Matron Oldami opened the door of her baishin with a wide smile, feeling confident after her long chat with the Consortium Matron. The warmth rolled out over her, as did the comforting smell of her dwelling. She stepped inside and closed the door after her.

Jack Roberts watched her strip naked, letting his eyes roam over her small body. He knew she was much older than him, dead center of middle age by her race's standard, nearly eighty years old, but for some reason it didn't matter to him. He liked how plump she was, how soft, and the obvious inhumanness of her body excited him.

It not longer bothered him to admit it to himself.

I'm not lost. I'm beyond lost. Where I am, I don't think there is any road or highway to lead me back home, Jak thought to himself. When Oldami turned around Jak smiled as he looked her over. Things could be a lot worse, I guess.

"Did you miss me?" Oldami smiled. Jak nodded and she moved over, mixing two glasses of juice and whiskey, giving Jak the one with less whiskey in it. "I had to meet with the caravan Matron."

Jak nodded, tapping the book in his lap and smiling.

"I told you that you'd like them even though they're children's tales," Oldami said, sitting down in the chair with Jak. She cuddled up to his warm skin, enjoying the body heat from the young Titan. "You never heard any of those before?"

Jack shook his head, touching one of the pictures in the book. In some ways they reminded him of old Grimm's Fairy Tales, in other ways they reminded him of Bible stories. They all had morals, warnings, guidance for small children.

Saint Kalima seemed to feature prominently as the narrator in the stories, giving advice to small children reading the stories.

Jak had to admit he liked the stories. They were a lot more complex than he had first thought, and he found himself often rereading stories that he'd only skimmed at first. It had taken him a little while to notice the sly comedy as well as the subtle suggestive themes here and there.

"I was wondering if you would be comfortable with guests again tonight?" Oldami asked, rubbing his thigh. Jak looked at her and raised an eyebrow, prompting her to explain. She sighed and rubbed his leg again. "I'm a very social person, Jak. I'm used to friends visiting, and I think that letting my friends meet you, interact with you as guests, might help them and you."

Most of these little people are afraid of humans, Jack thought to himself, pulling Oldami closer to him. The way the tales make it sound, humans have taken on every threat, even if they themselves are that threat.

"Is it all right if some old friends come to visit?" Matron Oldami asked, still rubbing Jack's leg in gentle circles. When she saw Jack nod, she smiled, wiggling out from under his arm and moving over to where her clothing was hanging on a hook.

Jack got up, moving slowly and deliberately over to her, and placing his hand over her hand.

"What?" Matron Oldami asked, looking up at the human.

Jack smiled, taking down her cloak, then kneeling in front of her.

He's moving slowly. Is it because of what he read? Matron Oldami wondered as Jack fixed the cloak around her neck and then drew it closed. He picked up her mocassins and held them out, putting them on her feet.

"Jak, I should get dressed," Matron Oldami giggled.

Jack smiled, shaking his head, careful not to show his teeth.

"Go out in only my cloak?" Matron Oldami giggled. When Jack nodded, she blushed but nodded. "All right. Wait right here, all right?"

Jack nodded, going back and sitting down. Matron Oldami watched as he picked up the book and began reading again, reaching out to pick up the glass of whiskey and juice. Oldami stared at him for moment, noting the way the gold titanfire flickered on the back of his neck and behind his ears.

His titanfire pushes him to learn, Matron Oldami mused as she headed out of the baishin an began walking toward Matron Verama's baishin. She wasn't embarrassed to be wearing only a cloak. It wasn't uncommon for a Phaelan to just wear a cloak to head over to a friend's baishin.

Oldami knew that the request was from the young man, not the titan, and the little attempt at a naughty request made her smile.

I have scant few days to prepare you, young Jak, for whatever you are destined to do as a Titan. I wish it was longer, that I could guide and advise you for longer, but I do not feel my weird intertwining with yours, Matron Oldami sighed as she walked through the light rain. Your companion with the crimson war-eye might be destined for actions that change the Six Worlds, but you, little Jak, are a Titan. I will be long dust while your footsteps still shake the mortal realm.

Stolen novel; please report.

Matron Oldami turned and stepped smoothly onto the stepping deck of Matron Nalvaniti's baishin, climbing up the short steps and knocking on the door. Mistress Nalvaniti opened the door almost immediately, one of her elegantly sculptured eyebrows raising. Her hair was done in an elaborate set of braids woven in with strands of silk decorated by glossy black freshwater pearls. She was wearing an embroidered sheer silk sleeve that was nearly transparent, her nipples and groin only hidden by the complex embriodered pattern.

"Oldami, old friend," Mistress Nalvaniti said, kissing Oldami's cheeks quickly.

"Nalvaniti, my young friend," Oldami smiled, then kissed the other woman's cheeks in return. "Your hair is just exquisite."

"Come in, come in, it is a beastly night out tonight. The wind and rain are cold and forbidding," Matron Nalvaniti smiled, pleased by the compliment. She moved aside and watched as Matron Oldami moved past her, holding her cloak closed tightly.

"Will you be staying?" Nalvaniti asked, moving over to sit down.

"Sadly, no. I was wondering if you would like to spend an evening with me and my guest in my baishin?" Oldami asked.

Nalvaniti raised her eyebrow, sipping at her tea. She looked closer and saw that while Oldami was wearing comfortable walking slippers, she had on no leggings and was keeping her cloak wrapped tightly around her.

"I will, providing you satisfy my curiosity," Nalvaniti said, sipping on her tea. When Oldami made a motion for her to continue, Nalvaniti set down her tea cup and smiled widely. "What are you wearing beneath your cloak?"

Oldami gave Nalvaniti a wicked grin despite the slight blush that bloomed on her neck and across her breasts. She opened her cloak, showing that all she wore was some of her jewelry, her moccassins, and the cloak.

"His idea?" Nalvaniti asked. "Tea?" She nudged the plate with three stacked upended teacups and a teapot inlaid with precious metals and gems as well as arcane runes to keep the tea at steeping temperature.

"Yes," Oldami said. "And please."

When Nalvaniti waved at the other seat, Oldami sat down, leaving the cloak open. She waited for Matron Nalvaniti to pour a cup of tea and set it on a saucer, putting a frosting covered cookie next to the cup. Oldami nibbled slightly on the cookie, tasting the sweetness of the thick frosting, and sighed in pleasure. She loved sweets, even though since she'd turned 80 the sweetness had gone directly to her hips.

"How have you found caring for your charge?" Matron Nalvaniti asked, forgoing all the normal small talk and chatter and cutting straight to the point. Her habit of directness made her slightly unpopular among the Phaelan but judging by her wealth humans and orcs were not disturbed by it.

Oldami washed down the bite of cookie with sweet tea. "He is not what I expected. Have you met the other two?"

Nalvaniti nodded. "The other male seems strange. Almost as if he is filled with conflict. His war-fire perhaps?"

Oldami nodded. "It could be. Warfire is dangerous in any being and in humans even more so."

"The girl, though, she acts like any spoiled daughter. It is quickly apparent she is lazy and pampered to the point of nearly robbing her of her potential. Her magic is strong, I have watched her learn as I have worked with my own arcane skills," Nalvaniti shook her head. "My own skills pale in comparison with the raw talent the red-eyed girl possesses. It's good that she's being cared for by our Matron of the Arcane."

There was silence for a moment while Nalvaniti refilled the teacups and handed Oldami another cookie. Oldami sighed deeply, feeling the slight narcotic effects of the blue whipple tea relax her muscles.

"What is he like?" Nalvaniti asked.

"Studious. Intelligent. Curious. Hungry," Oldami laughed. When Nalvaniti gave a wry smile and pointedly looked at Oldami's groin Oldami flushed slightly. "Yes, in that way too, but no different than any young male."

"Ah. How would you compare him to the other two?" Nalvaniti asked.

"More... willing to accept where he is in life, more curious about what is happening around him, and more interested in new things," Oldami shrugged. "There was some issues until I realized that he needs more food than I thought he would. He eats about twice as much as your average human."

"His titanfire needs the fuel?" Nalvaniti asked.

Oldami nodded. "Like me, he has a taste for sweets."

"How do you handle the... size?" Nalvaniti asked, spreading her hands apart suggestively.

Oldami flushed again. "He is gentle and quick to learn."

Nalvaniti nodded slowly, thinking. Finally she smiled. "I will be glad to accept your invitation to visit your baishin, my friend. Who else is coming?"

Oldami shrugged. "I am not sure. The fact that young Jak is a Titan may cause fear in the Phealan I would normally invite, and I am not sure how he would react to males being invited."

Nalvaniti smiled. "The best way to find out is to invite them."

Oldami nodded. "Perhaps you are right," she sighed deeply. "I wish there was more information on the early formative years for a Titan."

Nalvaniti shook her head slowly. "There would not be. Titans are careful to eliminate any records of their early lives to scour any clues on how to combat them from history."

"Can you blame them?" Oldami asked, then popped the last bite of the cookie into her mouth. She washed it down with the last of the tea, motioning at the door. "Young Jak undoubtably has enemies already looking for him and will gain enemies simply by existing as the years go by."

That made Nalvaniti raise an eyebrow. "Do you think his enemies have been warned of him already?"

Oldami nodded, standing up and gathering the cloak around herself. "He is flush with Titanfire, Magefire, and Warfire. I have no doubt he is written into prophecies somewhere and I have the feeling that oracles are moaning his name in their tombs for months, perhaps even years by now."

With that, Oldami kissed Nalvaniti on each cheek, accepting the return kisses, and left the warm comfortable baishin and into the cool rainy night.

Nalvaniti stared at her own cup of tea, thinking through what Oldami had said. Finally she stood up, moving over to her wardrobe. Nalvaniti opened the stained and laquered Staroak doors of the carved and inlaid wardrobe, looking over her clothing with pursed lips. She began selecting items with an eye toward ephasizing her own curves and assets, to pull the eye toward her bosom and hips. She dressed slowly, still thinking and trying to avoid thinking about the potential risk of spending the night at Oldami's baishin.

Let us hope any enemies the young Titan gathers do not turn their sight and strength toward our Consortium, she thought once she was dressed. She paused from applying the sparkly lipstick she favored that made her lips look like ripe plum, that sparked when she parted her lips.

I hope what you are doing does not bring about our ruination, Oldami.