The Infinite Bk. 04 Ch. 09

Once we got him onto the throne, the church's power would be absolute, every conflict a holy war. We could have spread our gospel across the entire continent, the entire world, and the more followers we'd acquire, the stronger we'd become."

"But Prince Lupin is supposed to take the throne. That's always been the kingdom's plan," said Cyrilo.

"Well if this past year has taught us anything, it's that plans can easily be foiled. Our savior was broken and humiliated in front of the knighthood, he's lost his powers, and Tarnas took him out of our reach. The church gambled everything him, and we lost."

"And now you're desperate for a win, is that right?" Alexis asked.

"We came along at the worst possible moment, and you need to crush us to prove that the church is still powerful and your doctrine is unquestionable," Sophia said bitterly.

"We're taking you to see the king," said Cyrilo. "You're going to tell him everything you told us, including that the cardinals are giving out orders to kill."

"I've confessed my sins to you and answered your questions. My cooperation ends here. I may not approve of the cardinals' recent decisions, but I am still loyal to the church. I'll do nothing more to help you, and if you try to bring me in by force, you'll simply be seen as three heretics attacking a priest. You'll be locked up without ever getting the chance to speak."

"No, they'll just see one heretic," said Alexis as she stood up and grabbed her sword.

"Alexis, hold," said Cyrilo, raising her paw. "Very well, Priest Marduel, we'll quit while we're ahead. But keep this in mind: the next time someone attacks me, disturbs my sleep, or even gives me a funny look, I will come back here, and whether or not you cooperate will no longer be a choice for you to make. Now that I know for sure the cardinals are behind this, the same warning goes to them as well."

The three left peacefully and released their held breath once they left the cathedral, but upon returning to the Knight's Sheath, they found Lucius waiting with a worried look on his face. "There are some things you need to know." He didn't speak until they all gathered in Cyrilo's study. "Last night, while I was working on our little arsonist downstairs, I thought I saw something on his hand, but ignored it. I decided to go back for another look and found a white mark around his finger, where a ring had been worn."

"You're saying he was a knight," Alexis gasped.

"In all likelihood, yes."

"When I was fighting with that assassin, pulling his knife to his throat, I saw a similar mark on his finger. I bet he was a knight too."

"Then the knighthood has been infiltrated," said Cyrilo.

"We don't know that for sure," said Sophia. "Knights aren't the only people who wear rings. Maybe the attacker's ring had a coat of arms or family seal, something else that could give away his identity."

"There's something else. Frigga stopped by while you were gone with some troubling news. All the other attackers are dead. They took their own lives before they could be interrogated. In all likelihood, they probably had help."

"These people are insane!" Alexis hissed.

"Knights, soldiers, how many of these murderous zealots does the church have hiding in plain sight?" Cyrilo muttered.

Time passed, and the Knight's Sheath was spared from further attacks. With the return of peace, Sophia buried herself in work with Cyrilo to expand their book production into other subjects. Any courtesans and cleaning girls with sufficient handwriting were recruited help with the project. They combined existing tomes and scrolls with Noah's notes to create new books about biology, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and multiple other topics, and their alchemic printing press churned out copies.

Information about chemistry, however, was withheld. Noah had warned Cyrilo and Sophia that mankind wasn't ready to wield the power of alchemy and trusted only them to use it at their discretion. Filling the void, they produced copies of every book they could get their hands on. Affording them was easy, as Cyrilo bought them with diamonds she made herself.

Along the wall in the parlor were shelves with all the books on display, and customers could buy them or simply read while they drank. True, most men didn't go to brothels to read, but Daniel's music had already expanded the repertoire of customers, and thanks to Noah's toys, even women had started frequenting the Knight's Sheath. Over time, more and more people sat with books in their hands. Even the courtesans educated themselves in their downtime.

Cyrilo also published religious texts as per her agreement with the church. It seemed their enemies had realized that they couldn't win this fight through traditional cloak and dagger means. Whether they were biding their time or had given up completely, it allowed a period of rest, and Alexis and Sophia decided to enjoy it.

It was a sunny summer day, and the two women tossed and turned in bed with their lips locked in sapphic passion. Interrupting their tender kiss, Sophia moaned in pleasure, and Alexis grunted and panted from exertion. The reason for this discrepancy was the toy between them, a dildo Alexis wore with a leather harness, just one of the countless pleasure tools available to them.

As the rubber phallus plunged deep into Sophia's recesses over and over, the base, vibrating like a hummingbird, pressed against Alexis's clitoris. The stronger her thrusts, the greater her ecstasy.

Wielding the strap-on felt quite unnatural to her, and it took time for her to get used to the motions and pacing. However, she eventually got the hang of it and now found herself with a strange new appreciation for the effort men had to put in. She had seen glimpses of courtesans and clients engaged in coitus and understood the mechanics involved, but she never realized how much strength and stamina was required.

At the moment, she was on top, thrusting deep into Sophia with fast, powerful strokes. Sophia's legs were spread wide, ready to catch everything Alexis threw at her. The summer heat and their exertion left them both painted with sweat. It cut down the friction as their breasts rubbed against each other, with their nipples dueling like their tongues.

"Oh God, this feels so good!" Sophia moaned.

"I know. I know! I KNOW!" Alexis replied as she climaxed. She held herself over Sophia, gasping for air with her body shaking.

"You look so cute right now," Sophia teased.

"Well don't count me out just yet."

Remaining upright, Alexis resumed thrusting into Sophia with their bodies perpendicular. She picked up speed, leaving Sophia grabbing onto the sheets for security while a persistent whine escaped her lips. Alexis kept a steady but rapid pace, fighting off fatigue with the pleasure of the vibrator and her love of Sophia's salaciously disheveled expression.

"You look so cute right now," she said, teasing Sophia back.

"The view from down here is pretty spectacular," Sophia replied as she watched Alexis's tits bounce with every thrust.

Alexis was similarly watching Sophia's tits, mesmerized by how they moved every time the dildo plowed into her. She began alternating her thrusts, trying to see if she could control how the lovely mountains reacted. Her gyrating hips and fluctuating speed broke Sophia's hold over every thought, disrupting her focus with waves of pleasure that she could not predict.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Sophia cried out as she orgasmed. The two stopped to catch their breath, each sucking in air with the room's humidity making their window fog up. "You look pretty tired. Don't tell me you're done already," said Sophia with a smile.

Alexis laughed. "Oh, I'm going to make you pay for that."

She lowered her head and went to town on Sophia, drinking up the nectar flowing so freely. After quenching her thirst, she grabbed Sophia and rolled her over onto her front, then paused to run her tongue and lips across Sophia's back and rear.

"How's the view?" Sophia asked, shaking her round ass at Alexis.

"It's pretty great."

Alexis inserted the head of the dildo into Sophia's slit, amused by how easily it entered her. She then grabbed Sophia's hips and resumed her thrusts, attacking her from behind with a ferocity she generally reserved for battle. Sophia struggled to remain upright, close to losing all the strength in her arms every time the rubber toy explored her depths. She rolled her head back and forth, ceaselessly moaning while her long crimson hair poured down her shoulders and her bounteous breasts shook like chandeliers in an earthquake.

Behind her, Alexis was giving it everything she had. Seeing Sophia in this position, on all fours and receiving her strength, was a new experience, and it tickled her in the same way as fighting. She felt a sense of dominance that thrilled her.

Try as she might to focus on the moment, Alexis's mind kept drifting back to Noah's evening with Sophia and the hours of lewd grunts and moans from his room at the academy. Before, such thoughts left her feeling sick with jealousy, but at that moment, Alexis felt a sense of playful competition. She wanted to make Sophia moan the same way, to invoke even greater pleasure in her than Noah had, and now she had an accurate means of comparison. But how in the world had he managed to maintain this pace for a whole night? She suddenly wished she had stayed and watched the entirety of his lecture.

It wasn't long before a simultaneous climax hit them both, bleaching their minds with pleasure and taking the last of their strength. They finally collapsed onto the bed, their naked bodies glistening with sweat.

"I would love to take a nap right now," Sophia sighed happily.

"I'm too hot and hungry to sleep. How about we get some lunch instead?"

"I could go for that."

After another few minutes to rest, they filled up the wash basin in their room and gave themselves a birdbath to clean off their sweat. Once dressed, they left their room and headed down to the parlor. The midday slump allowed Alexis and Sophia to enjoy their sexual sabbatical, but it didn't mean there were no customers. Along with a handful of regulars, two tables were fully occupied; one was full of knights, and the other was full of scholars.

These knights were stationed for protection and deterrence. They weren't allowed to drink or fool around with the courtesans while there, but they were free to peruse the book selection and enjoy the tea and music. The scholars had their noses in books, but it wasn't for leisure. The king had sent them to ensure none of the books contained traps, spells, or secret information about Uther. Though they had yet to find anything dangerous or illegal, the knowledge Sophia and Cyrilo had personally received from Noah caused no shortage of arguments.

"What are they going on about now?" Alexis asked Lucius as she approached the bar.

"Well for a while it was whether or not bird and reptilian beastmen laid eggs, then it was whether or not stars die, and now it's something about what the center of the earth is made of. That guy says it's hollow, that guy says it contains a smaller world, and that guy is siding with Noah's "molten core" theory."

They watched as Daniel walked over to the table. "Hey, since all of you geniuses are here, maybe you can settle an argument for us."

"Daniel, don't even think about it," Alexis warned.

"What I want to know is: could ten thousand ducks beat a dragon in a fight?"

The oldest scholar among them, dressed in an ornate robe, curled his long white beard around his finger while he pondered. "Do the ducks have a plan?"

"They have a plan!" Daniel answered with a grin.

Alexis groaned as though already suffering a headache. "Dear God, I don't want to spend yet another hour hearing about the tactical advantage of webbed feet. Let's get out of here."

She and Sophia left the brothel as the shouting started, searching for nourishment. Fortunately, the streets were friendly today. After weeks at the Knight's Sheath, Alexis and Sophia had developed a rapport with their neighbors and the local businesses, aided by their inclusion in Cyrilo's literature project. Alexis's midnight archery against the zealots had earned her great respect. They ate in the street while watching people go about their business.

"So what's the plan once those eggheads are gone?" Alexis asked while chewing on an apple. Sophia, halfway through her fish, stopped.

"Cyrilo and I have some big plans for expansion. The first step is to hire every willing scribe and scrivener in Colbrand and task them with remaking books that are either incorrect, messily written, or in poor physical condition. She has enough diamonds to keep them busy for a while, and hopefully, a few of the scholars might be interested in joining our cause.

The only real hassle will be procuring the ingredients. Duplication can only work if every chemical component in the source is present to become the copy, from hydrogen to mercury. Unfortunately, we've reached the limit of parchment, ink, and other materials we can buy in large enough quantities, so we're looking for alternative resources. We're hoping raw wood with added ingredients can be rearranged alchemically to create paper, and we're practicing turning monster leather into covers the same way."

"Is there even enough room at the Knight's Sheath for all of this?"

"We're thinking of setting up a shop within walking distance of the Knight's Sheath, keeping the two businesses entwined, but safely distanced. You know Melissa?"

"She does that feather dance on the stage, right?"

"Yeah, Cyrilo says she owned a shop in the past, and knows how to run a business. She'll get them flying off the shelves. Right now, books are still considered a luxury item, something that nobles collect as a status symbol. Once we start selling them cheap outside of the Knight's Sheath, everyone who can read is going to want to snap them up.

After that, we're going to look beyond Colbrand. We'll have wagons full of books sent out across Uther. They'll be gifts, allowing each town to have its own library. Then, we'll start sending books to other countries. We'll just keep sending out books until the whole world is sick of us."

Alexis sighed in happiness. "I got chills right there."

"I almost wish one of those songs from Noah's phone had been playing when I said it. I know the perfect one." Alexis gave a small hum, and Sophia turned to her. "Come on, you miss him, don't you?"

"I'm still mad at him."

"I never said you weren't mad. I said you miss him. I loved that afternoon we spent in your room, smoking that stuff and listening to music."

"That really messed our minds up."

"In the best way. Remember how he braided your hair, and told us that story about the sister he had a long time ago? He said she loved doing crazy things with her hair, braiding it, dying it, putting things in it, and he used to help get it into shapes and patterns. Lying on your bed, listening to that story, the music, your laughter, that was the most relaxed I'd ever been in my life. Someday he'll come back, and I want the three of us to do that again."

"I'll admit, that was nice."

"I've noticed that you never undid the braid."

While Sophia let her crimson hair flow freely, Alexis preferred to keep her blonde hair in an upswept arrangement with two locks framing her face, and she used the braid Noah put in to tie it together.

"You're really not going to let this go, are you?"

"When have I ever let anything go?"

Alexis sighed and smiled. "Ok, I miss him. Aside from you, he's my best friend. Of course I miss him."

"I knew it." Sophia then wrapped her arms around Alexis. "What is it about honesty that makes me want to cuddle you so much?" She was rubbing her cheek against Alexis's and pushing her over.

"Easy, we're in public!" Alexis laughed before they ended up falling onto the ground.

After eating, they returned to the Knight's Sheath, where a tense situation was unfolding in the parlor between Madam Cyrilo and Marcus Berholm, who was leading a handful of soldiers.

"What's going on?" Alexis asked.

"I'm so glad you could join us, Miss Veres. You saved me the trouble of looking for you," said the steely-eyed dwarf.

"Excuse me?"

"A man you know was murdered yesterday, found with an arrow in his chest, and a witness claimed a young woman with blonde hair was spotted fleeing the scene. I'm placing you under arrest."

"Madam Cyrilo, I didn't--"

"Of course you didn't, dear. Sir Berholm, you're stubborn and suspicious, but you're no fool. Since when do you take such flimsy circumstances seriously? Countless men walk through my doors, countless women have blonde hair, and countless warriors use bows. This is hardly an alignment of the planets."

"The victim is someone you were reported accosting recently. A priest. The man who reported it said that Miss Veres was with you at the time, carrying a bow."

Everyone felt their stomach twist into knots. This wasn't simply a case of mistaken identity, Alexis was being specifically framed for murder.

"Don't fall for this bait, Sir Berholm. It's true, we spoke to Marduel, searching for the mastermind behind the attempts on my life. He painted the entire echelon of the clergy as part of a conspiracy to destroy us. He's clearly being silenced for talking to us. Besides, Alexis was here all day and the knights can corroborate her attendance."

Berholm turned to the knights providing security. "Well? Was she here all day yesterday?"

"No, sir," one knight said. "Thinking back, she was gone most of the day. We often see her leaving to run errands, and just assumed its was nothing special."

And just like that, it was as if the summer sun had been extinguished like a candle, and a deathly chill enveloped everyone.

"They're wrong, she was here!" Sophia shouted.

"You filthy, lying rats! You're all working for the church!" Cyrilo hissed, glaring at the knights who returned her fury with smug stoicism.

"Madam Cyrilo, I work only for the king, as do the knights under me, and I trust them, not to mention the witnesses that put this girl at the scene of the murder."

"Marcus, we've known each other for years, I'm telling you she didn't do it!"

"It's true, we have a rapport, but I need to make sure that isn't clouding my judgment. To an outsider, you have every reason to lie for this girl. The fact remains that everyone in this establishment is a friend of the most wanted man in the country. He humiliated the entire aristocracy, crippled the royal family, and now one could argue you're assisting him by trying to take down the final pillar of this nation."

"Sir Berholm, I swear I'm innocent! Ask anyone else who was here!"

"Believe me, I will fully investigate this incident, but until I can find evidence leading to another culprit, you will be waiting in the dungeon." He held up a pair of shackles. "Come quietly. Don't make the same mistake Noah did."

Whether outright killed or used as a hostage, Alexis knew that getting arrested would mean her death. Even if Berholm was telling the truth about his loyalty to the crown, putting her in the dungeon, when the knighthood was infested with zealots, would be no different than putting her head on the chopping block.

He stepped towards Alexis, but Sophia got in the way with tears in her eyes. "I'm not going to let you take her for something she didn't do!"

"If you impede my duties, then you force me to take you with her."

"That's enough!" Lucius barked. "I did it. I murdered the priest. I brought Alexis with me to speak with him, but things went south and I ended up killing Marduel by accident. I told her to run and keep quiet about it, but her hands are clean in this."

"How can I be sure you aren't simply covering for her?"