Orc Bait 03

"Where...were you!" I said angrily.

"I...I'm sorry! I don't know what happened."

"You don't know?!" I growled.

"Wait there," he said, walking away. He was clearly flustered.

'Wait there?!' that wasn't fucking funny. He soon returned with a pail of water and a cloth rag. "Hold on, I'll wash your face." The water was freezing as he splashed it over my face, it woke me up with a jolt.

"Can I have some to drink?" He carefully held the wooden pale up to my mouth and took a gulp. I sloshed the water around in my mouth and then spat it out. I was glad to finally be getting the horrible taste out of my mouth. I took some more in my mouth and drank it down. He wiped my face with the cloth. I looked up at Ludwich with furious eyes, "Where were you?"

He looked deeply ashamed, and couldn't even look me in the eyes, "I was going to come back here, I swear. I got off duty and went home to have supper before returning here. Then..."

"Then what?"

"My wife said she found me asleep at the table. She couldn't wake me. ...That never happens to me. I wasn't that tired."

"Then what the hell happened?"

He just shook his head, then walked off again. I found it all hard to process, especially in my exhausted state. Was he even telling the truth? And what about the lack of guard patrols last night?

He soon returned again and I heard him get up behind me. I shuddered as I remembered all the strange men getting up behind me in the darkness. Then I squealed as I felt the cold water splash over my bare ass. More water splashed on my skin washing away the sticky, flaky coating of cum. I shivered uncontrollably as he started wiping me down with the cloth.

"What about the guard patrols last night?" I asked.

"What about them?"

"There were none. Dozens of rapists were here having a party with my ass and there were none to be seen. Why is that?" I flinched as the rough material wiped over my tender pussy and ass.

"I don't know. There should have been some coming by here."

"Did the King order them away?"

"I don't know. I only woke up not long ago, and came straight here." I felt him wrap some more material around my chest and butt, covering me up. I felt a little warmer, but still shivered. He stepped around in front of me again. I could see that he had removed the red cape from his uniform, that was what he had around me.

He looked down at me somberly, "I'm very sorry...I'll get you some more clothes."

"Find out what happened." I said firmly. He nodded once and walked away again. I felt a little better being cleaned up and covered. My ass was still sore as hell.

The sun continued to rise, I looked over at the castle and saw the first rays of light shining on its walls. The chill in the air still hung around, my wet hair clung to my face and was freezing. Soon some merchants started coming into the market square, those who wanted to get an early start to the days' trade. I could see them looking over at me, clad in only the red cape. They chattered amongst themselves. It was obvious I had been left here overnight, and what had happened to me. They soon stopped staring at me and went about unloading their hand cart and setting up their stalls.

Slowly more people came into the marketplace. The blanketing noise of the city started to pick up again as the new day began. I just wanted to lie flat on my back and sleep. I just wanted to get out of that fucking pillory. I dropped my head and stared blankly at the ground in front of me.

When I looked up again I saw Joan. The woman was looking at me with a horrified expression on her round wrinkled face. "What happened?!" I just looked at her, she stepped forward and stroked her hand gently through my wet hair, "You poor dear, were you left here all night unguarded? What the hell happened to Ardy?!"

"He said he fell asleep," I said bitterly.

A look of anger flashed across her face, "That useless, pathetic, idiotic ...worm! I'll give him what for. Was it that Sticky Gabbel and his good-for-nothing lackeys?"

It was a lot of men. "It doesn't matter." I told her.

"Pathetic, cowardly turds, abusing a helpless woman. They need have their cocks cut off and shoved up their ass!" Then she looked down at me sympathetically, "You poor thing. Is there anything I can do for you?"

I looked up at her, "Can you pick a lock?"

She shook her head slowly, "Hang in there dear, they will have to let you out of there today. This is inhuman. ...Are you worried about pregnancy?"

I slowly nodded my head.

"Well I may be able to help. I'll be back soon." She turned and walked away as Private Ludwich was entering the market square again. I saw her storm over toward him and start angrily accosting him. Ludwich seemed to be mostly just taking her abuse though, not defending himself too stoutly. Then she stormed away from him and he slowly walked over to me.

He had some folded up brown material in his hands. "I got you some clothes," he said as he stepped forward. It looked to be a simple brown dress. He got behind me and pulled it up over my legs and unwrapped his cape and pulled it around my torso before tying it up at the back. It was a little tight around my tender breasts, and I was sure my cleavage bulged out of the front of it. "Oh, I didn't realise the hemline was so high." I heard him say.

"How high is it?"

"Uh, it's not so bad." But I could feel the chill air on my thighs and crotch. The dress must have been quite short.

"Did you get me some underwear?"

"No, sorry." Oh great, I'm a public spectacle and he had got me a tight skimpy dress to wear, without any panties. "It seems that half the citys' garrison has come down with food poisoning," he told me.

"Poisoning?!" It sent a chill through me. I remembered briefly seeing the mysterious woman last night. The woman I immediately thought was Aerowyn. Could it be?

"A lot of guards are violently ill, with diarrhoea and vomiting. It was why patrols were severely cut back last night. The King has thrown the entire kitchen staff into the dungeons. They're claiming that it was a shipment of contaminated fish. I don't know if my blacking out is related, I didn't eat any of the fish."

"Could it be a deliberate attack on the city? Perhaps by a mage proficient with poisons?"

"Why do you think it's a mage?"

I took a deep breath as he finished tying up my dress, "Just speculating."

"The King has his own powerful mages. I'm sure he'll be on top of it."

I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if the King wasn't the target? "When am I going to be let out of here? Haven't I been punished enough?"

He walked back around in front of me and looked down at me solemnly, "Sorry, that's not for me to say. I swear I'll do all I can to make sure no harm comes to you again though. I really am sorry for what you had to go through." I was more worried about what would come if I stayed there. "Is there anything else I can get you? Are you hungry?"

"No."

"I need to go and report for duty. I'll be around." He turned and walked away with his red cape bundled in his arm. More merchants were coming into the marketplace and setting up their stalls. Carts were going around and workers were unloading crates and barrels. An ugly bearded man walked by, looking at me and grinning. Probably one of the pack who had raped me last night.

Soon Joan had returned to me. "Here luv, I have something for you." She held up a small blue potion bottle. "It's a morning-after potion. You won't have to worry about catching."

"Thank you Joan." She uncorked it and held it to my lips and I drank it down. It had a very strange tangy bitter taste, not very pleasant, and hard to swallow down with my unsettled stomach. But I drank it all.

I felt strange. My body started to tingle all over. I could particularly feel it in my sore ass. Then the constant soreness, stiffness and fatigue began to fade away. It was a feeling I was familiar with. The fog of fatigue lifted from my mind and I felt re-energised. I looked up at Joan with much brighter eyes. Even my back didn't hurt any more.

She smiled down at me, "Feeling better dear?"

"That's a healing and rejuvenation potion."

"As well as a morning-after potion, yes."

"Brews like that don't come cheap."

She shrugged, "Not normally, but I know someone."

"Thank you again Joan. I owe you so much."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I just shook my head.

"If they don't let you out of here today, I'll march to the castle and demand it of the King myself. I'll be around if you need me." She walked away and went about setting up her market stall. The sun was higher in the sky now and its rays were peaking over the city wall. Thank the gods for Joan Fretta, my ass and back weren't bothering me any more, and I felt awake again.

The morning moved on and the market was once again in full swing. Private Ludwich hadn't returned yet. I was attracting stares again and hushed chattering that was no doubt about me.

An ugly, pudgy woman in a brown frock came over and spat in my face, "Filthy whore!" She then turned and strode off. What the hell was her problem? Did she think I had any choice, locked up in those boards? I made an annoyed growl as the spit ran down my face.

Several men were looking my way and grinning. It was likely they were there last night, waiting in line to get a piece of me. That made me angry as well, that they can just go about their business, like noting happened. I saw a dwarf with a bushy red beard who was deliberately not looking my way, and I wondered if it was Barris. It was likely, there weren't a lot of dwarves about.

Then someone stepped up on the platform and grabbed my ass. "Hey!" I called out. I heard a laugh and then saw Sticky Gabbel walk around.

"It's okay sweetheart, it's only me," he said grinning. "I love yer new threads. Easy access to your fuck-holes." He took a bite of an apple he was holding.

"You got some nerve. I'll have you arrested."

"Hehe, how's yer ass? Heard it got plenty of attention last night. Had everyone linin' up for the ride. Good thing I got in early."

I grit my teeth in anger as I glared at him.

"Dirty little slut like you would have loved it. I found out why you were so upset 'bout us taking yer armour. We took it to a fence, and when he was appraising it, he found out it had a little enchantment, didn't he?"

An enchantment? That was news to me.

"He had a scroll that cast Identify on it. Found out that it was an arousal charm. Dirty slut, you were going around in leathers that kept yer pussy soaking wet, weren't you?"

My mouth gaped. Oh my gods! Aerowyn! I thought the witch had cast something on me. It was my leathers the whole time. She had shown up after that night at Fort Nikes, after all the orcs were poisoned. She must have done it then. Damn, why didn't I think that it could have been my leathers?

"Got a decent price for it, I guess. That Prick is always lookin' to rip me off. He reckons the enchantment isn't much help for combat armour, but there's gotta be some frigid bitch who wants it, right?" He looked up, "Ah shit, gotta go Bow Girl. I hope yer still here tonight, I'll fuck your dirty holes again." He reached under me and squeezed my right breast before disappearing.

Then I saw Private Ludwich walking through the market square toward me. His red cape was draped around his shoulders again. He stopped in front of me, "Is everything all right Rohme?"

I nodded, and he continued walking on.

Two young boys were running about and playing nearby, they looked to be around five or six years. One of them was carrying a small wooden sword. He ran up onto the platform and got behind me. He struck the back of my legs, "Take that, nasty bugbear!"

"Hey cut it out!" I called sternly as I kicked my leg. He just laughed and kept at it. His little friend came up and joined him. "You look like little goblins. It's quite easy to run a blade through a goblins' head, you know."

"You fought goblins?" asked the boy.

"I fought lots of things."

They stopped whacking me and came around in front to look at my face. "Have you ever fought a troll?" I had, unfortunately I had been fucked by one as well.

"I killed a troll in the Longshank Mountains."

"All by yourself?" said the boy in wonderment.

"Liar! That's why she's in there, because she's a liar." said the other boy.

I ignored him, "No, not by myself. I killed it with my party."

"Your an adventurer? I'm an adventurer too! Did your party have a big strong warrior, like I'm gunna be?"

"Yes, his name was Strafe. Really big and strong, and you wouldn't find anyone more skilled with a broadsword."

"I'm gunna be a mighty wizard," said the other boy.

"You can't do any magic," said his friend.

"Shut up, yes I can!"

The boy looked back at me with his big blue eyes, "Tell us 'bout the time your party fought the troll...or I'll strike you down."

I let out a sigh, I didn't have anything better to do. "Okay...It was several years ago, when my party was up north, travelling through the mountain passes into Disternia..." The children sat down and listened with interest as I told the story. I did my best to tone down the sex and violence, despite their encouragement for more detail.

Another young man was walking by and stopped and listened. Then a couple came and stood within earshot. I just continued to tell my tale, with little embellishment. I just told it how I remembered it, and my audience was listening with interest. People looked over and wondered what was going on, they wandered over and stood around to listen to me talk.

"...My quiver was running out of arrows, most of them were stuck in the enraged beast. It's lumpy head looked like a porcupine. I took my time and lined up the shot, waiting for it to stop moving around so much. Finally I loosed my bow and the arrow struck its eye, making it let out a thunderous roar. Sierra cast entangle on the trolls' feet and it came crashing down hard, causing the ground to shake. Strafe dodged its wildly swinging arm and raised his huge sword high before bringing it down, cleaving the monsters' skull apart. Then the big swordsman collapsed to the ground. Cordelia rushed over to heal his badly wounded side. The trolls' huge legs thrashed about wildly as it died."

"What's a porky-pine?" asked the boy.

"See, it was the big strong warrior who killed it," said the other.

"No, we all worked together to kill it." I said.

"It's all made up," said an old man standing nearby. "She's no adventurer, she looks like a trollop."

"Shut the hell up!" another man snapped. "That was great. Five stars."

"Tell us another story," said the boy sitting in front of me.

"Yeah, tell us another one," said a woman standing behind him.

"Seriously, when is the next one coming?" said an anonymous commenter.

I looked around at the small crowd of people. They were looking at me differently now. Not with disgust, or pity or morbid curiosity. I considered that getting a crowd on my side could be my means of getting out of there.

"Well, have you heard of the demon attacks on the city ten years ago?"

"Yeah," said the boy, "My Pa told me about it. They destroyed the cathedral."

"They destroyed lots of things. It was my party who put a stop to them." The people around me seemed to be listening with interest and I began telling the story. More and more people came over to listen. Private Ludwich came up while I was speaking and stood beside me. The crowd grew as I talked, as more people came over to see what was going on.

Eventually I finished my story. A man started clapping, soon others joined in, and I had the whole crowd applauding me. It was a strange feeling. The applause died down and the boy in front of me spoke up, "It was the wizard who saved the day that time, he sent them back to hell."

"Idiot, it was the wizard who summoned them in the first place," said his friend. "It was her party who saved the day."

"They saved our city," said a woman. She snarled at Ludwich, "You should be ashamed, putting a hero like that in the pillory on some trumped up charge!"

"I'd let her out if I could," said Ludwich defensively. "It's the Kings' decree."

"To Hell with the god-damned King!" called out a man, and others cheered their agreement.

Then Joan came forward and offered me a drink of water from her cup, which I gladly accepted. "Those are nice stories dear." Something told me that she didn't believe them. For some reason, I think she had trouble seeing me as an adventurer. It didn't matter, I was glad to have her still watching out for me. I finished the water and thanked her. She walked off again, going back to her stall.

"Where is your party now?" asked the boy.

I let out a sigh, "They're dead."

"How did they die?"

I hesitated, that was the story that got me put into this pillory in the first place. The King had my books burned. It was the one story I wanted to put out there, but I guess I was forbidden to tell it.

"Yeah, how did they die?" asked another man.

I took a deep breath, did I really want to risk upsetting the King again? I considered for a moment, and then I thought, 'Fuck him!' I cleared my throat, "They died saving the realm." I looked around and saw that I had their attention. "It all started around six years ago when we were travelling through the Degray riverlands to the west..."

I went on to tell the story from my book, including the details of how the King ignored Sierras' warnings, and how close the Kingdom came to being swallowed up in a tide of darkness. Was I making a huge mistake? Things couldn't get much worse for me...Could they?

"...It was a chaotic battle. We faced powerful mages and those powerful undead monsters. I was firing off arrows as fast as I could. Strafe was in amongst them, swinging his sword about like a madman and taking many critical wounds. Cordelia was struggling to heal him and keep him alive while fending off her own attacks. Sierra was blasting away at the high priestess, but she was too heavily shielded. We were fighting a losing battle, there would be no retreat, we had to stop them. Then Sierra started blasting away at the stone pillars in that grand chamber. Load bearing pillars. I soon joined her, shooting at them with my magical explosive arrows. The high priestess saw what we were doing and cried out in defiance. Then the ceiling started caving in on top of us. Great slabs of stone came falling down, crushing all those beneath it. I looked into Sierras' eyes as the rubble crashed down around us, she was eerily calm. And then darkness. I was trapped in a small pocket for several days before a team of dwarven relic hunters dug me out. I was the only survivor."

"Wow!" said the boy, looking at me wide-eyed.

Then the crowd was clapping again. Even louder this time. It had me feeling good, even better than when I was holding my book in my hands. This was a better way of getting the story out there. To the common people on the street, and not just those who were able to read and could buy the book.

"Why haven't we heard of this before?" I heard someone say.

"Those heroes should be honoured."

"Let her out of there!"

The applause died down and then stopped, But I could still hear one person clapping. That person stepped forward, pushing through the crowd. I was shocked when I saw that it was a beautiful half-elf, with flowing red hair and mismatched green and hazel eyes, and wearing elaborate green mage robes. She had a devilish grin as looked into my eyes, "Great story Rohme, I'm going to favourite it."

"Aerowyn!" was all I could manage to say.

She stepped onto the platform, pushing past the boys. "Wait, who are you?" asked Ludwich.

"I'm her girlfriend. We know each other intimately, don't we lover?"