With a tiny piece of Teva’s ear in my mouth, I can feel her tremble occasionally. She is still frightened. I lick the side of her neck with my tongue, her back straightens in surprise.

“Don’t worry, they were only trying to assassinate the Princesses, it isn’t likely to happen again during the short while that we’ll be with the Rykz.” I whisper in her ear.

“How do, you know all this?” Her breath catches in the middle of the question, from fear or excitement. Probably both.

“They rushed Fenyz and then Celyz when she showed up.” I answer. “I know Nobles won’t try again because they can’t risk their assets like this too many times.” The Templar Order might, but I really hope not.

“Okay, I believe you.” She replies in a low voice.

Teva turns around in my arms to change position and lay her back against my chest. I extend my hand to grab the stained pair of pants from the ground and drip it in the water stream running right next to us.

“One second.” Teva utter as her breaths grows heavier.

She quickly takes her knickers off. I can’t see her most intimate place from this angle, looking over her shoulder, but her actions do reveal the red triangle of pubic hair just above it.

Teva takes hold of my hand, the one holding the wet pair of pants and guides it between her thighs without shame or hesitation. I slip my gloved hand under her shirt and start gently fondling her breasts one after the other.

She guides my right hand and uses it to wipe herself while taking short, excited, breaths. I play with her a little by running my gloved fingers along the side of her stomach, enjoying how my touch makes her legs squirm with barely restrained desire.

“Sorry, I… I don’t know why this is turning me on so much.” Teva admits with a bit of embarrassment.

“Being afraid for one’s life is a potent aphrodisiac.” I tell her, sharing my experience. “Your survival instinct wants you to… mate.” I add in a sultry voice.

I let go of the wet pair of pants and pass my right hand over her drenched sex, gently caressing the moist surface of her lips.

“That’s… not water.” Her voice is rough with arousal.

“I know, you’re just really happy to be in my arms.” I reply jokingly.

“Stop, teasing.” Teva groans as I tickle her intimacy.

I obey and directly pass my middle finger over the slit that her lips make. Her legs twitch like a current just went through them. I’m loving this, her reactions are… fun. The void doesn’t seem to mind overmuch.

I hear a branch breaking as a horse’s hooves hits the ground. My head snaps in the direction of the sound and I see the rider’s face. Shit! Yvonne! What the fuck?! I turn my face away and hurriedly take hold of my helmet to slip it back on.

The sword-sworn wouldn’t leave her master. She is near! I feel Teva’s butt move on my thighs. She’s trying to get up. I wrap my left arm around her torso to prevent her from standing up.

“Stay like this!” I order her in a tense tone. I place my right palm over her most intimate place. “See, no problem. It’s all hidden.” I murmur in her ear with erotic undertones in my voice. I feel her sex becoming even more drenched against my hand.

Yvonne will let her guard down if she sees us like this. Fenyz didn’t catch them so they shouldn’t recognize the helmet. I enhance my eyes and find eight other figures on horseback at a distance behind Yvonne who is already controlling her horse to head towards us.

Six of them that I don’t recognize but they’re obviously Nobles. The other two are Patrick and a fully armored figure with a helmet. It’s the Countess. I know that it is her despite the lack of any recognizable feature under the plate armor.

Fuck. This is not how I pictured we would meet again. I can’t fight that many Nobles by myself, even if I try to surprise attack them. Teva’s body shakes against mine and I slip my left hand under her shirt to start caressing her breasts, hopefully helping her calm down.

“Greetings, I am Lady Yvonne Ironguard.”

“Salutations, I am… currently occupied.” I reply while disguising my voice as best as I can.

“I can see that, Lady…?” Yvonne grins as she stares at my hand laying between Teva’s thighs.

“Elizabeth Vil.” I bow my head towards her slightly.

“How did the ambush fare?” She asks, her eyes turn to me and her expression becomes serious in a blink.

“We failed, the Princesses were too nimble to pin down.” I shake my head sadly. This is a good opportunity to pass a message. “But I got to meet someone interesting.”

“Tell me.” Yvonne demands intensely.

“Shouldn’t I wait for the others?” I ask, looking towards the other Noblemen.

“Now, please.” She pleads.

“Well, it’s not much really. A girl with one arm threw me off my horse and told me that if I can save a Rykz Princess from the institute in Caeviel’s capital, she can negotiate peace. I don’t know if I believe her but it was certainly intriguing.” I shrug casually.

“Jessica…” Yvonne frowns with worry. “You can believe that girl.”

“Doesn’t matter whether its true or not, I’m not going to do anything about it.” I shake my head.

The group of Nobles stops at a distance. The Lordling and the Countess are approaching at trotting speed. I stop my left hand from edging towards my hammer and force myself to keep massaging Teva’s chest.

She makes occasional protesting sounds. I blow some air in her ear, she makes a tiny squeal and falls silent.

“Who is she?” Yvonne asks.

“A very, very interesting local.” I reply with my lips just next to Teva’s ear. “You going to do something about this Rykz Princess in the institute?” I ask.

“Yes.” She replies quickly as the cowardly Countess approaches. “Leomi, I can handle it, you don’t need to…” Yvonne’s voice dies down as she chooses not to finish the sentence.

“To what? I want to hear what she saw myself.” Lance turns to me. “I am Leomi Lance.”

My right hand clenches reflexively at the sound of her voice, Teva yelps in pleasure. I notice, with the corner of my eye, when Patrick turns away to look in the opposite direction from us.

I stare at the opening of her helmet but fail to find the light gray abyss in the darkness. I slide my middle finger inside Teva’s lubricated sex, directly penetrating her while glaring at the Countess.

Teva’s body arcs backward until the back of her head rest on my shoulder, she then wraps her arms around my neck and kisses my helmet's cheek.

“What are you doing in front of them?!” Teva whispers while shivering in ecstasy. I feel the inside of her most intimate place clench around my middle finger as it explores her depths.

“You missed the battle.” I tell Lance, barely managing to restrain the emotions thundering inside the void. “I met a.” I start, but Yvonne interrupts me with a loud voice.

“Celyz was there but no sign of Jessica.” She glares at me, daring me to contradict her.

“I don’t know this Celyz but there was a human…” I restart.

“This girl in her arms was with the Rykz.” Yvonne cuts me off again, her hand is reaching towards the pommel of her sword.

Why is Yvonne so intent on stopping me? I grit my teeth. She isn’t going to let me say it and I can’t push too hard without risking my life or being discovered here. I take a deep breath. There will be time, later.

“She’s innocent!” I exclaim with faked anger, resigning myself to play the part. I start slowly pulling my finger out of Teva’s sex. She makes a loud gasp.

“Don’t worry, we won’t say a thing.” Lance is swaying a little on her saddle. I watch, hoping to see her fall off her horse but she catches herself in time.

I hear a wet sound as my middle finger exits Teva’s most intimate place. I don’t wait to plunge it back in. This time I start actually fucking her with it, making slow back and forth movements.

“Oh, yes, yes!” Teva shouts without restraining herself.

“Why did you stop here instead of running?” The Countess asks, her head turning away from us.

“I think it’s quite obvious.” I smirk behind my helmet. Does it hurt to see that you didn’t have to be so cowardly? That you could have chosen a different path. “She needed… reassurance. I was happy to take a moment since we have time and the Rykz aren’t pursuing just yet.” The inside of my sex quivers when I see her flinch at my words.

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Lance turns towards us again. I intensify my middle finger’s motion as I penetrate Teva’s most intimate place and angle my hand to allow her to see the whole thing as it happens.

“Uh, uh, uh.” Small sounds escape Teva’s mouth with each of my thrusts.

“Runaway with her and never let go.” I can hear the repressed pain in the Countess‘ voice, even though our helmets are both distorting the sound.

A drop of arousal escapes my sex’ lips. It trickles along the inside of my right thigh. My Lady doesn’t just complete me. At this distance and without even knowing who I am, she still finds a way to fill me up so much that I overflow.

I shake my head and push my finger even deeper inside Teva than I have so far. Her mouth gapes and she loses her voice. Teva’s insides contort and pulse around the source of her rapture as she comes.

Lance turns her horse away but not around. She seems to want to head towards the battlefield.

“We can bring them alone, we don’t have horses to spare but we can manage.” Yvonne suggests.

“No. Take her and run.” The Countess shakes her head. “What’s your name?”

“Elizabeth Vil. My parents had a sense of humor.” I can’t stop myself from giggling a little. Teva slumps inside my arms. She sighs in contentment and exhaustion.

“I’m not taking either of you into battle. Go south, find Castle Lance and mention the name Jenna at the gates. They’ll let you in and help if you ask.” She utters in an unsteady voice.

Yvonne makes her horse move in front of Lance‘s path to block the way.

“Where are you going, Leomi?” She asks with the sad expression of someone who already knows the answer.

“I’m going to look for Jessica.” The Countess replies with a hard voice, yet full of pain.

Too late to be doing that, should have looked at me when I was at your side and fully devoted to you. I repress an insane bout of laughter growing inside my stomach. I feel the interstice between my thighs gets even moister.

“Lady Elizabeth said that there were no humans other than this one. She would have noticed if someone was missing an arm.” Yvonne argues.

“No offense to you, Lady Vil, but I think the chaos of battle would have made it difficult to ascertain who exactly was present, especially while you fought.” Lance counters stubbornly.

I shrug noncommittally. I don’t want to provoke Yvonne when she is this serious about silencing me. It‘ll hurt her more when the sword-sworn admits her lie.

“They failed with five times our numbers, we won’t stand a chance Leomi. We cannot ask the others to risk their lives over this, our duty is to…”

“Speak not of duty to me! It sickens me.” The Countess shouts in anger and agony, interrupting her friend. She sways unsteadily on her saddle. Her sudden explosion of emotion seems to have destabilized her balance.

“You need to sleep, Leomi.” Yvonne tells her gently. “Let’s go back, we have to find her before we can rescue her.”

Sleep deprivation? Ha! I glare at Lance. You’ll remember that with fondness once I’m done with you. Teva starts getting agitated in my arms. She is trying to grab her knickers on the ground to get dressed up.

I hold her and make her sit sideways on my thighs. I intercept her hand to guide it under my hard leather armor’s jacket instead. She looks up to my helmet with a puzzled look on her red face but doesn’t really hesitate to start fondling my breast.

“I… Are you sure she isn’t there?” She asks towards no one in specific, hesitating.

“I am.” Yvonne responds while staring at me.

I stay quiet. Much as I would love to see her make a suicidal charge and suffer for me, I don’t want my revenge to be swift. I want to see her squirm in anguish.

“We can quickly ride by, just to make sure.” Lance says uncertainly while shaking her head.

“Alright, but I’m the only one who’ll approach. Deal?” Yvonne compromises.

“I. Okay.” The Countess agrees reluctantly, head inclined downward.

“Be careful.” I utter quietly with a grin on my face.

I hope Lance gets caught but I doubt it’ll happen with Yvonne acting like a mother hen. Teva finds and pinches my rock hard nipple. I moan and my most intimate floods in desire. Being played with while she‘s a short distance away is just too much to handle.

I look down at Teva while the rest of the Nobles ride by us. Ignoring the few shy salutes that some give me. One of them makes a thumbs up as he rides by. I follow the Countess from the corner of my eye as she takes the lead with Yvonne.

Teva is emboldened by their departure. She gets off me to start hurriedly unfastening my hard leather armor’s straps. I feel my arousal rescind as the void takes over when she leaves my line of sight. Disappointed, I speak up.

“You don’t need to.” I try to tell her.

“Nonsense, I want to.” Teva replies, her voice is rough.

She takes off both my leather armor’s pants and the ones underneath. Teva’s touch as she slips my knickers off starts feeling foreign instead of exciting. The void howls in turmoil.

Teva’s hands wander over my still wet sex, from before. Her expression turns lustful. Her hands part my lips while her head leans in-between my thighs to lick the sensitive mound of flesh.

I am torn between my desire to experience bliss in her hands while having to stop my body from reflexively pulling away from her touch. Teva’s fingers explore my opened inner lips while her tongue makes small teasing circles.

“You’re, a virgin.” She raises her head to look at me with sensual eyes.

“Yes.” I take a deep breath.

“Can I?” She asks with a hopeful and heavy voice.

“No.” I reply without thinking. Why am I saying no? She rejected me completely. “I.” I try to amend my answer but Teva interrupts me.

“You said no, I won’t accept a yes now.” Her voice is gentle, her hand starts massaging my most intimate place.

“I’m not horny.” I admit with shame, unwilling to string this kind woman along any more than this.

“But you’re wet and you just finger fucked me.” Teva’s lustful expression recedes and she grows confused.

“I enjoyed every second of it.” I try to tell her.

“And yet you’re not really into it.” She says, hurt to her core. She pulls her hands away from my sex and sits her naked butt down on the ground. “After you toyed with me in front of half the Izla’s Nobility.”

“I’m sorry, I apologize.” I mumble the words.

“You used me.” Teva frowns with reproach.

“I did. It would have gone very differently if Yvonne got suspicious of us from the get-go.” I try to justify myself with some truth. “Did you enjoy it?”

“I had a small orgasm.” She smiles dreamily but her face hardens soon after. “That’s not the issue here. Was that all to get back at that Lady you kept staring at?”

“Yes.” I croak the word out of my tightening throat.

“She didn’t even recognize you.” I take a second to compose myself before replying.

“It’ll have an impact when I tell her who I am.” I confess.

“We’re done.” Teva stands up with a red face but a blank expression. “I’m not going to let you use me as a tool for your revenge.”

My eyes wander to her naked lower half. Her most intimate place is still flooded with desire. She somehow finds a way to blush even more furiously and hides her arousal behind her hands.

“Elizabeth. Who was that girl with one arm that you spoke of?” She asks while glaring at me.

“A prisoner of the Rykz.” I try to shrug casually but she doesn’t seem to buy it.

“Then why is that Lady, the one who hurt you, looking for her so desperately if you’re not the same person.” Teva presses me.

“Because she abandoned us both but is too cowardly to face her guilt so she keeps pretending like she actually cares.” I take my helmet off to stare into her hazel eyes. “I want to make us work, I really do.”

“I don’t doubt that.” She shakes her head. “Your revenge needs to take a backseat if you want us to work. Can you do that?” Teva asks intently.

“No, I cannot.” I bend over to grab my knickers and put them back on. “We can still… try.” I say while slipping my pants and leather armor back on. I fit the helmet over my head and then the chain-mail.

“I refuse to be used as an object. I won’t be your pet.” She picks up the pack with my spare clothes inside. “Thank you for the clothes, please leave me alone so I can get dressed.”

“Sunshine, please, let me make it up to you.” I awkwardly plead, taking a step in her direction while extending my hand towards her ample chest.

“Elizabeth Vil, are you going to respect my decision?” Teva asks with a harsh accusation in the undertone of her voice.

“Yes, I will.” I fold shamefully, lowering my chin.

I turn my back on her and pick up my hammer. I make my way behind the tree to give her the privacy that she’s asking for. I lean my back against it and swallow my saliva.

“I’m broken in more than one way, Teva.” I murmur, my voice too low to be heard. I can’t tell her that without facing more questions. Without telling her that I’m a monster in body and that my mind doesn’t seem to be faring any better.

I hear some discrete sobs coming from her side of the tree. Is she crying? No, she isn’t. I delude myself and shut the world out.