The Tattooed Woman Pt. 02

Thought I'd try something a little different.

I borrowed heavily from some of the concepts to be found in stories by EstebanMamono so I offer a shout out and big thanks to him.

Please comment on the story, I'm curious to learn what you think.

Chapter 2: A Night at the Inn

When Captain Ashunara woke she was lying naked and sprawled across the bed in the master chamber of the inn. Her body ached wonderfully from the fighting and the subsequent bout of exercise. Rising she stretched languidly, much like a cat, as she looked about. Her clothing, armour and weapons lay scattered about the room, save of course for the wickedly sharp stiletto she habitually kept under her pillow.

A sawing noise made her turn her head and she gazed cheerfully at the snoring, bear-like form of the blacksmith she had taken to bed. He now slumbered contentedly on the rug by the fireplace, and she warranted he had a smile on his face. Given the shambles they had made of the bedding during the night she merited that he had earned a few pleasant memories to colour his dreams and she let the exhausted man sleep.

Untroubled by her nakedness she ambled to the door of the chamber and pulled it open as she stifled a yawn. The Orcish sentry looked down at her and at his cheerful giggle she glanced up at the lumbering creature and gave him an amiable smile, "Okay greenskin, what's so fucking funny?"

The heavily muscled creature reached to her and carefully touched one of her nipples, "You so tiny," it looked back into the room, "lotsa noise last night. Screamin n such. He do good?"

Ashunara grinned as she laid a gentle hand against the massive pectoral muscles of the lumbering creature, "Not as good as you would be I should think, but he performed well enough to earn his breakfast at least."

"Orc cock too big for tiny Elf girl, shame, be much fun."

The Captain reached down to stroke across the front of the beast's leggings and sighed, "Sadly true, you'd split us like over-ripe fruit with that massive thing," looking up into the creatures yellow eyes she grinned, "You and the others did well for us this trip though. When we get back I'll see to it you're well rewarded even if I have to pay for it from my own purse."

The Orc looked down at her and his feral eyes gleamed, "You tell others we good fighters? Then we get good mates, make strong sons, strong daughters!"

"I'll tell them you're the very best!"

"I SERVE!"

Ashunara winced at the bellow, "Be a good chap and see if someone would serve us breakfast then. We'll be moving out soon."

After the creature had lumbered off on his errand Ashunara began to move about the chamber, searching for the remains of her underwear. She spotted her leggings hanging from the lamp overhead and grinned.

The smith had been strangely shy when she took him to bed, and he required more than a few encouraging words to coax him into touching her. Ashunara eased his jerkin off his broad shoulders and drew a breath as she took in the solid slab of muscle that made up his chest and abdomen, "Dear Gods, you missed your calling as a warrior I think."

The big man smiled, "Kind words milady, but no, the anger gets the better of me when I fight."

"Are you baresark then?"

"Aye, I fear it's so," he blushed, "and besides..."

"Besides?"

"It's nothing."

Ashunara lifted his chin and peered into the man's eyes, "Tell me."

The man's voice rumbled, and he gave an embarrassed shrug, "I don't like to hurt people milady. As a child it was always too easy to do so, what with my size and strength."

The Dark Elf began to undo the ties on her armour, "A kind heart is nothing to be ashamed of Master Smith, sometimes I think if there were more people like you and fewer like me then this world might be a happier place. Help me with this."

The big man helped pull the leather and chain over her head, and the woman turned her back to him so he could unfasten her padded gambeson. The man's strong fingers made short work of the ties and she shuddered as he eased the garment from her bare shoulders. His hands were calloused from a lifetime of hard work and given the corded muscle of his arms he could have crushed the life from her with ease, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. Ashunara gave a sly smile as she heard the man draw a breath when she turned back to him, and he saw her breasts.

"Like what you see big man?"

The smith stroked his giant hand across her chest causing her to shiver, "Your skin is so soft," he whispered in wonder as his fingers touched her gently.

Ashunara nimbly extended her long legs towards him and they both ended up laughing when she nearly fell backwards off the bed as he tugged her boots off. Her socks soon followed, and the big man couldn't help but giggle when he saw her dainty feet.

"Stop laughing at my feet you great lummox, or I'll plant one where the sun doesn't shine," she growled in mock anger as she fumbled with the ties on her leather breeches.

"I swear, you better make this worth my while given how much effort it takes to get all this crap off,"

He grinned, "T'is worth the watching to be sure."

"Oh, like that is it? Well now, when do I get to see what you've got for me, or must I cavort about half-naked, like some cheap trollop just to pique your interest?"

The man blushed quite prettily she thought as he mumbled, "There's nothing so special about me milady."

Slithering forward she undid the metal clasp and pulled the heavy leather belt from the loops in his britches. Even distracted as she was, her eyes were drawn to the intricate metalworking of the buckle, "A fine piece of work this, yours?"

The man gave a self-conscious nod, "Aye milady, just a bit of childish foppery, a hobby of mine, nothing more. The metal would have been wasted otherwise."

She admired the buckle for a few moments more, turning it so the knotted metalwork shone in the lamplight, "Looks like something crafted by the Sidhe, I have to wonder if perhaps some trace of Fey blood runs through your veins. It is said they were drawn to craftsmen, musicians, artists and the like. Have your family always been smiths?"

"Aye, we have worked iron and steel since before the days of my great-grandfather."

"Do you still hang a horseshoe above your door then?"

"In my smithy I do, it's said to ward off goblins and... er... well."

"Elves?"

The blacksmith sighed, "Aye, Elves as well."

Ashunara threw back her head and laughed, "I'm sorry Smith, truly, I should have tried to take you in your forge, and we could have tested its worth properly! Tell me though, do you hang it open-end up or down?"

"Why down of course! So that all can share in whatever measure of luck and fortune we gain."

The Dark Elf smiled warmly at the man as she undid the laces of his breeches, "You are a good man smith. Tell me, truthfully mind, do you have children who still need you? I warn you, if you lie, I will know."

The blacksmith's brow furrowed, and he looked down at his hands for a long moment before answering, "Not anymore milady, the plague was not kind here, many were lost, my wife and daughter included."

"I'm sorry."

"Truly?"

Ashunara sighed, "Sadly no."

The big man snarled, but she held up a finger to his lips to still him as she shook her head almost regretfully, "Don't be angry with me, it's not by choice, nor meant as a cruelty. T'is more the way we are. To us when a loved one is gone then that's just it, they're gone. You'll not see a Dark Elf grieving, no tears from my kind, not for that anyway. We're just not built that way, We're... cold, we lack your spirit I think."

"You sound sad about it."

She smiled, "Sometimes even one of my kind dreams of what it would be like, to truly care for someone other than themself."

The blacksmith looked up at her, "Why did you ask, would you have taken them as well?"

The Captain gave the man another strange smile as she began to work his breaches down. Leaning close she kissed him, "Despite what folk say I'm no Devil, I would not wilfully leave orphans in my wake unless I had no recourse. If you had children or the like I might have left you here after our little tumble, or taken them with us, if you wished it."

The man drew a breath and his eyes smouldered, "You would have made my child your slave?"

"Gods no! We have no child slaves, that is a human practice. But we try not to separate families if we can avoid it. Indeed, we treasure children, for we have so very few of our own," she grinned, "In our lands your child would have lived free, and healthy until she came of age, and then would have been given a choice; to marry, or perhaps to voluntarily join a household either by adoption or, admittedly possibly as a slave if she so chose, or if she wished she could leave our lands and return to some human realm."

"Why would she have chosen to be a slave?"

"Oh, probably for love I would think, but it is also not uncommon for human children to eventually join a household as a slave to learn some art, craft, or trade. Their labour and service are payment for their training and keep. Eventually, they could buy their freedom if they wished, but in truth many don't. Do you not do a similar thing?"

"I suppose, as children, we are sometimes sold into service or as apprentices. A young apprentice's life can be hard, it's as close to slavery as makes no difference."

"So, you see, your daughter's life would not have been so bad in our realm. She would have been loved, and her father would have been with her."

"But I would still have been a slave?"

Ashunara laughed, "Oh aye, we're not exactly saints you know, but neither are we as vile as some say. Selfish and sometimes capricious perhaps might be a good description, for we do like getting our own way. Oh my."

The Dark Elf had eased the man's breeches off his body, and she sat back gazing at his manhood.

"Dear Gods! It matches the rest of him," she thought as she took in its length and girth.

"That's... that's rather a prodigious weapon you have there blacksmith, and it looks hard enough to have been forged in your own smithy."

Ashunara almost giggled with childish glee as the big man blushed prettily and looked away in bashful embarrassment. She ran her fingers along its length causing him to shudder and he gave a groan as she stroked him, "I... I'll try to be gentle milady."

The Dark Elf smirked, "I did not bed a hairy-arsed blacksmith seeking "gentle". If I had wanted soft words and caresses, I would have gone to that Sunkissed milksop you oaf! I'm no blushing young milkmaid making moon-eyes at some dim-witted farmer's son for the first time. I expect to be ridden hard!"

"Wha?"

Like lightning, she produced the stiletto from under the pillow and held the razor-sharp blade close to his testicles, "Listen close now human, I think I like you, truly I do, but even so, I'm still a Dark-Elf, either you make me scream, or I'll make you scream; your choice."

The man swallowed and nodded fearfully.

Sliding the blade away she grinned wolfishly, "Have at it then! And mind me well, you best give me what I want Master Smith, or you'll suffer the consequences."

...

Tallis-Mora slid a goblet of wine across the table as she sat down on the bench next to the Sunkissed Elf. The golden-haired woman looked up, and the Dark Elf could see she still wept crystal tears from those brilliant sapphire-blue eyes.

"Here, drink this, it will make you feel better."

The woman gratefully grasped the goblet and downed half of it before wiping her nose with her sleeve. To Tallis, she looked a perfect picture of misery, "Why do you weep bright one? Things are not so bad."

The Light-Elf looked up with red-rimmed eyes, "Not so bad? I'm a slave to Dark-Elves and your kind despises mine. My life is over."

Talls tried to hide rolling her eyes as she refilled the goblet and poured another for herself, "I don't, and did I not hear the Captain herself say she would protect you? It could be so much worse, no? Oh, Hell's teeth! How can they drink this stuff?"

The weeping girl quaffed another mouthful, "You get used to it, after a while. Can I trust her?"

The young Dark-Elf threw back her head and laughed so hard she almost choked on her drink, "Dear Gods no! She's as devious and tricksy a witch as I've ever seen and trust me I should know. Never, ever play dice or cards with her I warn you. Especially for coin, or Gods forbid strip poker. She'll have you out of your knickers and penniless within the hour."

Tallis sobered as she turned to her Sunkissed drinking companion, "But I can say this, for all her faults I've never yet seen her break her given word, not once."

"Truly?"

"Aye, she's a strange one, her word once given is..."

"No, I mean do you truly not hate my kind?"

Tallis leaned back against the wall and put her feet up on a nearby stool as she sipped her wine, "Truthfully, I've always been fascinated by Light Elves. We're cousins, after all, distant kin at least," she sighed, "I've always dreamed of visiting the Sunkissed Lands, but it can never be, your archers would turn me into a pincushion the minute they saw me."

"Not if you were a hostage."

Tallis grinned, "A hostage is it? And here I thought you bright ones did not favour slavery."

"It's not slavery! We do not tolerate such practices. No, a hostage is kept only so we can exchange and ransom them for those of our own kind the Dark Elves have taken in bondage. Hostages are honourably treated once they give their parole."

"Parole?"

"If a hostage gives their oath to make no trouble and not to try and escape, and providing their word is trusted then they are no longer kept in chains."

Tallis looked sceptical, "They can go about freely?"

"Well no, we're kindly, not stupid. They are still kept under guard, and cannot go about armed obviously, but they can move about the citadel or even the city. I hear there is even some competition among the great families to see who can host them, for in truth I think a few of my kind are as curious about you as you are of us. But it's not slavery, there are no "services" demanded of them."

"So, they are not treated as sexual objects to be played with by beautiful, golden-haired Light Elves? Pity, your kingdom is sounding less appealing by the moment."

Tallis had timed her quip so the Elven girl was taking a swallow of her wine and she giggled merrily as the woman sputtered and sprayed a mouthful across the table.

Still laughing the Dark Elf patted the woman on the back and daintily wiped her chin with a piece of cloth, "Sorry, but I couldn't resist. But at least you're no longer weeping, in fact, I think I may even have glimpsed a smile there."

The slave looked down at her manacles as she tried to hide her grin, "Maybe."

Tallis looked at the bindings, "Why do you still wear those? From what I gather you could have picked the locks a hundred times by now."

"There's nowhere to run to, yet. You would just keep putting them back on me if I took them off, and you'd watch me closer still, perhaps strip me, search me, that sort of thing."

"Oh, we're going to do that anyway sooner or later, and I heard that 'yet'"

"What!"

"Oh don't fret so. Slaves don't normally wear clothes in our lands, t'is much harder to conceal a weapon if you're naked, and it makes slaves feel more helpless and biddable. But it's too cold in these mountain passes for that nonsense. Once we're nearer home and the climate more amenable then we'll get to it, not now."

The pale-skinned woman looked horrified and Tallis laughed, "Why do you care? You're as stunning a woman as ever I've seen, with that fair skin, blue eyes, and dear Gods that golden hair. I would kill for hair like that! You would have them fighting to feed you grapes and titbits within the hour, assuming you haven't escaped by then of course."

"Do you truly think me fair?"

Tallis stared at her for a long moment, "You jest surely? Do the Sunkissed not have mirrors? You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

The Light-Elf blushed and looked away, but she didn't pull her hand back when Tallis reached to stroke it, instead, she sighed, and it seemed that at least a little tension left her. "Do you really think I'll have a life?"

Tallis raised the Sunkissed girl's hand in her own and ran the fingers along her cheek, "Oh my, you're so warm... What? Yes, I do, truly. If I had the coin, I'd buy you myself, but I'm just a recruit, I could never afford such a treasure."

The Light-Elf laughed, "Oh you were doing so well! But that last was laying it on just a bit thick."

Tallis chuckled, "Can't blame a girl for trying. And my flowery words don't make you any less beautiful. And for what it's worth it's true, I would buy you if I could."

"As your slave?"

"Oh yes," Tallis's crimson eyes gazed into the bright blue orbs of the Light Elf, "but not just a slave, you could be more, much more."

"You don't even know my name."

"Nor you mine, t'is Tallis-Mora by the way, but I prefer it when my friends call me Tallis."

"And what do your slaves call you?"

The Dark-Elf gave her a beguiling smile and continued to hold her hand, "They call me 'Mistress' of course, but I think I'd like it better if you called me Tallis. Will you not give me your name bright one?"

The Sunkissed girl blushed even more deeply, but Tallis noted she still didn't pull her hand away, "Liliana is my given name or Lilion, in the Old Tongue, but my friends among the humans called me Lily."

"May I call you Lily?"

The girl laughed, "I'm a slave, you can call me what you like."

"That's true enough, but I'm asking if I can call you Lily."

The Light Elf looked down at her hands and whispered, "Why are you here?"

"To seduce you of course, is that not what we Dark-Elves do?"

"Is that all I'm to be then, an amusement? Some toy to warm your bed of a cold night?"

Tallis reached to gently lift her chin so she could see the girl's eyes, "Oh yes, I would like that very much. But you're wrong, that is not all you could be. I swear it, there's still a life to be had for you, and a good one at that. The Captain swore to protect you as best she could and she'll not go back on it. Besides, you won't be a slave forever, in one year or a hundred you'll be able to buy your freedom, and as an Elf, you'll still be as young and beautiful then as you are now so what does it matter?"

"Why does your Captain even care though?"

"Oh, she was a slave herself once, a long time ago. She has no love of wanton cruelty. Mind you, she's still one of the Black Eldar and only an utter fool would think her soft. She can be harder than a coffin nail should the need arise, so you best learn not to cross her."

"Would she still whip me?"

"Oh, probably, but not for sport. Only wilful disobedience or disrespect would draw her ire I would think. I doubt she'd even force you into her bed, coax you for sure, but force? No, that's not in her nature."

"But she just dragged away that poor man, the blacksmith..."

Tallis laughed, "And she'll probably scare the Hell out of him, and he'll fucking love it! He'll be mooning after her like a cunt-struck puppy for the rest of the trip. I doubt after tonight you could force him to even try and escape."

"And what of you?"

"Me?"

"Will you force me abed?"

"I don't need to force anyone to do anything girl. I'll just ply you with drink and then we'll all take advantage and have our way with you when you get drunk."

Lily stared in horror, and Tallis kept a straight face as long as she could, before bursting out in laughter, "Oh Gods you are too easy! You should see your face!"

"That's cruel!"

"I'm a Dark-Elf, what do you expect? Oh Lily, you're safe enough I promise," Tallis held the girl's hand in her own delighting in the softness and warmth of her skin, as she stared into the eyes of the Sunkissed girl, "but truth be told I think you'll follow me to bed all on your own, a little timidly perhaps, with some delightfully shy protests, but you'll come. And for what it's worth I'd be glad of it, and I promise when you do, I won't lay so much as a finger on you unless you ask it of me."