A Life Discovered Ch. 16

Chapter 16 - Sisters Doin' It For Themselves

The three lovers materialised in the bedroom in the Minshull Foundation's safe house in Roligvan, just as they had the previous day. Jade went to find Oksana to let them know they were there, while Kat stayed with Rhys, still holding his hand.

She couldn't get over how calm he was; how calm he'd been since the house fire in Solvstrom. It had been a nightmare - flames everywhere, smoke choking the air - and Rhys had just walked right through the middle of it to save a baby from the upper floor. He hadn't even used a damp cloth over his face to shield it from the smoke, let alone any real protection from the heat. None of them knew it yet - not even Rhys - but his natural magic had been shielding him the whole time. He'd acted on pure instinct, and then, after getting the baby out, he'd gone back in and just... extinguished the fire. Kat hoped she and Jade could help him figure out how he'd actually done it.

Kat was a healer, not a therapist, but she knew that sort of experience should have affected him. She'd expected Rhys to be shaking, or at least on edge, once the adrenaline finally wore off, but he seemed fine - maybe too fine. She decided she'd keep a close eye on him for the rest of the day.

Jade returned and waved them out of the bedroom and into the corridor. Oksana was already waiting for them, and they greeted her warmly. Jade, Rhys and Kat spent a minute or two debating whether to leave their bags at the house or just lug them through town. Eventually, they decided to take everything along, figuring it'd be easier to just head straight back to Chatamor once they were finished. Oksana locked the heavy front door behind them as they left.

It was about a thirty-minute walk to the Government Quarter, following the same route as yesterday. They moved quickly, though the luggage slowed them down a little. They walked through the quiet streets until they found a bench in one of the little squares, and Kat and Rhys sat with the bags while Jade headed into the Department of Overseas Relations.

Jade showed her diplomatic papers to the guard at the gate. This time, she was on the list of expected visitors, so she was let through to the reception hall pretty quickly. She told the receptionist she was there to see Gustav Silfverstolpe and was asked to take a seat.

For about fifteen minutes, Jade sat on a hard plastic chair, chatting mentally with Kat and Rhys. They were enjoying the park; it was noisier than Solvstrom, but still peaceful compared to the rest of Roligvan or the chaos of Chatamor. Eventually, a young man came through the security gates and headed for the receptionist, who pointed Jade out to him.

He walked over to Jade, asked for her papers, checked them over, and led her back through the turnstiles, showing his pass to the unseen operator. He guided her through a few corridors and into a conference room with a round table and four fancy wooden chairs. He gestured for her to sit and then stood by the door, watching her.

A few minutes later, three other people walked in. One of them was carrying a message cylinder. The young man bowed and slipped out, closing the door behind him. Jade recognised Gustav immediately; he smiled at her and took a seat.

One of the three newcomers was a woman who walked up to Jade and hugged her. "Charlotte," the woman said, "it's so good to see you again. I've been following your reports, and I'm just so relieved you survived that shipwreck." Jade held her shoulders, gently breaking the hug. "Baroness Nattstierne," she said, smiling. "It's good to see you too."

"My dear, please, no formality!" the Baroness insisted. "Call me Sylvi, like you always have!"

"In that case," Jade replied, "call me Jade."

Sylvi put a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, forgive me! I forgot that's the name you use now. I'm so sorry!"

Gustav cleared his throat politely, and the women sat down. "May I introduce His Excellency Jalmari Rautio," Gustav began, "head of our Reiland team here in the DoOR."

Jalmari waved him off with a laugh. "Gustav! No need for the formal titles in every single meeting!" He turned to Jade. "Please, call me Jalmari. And I can call you... Jade?"

"Yes, Jalmari. Jade is fine," she said.

"Well, Jade," Jalmari continued, "I read Richard Spencer's letter. Could you tell me in your own words what happened when you tried to present your credentials to the Reiland government?"

"To cut a long story short," Jade said, "I went into their Department of Foreign Affairs with Femke Janssen - my boss at the Embassy - and we met with a junior sub-undersecretary named Kaspars Ozols. He was processing my credentials, as you'd expect, but there was this other guy in the corner. He was just hunched over with his eyes closed, looking like he was concentrating really hard on something." She paused. "The Minshull Foundation gave me two stones that I had made into a ring." She held up her right hand to show them. "The ring started getting hot, so I moved my left hand over to it. As soon as I touched the ring, my whole body tensed up for a split second, then snapped back. I looked over at the man in the corner: he jumped at exactly the same time, then he just stood up and hurried out of the room."

She took a few breaths before going on. "It was all weird, but the weirdest part was that neither Kaspars nor Femke mentioned him. They didn't acknowledge his reaction or that he had just bolted. It made me think back to when I met with Femke at the embassy earlier that day. I was pitching some ideas for cultural outreach, and she just shut them down, saying the Embassy had 'boundaries'--though she couldn't actually explain what those boundaries were when I asked."

"Anyway, changing the subject for a second, I'm close friends with a healer; she's descended from a famous healer from back in the day. We think she inherited the healing 'talent' from him." She made quick air quotes with her fingers. "She's been treating a patient whose mind had been... well, altered. To make her a sex slave." She paused, letting that sink in as the three other people in the room looked shocked. "She's making good progress," Jade added, "but the patient isn't out of the woods yet."

"Maybe I'm just seeing patterns where there aren't any, but it does feel like the Reiland government has been 'getting at' some of our diplomats. The whole thing feels too weird to be anything else." She paused, glancing over at the others, who all looked like they were lost in their own thoughts.

"We read Richard's letter," Jalmari said slowly, "but we wanted to hear it from you too. Richard believes you and agrees with your take. The problem is, we don't know who else has been 'got at,' which means we don't know who in the embassy we can actually trust. Richard suggested that you and your friend... Katarina?" Jade nodded. "Right. He suggested you and Katarina be authorised to gather some evidence so we know what we're dealing with. We agree."

"So, we've named Katarina a 'cultural adviser.' Since she's a Reiland citizen, we can't give her an actual diplomatic role, but this gets her through the doors of the embassy as long as you're accompanying her. We need you to figure out if we actually have a problem and how bad it is. Specifically, try to cover as much ground as possible and see if any of the diplomatic staff have traces of corrupting magic in their heads. Once you've reached a conclusion, come to see us in person. Don't write this time - just show up and bring Katarina with you."

Jalmari picked up the message cylinder. "This is a reply for Richard, but there are some other documents in here too, including Katarina's letter of appointment. Since it's not an official diplomatic role, you don't need to register it with the Reiland government or have her visit any of their offices. Don't mention this mission to anyone at the embassy, even the people you're sure are clean. If anyone gives you trouble, tell Richard.

"One last thing - thanks for bringing your suspicions to us. And as always, we're grateful for the Minshull Foundation's help. Our work here in the DoOR's Reiland team would be a lot harder without them."

With that, the meeting wrapped up. They all shook hands, Jade took the cylinder, and Gustav walked her back to the lobby. After mentally letting Rhys and Kat know she was on her way, Jade stepped outside to meet them.

"We need to find somewhere a bit more private," Jade whispered, though the three of them had already pulled apart from a quick hug and started moving. They needed to find somewhere away from public view to start the jump back to Reiland. As they walked, Jade told them everything that had happened at the Department of Overseas Relations. Even though Kat and Rhys had already picked up the gist of the meeting through their mental link, they wanted to hear her tell it in her own words.

The Government Quarter wasn't designed for privacy; it was all open lines of sight and security patrols, so they just kept walking. Ten minutes later, they hit a wide main road lined with impressive three- and four-storey office buildings - the kind of places where organisations paid a premium just to be within walking distance of the Seibjerg government. A few expensive-looking hotels were tucked in between the offices, and the street was packed with double-decker horse-drawn omnibuses shuttling people across the city.

Kat's head snapped up. She tilted it slowly from side to side, sniffing the air. "I smell food," she said. "Do we have time for a quick snack before we leave?"

Jade and Rhys just smiled and nodded. Kat led them down a side street and into a small, paved square. It was an area packed with office workers, and while the lunch rush had long since passed, most of the street-food stalls were still open for people grabbing something on their way home. Kat wandered through the crowd, scanning the options, until she stopped at a stall where a pot of oil was bubbling on a portable stove. Next to the stove sat a tray of small, floured bread rolls.

The vendor noticed her staring and stepped forward. "What are those?" Kat asked.

"Sweet rolls," the woman explained. "Plain, or filled with honey, jam, or cream. These are just for show, but I can make you some fresh ones right now."

Kat was intrigued. "One of each, please."

The vendor moved to a table at the back of the stall and pulled a cloth off a tray of raw dough, beside which were three oversized glass syringes. She dropped four balls of dough into the hot oil, swirling them around with a slotted spoon. After a few minutes, she fished them out and set them on a wire rack to drain and cool.

Once they were ready, she dusted them with sugar and used the syringes to pump the fillings into three of them, leaving the fourth one plain. She slid each roll into a small paper bag and handed them over to Kat.

Jade, Rhys, and Kat each took one, and Kat tucked the last one into her shopping bag "for later." They were delicious. As she ate, Kat decided she'd have to show the plain one to Mrs Shaw, the cook back at their house in Chatamor, to see if she could figure out how to make them.

Jade had spotted a narrow alley running behind the office buildings, cluttered with piles of rubbish that the vendors had set aside for pickup. They slipped into the alley, found a spot well hidden from view, held hands, closed their eyes, and vanished.

-oOo-

They reappeared back in Jade's old bedroom at Richard Spencer's house. While Kat and Rhys flopped onto the bed and waited with their eyes closed, Jade grabbed the message cylinder and went to see if he was around. She wasn't gone long. Sarah, Richard's wife, told her he wasn't home. Sarah offered to take the cylinder for him, but Jade declined; she wanted to explain Jalmari's words to Richard herself.

Normally, they would've just caught a taxi back to Rowan Tree Road, but Rhys was running on empty. Kat and Rhys climbed off the bed, the three of them linked hands, and disappeared.

-oOo-

The moment they arrived back at Rowan Tree Road, right outside their basement door where no one could see them, all three of them felt it. The vibe was off - everything just felt heavier, more depressing than Roligvan. The grey skies and the drizzle didn't help, but it was the smell that really hit them. This part of the city stank; they'd never noticed it before because they hadn't just come from somewhere so clean. Compared to Roligvan, the air was foul; compared to Solvstrom, it was a different world entirely.

Rhys unlocked the front door, and they headed inside, nearly bumping into Clara, the parlour maid, as she came out of the dining room. She started to apologise for not being at the door to greet them, but Jade cut her off, telling her it wasn't a problem. They didn't expect to have to knock on their own door, and they certainly didn't expect Clara to spend her entire day standing in the hallway waiting for someone to call.

Clara did help them lug their suitcase and bags up to the bedroom, though. They hadn't actually used any of the spare clothes they'd packed, since they'd spent the previous night in the outfits provided by the magical cottage. Surprisingly, Rhys's clothes didn't even smell like smoke from the house fire - which was also something they'd need to figure out later.

"You've got a few parcels waiting in the dressing room," Clara told Rhys. He just smiled - he had a pretty good idea of what was inside them - and headed in to find them. Meanwhile, Kat took the fried bread roll she'd brought from Roligvan down to the kitchen to see if Mrs Shaw or Nell, the kitchen maid, were still around. Jade gave a little smile of her own and stepped through the connecting door into the old bedroom, which they now called the "play room."

Anderton, her friend and a talented boatwright and carpenter, had been busy. A few days back, he and Jade had spent the morning poring over her plans for the space, and he'd spent the last few days building and installing everything by hand. She walked around the room, trailing her fingers over the new fixtures with a sense of quiet awe.

The room was dominated by a diagonal cross, fitted with leather straps and a hinge that let it flip from upright to horizontal. Nearby sat a pair of heavy-duty stocks - pillories with padded holes for the neck and limbs, and a built-in bench for the subject to sit on. Then there was the bed: just wooden slats, no mattress, with chains and cuffs bolted into the corners. A few different styles of sawhorses were stacked neatly in the corner, each equipped with its own restraints. Every piece of wood had been sanded down until it was incredibly smooth, then finished with a black lacquer, which made cleaning much easier. The only thing left from the room's original contents was the small bathroom; the delicate porcelain was too fragile for what was coming, so Jade would need to find someone to swap it out for something more durable.

Above her, pulleys were bolted directly into the rafters, strong enough to hold any reasonable weight. A few of the shallow, wide cabinets she'd ordered had already arrived, though the room wasn't fully stocked yet. Jade didn't mind the wait. Anderton was meticulous, and she valued quality over speed. She smiled, thinking about how close it all was to being finished. Almost there. She started opening the boxes and bags from Mrs Mather's "Millinery Plus" shop, slowly tucking the items into the new cabinets, lingering to touch and stroke them before putting them away.

Kat poked her head around the bedroom door frame. She grinned when she saw what Jade was up to. "There's tea and toast in here if you're hungry."

Jade looked up and smiled. "Thanks. Give me a minute."

Rhys came back into the bedroom with a small wooden chest, the kind with a hasp, staple and padlock, and tucked it away at the bottom of the wardrobe. Kat gave him a questioning look.

"Nope," Rhys said, flashing her a smile. He nodded toward the playroom door. "If I'm not allowed in there yet, you two aren't allowed in this chest."

Kat figured that was fair. They'd all been quiet over their mental link for a few minutes. While they could feel each other's emotions, they couldn't actually read each other's thoughts unless someone chose to share them, so she had no idea what he'd actually put inside the chest.

Kat had put the tray containing three mugs of tea and a plate stacked high with buttered toast on the dressing table. Jade drifted in from the playroom, and the three of them settled onto the edge of the bed in a row, nursing their mugs in a comfortable silence.

Suddenly, everything that had happened that day just hit Rhys all at once. He felt an all-encompassing exhaustion settle over him. It wasn't a lack of flux - he hadn't used much during the fire in Solvstrom, and Jade would have topped him up anyway as they'd been touching while he shared those memories. No, this was just plain, old-fashioned tiredness.

Even without the chaos of the fire, it had been a long day. He was relieved that his mum had hit it off so well with Kat and Jade; he'd been fairly sure they'd get on well, but now he knew. The tension of that small but persistent worry was gone, and it felt like a weight off his shoulders. His mum's relationship with his lovers wasn't ever going to be a deal-breaker; he'd still have loved his mum, and he'd still have loved Kat and Jade, but this was going to make his future much easier. There was also the day's travel - seven jumps between the mortal realm and the magical plane - it was a personal record for a single day. He looked at Kat and Jade, who had done the same amount of travelling and looked perfectly fine. It didn't matter why he was so tired; he just was.

Kat had seen his posture slump and put her arm round him to support him. "Don't fight it. Just let go," she murmured, though Rhys was already halfway to unconsciousness. She and Jade didn't need to be told he was spent; they just saw it in the way he slumped. Jade moved to take his plate and mug back to the dressing table, then, together, they moved in like a well-oiled machine to strip him down. Jade eased his shoes and socks off while Kat dealt with his shirt, and they both helped remove his trousers - keeping things strictly non-sexual to avoid waking him. Together, they moved him into the bed and tucked the sheets around him. He was out before his head even hit the pillow.

Jade looked at Kat. "Just us two, then?"

Kat nodded and cast her eyes towards the dressing room door. Jade grinned, opened the door and went through. Kat followed, looking back at Rhys to check he was OK, then closed the door quietly behind her.

The room they called the dressing room had once been a proper bedroom, probably originally intended for a child, but the women had adapted it to meet their own needs. The bed was still there, now pushed into the corner of the room; it was somewhere between a single and a double bed - spacious for one person but slightly cramped for two. There were two dressing tables, two large chests of drawers, trunks of various sizes, and several wardrobes.

The room was quiet apart from the two women's footsteps, and the crackling of the low fire that burned in the fireplace. Jade stood by her dressing table, her back to Kat, watching her in the mirror as she approached. Kat reached out and began to slowly undo the tiny buttons at the nape of Jade's neck.

"You're nervous," Jade murmured, not turning around. "I can feel it." The final button undone, she turned, a small smile on her lips. To Kat, her eyes seemed to capture the dim light from the oil-burning lamps and the fire.

Kat nodded. "It feels different without him," she said, inclining her head towards the now-closed door back to the main bedroom.

"It's just us two tonight," Jade said, shrugging her shoulders and letting the dress slide down her body. It pooled around her feet, revealing a simple lace bra and matching panties. Kat had seen her body before, but it seemed to her that this was somehow more intense. Jade's body was long and lithe; modest breasts, a graceful curve of hip and shoulder. She stepped out of the circle of fabric and turned to face Kat. She touched her cheek very gently, and Kat shivered, part from nerves, part from anticipation. Jade put her finger under Kat's chin and tilted her head up slightly, then tilted her own down, and they kissed gently. Kat's lips parted as Jade's taste, mint and a slight hint of spice, flooded her senses. Her own hands came up, slightly hesitantly, to rest on Jade's slender waist.

"It's OK." Jade's thought floated into Kat's mind across their connection, warm and reassuring. "We've been intimate before. Plenty of times. This is nothing new to either of us." They broke the kiss.

Her fingers traced the line of Kat's jaw, then trailed down her neck to the collar of her tunic, then further down to her hips. She found the hem and began to pull the tunic upward. Kat raised her arms, her breath catching as the fabric passed over her head. Despite the low fire in the grate, the air felt cool on her skin.

Jade marvelled at Kat's muscular shoulders and the well-defined muscles of her arms. "You're so strong," she whispered, the admiration evident in her voice. She kissed Kat's collarbone gently, then moved lower until she reached her cleavage. She kissed the top of each breast above her bra as Kat gasped, her head falling back. Jade reached behind her own back, her fingers fumbling slightly with the clasp of her bra until it released, and then Kat's. She pulled away slightly, allowing both garments to join the growing pile on the floor.

Kat lifted her hands to Jade's bare back, tracing her spine. The softness of Jade's skin under her palms delighted her, that slight floral scent clinging to her hair, and the low thrum of Jade's desire in her head adding to the mix. The combination was intoxicating, powerful and urgent; the effect multiplying so that it was more than the sum of its parts.

The two women slowly moved towards the bed and lay down together. The bedsprings groaned softly beneath them as Jade moved to straddle Kat's hips. She kissed her again, deeper this time; her tongue met Kat's, and a shared shudder ran through them both. She could also feel Kat's desire; she revelled in it, delighted that Kat wanted her as much as she wanted Kat.

She hooked her fingers into the waistband of Kat's leggings and began to tug them down, along with her plain cotton panties. Kat lifted her hips to help, her body trembling slightly with anticipation. Jade discarded her own last scrap of lace, and then they were both naked on the freshly-laundered cotton sheets.

For a moment, they just looked at each other. Both had seen the other naked before; both had "played" with each other before, but this seemed something less playful, more serious. It was two women, already self-declared lovers, one-on-one for the first time. Not lovers because they shared the same man; this was one woman loving the other and getting the same in return.

The low light made Jade's blonde hair seem golden and emphasised the swell of her breasts. It highlighted the powerful muscles of Kat's thighs and the shaven mound between them. Jade's hand roamed over Kat's stomach, feeling the slight quiver in the muscles beneath her skin. "You're beautiful," she breathed, bending her head and taking one of Kat's nipples into her mouth. She suckled gently, then with more intensity; Kat's breath caught for a moment, her back arching in pleasure. She reached for Jade's long hair, pulling her fingers gently through strands, almost massaging her head.

Jade switched to the other breast, her hand moving between Kat's legs now, not entering yet, just stroking the slick, hot folds. "You're so wet for me," Jade murmured, her voice thick with desire. Kat could only moan in response. She bucked against Jade's hand, seeking more pressure. Jade gave it to her, her fingers circling Kat's clit with a practised, rhythmic motion that had Kat panting, longing for release. But then she stopped, pulling her hand away, leaving Kat aching and empty.

"Not yet," Jade said, her own breath coming fast. She shifted down the bed, her long hair trailing over Kat's thighs. "I want to taste you again."

Kat's protest died in her throat as Jade's mouth found her moist core. The first touch of tongue was soft and probing, then a firm, languorous stroke. Kat cried out, her fists clenching in the sheets. The sensation was utterly different from anything she'd experienced with Rhys present; it was intimate, focused, a secret shared in the quiet and dim light. Jade's tongue worked her with precision, finding exactly the right spots and a rhythm that matched the frantic beat of Kat's heart. The magical connection between them flared, and Kat felt her own rising pleasure reflected back at her from Jade, a feedback loop of mounting ecstasy.

"Don't stop, please don't stop," Kat begged, her thoughts fragmented.

Jade's answer was to slide two fingers inside her, curling them upward. Kat's hips jerked off the bed as Jade's mouth and hand worked in perfect concert, pushing Kat higher and higher. The coil of tension in her abdomen grew unbearably tight, throbbing in time with Jade's strokes. She was a bell about to ring.

Just as Kat was poised on the edge, Jade pulled away again, sliding back up Kat's body. Her face was glistening. "My turn," she whispered. She rolled onto her back, pulling Kat on top of her. "I want you inside me."

Kat's heart hammered against her ribs. She understood. On the bedside table, beside the oil lamp, lay a small wooden box. Kat reached for it, her hands trembling only slightly. Inside, on a bed of velvet, rested two rubber dildos, one a deep purple, the other a dusky rose: simple, smooth, elegant shapes. Kat picked up the rose-coloured one. It felt warm, almost alive, in her hand.

Jade watched her, her eyes shining with desire. She guided Kat's hand, showing her how to fit the harness that had been beneath the toys. Kat fumbled with the straps. Her knuckles brushed Jade's stomach until the harness was securely in place. She felt the weight of the dildo, an unfamiliar extension of herself.

"Go slow," Jade said, but the words were laced with a fierce impatience.

Kat positioned herself between Jade's spread legs. She used her fingers first, finding Jade wet and ready, and was rewarded by her sharp intake of breath. Then, guided by some new instinct, Kat pressed the blunt, smooth tip of the dildo against her. She pushed forward, watching Jade's face.

Jade's eyes fluttered shut. A soft, endless sigh escaped her lips. "Yes," she whispered.

Kat sank deeper, feeling Jade's reaction mirrored in her own head, ghostly and faint. She began to move, a tentative rocking of her hips. Jade's hands gripped her shoulders, her nails digging slightly into Kat's skin.

"Harder," Jade gasped. "Faster. Please."

Kat obeyed, finding a rhythm, driving into her with increasing confidence. The bed rocked gently, the headboard tapping a soft, persistent beat against the wall. Jade's breath came in ragged pants, her head thrashing on the pillow. Kat could feel her own strength in her thighs and back being used for this singular purpose: Jade's pleasure. And through their link, she felt that pleasure cresting, a buildup of pressure seeking release.

Jade's eyes flew open, locking with Kat's. "Together," her thought commanded.

Kat understood. She shifted, reaching between their joined bodies to find Jade's clit with her thumb. As she thrust, she rubbed in tight circles. Jade's climax broke over her with a soundless scream, her body bowing, clamping around the toy. The intensity of her release flooded through the mental link, a mental overload that triggered Kat's own orgasm. Her world dissolved. The sensations ripping through her, fuelled solely by Jade's ecstasy and the deep, empathetic bond between them, were overwhelming.

For a long time, there was only the sound of their breathing gradually slowing, mingling in the quiet room. Kat collapsed beside Jade, the harness digging uncomfortably into her hips. She clumsily undid the straps and let the toy fall to the floor with a soft thud.

They lay side by side, sweaty and spent. Jade turned her head on the pillow. In the dim light, her smile was soft, sated.

"See?" she said, her voice tired but carrying a hint of smugness. "Just us."

Kat reached for her hand, twining their fingers together. The frantic, tangled knot of energy she'd felt earlier in the night was gone, replaced by a deep, resonant calm that flowed between them, as if someone had poured oil on the waves of a storm. She brought Jade's knuckles to her lips and kissed them.

"I see," she thought back, and knew Jade heard it.