Eloise's Journey

So when she ducked her head under the water and felt the dye again leave her hair, Eloise felt transformed. She was still Eloise. But a new Eloise. Not Sonia, not a Northerner, but a Calandrian. As keen and skilled as any member of the Navy. After letting herself soak for nearly two hours, Eloise emerged. Blonde and bright eyed. She groomed and dressed and walked down from the Inn into the Tavern. It was a sparse crowd. A handful of locals and, at one corner table, Olaf sat with a bottle of some sort of spirit. Eloise went to him, feeling his eyes, as well as the eyes of the few other men and the barkeep, on her as she crossed the room. She sat down and smiled up at him, he was still examining her carefully.

"You're blonde again." He stated

"I am." She stated confidently

"You're not worried that someone might see you?" He said, not sounding terribly worried himself

"I'm not." she said confidently. There was a second glass on the table, an empty one, into which Eloise took it upon herself to pour some of the liquor into. She took a small sip of it. It was vicious, sharp stuff. With a taste that nearly made her gag.

"That's our whiskey." Olaf said, smiling as he saw the expression on her face change. "And you may want to get used to it. We don't have your fruity wines and such where we're headed."

"And where are we headed?" Eloise asked, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

"The nearest village is one of the larger ones, Survind." Olaf explained "I have a large house there. They'll find something for you to do."

Eloise nodded. She was beginning to look forward to being in Nilfenhem. To make something of her own. She didn't know what it would be yet, but she felt as though it could be anything.

"And a First Woman? And Children?"

"No children." Olaf said with a shake "The First Woman is named Vetra. One of the newer ones."

Eloise nodded. There was a part of her disappointed that her time with Olaf was coming to an end. As she looked at him, she had no compunction that she felt any sort of romantic love for him. He was a fine teacher and, she conceded, his boasts as a lover seemed based in fact even without a frame of reference to compare them to. She was not upset that he'd take another woman into his bed but she would miss him if, as he claimed, his life was so nomadic as to not stay in any one village for any considerable length of time and she couldn't travel with him.

"Well," Eloise said as she held up her glass "Onward to Survind it is then."

She pressed the glass to her lips and tilted it back, pouring the remainder of the whiskey into her mouth. It still burned but she swallowed it quickly and without reaction. Olaf looked impressed. Eloise caught that and poured another glass. Soon they'd finished the bottle. And another one. Eloise had never been drunk before. But she was enjoying it. The warmth, the euphoria. If Olaf was as well he gave little sign of it. The tavern began filling and someone broke out some sort of instrument and soon there was music. They enjoyed the evening, Eloise going from drunk to slightly tipsy as she stopped drinking and simply sat and listened to the music for a while. Olaf finished two more bottles of his own and still appeared to be more sober than she was. Soon Eloise began to feel somewhat tired, started thinking of that crisp, clean bed she had waiting for her and got up from the table.

"I'm going to bed." She announced without being asked "But first I should get to the carriage, get some more dye for my hair."

"I'll come with you." Olaf nodded "I should at least have my knife on me."

Eloise agreed and the two made their way through the drinking, dancing crowd into the cool night air. They made their way to the coach house, Eloise walking somewhat faster than Olaf and reaching it ahead of him. She leaned forward to look inside. Just as she caught sight of the gourd, she felt Olaf's hands on her backside, his hand lifting her skirt. Eloise simply smiled and parted her legs. She heard his own pants being tugged down and his familiar, still imposingly thick cock being pressed against her from behind. She gripped the carriage tightly as he thrust inside. She turned to him and looked at him harshly.

"Is that all you have?" She said wickedly as she felt his thick, blood engorged cock begin pumping into her "The drink has made you feeble."

"Pipe down, you foolish Coastal hag." Olaf returned the insult, clearly pleased and thrusting harder "I simply don't want to break your delicate frame."

Eloise stood still, not displaying any sign of outward pleasure, even though she had to bite her lip almost hard enough to draw blood to keep herself from moaning as his massive, heavy tool began pumping in and out of her ready, wet cunt.

"This is pathetic." Eloise said when she'd regained a little composure "Fuck me like you weren't some fey tropical eunuch."

"Perhaps if you weren't so soft and doughy I could. If you were a proper woman of the North I wouldn't have to worry about giving you more than you could handle." Olaf said while grunting, pounding into her hard as she'd requested. Harder than maybe he'd ever taken her by some measure. She enjoyed the sensation. Enjoyed the combative wordplay and sex. She was thrusting herself back at him as well which she'd found to greatly increase her own pleasure.

"You talk...ungh...a great deal and prove little." The Princess replied, hating that she'd let a groan of pleasure escape her lips. "But I suppose that's to be expected from a barbarian."

"You...ungh..." Olaf replied, not grunting out of pleasure he was feeling but mocking her own "Are simply a mare. And mares will always be broken."

"When she finds a rider worth half a copper, perhaps." She said, her breath ragged. She was soaked, he was hard, he was fucking her so well. She tried desperately to deny herself the pleasure she was feeling. Her attempts were not helped when she felt his hand reach around to squeeze at her breast, finding her stiff nipple and pulling it harshly. She found herself enjoying the little tweaks of pain, much like she enjoyed the discomfort of his oversized cock. Olaf had grown to know this and, as she felt his hand slap down on her backside, hard, she smiled to herself. He only did it when he very much wanted her to finish quickly. She knew he was close to his own as well.

"You lumbering oaf. I'm starting to think I was the first woman you bedded." Elouise shouted at him. It was all she could do not to burst.

"I wouldn't throw you to my weakest warrior. Or...ungh...even my stallion" Olaf slapped her ass again. This time harder. This time his breathing was ragged, this time his grunt was of his own pleasure.

Eloise couldn't answer. She'd wanted to win. Wanted to prove she could outlast him this time. But she couldn't. Whether it was the drink or the feeling of confidence or simply the huge, pounding prick in her silky insides, it was too much. That one genuine grunt that escaped his lips would have to be victory enough. She felt herself flood, gush and scream as she came. She felt her body seize up and loosen seemingly at the same time. She kept pushing back, kept fighting. Even through her bliss she kept her combative nature. She wouldn't let him beat her twice. She didn't have to worry. Olaf came, his hand gripping her hair and yanking her back, his immense cock filling her with the build up of this sex and the interrupted ministrations from earlier in the day. He filled her with a force that she had never experienced prior to this night, bellowing loudly as he did.

"You are coming very, very close." Olaf said as the two caught their breath, chuckling as he pulled himself from her. As they stopped, there was a noise from behind them. A loud cheer. Olaf and Eloise both turned to see that something of a crowd had assembled outside the tavern to watch them. Some whistled and clapped appreciatively, some laughed. Eloise felt herself redden slightly, realizing that a large group of women and men had just watched her be fucked roughly from behind. Olaf simply chuckled as he stuffed his cock back into his breeches(to a audible gasp or two from one of the onlooking women) and leaving Eloise spread before the crowd for a second. She reached behind her and tugged her dress back down, feeling somewhat embarrassed but not as mortified as she might have thought she'd been if a large group of drunken townsfolk had just watched her do what she'd just done. She turned to the crowd, received a few whistles and cheers of her own and also walked across the square to the Inn. She tried to keep her head down as she did, not wanting anyone from the crowd to recognize her. It was a useless gesture though. If she'd have kept her head up she'd have spotted two familiar faces.

"You see? I told you the Northerners fuck their own daughters." Milgan said triumphantly, his pint of ale in one hand and the other outstretched to his drinking companion. Filgrove sighed and took a number of coin from his pocket.

"Well it could just be that one in particular. Can't generalize." Filgrove argued weakly as he counted five coins into Milgan's palm. Although after doing so he did stop to think for a second. "Besides, wasn't his daughter a brunette?"

(RCH: Unlike many accounts in this history, Olaf and Eloise's stay at the Hood and Fox is well-known among the general population. The current owners of the establishment even have marked the room the Princess slept in with a small plaque, noting that she slept there on her historic voyage, and it has become something of a tourist destination among those interested in our nation's history. There is no plaque detailing the exploits that took place in the carriage house, although it is a widely told local story, and that part was indeed confirmed by Fenmore Filgrove and Horton Milgan, Member of the Ascibian Parliament, Kirkley-Woodlands. "Rogered her for a solid 15 minutes, indeed." said Milgan via a short letter. Filgrove agreed although, when I explained this history to him he pointed out that, technically speaking, he should not have had to pay the 5 pieces.)

~Chapter Nine, in which destinations are reached~

Olaf and Eloise took off early the next morning. They had caused enough of a stir the night before that they wanted to be on the road as shortly as possible. While nobody had recognized her the previous night, she was still a golden haired Calandrian girl. One smart guard or magistrate hearing the story could lead to their end. And so they were off. There were only a few more days on their trip together and they would make them as quickly as possible. No stops for sleep or food, no stops even for more coupling. This was in part because of their schedule but also, as Olaf pointed out when Eloise had broached the subject, there was little left for him to teach her if she wanted to make a satisfactory wife for one of his men or woman of the village she was soon to call home.

The journey went relatively quickly. On the second day, Eloise was woken by Olaf's voice.

"Wake up, girl." He boomed. Eloise, who'd driven for hours the night before, was roused reluctantly, wiping sleep from her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked, clearly annoyed as she peeked her head from the carriage

"We're in my lands. Crossed a few minutes ago." He said, proudly. Eloise looked around. It looked much like northern Ascibia. Perhaps a little more sparse and there were no farmhouses dotting the landscape. Eloise grunted.

"Next time, only wake me if it's important." She said dismissively as she turned back, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep.

It was less than a day from the border to the village. Eloise was actually somewhat impressed by her new home as she saw it, the carriage on top of a hill providing her with good vantage point to see the place. The large, rushing river they'd been travelling along for the better part of the day opened up into a large bay that the Village was nestled in. There was a dock large enough to house several fairly large trading vessels. There were dozens of seemingly well built houses, a market in the centre of the town, some larger buildings and a large wood post wall surrounding it. It was bustling. There were groups of children playing and women working and the odd man around. As her carriage took her closer Eloise noted that they were, in fact, a large people. Their men were large, though not quite so large as Olaf, and their women large as well. They all looked at least a half foot taller than she was and all seemed to have inviting curves. Even the children were large. Olaf caught note of her gaze.

"Impressed?" He asked. She nodded.

"I am. I pictured something smaller."

"As I said, this is one of the larger villages and the one we do most of our trading from." Olaf said, gesturing to the caravans that were on the outside of the city. There were even a few above them on the road. Their carriage had apparently been anticipated they were waved right to the gates. Standing there was a small group of large men at the gates. There were three of the Nilfen warriors, all large and bearded, covered in furs and one man only a little less large and clean shaven.

When the Carriage finally came to a stop, Eloise could see that the fourth man had the dress and tan of a man of her home nation. He certainly was large for a Calandrian though and had a clearly military look to him. For a brief moment Eloise worried that he may have been a man of her father's, sent to collect her. That perhaps Olaf had betrayed her. But, as Olaf stepped down from the carriage and clasped one of his men in an embrace, the Calandrian had approached her side of the carriage and offered her his hand.

"Princess." He said politely as he helped her down. He was a very handsome man, square jawed and stoic, with brown hair worn short. She couldn't place it but she could have sworn she knew him from somewhere. "I trust your journey went well enough? You're unhurt?"

"I got her here, didn't I?" Olaf said after having greeted his men.

"You're late." the Calandrian admonished him.

"There were delays."

"You were waiting for me?" Eloise asked of him, he turned from Olaf to her and gave a curt smile.

"A few days. No matter, Princess." He said politely "I'm simply glad to see you unharmed."

"I hate to ask but have we met before?" Eloise asked, her tone returning ever so slightly to her more refined sounds. The man nodded.

"I'm surprised you remember, Princess. We were both quite young." He said. It hit her. He was the son of someone. Her Father's Grand Admiral. Grand Admiral Poole. That was it.

"Iggy!" She said pleasantly, recalling the tall, dashing boy she'd had a bit of a girlish crush on many years ago.

"It's Commodore now, Princess" He said, his formal tones and mannerisms not changing for a second. "Or something like that. I'll probably be accused of treason and stripped of rank in the next few weeks by both of our fathers."

"You're involved in the movement?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"I am." He said, painfully. As though it had been a decision that hurt even to think "I know I swore an oath to King and Country but , well, Country first. And I will not see the Navy under the yoke of the Ascibians, Ruined in one of their needless wars."

Her small reunion was then interrupted by Olaf.

"My payment, lad." He said. Ignatius pointed to a stack of crates behind him.

"It's all there." Ignatius assured him, eyeing the War Chief suspiciously. Olaf looked back to one of his men who nodded. Olaf motioned to the others who began lifting the heavy looking crates into the city.

"Yes, well, Princess. I'm going to have to be off. I'll be leading the Movement's forces in...whatever is to come next and I really must be back. I'm dreadfully sorry we couldn't arrange for them to treat you as a dignitary but they insisted that in order for you to be among them you'd have to live like one of them. And we very much needed you out of the Kingdom and safe and they were the only option."

"I'll be fine, Commodore." Eloise assured him. "Go, get back. Good luck."

Ignatius bowed to her, formally

"I'll endeavour to win us victory quickly for your sake, Princess. So you can return to us in some capacity or another."

And then he walked away. Eloise waved to him as she left and hoped very much that she would see him again. She turned to Olaf who was beaming with pride at either the city or the crates being taken into it. Eloise looked at him.

"Well, you got your payment." She said, almost sounding hurt.

"I did. Better than a year's worth of plunder. That young man of yours wanted your safety very badly." Olaf shrugged.

"So that's that and goodbye and all?" She wondered, looking at her new home. Despite her training, despite her time with him, she felt very much intimidated by what was to be her new home. Olaf, however, displayed no tenderness, no affection whatsoever.

"It is. You have the bag full of jewels in the carriage. It should buy you enough to get started. A war party will no doubt be through in a few weeks. There are always men who need good wives."

"And you?"

"Me, I'm off to my home and my First Woman." Olaf stated "I will eat and drink and fuck for a few days and then off again with my warband. Plunder somewhere."

"Good luck to you too then." Eloise said, looking at him as coldly as he'd looked at her. He nodded and turned to walk towards the village. Eloise stood and watched him go as he walked away from her without a word. The massive beast of a man strode confidently through the village gates, into his village.

"You'll do fine." he said without turning as he continued. Eloise just nodded.

~Chapter Ten, in which Eloise makes a new home~

Eloise walked into the market place. There was all manner of bustle and jostling. Men spending their plunder and women and elderly merchants plying their wares. There was the strong smell of roasted meat in the air and loud music and yelling coming from a nearby tavern. Eloise could not get over how large the Northerners were. Even the children that ran past her were of her size or larger. The women especially so. Eloise clutched the bag of jewels close to her. Her things were to be sold so as to have enough money to buy or at least procure some sort of place to live. Then she would simply have to live her life. Contribute to the village as best as she could. Eloise walked towards what looked like a jewelry buyer, his well appointed caravan where the occasional warrior would stop to barter his booty. Eloise strode to it cautiously. There was a large Ascibian man standing against it.

"What do you have then, girl? Something of your father's?" he said dismissively. Eloise reached into the bag and retrieved one of her diamond rings, the stone near the size of the pit of a peach and with a strong pink colour. It was flawless, she knew. It had belonged to her Great-Aunt Mildred and had been named "The Calandrian Rose". Eloise had not chosen it by accident. She'd long thought it garish and obscene and had never worn it. It had no sentimental value either, having never met Mildred. The Merchant was a professional man, however, and betrayed no sign that he had instantly recognized one of the crown jewels of Calandria.

"Looks too big to be real." He sneered "50 gold."

Eloise laughed. That was the monthly pay of a guard.

"It is real. It's yours for the price of 15,000 gold." She demanded

"Hah!" He laughed "15,000 gold for that trinket. Even if it were real I couldn't get half that for it. 1000 gold. If it checks out."

"Smaller stones, never mind the history or setting, sell for 10 times your offer." Eloise countered "The price is 15,000 gold."

The Merchant did show some crack to him now. It was a bargain. He knew it. So did Eloise. She knew that certain Nobles in the Tropics made it a point to pay exorbitant sums for historical jewels. If they were royal it was all the better.