The Mythseekers

Early summer in Castellandria often brings rain with it. This summer, my first since returning from Brennan's farm with Maireili, was no exception. Maireili's integration into the household had gone smoothly, as the messages Lysethe and I exchanged paved the way. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ghoul had swiftly bonded with Sarakiel. The two were already close friends and enthusiastic lovers.

On the day this tale begins, Arkohnus and Faustan played by doorway out onto the main balcony patio. The two brothers were inseparable, with the younger worshiping the elder. They had been magnanimous enough to allow little Malycent to be with them. She would follow them anyway, and attempt to imitate everything Arkohnus did, something that would last into her adulthood.

As they played, the little night eft, Kajah, flitted overhead, never far from Faustan. The sight of the creature filled me with a sentimental ache, both for the loss of Oddrin and the joy my son took in the creature's presence. His tutelage, at the hands of myself and his mother Lysethe, had already begun. The first task one had to teach any wizard was not to use their power without meaning to, and the boy had proven himself in this regard.

A short distance away, sitting at a table by the window, Zhahllaia and I faced off over the alishum board. Zhahllaia had me cornered, and it was only a matter of time before I was finished. Even Quiyahui knew, leaving my side to curl up next to Sarakiel.

Sarakiel shifted. Her belly had begun to grow with our second child. This pregnancy had burrowed under Tanyth's skin, as she had yet to conceive, and thus Clan Abibaal still lacked an heir. In one of her more vulnerable moments, she fretted that she was barren. Even in her brighter moments, I knew this weighed heavily upon her. I kept thinking that it would happen soon, but it never seemed to. The fact that Sarakiel was already on her second had plunged Tanyth into a dark mood.

My Kharsoomian bride had chosen to express her frustration in fencing with Shaluvia downstairs in their amata, a traditional Kharsoomian chamber used for the practice of combat. I had considered watching them, as the sight of two, sweat-soaked Kharsoomian beauties, both competing in the nude as was the custom in their lands, was an alluring one. However, I was content for now to wait, as I knew Tanyth would find me later, covered in a sheen of perspiration, demanding I put a baby inside her.

"Second immortal to satrap's chariot," Zhahllaia said. I moved the piece as she instructed. My mind was in the amata, lingering over the shining curves. Zhahllaia's voice broke through my lascivious reverie when she spoke again. "That is game."

"What?" I blinked and looked at the board. She was right. My sultan was surrounded. I tipped the piece over.

"This is your reward for not paying attention," Zhahllaia said, mischief dancing in her gold-flecked eyes.

"No lecture about how important alishum is? About how it measures one's intelligence?"

"You've heard them all before."

"You're right."

"Of course I am." She clasped her hands at the small of her back. Zhahllaia always carried herself with quiet authority, which was often a strange sight when combined with her nudity and petite stature. Her eyes met mine and softened. "When you look at me that way it's difficult to remember what I was saying."

"I cannot help it."

"Some things never change."

Makgrumman stepped into the room. He was a relatively new addition, hired when I was out with the Night Delvers. I returned to find him minding the house, keeping everything tidy, cooking, and answering the doors. I learned later that he had been a point of contention between my wives. Tanyth, being a proper Kharsoomian lady, wanted to purchase a slave. Sarakiel found this horrifying. Despite Zhahllaia having no issue with slavery, and Lysethe still considering herself a slave, Sarakiel prevailed thanks to pure practicality. Castellandria had no slaves, and thus a man would need to be hired rather than purchased.

Makgrumman was the result. A dwarven man in his late middle age, his hair and beard were immaculately styled and always glistening with fragrant oil, his mustaches in elegant braids over his cheeks and lifting to his temples. He was always dressed properly in waistcoats and breeches and went barefoot indoors as was the custom of the house. I had been home for a little over a year and I was still getting used to him.

"Visitors, my lord," he said to me in the sonorous accent I wasn't sure was genuine. "They said they were the Mythseekers."

"Impossible," I said, standing up from the table. Zhahllaia followed me to the doorway. I stepped out and there they were, summer rain dripping from their traveling cloaks, my companions in the earliest days of adventuring. Dear friends, passionate lovers, the finest companions anyone could ask for. They were all older, each subtly changed in the nearly two decades since I'd seen them last, but undeniably them.

"Bel!" Alia threw herself into my arms, wrapping her arms and legs about me and planting a passionate kiss on my lips. I was always closest to the little rogue, and apparently that had not changed.

She was as short as always, and more than once had been mistaken for a tall halfling. She felt even smaller, and there were those that said I had somehow grown during my exile. She was lithe and strong, and age had eliminated what fat remained on her body, leaving behind graceful sinew and taut muscle. Her once coppery hair had faded to a strawberry blonde, and she had cut it short. It suited her, framing her angular face. Her emerald eyes sparkled with mischief and freckles covered her cheeks and nose. She wore elven leathers in greens and browns, and I recognized the pair of magical shortswords on her hips.

"Alia, if you would," Velena said sternly.

"Sorry," she said, breaking our kiss, then giving me a peck on the nose before jumping down.

"It's good to see all of you," I said, "and a surprise. Please, come out of the rain."

Velena embraced me, and I forgot everything. She looked human, but there were signs of her otherworldly ancestor. Her black hair was longer than I'd remembered it, but her eyes were the same pale brightness that was not quite blue and not quite silver. Her skin was ivory, and covered in intricate tattoos marking her allegiance to otherworldly powers. She had gained weight, her already voluptuous figure even more sumptuous and soft. She wore a black gown and cloak, displaying generous cleavage. She kissed me, but it was brief.

She stepped away and my eyes met Xeiliope's. The amazon had changed the least. She was tall and muscled, still displaying the long-lasting youth of her people. Her blonde hair was shorter than it had been, but other than that, it was like no time had passed. Her golden eyes might have held the disgust from before or they might not have. I could have imagined it. She wore her valkyrie armor and carried Daybreaker.

"Hello, Belromanazar."

"Xeiliope," I said, unsure of what to do.

The last person at the door was a massive half-orc. His skin was a pale green, his long black hair hung in a mane and was threaded with iron. He had a friendly sort of face, handsome in a rough way. He wore a costume of leather and fur.

"Cull?" I asked.

"Bel," he said, stepping forward and clasping my forearm.

Cull Callen was one of the Redmarks, an allied group of adventurers. He and Velena had been romantically involved whenever our groups' paths crossed.

"Give your cloaks to Makgrumman, and come, sit by the fire. Dry off." The dwarf whisked the cloaks away.

"A servant," Velena said. "We heard you had become a lord, but I couldn't imagine this."

I felt my cheeks grow hot. "Yes, well. It's been some time."

"You have to tell us that story," Alia said.

"I have a feeling it's going to be nothing but stories," I said, bringing them into the main room.

"Papa? Who are they?" Arkohnus asked, coming up next to me. Faustan and Malycent were behind him.

"Introductions are in order, thank you, Arkohnus. These are my old friends. Alia, Velena, Xeiliope, and Cull. You all remember Zhahllaia, and this is Sarakiel. My familiar, Quiyahui. And my children, Arkohnus, Faustan, and the little one hiding her face is Malycent."

Alia dropped to her knees, a smile lighting up her face. "Children! I can't believe you have three children!"

"Five actually. One is off adventuring and the other is out with her friends."

The kids were shy, but they took to Alia. She had a natural way with them. I suspect because she was so small they saw her more as a child than an adult.

"Familiar?" Velena asked. "Where is Oddrin?"

"A story for a more melancholy night," I said. "Makgrumman?" The dwarf, in the manner of all great servants, was simply there when I said his name. "Would you please inform Tanyth, Lysethe, and Maireili that we have guests? And then see to refreshments?"

"At once, my lord."

"Sarakiel!" Alia exclaimed, embracing the darkling. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you, Alia. You've hardly aged."

"And you're a better liar than I remember."

We all settled about the fire. The clatter of the rain outside made the gathering an intimate one. The children, curious about the new arrivals, crowded around. Cull fascinated them. I suspect because he reminded Arkohnus and Faustan of their elder brother Threch, and for Malycent, she was interested in whatever they were. Makgrumman returned with water and wine, which he mixed for all of us. Then he returned with bread and cheese.

"What brings you to Castellandria?" I asked.

"You," Velena said. "Your ship had been lost, and we thought you had died. We mourned you. Then, not long ago, we heard that the Heacharids had attacked Castellandria, and among the defenders was a wizard whose storm magic cut his enemies down and raised them as wights. It could only be..."

"... our wizard," Alia finished with a smile.

"I have never seen Alia so pleased," Xeiliope said.

"I am glad you've come," I said, and I was only faintly surprised at how glad. "You'll stay here of course."

"That's not an imposition?" Velena asked.

"Of course not."

"I'll prepare the guest suite," Makgrumman said.

"A servant!" Alia said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Very posh."

"Sarakiel is skilled in matters of coin."

"I am fine," she said.

"Really?" Velena asked. "I should have you handle some of my money. We have some reserves, but we have been living off it."

"Are you still adventuring?" I asked.

"Recently retired," Velena said, with a glance to Cull.

"And the two of you...?"

"Married," Xeiliope said.

"Married!" I said, smiling. "That's wonderful. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Velena said. "Cull and I drifted apart, but we kept coming back together again."

"What of you?" I asked, indicating Alia and Xeiliope.

"We have our loves," Alia said. "Even Xeiliope."

"Where did you settle?"

"Stellanmark," Velena said, naming a duchy in the eastern part of Esmia on the edge of the Nachtwood.

"Bel, why don't you introduce me to our guests?" Tanyth and Shaluvia came into the room, both entirely nude, their crimson skin shiny with sweat. My Kharsoomian bride sauntered to my side and I slipped an arm about her slender waist. I noted with some amusement that all four guests were staring, and only Cull and Xeiliope were making any attempt whatsoever to hide it.

I introduced Tanyth, and soon after introduced Maireili and Lysethe when they came in. We settled in, drinking wine and eating what Makgrumman brought. Soon after, he began to bring in fruit and smoked meats. The evening turned to night, I put the children to bed in turn, returning to continue the meandering conversation.

I was unsurprised to see who gravitated to whom. Alia was instantly besotted with Tanyth, Velena seemed to enjoy Sarakiel's company the most, and Xeiliope appeared to get along best with Maireili. Cull was intimidated by Zhahllaia, but by the way he looked at her, he was nursing an attraction. I could hardly blame him.

Soon, though, the night was upon us and the Mythseekers were stifling yawns. "Forgive me," I said. "You traveled today and need rest. Makgrumman can show you to the guest suites."

"Thank you, Bel," Velena said. "I will feel more myself tomorrow."

"Bel, where are your manners?" Tanyth scolded. She turned to the Mythseekers and said words that clenched over me like a vise. "Would any of you like the services of Bel's bedslave?"

"Slave?" Velena gasped. All four of my guests looked upon me with a mixture of horror and disgust.

I held up my hands. "It's a long story and I'll explain in the morning. For now, understand no one is here who doesn't want to be. Offering the use of a bedslave is a Kharsoomian custom. She will be more than happy to lay with one or all of you, singly or in a group, but you don't have to feel obligated."

"No," Xeiliope said flatly. I felt like she had been thawing over the course of the evening, most often when she spoke with Maireili, but whatever progress had been made was instantly lost.

Velena glanced at Cull, teeth worrying her lip. "You're sure she's willing?"

"More than willing. I tried to free her more than once and she refused."

"Then yes," Velena decided, smiling at her husband.

"I'll have her sent to you. And tomorrow, I'll show you the city."

The following morning, I was up early, and drinking my chocolatl by the embers of last night's fire when Ujaala happened past me on the way to her chambers. She stopped and embraced me, and in the cool morning, her warm body was a comfort. She was nude save for her collar, and her body was a fragrant mélange that spoke of her previous night's loveplay.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" I asked.

"Very much, my lord. For his size, Cull is gentle and considerate."

"And Velena?"

"She chose to only watch."

"That's strange."

"Perhaps she doesn't enjoy the eupheric pleasures?"

"No, she does."

Ujaala frowned. "She told Cull to enjoy himself." The frown melted into a grin. "And he most certainly did."

I kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, my lord."

"Yes, I do. Now eat something and bathe. They might want you tonight as well. For that matter, Alia might want you."

"Alia is... which?"

"The little one with the red hair."

Ujaala's eyes sparkled. "I can hope, my lord."

I chuckled and gave her buttocks a playful smack. "Away with you."

She kissed my cheek and walked away, her hips swinging like a pendulum. My gaze fell to her round buttocks and I found myself fantasizing. She looked over her shoulder and batted her eyes at me and I laughed again.

"I live to serve, my lord," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

On the first day, I took them to the Order of Owls. I foolishly thought that if I showed them this place, they might decide to stay in Castellandria. The irony is of course that my time as a resident in the city was closer to the end than the beginning. I would soon travel to Zuunkhorun to break the back of the Heacharid Empire on a mountain of restless dead.

On that day, I escorted the four of them through Castellandria's endless streets to knock on the door. It opened, revealing Skeevan, the gnomish majordomo. "Lord Belromanazar, welcome back. And you've brought guests."

"These are Xeiliope, daughter of Xelyphe, Alia of Freeport, and Velena Grimm of the Mythseekers, and Cull Callen of the Redmarks."

"Your former companions," the gnome said, sweeping into a low bow. "I am Skeevan, your humble servant whenever you are within these walls. Should you wish to seek membership, I am certain his lordship will be pleased to relate the specifics. In the meantime, you are his guests, and welcome here. Please, come this way."

We followed Skeevan up the staircase into the labyrinthine halls of the club. "Who is here?"

"Iago and Clodomyr are playing zatrikion in the lounge. I believe Clodomyr is up two games to one. Mother Ulrika is in the offices attending to business. I am expecting more members to filter in through the day. Summer brings adventurers to the great city and they inevitably find themselves here."

"Take us to the lounge if you would."

"What is the process to join?" Velena asked.

My heart gave a kick. "It's about proving your status as an adventurer. It would be easier for you than it was for me because you were in a party with a voting member in the Owls. I can verify all of you were adventurers. The process would be more than a formality, but not much more."

We entered the lounge, where most of the Order's gatherings took place, and found Clodomyr and Iago hunched over a zatrikion board. Zhahllaia claims, and I believe her, that zatrikion is a corrupted form of alishum. She would add that it had to be simplified for people outside of Qammuz. I love Zhahllaia, but she can be somewhat arrogant about her old empire.

In any case, the two old adventurers were entering the endgame, with only a few pieces between them. Clodomyr was a warrior, and though he was in his seventh decade and was as human as any, he was still a dangerous foe. He'd proven that on the walls of Castellandria during the Heacharid siege, sending more than his share of invaders to their reward. Though he was a skinny, white bearded old man, he knew every trick and maneuver in combat. He'd mentored my son Threch through the siege, and since then I'd had a great deal of affection for the old warrior.

Iago was a halfling and a wizard. He wore his gray robes, his hat perched on the back of the chair behind him, revealing his curly mop of hair. He sucked on a long-stemmed pipe as his keen eyes probed Clodomyr's strategy for weaknesses. His age was hard to determine, as though we wizards arrest time with our magics, certain habits can confer the appearance of years. Oftentimes, we appear both old and young. His familiar, a briarchild, sat under the chair and ate from a plate of cheese. As we entered, the little creature raised a block of the stuff in a toast to Quiyahui.

"Good day, gentleman," I said.

"Not now, lad," Clodomyr muttered. "I have the halfling right where I want him."

"So you think," Iago said, blowing a line of smoke that wreathed about his head. For a moment, I glimpsed an army marching through the haze.

"Best leave them to it," I said to my companions.

Skeevan returned with wine. "Saumont vintage," he said, offering us goblets.

"Thank you, Skeevan."

"I took the liberty of informing Ulrika you are here. She will join you presently."

We sat down at the far end of the room, letting the two men finish their game. "This is a clubhouse for adventurers," Cull observed, as though such a thought never occurred to him.

"Castellandria attracts our kind," I said. "Some who retire, others who merely wish a pause. The Owls give us a place to be."

"I like it," he decided.

"The Redmarks would be welcome to join. When I mentioned your party during my initiation, they knew who you were."

Cull sat up straighter. "That is nice to hear."

Velena stroked his arm. "You were a brave group."

"Do you still speak with them?" I blurted.

"Bel misses his dragon princess," Alia teased, seeing through my motivations instantly.

I felt my cheeks grow hot. "I think of Allegeth from time to time, it's true."

"I have not seen Allegeth since the Redmarks went our separate ways. The last I heard of her, she returned to the mountains."

"Xeiliope still sees Thrandlas from time to time," Alia said.

"He is a sweet man," Xeiliope said.

"You don't see Rose?" I asked.

"Not as often as I like. She returned to Freeport, and without a wizard, that's a long road from Esmia."

"Caught you," Iago said.

Clodomyr curdled the air between them with a string of curses.

"If the two of you are done, I've got some adventurers to meet," I called

Clodomyr squinted at us, and as he laid eyes on Velena, he brightened. He came over, smoothing the thin white hair over his head. "Well, hello there. I'm Clodomyr of Mordru, brave warrior of the Shimmering Striders and many other doughty bands. And you are an Esmian maid, unless my old eyes betray me."

"They don't," Velena said. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Allow me to present my husband, Cull."

The half-orc reached out a huge hand. Clodomyr grasped his forearm. "You're a lucky man, Cull." He turned to Velena, and in a loud whisper said, "If you ever tire of him, you know where to find me."

Velena stifled a giggle. "I may well do that."

"I thought at first you were one of my people," Iago said, taking Alia's hand.

"I hear that often."

"It's a shame Durrack isn't here. He would already be rattling off your adventures." Clodomyr took a goblet of wine and settled next to Velena. "I suppose we'll just have to listen to you tell the tale, won't we, fair Velena?"

Velena gave him an indulgent look. "I suppose I could tell a few tales."

"Then I am forever in your debt."

As much as I thought of them as a unit, my relationship with each Mythseeker was different. I was not surprised that Alia came to me first. I always had the closest bond with her. She came to me late that second night. My brides had gone to bed, some with one another, some alone. I lay in the chamber that had once been Talynore's. Though I knew she would never be back, I nurtured a vain hope. Whenever I did not sleep with one of my brides, I was in there.

I lay nude on the couch and my thoughts strayed to Talynore, the fierce sellsword I could never truly tame. Inevitably, we were on the island again, a momentary respite from the horror of the Turquoise Conquest. We had become lovers swiftly, as two with such volcanic desire would not keep our hands off each other. I thought of how she had demanded I take her, insisting upon Arthan style, and boldly taking all of me. Soon I was caressing my length, my mind's eye filled with those delicious images.

"Well, I see what you get up to when you're all alone."

I opened my eyes. Alia stood on the balcony, a smirk lighting her face. Behind her, clouds had blotted out the night sky and a summer fog had closed off the lights from the other side of the city. I stopped my stroking, but I was not ashamed. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," she said, walking to the couch and sitting down at its foot. I felt strange, as I was nude, but she was still fully clothed.

"You're always welcome."

"Hard to get you alone. Between us and all these women you've collected, you've always in company. And there's the serpent of yours."

"Quiyahui is outside. She pines for Ujaala."

Alia giggled. "Ujaala is busy."

"She seemed to enjoy whatever they were getting up to."

"Oh, she was enjoying it."

"In any case, I would think you of all people would appreciate the women who live here."

"Oh, I do. I have just as many, thank you, but I'm smart enough not to live with them. Well, except Velena and Xeiliope."

"I always had the feeling that the three of you would end up together."

"I had thought it would be the four of us."

"Perhaps. If not for the war."

"Have you spoken to Xeiliope?"

"After what she said, I think she is the one who needs to take the step."

Alia sighed. "You're going to be stubborn."

"In this, I think so." I paused. "I am pleased that you have made a family. And there are four of you."

"Cull is Velena's," Alia said firmly. "He is a good man, but he is still a man."

"I am a man."

"You rose above the deficiencies of your gender," she teased.

"Deficiencies, huh?"

"Your bodies are all square, no curves. Just this big, hard shaft." She put her hand on my staff. I was already slick, thanks to my own attentions. I sighed, letting her take it. She did not stroke.

"Are you planning to do anything with that?" I asked.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Pretending you didn't come here because you knew what we'd inevitably do if we were alone in a room for any length of time."

"I could go," she teased.

I grabbed her. "Not anymore you can't."

She grinned. "I could get away."

I pushed my knee up between her legs. Her crotch was hot against my thigh. "Not until I'm finished with you."

She shuddered. "Oh, gods, I can't keep playing like this. I need you inside me. Quickly now."

I tore her clothing from her body. Neither of us cared, and I would see her outfitted in new, tailored clothes. Whatever youthful softness had once clung to her figure was gone, but my need her for her was an irresistible force. Her hands found my staff, and she was artlessly pumping. What skill she'd had was gone, but I did not need much. I pulled the rags of her shirt off, covering her nipples with my mouth. The pebble-like bumps were hard in my mouth.

"Enough of that," Alia growled. "I get mouths on me all the time. I need that spear!"

I laughed. "Perhaps you like men more than you let on."

"Shut up and fuck me."

"My way," I said.

I kissed her hard, my hands roaming, yanking her pants down. I was momentarily transfixed by the hard muscles of her abdomen, leading down to her red-furred mound. She squirmed against me, halfway between trying to get away and burrowing deeper into our violent embrace. My need for her was a snarling beast, the savagery I had learned in exile twining with my overwhelming attraction to her.

Her eyes met mine, and a flicker went through them. She saw something in mine, and a flash of fear went through her, but it was replaced instantly, but the inferno of desire. My magic stirred within me, the rumble of thunder. Clouds formed over her flesh, twining over her in tendrils of gray. She was swiftly wrapped in this cocoon, like an octopus of sentient storm. Flashes caromed through them, and lightning spidered out over her skin.

Alia arched her back, paralyzed for a moment, then shaking as the storm took hold. I felt her body in the palm of my mind. The storm found her openings. I watched the tendril of gray snake into her orchid, another probing at her rose. Her green eyes went wide as they found their way inside. Thunder rolled through them, and she arched her back again, another tremor shaking her body. She was wide open now, and I could feel every part of her. Tendrils inside her, twining through her body, alive with thunder and lightning.

Every muscle in her body quivered with tension, standing out against her milky skin. I spoke a word and I covered myself in a thin sheen of grease. I knew what I wanted the instant I saw her. We used to enjoy this, the two of us. Never while we were on adventures, but in between, in towns, when we could probe the depths of sensation. Alia was tiny and I was prodigious and the two of us could turn that into something wonderful.

She was open, and ready for me. Still, she was so tight, so small, that I had to push. Her brow furrowed sweetly, her teeth worrying her lip. She pushed back, needing me inside her. Her rosebud gripped me, taking me in inch by aching inch. The storm roiled around her, entering her sex, raising goosebumps over her skin. She was impossibly tight, and each inch I drove into her forced a whimper from her lips.

When I was buried to the hilt, her body burned around me. I felt her convulse where she took me. "Oh, gods, you're splitting me in half," spilled in a ragged moan from her lips. She opened her eyes, and I saw bliss and agony. "Now harder. None of them are as skilled a spear as you."

I caressed her face once, and she followed my palm with her mouth, kissing me once before sucking my thumb between her lips. I began to move, slowly at first, letting her accustom herself to me. She was more eager, opening herself, spiraling her hips in an effort to take me deeper. I could not resist her.

I bent her in half, her legs up my body as I drove my staff into her violently. That was when she broke the first time, her body covered in a sheen of sweat, her form quaking with desire. I did not relent, driving myself into her again and again. The clouds caressed her body, the sweet to the savage thrusts that took her most secret place. She had broken over and over and now she merely thrashed, locked in a perpetual bliss. I fought my own, to keep her in this decadent place.

Finally, I could bear no longer, and I filled her bowels with hot streams of pearl. She cried out one last time as her body shook. I held her in my grip, relaxing. Gradually, we fell into each other's arms. I eased myself from her punished body and she curled against me, glowing with love.

She traced my face. "It has been too long."

I kissed her tenderly. "We will have to make up for lost time."

"We will." She looked out the window. "Your wife's handmaids..."

"They are fair game. Enjoy them."

"Oh, good. I'm going to try to get all three at once."

I laughed. "You will have no trouble."

Alia cheered as two boats crashed into one another. The hull of one splintered, sending sailors diving into the cool bright waters of the Turquoise. This day was clear, with only a few scattered clouds, the ideal day for Regatos Ryca.

Though Castellandria had all manner of sports, from the simple ones played in the streets by gaggles of children to the formal contests in our hippodromes, the Regatos Ryca was perhaps our defining pastime. The Regatos has now been unfortunately lost to the changing of the strata, and this is a tragedy. It dates to one of the early heroes of the city Calliana Ryca, who I believe would have been called a pirate by her contemporaries. When Castellandria was still a string of forts and fishing villages, she had once taken each in turn, staying ahead of the navies long enough to enact her daring plan. The Regatos commemorated this with a race.

Chariots are still popular in some areas of the Nightshade Empire, and I would point to those as the easiest comparison. Yet there is much more to it, once one adds the dimension of water. The goal is to make it around the Turquoise side of the Castelpont, collect flags from individual islands. Yet taking flags from other ships are worth as much as the ones collected, leading to crashes, boarding actions, and melees.

There were those who preferred the purity of the race itself and regarded the seaborne brawls as a blight on the sport. It was inarguable that the casual fans liked those the best. Sailors thrown overboard were out of the contest and had to make for one of the islands in the bay to wait to be recovered. Every now and then, the brawls continued on those rocks. While our Regatos Ryca lacked the decadence of Kharsoom's Crown Game, it was just as exciting.

Each team wore different colors and flew different flags, and each were tied to some group, guild, or church. From time to time Iago, himself a devotee of the Regatos, broached the idea of the Owls putting a team to sea. He had yet to gain any real support for it. Just as well. The thought of maintaining the ships, of having a trained crew, and throwing ourselves into the politics of the city was too much. Better to enjoy the spectacle.

Yes, the Regatos was often a proxy for the nastier political battles in the city. The less said about that the better, but it should be said that each boat had its faction and every faction had its goals.

Seats had been carved in the best vantages on the Turquoise side, reachable by winding paths that plunged to the water far below. Street vendors brought the best of Castellandrian food. Watching the Regatos wasn't merely entertainment. It served as at least one meal.

Our group was a large one, with not only the Mythseekers, Cull, Quiyahui, and I. Tanyth, her handmaids, Shaluvia, Lysethe, and the three small children had all turned out to watch. Alia sat next to Ku-Aya, and I was amused every time the rogue's hand wandered onto the handmaid's thick thigh.

I was enjoying myself right until the ships collided. I heard the wood splintering and suddenly the stone beneath my feet pitched and rolled like I was on the deck of a ship. I caught myself, and distantly, I heard Einoë's voice, begging me to slay her. My breath was thick in my lungs and my heart thundered in my ears.

I got up, making my way to the exit. Velena was next to me, though I hadn't seen her move. "Bel? Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," I said. "I remembered something at home. I will see you there."

Velena nodded, but I saw the doubt in her eyes. I made my way up the stairs and out, and it was only then that I noticed Lysethe next to me. She never went anywhere without some armor, but today, it was merely a pauldron of leather on one shoulder, and simple leather bracers and grieves. Her skymander lay draped over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Going with you, my lord."

"Where is Faustan?"

"With Princess Tanyth and her handmaids."

"Lysethe, you love the Regatos. The Golden Hawk was in the lead." That was the boat she supported, and passionately. She'd even purchased a Golden Hawk flag from a street vendor to hang in her bedchamber.

"I'll not leave you."

Rage boiled in me, not at her disobedience, but at my own weakness. Looking into the concern, the love, in her pink eyes, the anger dissipated. I embraced her. "Lysethe, I am fine. I want you to enjoy the Regatos."

She cocked her head. "Is that a command?"

"If it must be." I kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, my lord."

Away from the Regatos I already felt better, though perhaps a little foolish. I thought I should go back, but I only felt dread. Instead, I made my way home. Quiyahui fluttered with me, and I felt her confusion and care. When I arrived back at Azureview, I found Sarakiel on the balcony.

"Bel! Where are the others?"

"At the Regatos. It is not yet finished."

Her indigo eyes searched mine. "Come here, my love."

She embraced me and that was what I truly needed. The war was long ago and far away, and could not trouble me in this warm and comforting place.

I stood out on the balcony, waiting for Alia to drop down. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The rains would sweep in from the Azure Ocean soon. I shivered, nude in the night air.

She did not come to me every night, but I held out hope that I would soon be in her honeyed embrace. She liked to drop down from the balcony above and I thought I would catch her. Of course, she had been focused on Ku-Aya. It had gotten late enough that I was fairly certain she was occupied. Then a knock sounded at the door.

I passed Quiyahui, who was coiled in a gentle lump on the floor, and opened the door to find Velena. My eyes went to the pale flesh peeking from her black gown. "Velena. What are you doing here?"

She looked me over with some amusement. "Waiting for someone else?"

"Probably not. Come in. I thought you would be busy."

She entered, and I closed the door behind us. "Busy?"

"With Cull and Ujaala. If memory serves, you like women at least as much as men."

"True, and she is fetching, but no. She is for Cull."

I frowned. "Why?"

"We'll talk about that later," she said.

"Want to join me on the balcony?"

"That sounds nice," she said. She stepped out into the Castellandrian night. Summers were mild enough that only the ocean wind could provoke a chill, but it was a pleasant one, a spike of discomfort that only made the rest better. "This is beautiful."

"Isn't it?"

"I see why you chose to settle here." Velena sighed. "That vixen of yours is... indefatigable."

"Ujaala?" I chuckled. "She is at that, but some of the blame is mine. I do not lay with her as often as she would like."

"I don't know how one man would satisfy her."

"She likes women just as much. I believe she lays with Tanyth's handmaids most often. She would do well for you."

"Why does she not leave? Find a husband? A wife? Several of each?"

"I offered her freedom, but she refused. She said she had nowhere to go, no skills to ply. Here she is a valued member of what she sees as a Kharsoomian household."

"And to compound the problem, you have taken five wives."

"I never intended to."

She laughed. "You've always been that way, Bel. I see the way you look at them. The way you look at Alia. Even the way you look at Xeiliope."

"What are you saying, Velena?"

"You never look at me the way you look at them."

"You are my dear friend."

"Exactly. You have never needed me the way you do them."

"I will not deny that Alia and I have a connection."

"You and Xeiliope too. You two are more alike than either of you realize. I see it when you're with her."

"Velena, if I ever made you feel unloved..."

She took me in her soft arms. "No, nothing so cruel as that. Do you know, there was one time when you took me as you take Alia."

"When?"

Her pale eyes softened as she looked into my face. "I am but a simple baker," she said, rust on her voice. She smiled as she felt me harden against her. "And I would like my husband to put a child in me."

"I am but a simple woodsman," I said, finding the contours of the game easily. It had lived in my mind as comfortably as it lived in hers. "And I love you, my lady wife."

She kissed me softly. "I am yours, my husband."

"If you are mine, let me see you."

She dropped her gown. It caught on curves is more bountiful than they had been. Her breasts were huge now, capped with pale pink nipples. I covered her with kisses, licking and sucking her soft flesh. I momentarily thought to lift her onto the balcony and take her that way, but quickly abandoned that.

"I have gotten fat," she said, as she watched me abandon my passionate plan.

"Never trust a baker who isn't fat," I said, kissing her again.

She giggled. "How can you--" Her question ended in a yelp as I spun her about. Now I could cup her breasts in my hands, massaging her nipples to hardness. My mouth found her neck. Her soft flesh caressed my staff, and I found myself painfully hard.

I pushed her forward and she gripped the railing of the balcony. Then, quickly, I guided myself to her slick folds. With a thrust, I was inside her.

She moaned happily. "Fill me, my husband. Make me yours."

My strong fingers sank into the pillowy flesh of her hips. "I am lucky to have such a fat and comely wife."

She pushed back against me. She had not the control of Alia, but she was so lovely and soft, her sex like a glove, that was all I needed. Her back was expansive, pale flesh, marked with lines of intricate black runes. It was not the flesh of a peasant baker, but I didn't care. Velena was my friend, and I wanted to bring her bliss.

We built easily. Our breath came as one. Our strokes were smooth and even, finding a rhythm we never knew we lost. She moaned with every thrust, a soft whimper as I touched the back wall of her sex. The bliss built in me. She shivered, gripping me, and as one, we broke. I buried myself in her, filling her as she had asked.

We stayed there, against the railing, me softening inside her, she sighing, resting her head on her arms. "I love you, my husband."

I gently pulled out of her, kissing her neck. "I love you, my wife."

She stood, a weariness in her pale eyes, then embraced me. I held her. "Do you ever wish you were my woodsman?"

"Our lives would be simpler. Will you stay the night with me?"

"I hoped you would ask."

I kissed her again, drawing her to the couch. "Come, let us dream before we sleep."

I brought them to the Timeless Menagerie. The irony was that I had lived in Castellandria for a number of years by then and had never managed to go. I'd heard of it, of course, as it was the destination of many visitors to the great city. The work of a retired adventurer now a century dead, the menagerie was a colossal stone-and-glass edifice filled with all manner of beasts from all over the world.

Each hall was dedicated to a continent, with innumerable smaller rooms to highlight areas of idiosyncratic climate or limited range. The adventurer had traveled the breadth of Thür and collected whatever he found. Some creatures had undoubtedly come from Hollows, but he never learned that name. Every creature had been preserved perfectly with powerful magic. Plucked out of time and placed in a single, frozen moment, they all looked like they were between breaths and at any moment would come to life.

The first hall was Chassudor, as the Menagerie was on that side of the Castelpont. Then it branched and spread, each continent given a loving tribute. The whole household had joined us this time, and corralling the three little ones as they ran from exhibit to exhibit. Belazei was fascinated by Velena, and spoke to her as often as she could manage. Velena was amused that I'd had a child for the entire time she'd known me.

The adventurers had of course seen much of the creatures of Chassudor, and each display brought a wave of stories from the five of us, much to the delight of not only the children, but Lysethe. Alia was doing her best to impress Akadina and Itzamatul, and I noted Ku-Aya's annoyance at no longer being the focus of the rogue's attentions.

We went from Chassudor to Aucor to Uazica. It was with a certain horror that I arrived at the coatl exhibit. The creature was lovely, with red, orange, and yellow feathers making it appear like a lick of flame, but I could not help but feel its imprisonment was a crime. Quiyahui uttered a low hiss, and we moved away to another exhibit.

The Obai Hall was mostly the creatures of Kharsoom, as, aside from a handful of petty kindgoms and free cities, land and continent were one and the same. From jagkru to ghalaks to cthithk, they had every creature from the Red Wastes that had made my life a misery. I told stories of each to the Mythseekers, how every one of these beasts had tried to end me.

Whenever we passed other groups of children, they would touch the edge of Tanyth's iridescent white gown. She was known throughout the city for that garment, even down to the dirty hems where hundreds of fingers would brush every day. "Bless us, Mother Mercy," they would say.

She would always blush, holding out her hands in a gesture I supposed was intended to give the impression she had conferred some blessing. They likely did not know the gods of her people were dead. Coins fell from her, and she had perfected the art of making it appear as though they had come from nowhere.

"I wish they would stop," she murmured.

"You love it," I teased. "Besides, they are grateful for what you did."

"I did what any good Kharsoomian woman would have."

"There are no other good Kharsoomian women here."

"What is this?" Velena asked, clinging to Cull.

I told a truncated version of the tale of the Heacharid siege of Castellandria, now over two years in the past, focused upon Tanyth's role.

"The Heacharids will not leave you be," Xeiliope said.

"To their sorrow. Stormwights still wait, in the spaces between the Hallian Walls, ready for their brethren to return. There are times I hope they will."

"They could not take this place?"

"We have fortifications, geography on our side. We have numbers. Advantages Axichis never had."

Xeiliope fell silent after that.

The mention of the war had gotten under my skin. We returned to Azureview and while the others continued their conversations upstairs, I went down to the amata. Even Quiyahui had left me alone, choosing to remain with Tanyth. I could not stop thinking of the siege. The waves of Heacharids crashing against the Hallian Walls stuck with me. I stripped out of my clothes and held out my hand. The air scorched, and the scent of fresh rain filled the room as Ur-Anu appeared in my grip. One moment a bolt of lightning, the next the spear of spears.

I moved through my regimen. I began with the basic moves taught to me by Xeiliope so long ago, then moved to the refinements that Einoë and Kallea had placed upon my fighting style. Then I moved into the savagery I learned in the jungles of Uazica, and refined that into the swift brutality I brought from the Red Wastes of Kharsoom. Each was a rung on a ladder of my skill, and I wondered what new place I would find. My body knew the movements, the sweat and exhaustion freeing my mind to wander. This was the place the Deadwall was truly born, in the amata of Azureview. At the end of a sequence, I paused my breath hot in my lungs.

"You've improved."

I turned, and Xeiliope had come into the room. Her expression was sad, her eyes carrying something deeper.

"I have had practice," I said. "And I found this."

"I've never seen anything like it."

"Ur-Anu, called Fate. A weapon from another age. I carried it through my exile. Without it, I do not believe I would have survived."

"Care to test your skills against your first teacher?"

I focused my will, and with a crack and roll of thunder, Ur-Anu was gone, leaving only a faint sizzle in the air. I went to the rack of practice weapons and pulled two spears from it. I turned, finding Xeiliope shedding her clothing. Though amazons were not committed to nudity the way Kharsoomians were, they fought and exercised in the nude. That had been one of the lovelier sights on Axichis, now cruelly taken from the world by the Heacharids.

I was able to see her again for the first time, shorn of everything. She was a beautiful woman. She too had put on a little weight, though I had not noticed it initially. Where the muscles in her abdomen were once clearly defined, they now were muted under a slight layer of fat. Her shoulders, arms, and legs were still well defined, though not quite as chiseled as once they had been. The honeyed curls between her legs did not quite hide her pouting orchid. My eyes met hers, and I saw that she had seen me devouring her shape with my eyes, and I saw in hers that that she had done the same.

I tossed her the practice spear, clacked the butt against the flagstone floor, and said, "On your guard."

Once I would have waited for her, but my time in exile had made me aggressive. I struck quickly, putting her on her heels. She recovered, deftly parrying my attack, but never able to mount more than a cursory attack of her own. I finished her with a touch between her breasts.

"You've improved greatly," she said.

"I fought my way through two continents," I said, spinning my spear, and returning to the middle of the room.

"I thought you were dead," Xeiliope said, following me. "After your ship vanished."

"There are times I wished I was dead."

"On your guard," she said, attacking. "We had a funeral for you."

"You did? How?" The words distracted me enough to give her the advantage, but I turned it on her. Her defense was stronger this time. That was always Xeiliope's true strength. Her keen mind forever analyzed the attacks of her enemies, and if they tried the same thing twice, she would break them. As we continued to speak, our conversation was punctuated by the clack of the practice spears and our labored breath.

"When we came back from the war, we went to Rhandonia, near that little town where we found you. Velena said sweet things about you and Alia sobbed. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't speak. I couldn't feel anything."

I stumbled, and her spear tapped my chest. "You didn't mourn me?"

"I thought I didn't. I thought that you were a coward, and I would not mourn a coward."

"On your guard," I growled. This time my attack was free of any style. She could not predict me as one tigerish move blended into the next seamlessly.

"I was wrong!" she cried.

I swept her legs out from under her and leveled the spear at her throat. "Wrong?"

"You were no coward. You never were. I was not calling you a coward."

"I don't understand." I moved the point of my spear away and backed off, but I didn't help her up.

She rose, and we returned to the center of the amata. "I was calling myself one." She sighed, guilt heavy on her features. "When we first joined the war, I thought we could prevail. Call me a fool if you want, but I thought we could. I didn't understand that the Heacharids are truly endless and they care nothing for watering the earth in blood. When you said you were leaving, I only just understood the Heacharid. I knew victory was impossible, so it was only a matter of padding the butcher's bill. Then the best weapon our side had, the Dreadstorm, said he was leaving."

"I never wanted to be the Dreadstorm," I said quietly. "The Heacharids gave me that name and I wore it like a cloak. I wielded it like a sword. I threw it down upon them like a thunderbolt. When they came here, I took it up again, and it was so easy. I was the Dreadstorm again, and the worst part was that I didn't mind."

"I know," she said. "I wanted you to be the Dreadstorm because I knew you were the one thing they feared. They would come regardless but at least they would suffer for every step they took on my islands."

"I wanted to hurt them."

She touched my shoulder. I was slick with sweat. Her scent covered me, that martial power that always smelled like a hot summer day. "You did."

"I think that if I had stayed any longer, I might have become..." I trailed off, my gaze finding the silver ring wrapped around my finger. Could that have been what happened to Diotenah that turned her into a monster? Or had she always been thus?

"I know that. When you broke, I saw myself breaking. Only it was my homeland that was being taken, not yours. You could walk away. I couldn't."

"I wish I could have stayed."

"I hated you for not staying, but I think that if you had, we wouldn't be speaking now. You would have learned to love killing and you would not have stopped."

I looked into her golden eyes. "Where does this leave us?"

"I should not have said those things to you. You are one of my dearest friends."

"I forgive you. Do you forgive me?"

"I never had anything to forgive."

It was at that moment that I remembered the two of us were nude. Desire flooded into me. I wanted her. I think she saw something change in my eyes, for something changed in hers. We dropped the practice weapons to clatter upon the stone floor.

She licked her lips. "There is something I have been thinking of," she said. "It came into my mind one day and I have not been able to unthink it. When we learned you were alive, it only grew stronger."

I nodded. "I want you, Xeiliope."

She dropped to her knees before me, her golden eyes meeting mine. "You are the only lover I have ever taken who can make me supplicant. Who makes me feel small. I want to feel like that tonight."

"I would like that."

I was hard now, between us, my spear's head shining. A bead of nectar collected at the tip. She took my shaft gently in hand, pressing a kiss at the root of me. "I have missed this too. Your spear was glorious. When you first took me in that icy cave, I thought every man must have such a beast between his legs. I was disappointed when I learned this was not the case."

"There are bigger," I said.

"True," she said, running her tongue up my length. "But yours has a pleasing shape. I always enjoyed how it touched every part of me. You will do that to me later. Now, I want to feel you in my mouth. In my throat. I want to swallow you."

My assent was erased with a moan as she took me. Xeiliope licked, never once leaving my eyes, bringing her mouth up to the top of me, and kissing my shining head. This amazon, muscled and powerful, golden shin shining with exertion, her smell strong but sweet.

She took me in her mouth, her lips straining with the girth of me. Her tongue was active, swirling over my length as she sucked me. She bobbed her head, following the stroke of her hands, milking me from root to crest. She was no master of the art, but she had grown in some skill since last she'd given me the knight's kiss. She took me to the back of her throat, but no more.

She was ravenous. Our sparring had been the beginning of our loveplay. I was stunned I hadn't seen it before, but now, as she industriously licked and sucked, I saw it in my memories. I saw her chest heaving, the smoke in her gaze, the dew in her fleece that could not be sweat. I was not certain she had come to this place for this reason, but there was no stopping it now.

I put my hand on the back of her head, and she moaned. She had said what she wanted, who I was to her. In some ways, I was that weapon of her people. I was what the Heacharids feared. She wanted to please me.

I would ensure she did. She had covered me with delicious fire, the tendrils reaching through my loins and into my belly. It built within me, a raging inferno that would soon spill into her mouth. I wanted more.

When she took me to her limit, when the head of me was at the gate of her throat, I pushed. She gagged, but did not pull away. I rocked my hips to her, and with the pressure of my hand, I entered her throat. She closed around me tightly. Gags shook through her whole body, gripping my staff with their forbidden touch. My fingers curled into her hair, and I held her there, holding me past her comfort. Then I released her. She held her place for a heartbeat longer, proving to herself, to me, that she could do it. Then she withdrew.

Her next stroke, she took me into her throat again. Though the gags still shook her, she held, stroking and milking me. She was mine. Whatever was past, was past. There was only this moment. We were friends, comrades, fellow warriors, finding joy in one another.

Her bobbing was deeper, more violent. She had built in me a fire that could no longer be contained. It threatened to consume me. She must have seen it in my eyes, as right before I could hold no longer, she pulled me to her lips, and I watched myself pulse, splashing over her lips. She moved me, painting her cheeks with each subsequent pulse, milking every last bit from my staff.

She broke into a smile, my seed dripping from her face. "I've improved too."

"That you have." I took her by the hand. "Come, spend the night with me. We have years to make up for."

"Yes, my friend. Let us rut like warriors."

The following days were easier. With things settled between us, we were friends again. We had not yet lain together in a group, but I was biding my time. It would happen, of this I was certain. One day, perhaps a month after their arrival, we meandered the streets of Castellandria without any specific goal. It was only the four of us. There were moments I could pretend this was just before we'd left for the war, when the Mythseekers were still innocents.

"I love having you here," I said. "Velena made it sound like there was a little more to this visit than a reunion."

Velena exchanged a look with the other two. "We had an ulterior motive."

"Tell him," Alia said.

Velena took a deep breath. "We want children. All three of us. And though I will have some with Cull, and Xeiliope will with her loves, we wanted our first to be siblings."

"Which would mean the same father," Alia said. "And you were the only father we could all agree to."

"You were the only father Alia would accept," Xeiliope said.

Alia wrapped an arm about my waist. "I know what I want."

"Three children. What would..." I trailed off, unable to think of how to phrase the question.

Fortunately, Velena read my mind. "Alia, Xeiliope, and I are a family, and these children would be ours, the product of this union. They would know you are their father, but you wouldn't raise them. They can meet you, and you would be welcome to visit. When they get older, they might wish to seek you out, and we would give our blessing."

"I see," I said carefully. "This is not something I can grant without discussing with my wives."

"Of course. We assumed that would be the case."

"Hold, is this why you haven't been laying with Cull?"

Velena nodded. "We had to make certain. I've a potion that will help us conceive, but we didn't want an accident. That was why I was so relieved when you offered Ujaala's services."

I laughed. "And Cull is fine with this?"

"He understands how important it is. I think it helps that he likes you."

"I suppose it must."

For the rest of our time out, the thoughts tumbled over each other in my mind. I wanted to say yes. I came to that rather quickly. I wanted to give them what they asked, and I wanted to meet the people that would be made from us. However, I would not make such a decision without their blessing. Later, after we put the children to bed, I gathered my brides together in Sarakiel and Lysethe's bedchamber. I took a deep breath and told them what the Mythseekers had asked of me. Silence followed as my brides absorbed this request.

"Do you want to do this?" Sarakiel asked, cradling her belly.

"When they first asked me, I was uncertain. I have children in plenty. But this isn't about me. They want children in a way that only I can grant. They are my friends, my companions."

"I think you should," Sarakiel said.

"As do I," Maireili agreed.

"Tanyth?"

My Kharsoomian bride was silent, but her expression was stormy. "These children. Where would they be in the family?"

"They would be part of theirs. Alia's, Xeiliope's, Velena's."

"Kharsoomian traditions value family," Tanyth said carefully. "There are the children of your wives, those of your concubines, those of your slaves. All have degrees of legitimacy. I still have not produced an heir for Clan Abibaal."

"Oh, Tanyth. It will happen," Sarakiel said.

"What will you do?" Maireili asked. "If you do not?"

"Maireili!" scolded the darkling.

"Malycent," Tanyth said, with the tone of one who has thought of it extensively. "But there will be those who would challenge her. She has not a drop of Kharsoomian blood."

"What is your worry?" I asked.

"Arkohnus, Faustan, even Threch, Belazei, and Malycent have some measure of legitimacy by our traditions. Arkohnus and Faustan are children of your concubines, and the other three have been acknowledged and accepted."

"I don't understand. Alia, Velena, and Xeiliope aren't my concubines. I will be known to the children as their father, but the children will be raised by those three."

"Bel," Tanyth said patiently, "you are a boldisar. When we wed, you were made a lord. The traditions covering boldisars are different. Because you adventured with them, they would be called boldisars as well, and they have the status of concubines."

"I don't understand why."

"Because it is tradition, and without tradition, we are nothing."

"You worry that one of them could claim title in Clan Abibaal."

Tanyth nodded. "Their claim isn't strong, but clans have been taken on less."

"I understand. What must be done?"

"This would not be a problem if I could only bear a child!" She turned away, but could not hide the frustrated tears springing to her eyes.

I went to my knees, taking her hands in mine. "Tanyth, we will have a child together, I promise you that. It will happen."

"We have been married for years, Bel. You have performed your husbandly duty eagerly and often. I should have already borne one or even two, but I remain barren."

The sight of my lovely bride in pain cut me like a blade. Then, inspiration struck. "Tanyth, come with me, please." She followed me to the door, and abruptly I remembered everyone in the room. I turned to them. "You will be fine?"

"Go, Bel," Sarakiel said. Maireili nodded. Zhahllaia followed, unwilling to be far from either Tanyth or me.

"Where are we going?" Tanyth asked.

"To see an expert."

I made my way down to the guest chambers and knocked. Cull answered, the big half-orc stripped to the waist and showing off his massive physique. "Hello th..." This was where he noticed who I was. "Bel! I am sorry, I was waiting on Ujaala."

"I'd be happy to send for her."

"No, it's a game." Green crept into Cull's cheeks. "She makes me wait. It's intoxicating."

I chuckled. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, my friend. We're here to see your wife."

He looked to Tanyth and his expression fell when he saw the tears on her cheeks. "I'll fetch her."

Velena came to the door and when she saw Tanyth, she went to the Kharsoomain woman. "Oh. Tanyth. If our favor hurts you like this, we will not ask him. We will find another. Alia will have to agree."

"No," Tanyth said, shaking her head, the tears falling. "It's not that."

"Come, we'll go up to the balcony," I said. "Talk out there."

Cull looked with concern. "Is there something I can do?"

"Thank you, my friend, but only Velena can help," I said with confidence I didn't quite feel. "Just enjoy yourself."

We went out onto the balcony. It had not rained today but the chill in the air promised a coming storm. Velena led Tanyth to a pair of chairs, and two sat facing one another. I stood away from them with Zhahllaia and Quiyahui.

"You're certain she can help?" murmured the djinn.

"No," I whispered. "But if anyone could, it would be her."

"What troubles you, Tanyth? What can I do?" Velena asked.

The tale spilled out of Tanyth, and even I was unaware of the depths of her anguish. In her mind, she had failed as a Kharsoomian woman. That flabbergasted me. She was, and remains still, the exemplar of Kharsoomian beauty, mercy, duty, and grace. I could not ask for a better partner. She had become beloved in her adopted city during the siege and still she elevated our status. Yet because of this one thing, over which she had no control, she felt herself to be a failure. I could not stop myself. I went to her and wrapped her in an embrace as though I could shield her from the pain. A moment later, I felt the kiss of Zhahllaia's touch about us. She too could not be a part.

"I can help," Velena said. "I have a potion. I brewed it for Alia, Xeiliope, and me, in case Bel agrees. It makes conception far more likely. I can brew more for you."

"It will work?"

"It should. Bel will have to provide what he can, but I can't imagine he has an objection."

"You would do this for me?"

"Of course. Tanyth, I love Bel, and I see how much he loves you. I don't know you well, but everything I know I love. I will start in the morning. There was no need to cry, my love."

"Oh, Velena, thank you!" Tanyth threw herself into the witch's arms.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm happy to do it." Velena held her.

"Velena, I want you to know you can have his baby." Tanyth looked into her eyes.

"You don't have to give me that because I am helping you," Velena said. "My help comes without need for repayment. I do this for love and friendship."

"I know. That is why I give it freely."

"Then I need to thank you as well, Tanyth. Thank you. Thank all of you. Bel, take this woman to bed. You need to be with your wives tonight."

I helped Tanyth up, holding her. "Velena has always been wise."

The potion smelled foul, but Velena asserted that all good witchcraft did. She brewed in my kitchen, the stench blooming through the house. Arkohnus made retching noises, and soon Faustan and Malycent were imitating him like they always did. Velena and Tanyth both glared at me whenever I laughed at the children's antics.

Velena brewed and bottled it, giving Tanyth her instructions. She was to drink a bottle after her moon and lay with me. "If you run out and need more, you come find me. You will have to visit anyway to meet the children, anyway. And I will want very much to meet yours."

Tanyth hugged Velena, wiping away tears. "Thank you. You are no longer only Bel's friend. You're mine too."

"That means more that you will ever know," Velena said, hugging her back.

It was not yet a week later, when one morning I was out on the balcony, eating a light breakfast and Velena came out to join me. My attention went to the skin peeking from her gown. "We are at the right phase of our moon," Velena said.

"For? Oh! Tonight? All three of you?"

"Depends on your endurance. It might take a few tries to get right." She smiled. "And we'll want to be certain."

"Of course," I said archly. "This is for a greater purpose."

That day my heart thundered. It was not merely the prospect of laying with three lovely women. I could do that whenever I wished. It was the thought that this would be the last time I could recapture that time in my youth, when the world was at its biggest. We would be simple adventurers again, joining in glorious purpose.

I prepared myself for them that night. I bathed thoroughly, trimming and oiling my hair and beard. I went to their bedchambers after dark. Even as I called them the Mythseekers in my mind, that name no longer applied. They were retired, going to the reward I had already seen Brennan taking. Was I still an adventurer? At that point in my life no, but I would become one again, though not until after I my time as tyrant. In any case, the Mythseekers had ceased to be what we were. We were something else. They were a family, and in a way I would be part of it.

Had the war never happened, I knew that would have retired with them and been truly part of their unit. I would outlive them, for such is the blessing and the curse of the wizard, but I would have lived with them and loved them until all three were gone from this world. As much as I long for that existence, I could not give up what I found in my pain. To be with them would mean that I would have never married my Tanyth, and that is not a fate I could ever countenance.

As I entered the guest chambers, the air was alive with the charge of unshed lightning. My companions were dressed simply, I suppose because all of us knew that we would not be dressed for long. I opened my mouth, ready to ask how to begin, but Velena stood up.

"I will need to see if anyone is injured," Velena said, her pale eyes sparkling. "A single wound can fester and I will need to tend to every hurt."

"Wounded, but we... oh," Alia said, breaking into a grin. "Xeiliope got the worst of it as usual. You should start with her."

"She's right," Velena said. The witch, without further preamble, dropped the gown from her body. It clung to her pillowy curves as it fell to pool about her feet. She was bigger, softer, than in her adventuring days, but no less sweet for it. The lines of tattooed words swirled about her voluptuous form.

Xeiliope pulled her chiton over her head. Now she was nude. She had scarcely changed. My eyes went to the blonde fleece between her legs, thinking of the one night we'd recently shared. She went to Velena, the muscles coiling beneath her skin, and sat. The witch then proceeded to inspect her, though the charade began to vanish as she kissed the amazon's tanned flesh.

"This means we have to entertain ourselves," Alia said, pulling her pants off and doffing her top. She had aged the most visibly. Other than the hardness of her body and the appearance of crow's feet around her eyes, there was the way the hair on her head, between her legs, and under her arms had faded. I loved her more then than I ever had, her years doing nothing more than refining her beauty. If we had never parted, her age would have been arrested in the bloom of her perfect youth. She was not lesser, though, or perhaps I was never able to see Alia rationally. There is no point in seeing a paramour as they are.

I dropped my robes and her eyes sparkled as she gazed upon my staff. She jumped up and I caught her with a laugh. Her scent, that earthy musk cut with sweat, hit my nose and I needed her. I could not keep the charade going. This was not some innocent after-battle inspection of wounds. I was going to take Alia.

She saw the look in my eye and shivered. I put her on the couch, and she arched up, planting the backs of her shoulders and her feet and lifting her orchid to me. Her lips were soaked, dew caught in the strawberry blonde curls. I kissed her, parting the soft folds, her hair tickling my lips. Alia swore, pressing herself to my mouth. I fucked her with my tongue, alternating a lashing of her pearl, a caress of her lips. Flavor rewarded me as her nectar flowed into my mouth.

Then suddenly she displayed the incredible athleticism I had come to expect from her. She hooked the backs of her knees over my shoulders and with her abdominal muscles clearly defined against her milky skin, she lifted herself up. Now, she sat upon my shoulders, her sex at my lips. She began to undulate, her hips against my face, her fingers tangled in my hair. I continued to kiss her most intimate places, my senses overwhelmed by her taste, her smell, and the extraordinary beauty of her body.

I felt a soft, wet embrace over my staff. It was Velena's inquisitive mouth. She was used to pleasuring Cull, who was, I will admit, more impressively endowed than I. She was able to swallow me to the root without difficulty. I felt her throat close over me before she withdrew, her tongue swirling over me, my staff dripping with her spit.

Strong hands helped me to the couch. I sat, and then a different wetness enclosed me. Strong thighs enclosed mine as Xeiliope knelt over my hardness. I knew it was her, those powerful, killing muscles now turned to the arts of love. She moved against me slowly, taking me inside her body, lifting up, then settling back.

I never stopped exploring Alia, and the little rogue squealed happily, gripping my hair as she frantically ground her hips against my face. Then, I felt Xeiliope's fingers twine with mine. She too was gripping Alia's hips. Alia made a delicious sound and I pulled away long enough to see that the amazon had spread the rogue's little buttocks and was enthusiastically giving her the cleric's kiss. The two of us ate the little rogue from either end. She did not last for long, uttering a happy wail before falling limp.

We helped Alia off us to lay on the couch, her little chest heaving, her thighs glistening. With her out of the way, Xeiliope's golden eyes met mine and she broke into a smile as she moved against me.

"I want to ride you," I said.

She leaned in, kissing me hard, the tongue that had so recently been inside Alia, now in my mouth. Then she nodded eagerly. "Take me, my friend. You know how I like it."

We shifted, and she turned about, getting onto all fours. I gripped her hips and slid into her golden-furred sex. Now I was able to take her fully, my staff battering at the gates of her. I gave her muscular buttocks a hard slap and she moaned. She got another, and another, and each time, she writhed more strongly against me.

I looked over at Velena. The zaftig witch was nude, her fat thighs spread, her fingers playing in the creamy, tattooed folds of her sex. "Were you going to join us?"

She smiled. "I have been dreaming of the day the two of you would make peace. This is the most beautiful sight I could imagine."

"Come here," I said firmly.

Obediently, she rose, and I drew her into a kiss as I continued to fuck our friend. The pleasure was building in the both of us, the great raging fire that would never truly go out. I felt it in the amazon's thundering heartbeat. I knew that Xeiliope would be the first I would lose myself within, and I wanted it. I took a handful of her hair, pulling back. She cried out, the shivers deepening. Velena held the two of us, her pale eyes alight. She waited, and watching the bliss contort my face. then, at the moment it spilled out of me, rushing to Xeiliope's womb, Velena kissed me hard. Another wave hit me, and more of me flooded into the amazon. The ecstasy gripped me forever, my body wracked in delightful tremors.

Finally, I settled back against the couch, my staff greasy with the amazon. Velena cuddled next to me, her hand on my abdomen, mere inches from my staff. "Do you need a potion?"

"I need a bit of time," I said.

She kissed me. "I think we can manage that. In the meantime, I think we can help you."

Alia dropped to her knees before me, taking my staff in her fist. I always enjoyed how big I looked when she worked on me. She licked up and down, collecting the combined juices of me and Xeiliope, then smacking her lips. "Delicious. I'm next, you know that?"

"Not so fast," Velena sighed. She was learned back, Xeiliope between her legs, licking the hairless folds of her sex. "You've had him the most."

"That was for fun. This is for a higher purpose." She sucked the glistening head of my staff into her mouth, licking around the hole. Pleasure sparked in me, and I felt myself growing hard.

"You don't find this fun?" I asked through the haze of bliss.

"Stop trying to help," she said, moving her mouth, now reddened from exertion. She continued to stroke my silky flesh, her head cocked winsomely at me. "I want you inside me."

I shrugged at Velena. "You'll have to wait."

"The best things come to those who do," she said.

Alia had licked and sucked me to full hardness, and for a moment, she stared at my staff and pouted. "What?" I asked.

"I want you to finish in my mouth now, but we have work to do."

I chuckled. "I will happily let you suck me whenever you like."

"You're a kind man," she said with a grin. She got up, placed me at the gates of her, and sat, slowly taking me in. Her brow furrowed, her eyes closed, and she let out a happy moan as her tight body closed about mine. "Ohhhh, yes. Perhaps this isn't so bad."

I stood, and she cried out, her legs wrapping about me. The surge of pleasure awakened the desire in me. I brought her to my lips and kissed her. She opened her eyes, meeting mine and grinned. "Ready?"

She grinned and began to writhe, corkscrewing her hips as she moved up and down. I held her, throwing hurling powerful thrusts into her body. Every one touched the back of her, and she cried out as I hit her over and over again. By the time I burst, I was past control. It was as though Velena's potion had already worked within me. I flooded Alia. When I lifted her little body from me, I matted her fleece, and ran in thick threads down the inside of her slim thighs.

"Now do you need a potion?" Velena asked. Xeiliope had not stopped her explorations, never letting her finish, keeping the witch at the edge of bliss.

"I need help," I said, stepping to her side. The night had taken me over. I could not think clearly. I wanted only to be inside one of them. Every second I was not was torture. She took me in hand, licking me gently. The nerves were jagged and I shivered against her. Soon, she was milking me, taking me easily to the hilt, covering me with copious spit once again. I was hard and slick, ready once more.

Velena gently tapped the amazon on the head and she moved. I got between her legs and sighed as I sheathed myself in her.

She grinned at me, wrapping her thick arms about my neck. I held the fat, pillowy expanses of her hips. "Welcome home," Velena murmured. That was the last intelligible thing she said that evening.

Two months later, when they finally departed for Stellanmark, all three were with child. It was not a shock that Alia was the first to fall pregnant, then Velena, and then finally Xeiliope. We continued our games, playing at recapturing youth we never truly would.

I kissed them goodbye, and though I would see all three of them again, I knew that this was an ending of sorts. The Mythseekers were well and truly a thing of the past. What remained were four friends whose bonds would never be broken.

The house was emptier when they were gone, but quickly, we returned to other tasks. The first night after their departure, Tanyth uncorked one of the potions, grimacing at the foul odor. "We'll see if this works," she said dubiously.

A month later she was pregnant with twins.