The Bitter Fruit of Home

I felt helpless. The creature's arm was like a steel vise. I beat my fists on its back. I might as well have been striking a tree.

"Call your beasts off!" I shouted. "You don't need to hurt her!"

I received no reply. The creature carrying me overtook Irri, who carried the satchel I had dropped.

"This is your honoring?" I spat from my undignified position. "Put me down!"

"She is a spirited one, Talek," she said.

The demon -- for it could only have been the demon -- only snorted in response.

After we wound through the bush for several minutes, I heard voices ahead. I could see nothing, until we passed through the gate of a rounded stone wall. A well-formed man in nothing but a loincloth shut the gate.

My captor set me down. It stood a head taller than Yaro -- an elongated head, rich brown, and topped with spiraled black horns. Its fur was very short, covering a powerful body. It wore only a kilt of black hide around its waist.

"A kukuru," I said, naming the antelope-like demon's type. I'd never seen one before, but knew their description from accounts. The infernal inclined its head, staring at me with slanted eyes.

We were in a narrow yard, between the outer wall and a wooden tower, with Irri and a second, nearly naked male attendant sitting atop the low wall.

The demon pointed at a set of spiral stairs that curved upward into the tower. "Go," it ordered.

I hesitated, until Talek took a step towards me. I did not want to be carried again. So I went up the stairs. Talek and Irri followed.

The stairs curled into the shadow of the interior. It seemed that I climbed a few stories upward, until the flight ended on a wooden terrace. The platform was open to the rain, and it looked out over the outer wall. The muddy path we'd arrived on disappeared into the green and brown tangle. From where I stood, I could see the surrounding bush in three directions, even in the mist.

At the rear of the terrace, a set of open double doors led to a high-ceilinged hall. The tower was shaped like a piece of marsh cane that had been lopped off on a sharp angle. The curved wall soared up above the top of the hall, tapering to a point. I marveled at the craft that could have built such a structure in this remote place.

Irri handed me my satchel and went into the hall, leaving Talek and I alone.

"I am of no use to you," I said. "You must already know that I belong to Blossom. I will not mate with you. If you force me, I am unlikely to conceive, as I probably already carry the demon's offspring."

Talek stood next to me, gazing into the distance. Gleaming locks of dark hair framed an almost-human face. Long ears stuck through its tresses, pointing towards the sky.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded.

"Talek didn't bring you," said a voice that I knew too well. A voice that sounded like wind whistling through the trees. "I did."

Blossom clung to the edge of the wall that curved upward to the peak of the tower. The night-black infernal dropped down to the terrace, landing in a crouch.

"It is good to see you, pet. I feared you had forgotten me."

I stared out over the bush, frozen in place as Blossom came to my other side. Nothing could make me feel smaller than being trapped between two such creatures.

"Explain her position to her," Talek said. Its voice was deep and smooth.

"I'm sure she already knows."

I knew what Blossom wanted. We'd made a pact. I would bear its child and take Zahar's child as well. Once I was pregnant, I guessed that Blossom would lose interest. At least for a while. Being in this hidden place, unprotected by wards, allowed Blossom freedoms it had never had in Namu. It would soon be off seeking other conquests.

Talek already had a realm, and human subjects to breed with. If Irri had been Talek's mate, she was past child-bearing age. Even so, she lived with the demon, apart from the other villagers.

You are being honored, girl.

I turned to the kukuru. "You want another like Irri."

"I told you, Talek," Blossom said. "Her mind cuts like a fine blade." To me, the demon said, "After our little trade is completed, you will remain here as Talek's favorite. You will be pampered and pleased, as is your custom. The villagers will treat you and your children like nobility, and you will bear Talek many offspring for the rest of your days. Everyone emerges victorious."

My jaw clenched, hearing Blossom speak of me like I was a pet songbird. Even so, the demon's burnt jasmine fragrance invaded my senses like sweet poison. "I refuse. That is just like the cage I escaped from. The cage you helped me escape from."

"Come, Lady Keya," Blossom said. "This is a far better cage."

"You're forgetting Zhura," I said.

"I would never forget a Thandi witch," Blossom replied.

At this, Talek's ears twitched. The kukuru snarled. "A Thandi."

"A renegade," Blossom corrected. "For the time being, that is. She is running away from the coven in the precisely wrong direction. Soon she will be a former renegade."

"She will come back for me. She and her companions already don't like you. They will cut your starlit flesh to ribbons if you try to keep me here."

"Your Zhura will not come," Talek said. "She may be fond of you, but she doesn't want you. She is the reason you are here."

My jaw dropped. I hadn't yet asked how Talek had found Blossom's stone.

The kukuru must have had help from someone who knew I had the thing. But not Zhura. Never her. That was impossible.

Wasn't it?

The brightly painted whorls around Blossom's eyes widened in what might have been a mockery of sympathy. The infernal only shrugged. "This is a far better cage."

A barely clad young woman came up the stairs with fruit and steaming stew that she set in the shadowed hall. Talek, however, was hungry for something else. Soon after the kukuru retreated inside, the servant's giggles and moans began.

"It's not true about Zhura," I heard a long sigh of pleasure and rubbed my temples, trying to block out the sounds. "It's a lie."

"The kukuru does not care why you are here. Only that you are here. It has no reason to lie," Blossom said.

"Why does Talek believe it was Zhura?"

The demon sighed. "You'll have to ask Talek. I was not there."

My gaze sought out the piece of the narrow trail I could see. Had Zhura been hurt? She must have eluded the rhinos.

I could not contemplate the alternative.

There was no way I could escape on my own. Dusk would come soon. If I could even manage to get out of the tower, the only question was who would get me first: the animals, the hunters, or the demons. Without Blossom's help, I'd end up either dead or back here.

Zhura would have to calm the rhinos, as she had learned. She might rejoin the others, before coming to rescue me. She, Ngo and Bayati could easily overwhelm the guards. Talek would be formidable, but the herb-witch had my golden wards.

I will be rescued within hours.

"I know you, Lady Keya. You are calculating, trying to figure a way out of this. But you should be on your knees, thanking me," Blossom smirked. "In the way you do best."

"Thanking you?" I snarled. "You took away my chance at freedom. I had a taste of joy and you snatched it away!"

The dark demon sprang onto the low wall at the edge of the terrace, looking down into the courtyard. It folded itself, sitting on the wall's rim. The rhythmic cries of the servant sounded from inside the hall.

By the Ancestors. I am going mad.

"I did no such thing," Blossom spread its knees, allowing one leg to hang over the edge. Its thick, dark cock flopped on the wood. "I was summoned here between the legs of that cold, barren woman. Talek loomed over me, prepared to detach my beautiful head from my shoulders. So I told them everything about you."

I gasped. "You told them about House Oko?"

Blossom scoffed. "They care nothing about your human decorations, or what faction is looking for you. But Talek is intrigued. I told the kukuru you are accustomed to a position of honor. You are clever, scholarly, and eager to bear children. Most importantly, you are an outsider. The locals share Talek, and apparently the demon does not like to provoke their jealousies." Blossom licked its lips. "I told them how each time you come, you beg for more, how your eyes cross so adorably-"

"I could have stayed with Amankar," I said bitterly. I planted my elbows on the wall and stared out. "Why did I leave Namu if I was to be a, a ... breeding sow!"

"Somewhere in your life of privilege, you mistakenly came to believe that 'freedom' is possible. There is no such thing, Lady Keya." The demon began to stroke its shaft, absently. "All of us live in cages. My cage is a wooden cock. Talek's cage is a world overrun with humans that fear and kill demons. So choose your cage. It is the best you can hope for. In this cage, I will rut you until your pregnancy is confirmed. Then you will be Talek's, and I will get my stone back.

"Zhura is on a fool's mission. I have known the Thandi. They crafted my summoning stone. Understand this about those witches: They never forget, and they never give up. They have outlived kings, outwitted armies, and outlasted empires. No matter how strong Zhura is, they are many. She is but one."

"She is not going back to them. She is going to find her father."

"It does not matter. She is going within their reach, and they will find her. The witches probably already know precisely where she is." Blossom's lengthy cock stood upright. The demon stroked it with delicate fingers. It bobbed eagerly before me. "Likely Zhura knew how dangerous her journey would be, and she wanted to keep you away from it. You are soon to be a mother, after all. Think of your children."

"You're wrong," I said. But I felt hot tears roll down my face. Blossom had never lied to me.

"I saved you." Balanced on the wall, Blossom aimed its ebon cock at my face.

The heady, floral scent was even stronger. Blossom's domineering lust was tempting, but for my anger and the precariousness of my position...

Blossom fisted its swelling cock. "I like the new hair. How about a suck?"

"To hells with you!" I snarled, and walked inside the hall.

The servant was still inside, lighting lamps near a table still laden with food. Pearly semen ran in streaks down her leg. Talek and Irri were gone.

A sunken area in the center of the hall was laid with furs and cushions -- a grand version of Yaro's hut. Beyond it was a set of closed double doors. On the sides of the hall, narrow wooden steps climbed to balconies that ran the length of the hall. Smaller chambers opened on each balcony.

"Is there somewhere I can be alone?" I asked the woman. I assumed from what Blossom said that she was one of the villagers, here for only a time.

"Your chamber is upstairs." She pointed to a doorway on one of the balconies.

"Thank you," I said. I reached for bowls from the table. The woman smelled of hibiscus oil, of sweat and of semen. As I came close, she shifted slightly, gasped.

"Is there anything else you desire?" she asked, huskily.

"No," I said, too quickly. I took the food and hastened up the stairs.

*

The chamber was a windowless garret with a sleeping mat and a pot. But it afforded me some privacy. A covered lamp provided enough light to eat and write notes in my papers -- which I hadn't done since before we crossed the stream. I didn't know who I was chronicling anymore. Mostly, the writing helped me to think.

I could deal with Blossom. Zhura would come. I had to place my faith in her. Otherwise, I would slip into a dark abyss that I might never escape.

As much as I hated to admit it, it was tempting to be the object of desire of two demons, to learn the stories behind the centuries they had witnessed. I might spend the rest of my days with the herders in Yaro's village, and a safe place to raise my children. I might be pleasured beyond imagination, perhaps even to my limits of endurance.

If I hadn't been in love, my path might be clear.

My writing was interrupted by noises below.

I stood, pulled aside the door hanging, and went out on the balcony. The outer doors were still open, and I could see that it was dusk outside. Lamps were set around the hall, shedding shadowed light on the recessed center of the floor. All of the woodwork was exquisitely crafted, smoothed and darkened by age. There were few straight lines. Instead the beams were curved into forms of beasts and tree limbs. The balcony rail was etched in the shape of vines and leaves. The entire hall smelled of ancient wood.

Talek rutted the two men who had been guarding the wall. The kukuru was on its back. High firm breasts bounced back and forth as one man labored between the demon's legs. The other guard was at Talek's head, feeding his cock into the demon's mouth.

Talek had a softer, more slender appearance than before, but otherwise its long neck and face were the same. The guard rutting it lifted one of the demon's legs in the air. The kukuru's foot was the size of a giant's, with toes ending in blunted claws. I imagined myself being rutted by the massive demon.

Sometimes I forgot that infernals were both male and female, that they shifted depending upon their immediate reproductive needs. I tended to think of Blossom as male, but the demon had been sufficiently female to conceive with my brother.

A scuffing noise startled me, and I looked up to see Irri approaching me. She leaned on the balcony railing beside me and watched the spectacle. Her long hair was piled and bound within a scarf.

"It is mesmerizing, don't you think?" she asked.

"It is madness."

"No one is forced to be here," she said. Then she turned to me apologetically.

No one except me, you mean.

"My son's people live in peace. They love freely. No one starves or is forced to beg for food. They are not obligated to swear loyalty to a noble clan because there is no other way to live. Albinos are not scorned and mutilated for their body parts. I suppose compared to the customs of Namu, this is madness."

"You are an outsider too," I said, eager to change the subject. The man rutting Talek quickened his pace, groaning, near his peak.

"I was born in Samucha," Irri said, naming the easternmost Hill Kingdom. The one that we would have entered when we crossed the Ijon River at Bindi. "My clan was deposed after the war. As refugees, we fled south and east, towards the Flamingo Coast. That's where I encountered Talek. What we built here is better than anywhere I have lived."

I fell silent at that. Perhaps her life was not so different from mine.

The man below groaned, convulsing, as he spilled his seed in the demon's depths. Talek trembled too, perhaps triggered by the man's climax. The spent man fell back and crawled away. The second man dragged his cock from Talek's lips and took his place between the demon's splayed thighs.

"How did you get my summoning stone?" I asked.

Irri glanced back at me. She hesitated, as if deciding whether to answer. "A tiny infernal was found carrying it along the trail to our tower. The demon is called a tokoloshe. Talek said that such creatures are commonly the familiars of the Thandi."

"I have heard of such demons," I said. Not as witch familiars, but as village nuisances.

That must have been why Talek thought Zhura had stolen the stone. She was a Thandi witch, so the tokoloshe must have been serving her. But Zhura had no such creature. So where did this tokoloshe come from?

"Did it ask for something in exchange for the stone, or simply give it to you as a gift?"

Irri sighed in exasperation. "I'm beginning to see why Zhura thought you a burden. It gave the stone to us freely."

In all the time we had talked, the older woman barely looked at me. She was utterly devoted to the kukuru.

"Do you love Talek?" I asked.

"I might as well love the sun. Demons are forces of nature. A human cannot love them." Irri tilted her head. "But I understand and respect Talek. And, unlike the sun, Talek respects me."

The implication of her words was clear. Talek would respect me, if I accepted this.

But I would not accept this.

As if she could read my defiance, Irri stood and eyed me sadly. "I see the problem. You have the faith and hubris of a highborn priestess. Tell me, Keya Oko... are your Ancestors answering your prayers now?"

The older woman sidled past me and down the stairs to the hall's floor. She shrugged off her gown. She was naked underneath, her skin smooth gleaming in the lamplight. She strode over to the rutting couple. Irri kneeled and bent over Talek, kissing its dark lips.

I could watch no more. I returned to my room and my scrolls, and pulled the door hanging closed in an attempt to shut out the noises.

When the rutting finally ceased, I went down to the hall. The lamps had burned down, but starlight streamed in from the outside. One of the men slept naked, sprawled in the cushions.

Out on the terrace, the night was beautiful. The clouds had largely fled, and the moon shone as brightly as a second sun in the northern sky. A single guard sat atop the wall at the gate, spear by his side. He swatted at mosquitoes. The songs of the bush seemed clearer up here; the constant droning of insects, marked by the occasional roars from larger beasts. I looked through the thicket for a glimpse of the path to the village.

I prayed to every Ancestor I could name. Mama Nyah, Papa Yaz, Anathe, and eighteen generations of Oko forebears. Somehow, on a night like this, beneath the moon and stars, I would be heard.

When I could recall no one else to pray to, I thought of Zhura. I remembered bathing and laughing in the stream, no more than an hour's walk away from here. I remembered falling asleep with her fingers in my hair.

The tears came. And after that, the self-loathing, for my weakness and folly. None of my new companions would have allowed themselves to be held here.

If Zhura didn't come for me, I'd have to try to steal the summoning stone back and escape on my own. I wouldn't wager on my chances.

I couldn't bear to return to the room. Instead, I wedged myself into the curve of the wall. I wept there until sleep took me.

*

In my dreams, I was happy. I ran naked along the Kitu stream bank. I danced to the drumbeat and rutted Yaro and his men. But the person with me was not Zhura.

I awoke suddenly.

Bayati.

She was a Thandi witch. She had stolen Blossom's stone, and trapped me here. It was the only answer that made sense.

I had a crick in my neck from the angle I had slept in. I rubbed it, peering up at the starry sky.

Those stars moved.

"Lady Keya," Blossom cocked its head, looming over me on the low wall.

"You have to help me," I said.

Blossom threw up its hands. "What have I been doing all this time?"

"I know who stole your stone. Talek has it wrong, and the demon is doomed if it does not see reason," I sat up straight. "You have convinced the kukuru to abduct me. Now you must help me convince it to release me."

Blossom sprang from the sill and stood over me. As always, the creature was naked. The juncture between its thighs was right in front of my face.

"What I do for you has a price," the demon said.

I felt ready to swoon from its scent. I had been teased the entire time I'd been in the tower, watching other people rut while I pined for Zhura.

I stared up at the arcane creature that I had become entangled with. Blossom was both curse and blessing, like a part of my soul become manifest.

"Do you promise?" I said softly.

"All I ask is that you admit that you need me."