Chapter Forty Eight

Garnedell flitted through the city streets with Kilniara and Zilnek, sublime joy suffusing him. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good night out! Garnedell smiled as he glanced at Zilnek and Kilniara, satisfaction undergirding the peace he had at the moment.

The moment passed and he quickly came back to himself, catching back on to the conversation, which proved simple enough as Zilnek’s slow responses allowed Garnedell to easily catch up and keep ahead of the conversation.

“It’s been so long since we ate at Mama Jillson! It was so good!”

Zilnek took some time to respond, but quickly agreed when he could respond, “So good. I feel so happy right now… and stuffed!”

Kilniara nodded then turned to Garnedell, “Yeah, so delicious. How about you, Garnedell? What do you think about Mama Jillson’s food?”

Garnedell nodded, “It was really delicious. I would love to go again.”

Both waited for a moment to allow Zilnek to catch up and he replied, “It was our favorite when we were our kids.”

Garendell nodded but did not reply before suddenly widening his eyes, “Maybe we should invite Master to eat at Mama Jillson!”

Kilniara began barely hopping and nodding in excited agreement, “We should! We really should! I think he would really enjoy it!”

She looked to Zilnek and waited impatiently for him to respond, and when he did, it was with as much excitement as his sister, “Do you think so? It would be amazing if he would!”

Garnedell response was more muted, “Master seems to enjoy food as much as any!”

Kilniara nodded as well and the three wandered down the street for a while before Kilniara questioned their next destination, “What do you want to do next?”

Garnedell shrugged his shoulders instantly, unsure of what to do next, “Not sure.” He almost continued but restrained himself as he knew he needed to wait for Zilnek.

Zilnek smiled slyly when he did respond, “Don’t worry! I know what to do next. You’ll see!”

Garnedell grinned in response, eagerly following after. The cut through the streets with purpose, soon heading to a part of the town Garnedell had never seen before, and soon found himself looking around wide eyed as beautiful men and women of all races glided enticingly along the sides of the street, calling out to the various passersby.

Garnedell looked at Zilnek with some surprise but he responded quickly, calming him, “Don’t worry! I’ve got a good place!”

Kilniara called out a bit more timidly at that point, “Zilnek. I do not… should we be doing this with Master’s coin?”

Garnedell flinched at that, worrying a bit and looking to Zilnek patiently to see his response, “Master told us to enjoy ourselves, and never said what we could or could not spend his coin on. He said we could use it all.”

Kilniara nodded in agreement at that point, but still seemed distinctly uncomfortable and when the three arrived at their destination, she proved unwilling to enter.

“Don’t worry, sister! I made sure to choose a place that also will satisfy you! There are many handsome men!”

She shook her head rapidly, a blush on her cheek but Zilnek didn’t allow it to stand.

“Kilniara! You do not need to worry anymore. Live your life free! You will be an adventurer. We all will be! We do not need to concern ourselves with this anymore. Come! Enjoy yourself.”

Garnedell nodded in excited agreement, “Yeah! I think its fine! Your path is no longer limited. None of ours is!”

Kilniara glanced back and forth between the two but ultimately rejected both, “I’m sorry. I … I don’t wish for this.”

The two then nodded, shrugging, “Well, it is your choice. What are you going to do?”

Zilnek added to Garnedell’s question after hearing it, “And where do you want to meet?’

Kilniara quickly shook her head and took a step back, “I’m sorry. I’ll just head back to the inn with Master.”

Garnedell nodded, and waited for Zilnek’s response before turning to head into the brothel, nervous excitement flickering through his limbs. He’d made it about half way before he turned to find the two siblings in a whispered conversation with Zilnek looking quite excited. He waited patiently until Garnedell returned and turned with him to enter.

“What were you talking about?”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Zilnek didn’t respond until they were ushered through the door by two beautiful creatures, one male elf and one female beast kin, “Oh… nothing. Just some quick family affair.”

Garnedell nodded but soon forgot the conversation as his eyes adjusted to the light and took in the room, and those within it, a large smile quickly conquering his face.

* * *

Kilniara wandered distractedly, mind wandering wildly as she returned to the inn. When she’d spoken to her brother about returning, he’d praised her wisdom and cunning, offering tips and advice in seducing men and promising to keep Garnedell out for almost the entire night, allowing the two to enjoy each others' company while also giving time to Kilniara and Master to bond.

While she was grateful for the chance, she was still so uncertain and nervous that she feared accomplishing anything meaningful. She was still uncertain if he was interested in her, let alone anyone not base, as he was a base himself. She would have been certain only weeks ago that she would have only considered Acokzau herself, but having interacted with him over these last few days, and having seen his… Don’t… stop thinking about that! Kilniara blushed and turned her head away before breathing deeply and looking around.

She’d found her way back to the inn easily enough and found the energy of the evening out long drained from her and left with sad indifference. She looked around the common room and found it empty, Master and Kukurnal finished with their scholarly discussions. After climbing the stairs, she stopped before the door to the room and took a moment to prepare herself, stretching and focusing.

Taking a deep breath and hiding her trepidation, she unlocked the door but found herself uncertain, holding herself back from entering. But as she stood there, she heard a call come from inside the room.

“Hello? Who is it? Everyone back?”

Hearing his call, she knew she could not leave master waiting so quickly entered, “It’s…” Kilniara stuttered to a halt when Master’s next question crowded the first. Kilniara thought quickly, struggling to know what she should say first, and opted for answering the second question first and quickly since he seemed so insistent to ask it, not even waiting for an answer to the first, “Only I’m back. Garnedell and Zilnek are still not returned.”

“Oh… hey, Kilniara,” Joe replied when she walked into the room.

Kilniara found him already in bed, the lamps and candles out. She hid her face slightly, her eyes still easily able to see him despite the dark, so she turned to the door to close and lock it.

She took another moment, breathing deeply, before turning to face Master once more, but she was surprised to find him sitting up, looking around with some concern, although he was still quite sleepy. That… how is … even Garnedell… humans are so cute when they’re sleepy!

Kilniara quickly came to again, realizing that Master had spoken, “I’m… I’m so sorry, Master. I … I …”

Master quickly interrupted, “What’s wrong?! Where’s Garnedell and Zilnek? Is everything OK?”

Master sat up quickly, jumping out of the bed and coming to her quickly and Kilniara flicked her gaze away, turning her head only slightly as her mind blanked once again since Master came to her wearing very little. Nothing was covering his chest or legs, only some form of strangely made underwear of some kind which only covered from his waist to his thighs. Kilniara covered a few coughs by clearing her throat and finally pulled her eyes back to him, firmly locking her gaze on his eyes.

“They are fine. Master does not need to worry.”

“They are? Are you sure? Where are they?”

“Garnedell and Zilnek chose to go to a brothel, Master,” Kilniara found the topic and Master’s lack of dress too much to handle and she felt her face quickly flush in embarrassment, her scales quickly flaring on her cheeks and her scale muscles became sore as they flared so strongly, the heat radiating through her scales.

Joe stopped and took a step back, head cocking to the side as quickly came to a stop, “Uh… are you OK? You’re kind of glowing… very faintly, but definitely glowing. Is that normal?”

“Ah… it,” Kilniara trailed off, her embarrassment only growing.

Joe quickly took a step forward and laid a hand on her cheek, “You’re really glowing now, even more. Are you OK? You feel a bit warm! Are you sick?”

Kilniara quivered in place as she froze from Joe’s hand on her cheek.

“Kilniara! What’s wrong?!” Joe quickly brought his other hand up on her opposite shoulder as his hand on her cheek also dropped to the other shoulder, the deep warmth of his hand leaving her cheek feeling cold in the night air. So warm!

“Ah! Master… um… I’m OK. This is normal.”

“Really? You aren’t sick?”

“Truly. I am not ill.”

“Oh. OK. I was just worried. I’ve just never seen you or your brother glow before. Mind if you tell me? I would really like to know what tha…”

Kilniara quickly shook her head and dropped her gaze, her eyes falling on his chest, then finding her gaze trapped there, eyes tracing the strange chest, it’s incredibly large bulk, and the hard planes that seemed to shape their way down his entire torso. For a lack of scales, he strangely seems to be made of stone. How can flesh be so hard?

Kilniara found her hand resting on his chest, tracing the planes of his chest muscles before dropping to his stomach, pressing firmly against the flesh that seemed unwilling to yield to her hand. Kilniara heard Master speak, and he shuffled under her attention, stepping back but she stepped forward to maintain contact, fascinated by his torso. How can flesh, such soft and weak flesh, be so hard, like stone? Why is his body so hard for a base human? Are not base humans always so soft and their flesh able to…

Joe stepped back once more and spoke a bit more sharply, her name called through her mind’s haze, “Kilniara!? Are you OK? What’s going on?”

Kilniara came to herself, seeing her hand on his chest, somehow, then looked up at Master with deep embarrassment, her scale muscles straining harder than she’d ever felt before, subtle pain washing throughout her whole surface as ever scale flared, her skin feeling like she had a full body cramp on her skin. Rapidly backing away, and turning slightly, she stuttered, unable to respond at all.

“Are you OK? You’re glowing even redder! Your whole… all your skin seems to be glowing!”

“Ah… Master… it’s,” she stuttered to a stop once again, but found herself tensing when she felt him come forward.

“It’s OK. Just… tell me what’s going on? If it’s bad or if we need a doctor, I’ll take you now… Or… well, maybe a healer would be better. Please, let me help you.”

“There’s nothing wrong, Master.”

“Really? Because it doesn’t seem like… this is normal. You don’t act like this. Are you drunk? Is this how Acokzau become drunk? Or maybe…”

Kilniara had an epiphany in that moment, and realized that Master did not understand Acokzau or how they showed embarrassment, so she screwed up her courage and explained.

“Master, it is just … this is how Acokzau show embarrassment.”

“Really? That… I thought Acokzau were cold blooded.”

Kilniara felt herself grow cold under the insult, but kept her thoughts hidden, responding in caution politely, “I do not believe Acokzau are any less caring than others, Master.”