Maxine had stayed in her assigned quarters for nearly a week since she came back from her mission, but It wasn't because she was tired or injured. There had been an incident on her return from her mission.
She hadn't realized just how damaged her armor was when she had returned and only noticed it when Commander Brackstone pointed it out. There were enough holes in it that it looked like it was hit with a shotgun blast. Some of the damage was around her breasts, but thankfully, the arachne silk bindings that she used as a bra hadn't been damaged. Otherwise many of her male clanmates would have gotten quite the view.
Still, it bothered her clanmates more than it bothered her. All they saw was a bit a of skin and not even any of the more interesting parts. What was seen caused most of the young men to blush before they quickly looked away since none of them had seen anything more than the faces and hands of girls within the clan. Commander Brackstone made a point to avoid looking at her body altogether and politely told her about the state of her gear. Maxine acted as if it was extremely embarrassing when she was not by showing a shocked expression and cloaking herself in shadow essence before fleeing to her quarters. It would have struck them as odd if she hadn't. Thankfully, she managed to give her report on the mission before that happened.
On the plus side, she made Nina Cervantes tell her why she was acting like a stalker. Apparently it was to get safer duties by making it seem as if she was Maxine's lover. Maxine just wished Nina had told her about wanting to avoid combat instead of creeping her. Maxine may have gone along with it. Regardless she couldn't blame Nina for wanting to avoid combat. There were at least a dozen others that were injured from scouting and patroling duties that day as well. It had probably scared the poor girl into realizing there was a very real possibility that she could die.
As for the new residents for her village, they were welcomed with open arms. Canis adjusted his plans for expanding the village on the spot and altered them to incorporate some additional housing to accomodate the new villagers that Maxine found for him. She only found out later that a few of those former slaves actually had a craft like leatherworking and bow making. It was very foturnate find to help the village in it's expansion. Unfortunately there were none that knew anything about herbs or how to tend to them.
Nia, the leopardkin woman whose son she saved, had sworn an oath of fealty to Maxine once it was clear that her son would survive. That had been out of Maxine's expectations. She should have known Nia would do that though. In the other timeline, beastkin on Earth were well known for honoring debts, and showing tremendous loyalty to those that earned their trust.
Maxine stopped thinking about what happened the last few days and decided to check on Emily. The last time that she had checked on her, Emily was a few hours from landing on Earth and that was two days ago. She figured now was a good time as any to give Emily a ride on her dragon.
Emily was sitting down on a couch watching TV with General McKenzie. Maxine smiled at that scene and she said to Emily via spiritual sense, [Are you free?]
[I will be soon,] Emily answered, [I've been looking forward to seeing your dragon.]
[And I have been looking forward to see you again,] Maxine said flirtingly, [I've missed you.]
[I've missed you too,] Emily answered, [Can you give me another hour before you bring me over? You can use that time to get anything you want ready.]
[Sure, see you then,] Maxine said while smiling. There isn't that much to prepare though. Still it would be a good idea to check on the villagers in the meantime. It's been awhile since I have personally visited them.
Maxine focused back on her main body, which was currently sharing a room with Orianna. "Do you really need to go?" Orianna asked.
"Yes, like I said earlier, I've made a promise to Emily and I'm going to keep it," Maxine stated, "Anyways I should only be gone for around four hours, but don't hold me to that. My date with her could easily take longer."
"Alright," Orianna said and a suggestive smile appeared on her face, "Maybe I could invite Maxwell to over while you are gone."
"I doubt grandma would allow that without a chaperone and you know it," Maxine reminded her.
"You're probably right as usual," Orianna said with disappointment in her voice, "I will be fine here. Enjoy your date."
"I will try," Maxine said happily as she opened a portal to the shadow world just outside of the village before jumping into it.
As usual, she arrived to the shadow world. However, she quickly heard as well as saw many of the beastkin that she freed coming out of the village to greet her. Nia appeared in the front of the crowd.
"Hello, Nia. How are you adjusting here?" Maxine asked.
"Wonderfully, m'lady. Everyone is very nice here," Nia answered, "May I ask how long will you be staying? I only ask because Elder Canis may want to serve you dinner if you will be staying long."
"A few hours, possibly longer. It all depends on how long my beloved wants to stay for her visit," Maxine answered.
"He must be one lucky man to have earned your love, m'lady," Nia said.
"She is. Even death would not make me forget my love for her," Maxine admitted. It's already happened, but they don't need to know that.
"I didn't know you favored women, m'lady," Nia said while looking uncomfortable, "Is that why you saved me?"
"No, I didn't save you for that. I'm only attracted to my beloved," Maxine answered to allay Nia's concerns, "Now I have seen the villagers working on a mansion for me through one of my shadow clones. I would like to go see it. Could one of you lead the way?"
"Certainly," Nia said.
"Lead on," Maxine said as nia took the lead.
The village had changed considerably since she had last been here in the flesh. The houses were still made of wood and tile, but they were much larger than before. And there were more of them. She saw a recently constructed tanning hut as well as a bowyer's sign hanging over one of the doors. It appears that Canis has wasted no time getting those built. He must really want these ladies to feel welcome.
However when her eyes landed on the mansion they had built for her, she was quite surprised. It had two stories, ten rooms and looked like an oversized, albeit beautifully made, log cabin.
"What do you think of your new home, my lady?" Canis asked as he just appeared by Maxine's side.
"It's wonderful," Maxine said honestly.
"I'm glad you are pleased," Canis said happily with a slight bow of his head, "Some of our newcomers have offered to keep it maintained, but the final decision on who is yours."
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"Whoever is most competent," Maxine replied, "I trust your judgement."
"As you wish, my lady," Canis said with a slight bow.
"Now, let me take a look at the inside," Maxine said as she walked up and opened the double doors into the mansion. The main hall was smaller than she anticipated with totem-like pillars to either side with an arched staircase that lead to the second floor.
Nia lead her around the mansion and opened each of the four doors lining either side of the main hall. The first room showcased an empty library. The second was a sitting room. Third was a dining room and finally the last door was a kitchen.
The top floor had six bedrooms and two bathing rooms. All of the furniture was expertly carved. This would be something a noble in the medieval period would enjoy as their main residence.
"It seems our furniture makers have outdone themselves," Maxine commented.
"I will pass on the comment, my lady. I expect that your beloved will be here soon?" Canis asked as he looked at Maxine and after Maxine nodded her head, he turned to Nia, "Could you start making dinner since our lady is going to host her beloved? I'm certain that the two of them would enjoy some of that pasta you made the other night."
"Of course," Nia said as she made for the kitchen.
"She is good woman. It pains me to know what she and her son have been through," Canis said sadly as Nia got out of ear shot.
"I know. I wish I could have gotten to them sooner, but no amount of wishing will change what has already happened," Maxine lamented and decided to change the subject, "I believe her son will be back on his feet in another week."
"Yes, he should be. It amazes me at how easily you were able to save that lad, my lady. You have many gifts that your mother goddess did not," Canis said.
"It was nothing," Maxine said and remembered Hellen's soon to be revival, "Oh, that reminds me. My father is in the process of reviving my mother."
"What?!" Canis said incredulously, "Your father can revive the dead? Is he a god of life and death?" I still wish he didn't believe that I'm a child of a goddess. I have even told him that directly several times, but he still believes it.
"No, but many have called him a god of alchemy," Maxine answered.
"Ah, that would explain your other talents with potions," Canis said as he nodded his head.
"Yes," Maxine said and was signaled by the Shadow Wolf in Emily's shadow that Emily was ready, "Ahh, my beloved is finally ready to visit me. Could you give me a moment to bring her over?" She started walking to the main hall to summon Emily to the shadow world.
"Certainly, my lady," Canis said with a bow of his head as he walked towards the main door of her mansion.
[You ready for me to open a portal?] Maxine asked Emily via spiritual sense.
[Yeah, I had to tell grandpa that I'm going to spend some time with you. He wanted me to warn you not to let me get hurt,] Emily said.
[I bet he did,] Maxine said as she nodded her head and opened a portal up at Emily's feet that lead to a spot right infront of her, [Jump on in. The villagers here have made me quite a large home to live in.]
[Okay,] Emily said and a moment later, she appeared out of the portal, "Wow, you weren't kidding. This place is bigger than grandpa's house. It's all very well made and beautiful."
"Yes, they didn't seem to think it was right to put me in an ordinary house," Maxine explained, "I hope you are hungry. Canis, the village elder, decided that a meal was necessary for your visit."
"I would love to eat here. Grandpa's not the best cook," Emily said, "When will it be ready?" Maxine checked the kitchen with her spiritual sense and found that the wood burning stove hadn't even gotten that hot yet.
"It should be another hour or two before it's ready. They have to make everything from scratch," Maxine said.
"Oh, alright. So we have time for a flight on your dragon then," Emily said.
"Of course. Just follow me," Maxine said as she lead Emily through the double doors. However after opening the double doors, she noticed that Emily froze behind her. Huh? What's wrong with her? OH! She is probably wondering where all of the beastkin came from.
"Is that a dragonewt?" Emily asked incredulously as she pointed at a reptilian beastkin girl walking on the road. Well, she does have draconic scales, horns and breathes a weak flame. So I guess she is a dragonewt.
"I believe so. Her name is Dracia. Do you want to talk to her?" Maxine asked.
"No, thanks. Where did she and these other monster girls come from?" Emily asked.
"I saved them from the enemy camp in the battlefield that my clone is participating in," Maxine answered honestly, "They were being treated poorly."
"I see," Emily said.
"Do you want to get a ride on my dragon now?" Maxine asked to change the subject since she didn't want Emily to broach the subject on how they were being treated poorly.
"Yes!" Emily said happly as she nodded her head. Maxine smiled as she whistled loudly. Tiamat, her dragon, roared as it gently came from the sky and landed infront of her.
Maxine leaped up onto her dragon's back and beckoned Emily to join her, "Come on up." Emily jumped up and landed right behind Maxine. "Hold on tight. I don't want you to fall off by accident," Maxine said as Emily put her hands on Maxine's waist, "Tiamat, take flight!" Her dragon beat it's wings several times to get off the ground before soaring up higher.
Emily began laughing as the wind started blowing through their hair. Maxine couldn't help, but smile at Emily's reaction. It was very similar to her own when she first flew on her dragon.
They had been soaring through the air before Emily asked via spiritual sense, [Can it go faster?]
[Yes, it can,] Maxine answered as she signaled her dragon to fly faster. Emily renewed her happy laughter as Maxine's dragon surged forward with greater speed. The landscape seemed to fly by so fast that it seemed as if the ground had turned into a blurr.
They continued to fly around for a full hour before Emily began to get tired. Thankfully Maxine hadn't wandered far from the village and they landed back on the ground in short order.
"That was amazing. Do you do that every day?" Emily asked once they had landed.
"Not every day. In fact, I don't fly unless I need to. I don't want to draw jealously by flaunting my dragon around," Maxine admitted as she got off her dragon and Emily jumped down after her.
"That makes sense," Emily said, "Now you mentioned a meal earlier? Is it ready yet?"
Maxine checked the kitchen briefly before she answered, "No, it's not ready yet. I did say it would take one to two hours. What would you like to do until it's ready?"
"You could.. umm .. show me your bedroom in that place," Emily said as a light blush appeared on her cheeks as she gestured towards the mansion, "I want to talk to you about something in private."
"Just talk? Or did you have something else in mind?" Maxine teased.
"Maybe I do," Emily teased back with a smile on her face or at least Maxine thought she was teasing back.
Maxine chuckled and lead Emily to the primary bedroom. It had a king-sized bed with a four bed post canopy against one wall and a large dresser with a mirror to the left of the room. Where they got a mirror that size Maxine had no idea. On the other side of the bed, there was a walk in closet to house any dresses she might have. It was an impressive sight. It would have been even better if anything had a shred of color.
After they were both inside, Maxine closed the bedroom door and face Emily before she asked, "So, what did you want to talk about that we needed to be alone?"
"I had some time to think about that potion that Guan made on my way home on your clan's ship," Emily said shyly, "A lot of time actually. It was basically the only thing I was thinking about the whole trip. I know your parents, both biological and adopted, want you to have a baby. I just want to know if it's what you want. It just seems to me like they are pushing you into it without a care for your feelings." What Emily was saying threw Maxine off. She hadn't expected her to say those things at all. Maxine certainly wanted to have a baby with Emily, but she wasn't sure now was the time for it. There was a lot of things she had to worry about and becoming pregnant was something she couldn't risk right now. However she really did want to have a baby with Emily.
Maxine extended out her hand as a loving expression filled her face and she stroked Emily's cheek before she answered, "No one could pressure me into anything. You know that. I really do want to have a baby with you, but only if you want to have one too."
Emily stared at Maxine's eyes for some time before she answered, but not with her words. It was with her actions instead as she kissed Maxine gently. Their gentle kiss gradually transformed into a more passionate one as Maxine felt a need forming within her and her hands were unconsciously carressed Emily's every curve. Emily hugged Maxine's neck tightly to deepen their passionate kiss.
When they finally parted from thier kiss while breathing heavily, Emily gently tugged at Maxine's dress. Maxine looked at Emily in the eyes and asked, "Are you sure?" Emily only nodded her head in response while displaying a shy smile. "Alright," Maxine said as she pulled Emily to the bed. Emily pulled out a potion, but Maxine gently stopped her from drinking it. She hadn't even needed to look at it to know that it was the same potion that Guan had mentioned before. Although Maxine wasn't sure when or how Emily had gotten one. "It's not the best time for us to have a baby just yet. It would be better after the war my clan is going through is over, okay?" Maxine asked softly.
"Okay," Emily said. She looks almost relieved that I said that. I guess she is more nervous about this than I am.
"Now where were we?" Maxine said as she smiled lustfully and kissed Emily before pulling her onto the bed.