Fate - First Reply Blades Crossed

[Christian Vide]

He allowed her to receive instructions from the knight, but if the knight attempted to touch him or lend her a hand he would feel the flat of the dagger slap him away.
"She's to do it herself."
Under the knights instructions she removed the daggers and then quickly removed his coat and shirt to apply the bandages.
Once his wounds were taken care of he produced bread and cheese from his bag, even offering some to the knight if he would accept.

He ate in silence till he finished his portion. Then he brushed the crumbs off his hands and stood up, walking to a mossy spot under a tree that's mostly dry, he called back over his shoulder, "Keia, I'm sleeping over here."
An implied order to join him.

He remained shirtless. He tossed his bloody clothes deep into the forest to not attract trolls or other animals to their camp. He would change into his spare in the morning.
For now he laid in the bed of moss with only trousers and bandages.
Up to now he showed no sign of his ordeal, but as soon as she joined him he would let out a long pent up sigh of fatigue.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

Keia, when silently bidden to join him, obeyed. She walked behind him with a bowed head. When he laid down she laid with him. Next to him but also too ashamed to press herself to his side. He breathed a sigh, a solitary sign that he had been under any pressure. She looked away and spoke to him openly for the first time since the incident. “I’m sorry, Master, for my failure.”

 

[Christian Vide]

“I’m sorry, Master, for my failure.”

He looked at her, "You seem to be taking your punishment well. Maybe next time you'll trust me to know what I'm doing."
He reached over and put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"You've been punishing yourself this whole time, haven't you? Criticising yourself is far worse than any punishment I can devise."
He cupped her face with his free hand and caressed her skin. "Knowing that you deserved punishment, you continually punished yourself. I let you be punished, but now the punishment is over and you've paid in full for your transgression, no more feeling sorry for yourself."

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He looked at her, "You seem to be taking your punishment well. Maybe next time you'll trust me to know what I'm doing."
He reached over and put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"You've been punishing yourself this whole time, haven't you? Criticising yourself is far worse than any punishment I can devise."
He cupped her face with his free hand and caressed her skin. "Knowing that you deserved punishment, you continually punished yourself. I let you be punished, but now the punishment is over and you've paid in full for your transgression, no more feeling sorry for yourself."

She looked up at him in surprise. She certainly wasn't expecting that. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. "Thank you master, for your forgiveness."

The hand cupping her cheek was a welcome feeling and she allowed herself to press herself into it gently. "Does Master desire anything from me?"

 

[Christian Vide]

"Does Master desire anything from me?"

He shook his head.
"Not in front of the knight, my pet."
He tugged on the collar and pulled her closer.
"But simply comfort me for now. I know I hide it well, but I'm exhausted."
"When we get to a village with a blacksmith I'm getting you a proper collar with a ring on it. Who knows when it might be beneficial to keep you on a leash."

He lay flat on his back with his head propped on the tree trunk, his fingers laced behind his head and his legs crossed.
He watched the knight by the fire and gave him a look that said, "This is how I control what you couldn't."

He kept his daggers nearby and his knives strapped to his body just incase their rest was interrupted, but he trusted the collectively recovering noses of the Cerberus to warn them of danger.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He shook his head.
"Not in front of the knight, my pet."
He tugged on the collar and pulled her closer.
"But simply comfort me for now. I know I hide it well, but I'm exhausted."
"When we get to a village with a blacksmith I'm getting you a proper collar with a ring on it. Who knows when it might be beneficial to keep you on a leash."

She understood his reservations. When he tugged her close with her collar and suggested a leash she shivered. "Perhaps more often than not, master. I know that you prefer to keep me soundly in my place, what better way than to keep me on a leash publicly?"

He lay flat on his back with his head propped on the tree trunk, his fingers laced behind his head and his legs crossed.
He watched the knight by the fire and gave him a look that said, "This is how I control what you couldn't."

The knight wore a greathelm which concealed his face, which bore on it an amused look. He said, "if you two want some privacy, me and Kerberos can go ahead a ways."

 

[Christian Vide]

"Perhaps more often than not, master. I know that you prefer to keep me soundly in my place, what better way than to keep me on a leash publicly?"

He flicked her nose playfully. "You can fantasize while you work. If I'm not feeling a woman's care while you're imagining every degrading way I can use you I might just have to find a curse to regulate your thoughts as well, or one to force your body to obey while your mind wanders."

"if you two want some privacy, me and Kerberos can go ahead a ways."

He waved off the idea, "No need. Unless you're afraid I'll kill you both in your sleep it's better to remain in large groups. I don't know if you bothered to learn anything about the last village or these lands, but trolls are supposed to be a rare sight. The fact that they're moving in again is cause for concern for these villages. Even if they are easily dealt with it's even better to not provoke an encounter."

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He flicked her nose playfully. "You can fantasize while you work. If I'm not feeling a woman's care while you're imagining every degrading way I can use you I might just have to find a curse to regulate your thoughts as well, or one to force your body to obey while your mind wanders."

She recoiled slightly as he flicked her nose, surprised by the sudden motion more than anything. Then she shook her head and smiled. She straddled his lap, "Any specific way I can entertain you master? Or would you rather I decide? A massage perhaps? Or something a little more alluring?"

He waved off the idea, "No need. Unless you're afraid I'll kill you both in your sleep it's better to remain in large groups. I don't know if you bothered to learn anything about the last village or these lands, but trolls are supposed to be a rare sight. The fact that they're moving in again is cause for concern for these villages. Even if they are easily dealt with it's even better to not provoke an encounter."

"Valid points." Eberwolf said calmly. Then he turned to Kerberos, who's three heads began drooling at the sound of the word troll. "Aww, sorry buddy, no troll snacks right now."

The three headed dog whimpered pitifully, very upset about not having any snacks.

 

[Christian Vide]

"Any specific way I can entertain you master? Or would you rather I decide? A massage perhaps? Or something a little more alluring?"

He automatically placed his hands on her hips as she climbed on top of him.
"You decide. Only keep in mind that I'm wounded and tired. I'm not looking for stimulation, sleep is the goal."
In spite of his lack of feelings he couldn't deny that she felt good. His hands touching her skin sent positive signals to his brain and he reasoned that it was probably pleasure, she was soft and felt almost delicate on the surface though under that cold fair skin he knew her strength resided. He felt it when she tried to pull him away from the battle with the assassins, she was capable even without magic.

"Valid points." Eberwolf said calmly. Then he turned to Kerberos, who's three heads began drooling at the sound of the word troll. "Aww, sorry buddy, no troll snacks right now."

He left them to their own devices and kept his attention on Keia.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

He automatically placed his hands on her hips as she climbed on top of him.
"You decide. Only keep in mind that I'm wounded and tired. I'm not looking for stimulation, sleep is the goal."
In spite of his lack of feelings he couldn't deny that she felt good. His hands touching her skin sent positive signals to his brain and he reasoned that it was probably pleasure, she was soft and felt almost delicate on the surface though under that cold fair skin he knew her strength resided. He felt it when she tried to pull him away from the battle with the assassins, she was capable even without magic.

She nodded saying, "yes master."

She began using her hands and fingers to apply rotating pressure on his tense muscles, his abdomen, his chest, his arms. Loud pops could be heard as her fingers and palms forced his tense muscles to loosen and relax. It might not get him to sleep without her stopping first, but the resultant relaxation would definitely help.

Once he was asleep, she rested on his chest, her head on his collarbone and she fell asleep to the sound of his strong, steady heartbeat.

<=========>
​

It was the third day on which they arrived in the town that was their destination, and Keia's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Is this..."

"Yes," the knight confirmed, "the town which you and your undead hordes took over. I believe you were the only living resident."

It was however much different, now people had come back and we're working on repairs to damaged buildings and tending to new crops. There were some mines to the west which provided iron and silver.

"Now, if I overheard correctly, you want to get your new pet a proper collar." Eberwolf said to Christian. "Are you looking for a blacksmith or leatherworker?

 

[Christian Vide]

He let out a long suffering sigh as she finally applied her hands to his body. Her strength was a credit to her, allowing her to finally soften the rock hard muscles that haven't truly relaxed for who knows how long. It wasn't long before his eyes grew heavy under her faithful attention and he was softly breathing as sleep claimed him.

When they arrived in the village a few days later it was in a state of repair.

"Is this..."

"Yes," the knight confirmed, "the town which you and your undead hordes took over. I believe you were the only living resident."

This conversation was immediately concerning and required attention.
"These current people don't know who or what befell their predecessors? There won't be any trouble from them?"

"Now, if I overheard correctly, you want to get your new pet a proper collar." Eberwolf said to Christian. "Are you looking for a blacksmith or leatherworker?

"Both. A slave collar should be padded properly. An iron collar with a comfortable pad will do."
He tugged a little on the troll skin rawhide, they were fortunate that it was fairly damp and cloudy the whole way, otherwise the sun dried hide would tighten up and strangle her. As it is it left some unsightly chafing on her smooth skin.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

This conversation was immediately concerning and required attention.
"These current people don't know who or what befell their predecessors? There won't be any trouble from them?"

“They know, but they don’t know who, so there won’t be any issue.” He explained, which earned a relieved sigh from the necromancer.

"Both. A slave collar should be padded properly. An iron collar with a comfortable pad will do."
He tugged a little on the troll skin rawhide, they were fortunate that it was fairly damp and cloudy the whole way, otherwise the sun dried hide would tighten up and strangle her. As it is it left some unsightly chafing on her smooth skin.

“Iron? Are you sure that you want it to be iron?” He said calmly. “I don’t know too much about collars but I do know that iron is not the best material for it.”

They approached a building which had a lot of smoke billowing from the hole cut in its roof, loud banging came from inside. This was the foundry, the metalworkers.

“But don’t ask me, ask the smiths.” He said calmly, gesturing for them to enter, “I’ll wait out here.”

Inside there was a master smith who was slightly on the older side, burly and densely built with a kept but not fussed over beard and short hair, some of his hair was greying. He was probably in his late thirties to mid forties. It was him they’d need to talk to.

 

[Keia Merrenia]

(this one concluded?)

 

[Christian Vide]

(Yeah, I think there's not much left here. Twas fun!)

 

[Keia Merrenia]

(Agreed! To the sequel!)