The Creators Ch. 07

DIAMOND

The innkeeper was a dwarf, and I instantly liked him. Bald, green-eyed and grey-bearded, he smiled with a face full of kindly wrinkles, and spoke with a thickly-accented voice that sounded like it belonged to a giant, though he barely stood above the counter even on his stool.

"Well aren't you three the prettiest things east of Drastin!" he laughed when we entered. "Come in, come in!'

The three of us were the only ones in the inn, save for the dwarf and a wash boy. Aunt Lucilla plopped onto a stool, sighing exhaustedly as Mom sat beside her, and I took my place on her other side.

"You Miss, look like the type who knows her wine!" the old dwarf chuckled to Aunt Lucilla. "Try this vintage on the house, and tell me it ain't the best thing you've had west of Terondia!"

"Why, thank you," Aunt Lucilla grinned at the dwarf, taking the glass. "It's nice to see someone in Drastinar knows how to treat guests."

"Oh, don't think me too charitable," the dwarf winked. "Women who know their wine have the coin to gain that knowledge, and the best vintage west of Terondia is whatever the hell I've got behind the counter!"

Aunt Lucilla and Mom laughed at that, but I didn't get the joke. Still, their laughter made me laugh.

"You sir, stick out like a sore thumb in this town," Aunt Lucilla smiled. "What's a man like you doing in a drab place like this?"

"Now don't go bad-mouthing the honest folk of Towerhead," the innkeeper scolded, though he was still smiling. "They're good folk, and they've tolerated me well enough."

"They didn't seem like very good folk," I said, happy to have an excuse to use the word 'folk,' "they seemed mean."

"Nah, they're just wary of outsiders, especially those of different stock," the dwarf said. "They had something of a tragedy involving a succubus and a young boy recently, and now they're even more protective of their way of life."

"That succubus wouldn't happened to be named 'Tera,' would it?" Aunt Lucilla asked.

"The very same," the dwarf said. "Of course, now she goes by the name of 'Death Kiss,' and fights in the Pit. Rubs folk the wrong way, seeing her in the papers. The Sorenson's got a letter from their boy saying he was in debt to slavers, and he disappeared around the same time Tera did. Didn't take much conjecture to put two-and-two together to figure Tera got him roped into some kind of scheme. She's involved with Night Eyes, and no good's ever come from dealings with that killer."

"That explains why everyone gave us a death-stare when Flora mentioned Tera," Mom said to Aunt Lucilla. "How she knows a succubus ring-fighter is beyond me."

"If your smart, you'll keep that woman's name in the back of your mouth," the dwarf said quietly. "The folk here are good folk, but Good Mother knows Tera might as well be the devil to 'em."

"A dwarf following the Maternal Path?" Mom asked incredulously, smiling at the old man. "Did I just hear that right?"

"It's not too uncommon," the dwarf said. "Judging by the hue of your hair, Miss, I'd say someone in your lineage was a bit short of stature, and judging by the necklace you're wearing, I'd say he may have followed the path himself." He looked at Mom with a twinkle in his eye, "But judging by the amount of chest you're showing, I'm betting that necklace is mostly just for show, ain't it?"

"Now, Mister!" Mom said, gaping with smiling indignation. "I'll have you know that I was once a sister of the Maternal Order, and on my path to matronage!"

"And somewhere along the path, a tight-fitting turtleneck got in your way," the old man said slyly, winking at Aunt Lucilla, "and suddenly chastity didn't seem like such a great destination."

"It's like you've known us for years," Aunt Lucilla laughed, and then extended her hand. "I'm Lucy, this is Jules, and this Diamond." Lucilla said, altering their names, but keeping mine the same. I was about to ask why she did that, but Mom's squeeze on my knee told me to keep quiet.

"Jules and Diamond, eh?" the dwarf chuckled, extending his hand to Mom, and then myself. "Aptly-named women! I've got to ask, before my curiosity kills me; what exactly are you, Diamond?"

"I'm half-nymph, half-elf!" I proclaimed proudly.

"Now, I'm no biologist," the old man smiled, "but from my understanding, a mixture of nymph and elf yields a dawn-elf, not an antlered young beauty such as yourself."

"My sister is a bit of an anomaly," Mom grinned back, squeezing my knee again, "but that's what happens when your father is an incubus."

"Ah, say no more, say no more!" the old man laughed. "I've traveled the world and seen many-a-wonder, and none so unique as the mishap offspring of shape-shifters. Why, I once met a lad without a finger on his hand, but he was still the most popular woman's masseuse in Glendinar, if you catch my drift?"

"I think we follow," Mom chuckled as I looked inquisitively to Aunt Lucilla. She explained the joke with a rude gesture, and I giggled delightedly once I made the connection.

"So, what's a fine trio of ladies such as yourselves doing in Towerhead?" the old man asked.

"We're on our way to Drastin, of course," Aunt Lucilla laughed. "You honestly don't think Towerhead is our destination?"

"I don't know, there's a fine lot of things to do in Towerhead," the dwarf smiled slyly. "Why, it's the number-one suicide destination in all of Drastinar!"

"They certainly take great pains to cultivate the proper atmosphere," Mom laughed. "What's your name, inn keeper?"

"Most people just call me 'Arby,'" Arby said, "so, Arby will do fine for ya, as far as names go."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Arby," Aunt Lucilla smiled, "and if your beds are as wonderful as your company, I'm sure our money will be well spent."

"The beds are hard as rocks and the draft will turn your nipples to spearpoints!" Arby laughed, slamming a bottle of whisky onto the counter. "But the liquor's cheap as sand and the beds are even cheaper!"

"Your advertising is superb!" Mom laughed, "How are you still in business?"

"I have a great slogan," Arby chuckled, pouring the whisky into four small glasses, "it goes: 'The Towerhead Inn; this is the only inn in Towerhead.'"

"How can anyone refuse such hospitality?" Aunt Lucilla giggled as she took a shot in her hand,

"You'd be surprised," Arby chuckled as he slid a glass to Mom. "I've had many customers choose the stables after five minutes with me."

"But you're such a charmer!" Aunt Lucilla exclaimed, drinking all the liquor in one gulp and then wiping her lips.

"You've only been here three minutes," the wash boy chuckled as he mopped the floor. "Arby's still got two more to drive you away."

"Oh, blow it out your ass, Nate!" Arby yelled with a smile.

"You better not let Arby serve you his soup," Nate grinned at us, "or that's exactly what you'll be doing."

"Gross!" I giggled, and somehow found myself sharing a smile with Nate. Something about him made me feel funny, like how Mom made me feel. He was tan, dark-haired, and slender, and my eyes seemed to wander on their own to his hands as they gripped the mop, his forearms with veins standing proudly, his dark eyes that seemed to tease. I grew suddenly hot in the face, and experienced the conflicting desires to both turn away and keep smiling. Nate must have been feeling the same, because his eyes darted downward, and his cheeks grew rosy as his adam's apple rose in a swallow.

"Yes, Nate has a fine way of talking to the ladies," Arby chuckled, sliding me a glass of whisky. "It's amazing he hasn't found a girlfriend yet."

"No, Diamond," Mom said, laying a hand on mine before I drank.

"Why not?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Aunt Lucilla said as she downed another shot, "what are you Jules, her mom?"

"The booze is cheap because the lodgings are bad, Miss," Arby smiled. "I'm not one to pry into yer business, but 'tis why we offer such accommodations; you'd best be warm in the belly before fighting the daft."

"Mr. Arby," Mom gasped with a smile, "if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get us drunk!"

"Oh damn!" Arby laughed, "You caught me! I'm a desperate old man still raging with the fire of youth, and aged whisky ages me backwards in the eyes of the drinkers!"

"You're looking younger by the glass!" Aunt Lucilla belched vulgarly, and then giggled girlishly.

"A few more and you might see me with a full head of hair!" Arby laughed.

"Oh, I don't mind the follicle-challenged," Aunt Lucilla smiled warmly, rubbing a gloved hand atop Arby's pate. "I'm a vain woman, and sometimes it's nice to have a mirror between my legs."

"Lucy!" Mom gasped, her eyes wide as Arby turned beet-red from neck to crown.

I took the opportunity to quickly drink the whisky while Mom was distracted, and instantly regretted it. It scorched my throat, burned like acid down my esophagus, and started a torrent in belly. I barely held the liquor inside me as I coughed and sputtered to the soundtrack of laughter.

"Was that yer first drink, Miss Diamond?" Arby laughed. "If I'd known, I would've gotten you some wine!"

"I tried to warn her," Mom chuckled as she patted my back. Once the heat had left my chest, and the spit had dried in my mouth, I was left with a pleasant tingling warmth. The feeling seemed to play lightly on my head, and tug gently on my lips until I was grinning a little wider than normal. I looked bashfully at Nate, and saw him grinning back over Aunt Lucilla's shoulder.

"Oh no," Aunt Lucilla cackled, "Sparkles is a light-weight!"

"Well it's her first drink, Miss Lucy!" Arby exclaimed, "I'm sure you remember your first drink."

"Not really," Aunt Lucilla smirked, "that night has been exorcised from my memory. One moment I was on top of the bar, the next, I was under the wash boy."

"Ya hear that, Nate?" Arby laughed. "The wash boy! You've still got a chance!"

"Two years ago, definitely," Aunt Lucilla grinned wickedly at Nate, and then ran her hand through Mom's red hair, "but alas for poor Nate, I've been shackled."

"Is that what she does to ya?" Arby said, pouring another glass for Mom as she finished hers. "Well I'm sorry Miss, but our accommodations don't cover those kinds of amenities. Perhaps the jailhouse does?"

"If we'd spent another minute in Towerhead, I suspect that's where we would've been staying tonight," Mom sighed as she took two large swigs of whisky. "Those people looked like they'd had it with us."

"That what happens when you mistake a changing room for a hotel room," Nate grinned, causing Mom to turn bright red and Aunt Lucilla to cackle.

"Oh, damnit Nate!" Arby yelled. "You weren't supposed to tell them we knew! Now they'll be running out the door in embarrassment!"

"Word gets around fast in small towns," Nate shrugged, his dark hair falling over his tan face.

"You were in that shop!" I exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Nate with a funny smile on my face. "I remember you now!"

"And I remember you," Nate smiled, and his smile causing my stomach to grow light, "next to the valkyrie and the nymph. What happened to those two?"

"Freydis took our mother on ahead," Mom said, squeezing my knee again. "She may not look it, but my mother is very old, and the journey was getting taxing."

"Well, since all the cards are on the table now," Arby smiled apologetically. "I'm deathly curious why a valkyrie is traveling on foot with a high-blooded elf, two half-blooded elves, and their nymph mother?"

"You're just full of questions, aren't you?" Aunt Lucilla said a little testily.

"I don't mean nothing by it, Miss Lucy," Arby said, putting up his hands defensively. "I hope you'll forgive an old man's curiosity. It used to be that the winged-warriors only descended their cliffs to serve the heathen gods, but now they're fighting in the Pit and transporting the elderly. We're living in strange times, I tell ya."

"Well, the Creators have returned, Arby," Aunt Lucilla smiled, "didn't you hear? The infamous Julia Glendian is on the prowl, killing the elven aristocracy one at a time."

"Bah!" Arby laughed, "Superstition and rumor! That nut, Emperor Flitari, blew up his own daughter for propaganda. He's been so crazy about finding the Heat Bringer that he had to fabricate her return to justify his tyranny."

"That's what I said!" Mom exclaimed, squeezing my knee again, "But Lucy insists in believing the rhetoric the government feeds us."

"Always keep yer ear to the ground, Miss Lucy," Arby said, touching his ear. "Those in power keep their power through lies and deception, and you've got to listen carefully to hear through the bullshit."

"You're obviously a perceptive man, Arby," Aunt Lucilla smirked at Mom, "nothing gets past you."

"No, it doesn't," Arby chuckled, pouring another glass of whiskey. "I'm keener than a fox, I tell ya."

Nate snorted a laugh, and I laughed because he did. We connected eyes again, and shared a little secret in our smile.

The evening turned to night, and the glasses began littering the counter. Aunt Lucilla became louder and rowdier, Mom became bubbly and easily embarrassed, and I became liquid. It seemed that no matter what position I assumed; I would slide precariously from it. Luckily, Nate was next to me, and always caught me before I tumbled. Sometimes I slipped on purpose.

"Show him!" Aunt Lucilla cackled to Mom. "C'mon, show him!"

"No!" Mom giggled, covering her face in her hands, her cheeks as red as her hair.

"Do it!" Aunt Lucilla goaded. "Do it, and I'll eat your ass tonight!"

"She drives a hard bargain!" Arby cackled, his head resting on the counter, seeming unable to lift it.

Mom raised an eyebrow at Aunt Lucilla, who grinned and licked her lips. Mom took Arby's half-filled glass, reached for her neckline, then tore her breast from her blouse in a jiggling exposure, squeezed it, and squirted milk into the old man's glass. Arby hacked in laughter, pounding his fist next to his static head as Mom downed the contents of her glass, wiping milk from her lips and smirking at Aunt Lucilla.

"You whore," Mom sneered.

"You cow," Aunt Lucilla smirked back. Their gazes locked half-lidded above their crooked smiles, and Aunt Lucilla's pale lips pressed to Mom's red. Their mouths opened as their eyes closed, and their tongues invaded as their noses pressed beside each other. Soon, they were all over each other, groping jiggling curves with sinking fingers as they stumbled their way to the bedroom.

"Just hang out with Arby and Nate for a little bit, Diamond," Mom called over her shoulder between smacking sounds, and then the door slammed shut. As if the sound had caused it, Arby slid off his stool, and landed with a thump behind the bar. I managed to ease my swaying body over the top to see the old dwarf snoring and clutching an empty bottle like a lover.

"Is he OK?" I asked Nate.

"He always gets like that, crazy old drunk," Nate said fondly. "The moment the sun goes down, it's like he goes into a coma. Won't even wake up if you fire a cannon next to his head."

"That's crazy."

"Your sister's crazy," Nate chuckled beside me as I lowered onto the stool. I had to force myself to remember that he was referring to Mom when he said that.

"Yeah," I laughed, finding myself drooping against him, "she gets like that."

Nate let me rest against him for a moment, then timidly shifted on his stool so that my back pressed against his abdomen. I rested my head on his chest, savoring the subtle rises and falls of his breathing, and the elevated drum of his heart.

"You can put your arms around me if you want," I whispered to him. He cautiously raised his arms, and then curled them around me; awkwardly at first, but then embracing me tightly, pulling him into his warmth.

"Have you ever had sex before?" I asked him quietly. He didn't answer for a moment, and then I felt him shake his head above me, his chin running in a small arc between my antlers.

"Do you want to?" I asked, caressing his embracing arm with my thumb, enjoying the feeling of it enclosed around my breasts.

"Yes," Nate whispered, his voice shaking slightly.

"Are you scared?" I smiled, my irises topping my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of his face.

"A little," Nate laughed nervously.

"I'm a little nervous too," I laughed, "I've never had sex either."

"Liar," Nate snorted.

"It's true!" I insisted with a smile. I turned my head over my shoulder to chide him for his groundless accusation, and found my face inches from his. His dark eyes stared affectionately down, his pink lips quirked in the middle of poorly-shorn stubble and a pronounced jaw. The next thing I was going to say vanished from my mind, and my thoughts became singular, and instinctual.

"I want to have sex with you, Nate," I breathed against his lips, "I want to have sex with you right now."

We breathed each other's breath, we felt each other's lips, we tasted each other's tongues. We didn't know what we were doing, but we knew that it felt right. Our motions were curious and tentative; exploring with caution, easing into passion. My tongue found his gums and teeth, and his found mine. Our lips went from pressing, to locking, and the movements of our internal exploration became more confident, and intense. His embrace loosened about me, and his hands slid from their perches on his opposite elbows to grasp my breasts. He squeezed them gently, and felicitous tingles traveled through my chest, causing my thighs to grind with needful wetness beneath me. I entangled my hand in his hair, and pressed his kiss closer, feeling our passion burn hotter, feeling our hearts quicken and our breaths grow sharp. The desire coursed through me, compelled me, controlled me. I turned around and broke from the kiss, staring into his eyes as glistening salvia bridged our gasping mouths. He brushed a curl of scarlet hair behind my pointed ear, and I grinned at him mischievously as my fingers found his belt.

"Nate," I giggled, "I'm really excited to touch your penis."

"I'm... really excited too," Nate grinned, seemingly unsure of how to answer that. I didn't mind. The smile on his face was all I needed to see, and the stiffness against his inseam was all I needed to feel. I pulled his belt off, unbuttoned his fly, and giggled delightedly as he came springing out. It was longer than expected, bigger than mine, but it was about the same girth, and I knew my hand would fit around it. My fingers clasped about him gently, and my breath caught briefly as his hard heat seeped into my palm. Nate's expirations became short and needful, and I sated him with long strokes, lubricating my motions with the froth oozing from his apex.

"Does it feel good when I do that?" I asked quietly, smiling as he nodded, his brow furrowing, his lips gaping slightly.

"Can you do it to me?" I asked him, eyes hopeful. He gave me a confused look, and then grinned. My smile broadened, and I climbed the bars of the stool until I was seated atop it, facing him. He reached between my legs as I stroked him, and forced a gasp from my parted lips as his fingers caressed my inner thigh. His forearm created a tent of my skirt that rose higher, revealing more of my fishnet-clad legs with every inch he ascended. His hands tickled me at the meeting of my thighs, and my breath quickened to a fervent urgency, my eyes drooping with need. He watched me intently as his hand pushed my lacing to the side, and then he stopped suddenly.

"What?" I asked, lips still smiling. Nate's eyes narrowed as he fumbled between my legs, his hand not seeming to know what it was touching. His eyes opened wide, and his other hand shot forward, lifted my skirt and revealed what he'd been grasping.

"What the fuck?" he gasped, his face turning pale, his lips parting, his penis deflating in my hand.