"Mind if I tag along? Looks like we are headed in the same direction"
a middle aged man of about 30 years kept pace with the group much to Casper’s personal dismay. "It'll just be for a couple of days till my village. I don't mean to give you any trouble. Just not safe to travel alone, you know?" He stated sheepishly.
The man had joined them only an hour into their journey after breaking camp that morning, coming from the direction of the woods and with far too much familiarity approached Casper’s group.
"Then why were you traveling alone to begin with?" Casper asked, raising an eyebrow. It seemed that both Annabelle and Elisayra picked up on this as well, giving slight nods to show they were thinking the same thing.
"Ah. About that, I was actually traveling with a few others but I had gotten separated from the group and lost. I found my way back to the main road, and I was gone long enough that it's likely my friends had already returned home"
"What were you all out doing?" Annabelle asked, clearly weary of the man.
"we had heard there was a bounty placed on a hunter in the area, we were going out to kill it together but we couldn't find a trace. Likely just a myth then, or an animal that ended up spooking someone."
"A hunter huh…" Casper thought. They were rather fearsome beasts by most measures. Their power Is derived from a very similar source as the mark he bares and and such it's attacks bypass any durability granted by it he had painfully realized only recently, and damped the effect of the mark. He would in essence have to use double the power in order to achieve the same effect of his abilities against a more natural monster. And even while enhanced, they are dangerously quick, and each one is a little different than the last.
You would think that would make them hard to identify but quite the opposite. Most every monster has been recorded into a bestiary somewhere. Making any new monster that happened to be pitch black and strange looking very likely a Hunter.
"A hunter…shit. That wouldn't be good" Casper said mostly to himself, but his voice carried on the wind.
"We didn't see one. Or any sign of one even. Like I said it was probably just a normal animal that spooked someone and started the rumor"
Annabelle looked over to Casper, clearly either not buying it or trying to communicate the fact that something felt off about this man and his story, a sentiment which Casper also held. He offered a curt nod to reassure Annabelle that they were on the same page.
"Well, we are going to be walking for a while, and I'm sorry but I don't plan on stopping, if you can keep up you can travel with us till you get tired I suppose"
A perfectly reasonable compromise Casper figured, given that this man had likely already been walking for some time and his group only recently started their journey, and the fact that they were all on horseback would mean this man would tire out rather quickly and they could be on their way.
With that, the group Continued onward, well into the night, and to the surprise of Casper, the man had kept up. Sure the horses were going at a leisurely pace so as to not tire them out, but Casper had figured they likely traveled nearly 25 miles already, between a few short breaks, the man kept mostly to himself and didn't say much as the group talked about nothing in particular.
Still, this man was bothering Casper in a way he couldn't particularly describe, so Casper decided to continue his pace for another full mile in hopes that the man would be too tired to continue, but in turn the horses began to protest the march. Resigning with a sigh. Casper called for everyone to begin to unpack and find a place near the roads edge to camp
Annabelle approached Casper as he began the process of removing his saddle bags, and spoke in a low whisper "I don't like this… I believe we should do something about this man to ensure he doesn't camp with us."
Casper nodded, agreeing with the sentiment but finding a difficult time coming up with an excuse. "I'll think of something…"
Camp was set up relatively quickly, and a fire was made at its center. Nephinae began to unpack the supplies to produce some food for everyone.
"We don't have enough for you I'm afraid, sorry" Casper said as the man settled down close to the fire with them all.
"No worries, I have some field rations on me" he reassured the group. He brushed down the scraggly beginnings of his beard as he opened his own pack and pulled out some army rations. A strange thing to have, especially if you aren't with the army
"Field rations? I thought you had said you were out with some friends looking for a hunter, and you don't look in uniform" Annabelle started. Clearly trying to initiate a push for him to leave sooner rather than later.
"Ah, yea, I actually rather quite like them. I gamble with some of the soldiers stationed in the fort my town surrounds, they get paid a modest sum but prefer using rations to bet. I'm quite the proficient gambler you see"
Great, a suspicious man who is also a gambler. Surely the cream of the crop was in their midst.
Annabelle huffed out a breath of disappointment that her attempt at stirring something up failed.
"What games do you play?" Elisayra asks, a sly grin just slightly appearing at the edge of her mouth.
"A little of everything. Though I'm partial to 4-card ante and queens river"
"Oh I love Queens river! Would you like to play a hand?" Elisayra asks with quite a bit of enthusiasm
Casper didn't like the sound of this. gambling away the money they had just made didn't seem like a good idea, and with the number of red flags this man had permanently stitched into every word he spoke was surely enough to give even the biggest of fools pause, the notion of gambling with him was surely a losing game. However, the look on Elisayra's face appeared to Casper that she knew all of this and was willing to do it anyway, meaning she had some sort of trick up her sleeve. He hoped
"I'd love a game" the man smiled back, moving his rations to the side and pulling up a large flat stone to play on.
Elisayra moved closer to sit across the man as the cards were shuffled several times, split by Elisayra, and then dealt face down in front of them.
Casper was unfamiliar with the game, though given the set up the name likely came from the row of face down cards in the center, looking like a river, with both players having a set amount of cards in their hand, each one removing a face down card from the river and adding it to their hand, while placing new cards into the river in a strange back and forth that looked an awful lot like a game of strategy more than a game of chance.
Several more cards were flipped, and looking at the now overturned River and collection of cards in each player's hand it seems to also be some manner of matching game. Wherein Elisayra had won, based on the happily frustrated face of the man.
"You're good, play another hand?" The man offered, setting down 5 silver marks.
Now that real money was involved, Casper was much more invested, and anxious about what was to come. Casper told himself that he would cut the game off if any more than 5 gold marks were exchanged, or if he saw something he didn’t like.
"Sounds fun!" Elisayra placed her bet on the stone. Before realizing what she had done and looked over to Casper with a look of resolve and some manner of pleading expression. "I'm sorry. This is your money, I shouldn't be playing it…"
"Its alright. So long as you don't lose it, if you lose any more than 5 gold marks ill feed you to some dogs or something" he said dismissively.
***
Elisayra's face went pale, as the realization set in that Casper was after all, more or less her owner. He has been very pleasant and passive these past few days of travel, but she saw what he could do and the realization of who she was talking to set in like a cold sweat…
Panic. Elisayra looked down at her hand and the face down river cards as a cold sweat began to build over her body.
This was bad… Casper would be well within his rights to feed her to a Pack of wild animals if she became an active detriment to him. She had been so caught up in her self made fantasies of being ravaged by him, being taken, that she had failed to recognize that Casper was in fact surrounded by many attractive women, all of whom were human and one in fact a gorgeous full elf, why in the gods earth would he ever dirty himself with her, if he even saw her that way at all.
Now her life was on the line in this game because she was too foolish and excited and jumped into a situation she knew nothing about. This was bad, really bad.
Catching her breath, Elisayra looks over her hand. Off to a good start but not a win. The goal of the Queens River is to gather a hand of cards who's pattern value is higher than that of the opponents. Such as 2 of a kind, 3 of a kind, an ascent which was cards in ascending order and colors which were cards who's colors all matched. New cards could be pulled from the river, and replaced by one in your own hand. Making it possible to draw an even better card for yourself, while risking giving your opponent a card they need. Once a card has been taken twice from its position, such that the original card is gone, replaced by one player, and then replaced again, the next time that card is taken, the replacement is placed face upright in the river. This happens until all of the cards in the river are faced upwards. At this Point each player shows their hand. Whoever has the better hand wins, however, if the river beats the player who had won the hand, instead the hand is lost, making the loser, the winner.
This element makes the game of strategy. As it's a balancing act between trying to assemble a good hand for yourself, or, if you believe a player is feeding the river good or bad card, as such a viable strategy is not to build a good hand for yourself. But to have the worse hand, and ensure the river beats the player.
Elisayra's hand was good, and in the last game the man's hand was also very good. It appears they both were going for the strategy of beating one another directly, brute force, a viable strategy to determine the quality of your opponent. This time however Elisayra would play for the worse hand. Given that his hand is already very good, all she has to do is feed cards to the river so that the man loses on the turn.
After a few exchanges and the cards were revealed, both Elisayra and the man flipped their cards over, and to Elisayra's satisfaction she had succeeded. While she lost the hand, the river had beaten the man, thus making her the winner of that round.
“Another good game” The man smiled through his beard, shoving the coins over to Elisayra’s side of the stone “table”.
“How about one more? 5 gold marks or he will feed you to the dogs right?" The man chuckled, and Elisayra went a little rigid. "I think I'm done…thanks for the games" she tried to offer a smile
"Come on, last game, 5 gold marks" he teased. Elisayra, anxious to be done with the game now sat petrified with fear as she heard Casper speak.
"Do it" Casper said, moving close to the table to watch them, to watch her.
His tone was cold…uncaring… no, it's different then that. Elisayra dared to steal a look over in Casper’s direction, and regretted it instantly as terror took through her body.
His eyes were cold, calculating…they are the incarnation of ice, manifest in human form. This must be a punishment then. It must be, she thought. The aching realization of her early failure hit her like the fall from a 2nd story balcony.
This is her punishment. For the brazen disregard for her position in his camp. She made the foolish mistake of gambling her masters money, without even a thought. This slight had cost her and Casper was letting her know. This is a situation she had gotten herself into due to her hubris, and her silly daydreams. Now Casper was testing her. Testing if she really was a liability. If she couldn't succeed in this then she was as good as dog meat, she would be torn limb from limb for his amusement.
Casper was terrifying. She almost began to cry but fought back the tears. She needed to pee but couldn't dare ask to leave. This was the equivalent of digging her own grave. She had won both hands, but there was no telling if she was good enough to win the third. Win the last hand, to save her own life.
Clenching her jaw, she nodded. The hand was dealt, and as she looked over her cards the ache in her stomach made her want to vomit. A dead man's hand, neither good nor bad, a mathematically average hand that did not lend itself well to either strategy available to her. Elisayra wanted nothing more than to lay down and cry. To be given a swift and painless death. She didn't want to be torn apart by dogs.
Her breathing became ragged as she played her hand. And with each subsequent card pull she sunk deeper and deeper into despair as no strategy showed its way through. As the river began to turn over and her hand was unable to improve, she couldn't help the tears from beginning to escape her eyes and roll down her cheeks.
The man revealed his hand, a good one.
Elisayra sat there, shaking ever so slightly as she let the cards fall to the table, the stream of tears down her face unable to stop as the man smiled wide and gathered the 5 gold marks for himself.
"I'm sorry…" Elisayra barely managed to let the words escape her mouth in a hoarse, pained whisper.
In a flash of movement Casper’s fist closed the distance and made contact, sending both the body and the cards flying. Elisayra let out a pained yelp and a cry as she covered her head and fell to the ground from the sudden movement.
***
Casper stood over the man, holding several cards, many of which being exact duplicates from those the strange man had in his winning hand.
Sprawled out now on the dirt. The man rubbed at his quickly swelling face and split lip. A collection of other cards fell from his pockets and spilled into the dirt. Copies.
"Come into my camp, and cheat my people out of my money?" Casper said, gritting his teeth. "Empty your pockets and get the hell out of here" he grumbled, giving the man a swift kick in the ass as he scrambled his way up and out into the night without so much as a word in his own defense.
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Casper didn't think he would react that way. But Elisayra seemed incredibly distraught at the idea of losing that Casper couldn't help himself. He had a feeling that the gambler would cheat. Rather it was safer to say he knew from the very beginning. The man might as well have had it tattooed on his forehead. However, Casper wanted to make sure, and it was the perfect excuse to get him the hell out of the camp. so he pressure Elisayra into that last game. He caught him cheating almost instantly. But needed to wait and see if he was actually going to take the money before delivering some swift and convenient justice.
Elisayra seemed to take it really hard. She was crying alot and for some reason, that sight alone upset Casper a bit, so he got a little carried away with the dramatic flair in hopes that seeing the man who had upset Elisayra get punched in the face would have been a satisfying conclusion to the night. Instead, it had Elisayra on the ground in the fetal position. Sobbing.
"Hey…" Casper, concerned, bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder, "it's alright…" sniffing the air a bit and wincing at the scent, Casper looked down at the dark stain of fresh urine that had run down Elisayra's leg and began to pool into the dirt.
Casper. Uncertain of what to do, was unable to say anything in the way of comfort as he had no idea why this event had upset her so deeply. It wasn't until Elisayra was able to speak out…
"Please don’t feed me to the dogs…" she moaned in a desperate, horrible whimper
It was then Casper realized what had just happened.
Casper had gotten perhaps a little too comfortable in the company of these women, and in doing so had forgotten the power dynamic at play between them all. A power dynamic both inherently ingrained in the psyche of these women, due to cultural norms, and a power dynamic created in the circumstances of their meetings.
Looking down at the state of Elisayra, cowering in abject horror, saturated in tears and her own urine, he realized that his playful comment about feeding her to some dogs was taken literally. It's very likely then that Elisayra was hoping to prove her usefulness, and was worried about being punished as she is likely very used to that course of action. That one stray comment had plunged her into the depths of despair, and she was likely thinking Casper is going to commit some truly heinous act.
Thinking hard about how to rectify this misunderstanding, Casper took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and spoke softly to Elisayra…
***
Elisayra was ready for anything that Casper would throw at her. She risked a glance at the others, all of them looking at her, their faces a mask. They likely understood the situation the same as her. The time she had spent with them was nice, but of course they didn't see her as human, as one of them. They would be resigning themselves to the fact that she is bound to die and were surely making peace with it. That was, if they even did care about scum like her.
Elisayra was ready for anything that Casper would do to her, or so she thought. Instead, having his hard rested gently on her back, she listened to the cool measure of his breath, and listened, with a crawling sensation of dread as he spoke
“You did nothing wrong, it was my fault. I'm sorry” his tone was cold, level, and terrifying. She was anticipating an outburst, to be beat, her hair pulled, dragged through the mud. So as he spoke softly she cried harder, as it was evident that he would not be acting out in anger, and instead be acting out in calculated malice, a much more terrifying reality.
“Get yourself changed.” he said softly, “you can ask one of the others for help if you'd like…wash up” he lifted his hand from her back and stood, offering her a hand.
A million thoughts ran through Elisayra's head at that moment. Taking his hand and being helped to her feet, embarrassed at the saturated stain on her pants and running down her leg, she nodded softly and looked around to the others.
The first thought was that he very likely changed his mind about feeding her to the dogs. Based on his words, it would appear he wanted her… he had asked her to clean herself off, and to get one of the other girls to join her, he would have wanted to take her then, with one other.
Relief washed over her then, though not entirely. It was possible that Casper would be awful to her in bed, abusive, ravage her, take her without any consideration for her feelings, no, surely he wouldn’t consider her feelings if this was to be her punishment. She hated herself for finding the thought arousing, and in this moment grateful that her preferences would allow her to take pleasure in punishment.
Elisayra looked around at the others, sniffling. She needed to find some that would satisfy Casper, but not satisfy him too much. It's possible that if whoever she chose was more competent in bed than she was, she would be cast to the side, or worse, punished in a different way.
With that impenetrable, perfect logic in mind then of course she couldn’t possibly pick Annabelle. The way Casper had been looking at her, her bust more specifically, it would put her to shame, they already seem close and it's likely Annabelle would receive a majority of the attention.
Elisayra shook herself, shouldn’t she be picking someone who would get more attention? To be used and abused would be awful…and also hot. No. yes. she shook herself more to try and settle the swirling mass of ideas in her brain.
Elisayra had always been odd, in the sense that - despite everything she had been through, all of the torment and torture, the degradation, the manhandling. She enjoyed it. She was embarrassed to admit it even to herself. Not all the time of course, but when the actions were performed by someone she thought was attractive. She wasn't turned on by being beat by some angry old man or being dragged around by a middle aged woman. But the thought of Casper, pinning her down with no regard for her, breaking her, taking her. It filled her with a shivering pleasure, and disgust at her own nature.
That being the case then, she should pick someone that Casper would likely be less interested in. Both to save whoever she chose from his inevitable wrath, but more importantly to make herself the target of his punishment. She doubted any of the others shared her shameful infatuation with pleasure from pain.
All of that in her mind. Elisayra settled on Alex. Her now boyish appearance would likely be a turn off to Casper, who seemingly enjoyed Annabelle's well endowed form.
Elisayra nodded and spared a glance to Alex, who had removed her formal attire early into the first night in favor of a baggy more undefined clothing. Alex seemed to understand and nodded in return.
“I'm going to help Elisayra get cleaned up” Alex said simply, making her way over to Elisayra as they headed to their tents.
***
Casper sighed once more, confident that he had mastered his tone enough and was explicit in his clarifications as to not cause any further confusion. Confident, and happy that Elisayra had asked Alex for assistance, as Alex seemed more than a little uncomfortable by the events and could likely use a moment to herself, Casper spent a few minutes picking up the camp from the slight scuffle. After ensuring the camp was clean again, Casper stretched every so slightly and looked up to the sky as he sat back down around the campfire.
“That was rather eventful” Annabelle noted, “it seems that today has been full of excitement”
Though it was mostly sarcastic, given the events of their last night in the city, It was however slightly true, Casper considered as he passively counted the stars. “I suppose you’re right. Hopefully we have frontloaded our excitement for the journey and it will be smooth sailing from here to Crimson Harbor.”
“Well now that you have said it, it will be anything but. You should not tempt the fates you know”
Also a true statement. His father had said something similar a while ago, that by speaking into existence your will, the fates will offer nothing short of the opposite.
“You’re right” Casper clapped his hands together in the motion of a prayer. “Forgive me fates” This got a soft glance of amusement from Nephinae, and a laugh from Annabelle
“I feel like that will be more insulting somehow”
Casper frowned, disappointed that his legitimate effort to appease the powers above them all was instead amusing to his gathered companions, and resigned himself to the fact that these next few weeks of travel will unfortunately be eventful.
“Well, I'm off to bed then” Casper spoke with a yawn.
Casper was usually the first to sleep. He had a habit of waking up very early, but this in turn came with the fact that he tired much earlier than everyone else. By now they had mostly gotten into a routine, where Annabelle clears the camp at night, snuffing out the fire and taking first watch. Alex was typically the watch after Annabelle goes to bed, as she had the opposite habit of Casper, of staying up until very late at night and sleeping in. This was an unfortunate habit in terms of travel, as they could only go as far as the light would allow them to see, and having to wait for Alex some mornings was partially a hindrance, though not enough to warrant removing her from the group.
Elisayra would take the watch after, being used to the “graveyard” shift as it were, when the people in the city went to bed and had been asleep for a while, allowing her to sneak about. This made her the optimal position for the latest watch. And then lastly, Nephinae, who surprisingly woke at the same time as Casper every morning, Casper would take the early morning watch while the maid prepared the fire, started cooking, and roused everyone from slumber.
***
Elisayra and Alex made their way to their section of tents in the camp. The camp had been arranged so that Casper's tent was placed optimally for security, its back against the more dense trees and rocky terrain, with a circle surrounding the central camp fire. Annabelle's tent was positioned to the right of Casper’s, with Alex's and Nephinae’s to the left, and Elisayra's placed opposite of Casper’s in the big circle.
The two women came to the back side of the two tents, acting as a barrier to the camp without risk of soiling their sleeping quarters.
“Are you alright?” Alex asked, to Elisayra's summation, with a look of sympathy. Its likely Alex knew what was going to happen and felt bad for her, Elisayra figured
“I will be alright…I can handle it” Elisayra reassured her,
“Here, I have some soap in my pack you can use” Alex smiled softly, letting Elisayra use her shoulders as support in order to strip out of her soiled clothing. A bucket of water was drawn from the stream just a few steps down from their camping position.
Elisayra took the soap and the water, and used it to clean between her legs enough to remove the scent of urine.
“I'm sorry I dragged you into this” Elisayra said, hanging her head, “but I'm sure Casper will be…more gentle with you”
“Hmm?” Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion, gathering some undergarments and positioning herself for Elisayra to use her as support once again.
“He is trying to punish me…I, don't doubt that he will ravage me, but he is not angry with you, he will likely be gentle, so please don't hate me too much for having chosen you”
“I. do not understand,” Alex admitted with a very confused expression.
Elisayra searched Alex’s eyes, trying to see if perhaps this was a test, or if Alex indeed didn't know. Elisayra got into newer clean clothes, some that Casper had bought for her. Suddenly, Elisayra thought…had she done something even worse now? She realized then that Alex seemed to be confused about what was going on here. Guilt wafted over her then as she came to the realization that Alex was ignorant to Casper's desires. She had taken Alex’s nod as some manner of confirmation of understanding but it was clear now this was wrong.
The guilt built in her chest and came out as a sniffle. She didn’t want for Alex to suffer, in the event her ignorance would be seen as insubordination, or some other poor reflection on Elisayra. The fear that she would be dragging an unsuspecting person into this, and her unknowingness in this exchange may result in further punishment for someone undeserving. Elisayra thought, though it would be hard, to explain the circumstances as clearly as possible for Alex.
Sniffling slightly, Elisayra steeled her resolve to explain. “I was a fool…” she started.
She finished getting dressed. Elisayra sat down on her haunches behind the tent, and spoke in a low whisper. The gentle whistle of the night wind did well to mask their conversation, the soft flutter of the tents further masked them as Alex crouched down to match her level and listen to Elisayra’s whispered words.
“I had stolen from Casper back in the city. I thought nothing of it, at first. I needed the money for food and his sword looked like it would fetch a nice price
“It is a nice sword, isn't it” Alex admitted.
“indeed” Elisayra shook her head “but that is beside the point. Casper followed me, I was unaware that he would be so persistent, and I was foolish enough to believe I had lost him. He followed me to the place I was staying with some others. He asked us kindly for his things back, and we thought we could intimidate him away.
“A bad decisions” Alex said solemnly
Elisayra nodded her agreement. “He broke into our hideout and took down everyone. Our leader begged for mercy, she even offered herself for us to be spared. But he asked for me instead”
Alex’s eyes went a little wide. “Casper doesn’t seem the type to accept people as trade…does he?”
Elisayra gently touched the tip of her pointed ears “but half-elves are different, I barely qualify as a person, it's possible he holds other middle races in higher regard perhaps…” she said softly.
“Ah, I've heard of people like that…” Alex admitted.
“He took me back with him. He bought me clothes, he said he had a use for me, that I could be of service to him.” she continued. “It was then my duty to prove I could be useful, half elves like myself are scum, we are below that of the dirt people walk on. It is paramount that I am useful or else I would likely be cast aside. The rage in his eyes as he broke into our hideout was enough for me to tell that if I did not prove useful in some way, i would be punished”
Alex, infatuated with the tale nodded along to the story. Gripping at her own shirt.
“That is why I was there, when we rescued you.”
“This makes sense, to think he owned you, the way he speaks to you I would have thought you were hired help, but no, what you are saying makes sense. This is a common practice for lower races to be traded as commodities even if they are not explicitly sold into slavery”
“Its likely then Casper would feed me to dogs, or torture me in some way should i not prove useful.” Elisayra continued.
“My father was much the same…but do you truly think that Casper is the same?” Alex questioned
“I believe Casper hides it better than most, but what he did today has proven it.”
Elisayra leaned in to whisper more, explaining to Alex Casper’s actions from her perspective, each word leaving her lips landed on Alex as a blush.
As Elisayra explained her perception of the situation, her logic began to poison Alex's. By the end of it, Alex had been entirely convinced of Elisayra’s perfect and flawless logical analysis. Leaving Alex’s face red hot and her breath stuttering
“W-w-w why me then!” she asked, flustered, holding her arms to her body defensively
Elisayra could barely hide the shame “because…you looked rather boyish, and I had hoped that, given Casper's interest in Annabelle, he must like more…well endowed women, and it's likely that he would focus more on me instead of you” Elisayra explains with a blush of her own.
Alex couldn't fault her logic, but also couldn't help but feel a little offended. “But i am not…indebted to Casper…” she began, but quickly trailed off realizing that she in fact was.
She had been rescued along with her maid from what could only be described as her own personal hell, and if that wasn’t deserving of servitude then what was? Annabelle had owed him a life debt after Casper had saved her from a hunter. While Alex’s life wasn’t at risk, it might as well have been.
Taking that into consideration, it could be assumed that Alex did in fact owe Casper…and if this is what he was demanding of her then she very well couldn’t say no….if she was unable to provide it was possible that Casper would dismiss her from the camp, and while she could travel on her own well enough, traveling with Nephinae would be a nigh impossibility, especially with guards after them.
Gulping down, Alex tried to cover her face
Elisayra placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “be strong…. We will be alright, I am the target of his punishment, i am sure that you will be spared”
Alex nodded with no small amount of nervous apprehension.
“We shouldn’t keep him waiting…” Elisayra shivered, half from fear, half from the arousal of the fear.
Together, the two incredibly misguided women worked their way through the mostly empty camp and over to Casper’s tent.
Elisayra’s breath hitched in her throat as her fingers worked their way inside the tent to open it. Slowly, slowly, slowly she worked the flap open and entered inside with Alex close behind.
Alex closed the tent behind them, as looked inside the dark space to the bundle that was Casper, asleep on top of the sheets.
The tent grew hot with the breath from the three bodies, growing musty with the stink of sweat.
“He’s….asleep?” Alex half asked, as she studied Casper's slow moving breaths. “Maybe we are misunderstanding? Surely if he wanted to punish us, he wouldn’t sleep?”
“Unless this is a test…” Elisayra pondered. “It's possible he is trying to see what we will do…if we will run away to try and avoid punishment”
“What will happen if we leave?” Alex asked, the poisoned logic of Elisayra infecting her deeper.
“Something even worse, I'm positive…”
“What do we do then?” Alex asked, her fingers working nervously at the hem of her shirt as her breathing continued to pick up with anticipation.
“If this is a test…then we need to give him what we know he wants” Elisayra said in a low, husky voice, her own breath catching as she lowered herself between Casper's legs her whole body shivering with fear, anticipation, and pure arousal.