The Road to Heronwall

In fact, she was only a couple of doors down, so the elf's room wasn't difficult to find, even in the semi-darkness. Just before she reached it, she heard another door opening, and looked across to see a small pool of lamplight from the room that Tyravel had taken, and the small barbarian woman outlined against it. Almost immediately, she slipped inside, and the door closed again.

None of her business, thought Katryn, and knocked on the door to her friend's room.

"Ariawyn..." she said, trying not to be too loud, "are you awake?"

There was a rustling sound from behind the door, which seemed to go on for longer than she might have expected before a voice answered, "yes; you can come in."

It was surprisingly light inside, and Katryn realised that the elven woman had left the shutters on her window open. The cloud cover of the previous day was gone, and the light of a nearly full moon spilled into the room through the small diamonds of glass. Ariawyn was sitting up in bed, sheets pulled up around her armpits. Even so, it was obvious that she wasn't wearing a shift which the paladin knew that she normally did.

Katryn hoped that the moonlight wasn't bright enough to expose the slight blush that crossed her face at that realisation. Even if one of them were fully dressed, it would still look rather improper, and she had a reputation to maintain. She closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I couldn't sleep, not after today."

"That's all right; neither could I."

"I was thinking about the orcs, and what could have caused them to act like that. I know we discussed it earlier today, and it's not unheard of, but there's been nothing like that in this area for a while. Pardror wishes us to right a wrong or slay an evil nearby, and this surely must be it, don't you think?"

"Uh, yes, that seems possible," replied the healer, in an unusually evasive manner, "although, if you don't mind, I..."

"Oh, for goodness sake!" said another voice, startling Katryn enough that she jumped a little, "if you're going to have a bloody conversation about orcs I am not going to continue hiding under here!"

So saying, Merialeth threw back the bedsheets -- in the half-light, Katryn hadn't been looking at them clearly enough to see that they concealed a second body -- and sat up beside the other elf. Her hair was in disarray and she, too, was not wearing a shift. Which, since she hadn't bothered pulling up the sheets as Ariawyn had, meant that she was now uncovered from the waist up. Katryn instinctively averted her gaze, putting a hand up to block the view.

"And now I've embarrassed the paladin," said the archer not sounding at all apologetic, and still not covering herself.

"Merialeth!" said Ariawyn sternly, "this is my friend! Be polite!"

The archer sighed but said nothing.

Katryn had, temporarily, lost her interest in talking about orcs. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice rising to a higher pitch than she had intended.

"I'm so sorry, Katryn. I know that this must be shocking for you, and I didn't expect it to work out like this. I realise that, in your culture..."

"Humans!" muttered Merialeth, but Ariawyn glared at her, and she quieted down again.

"I realise that in your culture, there are certain things that don't happen that might be considered quite normal in mine. And," she continued, evidently searching for the right words, "as an elven woman, there are times that..."

Merialeth butted in again. "Please! Can we have this conversation tomorrow?"

"Merialeth," said the healer, "I think that..."

"No! Seriously!" she turned to Katryn again, "we were having sex. Or, at least, we were about to. It's really that simple."

"But..." replied Katryn, knowing that she sounded confused and not a little plaintive, "you're both..."

"Women. Yes. It's a thing that elves do. Humans do it, too, they just pretend not to, and don't talk about it. It's normal, it's natural. But it's been a while and, if you don't mind, I'd quite like to get back to it."

Now it was Ariawyn's turn to look surprised, "wait... you've met human women who do this?" she asked the archer.

"Well, no," admitted the archer, "but it stands to reason. And last year, when I was working for these two human men who were in business together making potions and stuff? They were totally doing it with each other. They never said, but you could tell, just from the way they looked at each other. Definitely."

The conversation was sufficiently surprising, and Merialeth's tone so matter-of-fact that Katryn realised that she'd removed the hand that was shading her view of the archer and was no longer looking away. Ariawyn still had the bedsheet up around her armpits, but it only covered the hips and legs of the blonde elf. The moonlight spilled across her body, revealing a slender, well-toned frame and small high breasts with pale nipples.

Katryn knew that she shouldn't have been noticing that, but she couldn't help herself.

"I didn't know," she said, "about that. About you," she was speaking to Ariawyn there. "I suppose there's a lot I don't know, especially when it isn't something I would talk about anyway."

"Yes," agreed the healer, with a hint of sadness, "we probably need to talk. Have a long conversation about this and what it might mean."

"Which I'm all for," agreed Merialeth, sounding as if she wasn't, "but perhaps another time? Look, Katryn, I don't mean to be rude," she said, her voice lowering to a more reasonable tone, "but although I have been with human men, it's been a while since I've properly met another elven woman. And right now, I'm really horny, so unless you're planning on joining us, can you please give us some privacy, just for tonight?"

The paladin froze, looking at them both in bed together, not knowing what to say.

Merialeth leaned over to her partner, kissed her ear, and then moved down her neck to the top of her bare shoulder. Katryn was still frozen in place, confused thoughts rushing through her mind. She had no idea how to respond.

"Katryn," said Ariawyn, "perhaps it might be better if we..."

"Could I?" said the paladin, suddenly finding her voice.

Merialeth stopped kissing the healer and looked towards Katryn with a puzzled expression. Ariawyn looked similarly uncertain.

"Could you what?" asked the archer.

"Join you."

The two elves looked at each other, and then back at Katryn.

"Really?" asked Ariawyn.

Katryn found herself blushing a deep red, "I'm so sorry! I should leave."

"You don't need to apologise. As Merialeth said earlier, it's a natural reaction."

"And anyway," said Merialeth, "I'm up for it. Your friend is pretty good looking for a human," she said to the other elf, "so, if it's not a problem for you then I'm more than happy to try. And anything I said to you previously, Katryn, can we pretend I didn't? Absolutely my mistake."

"You really want to do this?" asked Ariawyn in a gentle voice with what sounded like a hint of hope.

"Yes.," she said with heartfelt determination, "there's... there's a reason I've never been with men."

"At all?" asked Merialeth, sounding surprised. Katryn shook her head. "So this is your first? With anyone? Ever? Oh, wow."

Katryn undid the clasp on the cloak and let it fall to the floor. Then she stepped towards the bed, feeling more nervous than she had ever done before a battle. "So..." she said, uncertainly, "what do I actually do?"

***

"Harder," grunted Red.

Tyravel's admittedly limited experience had not previously extended to anything other than him lying on top. Now he was kneeling behind the small barbarian woman, his hands gripping her sides, watching the back of her head and admiring the intricate bird tattoo as his hips ground against her firm buttocks in a slow motion.

That was how he'd always done it before, slowly and gently. But if she wanted more, then he found himself surprisingly willing to give it to her. With a grunt, he started moving faster, thrusting himself deeper, his flesh audibly slapping against hers.

"How's... this...?" he gasped, leaning over her, moving his hands up to her ribs.

"Kebd..." she said, "dei kans..."

It sounded like an affirmative, so he continued. Red was gripping the pillow with one hand, the other on the board at the head of the bed, her body moving in time with his. He couldn't see her expression from this vantage point, but he could hear her groans of pleasure and harsh gasps and he continued to thrust into her. He was clearly doing something right and was finding the uninhibited exertions more enjoyable than he would have expected himself.

Red made a growling sound deep in her throat and her knuckles whitened as she gripped the pillow, her body bucking beneath his.

"Faster... harder..." she begged again.

He tried as best he could, although her tightness was an obstacle. He pounded into her vigorously, sweat starting to form on his back as the tempo of slapping flesh increased. Goddess, he thought, this was incredible, like nothing he'd ever done before, but it was also exhausting.

"Ah... ah... kebd!"

He didn't know what it meant, but took it for encouragement. Finally, he had to pause, leaning back to catch his breath, his cock slipping free from her damp quim. Red gave a cry of disappointment.

"Gokh akk nao..." she said, panting, which, from the tone of her voice he interpreted as a complaint.

When he didn't respond immediately, she crawled round on the bed to face him. At first, she looked fierce, her expression decidedly irritated, but as she glanced over him and saw how heavily he was breathing her expression softened as she actually gave a sly grin.

"Aibasi kans," she said, "ma ba marrhil nagh... is be good, yes?"

He shrugged and nodded vaguely at which point she seemed to realise she had switched back to her native speech, and that he had no idea what she'd just asked. "Ha!" she said, grinning widely, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him down onto his back.

She was turned towards him again, giving him a full view of the front of her body as well as her fiercely determined, but still grinning, face. The sight of it invigorated him, and the scholar tried to get back up again, but Red pushed him back down and once again sat on his thighs, pinioning him as she had at the start.

She reached out for his cock, moved a little forward, and pushed it into her crotch, rubbing it as she slowly moved her hips. Her red bush pressed against one side as her hand slid up over the other, still slightly damp from her juices, until her thumb circled the tip. Tyravel gave an encouraging sound, his eyes flicking up and down between her face, breasts, and hips.

"You ready again," said Red after a while and lifted herself up onto her knees before plunging down over his erection. "Kebd," she said again, with what sounded like relief.

She began to move, slowly at first, but soon building up a faster rhythm, the creaking of the bed merging with the sound of slapping flesh. Tyravel was delighted that he could see her face now, the burning look in her eyes, the flush on her skin and even found himself entranced by the alien look of that partially shaven scalp.

The barbarian's arms pressed down on him as she continued to move, not showing any of the signs of exhaustion that he had. Thinking about, the scholar was surprised that he'd managed to keep going this long himself without climaxing. He moved his hands onto her body, feeling the taut muscles of her sides.

"Langg go..." she began, looking at him earnestly, then apparently decided not to finish the sentence or repeat herself in Common, grabbing both his hands and placing them on her breasts.

Her nipples were hard, sliding between his fingers as she continued to move up and down his cock. Tyravel caressed the small mounds eagerly while still trying to look into her eyes... possibly her best feature, with that hard and determined look that was now equally suffused with unbridled lust.

Red pulled his left hand away from its target and replaced it with own, gently pulling and tweaking the pert nipple and then stopped, nodding towards him. That was clear enough, and soon he was imitating her actions on both sides to her evident delight.

"Kebd... kebd..." she said, her voice higher now than it had been so far, "kans rudd gushmash!"

She began to move faster, pressing down on him harder, and reached over him to grip the head of the creaking bed with one muscular arm. Her face was flushed almost as red as her hair now, lips drawn back into an ecstatic grimace, harsh, high-pitched grunts escaping through clenched teeth.

"Ba aggs!" she cried, and he could see the sinews on her neck straining as her movements became more vigorous still, beyond anything he could have kept up for long.

It was all too much, and Tyravel lurched up on the bed, wrapping his arms around her, gripping her tight as he tried to meet her pounding thrusts with as much force of his own as he could muster. The little barbarian let out a long cry, going rigid in his arms as the scholar finally came inside her with a loud gasp of his own.

They fell back onto the bed, a sweaty tangled heap. He kissed her, realising that he hadn't done so so far, and she didn't object, responding with equal enthusiasm. She snuggled down into his arms, resting her head in the crook of his neck and made happy murmuring sounds.

As they drifted off to sleep, Tyravel fancied that he could still hear the muffled sounds of lovemaking in the background. Clearly, she had made quite the impression on him.

***

Ariawyn patted the bed beside her and Katryn took the hint and moved over to sit there, looking into the elven woman's dark eyes. Still not certain what to do, she loosened the ties at the top of her shirt, feeling that that was at least a place to start. But, still with the sheets concealing most of her body, the healer leant in towards her and planted a kiss on her lips.

Katryn gave a sigh of happiness, feeling some of her nerves already draining away. Oh, for how long had she wanted to do that? There must, she supposed, have been signals that it would have been welcome, but she hadn't even been looking for them, too caught up with propriety and the rules of her order to even think that such a possibility might be real.

She made the next move, kissing Ariawyn in response. She had expected another brief pressing of lips, but the elf was more passionate this time, holding the kiss for longer, lips moving eagerly against hers. They were so soft, everything she'd ever secretly dreamed of. Katryn held the back of the healer's head, running her fingers gently through the jet-black hair, letting her thumb trace the pointed outline of one of her ears.

If kissing was all that 'sex' between women was supposed to involve, she was contented enough, it felt so wonderful -- especially after having secretly dreamed of it for so long. But somehow, she knew that was unlikely.

In fact, Merialeth was already moving; Katryn had eyes only for Ariawyn, their lips still locked, but she could hear the sheets rustling as the other elf climbed out. The archer would be naked, she realised, but now was not the time to turn and look. Soon she felt slender hands lifting up the hem of her shirt, stroking her back, pulling it back. A second soft kiss planted itself on her neck then a dainty nose nuzzled itself against the flesh there.

Katryn already felt she was in heaven.

She continued to kiss her friend, pausing occasionally to pull back and admire the beauty of her face, seeing the warm desire of her own feelings reflected in her partner's eyes. The hands caressing her back were moving further up, sometimes wandering round to her sides, her belly. She could feel the shape of the archer's bare breasts pressed against the fabric of her shirt, a thought that was wickedly exciting. She gave out another blissful sigh and Ariawyn took the opportunity to rain kisses down her check and chin, before moving to the soft flesh of her throat.

Behind her, Merialeth had stopped kissing her, moving away to make a more concerted effort to get the human's shirt off. Even though it meant also pulling away from Ariawyn, Katryn let her do so, raising her arms so that it could be lifted over her head. Even if she wasn't sure exactly what to do, she knew that she wanted to get naked, so long as the two elves were.

She saw that Ariawyn's eyes were upon her, flicking up and down her body and remembered that elves had better night vision than humans, so that the healer could presumably see better than she could at the moment. She let her do so, successfully fighting back the instinct to cover herself. Merialeth placed a kiss between her shoulder blades, sliding her hands around Katryn's side to stroke her stomach and then move slowly upwards.

The other elf's hands reached the target first, though, cupping the human's breasts, tracing the curve of them with a finger then moving to stroke her hard nipples. Ariawyn's hands were surprisingly soft, her touch gentle, that of an attentive healer who brought comfort and solace. Katryn let out a quiet moan, lost in the wonder of the moment, and then they kissed again, Ariawyn's hands moving to her back, Merialeth's roaming over her flanks and the outer surface of her breasts.

The three were pressed together now, only the sheets separating Katryn from the body of her long-time partner, nothing at all between her and the archer. With a thrill, she felt Merialeth's breasts against her back, could feel the small nipples resting against her flesh. And still, she and Ariawyn were kissing.

They pulled back, eventually, and Katryn made to speak "oh, Ariawyn, I..." but the elf pressed a finger against her lips to hush her.

"Turn around," she whispered, placing her hands on each of the woman's shoulders to guide her.

Katryn shuffled round on the bed until she was lying with her back facing the healer, who pulled her blonde hair aside to kiss an earlobe. She was now facing Merialeth and, oddly, feeling more exposed than she had before. The archer was, of course, completely naked, and Katryn found her eyes unavoidably drawn down, past her hips, to the light patch of fuzz over her groin.

Before she could indulge her curiosity further, Merialeth moved down into a crouching position, her upper body now obscuring the view. She slowly moved her hands across Katryn's chest, sliding round to the underside of her breasts and then up towards her nipples. The archer grinned, evidently approving of what she saw.

Then she leant down to kiss the human woman's collar bone, her breasts brushing against Katryn's own in a way that made her gasp again with pleasure -- more at the thought than the sensation itself. A rain of kisses moved lower, even as Ariawyn continued to nuzzle her ear and neck, running her fingers down her partner's upper arms, feeling the well-developed muscles of a swordswoman.

The human's eyes went wide as Merialeth continued to move her kisses lower, now against the yielding flesh at the top of her breasts, larger than the elf's own small mounds. Then she let out a gasping whimper of delight as the archer's soft lips found one of her nipples, pressing against it, gently suckling. Her tongue flicked against the tip then ran its way around her pink aureoles, savouring her, taking her time.

"My goodness..." murmured Katryn as the elf moved to other side.

"There's more to come," whispered Ariawyn in her ear, "just relax and let it happen. We'll stop if you ever tell us you don't want to go further."

Katryn nodded and replied, "oh, I don't want this to stop."

"Good," said the archer, releasing the human's nipple and moving her attention down to her belly as she shifted herself backward on the bed.

Eventually she reached the hem of Katryn's short under-trews, pulling them aside to plant a kiss on one bare hip before flicking her green eyes up to watch the human's expression. The she grinned, sat up and began to pull the small garment down and remove it.