Otto and the dwarf grinned, Minx shrugged and the cat boy looked terrified. I walked them downstairs first, showing off the facilities, with the library, reconstructed gym, bathing room and toilets.
“Can we…take a bath?” the cat boy asked me nervously, his voice barely a whisper.
“Sure thing, the minions can wash and dry your clothes too,” I said.
The cat boy let out a yelp of surprise and backed away from me, clutching his tail in terror. I ignored it and continued the tour showing off the shrine which luckily had escaped all damage. After showing off some nice coloured tiles and murals of nature in the hallway I led them back up the stairs to the main hall. I got the sense our guests were starving and I wondered what Sliva had whipped up today.
The mess hall was filled with the scent of roasting meat, sugar and cinnamon of all things. I gave Rolada a curious glance and saw her mischievous fox grin. I sat down in my battered chair, a handaxe still embedded in its side and let our guests pick a seat.
Sliva was wearing her sweatshirt, tight pants and wonderful smile as she waltzed around the kitchen, handing plates of food to a bored looking Lin. Yara was also here and sat beside the fireplace, wrapped up in a thick blanket for warmth.
I expected the cat boy to be terrified of Yara, but his eyes were glued to Lin. His slack jaw expression was filled with a mix of wonder and joy. He was unquestionably smitten by her.
Sliva smooched Rolada on the top of the head and put a dinner plate down. We had roasted hog, like we had all week, with a side of potatoes, or whatever equivalent there was here, and sauce. Rounding out our vegetables were some leafy greens, a few root vegetables and cinnamon rolls. The rest of the plates followed suit, and even our guests had a small helping.
“Where did you get cinnamon?” I asked, stabbing the sticky bun with my fork, looking at the icing oozing over the top.
“A woman has her secrets,” Sliva said, giving me a wink.
Otto let out a wolf whistle and clasped his hands together. “Thank you mama, I’ve never met you before, but if I wasn’t mistaken I would think you were one of Heinekia’s angels bringing the harvest!”
Sliva let out a bright laugh and took her seat beside her daughter. “I’m a priestess of Ishaka, but if you don’t believe me I could show you what I’m capable of.”
Otto choked on a slab of pork and went as red as a beet. Lin and I both leapt to his aid with the faster cat girl beating me to the chase. She balled up her fist and grabbed him around the waist, and thrust her fist into his abdomen. A ball of chewed pork flopped onto his plate and Otto wiped away tears.
“Oh my, I’m sorry,” Sliva said, holding a hand to her mouth. “Do you need a touch of healing?”
“I’m good-d,” Otto coughed. He shook Lin’s hand and gave her a winning smile. “Thanks to this lovely kitty I’m right as rain. Now that’s twice I’ve been saved by an angel.”
Lin rolled her eyes and helped him back into his seat, and returned to hers. As I flopped back into my chair I winced and rubbed my sore back. I saw the cat boy look at Lin in wonder, like he was in the presence of a goddess.
“So, let’s talk about those deals,” Rolada said, biting into her cinnamon roll.
…
It could be because she was a bard, or she was just gifted, but I stood beside Rolada at the docks watching the rusted equipment get loaded onto the boat. They still took with them a small shipment of wood, bricks and tiles, but with the ‘special order’ we managed to make a net profit. I held the bag of gold and silver in my hand, feeling the weight of the world in the palm of my hand.
As the boat left we waved goodbye and the cat boy waved enthusiastically, but it wasn’t for me, no it was directed at a bored looking Lin. As soon as they were out of sight Rolada spun towards Lin and couldn’t help herself from giggling.
“Lin, that adorable cat boy was ogling you all day. When he wasn’t making bedroom eyes at you he was flinching at everything Josh did,” Rolada said, leaning on Lin.
“Ehh,” Lin said, shaking her hand. “He barely looks like an adult, and I like my men looking haggard, hairy and dumb, not some misty eyed whimsical boy.”
“He seemed nice, but I got the feeling…hey, wait a second!” I said, putting my hands on my hips.
Lin closed the gap between the two of us and curled into my chest, rubbing her cheek against my short stubble. She purred loudly, shaking me to my very core. I sighed and hugged her, rubbing the back of her ears.
“Hmm, I like it when they are good with their hands too,” Lin said.
Rolada joined in and the three of us had our little group hug. It lasted to the point that a cold gust of wind blew ice into the girl’s tails and they let out a yelp. I shook my head and we walked back to the dungeon, following the train of minions hauling the last of our new supplies.
“How’s the healing going Josh?” Roalda asked.
“Good,” I said, mentally preparing my words. I couldn’t lie to her even if I wanted to. “I think I might need Yara or your mom to give me another massage. My magic has been on the fritz.”
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I opened my palm to make a ball of fire appear in my hands to warm me up, but the magic instead flared up, and blasted a hole in the ground ahead of us. My fingers smoked, and I shook them out to get rid of it.
“Get yourself patched up, because the two of us have an adventure date,” Lin said, hip checking me into a snowbank. “Yeah, you need a bit of training to catch back up.”
I sunk deeper into the snow drift, hoping the winter would steal me away to somewhere more relaxing, with less work.
…
I opened the door and stuck my head in. I found another storage room packed to the brim with tanned animal hides. Frank the farmer drone stared back at me and spat a cured hide against the wall, sticking it against the wall with his saliva. I winced and apologized, retreating back into the hall.
“God that creeps me out when they do that stuff,” I said, suppressing a shudder. “Now where the hell am I?”
The second floor of the dungeon had new rooms for storage, workspaces and potential bedrooms. I returned to the middle of it, seeing the hallway split off into the old section with the baths, the locked crystal room, and the new section. I headed back into the new area, trying doors until I opened one to find a cute little dorm room. Sitting on her brand new bed was a very happy fox and she rushed over to greet me.
“Keeper Josh, or is it Lord Josh now?” Sliva said, brushing her hand against my arm.
I shook my head and chuckled. “Sliva, it's just Josh. Besides, shouldn't I be calling you some kind of honourable title?”
“Mama fox is fine for my favourite follower,” Sliva said, taking my hand.
She led me to a plush mat by her bedside and turned up the clay heater. I looked around the sparse dorm and felt a twinge of embarrassment. I knew we didn’t have a ton of funds, but Sliva was a powerful priestess to the goddess that gifted me magic. I should try and give her a more comfortable living arrangement. It might even be some kind of test.
“Now before you get it in your head that I’m fussy I’ll have you know I rather like this. It’s quaint and easy to clean,” Sliva said, essentially reading my mind. “I have a new soft bed, a desk and a comfy chair beside a fireplace, what more could I want?”
I scratched at the back of my head and looked at her skeptically. “Do you have the same talent Rolada does-”
“A woman never shares her secrets,” Sliva said, touching my lips with the tip of her finger. “Now shirt off, face down. We really need to untie these spell lines in your body. I might be partly to blame for this mess, I did patch you up in a hurry.”
“No, no. Me getting caught was the problem, and the fact I’m standing here is thanks to you.” I said, seeing Sliva’s ears droop. I gave her a big hug, and when I squeezed her I heard a very Rolada-like giggle. “Now that’s super cute.”
“Cute!” Sliva said, feigning offense. “I’ll have you know I specialize in being attractive, alluring, and captivating.”
I looked down at the short curvy woman to see her pouting. I scratched behind her ears, and slowly swirled my fingers around their bases. I continued moving down and scratched her scalp, getting me an instant response. Sliva’s eyes rolled back and she slumped into my chest, letting out a sound that was a mix of a purr and a moan.
“I have taught you very well,” Sliva said dreamily.
“It’s really helped with the other two,” I said, smirking.
“Now quit it.” Sliva’s sharp tone was accented by a playful slap onto my armour, and she pointed at the mat. “Don’t make me show you some of my more entertaining spells. I can strip you nude before you blink.”
My eyes widened and I looked at my gear. “You can do that? Can you show me? It would be so helpful to strip plate armour off my foes…”
My voice died down as Sliva’s expression soured. I didn’t want to test a woman who was exponentially more powerful than I. If there was one thing I had learned from table top games, it was that a high level cleric could wreck house, patch you up and beat you senseless again, all in one sitting.
My armour, cloak and undershirt were in a neat stack beside the mat and I lowered myself down. I felt my hands shake and I collapsed down into the soft folds, groaning. My back still hurt and I had noticed a few days ago that there were weird scars crisscrossing my back. Now being exposed to the dry heat of the clay heater they started to ache too.
“Goddess guide me with your gentle hands. Hold still, this might hurt,” Sliva said, placing her palm onto my back.
I felt a jolt of pure power strike my back and I jerked back. I twisted in place and felt all my nerves go off at once making me flop like a fish on the bed. Sliva jumped onto the mat, pinning my arms and chanted a spell which locked up my joints holding me in place.
Willpower Save : Failure!
“W-what?” I asked between my teeth, unable to move my jaw.
Sliva wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead and leaned back on her knees, straddling my waist. She looked concerned and traced her fingers from my collarbone down towards my stomach, letting magical sparks touch my skin.
“Way too many frayed ends and burnt spell lines, I pretty much need to rebuild them. Now this spell paralyzes you for a short time so you won’t feel a thing. Unless you're some kind of masochist and want to,” Sliva said.
“G-go ahead, I trust you,” I said slowly.
Sliva nodded and stripped off her sweater to cool off. I could see she was concentrating on the spell holding me in place and was still casting new ones to heal me. That had to take an incredible amount of mental fortitude, and using so much magic at once had to be building up inside her.
Sliva stretched over me, touching my still hands with hers and pushing her bust into my face. I tried to look away respectfully, but it was hard not to look with them being right there. As Sliva ran her nails down my wrists I felt the smallest tingle run down my arms as she whispered a spell.
I couldn’t follow the fast flowing words and closed my eyes focusing on myself. I could see wherever she touched the magical lines reknit themselves, forging stronger bonds. Already I could feel my magic returning to what it had been before the incident and I felt my heart leap with joy. Without access to my spells I felt like I had been missing a piece of myself.
Then again I learned quite quickly how messy I was and how often I was relying on Arcane Trick to clean up my spills before someone noticed. I let out a happy sigh and eased back letting Sliva’s magic hold me in place. As Sliva reached my shoulders I felt her warm breath touch my cheek and I opened my eyes to see her looking into mine.
The door popped open and Rolada stuck her head inside. “Hey mom, I was thinking for dinner tonight we could…make…a…”
Sliva and I froze in place and looked out the corner of our eyes to see a very surprised fox girl standing at the doorway. Rolada’s mouth hung open and I could see her doing the mental gymnastics trying to figure out what she saw.
Rolada then went bright red and hissed. “Mom, you promised!”