Jukha smiled broadly as the two Aereseen women mauled Benjamin with affection for a moment before donning the bonding gifts Benjamin had forged for them. Vilora, for her part, stayed silent until the room had calmed. “Benjamin, I assume your mind is set, and I suspected that this would be the path you would choose.” The Vin withdrew a piece of parchment with official looking writing scribed upon it. “I guess, you can consider this my bonding gift to you.” She handed it to them, and Benjamin recognized the handwriting as Victoria’s pen. “I don’t.. I don’t understand. Our last meeting with the Queen Mother was… less than cordial.”
Vilora sighed heavily, “A forced situation, I’m afraid. Victoria never meant for your blood to be uncovered. Her hands were tied upon its discovery, along with your incident with Yilarran. She did, however, understand your protectiveness, and she bares you no ill will. Trust me when I say, Yilarran received the lion’s share of her reprimand after your ‘interview’.” Vilora settled a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “Victoria did not want to send you away, she simply had no choice. You are an anomaly, one that is singular in its arrival.”
Benjamin nodded, “I still fear I may never be able to return. Even with the training regiment, the mother tree was… peaceful. I had hoped to live there a while.” Vilora smiled sadly, “In time, but back to the parchment. Victoria suspected this would be where you were headed. Your vitriol and self-loathing for owning Viola and Valtrya almost guaranteed it. She knew that, in the Ascendancy, a single male bonding to a pair of females would be a difficult sell, harder still with Aereseen involved. Her hand, and seal, upon your life bond paperwork does two things, It will vouch for your union, and solidify Vi and Val’s shared soul status. It is rare, but with her name backing your claims, it will not be questioned in the Ascendency.”
Vilora produced a small pen knife, “All that is left is to seal the bond.” She slipped the blade across her own finger, placing the dark green line of blood over the portion marked for a witness. She handed Benjamin the knife, “are you sure?” Vilora nodded, and Benjamin nodded before adding his own line of red blood next to his name. Vi and Val did the same, adding their royal purple blood to the paper in sequence. Vilora took the paperwork, and her wings shimmered, focusing her energy upon the paper itself for a moment. Benjamin watched in awe as the blood they donated to the parchment began to move and swirl, mixing before settling into a long singular name: Benjamin, Viola, Valtrya, Scaife.
“Done, under the authority given to me by Victoria Evergreen, Queen Mother of the Vin, I recognize you Benjamin Scaife as the bonded mate to the shared soul known as Viola and Valtrya, who’s sir names have been lost to time, and whom willingly bind themselves to their Mate, Benjamin.” The entire piece of paper flashed bright before returning to its origional shade, save that Benjamin noticed that all of the writing upon the parchment was now that of gold. Viola stood, “it is done, I congratulate you, all of you. The match is well made, and I will submit this to the customs attendants in the morning on your behalf.” With that she positively shoved a grinning Jukha out of the room, but not before he got out a “Good luck, pink skin,”
Benjamin was just beginning to wonder when the door closed, and he found out the reason for Jukha’s grin. Vi and Val collapsed in on him, kissing about the face and neck while tearing at his clothes. Fabric flew, despite the colder room until Benjamin found himself pinned to the bed under two very determined, and very naked bombshells. He found himself shuddering as Viola continued to kiss him furiously even as Valtrya took his manhood to her mouth, swirling her tongue as she drove him to full readiness, “My Ben….” Viola whispered between kisses, moaning as Benjamin’s fingers wandered, “My Benjamin…” Benjamin grunted under Val’s attention, and he decided to play catch up. Viola squeaked as Benjamin picked her up effortlessly catching her legs and guiding them to either side of his shoulders. Viola gasped loudly, and Valtrya moaned a humming exclamation that almost drove Benjamin over the edge as he guided Viola’s thighs to his lips. “Ben, this… oooh,” Viola dug her fingers into his hair as he swirled and nibbled at her woman hood, teasingly slipping his tongue into her every so often. “Val wa… wants… goddess! Wants a turn...” Viola barely got out between grinding moans. Ben released her and the two women switched. Val eagerly straddled Ben’s face, letting out little squeaks as he teased her. Ben did the same for her that he had for Vi until he felt Vi stop her oral attention for a moment.
Benjamin was about to ask if anything was the matter when he felt the tight familiar heat of Viola sinking his manhood deep between her thighs. Val cried out at the shared sensation, sinking down on Ben’s face as her legs failed her. Benjamin swirled his tongue as deep into Val as he could, redoubling his efforts and blending the feedback loop of sensations to drive both of them to ecstasy. They were not alone. Viola’s wild shudders drove Benjamin over the edge, pouring himself into her. Slowly the three calmed down and the girls slid off of Benjamin only for him to capture Val. He flipped her on her back easily, keeping his face firmly between her thighs as he refused to stop his attention.
She found out why as Ben hardened a second time, and Val gasped in surprise as Benjamin kissed his way up her body only to drive himself deeply into her. “Ben…. How!.. goddess!” Viola was already squirming with the new shares sensation, and her question was answered as Benjamin’s lips finally left Valyria’s body and latched onto Viola’s lips, “special occasion.” He whispered teasing her nipples with his teeth while his manhood ground deep into Val. He lasted longer this time, leaving Val a quivering contented mess by the time he finished the second time. “My Ben… My Ben… sleepy….” Valtrya murmured almost incoherently as Benjamin slipped from her.
This time Ben was spent, he couldn’t stand, and it took him several minutes to regain the strength to lift himself off of Val’s chest, where he had collapsed. She relished his weight, gently stoking his hair until he moved again. The women pulled him into the bed between them, covering themselves with the thick blanket, and remaining motionless until morning
———————————-
The next morning proved frigid, if not quite deadly, inside of the room. Valtrya awoke first. Her foot slipped out from the heaven that was their tightly tangled bodies under a heavy fur blanket, and her hiss of displeasure awoke the other two. Benjamin grumbled slightly before catching a deep kiss from Viola, “Good morning.” She purred into his ear, “My Benjamin”
Ben smiled down at both of them, “Hmm, good mornin’, luvs.” He tightened his arms around them for a moment, “I think it’s best we get going, I don’t know if”
Three loud thumps interrupted him, and a fresh smile broadened his features at a familiar bellow “DO YOU LIVE, PINKSKIN!” Viola’s shoulders shudder in a delicate laugh as Benjamin snorted loudly in amusement “I live, Jukha!
“Ha! Good! Dress yourselves and come to the lobby, the customs agent arrives shortly.” Jukha called through the door, before his receding footsteps faded into the background. The three of them dressed quickly in the stinging cold, bundling tightly in their winter layers before stepping out into the truly deadly cold, crystalline blue hallway. An excruciatingly slow “elevator” ride down saw their arrival into the main lobby to be reunited with Jukha and Vilora. Beside them stood an Aquilar, its face seemed older somehow, and it was looking through a leather folder filled with papers. “Morning,” Benjamin offered, catching a glance from who he assumed was the customs agent. The Aquilar turned back to Vilora, and began speaking. A lilting rolling sound poured from the being. Benjamin’s eyes widened at the vast ranges in tones rolling out of the customs agent. A high-pitched flickering chirp settled into a low growling rumble to finish, and Valtrya returned in a similar, but diminished version of the same language. The Conversation ebbed, and Vilora turned to Benjamin, switching to The Orcish, “Benjamin, Viola, Valtrya, meet Uiroliuu, commissioner of immigration for the southwestern province of the Ascendancy. He needs to verify your statuses as life-bound.”
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Benjamin raised an eyebrow, “Mr… Uh… Uiroliuu” He winced visibly at his butchering of the name. “I assume you have seen the papers?” Uiroliuu gave a slow nod, “I have, I am aware it is signed with the Vin Monarchs own hand, but I must verify.” The Aquilar rumbled, drawing the paper Vilora had completed with them the previous evening, “Please, your hands please.”
Benjamin looked tentatively at Vilora, who nodded almost imperceptibly, before putting his hand on the parchment. Vi and Val removed their thick gloves, placing their hands alongside his. The Aquilar Uiroliuu gave a low hum for a long moment before the ornate calligraphy began to shimmer slightly before their names at the bottom began to glow. The White furred being stopped his humming, and Benjamin could see the confusion in his face as he rumbled-trilled something in his own language. “Peculiar, very peculiar indeed” he mumbled, returning to Orcish. “It has been quite some time, since I’ve seen the Queen Mother’s hand with my own eyes. Come.”
The group followed him through a side door, and out of the ice forged inn. They arrived in a side ally, and the aged Aquilar stooped along with a barely perceptible limp. They were led through a set of windingly tight side streets until they arrived at a small wooden building, Uiroliuu produced a small key from, somewhere, reaching for the door, “Customs is a largely forgotten and unglamorous duty. My apologies, my office is in desperate need of refit.”
The old door, weathered in its years of service, opened with barely a creak. Inside was warmly, if modestly, furnished; and Benjamin raised an eyebrow at the decidedly seafaring decor that adorned walls and shelves. He stepped up to a small shelf eyeing a model of, “a… longship?” He mumbled, confused by the model that could have come straight out of the Fjord his uncle used to live on.
“Ah, yes. A memento from my… younger days.” The Aquilar sighed, settling heavily upon a well-worn wooden chair behind an equally loved desk “Now, to task. With the documentation you’ve given, I can easily grant you entry… passage to the capital, however, is a more… complex issue.”
Vilora settled onto the armrest of the chair occupied by Jukha, and Uiroliuu raised an eyebrow as Benjamin stood beside a chair shared by the tightly bundled Aereseen. Vilora spoke after a moment, “I recognize the… unorthodox nature of our request, but our needs are paramount. Prefect Hirak must hear the news we bear.”
“I’m afraid that it is simply not possible for you to meet with him… Hirak has been missing since before the pass sealed… his uncle rules in his stead.. and” the Aquilar shrugged his shoulders.
“He is no fan of the Vin…” Jukha finished, “Quiiruu never could see the difference between Vin and Fae.” Vilora nodded, worry creasing her features, “What happened to Lord Hirak?”
Uiroliuu slumped slightly, “Expidition..” he answered, “We began as a seafaring people, born of the snow, ice, and surf. Until recently, we were the dominant force upon the open waves” the Aquilar’s voice took on a haunted tone. “I fear it is no more. My ship, the Ioruulii (Dancing Surf) was the first to survive such an attack… I was, however, not believed. Sent out here as penance for both my failure, and my ‘deception’ in the eyes of my commanders.”
“Benjamin,” Viola spoke up, pointing to an oddly mangled ball on a table across the room. Benjamin turned to look and froze for a second before stepping swiftly to the item. “It.. Uiroliuu, what.. what is this.”
____________________________
15 years earlier-
“Sea master, the fog is beginning to lift” Uiroliuu looked up from his sea rations, the young Aquilar who had reported to him was just beginning to close the brown facial fur of youth, slightly whitening around the eyes and mouth to match his heavy triple coat.. “we can see the channel’s mouth. Your orders?”
“Prepare the shore parties,” Sea Master Uiroliuu answered calmly. “Signal the rowers, half beat only. I’ll not have us haul blindly into a trap.” Moments later Loruulii heaved under the stroke of her rowwens. She was a small vessel compared to others, but her size was the reason for her selection. Piracy had always been an on again, off again, problem for the coastal provinces of the ascendency. Lately… lately had been different. Merchant Masters spoke in hushed tones about some manor of monster lurking in the islands once thought along safe trade routes. The Council of Waves refused to believe those stories. Pirates could prove inventive in their terror, sometimes going so far as to pay merchantmen handsomely for spreading rumor and intrigue.
Today, it was Uiroliuu’s job to end that intrigue, and his vessel was the perfect tool to hunt under-equipped but cunningly quick criminals. Small, fast, and maneuverable; Loruulii could press the pass quickly, and maneuver inside the tight waters well enough to catch the fiends unaware. Yet, she was large enough to still be able to release her shore parties to capture any goods, equipment, and prisoners. His prized vessel lurched under his feet, and Uiroliuu smiled a toothy grin. He was an old man according to the customs of wind and wave, yet he still played this young man’s game better than most. Loruulii surged under pressure of par and muscle. Her single square sail remained furled, unneeded in the still, misty dawn air. For half an hour, they rowed before the first of the drop off points “Away raiding parties” he growled, listening to the splashes of his men diving for the water. Aquilar developed as powerful swimmers, and could easily bare their arms and armor while surging toward the shore with powerful strokes. Moments later, the teams were ashore, and Loruulii turned to seal the tight inlet from escape.
Her heavy wooden shields were placed along her starboard side, thickening her armor facing the enemy, and sealing the pirates in their hole. For several minutes an erie silence rested upon the operation, until the first shouts of combat could be heard wafting throught the still soupy fog. Uiroliuu turned with a practiced calm when Hirullik, His first officer practically ran to him from his position afore. With him, came the first confusing claps of soft thunder. Uiroliuu looked to the sky, considering where a storm could be hiding in these conditions before eyeing his XO’s panic’d expression. “Sea Master, we…” Uiroliuu’s second never finished the sentence. His head simply ceased to exist. A much louder clap of thunder roared from the direction of the shore line, and whatever had killed Hirullik had blown a hole clean through a wooden shield on its way in, bouncing off the opposite bulkhead before coming to rest upon the ground at the Sea Masters feet. Uiroliuu snapped his head toward the sound, the strange round object almost forgotten. He was still wiping the gore from his face, just as a shout drew his attention anew.
“Monster!!!! Monster avast, the inlet!!” Came the call from the rigging. Uiroliuu spun with a growl, only to take a step back as a shape out of fever dreams of lesser Merchantmen wafted through the still thick fog. The visage of a sea serpent poured from the mist, still mostly shrouded in fog, pouring fire and brimstone from its mouth upon the shore. The Surge of fire burned the last of the fog away from the shore, giving sight to the unfolding carnage.
Smaller lights appeared. Blinking in the darker treeline just before new tongues of flame and death ripped into his advancing raiding parties. In moments, only Loriiluu remained. Uiroliuu pulled his sight from his murdered comrads. He heard his own disembodied bellows, urging the oarsman to action. It was all too late. The monster rounded, and fresh flames engulfed his command.
————————————————
-now-
Silence reigned inside the office for several seconds, and Benjamin slowly put down the mangled iron ball, “But this…?” He asked, almost to no one in particular. His mind raced through possibilities as he stood there frozen. Uiroliuu nodded, “Almost none of my crew survived. My people are born of the water and ice, and we took to it. The few of us left abandoned my vessel. I swam for days, alone; until I was retrieved by a passing merchantman. My report was laughed off, in the Salt Council’s eyes I was a failure, desperate for excuses. I snuck back to the battle site month’s later, found the metal ball that killed my second, but they did not care. I was…. Summarily Reassigned…. To immigration and sent to this boarder town to die in obscurity, so far away from the sea.” The Aquilar seemed older somehow, but he shook himself and continued, “I still have friends among the waves. It was they who told me of Hirak’s departure. You see, in the last few years several more exploration vessels have disappeared. One or two is expected, the sea knows her own, but over twenty in the last year is different. Worst yet, over 100 merchant vessels have been lost, and a few of those have been found. They bear the charred marks and ragged holes of what I saw that day. My contacts have begun to come to me, asking to recount the story, telling me that… the few survivors speak of much the same horrors, as I.”
“And Hirak decided to do something about it…” Vilora interjected, but Uiroliuu shook his head, “Only officially, But I suspect that Quiiruu had a heavy hand. Young Hirak leaned heavily on his Uncle during the conflict for succession.” Benjamin put down the heavy metal ball, which he estimated to be about 20 or so lbs. “So, it appears that our mission is to fail before it begins.”
Vilora hummed quietly for a moment, “It appears time has changed much more than Victoria had anticipated.” Uiroliuu nodded sadly, “Your kind have been away a long time, ambassador. I’ve not seen a Vin representative since I was a junior officer at the end of the succession war.” Jukha rubbed his eyes, groaning deeply, “It’s been a while since I’ve felt the curses’ touch this deeply.”
Benjamin raised an eyebrow, “The curse?” He turned, stepping back over to the chair where Vi and Val sat. Val reached out with one hand, “The curse of immortality.” She began, “For those of us who live advanced lives, time can feel… strange… for those races with no natural mortality, decades, even centuries, can feel like, weeks, months… time can become, fleeting. It is the price we pay for witnessing the eons, but that does not solve our problems. Without the ability to safely be seen at court… we won’t be able to…” she paused as Vilora raised a hand. Benjamin caught a glance between Jukha and Vilora before a heavy pounding thumped through the door. “Township guard, OPEN UP!”