| |
Zelda stood in the mist, blinking in the aftermath of Lythara’s blinding light. Lythara had mentioned sending Zelda to Menosea, but all Zelda could see was the mist, ever swirling around her. She tried penetrating it with a beam of light from her stave but to no avail. And so she wandered blind, hoping the mist would eventually have an end.
Zelda had hoped in vain. The mist went on and on in every direction, white as clouds and cold. And as she walked hopelessly on, Zelda began to feel Calain’s heartbeat. It was racing faster and faster. Calain was excited. Calain was having sex...again.
Zelda took a shuddering, angry breath and marched on, trying to ignore what she was feeling. And then she heard it: the howling. The sound sent a shiver up her spine. Whatever the creatures were, they were not normal wolves, and sure enough, Zelda saw them peel out of the mist, glowing blue and translucent.
One. Then two. Twelve. Then twenty-six. The number of them was ever doubling, and Zelda knew she would not be able to banish them as she had the angry spirit that had attacked Calain in Blood Horn. These creatures were not the spirits of dead wolves but creations of magick designed to keep intruders out. They would never stop coming so long as Zelda wasn’t welcome.
Zelda fought anyway, thinking of her baby and how she must get back to her, thinking of the Knights of Falcon and how much she missed them. She was consciously aware of Selene’s necklace about her throat. It gave her a strength she couldn’t explain as she glowed with power, shattering the ghostly wolves to vapor with a silent spell.
But there were just too many of them. Zelda was surrounded and growing weary when a glowing sword sliced through the mist and down through one of the ghostly wolves, scattering its essence.
Zelda looked up. The glowing blue blade was followed by a small elven woman in silver armor. The armor was engraved with curly leaves and flowers and appeared somewhat ancient in its make, as if the elven knight had taken it from an ancient elven tomb. The blade as well seemed archaic. Zelda had never before seen its like.
The stranger, though small in stature, had a menacing air about her that the ghostly wolves heeded as she advanced with her blade ready. They had been bold with their attacks on Zelda, but the wolves were cautious with the knight, who slew each one that lunged at her, quickly and quietly.
“Be gone,” said the knight in a low, calm voice and lifted her blade in fight stance again. “Be gone! I speak for the lady! She is welcome here on my behalf!”
The ghostly wolves responded by howling and vanishing. When they had gone, the elven knight sheathed her blade on her back and regarded Zelda calmly with her glowing violet eyes.
Zelda, breathless and panting, was leaning tiredly against her stave and straightened up, regarding the woman curiously.
“Who...?” Zelda began and suddenly felt too tired to finish the sentence.
“I am Arryn, a Knight of the Wolf. And this is Menosea. At ten o’ clock on a Monandaeg morning,” answered the knight, and her pink lips curled in a small smile.
Zelda smiled back, feeling at ease. You are beautiful, she thought, looking at the knight. In the past, Zelda had typically been drawn to women who were big and strong and would take her with dominance and strength. And then there was Melvalda, whose feminine beauty, age, and expertise had been her draw. But this woman was unlike the others Zelda had craved. She was masculine, but she was so small, and there was an innocence about her. Zelda couldn’t explain how she knew, but she knew that the knight was untouched, that she never lain with a woman. But why? The elf had to be quite old. Her armor was ancient and the maturity was apparent in her eyes.
Arryn turn awkwardly away, and Zelda realized with a blush that she had been staring for quite some time at the knight.
“You must stay with me,” said the knight. “If you are found wandering the island alone, you will be slain. Humans are not permitted here.” With that, she took off at a brisk pace, holding her hand out, so that the mist scrolled away before her.
Zelda hurried to catch up and watched in awe, wondering what sort of spell Arryn was using. She was a knight, but she was a sorceress as well. It was the way of elven knights; it was their tradition to use magick. Though the Wolf academy had been abandoned in Koradara, there was still the Raven Fortress in Eriallon, where the elven Knights of the Raven continued the tradition of enchanted blades and spells.
Looking at Arryn, now it suddenly made sense to Zelda why Wick had been sent to Vira’Toss, a school of magick that was primarily for humans. She could not imagine poor, clumsy little Wick with a sword. And perhaps the elven sorceresses of Tirathell simply hadn’t wanted Wick because of her family. The Blackwoods were notorious meddlers, always up to their necks in political schemes, and openly affiliated with human interests.
“Aren’t you curious how I came to be here?” Zelda asked.
“No,” answered Arryn. “You are the queen-slayer. Your case is quite famous among we elves. Many of us rejoiced when Ellanara was slain. I have been . . . following you for some time.”
Zelda couldn’t believe it when she saw the knight’s cheeks flame a little.
“You’ve been following me?” Zelda repeated, baffled.
“I was curious to see the one who had slain the queen of Eriallon. I followed you to Blood Horn and saw you there with your knights. I . . . I didn’t want you to come to harm, so I watched—”
“Why?” Zelda asked abruptly.
“Because I . . .” Arryn halted and licked her lips, not meeting Zelda’s eye.
Zelda watched her curiously and felt a sudden affection for her. “Because you desired me.”
“Yes,” Arryn admitted hoarsely, turning her face away, so that her black hair fell forward to hide her expression. “Not since my lady have I felt. . . Not in a thousand years have I . . .” She trailed off breathlessly and suddenly said, “Come.”
Zelda looked up and saw they had come to the end of the mist. The swirling fog opened upon a forest; the leaves of its white trees vivid green. It was a bright morning. Birds were singing and the sky was blue. And it was warm! Zelda was grateful to have the cold chill of the mist finally off of her and stepped gladly away from it.
“Anamora Forest,” said Arryn, gazing thoughtfully at the trees ahead. “I will guide you through to the port on the other side, and then you must find your own way back to Ellondhold. You cannot apparate from the island. Even I cannot use my portal spells here, or I would take you directly back to Dark Bloom.”
They passed into the forest together, coming under the shadows of the trees.
“Dark Bloom? So you really have been following me,” said Zelda, amused. “Why not say hello? Are you shy?” she teased.
Arryn smiled. “As if you did not have enough loyal knights at your beck and call,” she answered good-naturedly. “Are you building an army?” she teased back. “Shall I alert the new queen?”
Zelda smiled. She liked this teasing. It wasn’t mean-spirited, like with Gweneth, and Calain had never been quick-witted enough to talk with her like this. Meanwhile, Selene and Cassandra did joke some of the time but not nearly as much as Zelda would have liked. Arryn seemed to strike the perfect balance in that regard.
“So you didn’t approve of Ellanara?” asked Zelda with interest.
“No elf did,” said Arryn with a snort. “And apparently, neither did your knight.”
Zelda thought of Calain and wondered if Arryn, for all her spying, was aware that one of Zelda’s knights had forsaken her. She could still feel Calain’s excitement as she made love to some other woman and wanted to break something! But could she really be angry with Calain? How many times had Zelda forced Calain to endure the maddening sensation of her pleasure in the arms of another?
“How is Calain, by the way?” Arryn asked lightly, as if testing the water.
“Ah,” said Zelda shrewdly, “so you do know.”
Arryn smiled. “I came across your knight in Blood Horn. She was nearly slain by a very grumpy troll. I saved her.”
Zelda hesitated. She wanted to ask about Calain, but she didn’t want to appear too concerned. “Oh?” she said casually, though in secret, her heart was racing. If Calain had been harmed, she would have felt it, but she worried for her still.
Arryn smiled, as if she knew exactly what fears and worries were going through Zelda’s mind. “Your knight was unharmed, though quite angry with you,” she said apologetically.
Zelda hesitated again, wondering miserably if she really wanted to know what had been said. “What did she say?”
“She did rant at me about how false duty and honor were,” answered Arryn wearily. “She seemed to believe you had betrayed her with another.”
Zelda cast her eyes down as they walked. So it was as she had feared. Calain believed she had gone willingly to Melvalda. While it was true Zelda found Melvalda attractive and had secretly desired her, she wouldn’t have gone to her nor lain with her if she didn’t think it would protect Calain’s life. If only she could tell Calain that! But instead of even bothering to speak with her, Calain had stormed off and had forsaken her duty!
“Calain is such a hot-headed fool,” Zelda said bitterly.
Arryn smiled. “If Calain were anything other than what she is, you would not love her.”
Zelda didn’t answer because she had no retort. So instead, she changed the subject. “And you? Do you not have a lady you are sworn to? Why do you follow me?”
Arryn’s violet eyes were down as she answered, “My lady . . . perished one thousand years ago. Suffice it to say I failed in my duty.”
“I am sorry, Arryn. I did not realize.”
“There is no need to be sorry. I failed my lady, not you.”
“And now you wander the world alone?” Zelda said in sympathy. For the Wolf academy had been abandoned for fifty years, and the Knights of the Wolf scattered to the wind in exile. “Aren’t there any other Knights of the Wolf you could travel with?”
“There are,” said Arryn, “but I have always been . . .”
“A lone wolf?” Zelda teased.
Arryn smiled. “I suppose it is a fitting jest. But I am content enough on my own. I have made a home for myself in Edhen.”
Zelda lifted her brows, feeling ashamed that she had no knowledge of the place. “Where is Edhen?” she asked tentatively. “I have never heard of it.”
“And nor would you have,” answered Arryn. “Tis ancient land, long forgotten by humans and elves, and shielded by magick, so that only those old enough to remember it shall find it. There are few alive today old enough to recall Edhen. They say it is the place where all life began in our world . . . In Vallinwir.”
“What’s it like?” Zelda asked with interest.
Arryn stared ahead, smiling. “Forgotten creatures do live there. Unicorns, dragons—”
“Dragons?” Zelda gasped.
“Aye,” said Arryn. “But they are peaceful creatures, not the fiery beasts from the tales. They would have been discovered long before otherwise.”
“And what more?”
“There are old buildings there, from the first cities. Statues. Fountains. But all of it has been overrun by the forest. And tis peaceful and still, no raging beasts, no wolves or trolls, no goblins. You could search all of Vallinwir and you wouldn’t find a more tranquil forest.”
“I would love to go there,” said Zelda dreamily.
“Perhaps you shall one day. But right now, you must find your knight and then find your way from Menosea.”
Zelda halted. So did Arryn.
“What do you mean?” Zelda said sharply.
“Your knight is near at hand,” said Arryn simply. “Do you not feel her, my lady?”
Zelda tried to keep the anger from her face. She mostly certainly could feel Calain! Calain was still having sex! She knew she wouldn’t be able to answer Arryn without yelling, so she tightened her lips against her anger and kept walking, taking breaths to calm down. Arryn moved forward as well, leading her once more through the trees.
“Calain is here?” Zelda said at last. “I mean, you did see her with your own eyes?”
“I learned that a human did suddenly appear at one of the training cells,” confirmed Arryn. “It sounded like magick mischief was afoot, so I went into the mist to investigate, and there you were. It was Lythara who sent you here, was it not?”
“Yes,” said Zelda, lifting her brows in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I did follow you to Alleren. I knew you were walking into a trap, but I could not reach you in time to warn you.”
“So the queen never intended to pardon me?” Zelda said indignantly.
“Most unlikely, my lady,” Arryn confirmed. “You did slay her sister. Or your knight did. The entire realm was calling for blood when you fled. When Lythara cast her teleportation spell, it effected Calain because she is Bound to you.”
“If I were to die, would Calain die as well?” Zelda asked with sudden dread.
“It depends on the manner of death,” said Arryn unhappily. “I was Bound to my lady, and as you can see, she has long since passed on to the gods, whilst I linger here.”
Arryn sounded so unhappily that Zelda said with hesitation, “May I ask what happened to her?”
“She drowned at sea,” said Arryn, looking away. “Such a simple way for such a powerful sorceress to die, it was almost cruel. I could not remove my armor in time to leap in and save her, and no one cared to aid us because it was a terrible storm. The ship was coming apart and the crew was scattered trying to save it.”
“That is terrible,” said Zelda wretchedly.
“Truer words have ne’er been spoken.”
“And you have been alone all this time? One thousand years and you never found a lady?”
“No lady turned my head until . . .” Arryn drifted off and her cheeks turned a little pink. “Never mind, my lady. Let us focus on the task at hand.”
“But this is important,” said Zelda. “I want to know how you feel about me.”
“Why? To soothe the ache of Calain’s betrayal?” asked Arryn sharply.
Zelda felt a little stung. “No!” she said at once. “I admit, I do wish vengeance on Calain. Nothing would please me more than to lay with another woman and rouse in her a furious jealousy! But . . .” She looked with soft eyes at Arryn again. “I do honestly desire thee.” She smiled. “And why shouldn’t I have an army of knights?”
Arryn smiled as well. “At least you are honest in your hunger,” she said, and they both laughed.
They came to a clearing, where a cluster of giant stone bricks stood. Some of the stones stood upright in pillars, while others had fallen over, long strings of bright green grass growing in a web over them. A spray of white flowers dotted the clearing, releasing a lovely scent that made Zelda smile.
Commenting that Zelda looked weary on her feet, Arryn led her to the stones and bid her sit. Zelda chose a stone brick that wasn’t quite covered in grass and sat, smoothing her skirts against her backside.
Arryn sat beside Zelda (her legs dangling over the enormous stone brick) and reached into the traveling satchel that was strapped across her chest and rested at her hip. She pulled out a small stone that was round and smooth as a pebble and matched the shade of her violet eyes almost exactly. The stone glowed gently as she held it out to Zelda.
Before Zelda had even touched the stone, she could feel the magick humming from it. She took it in her slender fingers and turned it over. There was no rune upon it, so it was not a Bane Stone. She looked up at Arryn. “But what is it?”
“Tis a Summoning Stone,” said Arryn. “It is bound to me. Turn it in your fingers, and I shall come.”
Zelda smiled. “Are you saying . . . Are you my knight now?”
Arryn smiled. “I have been yours since I first did lay eyes upon you,” she answered. “But I shall not travel always at your side. I value my solitude too greatly.”
Zelda looked at the stone in her fingers. “And you will come to me? How?”
“I travel quickly around the realms by casting portal spells.”
“So you can open a portal anywhere and move as you please,” said Zelda, impressed.
“Yes,” said Arryn quietly. “Tis how I followed you.”
“Were you with me in Dark Bloom? Were you the reason I encountered so little trouble there?”
“Yes. I left your side too soon, it seems. For eventually, you were taken by the Wilde Women, were you not?”
“Tis . . . a long story,” Zelda admitted sheepishly.
Arryn was sitting with her knees spread and had one hand on her thigh, the elbow poking out as she gazed thoughtfully into the trees. She was so beautiful sitting there, with her pretty pink lips and her slanted eyes and all that long, silky black hair falling around her pointed ears. And she smelled the heavenly way knights always smelled, of leather and salty sweat. It was a smell that had come to drive Zelda mad, for it reminded her of Calain and the first time they’d made love. But Arryn also smelled of magick. The sweet lavender scent of magick hung ever about her skin and hair.
Kiss her now! Zelda thought, gazing with longing at Arryn, who was lost in thought and not paying attention to Zelda at all. Kiss her! Just do it!
With a shaking breath, Zelda leaned over, turned Arryn’s face gently to her own, and kissed her warm on the lips. Arryn stiffened in surprise, but only for a moment. She tentatively kissed back, her soft lips massaging Zelda’s in a submissive way that made Zelda burn with lust and want her all the more.
And Arryn’s skin was so incredibly soft for a knight! Zelda knew it was because she was an elf. Cassandra had been the same way, and now Zelda knew it was because of her elven blood.
Zelda’s hand was still cupping Arryn’s cheek, and she smoothed it to the back of Arryn’s head, where she curled her fingers in the silky-soft hair and kissed her deeper, almost roughly, so that their heads turned through the kiss. Arryn was trembling a little, and when Zelda pulled back, she was blushing.
“What is it?” Zelda whispered, pushing Arryn’s long hair over her shoulder with the back of her fingers.
“I . . . have never lain with a woman,” Arryn admitted, embarrassed. “My lady perished before we could.” She frowned anxiously. “I’m afraid I shall not be an adequate lover.”
Zelda smiled. “Then just lie there and look pretty.”
Arryn laughed, but she was still trembling.
Zelda reached out with her mind, unbuckling all of the buckles on Arryn’s armor with one swift thought. Arryn gasped as her ancient armor and her harnessed sword tumbled suddenly away, falling harmlessly on the grass nearby. She shivered in her linen bra and woolen hose and awkwardly crossed her arms over small, high breasts.
Zelda leaned close and kissed Arryn again, smoothly unlacing her linen bra as she did. She leaned forward as she kissed the anxious knight, guiding her to lie back on the great stone brick, and she pulled the linen bra away, leaning back to look down at Arryn’s breasts. They were small and perky and slightly curved, standing high from Arryn’s chest and jiggling a little when she took a nervous breath.
Arryn didn’t seem to know what to do with her arms. Zelda looked at them, thinking they weren’t bulky like Calain’s but the lean muscles were wonderful just the same. Zelda placed Arryn’s arms above her head, loving when the toned muscles in her shoulders flexed and her little breasts were pulled up high from the motion. Then she leaned down and sucked slowly on Arryn’s pink nipple. Arryn moaned, her pale cheeks flaming a little, as Zelda continued to suckle gently, closing her eyes and frowning as she did.
Zelda blindly reached for Arryn’s woolen hose and started inching it down over her hips. Her hands explored, closing briefly on Arryn’s hard, muscular backside and groping it fistfuls, so that Arryn shuddered in her grasp. She found Arryn’s sex and could feel the soft, silky hair that cloaked it. She ran her fingers through the hair momentarily, thinking how nice it felt against her skin, and then fumbled blindly for the lips of Arryn’s sex. They were small and soft, neatly tucked away inside the outer lips, so that they were hidden. Zelda fondled them, still suckling at Arryn’s breast and feeling herself stirring to arousal.
Arryn was moaning and gasping, shocked and trembling with pleasure one moment, baffled and blushing the next. Her muscular belly was trembling, so were her thighs.
“Relax,” Zelda whispered, trailing kisses over Arryn’s skin to sooth her. “Relax, Arryn, my Knight of the Wolf . . .”
“Tis . . . so intense,” Arryn whispered, blushing harder.
It should be after one thousand years, Zelda thought.
Zelda’s kisses trailed down and down, until at last, her hungry mouth found the sweet little sex cloaked in black hair. She plunged her tongue slowly between the pink lips of Arryn‘s sex and watched, her cheeks flaming with desire, as Arryn writhed on her back, her small breasts pointing to the treetops and jiggling softly with her every move.
Zelda continued slowly thrusting her tongue as her hands wrestled off Arryn’s boots and woolen hose. When the little knight’s legs were finally free, she hooked her hands behind each knee and pushed them up, spreading Arryn’s shapely thighs and further exposing her sex. Arryn looked down at Zelda between her breasts and blushed. Zelda smiled and buried her face in Arryn’s sex again. She was pleased when Arryn’s head fell back with a helpless cry, and she thrust her breasts to the treetops once more, gasping, violet eyes wide in astonishment, as Zelda’s hungry tongue caressed her to her first climax.