Females of Vulvar Page 15

  Phaerl mounted the rubble. Idril and I followed. At some points, we had to leap gaps in the piles of debris, but mostly it was an unbroken bridge created by happenstance. Soon we stepped off the rubble piles onto the opposite bank and clambered up the slope.

  We rested on our bellies for a time at the crest of the embankment, all eyes searching for evidence of the surface mutants. I was sure I could see the tip of the tower far to the south where we had first encountered them. Perhaps we had hiked far enough north to avoid their habitat. Here the edge of the ruined city passed closer to the river. We only had about 200 meters of open ground to cover before reaching the relative safety of the surviving structures.

  Resuming the trek, in less than an hour, we were back inside the built-up urban area. Then we turned south, hoping to find the government district where the temple was. After perhaps another hour of walking, I exhaled a sigh of relief after spotting the temple only a short distance ahead, and felt even more delighted we had encountered no mutants.

  Arriving at the temple, we returned to the outer temple courtyard through the gate to refill our water flasks at the spring. Once we had drunk our fill, we felt refreshed enough to continue to the building where our comrades awaited us.

  After another quarter-hour had passed, we arrived at the two-story structure. The lookouts had spotted us when we were still some distance away, and the four warriors ran to meet us. As the warriors embraced and slapped Phaerl on the back, Idril solemnly told them of Maisha’s fate. They took the news without the display of any outward emotion, the same as Idril and Phaerl had behaved the day Maisha had fallen to her death.

  It was a different story when Phaerl revealed we had found and recovered the artifact. There were cheers all around when Idril announced we would return to the harbor to await the boats the following morning. Once the welcoming ceremony concluded, and all the news exchanged, we continued to the building.

  Looking up, I saw my mistress, Melriel. She was standing on the landing at the top of the exterior staircase with her hands on her hips, looking somewhat surly. As the warriors and I trooped up the steps, Melriel ducked back inside the upper room.

  When we entered, she immediately scolded Idril for our overdue return, and then she gazed menacingly at me.

  “Why are you wearing that ridiculous, odious garb?” Melriel demanded.

  “Cave-dwelling mutants briefly captured me,” I explained. “They ripped the tunic from my body before they bound me.”

  “Captured?” Melriel said dubiously. “And yet you live?”

  “Yes, thanks to Idril and Phaerl,” I said. “They rescued me before the mutants slew me as they had intended.”

  Melriel stepped forward and slapped me viciously across the face.

  “You know better than to speak the names of your betters, slave.”

  “Yes, mistress,” I said. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

  “Go get your spare tunic from the pack and remove that filthy rag,” she said, her eyes blazing.

  “You treat him too harshly, Melriel,” Idril said to my surprise. “He saved Phaerl’s life, and he joined in the fight against the mutants. May he not be pardoned for a momentary lapse given what we have all been through together.”

  “Do you see fit to instruct me on how to treat my slave, Idril?” Melriel retorted.

  “Yes, when you behave unreasonably,” Idril snapped. “And, what he said is true. The mutants would have slain him had we not intervened. I suggest you are now indebted to me for saving your valuable property.”

  Melriel, for once, seemed speechless as she did not reply. I went to the pack and retrieved my spare tunic. Given the lack of privacy, I slipped the tunic over my head. Once I tugged it down into place, I reached beneath the hem and removed the breechcloth. Walking to a window opening, I tossed it to the ground below to rid us of its unpleasant odor.

  It seemed two of the warriors who had remained behind had also returned to the spring at the temple and had refilled the water flasks. At Idril’s command, a warrior went to my pack and removed the last of our provisions. She then passed them out. We all sat on the floor to eat. I ate ravenously, as did Idril and Phaerl.

  While we ate the meal, I told Melriel of all that we had experienced and that we had found and recovered the artifact. I held it out to her to examine, and she snatched it from my hand.

  “As the representative of the Goddess-Queens, I shall take possession of this,” she said as she carefully examined it.

  “The mutants also took Tobias Hart’s tube,” Idril said casually to Melriel.

  Meriel’s eyes flashed. “What!”

  “It’s true, mistress,” I said, attempting to appear sad.

  “How is that possible?” Meriel said. “How could they have removed the tube without the required device?”

  I explained how the artifact was strongly magnetized and how it had by chance, come into contact with the tube. It had then unlocked in the same fashion as happened when the unlocking device was used.

  “No matter how it happened, you have broken a cardinal rule,” Melriel said. “And, I will severely punish you for the infraction.”

  “Punish him for what, Melriel,” Idril said. “How is it his fault they took the tube off him by force?”

  “Where is it?” Melriel said, ignoring Idril’s comments. “Didn’t you retrieve it?”

  “I could not, mistress,” I said.

  “Then tonight you will sleep bound,” Melriel said. “You can’t be trusted with your male parts free.”

  “Perhaps you should not make mention of the missing tube when we return to the ship,” Idril smirked. “Like you, Captain Sasha might find the news distressing.”

  “Captain Sasha will have no reason to feel concern,” Melriel said. “I have a spare tube in my baggage on the ship, which I brought in the event there was any malfunction of the original. I will soon have the slave locked again.”

  “At any rate, there is no need to make him sleep bound,” Idril said. “We all slept together in the same place last night, and he didn’t molest anyone. My warriors will protect your virtue, priestess.”

  “Again, you dare to lecture me on how I should treat my property,” Melriel countered.

  “I believe it is my right until you have paid your debt to me?” Idril said.

  “Debt? What debt?”

  “As I told you, I preserved your investment by rescuing your property and returning him to you safely,” Idril said. “In my view, you now owe me an amount equal to his market value.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Melriel said. “I’ll pay you nothing.”

  “In that case,” Idril said, “once we have returned to Thiva, the magistrate will settle the matter.”

  Melriel stamped her foot. With an air of disgust, she stomped from the room and down the stairs outside.

  Idril looked at me and winked.

  “Your priestess witch is worse than a Telarion,” she said with a grin.

  I laughed despite myself.

  ◆◆◆

  Once nightfall descended, Idril set the first watch of warriors, and the rest of us turned in for the night to sleep. Melriel had directed me to the corner of the room she had already claimed. She did not bind me. I assumed Idril had shamed her into changing her mind. I hoped Melriel would not demand I pleasure her since I knew the warriors on watch would hear the noise. I needn’t have worried.

  As soon as Melriel and I had laid down on the floor, Idril came over and stretched out beside us. Melriel raised her head and glared at Idril, but said nothing. She then rolled over with her back to us and lay back down.

  I had difficulty falling asleep. The night air was cold, and I had only a thin blanket I brought from the ship. The floor was hard and uncomfortable. But the circumstances afforded me my first opportunity to reflect on the successful mission.

  We had found and recovered the artifact the Goddess-Queens wanted. Now, all we had to do was transport it back to Thiva, and the mission wo
uld be over. For some reason, I trusted the Goddess-Queens to keep the promise they had made. I expected them to free me once we arrived back home, and then for them to return me to my native Earth.

  Yet with all that now almost within my grasp, I wasn’t sure I wanted it. Nor did I know whether I had any choice. Perhaps the Goddess-Queens would return me to Earth whether or not I wished to go back. If they did not, the Vulvarian people might view it as the Goddess-Queens not keeping their word. That might erode the trust between the people and their gods.

  My circumstances had much improved with Melriel. I believed she even felt fondness toward me now. I could tolerate remaining on Vulvar and serving her. Yet that wasn’t the reason I was unsure about going home to Earth.

  I admitted to myself I felt infatuated with Idril. I believed I could be happy being with her, even as a slave. If there was the opportunity, I wanted to be with her. Perhaps, I thought, she could acquire me from Melriel. That was if Idril wished to have me. But I felt hopeful. I was confident that after the events of the previous night, Idril too had developed a fondness for me.

  Confused and feeling emotionally conflicted, I finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

  Chapter 21

  Homeward Bound

  At daybreak, the warriors of the last watch roused us from our blankets. While the soldiers collected their equipment and arms, I folded my blanket and stuffed it back inside the pack. Soon we all descended the staircase. Outside, Idril assembled us in formation for the march back to the harbor.

  Though there was now an adequate supply of arrows since we had rejoined the company, Idril was resolved to avoid contact with the mutants. She feared that if we encountered and engaged them, they would pursue us to the harbor where no suitable fortifications existed. She sent two warriors about 100 meters ahead of us as scouts. Twice they spotted roving bands of mutants, and we carefully and quietly detoured around them.

  Our cautious movements slowed our progress, but before the Vulvarian sun had reached its midday position, we arrived back at the harbor at the point where we had disembarked from the boats. About an hour later, we spotted the two longboats returning on the waves.

  When the boats beached near the shore, I saw Captain Sasha standing in the bow of the first boat. Our party waded out to meet them and climbed into the boats as Captain Sasha directed us.

  “I considered not sending the boats back,” Captain Sasha said to Idril. “Through the glass, for the past two days, I have observed savages near this point. I came with the boats after deciding to send them because I feared a battle.”

  “You considered leaving us here to die?” Idril said.

  “I thought the savages must have already slain you all,” Captain Sasha said. “But I feared the wrath of the Goddess-Queens if I sailed without at least checking on your party.”

  The sailors pulled hard on the oars against the waves. We slowly made progress back towards the ship, riding at anchor in the bay.

  “Am I to assume your mission was a success?” Captain Sasha said to Idril.

  “Yes, we are ready to sail for home,” Idril said.

  “Thanks be to the Goddess-Queens,” Captain Sasha said. “I can’t wait to depart this unpleasant shore.”

  ◆◆◆

  It seemed Captain Sasha indeed was eager to leave the shores of Saba. Once we were back aboard the ship, while the sailors who had crewed the boats hoisted them again onto the deck, the ship’s captain was already giving orders to the remaining crew to hoist the sails to prepare for getting underway.

  Back on the ship’s deck, I could no longer make out the details of the city because of the poor visibility. It had been an adventure, but I also was pleased to leave the City of the Dead.

  Melriel ordered me below to the cabin. There she retrieved the spare tube from her baggage and locked me once again. While I had enjoyed the temporary respite, there was a part of me that felt more at ease encased once again inside the shiny, unyielding steel.

  At dusk, after the evening meal, Melriel, Idril, and I went back on deck just as Cape Prita came into view. We had rounded the cape by the time night had fallen.

  Idril and Melriel had not spoken since the previous evening. When we had all been inside the shared cabin after eating, the tension between them had seemed thick enough to cut with a knife. I expected if the situation remained unresolved, it would be a long voyage back to Port Abrago.

  The first night at sea, while I slept on the floor with my ankle chained to Melriel’s bunk as before, she did not invite me into her bed to pleasure her. It was if she blamed me for her thorny relationship with Idril.

  Since the length of the chain did not allow me to stray far from Melriel’s bunk, there, of course, was no opportunity for Idril to invite my attention either. Perhaps, I thought, that diversion was to be denied me until we arrived back in Thiva.

  ◆◆◆

  By the second night at sea, Melriel’s attitude had improved, at least towards me. Almost the moment after she had extinguished the lamp for the night, she pulled me into her bed to pleasure her without waiting for Idril to fall asleep. And she did not bother being quiet as she enjoyed climax after climax. When Melriel wasn’t moaning or mewling, I could hear Idril across the room on her bunk, groaning and cursing under her breath. That continued for the next four nights, and during the days that followed, Idril was increasingly irritable, which Melriel seemed to find amusing.

  On the sixth day of the voyage, Melriel left me alone in the cabin while she went to arrange for my evening meal as Captain Sasha did not allow me to take my meals on the mess deck with her crew. Idril walked in only moments after Melriel had left.

  “Where is Melriel?” she said.

  “She has gone to the mess deck to arrange for my supper,” I said.

  Idril’s face broke into a broad smile.

  “Come,” she said.

  I followed her out of the cabin. We descended three flights of stairs and then walked to a corner deep in the hold where provisions were stored.

  “Lie down on your back, Tobias Hart,” Idril commanded.

  Her tone implied her instructions were not a request, so I sank to the floor and lay down on my back. Idril took off her helmet and shook out her long hair. Then expertly, she swiftly unbuckled and removed her cuirass, the body armour that protects the waist and hips, revealing her smooth, shaven sex. She stepped lightly over to me, standing above me with a foot to either side of my head. She lowered herself to her knees, pressing her warm, wet, succulent flesh against my mouth. I delicately lapped at her soft, silky folds. Then she began riding me like a baacaas. With great enthusiasm, she ground her sex against my mouth and nose, her hips driving back and forth in piston-like movements. She moaned and purred loudly as her excitement built and then alternated between primal growling and shrieking each time she tipped into the abyss of ecstasy.

  After her third or fourth climax, Idril shifted her behind to my waist, then bent down, covering my face with hers. Her long scarlet tresses draped to either side of my face as she kissed me long and hard on the mouth before licking my lips clean with her tongue. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, she got up and buckled the cuirass back on and put the helmet back onto her head.

  “By the Goddess-Queens, I needed that,” she said with a grin. “Especially after listening to you and Melriel go at it five nights straight.”

  “What if Melriel is already back at the cabin when we return?” I said.

  “If she is, I dare her to say a word,” Idril said, “after trying to drive me insane since we re-boarded this ship.”

  Personally, I felt relieved when we got back to the cabin and found it empty. I quickly poured water from the pitcher into the washbowl and scrubbed my face. I was sitting on the floor in my customary place, with Idril reclined on her bunk when Melriel returned with my food.

  After handing me the plate, I saw Melriel wrinkle her nose. While I had washed, Idril had not. I feared Melriel had caught Idril’s sweet feminine
scent. If she had, she didn’t mention it, but she glared at Idril for several moments before lying down on her bunk. I ducked my head and intently focused on eating, hoping Melriel wouldn’t interrogate me later.

  ◆◆◆

  The last six days of the voyage passed more swiftly than I had expected. Melriel had continued to require nightly pleasuring. Twice more before the journey ended, Idril had found opportunities to take me back down to the ship’s hold. Most surprising of all was Melriel never interrogated me. If she had been suspicious, she never mentioned it. I was never genuinely sure whether she knew of the trysts that occurred with Idril or not.

  In the early afternoon of the twelfth day of the cruise, the ship sailed into the bay off Port Abrago.

  Chapter 22

  The Homecoming

  As soon as the Jaxsu docked at the quay, the sailors made fast the lines and secured the gangplank in place. Idril sent her warriors to the stables to retrieve the baacaases. Our party tendered our goodbyes and thanks to Captain Sasha and her able crew.

  The warriors packed and secured our baggage on the back of the spare baacaas. We then mounted our animals for the ride back to Thiva. This time Idril did not spare the beasts. We rode hard with few stops to rest them until we paused for the night and camped. Idril informed us we would make Thiva by the sixth hour the following day.

  At daybreak, we took to our mounts once again to complete the journey. As Idril had predicted, we heard the bells signaling the sixth hour as we reached the outskirts of the city.

  To our surprise, a vast throng of cheering city and religious officials crowded both sides of the road as we rode up to the Hall of Priestesses. Outside the hall entrance, I spotted Gaylia, Chief Priestess of Thiva, my mother, Laena, and to my delight, Amanuensis, my old teacher.

  Our weary band dismounted. Melriel and I approached Gaylia. Melriel genuflected, and I kneeled to show respect for the religious leader. Then Melriel stood and presented the artifact to Gaylia.