Smutomancer

Darkest Dawn: Prologue [straight, elves]

Sep 27th, 2013
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  1. Darkest Dawn: Prologue
  2.  
  3. Ripe grain danced like golden waves in the wind of the noonday sun, spreading in every direction as far as the eye could see. Farmhands, tall and sure handed, hewed the wheat with due diligence, careful to avoid waste. Loose fitting robes and intricately woven sun hats kept them cool and comfortable as they worked. They sang a simple tune in their lyrical language to pass the time.
  4. A whistling clamor, approaching swiftly, drew the attention of those nearest the winding track. They smiled and waved when they caught the sight of two stallions, white as snow, pulling behind them a slim chariot of strong but light woods and lacquered leathers. The driver, another tall figure wearing the well appointed white robes of an off duty soldier, leaned back easily on the platform, a single hand keeping the reigns under control and rolling at the knees with each pump and curve of the road. His musculature was well defined even beneath his robes, almost bulky by elven standards. Broad shoulders held up a world of confidence. A century’s worth of practice allowed him to wind past the waiting grain carriages and their loaders with a seeming ease that was all but unconscious. He nodded to those waving, and pulled his passenger tighter with his free hand.
  5. Slight, almost wisplike compared to the broad-shouldered rider, his companion clung to his wide sword belt two handed, one in front and the other behind, with an exhilarated sort of desperation. Looking down at his charge, the charioteer laughed at the way her eyes grew wide and stared dead ahead without blinking. The wind threw her unbound hair behind them like a streaming banner. He banked sharply to the right to avoid an imagined obstacle, causing her to gasp and draw closer, pressing her face into his chest. In turn, he gave her a slight squeeze and pecked her on the top of the head.
  6. “Again!” squeaked the girl in a muffled voice.
  7. The driver threw back his head and roared in laughter, “That’s what I like to hear!”
  8. For the next hour, the rider cut and weaved down the narrow tracks, dodging carts and workers at increasingly narrow margins. In the countryside of Tiranoc such antics were commonplace, and farmers merely shook their heads and chuckled when the pair flew by. Shadows cast by the clouds crawled lazily across the sea of grain as the driver reigned in his stallions as they crested a hill.
  9. “Time for a bit of rest, I think,” he said. The trembling figure at his side slid from his grasp and stepped, shakily, to the ground. “A fine last ride.”
  10. Panting, the girl looked up, into his eyes. “Yes, a fine ride.” She stood, steadying herself with the chariot’s railing. After waiting a moment to catch her breath, she allowed her gaze to wander across the scenery. Hills rolled up and down the landscape, still reminding her of the ocean even after all these years. The whole, healthy scent of the grain washed across her and she consumed it, hungry to forge a memory. A few figures out in the distance waved, and she returned the sentiment. “I’m going to miss it, Kairon.”
  11. “I know,” he said. “I know.” He stepped off the chariot, joining her on the ground, and drew her into his arms. She pressed her head into his silk-clad, enjoying the scent of him. He kissed her head once more, “Tironac will miss you as well.” He took a finger and lifted her head until she was looked up into his face, “And I will miss you too.”
  12. Tears welled in her eyes and she pressed her head into his chest again, harder this time, to hide them. “I don’t want to go,” she said.
  13. Kairon slowly peeled her off, holding her at arms’ length. “Ishana,” he said, “Ishana listen to me.” Reluctantly, she met his gaze. “Ishana, you have to go; you’ve wanted this for years.”
  14. “I know,” she said, “but, well…”
  15. “But?”
  16. “Until today, I never realized, not truly, what leaving would mean.” She took another glance at the countryside. “I’ve never been through the Eagle Gate, or seen inner seas, and now to travel all the way to Saphery? Who knows when to return?”
  17. “Ishana…” Kairon took a deep breath, pondering exactly what to say. “You know you have to do this. You have the gift; it’s in your blood. You have a duty to our people and to yourself, too see this through and achieve your full potential.” He wiped her tear away with a crooked finger. “Do you know, truly know, what an honor it is to be accepted by the Mages of the White Tower?”
  18. “Yes,” she said, though her voice was uncertain.
  19. “What is it that Altazar always says to you? ‘You are touched by the Winds, but you can be so much more when you make them your own.’ Those are not idle words.”
  20. “I suppose not…”
  21. “You suppose? Ishana, you are a Starspear! Where is your confidence? Our family is proud and ancient, we don’t –suppose- anything, we know!”
  22. He had puffed himself up so large and had such a serious expression on his sharp features that Ishana burst into laughter, so hard that she had to hold onto his robe to keep standing. He laughed as well, a deep, throaty chuckle that shook down his arms into her shoulders as he engulfed her in his arms in a bear hug. They stood there, embracing, as their laughter died down.
  23. “Mother and Father would be so proud of you,” he whispered. She hugged him tighter.
  24. “I miss them.” He had never heard her voice sound so small.
  25. “I do too, Ishana. I do too.” He hugged her close, hard. “When you come back, you will be a powerful mage. We’ll ride, side by side like our parents before us, and bring vengeance upon the heads of each and every one of the druchii bastards that took them from us.”
  26. “Yes, we will.” She held his embrace for a long time. “I suppose we should be on our way now,” she said, nodding to the sun.
  27. “What was that?” he asked.
  28. “We should be on our way,” she corrected.
  29. “I suppose you’re right.”
  30. Chuckling, she hugged him closer, then made to step back onto the chariot.
  31. “Catch!” yelled a loud voice from the near distance.
  32. Kairon turned, suddenly, in a blur of motion. His hand shot out like a bolt of white lightning, snatching a bright red object out of the air as it careened towards his sister’s face. Ishana gave a little shriek, laughing as she ducked behind the headboard of the chariot.
  33. “Great reflexes as always, Kairon Starspear!” said a young elf guiding a lightly laden cart towards the pair, waving as he came.
  34. “Damn you, Sidric,” said Kairon through chuckles and a mouthful of apple. He had taken a bite as soon as he realized what it was he had grabbed.
  35. In moments, the merchant elf brought his cart and wares up the hill and he was embracing the charioteer; Ishana in the background, drying off her eyes. He was shorter than Kairon, but not by much. He was also slimmer, with a more rounded chin and less defined cheeks. Where the warrior had long hair of dull gold, like his sister, Sidric’s was barely shoulder length and silver as the moon in spring.
  36. Before the two had a chance to speak, Ishana shot straight into Sidric’s arms like a bolt from a crossbow, knocking him to the ground and following him all the way. They rolled a ways down the hill, flattening grain, until they broke apart and came to a rest about half way down.
  37. “It is good to see you too, my lady,” said Sidric.
  38. She rose to her knees and threw her arms around his head, hugging him to her to hard it became hard to breath.
  39. “I’m so glad you came in time!”
  40. “Time for what, my lady?”
  41. “We were about to leave, my friend,” said the charioteer. He was watching the pair, shaking his head and chuckling in melancholic amusement.
  42. Sidric hugged Ishana back and then freed himself from her embrace. He held her far enough away to speak, “Going on a trip, my lady?”
  43. Pain shadowed across her eyes. “Not- not exactly,” she said.
  44. “My dear sister, I am proud to say, has been accepted to join the White Tower of Hoeth as an apprentice,” said Kairon. “We were just preparing to leave.”
  45. It was brief, but Ishana knew she saw the hurt of betrayal in his eyes before he masked it with the polite enthusiasm of a good friend. “Ishana, that’s wonderful!”
  46. “I’m sorry, Sidric,” she said. “The message just came a few days ago, and I have to be there in a twenty days.” She was starting to tear up again. “I wanted to see you again before I left, but with you traveling so much, I had no idea when you would pass this way again.”
  47. “I understand, and I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner…” He gave her a sad little smile, “What route are you taking?”
  48. “I’m taking her,” said Kairon. “We’ll pass through the Eagle Gate, then take the sea road through Ellyrion, Avelorn, and through to Saphery.”
  49. “I’ve never seen the Inner Kingdoms,” she said.
  50. “Nor have I,” admitted Sidric. “My route only takes me as far as Tironac’s southern border. I’m sure it’ll be lovely.”
  51. “It’s getting late, Ishana,” said Kairon. He watched her shrink into herself and sighed. “Too late, in fact.”
  52. “Kairos?” her voice was filled with hope.
  53. He could see Sidric’s eyes, a knowing, thankful look. “Yes, there wouldn’t be much point leaving so late in the day,” he said. “We’d have to stop before we reached the Gate. Yes,” he said, “We should leave first thing in the morning.”
  54. Ishana swelled into herself as she realized what her brother had said. Excitement lent her soft features an inner vitality that spread across her face in a wide smile that the two elves could not help but return. “Truly?” she asked. Her head swiveled and locked onto Sidric’s face, tracking it like a bird of prey on the hunt.
  55. “It would be for the best,” her brother said. “I’ll ride back to Tren’ac and let everyone know.” He could see his words pass over Ishana like wind over a rock. Rolling his eyes, he turned to face the merchant as well. “Sidric,” he said. “Would you mind escorting my sister back home? I’ll expect you by nightfall.”
  56. Sidric’s head bobbled in assent, but his eyes belonged to Ishana. Kairon sighed once more and mounted his chariot. With a flick of the wrist his stallions were racing each other down the hill and back the way they came.
  57. Ishana waved her brother off as Sidric checked over his cart and strapped a sack of oats to his horse’s face. He watched her as she gazed off into the distance. She appeared so soft, so delicate against the expansive, rolling hills of grain and the picturesque mountains in the distance. Sidric allowed his eyes to roll over the aspiring she-mage and was pleased by what he saw.
  58. Young, for an elf, she was only now coming into her own as a woman. She still had the skinny arms and legs of a youth, but her curves were starting to become more defined. Her dress, a simple traveling gown of loose fabrics, fell across her in just the right way to draw his eyes across her lines. He knew that her chest was still rather underdeveloped, but the regiment of exercise her brother put her through gave her a clearly defines, and shapely, posterior. When the wind blew her hair out of the way, he could see her slender neck and most of an exposed shoulder. After the wild race across the countryside and the subsequent roll down the hill, her dress had begun to open. Ishana seemed not to notice.
  59. He approached her from behind slowly, careful not to make a sound. Sidric followed her gaze and could only just make out Kairon. Now there’s an elf with flare, he thought. A few moving specks here and there told him that the harvest was still in full swing, but judging by the time and distance between the farmhands and the pair on the hill, he could tell they wouldn’t be reaching this point until around noon tomorrow. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and noted the lack of inbound traffic on the road. By the time he was close enough to reach her, Sidric was quite sure that they wouldn’t be disturbed.
  60. The elf slid closer and draped his arms around her sides, clasping his hands together at her navel. She started in surprise as he pulled her close into himself. He forestalled any further response by planting a wet kiss on the nape of her neck. Ishana raised a hand to his head and began to play with his hair.
  61. “By nightfall?” he said, planting a row of kisses up her neck like he was planning an orchard. “It won’t take nearly that long to get back.”
  62. With her other hand, Ishana squeezed both of Sidrics. She leaned back against him and turned her head just as his playful kisses reached her chin. Ishana leaned in and met him full on the lips. The angle was off and their nosed bumped like jousting knights of little skill, but they kept going regardless. Each time one of them moved closer or shifted their head for a better approach, their lips would slip away or press in even closer, giving them brief flashes of slip against teeth. The contrast between the cool, moist saliva and warm lips was intoxicating for both of them.
  63. Sidric left one hand in place and allowed the other to slowly rise up the front of her body. Through the thin fabric he could feel her warmth and every groove and contour of her stomach and lower chest. The clarity of each line of distinction made him grasp more greedily. Here, the base of her ribcage, marking the boundary of her softness. His fingers counted each of her ribs, a firm backing behind a thin layer of silky flesh. The grooves seemed to be made for his fingers and he drew them across towards her middle before pushing the outward and upward. Her flesh gradually became thicker as his hand filled with the tender meat of her breast. Though small, there was enough for him to get a hand hold, which he used to knead and press against her.
  64. His thumb flicked against a beadlike shape and he knew he had found her nipple. Ishana gasped and squeezed his hand harder as he began to pinch her between thumb and forefinger while carefully maintaining pressure on the rest of her breast.
  65. “Wait,” she said, pulling at his hair hard enough for him to wince. “We’re, ah, we’re too visible up here.” Her eyes were closed and she was panting faintly. “Please, I don’t want to stand.”
  66. Pausing only to quickly wipe his tongue across her lips (causing her to unconsciously follow after his face as he moved away), he pulled her closer to the cart. In the back was a shallow bed of apples from a town some miles down the highway. Here and there in the pocketed sideboards he had a collection of more exotic wares; perfumes, delicate bracelets and jewelry, and a cask of wine marked with the seal of a famous winery from Lothern. He threw a few blankets over the apples and carefully leapt up onto the brim of the wagon. Ishana took his offered hand and felt him pull her up over the lip. She tried to kick off and help him, but tripped on the way up and sent the two of them reeling onto the apples. Sidric’s head knocked against the side of the cart, but managed to guide her to fall on him. The blow left him a bit dazed, but as he sat there rubbing the back of his head he saw the deep concern in her eyes and started to laugh.
  67. “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry!” she said. Ishana grabbed him with both hands and pulled his head towards her so she could see the injury. As she poked and prodded, he was presented with an expanded view of her chest. Her dress had caught on something as she fell and was pulled back almost far enough for him to now be choking on bare breasts. His earlier attentions appeared effective, because the nip of her breast was just hard enough to be visible behind her silks.
  68. “There doesn’t seem to be any blee- AIEE!” Ishana was so engrossed in concern she hadn’t noticed Sidric lurch forward until after his lips were already pressed against her chest and he was nibbling her nipple right through the top of her gown. “S-stop!” she cried, pulling him closer into herself and dragging him down as she fell fully into the bed of covered apples.
  69. Her surprise gave him an opening and he took it, moving forward and pressing their lips so hard against each other that the back of her head was starting to painfully rub up against the apples under her. He pulled back for a moment to look her in the eyes. They were green, but light almost to the point of being amber in color. In the waning sun they seemed to sparkle up at him.
  70. She seized the momentary respite to push him back into a sitting position. Before he could move she shimmied over and straddled him, pinning him where he was. She held his head between her hands and leaned in to kiss him. As their lips locked together, this time careful to keep their noses out of the way, Sidric draped his arms across her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Slowly his hands began to lower and explore her from back and shoulders. He traced the line of her spine all the way down to the base, then slid them across her sides to grab firmly onto her hips. At his touch, she shivered, then bucked forward, gently grinding her groin against his belt buckled. His hand fell further down and she shuddered. Sidric took her meaty cheeks in hand and squeezed, hard. Ishana’s athletic upbringing resulted in her buttocks being firmer and considerably more ample than her budding breasts. She increased the pressure against his buckle and doubled the rhythm of her movements. Her downward strokes grazed Sidric and they both felt him hardening.
  71. Ishana broke off the kiss and began unbuttoning his tunic, though her excitement caused her hands to shake and she struggled on each one. His hand traced down her thigh and grabbed hold of a swatch of cloth. As he began to raise up the side of her dress, exposing her legs, she gave in to her impatience and simply ripped the tunic right off of him. Buttons clinked against the hardwood as they scattered and bounced away. She reached down to deal with his belt when Sidric’s hands slipped under the hem of her dress and began to glide up her legs. The friction between his cold hands and her smooth, warm skin sent shivers all the way up her spine, causing her head to jitter and her fingers to bunch up instead of unfastening his buckle.
  72. Sidric’s fingers, much cooler than her body, slithered across her flesh like a coil of tentacles. They edged around her callipygian assets and started to tease at the edges of her moistening lower lips. Sindric reveled in her smooth hairlessness, her perfect form and figure. He pushed them forward quickly then, much more slowly, drew them back down the sides of her outer labia, careful not to touch anything directly. She rocked forward, grinding against his trousers, trying desperately to feel the hardness of the shaft beneath as her trembling fingers fumbled with the latch of his buckled. Sidric’s fingers brushed just under her as she briefly rose. The heat coming off of her could be felt from inches away and he could feel the sticky strands of juices tying her vagina to the fabric above his now throbbing erection.
  73. Ishana was panting deeply, almost frantic to break open the clasp. Saliva from her mouth dripped like a threat of rain against Sidric’s chest. Each impact caused him to buck, and each buck caused him to grind against the wetness between her legs. His penis was stiff, and the beating of his heart sent throbbing pain through the shaft.
  74. “L-let me,” he said, his nails tearing painfully across her buttocks as he wiped his hand around to his groin with a frantic haste to match her own. The sensation caught the breath in her chest, and she gripped his shoulders with both hands so hard her knuckles began to turn white. Sidric managed to undo the buckle just as her handhold became tight enough for him to flinch. In a haze, Ishana threaded the belt out of its loops and pulled at his trousers. The tip of his shaft caught on the edge of the fabric and caused the whole member to bend painfully in its state of heightened sensitivity. He gritted his teeth and bucked upwards, causing Ishana to flinch.
  75. The added space allowed them to shimmy his trousers down to just above his knees, but she shoved him downward before they could go any further. With a sigh she dropped herself against him and started grinding up and down the heat of his cock. The warm took her by surprise and she suppressed a shout, feeling each beat of his heart through the throbbing veins and relishing every second of it. Sidric grabbed her across the back and pulled, bringing her up and forward enough for him to position his penis directly against the sopping wet lips. Ishana kissed him on the lips as she sat back down, hard. The heat of him entering her changed the kiss into a bite, and she only stopped when she tasted the coppery tang of blood.
  76. They sat there for a moment, motionless, just feeling the warmth and tightness between them. Both were breathing heavily, and each rise and fall caused him or her to twitch, sending waves of sensation through their bodies.
  77. She brought mouth across to his ear at a snail’s pace, whispering, “Hold on,” in a voice so soft he almost thought he imagined it. Before he could reply, Ishana began to rock forward and back, moving him, slowly, in and out of her. The friction of her warm juices allowed him to slip and roll through her easily. Her deliberate pace was agonizing in its inducement of pleasure; he could feel each and every fold of her inner walls, each pulse of her heartbeat and contracting muscle, so vividly that he could see it in his mind’s eye.
  78. Gradually, she built up speed until she was humping up and down with every breath. His sensation changed to one of all encompassing warmth and wetness and tightness. The pressure built up to the point where his entire dick was straining and going numb. He licked the blood off of his lip and let the sound of her slapping against him, a visceral, wet flesh-sound, wash over him. He bit down at the tear she had caused and squeezed his arms around her, pulling her tight and lifting her upwards. Ishana’s body began to twitch and her pace slowed, but Sidric simply started to thrust himself.
  79. He bucked upwards again and again, enjoying the weight of her shuddering with each thrust against his chest. With an effort, he rolled her off of himself and half dragged, half shoved her upper body over the side of the wagon. He caught her as she began to tumble out, and pressed her stomach against the railing. Sidric rose to his knees and positioned himself behind her. The traveling merchant used one hand to keep her pinned on all fours against the side of the cart, her hands desperately trying to find purchase against the wheel. With his other hand, he grabbed at his swelling cock and flicked the head up and down, then side to side, against her lips. They gave with little resistance, the flesh flowing with each movement as though chasing after him. Ishana tried to push backwards onto him, but he pushed her down even harder against the rail with both hands.
  80. “Please,” she whimpered.
  81. “Please, what?”
  82. “Please-“
  83. “Please WHAT?”
  84. “Please, fuck me! FUCK ME!”
  85. He rocked forward so hard the entire cart shuddered and the idle horse whinnied in surprise. The force of the blow knocked the breath out of her, and she gasped without sound. Tears welled in her eyes and streamed down the sides of her face.
  86. “Again!” she cried, after sucking in a mouthful of air.
  87. “As you wish,” said Sindric. “My lady.”
  88. He repositioned his hands to either side of her hips, grasping them firmly before pulling back, slowly. She was crying and laughing at the same time. He held his position with the tip of his dick just barely entering her until she began to shudder and whine, then he thrust forward again with the same animal ferocity. His body slapped up against hers with a wet thwack. This time he didn’t wait and just kept thrusting into her again and again… thwack, thwack, thwack, THWACK.
  89. Each blow caused Ishana to cry out in ecstasy. The noises she made kept getting louder and louder, until she started to think that the farmers bringing in crops in the distance would be able to hear her. Sindric’s horse was clearly agitated, but so far had remained where in place. Somehow, the thought of it charging off down the road with the two of them humping like rabbits in the cart behind it for all the world to see only made her more exited. She screamed louder.
  90. Without Ishana noticing, Sindric slid his left hand down her hip, along her pelvic joint, and stopped just above her vagina. Using two fingers, he began to rub circles around the little diamond bead her clitoris had become. His fingers, soaking in the juice flowing from her groin, brushed across her exposed nerve and sent spasmodic jolts through her entire body. Sindric could feel her clamp down on his shaft as he continued to thrust it deep inside her, his testicles slapping like a round of applause against her with each push. Ishana lost herself and let go of the wheel, only kept form falling right off the cart by Sindric’s quick reflexes.
  91. He grabbed out under her with his left arm, clasping desperately against her breast. He clenched down almost as hard as she was clenching down on him, and pulled her back up into a safer position. Ishana, still on her knees and still being stabbed mercilessly again and again, was now pressed up against his chest. He held her there by squeezing inward at her breast, pinching hard on her erect nipple. The fall had exposed her chest, all but flat, to the open world. The cool breeze passing over the hill sent tingling shivers through her body as it tickled her exposed nipple and licked its way across her body. Sindric’s other hand had not stopped massaging her, if anything, the easier access only made him rub faster.
  92. Sindric slowed his rhythm for a few seconds before thrusting harder and faster than ever before. He leaned back into the jab, the base of his penis was swallowed up into burning, soaking cunt; Ishana was actually lifted off of her knees. He kept that position, rocking up every now and again and letting Ishana’s own body weight bring her back down upon him.
  93. After a few suspended thrusts, his back arched even further. In a daze, Ishana couldn’t quite understand what was happening until she felt his dick twitch wildly. She was put in the mind of geyser preparing to blow. The strength of his orgasm sent waves of heat and pleasure up through her stomach. He continued to pump, gently, as his own fluids gushed up into her body and then back out into the bed of the cart.
  94. Both panting and sticky with sweat, Sindric made a little nest in the blankets and gently deposited her in the center. He rummaged through his gear for a moment and returned with a heavy jacket, which he placed over her shivering form. She was still twitching from the aftershocks of her orgasms. Sindric smiled and took out a small copper flask. He opened the stopper and put the mouth up against Ishana’s lips, ordering her to drink.
  95. Full, rich wine poured into her throat, but she hardly tasted it at all. Still, it helped. After a few minutes she was able prop herself up on her elbows. Sindric was wearing a new shirt and had already prompted his horse into action. They were down the hill and she hadn’t noticed them start moving. Uncomfortable bulges beneath the blankets drove her to claw her way up to the driver’s seat with Sindric. He helped her sit down properly and drew an arm around her as she leaned up against him.
  96. “Sorry about your apples,” she said in an exhausted whisper.
  97. “They can use them for cider.”
  98. “And the buttons…”
  99. “I can sew.”
  100. “You were wonderful,” she said.
  101. He shifted in place and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. She was disconcertedly reminded of Kairon and the chariot ride to the hill.
  102. “You were a goddess,” he told her. “My lady.”
  103. The two let the time pass as the cart wobbled and rocked down the road. Apparently something had come loose during all the thrusting…
  104. “I’m going to miss this,” said Ishana as the walls of Tren’ac rose in the distance.
  105. “Tiranoc is a beautiful kingdom.”
  106. She punched his chest playfully, “I mean you, Sidric. This will be a great memory for me.”
  107. She felt him tense.
  108. “So I’m just a memory for you?”
  109. “What? No, no,” she said, startled at his reaction. “You mean more to me than you know! Remember when we first met?”
  110. Sidric chuckled at the recollection. “How could I forget? It was what, six or seven years ago?”
  111. “Yes, seven.”
  112. “Yes, it was my first time in the area and this crazy slip of a maid comes out of nowhere on a war chariot so fast she almost crashes into my cart. Nearly gave the old horse a heart attack!”
  113. “What? I don’t remember that. I meant that day in the market.” She cocked her head and looked up at him, “Kairon did let me try riding the chariot alone for the first time around then…” She giggled at the thought. “I was so scared, I could have have run down Teclis and not have noticed!”
  114. “Well, I certainly remember it,” said Sidric, smiling now. “When I saw that maid in the market the next day, I made sure to meet her.”
  115. “That’s what I mean! That was the day I learned I was wind-touched.”
  116. “What do you mean?”
  117. “You were doing all sorts of little tricks for the children and everyone that came by. Little things, you know. Making coins disappear and come out of someone’s ear. Making flowers out of nothing. Then there was that thing you did with the cards, remember?”
  118. “Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with-“
  119. “I was with Kairon when it happened. I looked at you and said to him that you weren’t doing magic at all. He asked how I knew, since I’d never seen sleight of hand before.”
  120. “What did you tell him?” he asked, curious now.
  121. “I said it looked like magic, but did not feel like magic. When I couldn’t explain what I meant, he took me to see Master Altazar.” She squeezed his shoulder. “He tested me, and then started to train me.”
  122. “Hmm, I always thought you were studying under him since before I got here.” He chuckled to himself. “So that’s why you were so friendly when we met for real. You are yours brother’s patronage went a long way in getting me a permanent entry visa.” He lifted her head with a finger, “You can’t know how hard it is to get a contract like this so close to the coast. Everyone is always so damned worried about druchii spies.” He gave her his most endearing smile. “Remember, whatever happens from now on, I owe everything to you.”
  123. She curled up against his shoulder, like a kitten searching for warmth. He let her snuggle there as they passed through the gates. Sidric nodded to guards, tossing them a few (still intact) apples as he passed by. They recognized him as a regular and were grateful for the snack. He was well known for his generosity towards the guards; always a wise move for an outside. Besides, it’s not like it was bribery, and he never caused any trouble. One nodded towards the reclining Ishana and winked.
  124. “In the morning,” he told her, “I’ll have a gift ready for you.” In her doze, she mumbled thanks, but didn’t really hear what he said. He took the chance to gently squeeze her buttock.
  125. “Perhaps a necklace,” he mused to himself.
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