The Lineage Ch. 08

The guard pulled back and said, "I'm not afraid. Are you?"

Although Zenna did not know who answered, she simply heard the word, "no."

Alexis smiled and released the elf, closing her eyes and backtracking across the room. She stopped in the middle and stood there, hands balled up into fists as she psyched herself to be ready for what she was about to bear witness to. She gulped a bit, as much as she tried to hide her own apprehension. Finally, she exhaled a massive breath of calming air and opened her vision to see the real Zenna.

Her head bobbed back and forth a few times, as if blood was no longer being pumped into her cranium. Her eyes went sideways. Longways. Up-and-downways. Every which way possible as they raced uncontrollably over the elf, absorbing every detail at an astonishing rate. The fingers at her waist twitched if one inspected them enough. Had her legs not been so stoutly positioned, they would have buckled and allowed the guard to fall across her floor. Her tanned and beaten skin began to leak sweat like wet cardboard. As if draining the color out of her, Alexis grew impressively pale.

Most importantly, her head began steaming as it tried to decide what part of the elf she wanted to look at the most.

Was it the pair of small but oh-so-amazing legs that would be the envy of any model? Was it the milky-white thighs that would make someone want to rest their head upon them while their hair was lightly stroked? Was it the painfully fat, red, veiny orbs bigger than a person's head which hung from the elf's crotch? Was it the sleeping serpent that comfortably rested upon that warm, pillowy bed? Was it the wide, flat belly so soft and womanly it would make people fight over who gets to nuzzle it first? Was it the mindboggling pair of breasts that could be seen across the city like a beacon of hope? Or was it the goddess' face staring back at her, desperately awaiting the guard to make a move?

The answer was simple -- it was everything. Every inch of Zenna's body was a work of art.

Alexis pursed her lips and nodded her head in approval, "yeah... I would say you certainly do have a chance at beating the curse in my body. No doubt about it. Hell, I'd say something was wrong with me if you couldn't do it. I'm very impressed, little elf," she smiled a bit.

Zenna's eyes bulged out at her. Slowly but intently her eyes scanned the guard for a hint she was lying, but found nothing but resonating approval. She opened her mouth slowly, but then jaggedly shut it. The elf tried again, tenaciously prying her lips apart for them to only slam shut this time. Her neck twitched and her face spasmed as it awaited her command on which emotion it should display. Finally, she gagged out and was able to whisper through a gap in her face, "w-what... what?"

"What, what?" Alexis mocked her with a cheerful tone. To her, it was obvious that Zenna was beyond flabbergasted, and yet she felt warmed at how stumped she had made the elf.

"I don't... I don't understand... you're not afraid of me?"

Without even taking a moment to think, the guard scoffed "no, should I be?"

The elf leaned back in further surprise, "y-yes? You should be?"

Alexis shrugged, "and why would I be afraid? You're very beautiful, girlie. The most beautiful woman in the world. You have to be."

Unexpectedly, the elf's head began to fling left and right at a ferocious pace, making her blue strands struggle to keep up, "t-t-t-that's not true! No! You're wrong!"

"And that's because...?" the guard leaned in and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because I'm... a freak."

"No, you most certainly are not," Sylvaini took a step towards her.

"I-I-I-I'm a thing then! A thing! A thing," the elf began to bark as her normal ways of warding people off were failing spectacularly.

"Where? What thing? I only see you, girlie," the guard kept advancing forward.

"T-then... a monster! That's what I am! That's what you think I am, right!?" Zenna began to panic.

Finally, she got the guard to stop, yet her eyes went wide and she began to furiously scan the bathroom as if something were lurking in each shadowed corner, "monster? Where!? Where's the monster!? I'll have you know I've killed plenty of your kind, you foul creature, now show yourself!" she shouted out with her fists balled at her sides.

"ALEXIS!" Zenna called for the guard to take her seriously, "why are you...!?"

"Zenna," the guardswoman reached her and put a hand on each shoulder to have the girl's attention, "just shut up and listen for a moment. Back in the bar, when you had me squeeze you through your clothes, I already knew what I was going to feel. I knew it was coming from the moment you said they thought you could break the curse. 'The strongest man,' as the sage's words go... it can only mean so many things. In this case -- it means you. You are the strongest. You. You are no freak. Or thing. Or even a monster. You need to stop hiding behind all those labels people have given you and start to accept that you are... you're just you."

"But I'm...!"

"Dirty? Yes, you are. Let me get this bath started," she released the elf and sauntered over towards the bathtub. She turned the water on and plugged the drain so it would begin to fill. For a few moments Zenna just stared at her back while Alexis had her finger under the faucet, ensuring the bluish liquid was at a perfectly comfortable temperature.

Yet the elf could not care less about bathing. She was more concerned about asking the guardswoman, why are you ignoring this freakish thing between my legs? And so, she began, "Alexis, why are...?"

"Just a moment, Zenny... the water is coming in," the guard shut her down.

"I don't understand... why are you...?"

"You're dirty? I told you, you need a bath?"

"N-no! I mean about... me! How are you not freaking out about my...!?"

"As I just said," she looked at the elf through the crook in her arm, "I knew you had a cock from the moment you said that you could supposedly break the curse. Never would I have imagined our savior would come in such a beautiful package. To be honest, it makes the pill immensely easy to swallow. Every part of you is gorgeous, Zenny -- even your cock. Especially your cock, if that makes you feel any better. Hell, you've got to be as huge as all the men I've ever slept with combined. You should be proud."

The elf was unable to summon up any comment. Now, Zenna was left completely speechless. In her entire life, this was the first time someone has seen her body in full nudity and has had a completely, if not overbearingly, positive response. Back in her forest home, people would shout, scream, or become violent in just her mere presence. She was seen as more of a punching bag or a curse than a living creature. Even those she was forced to share a cage with would rather pack themselves together then be near her. The maids that were supposed to care for her ended up caring about no more than themselves. Even Marcus viewed her as no more than a means to an end. Now that she has someone appreciating her... Zenna the elf had no idea how to respond.

"Water's ready, come in," the guardswoman popped the elf's thought bubble and motioned for Zenna to approach. The elf wandered forward slowly, cautiously, as if someone had a spear to her back, pushing her towards a cliff. As she approached Alexis fought against her eyeballs but lost as they continually went down to the elven sack, seeing it pushed left and right when each corresponding womanly thigh pushed against it. The flaccid foot-long cock, thick as her wrist, was taken along for the ride on each step, and Sylvaini took note of the stretchiness of its flesh -- she wondered how big it could get, and it began to light a fire between her legs. Zenna took full note of the guard's prying eyes yet made no comment.

She reached the tub and put one leg over, cooing at its warmth. Given that she was only introduced to warm bathing recently, she still found it a thrilling experience each time -- as if bathing in a hot spring or even a pool of magma. She decided to open up just a bit to the friendly guardswoman and relaxed herself. A tiny smile encroached on her face and she presented it to Alexis, who smiled back. Zenna slipped deeper inside until she was sitting on the floor, her back against the tub's side. Her eyes came up to the guard, who was nearly foaming to get started.

"Now then, just sit there and let me do my best work. Gods, you don't know how excited this gets me; the last time I cleaned someone was my mother. Sorry if I'm a bit rusty..."

Zenna laughed, "I'm sure you'll take good care of me."

The guardswoman most certainly took good, even excellent tender care of her friend. Taking her sweet time, Alexis cautiously poured water from a pitcher over the blue hair of the elf, watching it travel between each individual strand as if they were riverbeds. Running her hands through them, she marveled at its silky smoothness, as well as how straight it was. Each of the strands nearly seemed to grab at her when her digits ran through them. Shampooing it was a different measure, where the soap suds nearly seemed to fight each other in an effort to cling to her the longest. The more Alexis washed her hair, the brighter it grew, to the point that the candlelight was reflecting off them. Even after washing her hair once, Alexis went back two more times "for good measure" as she told the elf, but really -- she was simply overjoyed at touching her friend. Basic human contact was something she had once taken for granted -- yet she now deeply desired to experience it at every possible opportunity.

"This is so amazing," the guard sighed out and reached for a brush to clean up Zenna's strands, "your hair is so soft... any chance you could grow it out so I can make a sweater out of it?"

Zenna laughed, "I'd rather keep it on my head."

Alexis pouted, "seriously? You're so mean, girlie. Sometimes, you just have to..." the guard's throat suddenly collapsed, and the brush she had been using fell to the floor with a clatter. A pitiful high-pitched squeak just barely made it from her mouth and down the elf's pointy ears. Given how she was still holding onto the blue hair and shaking slowly, Zenna knew exactly what had happened. The smile that was on her face only moments ago now fell away into despair at what was happening. Still, she decided it best to kill the conversation as fast as she could.

"What is it?" the elf grumbled.

The guard gagged, "Z-Zenny... what is t-this?"

"What is what?" she answered dryly, as if trying to make Alexis lose interest.

"Y-your back... there's scars all over your shoulder blades as if someone whipped you... s-so many of them... I can't even count... how did you get these? Who would dare do this to you..." the guard nearly felt tears fighting each other on their way out of her ducts, seeing the lattice of red showing brightly on Zenna's back. Although they had darkened with age a bit, they could still be felt if someone were to run their fingers across the elf's otherwise soft, flawless back. It looked almost as if someone scraped a group of asterisks across her skin. Each time the elf took a breath, they would expand and contract slowly. Marcus had seen these same scars the day he met Zenna yet made no comment. When Sienna saw them, she was hopelessly worried, yet Zenna was able to end that conversation easily. Now with the strong-willed guardswoman, she knew it would be a tougher battle.

"I don't want to talk about them. Please move on."

"N-no! Who hurt you!? P-please tell me!" Alexis started panicking, as if someone were going to bust into the bathroom at that moment and stab the both of them. She sat up a bit, as if protecting the elf with her own body. She already had enough scars; a few more wouldn't hurt.

"Lexie, please... ignore them."

"I... I just can't! How can you say to ignore them? Who would treat you like this!? Did someone in the palace do this shit to you!? Was it the man who enslaved you!? Please, please just tell me who did this! I'll go fucking get them right now!" the guard tensed her body to run faster than she ever had.

"Alexis, I said..."

"ZENNY!! JUST TELL ME WHO...!?"

"...my brother."

Her throat. Her hands. Her mind. Every valve in her heart - they all seized shut at once. Alexis felt her blood run cold, imagining a maniacal, cackling laughter as an elf threw a whip across Zenna's back while she was tied to a post. How the little woman sat there, bawling her eyes out as her skin was ripped into ribbons relentlessly. The sight was only compounded as she pictured the elf's brother, the man who was supposed to protect his kin from all harm, was now the one acting out those harms. Even picturing such a scene made her nails cut the skin of her palms open -- she blamed herself for not being there to protect her friend.

"H-how? Y-your brother? How could... how could he?"

The blue hair Alexis still held flailed and shifted as Zenna shook her head furiously, "I shouldn't have said that. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Move on now."

"How are you asking me to move on past this!? This is not something you can just...!"

"Alexis," the elf growled and stared at the guard over her shoulder. This time, it was the guard who went silent as the fire blazing in Zenna's eye commanded her to obey. "I said no. I don't want to talk about it and that's final. You told me you want me to be more ferocious, and here I am. Ignore them and move on or I'm done being bathed by you. Are we clear?" the elf asked, but it was more of an order than an inquiry. Alexis shuddered a bit as she buried her feelings and simply nodded in agreement. Zenna set her head forward again and the guard continued. She picked the brush back up, finished the elf's hair before moving onto her body.

For a few minutes the pair sat in uncomfortable silence, except for the rubbing of Alexis' sponge on the elf's back and her quiet shifting on the floor. The elf felt a bit uneasy to be the one with the stronger voice, yet also felt strangely relieved someone had listened to her for once. As the guard diligently washed her back twice over, taking care over the elf's scarred skin, she moved around to the front and began to softly pad the elf's breasts. The feeling of them squash under her fingers was unlike anything she had ever experienced and she began to drool again. For one moment she glanced up at Zenna's eyes and then darted her vision back to what she was doing.

"Tell me about your family," the elf spoke suddenly. In that one moment they locked eyes it was clear both desperately needed some conversation to fill the air, lest the two go crazy from the maddening silence.

Alexis was grateful for the question and sighed, "ah, where's this coming from?"

"Just something to talk about. You've told me about your husband a little and you mentioned your mom once or twice. It's pretty obvious we've both avoided talking about our families over these last few weeks. Tell me about them, please."

The guard nodded a bit as she moved down to wash the elf's belly, "well, my dad died when I was young and I don't remember much about him. I have a brother, Jodie, who is a few years older than me. He and I got along well but he moved away years ago. The last time I saw him was when he came to my wedding to Samson," she paused to laugh for a moment, "and I guess you know how that relationship ended up. Jodie and I used to write to each other every few months, but a few months now turned into a few years of silence between us. I need to see what he's doing now. He had a wife with a kid on the way, the last I talked to him. I'm a pretty bad aunt if I've never met my own niece or nephew, huh?" she laughed defeatedly.

After that, Sylvaini fell into silence for a bit. She was more focused on washing the underside of Zenna's breasts and was too busy marveling at how heavy they felt against her hand as she lifted them up. The ocean of virgin elf underboob made her drool in two lines this time as her mind emptied into a stupor. As Zenna watched from above while Alexis' eyes went blank, she genuinely smiled at how the guard was enjoying herself -- and for once, felt proud that her body was bringing someone happiness.

"What about your mom?" the elf pined.

The guard's face fell a bit even as she continued playing with the elf's doughy chest, "ahh... I actually lost her a few years ago."

Zenna shifted under the guardswoman's hands, "oh, Alexis... I'm so sorry."

Alexis shook her head, "it's alright, she was getting old. To be honest I think losing her is what really sent me down into a pit. After my dad died and my brother moved away, she was all I had. Even after Samson had left me and the country started going to shit she was still my rock. I could come visit her after a long day and cry into her chest as if I were just a kid still. She would rub my head and say how proud she was of me. Sometimes I would wash her just like I'm doing to you, now. As she got old she couldn't move much anymore so I had to help her more and more until one day her body finally gave out. After her funeral I dredged into Sonol's bar and lost myself for a few weeks," she shook her head, "fuck, a few years, honestly. Without her to hold onto I just started spiraling. That's why I'm so afraid to lose you too, Zenny. I'm never going to get a chance with someone else ever again."

The elf sent her hand down and touched Alexis' cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen down them, "she's still proud of you. I know she is," she said in a calming manner.

Alexis reached up and held the elf's hand to her cheek for a moment and smiled at her, "I'm not sure if I believe you quite yet, but I'll make sure she'll be proud of me next time I see her."

The two smiled at each other for a minute before Alexis returned to washing her friend. Moving on from her belly and chest she had Zenna raise her legs up so she could bathe them too. Marvelous was an understatement as the guardswoman admired her short but perfect pair. As she moved along their length, she pined back to the elf, "tell me about your family now."

"My family?"

"I want to know about those who lived around my friend. Earlier you said 'family of seven,' so you should have at least a few things to tell me about them. Who all lived with you? Aunts and uncles?"

Zenna shook her head, "I'm the youngest of five children."

Alexis paused for a moment and glanced up at her, "damn, dwarf daddy got around, huh?"

The elf laughed heartily, "he was always loyal to my mom. My oldest brother was fifteen years older than me. My parents actually had me really late in life. By that point they already had enough kids going around, but maybe I was just a bonus."

The guard laughed back at her, "pretty good bonus, then. Tell me about them."

"My parents were the product of an arranged marriage. Villages throughout the Hallowmire forest typically have clans or families that do such things to boost their social standing. My dad, Terre'nal, was stern and commanding. He was a natural-born leader everyone looked up to with a high-class family background. If anything, it was my mom Merri'bel who married up. She was always the nicest person you'd ever know and would give the shirt off her back to help someone. Whenever my siblings acted out and got punished by my dad, they would always run to her for comfort," Zenna paused to think, "I guess I always ran to her, too. Up until recently she was the only person in the world I felt safe around."

"Your mom must have been so beautiful to turn out a daughter like you," Alexis complimented, making the elf blush, "now tell me about your siblings. I'll need names with so many of them."