The Wives' Guild

"Don't be afraid," Bromm said, trying his best to be soothing. "You are the prettiest one here, you'll likely end up in a dwarf lord's private harem."

Isenna said nothing in reply, but she choked back a sob. Bromm said nothing further, for he could help no more.

The column entered a large square and the ceiling rose some fifty feet. Overlooking the square was a large stone edifice, seemingly cut straight from the rock, with gaudy stained-glass windows and a copper-leafed door. Oil lamps out front bathed the stone in a warm glow, illuminating a series of murals that showed dwarves mating with women. They had arrived.

Karnote called the column to a halt in the square. Dawhy drew the guards up close around their charges and Bromm took up a place at Isenna's side. She hardly noticed him, her blue eyes fixed on the square's carved stone floor. The captain marched up to the doors, which swung open to greet him. Three dwarves in fine silks stood behind the open doors, beckoning. Karnote strode in without sparing a glance behind him. Dawhy and his dreaded whip spurred the column forward again.

They entered a grand foyer, floored in white marble with dull red veins running through it and roofed in beaten bronze held up by polished oaken columns. A set of ironbound double doors led deeper into the guildhouse while four more doors stood open, leading to hallways connected to yet more rooms. Karnote lined up his slaves against the wall and waited in the center of the foyer.

After a lengthy wait, the double doors swung open, and they all marched through to a lavish salon. The salon was split-level, with a large central pit in the middle around a stage. Couches and small tables were scattered all around the room and a series of dining tables were set along one wall. To Bromm's surprise, the rear of the salon was open to the outside, and sunlight streamed in from a terraced balcony. Potted plants decorated the terrace, as if the buried-hall-dwelling dwarves had attempted to plant a garden on the slopes of their mountain.

Karnote made his way down into the central pit, where he was greeted by a gaggle of richly dressed dwarves. The girls were lined up against the railing above the pit, looking down on the men who would haggle over their price. Karnote seated himself on a cushioned couch across from the dwarves.

"This isn't good," Lukodo murmured over Bromm's shoulder. "That isn't our usual man."

"What do you mean?" Bromm asked, somewhat overwhelmed by the luxurious salon, not to mention the sudden sunlight.

"Karnote has been getting a good price on wives from his friend in the guild, but he is not here."

"I would like to speak with Ranugan," Karnote said below them. "He and I have a longstanding relationship."

The dwarves said nothing for a while, exchanging significant looks between them. At last, one spoke. He wore a deep blue robe and had braided gold into his thick beard.

"Ranugan is no longer in charge. He was voted out last month. The Guild was unhappy with how much he has been paying for wives."

Karnote shifted uneasily in his seat.

"He and I had reached a deal."

"You and he had," the dwarf agreed. "But he no longer speaks for the Guild, and the Guild will no longer honor his agreement."

"What is the new price?" Karnote demanded. Bromm could see that Dawhy was pacing uneasily, gently slapping his whip against his open palm.

"We will pay thirty minae per head."

"Ranugan offered forty minae," Karnote said icily, "and more for the pretty ones."

"As I have said, Ranugan is no longer buying for the Guild," the dwarf replied casually, leaning back on his cushioned couch. "Thirty minae each. I see nineteen here, so that makes your cargo worth five hundred seventy minae."

Karnote leaned forward with his hands on the glass-topped table between them.

"I have been bringing the Guild wives for twenty-five years. Surely, you do not mean to insult me with a measly thirty minae per woman."

Lukodo leaned in a whispered in Bromm's ear. "Look, over there, they've left a door open. If you want to get a look at how dwarves live, now's your chance."

Bromm looked where Lukodo indicated and saw that the man was right. A door to a side room had been left just ajar and through it, he could hear voices. As Karnote and the guildsmen haggled, Bromm stole away from the group to peer through the door.

In the next room was a salon much like the one in which Bromm stood, only far less luxurious. The couches and benches were more thinly cushioned, the lighting was dimmer, and it was not open to the sky. Dwarves, commonborn by the look of them, filled the room. Most of them were naked, with their hairy, thickly muscled bodies on display all around the room. Directly in front of the door Bromm peered through, a young woman lay on a couch while a dwarf fucked her from behind. He was short, stout, and hairy, like all his kin, with a braided beard that hung down low enough to hide his cock if he wanted. However, in this instance it was draped over the girl's naked butt as he fucked her eagerly. Behind him waited four more dwarves, all naked and stroking their cocks eagerly as they waited for their turns.

The girl clutched the edge of the couch in a white-knuckled grip, her eyes wide as the dwarf slammed his cock into her again and again. He slapped her ass, leaving another red handprint on her pale bottom, and roared mightily as he came. Sagging forward, he crouched over her for a moment, cock still inside, and panted heavily. The next dwarf in line approached, clapped him on the shoulder and none-too-gently pulled him away. No sooner had the girl been vacated than the next dwarf thrust himself inside her. He took up where his companion had left off, his thick cock squelching in his predecessor's cum.

Behind them, Bromm could see a score of other girls throughout the room, all in the same state of being used. For each wife, there were at least two dwarves waiting to fuck them, and as he watched a satisfied dwarf stride confidently from the salon he was replaced by another dwarf, naked, erect, and hungry for carnal pleasures. In the middle of the wide salon, one woman cried out and pushed away the dwarves pounding her. Her plump round ass was red and cum dripped from her holes. Her makeup was running and her hair a mess. She dismounted the dwarf beneath her and crouched exhausted on her couch.

A liveried attendant appeared and quickly ushered her out of the salon. As soon as she left her couch, another woman appeared. Nude, freshly bathed and oiled, her hair coiffed, she was set upon by the hungry dwarves like a lamb among wolves. She had barely reached the couch before she had a dwarf's cock between her legs and another in her mouth. Calloused hands grabbed at her little breasts and dwarves whooped and hollered, hips pumping wildly as they fucked her in her mouth, between her legs, and between her little breasts.

Bromm had seen enough. He backed away from the door and stole back to Lukodo and Isenna. Below them, negotiation had failed and Karnote was standing up. Angrily, he pointed at the lead dwarf and snarled "You are a miser, sir, and you will learn to regret it. My price is thirty-seven per head, forty-five for the pretty ones, and not an obol less on any of them! I will take my women back to the White Shepherd and wait until you come to your senses. Good day to you!"

The captain turned and stormed up the steps to Dawhy. Behind him, the dwarves exchanged bemused looks and shrugged, palms upraised.

"You heard me," Karnote growled at Dawhy before the latter could begin to form words. "Back to the ship. They'll come around."

Leading his captives by the chain, Karnote furiously stomped out of the guildhouse and back into the square. When he emerged leading a procession of naked women behind him, onlookers in the square broke out in boos of disapproval. Karnote stopped at the base of the guildhouse steps and marshaled his prisoners.

"Good people of Deephold, your Wives' Guild has broken our agreement. They seek to cheat me of my hard-earned silver. I toiled and bled for these prisoners, and until they meet my reasonable demands, I will be waiting, with your wives, aboard my ship!"

With that, he yanked on the chain and marched out of the square. Boos and curiosity followed them, along with the usual leers and jeers, all the way back down the halls of Deephold to the gates. The sentries there asked no questions as they cycled the procession through their gates, though a few bushy eyebrows were raised as they passed.

They passed beneath the outer gate and into the cavern, where the crowds that had watched their ascent had long since dispersed. Yet they came flooding back as word spread, taunting and catcalling the naked women as they were marched past. Two dwarven youths attempted to infiltrate the column and grab one of the women, only to be caught and beaten by the guards.

Upon reaching the Shepherd, Karnote went straight into his cabin while Dawhy returned the women to their cage. Sahat and Imre approached Bromm as he stood by the gangplank.

"Why are they back?" Imre asked.

"The dwarves wouldn't meet the captain's price. His friend at the guild was removed and the replacement doesn't seem to like him."

"Well, shit," Sahat muttered. "Where are we going to sell them now? Are we going to sail all the way back to Torvuls?"

"Perhaps Sostrum," Imre suggested. "The Empire is always hungry for more slaves."

"The captain thinks they will meet his price eventually," Lukodo put in. "He means to wait until they do."

"And while we sit here, collecting our regular wage, we're missing out on the proceeds from capturing and selling more slaves. Damn it all," Sahat grumbled, "We should be casting off to capture more slaves by now!"

"We were separating from the crew here anyway," Bromm reminded him, but Sahat brushed him off.

"This was supposed to be a good opportunity, Bromm," Sahat replied.

"Well, it isn't one now," Imre complained. "Bromm was right, we never should have gotten involved in slave trading again. It's only brought us trouble."

"So, what do you mean to do?" Sahat challenged, "wander the quay until you find another ship desperate for sailors? You won't find a good deal that way."

Bromm had no reply and merely looked around the ship. News of the broken deal was spreading quickly and the crew was once again discontented. Men who had spent their wages on the women in the hold in expectation of being paid soon were now feeling impoverished. It was less than an hour before the feud between Urgan and Darre erupted again. Bromm saw it break out from his perch in the rigging.

One of Urgan's men took offense to a sideways looked and knocked another sailor overboard with an oar. Dawhy took charge of the situation quickly, separating the combatants sending the offender to the mast for twenty lashes. The man overboard was rescued by a passing skiff and returned to the Shepherd, dripping wet and fully irate.

Though Karnote twice appeared to reassure his crew, no representative from the guild arrived to accede to his demands.

That night, Bromm found himself lying awake in his hammock. He had thought to pay for Isenna again, for her newly made-up face had ignited the lust in him once again, but he could tell she had no more patience for him. The other sailors were not so picky despite their financial insecurity, and Kannad was reaping the benefits of their unexpected delay.

Bromm stared hard at the deck planks above him, thinking of Isenna's words and her tears on the march to the Wives' Guild. He thought too of the girl on the couch, fucked by a gang of hairy, bearded dwarves. He saw no reason why he could not remember her face, but every time she appeared in his memory, she wore Isenna's face instead of her own.

Between the insecurity, tension, and the sound of men eagerly fucking the slaves, Bromm took a long time to fall asleep.

Rising in the morning, Bromm found Imre sitting on the gunwale by the gangplank, looking out over the busy harbor.

"Any word from the guild?" Bromm asked.

"None at all. The captain remains steadfast, however." Bromm scowled. He wanted to be done with this job as soon as possible. Isenna's despairing words had haunted his dreams again.

"We're going to die here," Imre muttered.

"You sound like Sahat," Bromm remarked. He sighed. "Let's get a drink. Find the others. Lukodo knows a place."

They all met again at Lukodo's favorite watering hole, seated in the back around a wooden table carved with scenes of mountain-climbing dwarves and their goats. Their air was glum, but Bromm was finding his own cheer.

"I have been thinking," he said as their conversation about Torvuls street food lulled.

"That can't be good," Sahat muttered.

"I may have a solution to our problems," Bromm continued undisturbed. "And that solution is a change in command."

The others looked to him slowly, eyes narrow and suspicious. Lukodo seemed most receptive, while Sahat's face was a mask of disapproval.

"Talking of mutiny will get you thrown overboard if anyone else hears it," Imre reminded him.

"Then it's a good thing I'm among friends. Think of it, why should we care for Karnote? He has failed us. His contact at the guild is gone, he is of no more use. He means to keep us here until the dwarves give in, but is there any more stubborn than a dwarf, especially when gold is involved? The captain will be the one to break eventually, that's for certain."

"So you want to mutiny?" Tahavi asked mildly. He was pensively running a fingertip around the rim of his flagon, eyes distant.

"It seems the best option," Bromm replied. "Think of it, we would then have our own ship and be free to turn pirate. The Shepherd makes a better raider than a slaver, anyway."

"And what of the women? Sell them to the guild for their thirty minae?"

Bromm's face darkened. "I would set them free," he said quietly.

Sahat laughed. "All this because you're sweet on a girl."

"Slaving has got us nowhere," Bromm replied angrily. "This is an omen! Our adventures with slavers have all come to naught. Instead, we should be pirates, and buy what we want."

Sahat made to reply, but Lukodo raised a hand.

"It would seem an opportune moment. Karnote's hold over the crew is fraying, there is dissension in the ranks. The feud between Urgan and Darre is ready to boil over. It will make a useful wedge."

"We might ally with one faction and promise the destruction of the other as incentive," Imre mused aloud. "Promise to make Urgan or Darre first mate or bosun of the new crew, with extra shares of the spoils."

"And first sail for Sanctum Port to make good our losses in the crew," Tahavi added.

"And to set the women ashore," Bromm added.

Sahat leaned forward, seemingly coming around. "Then we would have our own ship, fitted for raiding. But who would be captain?"

"Perhaps make our ally captain?" Pyet suggested. Bromm shook his head.

"No, it should be one of us. Captains who rise by mutiny often purge those who put them there as potential future mutineers. We could not trust him to do so to us."

"Which of us would make a good captain?" Tahavi asked. They exchanged looks between their number, none wishing to volunteer and look presumptuous.

"Alright," Pyet said at last, "I say Bromm should be captain. He has always been the bravest of us. He can read, he can do numbers, and he's always been lucky. He may be young, but he's not steered us wrong so far."

There was a moment of silence as they all considered the proposal, then Lukodo spoke.

"I have no objection. It is his plan, after all."

"Very well," Imre said. "If no one else has objections?" He looked around the table, "A toast to Captain Bromm of the White Shepherd."

They ordered another round of drinks from the bar and set to the business of plotting.

"The tides were strong as we came in, and there is no wind in the cavern," Bromm said, looking to Lukodo. "How do ships leave port here?"

"The early mornings bring a strong tide that pulls ships out. You've noticed all ships take extra care that they are securely moored? That is why."

"Then we will make our move then," Bromm decided. "Lukodo, I am relying on you to sway either Urgan or Darre."

"Urgan," Lukodo decided, "He was the wronged party, and will fight harder than Darre. Karnote must be disposed of, or else he will come looking for us, and Dawhy as well. But the rest are just contracted sailors, and will fall in line once the captain is dead."

"We should make our move before the crew wakes, with knives and swords. No guns, lest we wake the whole harbor and bring the dwarves down on us. Sahat, Tahavi, take control of the armory. Pyet, take control of the captives' cage."

"What about Kannad?" Pyet asked. Bromm considered for a moment. He found the man agreeable and mercenary in his nature, but his treatment of the captives rankled with Bromm. Despite his love of carnal pleasures, the demeanors of whoremongers was often repugnant to Bromm. "Kill him, and redistribute the money he took from pimping the girls among our loyal crewmates. That will win them over."

They all nodded, and Imre called it a ruthless move befitting a pirate captain.

"Alright, one more round, then back to the Shepherd to make our preparations."

Lukodo came to Bromm that night and assured him that Urgan was persuaded, so Bromm went to sleep excited for the first time since leaving Sanctum Port. He was awoken in the dark of the early morning by Pyet, who handed him a dagger and smiled.

"Urgan is waiting for you on deck," Pyet whispered. They crept from their hammocks onto the deck, passing Kannad who was asleep on his stool. On the deck, Urgan waited at the forecastle with six of his companions, all armed with knives. Carefully stepping over sleeping crewmen on the topdeck, Bromm joined him outside the forecastle's door.

"Are you ready?" the dwarf asked, and Bromm nodded. Urgan took a deep breath. "Leave Darre and his rats to me. I won't be denied my revenge. Karnote is in his cabin. If you want your captain's hat, you have to earn it."

Bromm nodded again. The dwarf extended his hand.

"Shall we begin?" Bromm grasped his hand firmly and shook it. Urgan smiled a predator's smile. With a wave to his companions, they went belowdecks again.

"Pyet, get the others up here and see to Kannad. Make sure the women are not harmed in all of thing."

Pyet nodded, and went below. As soon as he did, Lukodo, Imre, Sahat, and Tahavi joined Bromm on deck.

"Quickly, let's get Karnote and be done with this all," Bromm whispered. With hurried nods, they crept across the deck to the door of the captain's cabin. Bromm tried the handle and found it barred.

"Damn," he whispered. "What do we do?"

"Break it down," Imre suggested.

"You'll wake half the crew!" Sahat shot back in a harsh whisper. Their dilemma was suddenly resolved by shouts from below. Bromm smashed his heel into the cabin's door and the latch burst open, but the door was blocked by something behind it. Inside, he could hear Karnote shouting Armannaise curses.

"Damn it all!" Bromm cried, "Help me push it open!" the five of them shoved hard at the door and heaved it open. Only then did Bromm realize the nature of its obstruction. The big orc who had guarded the gangplank had been sleeping across the threshold as a bodyguard. When the door flung open, he roared a battlecry.

Bromm narrowly avoided losing his head to the orc's falchion, which cut a divot from the wood of the doorjamb. The orc filled the doorway with his bulk, his face a mask of fury as he dared them to test his reach. Bromm fell back in fright but quickly marshaled his fear. He needed to act like a captain to be a captain. He drew out the pistol from his swordbelt.