Dinner was a pleasant bit of torture. While the girls and I had been on the road, we’d managed to eat passably well, if not with much variety. The girls were insistent on making sure we got a chance to try as many dishes that the eatery had on offer as possible and familiarize ourselves once more with good food. And by the end, I had eaten so much that I felt like I was going to burst.
I ended up trying a bit of everything from the tarts, cut fruits, breads, meats, and everything else that was brought out. The ‘salted bread’ that Kassandra had asked for turned out to be dense, narrow loaves shaped like batons and studded with salt. As soon as I saw them, I recognized the pretzel bread for what it was. All three of us enjoyed those, though the girls argued over the best sauce to dip them in.
The girls went through a bottle of wine between the two of them, while I stuck with my tea to keep a clear head.
While we ate, I made sure to do my job as a guard and eyed the room at irregular intervals. No one came over to make trouble, even as the restaurant got busier and busier. I caught the group of wolf kin students staring at our table several times. More than a few of them glared, but averted their eyes when I caught them looking.
I finally recognized the group, as I spotted the familiar fur-pattern of the trio of wolf kin women that had tried to confront Kassandra and I previously on a date. Lady Josephine was with the group as well, but seemed to be pointedly ignoring us in favor of holding court over her group of subordinates.
When we had eaten the last morsel and the wine bottle was empty for the girls, we agreed that it was time to head back to Juneau, as it was already late.
I could see the tiredness creeping in on my girl’s faces, so I ushered them outside. Rieka left a small pile of coins on the table for the server, who had been dutiful the entire meal.
Emerging into the cool night air of Kintos, I took a deep breath and wrinkled my nose slightly. While the city did not stink as much as one might have expected for the apparent era of the setting, it did have a collection of unpleasant scents to it. The smell of animals, of a distant tannery, and just the general smell of so many people packed into tight confines. After spending the week in the mountains surrounded by only nature and the scent of my girls, it was a bit grating.
It took little urging to get us on the road out of town. The city guards had already closed the main gates for the night, but a smaller wicket gate sat to one side that they were letting pedestrians through. A row of carriages sat just outside the gate in a small stableyard, many with the crest of Juneau Academy on them and a few with personal crests.
The guards gave us odd looks as our trio started down the road towards Juneau without even glancing at the carriages, but did not stop us. I felt eyes boring into us until the road turned such that the city gate was no longer visible.
“I would bet that the city guard sends a few men out on horses to trail us until we get to Juneau,” Kassandra said with a meaningful look at Rieka.
“Which is silly. If I can leave town to camp in the wild, then I am perfectly safe walking between Kintos and Juneau,” Rieka grumbled back.
Both of my girls’ voices held the slight slurring of alcohol, but I noted that their hands remained close to their spell rods and they did not ignore their surroundings. Which was a good sign. If they had been truly drunk, then I would have had to insist that we take one of the carriages from the gate if they were for hire.
To ensure that nothing snuck up on us, I quietly shifted my eyes to give myself an owl’s night vision. The change cast the dim world in shades of gray and white now, but I could see clearly all around us.
“Liam? Do you need me to get out one of the light stones?” Rieka’s question came unexpectedly, and I glanced over at her in surprise. My wolf-eared princess jumped in surprise when she saw the changes to my face before giggling. “That was a silly question, wasn’t it? Of course you don’t need light, you’ve got your powers.”
“If you two need it, feel free to use one. I don’t need it though and it might be better to not telegraph our presence with one. I know you two feel like you should be safe, but I’m still a bit jumpy after the kobold ambush earlier.”
“I knew we forgot something!” Kassandra snapped her fingers suddenly to go with her exclamation and made both of us jump. “We never did stop by the Hunt and Trade Hall. It’s too late now, but we can do it in the morning when we take Liam to get clothes and drop the armor off to be repaired.”
I know that I probably should have felt chills at the idea of clothes shopping, but all I felt was warmth at the idea that my girls cared enough about my appearance to want to make sure I looked good. It was a comforting feeling that welled up in my chest like a bloom of warmth against a cold night.
“Yeah, that is a good idea. Better to discharge the missions we picked up and let them know about the kobolds as soon as we can,” Rieka agreed. She stumbled slightly on something in the road and grabbed hold of my right arm to steady herself. Once her footing was better, Rieka remained clinging to my right arm.
Kassandra was not oblivious to her friend’s antics and pouted slightly up at me. Due to her much smaller height, it was impossible for Kassandra to replicate the feat comfortably, but I blew her a kiss to reassure her and she winked up at me.
“But back to the subject of a light,” Kassandra said to return us to the topic. “While Liam is right that we don’t need it, if we approach the curtain wall of Juneau without something to make us stand out. The wall guards might get grumpy.”
Her words made sense, and Rieka fished one of the light stones from her pouch. Its glow was dim, as the magic that Kassandra had enchanted them with was beginning to fade, but it was enough to ensure no one tripped and the guards called a challenge when we were about twenty feet from the wall. Once Rieka held the stone up enough to illuminate her and Kassandra’s faces, the guards were quick to open the wicket gate for the academy and let us inside.
The walk through the countryside had been refreshing. And, while Juneau was another walled compound, it wasn’t nearly as densely populated as Kintos had been. This was because they could import most of their minor necessities from the town. So the air still smelled fresh and cool without the earlier ‘city’ smells to disturb it.
We made it to the brick construction of Rue House where the girls slept and I glanced between them with a smile as my vision flashed and my System-assigned mission completed itself.
Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye, with their missions for the next nine days and return them safely home.
Reward - 3100 SP
COMPLETED
“Well, that’s it then. I hope you two have a good night,” I said, expecting one of them to send me back home.
Normally, I would be looking forward to a shower, but the bathhouse we had gone to earlier had taken care of that need wonderfully. My girls didn’t move though, shooting me twin amused looks.
“Liam, did you forget that we had planned to have you stay with us till your summon expired?” Kassandra was the first to speak, and my mischievous lover was grinning as I sighed and shook my head.
“You are right. I had forgotten. I guess it’s just a habit from when we finish our missions.”
“Not for long it isn’t,” Kassandra purred, slithering about to wind herself around my legs so she could climb up me to drape her arms over my neck and give me a kiss. “Rieka and I plan to have you with us as often as possible from now on. It’s not like we don’t have the resources, even allocating some for our estates.”
“She’s right, Liam. Kass and I talked earlier about it. She gets you tonight, and you’ll stay in my room tomorrow night.” Rieka cuddled into my side before standing on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss against my cheek. She was blushing. I could tell from the heat radiating off her face and into my neck.
“Ah… well then, let's get you two up to your rooms?” I replied with a grin, turning to kiss the tip of Rieka’s nose, making her squeak in surprise.
“Yes. Lets,” Kassandra purred directly into my ear, sending a thrill down my spine. She followed up the statement with a giggle that left absolutely no illusions in my mind of what she had planned. And, from the way Rieka’s face heated up again when she buried it in my neck, I knew my princess was having the same thoughts.
Swallowing hard, I stuffed my libido in chains for a moment as a thought came to me. I had been meaning to bring something up with them, and I needed to get this out before I either forgot or my girls distracted me again. It was a bit of a rehash, but I wanted Rieka to be on equal footing and I would rather over-communicate the points than not.
“Okay you two, before we do that I wanted to have a talk with you both.” Kassandra swayed back slightly at my statement, worry in her slitted brown eyes that I was quick to allay. “No, not a bad talk. I just wanted to make sure to say something.”
“Okay, go ahead and say what you need, Liam.” Rieka was the one to speak up next, leaning back as well so she could look at me, but not releasing her grip on my side. A tendril of her blonde hair had worked free of her braid and was dancing across her face in the light breeze.
“Look, I don’t know exactly what sort of relationship we have here, since we aren’t trying to apply labels to it,” I said to begin, before pausing to take a deep breath and steel myself. “I know that I love both of you deeply, and I do not want to lose either of you. On that front, I wanted to make sure that you both understood that fact, and what I believe we need to do to ensure all of us remain happy.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Oh?” Kassandra’s worry had dissolved after I said that I loved both of them. Now, she was just smiling softly at me while she waited. “Do tell us, Liam. What can we do to make you happy?” She teasingly traced the tip of one finger over my chest as she spoke.
I rolled my eyes at her for a moment, never letting my smile drop, before I responded. “It might sound cliche to you two, but in my world, they study relationships and how to maintain them. Again, not asking you two to define our relationship,” I cut them both off as they opened their mouths to speak, and the girls relented. “But there are three pillars that are the foundations of a strong relationship. Trust, communication, and respect. We need to be able to trust each other not to hurt each other intentionally, communicate openly and honestly in all things so we know where we stand in situations and what we each need, and respect each other to ensure we remain equal in love. Make sense?”
Both girls nodded, smiling once more. Rieka’s sky-blue eyes twinkled in the dim light leaking through the windows of Rue House, while Kassandra’s sparkled in the moonlight while the lamplight lit up her curls.
“Our Liam is very straightforward, I like that,” Kassandra cooed happily.
“Agreed. Our Liam is a good man, and I know that I am happy for that,” Rieka added with a smile. “Do you want to define it, Kass?”
The serpentine woman nodded, crossing her arms under her bust so she cupped her right elbow in her left hand while tapping her lips with her right hand thoughtfully. She hummed for several long seconds before nodding.
“Liam, are you worried about the fact we are noble-born? That we might have arranged marriages or the like? You mentioned it to me before, but I can see that same worry in your eyes now.” Kassandra asked, her eyes turning serious behind the glass of her spectacles.
I grimaced, but nodded in agreement with her statement. The fear had haunted the back of my mind ever since I’d been intimate with Kassandra. I was just a transient in their world. I couldn’t actually marry either of these two. Since my home was back on Earth, that limited how much I could interact with them.
“Then don’t worry about that anymore.” Kassandra’s statement pulled my attention back to her, and she was smiling again. “I can guarantee you that my parents would never dare try to engage me without my consent. They know that is a terrible choice, and I would fight it with all my heart. Besides, women can inherit in the Queendom. I have many years left of fertility to produce heirs, and I think I know who would volunteer to help me if I had a need for that.” Kassandra’s smile turned wicked, and I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks as she leaned closer. “You are our Liam, and we are your girls. I am your Kassandra, and she’s your Rieka. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. Not unless we want it to be.”
I glanced over at Rieka when Kassandra indicated her, and the platinum-blonde wolf-woman nodded while blushing furiously. “She’s right, Liam. My mother has three heirs ahead of me in the line of succession. She already told me that I will not be called on for a political marriage. That's why I wasn’t worried about… coupling with you the other day.” Rieka’s blush grew even worse.
“My Rieka?” I asked gently, and she gave me a soft smile.
“Yes, I’m your Rieka. My Liam,” she murmured before burying her face in my neck.
“Good girl!” Kassandra chirped, making Rieka’s body shudder slightly and her tail stiffen. I filed that reaction away in my head with a small smile before pressing a kiss to the edge of one of Rieka’s ears.
“You both promise to tell me if I do anything that bothers you?” Rieka nodded in agreement with my statement, but Kassandra, my wonderful little Nugget, smirked broadly.
“As long as you tell us if you find another woman attractive. You are quite a vigorous lover, my Liam. With Rieka here to share the load it will help some, but you are going to need a few other distractions for us to point you at when we are tired.”
“Kass!” Rieka’s protest was loud enough to echo off the buildings, and she immediately winced at the noise.
“What? It’s true, I’m sure you are still a bit bow-legged from yesterday, even after recuperating and the stretch from hiking back to town,” Kassandra teased devilishly. “Not that I’m complaining. I love it when Liam puts a kink in my tail. So very satisfying…” Kassandra let the sentence trail off with a cheerful hum before shaking herself once, like she was shaking water off. “Anyway! Do not fret on all that, Liam. Your pillars are true and we will abide by them as long as you do the same. Just make sure you bring any new girls that catch your eye to us so that we can vet them first. None but the best for our Liam.”
“Yes… none but the best.” I almost missed Rieka’s murmured statement in the wake of Kassandra’s, but the feeling of her breath on my neck tuned my ear to listen for her words.
The idea that my girls might be okay with another joining their number in the intimacy side startled me, and also brought up a thought that made my stomach roll. After my statement about open communication, I knew that I needed to say it aloud. Otherwise, I was going to be the greatest of hypocrites.
“On that note, and in the spirit of communication I mentioned earlier, I… uh… I am not comfortable sharing you two with another man.” The words fell in a rush from my lips and I braced for their response.
My girls’ reactions startled me though. They didn’t shout, complain, or even grump. I expected them to at least tease me.
They burst into laughter.
“Liam…” Kassandra worked out between giggles. Her amusement made her coils tense around me rhythmically, but my increased fortitude ensured that the pressure didn’t bother me. “Oh Liam, you never need to worry about that. You are more than enough for me.”
“Seconded,” Rieka choked out between giggles. “You see me as a person, rather than a princess. I’ve been turning away courtiers for years now, because none of them could see past my rank. Why would I want to go back to those complications?”
“Because it’s not fair to monopolize you two when you just said you were okay with another girl for me?” I didn’t want to voice the question, but I had to have an answer to it.
“Because we are. Besides, we might also be interested in them too,” Kassandra continued to giggle, but threw in an eyebrow waggle alongside an exaggerated wink. “Don’t worry about that, Liam. I personally have no problem agreeing with that condition.”
“Aye. Same for me,” Rieka said, coughing out the last few giggles. “I never questioned it to begin with, which is why I laughed.”
I gathered both of my girls tight to my chest in a hug that held all my love for them. Both girls cooed happily and burrowed into the hug, enjoying the closeness in that moment under the starry sky.
Surprisingly, it was Kassandra who stirred first and gently pushed back from me after a handful of moments.
“We should get inside. I don’t know about you two, but I’m in dire need of a bed.” She shot me a devilish look full of desire before continuing. “Also, I want my time with Liam. I’ve been wet thinking about it since we agreed during dinner. And it's been hard not showing it since I don’t wear underwear.”
The thought that my dwarf lamia sat pressed tight against me, only her short skirt preventing her bare body from pressing into my abdomen, immediately sent an emergency alert to divert blood to another appendage for active duty.
“Oh, I think he’s excited by that, Kass,” Rieka laughed and I felt a hand grip the front of my pants and squeeze gently. “Why don’t you head up to your room and prepare while Liam walks me to my door for a goodnight kiss?”
Grinning madly, Kassandra nodded so fast her curls bounced emphatically before unwinding from around me to drop to the ground. She slithered straight for the door to Rue House, only pausing long enough to shoot me a sultry look over her shoulder and lick her lips before ducking inside.
“Such a randy little thing,” Rieka chuckled before turning her attention back to me. “Shall we head inside?”
“Milady,” I shifted to offer my arm to Rieka.
“Milord, thank you,” she replied, accepting my arm with an elaborate curtsy using an imaginary skirt.
We walked in Kassandra’s wake. But, by the time we got to the door of the dorm building, there was no sign of our redheaded companion. Kassandra had already made it up the stairs and to her room, it seemed.
“Ah, good, she’s already out of sight,” Rieka breathed in relief. “You mentioned before that you wanted honesty, Liam? I wanted to fill you in on her moment of temper earlier this evening.”
I reflected for a moment, trying to remember Kassandra losing her temper. Then it came flooding back to me, when I had expressed surprise at her being the one tracking my funds. Apparently, Rieka was watching my face as I guided her up the stairs and nodded when she saw the realization in my eyes.
“Yes, that one. Kass comes from a merchant family, but many of the nobles look down on her for it. They don’t think about the fact that her family received elevation because of those merchant connections. They just hound her about it.” She rolled her eyes in response to my amused look at her using ‘hound’ to describe her people. “Shush you. Seriously, though, she is very proud of her merchant connections and knowledge, as well as her money management skills. It’s one of the few sore spots she has, and she’ll react even more negatively to one of us poking at it.”
“Got it. I didn’t really have any issues with her managing the money, you know?” I replied as we reached Rieka’s door and she fumbled in her pouch for the key.
“Oh? What was it then? You said that it surprised you,” Rieka asked distractedly while she got the large brass key slotted into the door.
“What surprised me was that she had the book detailing it on her at the time. It doesn’t seem like something she would need to carry about with her.” I pushed the door open for Rieka, quickly scanning the room before guiding her inside and letting the door close behind us.
“Oh? Why didn’t you say that?” Rieka tilted her head to one side curiously, causing her ears to flop over in their adorable manner.
“I panicked when she looked so upset, and my brain disconnected from my mouth,” I sighed, getting a giggle from my princess.
“Well, go make it up to her now. Put that ‘kink’ in her tail so she’s satisfied. We can go have some fun tomorrow, sell off what we are able, and set you up with a real account with the Kintos bank to secure your coins. Just remember, you are mine tomorrow night.” Rieka’s words tickled my face, her breath lightly scented with the fruity wine she had drank with dinner as she went in for a kiss.
I didn’t fight it, instead turning to pin her to the closed door and soundly kiss my princess back. Rieka let out a low groan into my mouth, clinging to me as her hips ground against my leg in response to my affections. We kissed several more times before she bodily pushed me back.
“Go to Kass! I don’t want to get in trouble for stealing her turn, and if you keep doing that, I’m going to,” Rieka protested weakly, her full chest heaving in the close fitting shirt.
“Okay, but one more mark for my princess first,” I murmured into her ear, sending a shiver through her entire body that was repeated when my lips met her neck. Rieka whined feebly and pawed at my shirt while I suckled and nipped at her throat, leaving a fresh bruise over top of the others for her. “Until tomorrow, my Rieka,” I whispered in her ear. She nodded furiously before shoving me out the door and locking it behind me.
Way too much fun to tease her, I thought with a smile, sauntering down to where I knew Kassandra’s room was. I’d only had to find it a few times, but I wouldn’t forget after that first time having to carry her freezing body there to warm her.
Finding the right door, I knocked lightly and heard a faint voice tell me to enter.
Opening the door a crack, I slipped into the room and shut it behind me, then locked it. A moment later I heard a murmur from Kassandra before a light flashed dully in the room.
“There we go. Soundproofing spell in place, so I can be as loud as I want,” Kassandra said huskily from behind me.
I turned to see her stretching languorously to lay her spell rod on the bedside table. My delicious and sweet Nugget was already stripped bare for me, sprawled across the soft coverlet of her bed with every one of her curves on display. A fire rumbled in the grate, sending a billow of warmth through the room and a flickering light dancing amongst her curls and over her shimmering scales as she lounged there naked.
“Are you coming to bed, my Liam?” Kassandra purred alluringly, cupping one breast in her palm and squeezing it. The motion sent alluring shadows rippling over her pale, freckled skin.
“Like you need to ask, my Kassandra,” I shot back and began peeling out of my clothes rapidly. Meanwhile, Kassandra let her hands drift lower to tease her body and my eyes.