Blackhawk Hall Ch. 02

Kronk shook his head in the negative. Ashtar said, "Not that we have been hearing. I will be trying to strengthen the wards, but much power there is being directed against them."

Mindblind looked down at his sword in disgust, the wipe across the creature's clothing having done little to clean it. Christi said, "I'll take care of the weapons. Go check on things."

Cerebus grunted, handed her the sword, and then proceeded to pull on the first clothes he came across. Christi turned to Arilee, "Are you okay?"

Arilee nodded, finding that she was strangely calm despite the chaos. "I'm fine."

"You have to watch out for bone. It will trap your weapon and the last thing you want is to lose your blade when there is more than one enemy about. Nice stab though, and at least you aren't covered in blood this time."

Christi grabbed a cloth from a dressing table near the bed, usually used to clean up after fun between the sheets, and used it to wipe down the dagger. Arilee reached up and found the dollop of cum on her cheek, thinking it was blood, and flushed in embarrassment when she realized what it was.

Christi smiled and put the dagger down, pulling Arilee's hand to her mouth and sucking one of the fingers clean. "Would you like a taste?" she asked while stroking the back of the blonde's hand.

The flush in Arilee's cheeks deepened, and Christi said, "I saw you watching us in the armory, and you seemed to have been enjoying yourself before all this started. Go ahead — it's alright. Have a little, real taste of your fantasy. I want you to."

Ari hesitantly brought her finger to her lips, and then shivered when she tasted the semen smeared on her fingertips. She realized that she was looking at Christi's nude body as she did so, and found that it didn't disturb her as much as it had before.

Christi shuddered with her. "He tastes good doesn't he?" She smiled and then added, "Help me get these cleaned off, and we'll go see if we can get in the bath. I'm covered in cum and blood and you looked a little sticky down below too."

The blood rose to Ari's cheeks once more. "Do you do it? Touch yourself, I mean?"

Christi smiled and handed Arilee the dagger to finish cleaning, taking up her own sword and another cloth to do the same. "Everybody does, Ari. I don't need to very often, because I always have Cerebus close at hand. I do it when he's away though, when I don't have anybody else to help me out."

The last had a note of suggestion in it, and Ari recognized it. She felt moisture gathering between her legs as she wiped the dagger. "He isn't upset by you being with another?"

Christi shook her head. "Not at all. He doesn't mind a surprise if it's a girl, and if it is another man, he's fine as long as he knows beforehand. We have a unique relationship. We understand that we have needs, and we don't deny them. We're dedicated to each other, and as far as we're concerned that's part of loving each other."

"That's so wonderful that you love each other so much."

Christi sheathed her sword, took the dagger from Ari to do the same, and then picked up Cerebus' sword to clean it. "It isn't all roses, but that is part of it too. We take out any frustrations in the courtyard, and that keeps us from fighting with words that cut deeper than any blade could."

Acting on a sudden burst of resolve, Arilee said, "I want to learn to fight, so you don't have to protect me."

"That's good. Cerebus will be going away for a while starting tomorrow, and I'll have plenty of time to teach you. I think you'll do better than you believe. I'm not just trying to make you feel good by telling you that you handle a dagger well."

Ari’s expression revealed her disbelief. "Do you really think so?"

Christi examined the blade she was cleaning and nodded in approval before sheathing the weapon. "I do. Come along, and we'll see if we're lucky enough to not have a bunch of stinking wood trolls floating in the bath. The water wasn't very dirty, so I left it in for the morning."

Arilee nodded and followed the Duchess down the hall, to the bath.

~~~~~~~~~
* . . . *
~~~~~~~~~

The baths were untouched, Christi speculating that the creatures were purposely teleported near where there were people present. Christi also checked Arilee's room and found that the troll that had appeared there was fortunately killed outside the room, thus avoiding any mess in her room.

After washing, the two women relaxed in the warm bath. Cerebus had peeked in and announced that everyone was fine. Only one servant downstairs had injured himself fleeing the creatures. The Duke dispatched servants to clean up the bedroom, and then went to speak with the city watch to determine whether there were any problems in the city. Ashtar restored the wards on the hall, strengthening them with additional layers of protection. He promised — with his back turned to the doorway — that he would restore Arilee's protective spell as soon as the two women were dressed.

"How did you learn to fight so well?" Ari asked as she lounged in the warm water.

"I had five older brothers. I learned to fight them with my fists and my feet when they were younger, and then when they grew out of being brats, they helped my dad train me to use a sword. Dad was a mercenary, and he was training my brothers to follow in his footsteps. He thought it would be a good idea for me to know how to defend my virtue. He was surprised when I started whupping them all and eventually became a sellsword myself. He was a little disturbed by it at first, but once I started developing a reputation as someone who could be depended upon, he was fiercely proud of me."

"How did you meet Cerebus?"

"He, Thakkor, and the rest saw me fighting a couple of goblins and came rushing in to rescue me. I killed both of the goblins before any of them could reach me, and they asked me to join up with them. They looked to be a formidable bunch, so I agreed. Cerebus was the only one not trying to make passes at me — except Thakkor because he was already with Alicia — and he intrigued me. I just sort of crawled in his tent one night when I was feeling hot and things went from there."

"Have you been with a lot of men?"

"Well, being a mercenary lends itself to living in the moment, so I've known a few. How about you?"

Ari's eyes welled up a bit. "Only one. He... He was killed in an accident."

Christi edged over and laid her hand on Arilee's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory."

Arilee sniffled and said, "No, it's okay. I brought it up. Have you... How did you..."

Christi guessed where Ari was leading and tried to help her finish, "Find out I was interested in girls?"

Arilee nodded to indicate that is what she had wanted to ask. Christi smiled and answered, "I guess I always sort of was. It bothered me a bit, like it does you, until I met Rochelle. She was a mercenary too — absolutely gorgeous, and a better fighter than me. We got drunk together one night and it just sort of happened. I'm glad it did."

"I don't know why I'm comfortable talking to you about things like this. I've never been able to talk to anyone about sex before."

"To be honest, I've been trying to make you feel comfortable. I want you to be able to talk to me about anything, so I can talk to you about anything. I had that with Gwen, and I'd really like to have it again with you."

"Did you and Gwen...” Ari paused for a moment to summon up the courage to finish. “Do things together?"

Christi laughed and stretched a bit. "No, she wasn't interested in other girls. She understood I was, and it didn't bother her. She liked hearing those stories as much as she did any of those about Cerebus, or other men."

"I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think about it sometimes, like I was..." Arilee stopped and blushed, realizing what she was about to say.

"Earlier when you were touching yourself — listening to us?" Christi said with a laugh and a wink. "It's okay — it hardly bothers me. I've got no problem with that whatsoever. If you ever feel like experimenting with your feelings, I'm just down the hall."

Ari's breath caught, and she found that she was staring at Christi's body beneath the water. Christi’s eyes wandered over Arilee’s body as well, just the slightest hints of hopeful anticipation in her eyes. Cerebus peeked back in the room again and shattered the moment.

"Everything is fine in town. More of them this time — just like here — but next to nobody hurt. One of the girls at over at Erotine's Arms stabbed one of them in the eye with a wooden dick she had laying beside her bed." He laughed from the memory of that sight. "You two better get out of there or you'll look like raisins for days."

"Fine — shoo then," Christi said with some irritation at him disrupting the moment she had been sharing with Arilee, which she thought might have led to something more.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, just shoo so we can get out and get dressed."

Cerebus guessed what might be irritating his future wife, and he was no less intrigued by the prospect — or frustrated that he had interrupted it — than she.

~~~~~~~~~
* . . . *
~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, the Duke and Duchess stood facing each other in their bedroom. "I'm not going, and that's final."

Christi put her hands on her hips and stared hard at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not leaving with stinkin' wood trolls popping up in the Hall every few hours."

Christi's eyes narrowed and the tone of her reply plainly illustrated how she felt about what Cerebus had just said. "We can handle ourselves without you here to baby-sit, thank you."

"Sorry, I don't mean to make it sound that way. I just think I should be here."

Christi raised her hand on his cheek. "Cerebus, it’s magic that's bringing them here, and you're hardly the best man to deal with that. That's why Ashtar is here. You have a rogue governor trying to set up shop out in the hinterlands, and you need to go check him out or smack some sense into him. You can find out if it's just us having problems with wood trolls appearing out of thin air, or if it's happening elsewhere too. That's where you need to be."

"Okay, but Ari stays in our room with you, and Kronk is staying upstairs while I'm gone. There were more of them this last time, and who is to say there might not be more than you can handle alone next time?"

Christi smiled. “Agreed. Now finish getting ready and get out of here. I'm going to take Ari out to the courtyard and start training her how to fight."

Cerebus grunted and said, "If those two critters she cut up aren't just flukes, she may have a little fight in her, that's for sure."

"I don't think they're flukes. She must be a natural born fighter."

Mindblind grunted again in response and finished dressing, as Christi did the same. When he was dressed, he kissed her goodbye and went downstairs to get his gear for the trip. Christi found Arilee leaving her room, heading in the direction of the master suite. "Do you need anything, Christi?"

"Something to eat. Let's go down to the kitchen and grab whatever they have cooking. I want to start teaching you how to fight today, if that's okay with you?"

"I hope I won't disappoint you."

Christi gestured for Arilee to follow her. "I don't think you will. Let's go eat so we won't be distracted by our stomachs rumbling."

"Shouldn't I change?" Ari asked while gesturing down at the rather pretty gown she was wearing.

"I'll pick you out something appropriate after we eat. Right now, I'm starving," Christi exclaimed and punctuated it with a laugh.

~~~~~~~~~
* . . . *
~~~~~~~~~

Arilee sat on the ground in the courtyard, panting, dripping with sweat, and aching all over. She and Christi had trained in the courtyard for a couple of hours, the second hour coming at Arilee's insistence. Christi had been ready to give her pupil a rest, thinking not to push the blonde too hard on the first day, but Arilee discovered that she enjoyed the training, and wanted to learn more.

She was questioning her decision now, but only a little. She seemed to be catching on quickly, and though she had never actually managed to land a punch or a kick on Christi, her teacher praised her for her form.

Christi put out a hand to help Arilee rise, which was the polite thing to do since she had planted Ari on her behind with a grab of her ankle a moment before. "I told Cerebus that you were a born fighter, and I was right. With a little practice, nobody is going to want to lay a hand on you without permission."

"I never touched you, though."

"I'd be pretty disappointed in myself if you did on your first day,” Christi responded, and then punctuated it with a laugh. “You missed a lot of opportunities to bring a knee up in my crotch. Don't forget that."

"It just seems cruel."

"If somebody is trying to kill you, or rape you, why should you care? Kick them where they live. It will make them forget anything else for a few minutes. You can get away, or do more permanent damage then if necessary. I never miss an opportunity in a real fight, and I'll even use it on Cerebus if he's made me mad, or I need the breathing room."

"I'll try to remember."

"Let's go hit the bath. We're both going to be stinking to high heaven in a few minutes, and I'm sure your muscles are screaming at you. They'll be screaming worse tomorrow. We'll work on how to hold a dagger tomorrow, because you probably won't feel like much else. I like that you wanted to stay when I suggested that we stop for the day. It shows that you really want to learn."

Arilee smiled and wiped sweat out of her eyes. "Being attacked twice in one day by monsters makes me want to learn."

Christi grabbed the blonde’s hand and nodded toward the courtyard gate that led back into the Hall. The pair soon arrived upstairs to undress for their bath.

The combat with Arilee had the same effect on Christi that it always had when she faced Cerebus. There was more than sweat dripping beneath her linen skirt. Arilee's muscles, swollen from heavy use, gave her a lithe, sexy appearance that made Christi's mouth water. Noticing that Arilee paid a great deal of attention to her as the two undressed added to Christi’s arousal.

Christi and Arilee washed, and then settled back to let the heat soak into their muscles. Arilee was already starting to flinch and groan a little — the first hint of the pain and stiffness she would be feeling before long. On impulse, Christi floated over to massage her servant’s calves. Ari flinched a little at first, but then relaxed under Christi's practiced hands.

Christi moved forward a little, kneading Ari's muscles just above the knee. She moved her hands over the other woman, and as she did so, she let the patch of closely cropped hair on her mound brush over the blonde's leg for brief moments. Just the faintest smile touched Christi's lips when she saw the little catch in Arilee's breath every time her pussy brushed against the other woman.

Christi inched her hands forward a bit more to rub Ari's outer thighs with firm pressure. Ari's eyes had drooped closed, but they opened with Christi’s touch, and the Duchess could see just the faintest hints of arousal in those eyes.

As she continued to knead Arilee's stiff muscles, Christi softly said, "I always get turned on when I spar with someone."

The catch in Ari's breath this time was more pronounced. Christi moved to straddle Arilee's leg, letting her sex rest upon it, and moving her hands so that one was massaging Ari's inner thigh as well. "I don't know why, but it just excites me that way. The heat of battle turns into another kind of heat, later on."

Ari started to breathe more quickly, and the flicker of arousal in her eyes grew stronger. Christi moved the hand on Ari's inner thigh a little higher, moving the other to the crease where the blonde’s leg and hip met. "Did it make you feel that way at all?"

Arilee nodded, and Christi smiled when she felt the woman's thighs slightly part. "You could entertain your curiosity and touch me, if you'd like. You'll always be afraid of your feelings and a little scared of them until you do, and they won't go away. If you try, you'll know for sure."

"I-I don't know."

Christi moved over next to the other woman, up on her knees so that her breasts were above the level of the steaming water. "One little touch won't hurt you, and then you'll know. Do you want to know if your feelings are real, or just a flight of fancy?"

Arilee's hand moved slowly, hesitantly toward Christi. She laid her palm over Christi's firm right breast, and Christi gasped from the touch. Ari flinched a little and pulled back just out of contact with the other woman's flesh, but then reached forward again and cupped Christi's breast in her hand.

"Mmm — that feels good. You have such soft hands."

"Your nipples are so hard," Ari absently remarked as she stared at her hand on the other woman's breast.

"You excite me."

Arilee ran a finger over Christi's stiff nipple and looked up into her eyes. "Really?"

"Gods, yes. You're making me so wet. Are you wet, Ari?"

The fascinated blonde nodded her head, moving her hand across to touch Christi's other nipple.

"Would you like to see how wet I am?" Christi asked and stood.

Arilee's hand slid down Christi's body as the Duchess stood, and came to rest on her mound when Christi was fully upright. Christi's legs parted, and Ari could feel the other woman quiver under her hand. Moving her fingers downward, she touched Christi's nether lips and shivered as well. Christi's folds felt much like her own beneath her fingers, but the closely cropped hair let her feel them with less obstruction. She slid a finger beyond the gently yielding pressure of Christi's labia, and felt an abundant, hot wetness coating her finger.

"Would you like me to touch you?"

Ari reluctantly tore her eyes away from Christi's sex, looking up into the other woman's eyes. "Yes," she softly answered.

Christi knelt back down in the water and ran a finger down Arilee's chest, over her tummy, and finally over her fuzzy nether lips. Christi didn’t hesitate in the slightest, and slipped a finger between those lips beneath the water.

Ari shuddered, and looked down through the gently lapping water at Christi's hand between her legs. Christi stroked Ari's folds, ready for far more than a touch. She was highly aroused, and she wanted to see this beautiful woman come. She really wanted to taste her, but she wasn't sure if she should push that far yet. Instead, she decided to see if Arilee was comfortable and aroused enough to climax on her fingers.

Christi slid two fingers into the blonde’s depths and moaned, "Mmm you're so tight. Does that feel good?"

"Oh yes."

Christi moaned again and stroked her fingers a little faster. She pulled the digits free of Ari's depths to rub the wetness from within over the blonde’s labia, moving upward to make just the slightest contact with the woman's clit. Then, Christi’s fingers slipped back inside, to stroke a bit faster than before.

The two women’s eyes locked as Christi's fingers continued to dance over Ari, and within her. Arilee's face grew flushed, and her contracting muscles squeezed Christi’s fingers even more tightly.

Christi moved to rub her fingers over Ari's clit, then — fast little circles that obviously stoked the other woman's fires high, as evidenced by her expression of pleasure.

"Oh — oh — oh — gods," Arilee gasped as her pleasure mounted toward a crescendo.