when Auslan came in behind her to pluck it up and drape it over a clothesline in the back of the room, tugging on it to make sure it was perfectly straight. She could appreciate doing a job right and paying attention to detail with a little discipline, but there was a line.

Nonetheless she was far too tired to care beyond making sure she could lie down on her back someplace off of the hard stone of the wilderness. Her exhaustion when deep enough to make her believe that, if given leave to do so, she could sleep for the rest of the time before her bargain with the Dragon would be fulfilled and she could actually say something about it.

Although she wasn't sure exactly what she'd say even if she could, wasn't sure what was most important. She would rather trust D'Shea on that; let her ask her questions. She knew that her Elder meant to protect her from the Prime while Jaunda waited her time, and she only hoped that maybe it would not escalate to the Valsharess.

But then again, maybe that was what Iskomitneh wanted. Jaunda saw no reason why he would care if she survived the month of silence, and whatever he had done to her had removed any fear of it. It was as if, having the decision made and knowing that it would not change, there was not a lot else for her to stress about.

She felt no fear when ordinarily she would feel a lot of it, as she was surrounded by her superiors who wanted to know what she knew. It was not natural for her, not for any Drow, but she could not make herself care very much in this moment.

As Jaunda relaxed, lying atop the sheets and tucking an arm beneath her head while the other one smoothed over her hard belly and played idly with her pubic thatch, she stared up at the smooth-formed, stone overhang above the bed which was a little darker than the rest of the candle lit ceiling for being a gentle arc with a lip. She watched that darker spot without really seeing it, in her mind replaying many of the acts she had been required to perform to sate the Dragon.

It led her to wonder what the two shadows were doing now, and how they were holding up, whether they felt as deeply tested as she did. She was proud to have survived this far, though in all likelihood her trouble had only just begun.

Mentally she shrugged. This was not a new thing for a Red Sister.

She finally blinked when she felt a much lighter body ease onto the bed beside her and she looked over at the Consort.

"What's up?"

Auslan looked confused. "What? I am sorry -"

Jaunda snorted and then chuckled, scratching an itch on her flank before resting her hand on her stomach. She had one leg drawn up, her foot comfortably flat on the mattress, and the other bent but laid flat to where her crotch was wide open to anyone's view. "Don't worry, just something Sisters say. I was wondering what you're doing here."

"I wish to lie down to rest as well. There is room."

"Next to me?" She grinned. "I could take it as an invitation."

He looked mildly troubled as well as confused. "You do not... want me. Do you?"

She shrugged, noting that he had kept his wrap secure and modest as he got into bed without his sandals. "I fuck anyone the Sisterhood needs me to fuck. You know that, by our reputation if nothing else."

Auslan shook his head. "But there is no need here."

"Depends on your definition."

"Only if you wish to frighten me further."

"Oh? Do I frighten you? You'd never know it from how you threatened me with that washcloth."

The Consort was wary of her tone, and Jaunda wondered just how serious everyone around him had been? Granted, there had not been a lot of room for festive moods following the Purge and even Jaunda missed some of the old order where she had felt safer and laughed more. If she could have known exactly how that whole game with Iskomitneh was going to end, she almost thought she could have enjoyed the smiles and the laughing a bit more.

And that was what came back to her more now as she had time to reflect. Not the shock that she had been made a male fuck toy for several cycles; not the exhaustion as she was pushed to her limit over and over again; not the hard deal she was forced to make while backed into a corner which would see her goal achieved and the City closer to the coming earthquake between the Drow and the Illithids.

No. What came back was the fact that the Dragon was pleased, and he kept his word. He was dangerous and manipulative, an unapologetic predator, but he had been... festive. Inclusive and open to play from every angle, but within the parameters set. Full exploration of the delights in being awake.

So... what was it like when he was asleep?

*Never confuse my sleep for mere unconsciousness. You cannot comprehend.*

Auslan had laid his head down while lying on his side facing her. She realized he had been studying her face, and when she had not required a response to her jest about the washcloth he had remained silent.

"What?" she asked him.

"You helped to recover Sirana," he murmured. "And you listened to Shyntre. About Kerse."

"Yeah. So?"

He looked down and back up again. "Can you tell me if you have seen Shyntre recently?"

Jaunda shook her head. "Been outside the City limits too much. And last I heard, he was being kept in the Palace."

The Consort avoided an obvious expression of letdown, but she could feel it. "And Sirana?"

She shot him a wry grimace. "Why would I have any fucking idea? She's not back yet, I don't even know if she's alive."

"She is," he said in a whisper.

Right. Maybe. Maybe she was. All Jaunda had known was that her Elder was working some kind of magic angle to communicate with Sirana up on the Surface, heavily implying D'Shea believed her to be alive. The Dragon had picked up on that.

Slowly, Jaunda rolled over onto her side as well, supporting her head on her arm and closely studying the tender, submissive healer that she had abducted from a Noble's House. "How do you know, Auslan? Did you hear Elder D'Shea talk about Sirana on the Surface?"

He pursed his lips with brief hesitation but she could read that he had already decided to tell her, or he would not have brought it up. "I can sense the baby she carries, and sometimes we share dreams." He saw her expression and added quickly, clearly trying to convince her, "The Priestesses can do this sometimes, as can the Valsharess. They made me, they made me what I am." He got up on his elbow and she lifted her eyes up at him, letting him continue. "Phaelous the wizard, our Elder D'Shea, and Shyntre, even. You answered Shyntre's plea for help, you believed him. If they can sometimes see what is happening or is about to happen, why not me?"

Jaunda shook her head once. "I have no fucking idea who you are, Consort."

He sagged a little and nodded before laying his head down again. "Fair enough."

The Consort quieted again, but Jaunda's mind was whirling. She could hardly believe it. This. *This* was the connection, just as Rausery had said when she and D'Shea had finally confessed some truths and made their alliance in front of her, after she had first reported meeting the Drow shadows and finding the Dragon Ward. It had been weeks ago.

*Cryptic as it was, D'Shea,* Rausery's voice arose in her memory, *you just said the Consort you're holding and those Illithids are connected in some knotted way that only you can see.*

And if Sirana was alive...

*She is,* Iskomitneh answered on cue, with every confidence, inside her mind. *Very good. But she is not in the City, otherwise they would have sensed her and attacked.*

This slender male was the connection to the Surface, and Sirana coming back was the connection to the Illithids. All through dreams? If not for having met Iskomitneh, Jaunda would not have had even her first glimpse of insight how this was supposed to work. She still wasn't sure if she understood it, following these kinds of threads back to the center of the web was not her best strength and she knew it.

"Why tell me this?" Jaunda asked.

Auslan breathed in. "Because you care about your Sisters."

Her diaphragm jerked in a brief, skeptical laugh. "Sisters die, Consort, and I can't waste time expecting anything else. Sometime it'll be my turn."

"But you have never chosen to kill one to get where you wanted to go," he murmured, still watching her. "You made it without stabbing one in the back. And this pleases you, in private."

Jaunda rolled over onto her back with a bit of a flop to get her hips and spine straight. "Heh. How do you figure you know that, pretty boy?"