TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 02

Kal didn't see the barn as a proper place for a woman to live but held his tongue. "What kind are they?" he asked.

"Cows, all of them."

"Cow-girls," Kal corrected, "they can think and feel just like any other woman."

"Hardly," Tetas scoffed, "They can barely speak more than a heifer's lowing."

"Have you let them? I'm sure the slave collars work the same as the ones I've encountered before. They need explicit permission to speak without punishment."

"No, I haven't, but why would I? Cows don't need to talk."

"If you see them as mere cows then I can see why. In my little town, we are more open-minded and see them as women who happen to have animal traits." He didn't bother mentioning that the town he spoke of was still just a plan in his head, though he had gotten some of those plans working with Perra's help.

"You sleep with them?" asked the winemaker, his mouth twisting in disgust.

"You keep them as slaves?" retorted the mage, mimicking Tetas's tone.

They sat and glared at one another for a long minute. Finally, the older man sighed, "If I said I hadn't noticed that Janna and her friends don't have udders, I'd be a liar. I'd never say this in the city, but I suppose it's safe to tell you that I love watching those massive tits of theirs. I still don't think I could bring myself to put my cock in something that isn't human."

"That's fair. I would like to know if you have someone come and take care of them when they come into season. Some monster girls have heats strong enough that not getting relief can become extremely painful."

Tetas shook his head, "I don't need any calves running around the vineyard eating my grapes."

"Then give them some gondas weed beforehand, it's better than letting them suffer."

The winemaker thought for a long moment. "Alright, I'll do that next time their season comes around. But in return," he waggled a finger in Kal's direction, "Don't be so uppity about people owning slaves. I take good care of my heifers and a lot of other people do too. You never know, you might end up owning one someday, I certainly never expected to have one, much less four."

"I wouldn't count on it." Kal chose to not mention that he had actually "owned" thirteen slaves for a brief time. He still didn't like the thought, even if it was only for the sake of rescuing them. "Tell Reez goodbye for me. Farewell Tetas, I wish you luck and I'm sorry we didn't part ways on better terms."

"You to, mage, and when you reach that teacher of yours, give her mine and Reez's thanks for showing you how to fight."

"I will," said Kal with a nod before walking back to the road leading to Fazal.

---

Coming into Fazal was drastically different from Carriston and Lantaris. There were no gates or checkpoints this far out, though there was a wall further in separating the newer parts of the city from the old and another surrounding the palace in the center. The other two cities opened their gates each morning to throngs of people trying to sell their wares at the market, but except for the occasional merchant making his way back across the mountains, the mage was alone on the road coming in from the west. Tetas explained to him that Fazal controlled large strips of land to the north and south where the mountains were not as tall, and the rains there supported the massive agriculture needed to maintain a city this size.

The road through the pass was meant to be a boon for trade from the west but turned out to be a flop in that regard. With solid supply chains of grains and livestock from Fazal's current holdings, the main resource they needed from across the mountain was lumber for new construction and repairs. Large bi-weekly lumber convoys kept the city's stock of wood topped up but local tradesmen like Tetas and occasional traveling merchant caravans were the pass's primary traffic.

The outer rim of the city was little more than wooden shacks for the shepherds and their families. A little further in he got to see his first camel, a beast he had heard of quite some time ago but had never seen, even in pictures. He wondered how on earth a person could ride one of the long-necked, hump-backed beasts until he saw someone doing just that further up the road with a saddle atop the mound on its back. Later, he discovered that the saddle could be in front of or behind the hump as well.

The road slowly filled with people the deeper he went into Fazal. Most of the populace were olive-skinned but there were a few here and there with the fairer tones common west of the mountains. What really caught his attention were the men and women with skin that ranged from brown to coal black. He had met some merchants he believed were from Ikuno's homeland and his nearly fatal run-in with the will-o-wisp, Rowan, prepared him for the differing look of the people of Fazal but he had never seen people like this before.

First, he wondered if they were a type of monster girl but quickly dismissed the idea. By his understanding all monster girls in Fazal were slaves and the first woman he encountered with dark brown skin was plainly free. This was confirmed minutes later when he saw a man with the same rich color. He wasn't wearing a covering on his head like most of the people on the road and his lack of pointed ears ruled out the possibility of him being one of the underground-dwelling dark elves.

Glancing around, he suddenly realized he was being foolish. His own skin was noticeably lighter compared to crowds of the desert city, why should it be a surprise that there were people in the world with darker tones as well? Other than suddenly wondering what the brown-skinned woman looked like when naked, he put it out of his mind.

The small shacks on the outskirts evolved into bigger ones and he saw his first house about the same time he ran across the first street-side hawker. He paid copper to the woman for a loaf of bread that looked and smelled wonderful but tasted extremely bland. It reminded him of the time Perra tried making bread after finding they had run out of salt, thankfully she never made that mistake again. He nibbled at the flavorless loaf until a couple of beggar children ran up to him asking for coins.

Jerran and Vadha warned him about these youngsters. Some were legitimately trying to get money to take home for their family. But too many others were doing it as a job, taking the money back to the orphanage or the person looking after a large group them. Lastly, some had trained their tiny fingers to dip into pockets and open pouches while other children distracted their target. Remembering what they had told him, Kal split the bread between the children and shooed them away, stating firmly that they would get nothing else from him.

The hovels faded into the distance behind him, replaced by proper houses made of mud bricks and mortar with shutters on the windows and doors made of wood instead of a thick woven blanket hanging over the entrance. As he approached the wall surrounding the old city the quality of the housing got marginally better, or worse depending on how you looked at it. Though the construction got better by adding wooden elements, the space between the individual houses all but disappeared. Near the wall, they even started stacking the homes on top of one another.

Inside the large wooden gates, the roads were well maintained with sidewalks on either side. He also started seeing some stores and inns as well. From his understanding, one of the city's nobility owned the land these shops were on. The shopkeepers paid the Lord for use of a small patch of ground and then had to pay the King his taxes on whatever they sold. It sounded oppressive to Kal at first but if a Lord charged too much the merchant would move to another section of the city to work under a noble who demanded less. Charging too little meant they would lose favor with the Fazal's King as the Lords and Ladies had to pay significant taxes as well, and the more you paid the more popular you were with the city's regent. The whole system seemed a little odd until Kal reminded himself that the city was founded by a large group of merchants who set up shop at an oasis and never left. He was perfectly happy that he owned his farm back home and would never have to deal with one of these "Land" Lords.

Kal also came across his first monster girl slave in this section of town. One of the bovine women Tetas talked about was turning a large wheel attached to a dual-bellows system on a blacksmith's forge. A single rod attached to the wheel compressed one of the bellows while pulling the other open then repeated the cycle. Standing at least two hands taller than he was, Kal hadn't expected the monster girls Tetas claimed to own to be so large. The hair on her head was russet brown and trimmed short, probably to keep it from getting caught in the mechanism she was working, with two tiny horns peeking out from above her ears. The ears themselves were nearly the size of a regular cow's and stuck straight out from the sides of her head. Her large body must have been in part to support the woman's huge chest. Despite being shorter than Ikuno, her breasts were close to the same size as the blue-skinned oni's, maybe bigger. She seemed to handle the weight on her front well, probably because of the prominent muscles on her arms, back, and stomach. Her legs remained bovine and were covered in coarse hair the same color as that on her head and ended in wide, black cloven hooves. A small bush of softer looking hair covered her sex while a short brown tail protruded over her bottom. The odd bend at near the end made him wonder if it was originally longer, more like a regular cow's but lost it somehow.

From Vadha's accounts, non-human slaves were required to go nude, yet the cow-girl wore a leather blacksmith's apron. Unfortunately, it was made for a human and looked tiny on the large woman. The reason became clear as the blacksmith standing nearby gave her a command while using long metal tongs to pull a bright orange, glowing piece of iron out of the forge and bring it over to the anvil. Shifting her apron to one side so it covered one breast completely but left the other bare, she stepped over to a table and picked up a large hammer with one hand. Moving to the anvil, she began beating the glowing metal into shape as the blacksmith moved and turned it with his tongs. Occasionally he had her stop so he could check a measurement with a metal caliper, explaining to her what to look for and what he was measuring before letting her resume. As the orange faded to red, he ordered her to stop and return to the bellows. Tossing the piece back into the forge, the man sat down on a nearby stool to monitor the metal's color.

The mage felt confused and conflicted by all this. The collar around her neck plainly marked her as a slave but after watching them for a few minutes he felt that the blacksmith treated her more like an apprentice. As the bovine woman began spinning the crank for the bellows, Kal realized that he wasn't in much of a position to judge these people. To him, the thought of owning another person was a heinous and vile thing yet by Ikuno and Bea's estimation he very much owned them. The same applied to Ria. In essence, she was a bag of holding which he owned.

No, that wasn't right. "Owned" or not, he would give his life for Bea or Ikuno. Ria was a bit of a different story since her bag was indestructible as far as anyone knew. He also would never think of selling any of them to someone else, not Ria or Bea, and certainly not Ikuno; she would probably rip him to shreds with those claws of hers first. Looking at the blacksmith and the cow-girl, he knew that if he walked up and offered the man enough money, she would leave with him and had no say in the matter.

As the blacksmith pulled the iron from the forge again, Kal realized he had been standing there staring at them for some time. Collecting his thoughts, he continued down the road. The caravans crossing the Sulerin Desert left from the other side of the city and he wanted to be on the next one out of here.

---

It took Kal most of the day to reach the eastern gate with its encampment of traders and career caravanners. Questioning a couple of the locals led him to a large yellow tent with a man dressed in garish, contrasting colors that hurt his eyes sitting out front in a chair made of sticks and fabric. Kneeling on either side of him was a boy and girl. Both looked to be around Perra's age and besides the required loincloths, their only garments were the wide slave collars.

As he approached, the boy noticed him and nudged the man in the chair, who smiled wide when he saw Kal.

"Come closer, come closer!" the man called out. "How can Toba help you?"

Kal bit back a retort about not announcing his presence to the world and instead said, "I'm looking for safe passage across the Desert."

"You have come to the right place then! I am Toba, the Caravan Master. I plan, organize, purchase goods, and provide protection for those wishing to reach the other side of the Sulerin Desert in comfort and safety."

"How much is the trip?"

"Twenty gold."

Kal almost choked, "Twenty?" The money wasn't an issue for him, but that price seemed extremely steep.

"It is a long journey and twenty gold covers meals, shelter, and guards for you and one other. If you are traveling alone then I also include a woman to warm your bed at night... or a man if you prefer," he said with a wave at the man kneeling beside him. "If that is not to your liking, I suggest you find another wishing to cross and share the cost."

"Couldn't you just ask someone to join me?" asked Kal.

Toba smiled, "I am here to make money, not play matchmaker. You will need to find others to join up with before we leave."

"And when exactly will that be?"

"Six days," the man replied.

Kal cursed under his breath. That was much longer than he was expecting. "I guess I will see you in six days then," he grumbled.

The Caravan Master shook his head, "If you want a place in the caravan, you pay up now to hold it. I don't buy provisions on the day we leave and the more time I have the better price I can get, which means better food for you. Besides, Fazal can a dangerous place for outsiders. You pay me now just in case you end up at the end of a thief's dagger."

"I don't need women, food, or water. I'll give you twelve gold for guiding me across the desert and the extra protection."

Toba chortled. "Then find yourself some other means across, young man," he said with a dismissive wave once his laughter had died down. "Twenty gold is my price. If you want cheaper then find others to join you and get your coin back from them. Or you can take up with one of the less trustworthy and far less accommodating groups." As he spoke, he reached over and cupped the breast of the woman kneeling next to him, her face twisted in a moment of revulsion at the touch before forcing her expression into a fake smile.

Resisting the urge to grab up the Caravan Master by the throat and throw him as far as his strength rune would allow, Kal grudgingly glanced down at his belt. "Ria, I need twenty gold." Looking back to Toba as twenty specks of light landed in his hand and turned into gold pieces, he nodded toward the woman, "You said you have women to warm my bed, what about her? I have six days to sit and wait for our departure and I'm still young enough that my dick gets hard every time I get a whiff of pussy. Since I'm only paying for myself why not let her help me pass the time?"

Toba smiled knowingly, "As you saw from her face, she is too new to this life to entrust her to a stranger, and a chivalrous fool like you would probably get both of you killed trying to take her collar off. Go find one of the whorehouses to spend your time in, Hodu will be staying with me."

Realizing the man had seen through his intentions, Kal knew it was pointless to argue with him. In fairness, he just wanted to get the girl away from the Caravan Master for a little bit. Taking her collar off was too risky until he had gotten to study one and see how they were different from the ones he had leftover from Daxas's rescue.

After paying Toba, the mage started backtracking into the city to find an inn for the next few days.

---

"Excellent job, Hodu, for a moment I almost believed you didn't enjoy being touched by me," said Toba as he watched the young man disappeared into the crowd.

"Thank you, Master," the woman replied. "I always yearn for your touch."

"That's good," he said, standing from his chair, "you can show me the depth of your yearning by showing me the depth of your throat. Get into the tent." He turned to the young man still on his knees, "Emil, go find one of the beggars guild and have them relay a message to Bozun, I believe I just met one of his marks."

"Yes Master," they replied in unison.