Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 09

Another man tried to get the large one's attention as he pointed to what had happened to the group leaders all around them.

But he was gone an instant later, to lie in a crumpled heap a dozen feet away with a long and thick arrow protruding from his chest.

Everyone but Louhi gaped and then turned to see where the large arrow had come from and they stood with sagging shoulders as they stared at Màiri's ship.

Leif had come on deck.

"They've a fucking troll, Snorri!" one man exclaimed as he turned to look back, "A fucking real and live troll!"

"So?" the man bellowed back, "They have two boats. Surely we can get something out of this before that one gets any nearer!"

He turned to regard Louhi, "I do not know how you come to be here, but --"

There was a shout then and everyone looked to see the dark blur which flashed upward from the hold of the other ship. Their cries turned to groans when Rex spread his wings and flew off a ways before he circled back.

The man turned back to Louhi, but his eyes bulged a little in that instant and he looked down to see her blade buried deep in his chest.

He grimaced and let out only one groan as she twisted her sword and withdrew it.

As he sank to his knees, dying, the white-blonde hair blew in the wind over Louhi's face for a moment.

"See to your own defense," she smiled at the others, "When my friend and I fuck men, we fuck much harder than they do."

Then she was gone.

It was pandemonium between the boats then as they all tried to pull away as quickly as they could in different directions.

They knew that it only wasted time to look up, trying to see where the flying beast was, but many couldn't help it.

Gudrun killed a few with her bow, laughing as she did it, but what brought her and Rex the most returns were her laughing cries and shrieks. When anyone looked up - if they happened to be in the basilisk's view -- he focused on them and they fell dead.

The two ships pulled away, leaving the longship and several of the smaller craft drifting, full of corpses. Any who could were pulling on their oars for their lives, and whenever a survivor noticed a dead man near him, he stopped rowing long enough to push the body over the side before he went back to his rowing, unless the dead man had been a friend.

Louhi stood with Cuilén and Thorvald as Rex flared in for his landing. The basilisk was about to scuttle his large body back down when he saw the seaman holding up his hand. Thorvald thanked Rex and Gudrun and they nodded back, before they descended the steps.

Louhi stood with her mouth open and smiling. "What is this?" she laughed a little as she looked, "I never thought to see a smile on that face. I never knew that you even could smile, Thorvald."

He nodded with his toothy grin showing through his beard, "Now that I see that we are not helpless, Mistress, I am almost happy enough to dance."

Their laughter ran its course and died away, and as it did, one after another of them looked over to regard a lone figure standing at the rail all alone and looking out at the retreating boats. The rangers still on the deck on that side had left a wide half-circle of room around that one.

Chiorstan stood wearing only her open cloak, holding her husband's sword.

But none of the men knew her as the young widow any longer.

She turned around and the men all took a half-step back.

"What is the matter?" she asked them, "Am I not seen as an ally anymore?"

"Who are you and how did you come to be on this boat?" One of the bolder ones asked her, "We do not know you."

She flicked the longsword overhand once and then she slid it into its scabbard and looked up, her eyes looking a little beady as her long tongue flicked out over her lips once very quickly.

"No, perhaps not," she replied, "or perhaps it is that you do not mark me as one that you have never had much of a thought for before now."

She pulled her cloak around her and they stared at the young widow then, whom everyone had seen, but few had ever taken the time to speak to.

"Do I frighten or disgust you all enough that you would turn away one who would fight in our defense over the way that I can look? If one of them had but climbed up before me, I would have fought for us all."

"We are not that foolish," one of the rangers said with a smile as he stepped over and held out his arm.

Chiorstan looked at the offered hand for a second and then she clasped the forearm above it, "Then know that I am still an ally of clan Ciar's rangers. I only seem to have come into my own in a strange way," she smiled with a shrug.

"Can you use that blade?" he asked.

"Other than to swing it," she said, "I do not know. Until now, I have never been able to do much with it but carry it. I seem to be stronger now, but, ... well, I would welcome a little teaching in the art."

"Then come with me," the man smiled, "I would teach you a little gladly."

"Could I ask you to hold a few moments?" she asked, a little embarrassed, "My tits are full to bursting and I need a little while to feed my girl, if you have time."

He smiled and nodded, before he caught the baleful glare of his woman.

"Oh, don't you start," he laughed, "I seek to teach her, not to die at your hands when I am asleep, Woman."

"A good reply," she said, breaking into a wide smile as she walked up to Chiorstan, "You might live long enough to grow older and gray with a quick tongue like that one.

Is there anything which I might do to help you, Chiorstan? I cannot swing a blade as you can, but ..."

"Only gird yourself if you mean to come down with me," Chiorstan nodded, clearly a little pleased, "Things down below are a trifle unusual, but I will take a friend however I can get one."

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They walked Nadya's horse to the stables and being a horsewoman of sorts herself, Petra helped to get the saddle off and the horse stood much warmer and far more content a few moments later.

"In here a moment," Nadya said, leading the princess into the gatehouse.

As soon as the door was closed, she grabbed Petra and threw her up against the wall to glare into her face, pinning her arms above her head easily.

Petra felt the back of her head slam against the wall. She found herself being held there in contact with it from her shoulders to her backside, and Nadya was in her face, snarling.

"Have I just seen the reason that you stood talking with me and saying nothing? Was it all so that I would make a better target? You must have wondered what took the archer so long to shoot that you had to stand still in the cold and wait for her shot."

Nadya smirked then, "Royal plots often come to hidden endings, I think."

Petra looked to be on the verge of tears, and yet, Nadya could suddenly see just a hint of backbone at last on those eyes and she could feel the way that Petra pressed back to get away from the cold wall.

"I am no human," Petra sneered back, "I speak truths the same as any Kurtadam."

"Truths are one thing,"Nadya nodded, "but you are a royal, and telling falsehoods is only one means of deception. Some things might be said, and others can remain unspoken to much the same effect as a human lie."

Petra shook her head.

Nadya pressed harder.

They stood nose to nose, belly to belly, as Nadya stared into Petra's eyes, seeking for what was really there.

"Who was the archer?" she asked down low in her throat, "Was it your sister, Princess? How does it feel to have been the true target?"

Petra tried to turn her head, not wanting to think about what had just happened and what it meant.

Nadya pressed even more, ignoring the way that her mound was now up against Petra's, "The truth, Petra. I want all of it now. Was this a plot which turned against you or not?"

She pressed again, harder this time, and the princess' eyes opened a little wider, though it wasn't clear if the reaction had been one of surprise or not.

"There, ... there was no plot -- at least none that I was a party to," she said quietly, "I came to meet you and to ask about them, the males which you have taken for your pack. I told no one where I was going."

She cast her eyes downward for a moment, "I have heard that one forest warrior lives yet. I wished to meet you."

She sniffled once, "I have always felt regret that we did not have any now -- when we need them the most, here where there are so few of us. It was my dream as a young one to learn from them."

There was nothing from her for a moment but another sniffle, and then she said, "I have never wanted to be who I am; one who is handed matter after matter to decide over, always for others and seldom for myself."

She looked away for a moment then, "The one time when I had a matter which carried MY hopes, MY dreams, and MY happiness, I ruined things for myself."

She looked Nadya in the eye then and her gaze narrowed, "Let me loose, Nadya. You make it worse like this for me, having to look at the one who triumphed over my fool's hope for myself."

Nadya said nothing for a moment in reply. She only pressed hard against Petra again, and then again in a subtle way for all the forcefulness of it.

"You have not answered me, "she said, "Who was the archer? Do you know her?"

"It was Jenna."

The whisper hung in the air between them for a moment and then Nadya nodded as she pushed once more.

"Do you like this, Petra?" the red-haired one asked with the smallest hint of a smile.

"What, this?" Petra asked, "Being fucked up against a cold wall by the one who has what I dreamed to have? Does it please you to do this to me? You said that you take no joy in my misfortune. Does that mean that you take joy in having a princess up against a wall instead?"

"Yes." Nadya smiled a little wider now as she began to hump more rhythmically, "I still find no pleasure in your pain, Petra. But I am finding a measure of it with you. "

"Let me go!" Pettra snarled, "I am in no mood for this. How dare you, I -- "

"To gain what one might want," the red wolf-girl smiled, "one must first want it badly enough. Then one must dare to take it. If you do not dare, you cannot have it, Petra. That is how I dare."

Nadya kept Petra just a little quieter by kissing her very forcefully, though she was still surprised at the level of sound which a person's nose might allow to pass.

She drew her head back, "I can allow that you might not be in the mood, Petra, not long after having an attempt made on your life by one who followed you all of your lives, especially.

But you see, at the moment, I am in the mood and very much.

It serves several purposes; the one which I like so much at the moment is to see the fire in your eyes. I was told that you were known as iron-willed, but until just now, I have only seen hints at it.

Now, ... your anger," she smiled, "Ooh, and that royal outrage at what I do here, ...."

She lunged then and kissed Petra again, grinding her sex against the girl and pressing her body against Petra's as much as she could, wanting to feel the princess' breasts as they were crushed by her own, but pulling back just in time as Petra snapped her mouth shut.

Nadya wouldn't allow Petra much in the way of any movement, but she found a little latitude anyway and went there and knew that it had been a mistake in the next instant. Nadya had known and she now held Petra that way to enjoy her.

"I know that it is at least very pleasant for you, Petra. I can feel the way that you hold your hips to give me a better angle."

"I only do it in the hope that you might finish quickly," the princess hissed a little, "since I have no hope otherwise until you have finished with me."

"Oh," Nadya sighed, "Want a kiss, then?"

Her face split into a wide grin a moment later, "You dirty, naughty, beauty," she chuckled, "If only you could have seen what I did there in your eyes just now.

I am not one who seeks this with other females usually, "she said with a smile, "but I can see that you are much more -- comfortable than I would be. Your face says that you do not like this, but your eyes tell me a different tale."

Petra shook her head, but Nadya saw the way that her mouth opened a little and she felt Petra's breath against her nose and whiskers. She went a little faster and her reward was a small gasp.

"If you were not one who likes this," Nadya grinned, "then I think that you would not be standing on your toes now, the way that you are, so that we might match up a little better.

Do you know who it is who fucks you now?

For the past few years, the last one of the kind which you say that you admire so much was a whore. Did you know that?"

Petra closed her eyes very slowly and she bit her bottom lip just a little as she shook her head.

"Oh yes," Nadya whispered, "I do not hold myself up very high, Petra. I only try to live better now, since I have the chance to because of your sweet brother and Koten. But I was not only used by men in the town. I had to fuck with women as well.

It was another thing which I did not want to have to do. But in the doing of it, I came to know much so that I could please any female who paid for me."

She leaned in and slid her cheek against Petra's as she crooned into her ear, "Do you like me, princess?"

Petra opened her eyes about halfway and she nodded, "Yes. Only, ... only please, could you kiss me again? Just, ... "she moaned as she gave in and began to move her hips, "Just a little?"

"I might have the wish to, "Nadya said softly, "but first we need to keep on like this while I tell you of some things that I hold in my mind, Sweet Petra."

"Why do you torment me" Petra asked, "if it is not to shame me?"

Nadya shook her head, "I only want to drive you to recover your will, Petra.

I can feel that you are no soft princess, no matter what you try to tell me in your shame and sadness. I like that in you. Also, you need me.

You need me for many things, Petra. You only do not know of them yet.

You need to be protected a little over who you are, but you also need to recover your strength of spirit. I can help with it easily.

Sad to say, but the way that things are, there can only be one ruling princess after what has happened today. I think that you need me for that as well.

But first, before anything else, Petra, ...

You need this."

Nadya kept humping against Petra, but to the princess' surprise, she felt it as her wrists were freed from Nadya's grasp.

Petra looked into Nadya's face then and Nadya closed the gap to kiss her. Petra held onto Nadya, though she allowed a little room as the red-haired wolf-girl raised her pawed hand to clamp it onto Petra's breast.

Petra raised one leg and tried to wrap it around Nadya's hips and they went one together that way for a long time, both groaning a little softly now and then until they both trembled at different times.

Petra chose her moment and shoved her tormenter away as hard as she could and while Nadya was a little off-balance, the princess attacked.

There was little in the way of furniture in the place, but most of what there was, the two combatants demolished within a minute as they crashed into everything during the struggle. Petra wanted to kill Nadya over the embarrassing interlude and she cursed herself as she tried to get a clear opening to throw her punches through.

She kicked and tried her damndest to both hurt or maim Nadya in any way that she could while trying to guage her moment in which to make her dash to the door, and, ...

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As her own orgasm faded, Petra savored the way that she could feel Nadya's fluids seeping down along her own sopping cleft to mix with her own. Nadya was still humping her slowly to try to prolong the moment.

As it finally passed, Petra slowly unwrapped her legs from around Nadya and groaned over how stiff they'd gotten during their tryst here on the cold floor of the gatehouse. She looked up, so confused over everything, but Nadya only smiled for a long minute.

Somewhere in it was the instant that Petra knew that this had been about settling things between them, and not only about a forced humping against a wall. She wondered why Nadya had wanted that, and why with her of all people, if it was not to rub Petra's face into her defeat.

"Now you know the one who you wish to follow, I hope with all of my heart, "Nadya said as she felt Petra's fingers in her hair and the way that her thumb ran over her ear as Petra slowly nodded, "But, ... I do not understand, ..."

"Listen, Princess Petra. Koten was asked for more than he felt that he could give. The only true wrong in it were the words which were spoken.

Between us, I can give him human and Kurtadam young -- mixtures like me. But the people need one princess and it will be wanted by all, not least that princess to bring forth Kurtadam whelps.

Who says what the royal pack must be made of, Petra? Natan can give you whelps. There is nothing wrong with it in the eyes of them all. Your parents are not related by blood, I have heard. One pairing in the bloodline will not give weaklings. Natan would have you with us gladly. You know that in his heart, he still needs to follow you as well. I know that it troubles him to no end.

In the dark and behind the doors, you follow Koten and me. I want no part of ruling here -- that is your domain and not mine. I expect no recognition from anyone over what we are in our pack.

So you see it now?"

Petra's eyes widened, "You - you offer me the place of your second? Why, Nadya?"

Nadya nodded, "Because many need it, Petra. The people need one who rules with her royal brother, who has come to be a very fine young lover. You could have both of them as I do, and it would do your heart as much good as I know that it would do theirs. Your parents need this so that they will feel better and know that everything is not lost. The council need it before they argue themselves into apoplexy, and, ..."

She kissed Petra's nose a little playfully once and then she smiled, "And you need it, most of all.

"And you?" Petra asked. "Do you not need it at all?"

Nadya hugged the princess tightly, "Not especially at the moment," she said airily," but then I have had a little fun already, fucking a beautiful princess up against a wall and on the floor.

It was very good when we were on the table too for a time."

"Until we broke it," Petra smiled up. "I have only done this with my sister. I must admit that you are very good."

"Thank you, and I can say the same of you," the warrior smiled softly. "I will admit to something here and say that this has been the one time when I hoped so strongly that what I learned of doing this between females would stand me in good stead.

To have had the chance of this with you and not been able to carry it off somehow was a bit of a worry."

"Oh?" Petra smiled up, "Strange to hear that from one so confident and daring.

And here I worried and I found myself actually growing a hope in me - once I truly gave in - that you would like it with me. Other than with Koten at the beginning, I have never had the thought that I might not, ... hold up well to the mark in another's eyes.

But for all of our fighting - which I enjoyed, I now feel such hope for the first time in a long while. Also, I seem to have found one, who lies atop me now, who I might learn a little from."

Nadya nodded, "We will have to see, but if it goes as I hope for us all I think that I will need you for your skill too in a time, for I have heard that the one I lie with here is fearless when her back is up, but that is not the important thing, as much as I can say that you cause me to want this with you, when I have seldom had that sort of want.

The pack becomes two in a real way. Yours will yield royal whelps.