Benjamin’s eyes flew wide as the five of them entered the baths at the base of the tree, or at least he thought it might have been the base of the tree. That assumption was quickly dissipating as he took in the massive entanglement of roots that seemed to create a natural dome that was elegantly bisected by intricately woven draping green moss. “We’re underground?” he asked at last noticing low moss screening that acted as a doorway between the two sections. The screens were draped over a low bar 6 or so feet overhead, which was not so for Benjamin. The space was clearly built for the more diminutive Farie race, “Over here Benjamin.” He turned to see Jukha nodding to the right-hand screen and Vilora guided the sisters to the opposite side.
Benjamin followed him in, slipping between the moss strands to find a massive steaming body of water surrounded by interwoven roots that seemed to make up the edge of the pool. Benjamin turned back to Juka to find the Orc already up to his waist in the water with his clothes laid out on a table near a wall alcove. Benjamin raised an eyebrow and Jukha just laughed, “Hurry up pink skin, our clothes will be returned to us when we leave. Get in, I can smell last night on you from here!” Benjamin flashed beet red, which only made Jukha laugh all the harder, and He quickly disrobed before hastily followed the Orc into the pool.
Jukha settled down, chortling to himself at Benjamin’s expression. “Worry not, Pink Skin. I don’t fault you. You are but a victim of your own success.” Benjamin settled down into the muscle soothing waters, still mildly glaring at Jukha, but more in embarrassment now, “My own success?” he asked cautiously. Jukha regarded him for a moment. The two of them were alone on this side of the baths, at least as participants. Vin attendants bustled about, and the two men’s clothes quickly disappeared as they relaxed in the water.
“Benjamin, you saved their lives, showed them both kindness and dignity, and put your own life on the line for them more than once. My biggest surprise is that it took them this long to bed you.” Jukha explained. Benjamin sighed, “What am I supposed to do, Jukha. They told me their people’s full history… It’s some fucked up shit… and it’s nuk… Uh… destroyed my plans to get them to Meridia. I’ll never be able to return to the Principality with them as free, and they have no interest in leaving me” He bowed his head, “Truth is, the nightmares are less with them around. I don’t want them gone any more than I want them as my property.”
Jukha nodded before clamping his friend on the shoulder, “You’ve got it bad, Pink Skin.” He slapped Benjamin on the back hard enough to send him sprawling into the middle of the pool with a crashing splash, and Ben surfaced to Jukha’s bellowing guffaws, giving in to the infectious cleansing laughter.
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Jukha’s laugh was heard through the thick screen separating the men’s and women’s baths, and Viola looked worriedly at Vilora, “Everything is fine. Jukha likes to think He’s funny” The Farie smiled, “How are you two, last night was more… exciting…. than I had expected. I hope my sister wasn’t too intense.” She was sunk up to her chin in the steaming water, floating contentedly in place. Viola blushed slightly, “She was kind. I was worried Benjamin was going to kill someone…” she admitted.
“As was I.” A familiar voice startled the three of them as the Queen, Vilora’s sister, stepped into the bath. “I’ve not seen someone that protective of supposed slaves in a long time.” She stated before waving the girls away from bowing to her, “Oh don’t start that” she said in a strangely motherly tone, “No bowing and scraping here, and no apologies. It was a miscalculation on my part. I meant to test what my sister told me about him, but I very nearly got the head of my palace guard crushed to death. He’s a deeply wounded soul, is he not?”
“He is, my lady. He still has nightmares of his own death.” Viola admitted softly. “Is your vassal well?” The Queen disrobed quickly, slipping into the bath and settling into the water next to her sister, “She is. We’ve had a long time to perfect healing our own. She should be out of the hands of our healers by this morning.” She floated there for a second, gauging the two Aereesin women, “Were your accommodations to your liking?” She asked after a moment, smiling at the flushed expressions of Vi and Val, “Good, I pray his view of my people is not permanently harmed. We may need him in the coming future.” Everyone gave her a strange look of confusion and worry. The Vin Monarch continued, “While I do not wish to be pragmatic, the decision is sometimes removed from my hands. If what he showed us last night is accurate to our world, then some of the reports made by my spies are… lining up.”
“Sister, what is going on?” Vilora asked, eyeing the queen with a knowing gaze. Victoria only smiled sadly, “That you may need to return from retirement… Many things have been happening over the last 2-300 years. I did not want to request that of you, until I was sure.” The Queen’s gaze was apologetic for a moment, but then shook herself, “But that is a conversation for tomorrow. You’ve only just arrived.” She reached for her sister’s hand, squeezing it before turning to the Aereesin women. “And the three of you have earned your rest. Take Benjamin to the eastern gate. It leads to the gardens. You three could use some time to unwind.” With that, the Queen stepped out of the bath, picking up her almost miraculously appearing and cleaned clothes before departing.
“So….?” Vilora asked with a coy smile, “What was that all about? She only recommends the Eastern Gardens unless…” The Aereesin sisters blushed brightly. “Oh dear, both of you?”
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Benjamin stepped out of the men’s side of the bath in perfectly clean and pressed clothes. The fact that they were the exact pair of clothes that he stepped into the bath with, was only mildly dumbfounding. He still had to remind himself on occasion that Majik was a thing, despite his blatant abuse of it in the last 24 hours. He heard an unintelligible conversation happening in the other half of the bath, but he could tell who the participants were. He elected to step out into the hall since he could technically look over the “door” if he tried. His mind spun with Jukha’s words mixed this mornings, and the previous night’s, events and revelations. He opened the door to the corridor, stepping out just in time to be impacted in the side.
A dainty “oof” accompanied the impact, followed by a quiet gasp of surprise mixed with terror and a loud clattering of metal. He looked down to find a Farie scrambling away from him with a horrified expression. Watched her for a moment, his confusion giving way to recognition as he remembered the guard from the night before, “Hey, hey, hey, its ok. I won’t hurt you.” Benjamin knelt down, offering a hand to the panicked woman as she paused her mad backward scooting scramble. “Your Vailin.”
The Farie froze at her name, slowly nodding before tentatively taking his hand to help her stand. “I.. am..” She said shakily, and Benjamin stayed kneeling to be nearer her eye level. “Are you well?”
“I am.. The healers here are quite good. It did not take them long to fix my ribs.” She said, a hint of challenge rising in her voice as she recovered from her original shocked fear. Benjamin winced, “Three.” He said, and the Farie’s eyes widened, “I broke three of them, and a punctured lung… I… felt them give. I was hoping to meet you, to apologize.” He said quietly. Vailin huffed, glaring at him, “I don’t understand it. Why are you protecting those two. Aereesin are…”
Benjamin raised his hand, “I know what they are,” His voice turned firm for a moment, and a spark of fear returned to the Farie in front of him. “Where I am from, all slavery is considered evil. My ancestors fought a war to free everyone, no matter creed, color, or worldview.” Benjamin began, his gentle tone returning. “I don’t expect you to understand, and I am truly sorry for hurting you.” Benjamin looked to the pile of ruined armor that had obviously been cut off Vailin. Benjamin recalled the image of what the armor looked and felt like the night before, and slowly opened his hand toward the pieces of metal. Vailin’s eyes widened in terror, but she remained frozen in place as the metal shrieked and groaned before a burst of heat made her flinch. Benjamin had friction heated the armor pieces into a workable state, reforging them into the armor that she was wearing the night before. This armor, even if it was still only iron, had no forge marks, no seams, and was devoid of even the smallest impurity. The armor repaired, Benjamin pulled the heat out of the metal smoothly, removing any stresses in the grain of the material. The cooled armor settled onto the floor, and he stood, “A piece offering. You may take it to the Forgemaster if you wish, but as a Forgemaster myself, I can vouch for its quality.”
Vailin stood, picking up the pieces and inspecting them before looking up at him sharply, “I… Thank you.” She stated, “I still can’t comprehend your actions, but I can accept your apology.” Benjamin watched her quickly gather up her armor, not wanting to agitate her any further, and soon she was marching off down the hallway.
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“Cosmos chose well,” Benjamin whirled to face the Queen of the Vin, hovering just at eye level. “Tell me Benjamin, this threat Suelin saved you for, do you think it to be H’mure?” Benjamin shrugged, “I have no idea, but considering what I’ve been told about that war, and considering the fact that you are sill missing an entire land mass from your maps…” He let his voice trail off before his face hardened. “All I know is that I was sent here ‘early’ to give me a time of ‘peace’… I’ve failed to see the peace I’ve been promised.” Ben practically spat, eliciting a complicated expression for the Vin monarch. “I, see. We will talk later. For today, enjoy the mother tree and her bounty. Good day to you, Benjamin.” With that, the Queen fluttered away, choosing to float on her wings instead of walk.
Benjamin watched her go, leaning his shoulder against the hallway’s wall. It seemed that whether a Farie chose to fly or walk was almost completely personal preference. He had seen perfectly healthy Vin do both regularly, but it seemed that all of them were capable of extended periods of flight if they so desired. “Ben? Are you well?” Ben turned to see Vi and Val, in perfectly pressed clean clothes of their own, standing next to him. “I’m… fine. Just thinking.” He mused only to be surprised as Viola openly stood on her tippy toes wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed herself to his chest, and kissed him deeply for a moment, “Thinking less now.” Ben smiled down at her satisfied expression, “So, what do we do now. The Queen seems content to leave us to our own devices.”
“East” Viola looked down and smiled as Valtrya barely whispered the word, “yes, the east gate,” She finished for her sister. “The Queen told us of a supposedly wonderous garden attached to the east gate.” She looked around confused for a moment, “Um… how do we find out which way east is…” The three of them began walking back the way they had come until meeting an attendant who directed them towards the gardens. The eastern gate was another grown/carved opening in the base of the tree, but this one lead directly into a hedgerow rimmed ornate arrangement of fastidiously cared for walkways winding through vast tapestries of ornately arranged flowerbeds. Ben, Vi, and Val began wandering the pathways, hands intertwined.
The Palace/mothertree quickly disappeared behind them, and Benjamin found a secluded spot in a natural looking alcove of trees. He stepped off the path, settling down onto the densely packed grass. He lay on his back, looking up at the canopy of trees before sitting up as Vi and Val sat down next to him. “This is beautiful” Viola breathed, slipping up next to Benjamin and leaning in to kiss him on the neck. “It is,” he said, pulling her in for a proper kiss, “the garden is pretty nice too” He responded, smiling at her reaction. Benjamin turned to pull Val into an embrace of her own, only this time it was his turn to kiss her lightly on nape of her neck. Val and Vi shivered at his touch before melting into his embrace, “About this morning.” He said finally. He let his awkwardness show, still unsure of how he was supposed to show affection without leaving one of the sisters out. Viola gave him a careful expression and he shook his head, “Hey, I’m not complaining. It was..” he pulled Vi in for another kiss, “amazing.” He said as he finished. “It was just a surprise. One I should probably have seen coming.”
“Benjamin, If you don’t want to..” Viola began but Ben shook his head, “No” he said firmly, “It hurts to think of you as property, but it hurts the same to think of you leaving. I don’t know how to reconcile the two yet, but I want this..” He reached out pulling both into a tight embrace, “Maybe the Cosmos orchestrated it, maybe it was all random chance; but I’ve come to care for both of you. My question is, are you ok with me being 20? I’m barely considered an adult where I came from. I was still in school to be an Engineer. I was going to join the army, serve my country, then work creating… machines…” He stumbled slightly, not quite sure how to explain modern firearms to anyone.
Viola’s eyes softened, “Benjamin, we may have lived a century; but we were never allowed to learn, to thrive. You gave us that. You’re far more mature than many who have owned us before.” She winced at his pained expression but continued, “You’ve taught us what kindness is. You’ve shown us gentleness, even in bed. You’ve fiercely, if sometimes over exuberantly, protected us. Even if you were to wished us your slaves, you are someone we would gladly serve until our death. If you were to order it, we would gladly gift you eternity, bear your children, and happily live as your ‘property’ through the eons.” Viola fell silent, letting Benjamin process her words… She watched a complicated sequence of emotions play on his face for a moment. “Ben..ja..min, I.. stay.. Please.. don’t make…leave.” Val’s broken sentence pulled Benjamin from his own mind. He rubbed her cheek lightly with a thumb, wiping away an escaping tear. “I… I don’t think I can… not anymore… I promised you that I wouldn’t force you to do anything you don’t wish to do… If this is what you want, I won’t force you to leave. The rest I’ll have to fig…” He was interrupted by two gorgeous bodies impacting him and driving him to his back. “Ok, ok,” He laughed, “but not here. I’m sure there are ears and eyes everywhere, and I’m not sure I want my second time to be in public.”
Viola sat up abruptly, “you’re second time? You mean…” and Benjamin smiled sheepishly, “Yea… I haven’t made love, with anyone, before this morning.” Val sat up with a bright flush on her face and looked to her sister, “Val wants to know how you knew where to kiss us… You were… good.” Benjamin blushed brightly, “I tried to be gentle. The rest I just followed your lead…” The sisters looked at each other before Val spoke softly, “made…love?” Benjamin froze for a second before a gentle smile spread across his features, “Human’s have many words for… that. Most of them are for just casual copulation. Sex, Fucking, Hook up, those are all doing it for lust or personal gratification.” Benjamin said, “When It’s done because two people care for one another and want to give themselves to each other. When you’re invested in making it feel good for them, and they’re invested in making it feel good for you. It’s called making love.”
A long silence settled between them. Finally, Viola leaned in, eyes glistening as she pulled his forehead to hers, “Then it was also a first for us. We’ve never… made love… before, either.” After a long moment, the three of them stood, and the sisters pulled themselves close to Ben. They spent the rest of the morning wandering the gardens, only interrupted by a profound rumbling from Val’s stomach that reminded all that they had not eaten yet today. As they worked their way back the way they had come, Benjamin noticed a side exit between the hedgerows, and a chatter of a strange language escaped through the forest. On a whim, he veered off following the sound through the well-manicured doorway, and into some kind of training area.
Several Vin in armor were fluttering around an arena to clash into each other in a flurry of blows. Further away, a few Vin were standing in front of a line of targets. Benjamin heard the crackle of electricity as familiar blue-white streaks of lightning flashed out, scoring the targets. He recognized a few of the lancers from the night before and began to wave politely to them. He was Interrupted by a tall being he had never seen before. The black-armor clad figure’s tapered breastplate, and wide hips betrayed her as female, she easily stood 4 inches taller than Benjamin, who was already well over 6ft tall. She crossed one of her two sets of powerfully built arms, resting the second pair on her hips and scowled down at him fiercely. Her blue eyes seemed to be inlaied into a striking, if not classically beautiful face. Her deep tanned skin, and vaguely angular features were topped with shortly cut brunette curls and punctuated by a mouth of disconcertingly pointed teeth. “Training personnel only…” She paused looking back to the nervous expression of the lancers behind her, “Ah, so you’re the one who threatened an entire squad of my best students, over these, no less.” She scoffed at the sisters. Benjamin’s face flashed with fury, but he forced himself to remain calm. Prejudice, he could not control, but the Queen had offered them her protection, so there was no true threat here, probably. “My apologies, we were looking for a mess hall, or a dining area. We’ve not eaten today.” He forced a pleasant tone into his voice. The titanic woman regarded him for a moment before a not so pleasant smile crossed her lips. “Food is being brought here, if you wish to stay; but it is only for those participating in training. Do you wish to train while you wait? I’ll even make an exception for your… females… should you join us in the pursuit of the martial discipline?”
Benjamin thought for a moment, ‘I need to learn these weapons at some point’ He thought, “Sure. You may need to start at the beginning. Fighting with sword and lance is not done where I come from.”
The giant armored woman raised an eyebrow and grinned, “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” She flashed her terrifying teeth down at Benjamin, and he began to regret his decision immediately, ‘Well, this is gonna hurt.”