Cassandra Pendragon
My deep moan drowned out the silky sounds of Ahri, massaging scented oils into my tails. It had been a long day and we had finally retreated to the baths, alone. At least I had hoped so until a whirlwind comprised of three little girls had put an end to any sensual aspirations we might have had and turned a romantic evening into something much more… tame.
Alassara’s home was a true marvel, an underground estate comparable to the fanciest mansions I had seen or read of before. Spacious rooms, precious chandeliers, soft carpets, illustrious pieces of art, magnificent armours and weapons… the decor wouldn’t have been out of place in a palace. The sheer size of her lair, three luxurious floors dug underneath the market and only accessible through a hidden trapdoor in the cellar of a rundown tavern, was impressive but when I had seen the baths, an immense room illuminated by the soft, rosy light of glowing gems, I had become jealous. Several basins were filled with differently temperated water and after we had been shown to our rooms, which weren’t shabby in the least, I had quickly stolen Ahri away for a few hours. Obviously I hadn’t been sneaky enough, Layla, Reia and little Estrella had found us about 15 minutes later. Luckily we had still been relaxing in the main pool and they hadn’t gotten a glimpse of anything too steamy, but from the knowing smile Reia had graced us with when she had seen our faces, I assumed the little vixen knew exactly what she had interrupted.
In hindsight, I couldn’t say that I was overly miffed. Somehow the girls had decided that we had earned a little treat and they had played the roles of maids surprisingly well, washing our backs, combing our hair, they would even have taken care of our tails but that was a line I wasn’t willing to cross. I had already gotten used to touching other people with mine, but I wasn’t going to allow anyone but Ahri to caress them. Maybe I was a prude, but that just felt a touch too intimate.
As it was, I was resting on my stomach, eyes closed, while my fiancée did her best to get the accumulated knots of a few weeks without decent care out of my fur and the sweet chatter of our chaperones flowed over me. They were having fun in the water, Layla showing off the different magical trinkets that had been included to change the temperature and scent of the myriad of faucets that were used to fill the basins. Not that we actually needed them. Ahri had gotten the knack of regulating her body temperature a few days ago and she could easily heat up the water to our liking, but the decadent luxury of working taps was still very welcome.
While I relaxed under he tender care, I allowed the last few hours to pass before my inner eye, a stretch of bustling activity that had drained me to my core. There had been so much to do… truth be told, there still was, but at least the most pressing matters had been dealt with. I still had to break the serpent out of its crystalline tomb and I hadn’t gotten around to do anything about my spear, but these would still be there tomorrow. In contrast to our resident demon, I thought and buried my face in my arms, covering my fluffy ears to shut out the giggling trio behind us.
Sarai, of course, hadn’t been able to use her connection to Aurelia to reach us, Amazeroth’s wards couldn’t be tricked that easily. She had tried and compared the sensation to slamming her head straight into a solid steel wall. It had taken us a while to even get to that point, squabbling pointlessly about how we could best use our resources or rather, the quick burst of transcendent energy she had been able to provide.
In the end, she had kept her link to Aurelia open, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to communicate in the future and if I wanted to get her here, we’d still have to figure out a way for her to overcome the barriers Amazeroth had erected. Ultimately, we had only postponed the problem, not solved it. Still, it was probably going to take her over a year to get here and a lot could change in that time. Mephisto might even be up and kicking by then and with an immortal this side of the wards, I felt decently confident that we’d find a way. Unless she was caught beforehand. In that case… we’d probably be screwed, to put it mildly.
Aurelia had lost consciousness again after Sarai had withdrawn and pumped Mephisto chock full of transcendent powers. And that had been when the hustle had begun. At first, he had ordered us around like a bunch of minions, delegating the mundane tasks while he had sat there, conjuring memory crystals from thin air, one after the other. Once he had been satisfied he had turned his attention on Isis’ statuette and from there on out, it had been one chain of commands after the other. “Cassy, could you get me another chest, go, hurry over to the dwarfs and ask for the armour they’ve been working on for you and some spare mithril, I need more ink, could you fetch some, run and fetch the emblem so I can lay the groundwork for the repairs, bring me the entombed snake, oh, you’ve got a minute, here, memorise the instructions for your stamp I’ve written out, get me a pint of blood from Aurelia so I can better manipulate Sarai’s energy…”
There had been no end to his requests and somehow I had been the only one he had deemed qualified… or stupid enough to cater to his whims. I also had an inkling feeling that my so called friends had enjoyed watching me rush back and forth with the sweat of my brow. Admittedly, Ahri and the kids had helped out from time to time, but still… fighting monsters was a breeze compared to the duties of a maid. And for the whole afternoon, I had felt like one. One who had the dubious displeasure of watching the mountain of her chores grow by the minute.
“Once I’m under, use these crystals,” he had pointed at a veritable hill of glowing gems, “and memorise them. When I’m back I expect the both of you to be proficient enough in your mana manipulation to execute each and every spell form described in there.” At least that part had wiped the smirk cleanly off Ahri’s face, even though I had a nagging suspicions that she had exaggerated how difficult it’d be for her. As far as I was aware, she was already pretty well versed in regards to magic and had most likely groaned along with me to make sure she wouldn’t be handed any additional work.
When his time had finally run out, I had almost been happy to see him go, even though I very much realised what it’d mean for us in the long run to have to make do without his support and knowledge. Incidentally, when he had finally used up every last drop of energy he had been able to spare, it had almost been time for Alassara to pick us up. Which had led to the next hour of frantic activity. At least packing hadn’t been a chore. Mephisto had managed to create a new stamp for Ahri and had even improved my own. Within a few minutes we had scraped everything clean and had prepared for our exodus. A tad dramatic but I had truly felt like Moses ushering his people away from the cruelty of the pharaoh. At least I had been as exhausted as the poor fellow when he had finally made it through the Red Sea.
I hummed with satisfaction when Ahri’s divine fingers neared the root of my tails and went on to massage my lower back, kneading the tension from sore muscles. I could have done so with a burst of energy as well, but this way felt much more stimulating and I wasn’t shy about squeezing small advantages from all the work I had put in today.
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“What do I have to do to get a treatment like this every day,” I mumbled drowsily.
“Make time for it,” she replied. A second later I felt her silky mane tickle my bare back when she squeezed my butt and leaned down to add in a whisper, the scent of lavender and roses replaced by pine tress: “and if you manage to get rid of the audience, there’ll be so much more I can do to… make you relax.” I was glad I was lying face down otherwise my blush would have illuminated the whole bath. Never the less, I wasn’t going to take her teasing demurely.
“Should I throw them out?” Her hesitation was satisfying all on its on.
“No, we still got the whole night ahead of us, don’t we?”
“I wish,” I replied wistfully. “Alassara wants to have a late dinner. All of us together. That’s probably going to drag on long into the night and we still have to wait for Xorlosh’s return. Most of the dwarfs will stay on their ship and begin with the repairs. He’ll come back with his kin and the quartermaster in an hour or two. But afterwards… I’m quiet glad neither of us needs that much sleep.” She didn’t stop her movements and I was gradually getting hot and bothered, my body reacting to her touch.
“Hmm… why did you want Krack here, anyway? We don’t need to borrow any more gold, do we? Or is there something else you can’t get on the markets?”
“I…,” I had trouble concentrating and pushed against her hands. “If you want a coherent answer, you’ll have to refrain from teasing my tails. Right, uh, no, actually I want to return what we owe them and then… I still haven’t found out what happened to that damned rope. You know, the one we used to get into the tomb. Not that it matters overly much, but it’s probably the last chance I’ll get to ask. Plus… we’ll have to pay them quite the hefty sum to finish both your armour and mine within the few days they’ll stay here and I don’t intend to lug an ungodly amount of gold around this city. I’m convinced they’ll offer to do it for free, but I’m not keen on exploiting them.”
Her fingers stayed within bounds but she never ceased caressing my skin and fur. “Exploiting? I’m sure you’re the only one who sees it that way. But since we’ve got the money now… which reminds me, would you like to spend tomorrow in the city with me? Just the two of us? Maybe we could even spend the night in a tavern. Away from the ruckus.” I nimbly slipped out of her grasp and turned around to place a kiss on her lips.
“Definitely. There are a couple of things I’d like to do beforehand but it shouldn’t take longer than an hour or two and afterwards I’m all yours, love.” She tried to pout but couldn’t quite suppress her smile.
“Let me guess, you still want to free the snake. Can’t that wait?”
“Probably, but I already feel guilty for putting it off, time and again. And I also want to hand over the artefacts form Viyara’s hoard to those who actually need them.” I kissed her again.
“Since I’ve got everything I need right here, it’s about time I start taking care of my people.”
She cocked an eyebrow and asked: “and what have we been doing for the last few weeks?”
“Protection isn’t the same as care. Without us… maybe I’m overreacting but I want to use the week we’ve got left to make sure they’ll be fine when they reach Arthur, whatever happens.”
“Do you honestly mistrust your brother? I know you never really forgave him for running away but he really is a good person. He’ll protect… take care of them. And your mother and Mordred will be there to make sure he won’t alienate them from you or the rest of your family. Cassy… they’re kids, don’t burden them more than we have to. Let them live for a while.”
“Or you could actually ask us what we want, once in a while,” Reia chimed in. The girl was sitting with her back to us and watched Layla and Estrella play, but I had been much to occupied with the beautiful woman in my arms to realise she had come this close. I could have reached her with my tails.
“If we asked you, you’d want to stay with your sister anyways, am I right,” Ahri replied.
“I would, but I’ve already figured out that’s not an option. Look, do you remember our deal?” We both nodded slowly and I had to admit I was curious where she was going with this.
“You want me to leave without a fuss, right? So… you owe me an answer.”
“Ask away,” I said and slowly got up to grab a towel. “But this time, you better stick to what you’re going to promise. No more excuses.” I wrapped her up in it and hugged her tightly, ignoring her protest. Ahri and I wouldn’t catch a cold, no matter how long we remained outside the water but with her wet hair and the lack of proper heating, she might not be that lucky.
“I… what do I have to learn that you’ll allow me to come with you in the future,” she finally asked breathlessly after she had accepted that she wouldn’t be able to worm her way out of my embrace. I looked at Ahri, who quickly hid her blossoming smile.
“That’s all yours, hon,” she whispered in my ear. “I’m not going to get involved in your family quarrels.”
“Coward,” I mouthed, before I focused on Reia again, lost in thought. Did I even want her with us at all? Truth be told, as stupid as it was, I did. But I had to be sure that she’d be able to fend for herself or at least run and hide effectively. Her magic, if developed fully, should be enough, but there wasn’t a certain spell or something similar I could pin it on. Huh, maybe there was…
“Well,” I slowly answered, still wrestling with my thoughts, “if you can control your innate magic, the magic you stumbled upon with Estrella’s help, it’ll be enough. So, basically, as soon as you can transform your body at will, you’re welcome to tag along. No cheating, though. No amulets, elixirs or complicated spell forms. Access the power within you and once you’re in control, I won’t deny you anymore. I don’t care how long it takes, but that’s my condition.” Her head bobbed up and down, her hair tickling my chin.
“Figures,” she mumbled under her breath before she continued in her normal voice: “there’s no point in complaining that even our brother can’t, is there?” I shook my head.
“No, none at all. Look, this condition isn’t so much about what you can actually accomplish but rather how long it’ll take you. I know how much it sucks to here a platitude like that but… you’re still young. Admittedly, you’ve proven you’re mettle more than once, but… let me ask you this, if I were in danger and I ordered you to run and leave me behind, would you do it?”
“There’s no point in lying, you already know I wouldn’t. Neither you, nor Helena nor one of them,” she added and jerked her head towards the two girls who were still obliviously splashing around the largest pool. “No matter what.” I hugged her more tightly and whispered.
“And that’s exactly it. I…gods, you’re like me in that regard. Just ask my fiancee how reliable I truly am when it comes down to it.” Ahri didn’t need more of an incentive and voluntarily elaborated:
“She’s a gods damned nuisance. If we weren’t so hard pressed when it comes to power, I’d tie her down and make her sit out most of our fights. Unfortunately I can’t, like I’m literally unable to. She’s just too strong. You don’t have that advantage. Don’t look at me like that,” she admonished Reia, “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I fell in love with her, didn’t I, and that’s one of the reasons. It just makes the both of you… erratic and a pain in the ass. Usually you simply go ahead and do what you want, whatever anyone tells you. You and her, both. And most of the time, it’s for a good, maybe even noble reason, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m spending most of my waking moments worrying about her. And you know what Cassy can do if she puts her mind to it. It’d take more than you can imagine to stop her from coming back to me.”
“And since I’m not that strong, you’d probably have to run after me every time I’m following my whims instead of doing what’s necessary,” Reia replied morosely. “And I’d either have to make up for it some other way or you’d have to be sure that I won’t become a danger to you or myself. I think I understand. Do you… do you want me to change?”