Assassin's Creed - Rebel Girl

Kassandra gestured Kyra and Thaletas into the room of the palace where she had left the body of Podarkes. He was lying almost seated against one of the walls with an ugly wound in his neck and the stillness of death, though the look on his face didn't seem to have any peace to it. As if he'd died straining against his weakness and trying to keep fighting even as he faded. Kyra kicked him sharply in the hip and he started to droop to one side. Thaletas spat.

"Tomorrow, I will see his body cut into pieces and left for the birds, so that when Hades himself vomits him back to us, he will have nowhere to rest," Kyra spat with him. "My only regret is that somebody else struck the first mark for me."

"You have my apologies. This was not meant to be the operation which killed him." Kassandra bowed her head, "I merely wanted to scout the compound, but when I was seen and one of his guards raised the alarms, the troops I had left outside took it as the order to strike."

"You did what you had to do, my revenge would not have been worth your life," Kyra set her hand on Kassandra's back and the three of them left the room.

"It is somewhat bitter that you advised so strongly against a frontal assault, only for this all to be decided by one in the end," Thaletas laced his accusation with lament. "One that I was not there for."

"That it ended that way was an accident. That I conducted this rebellion the way I did was purposeful. My father-" Kassandra's face went slightly weird at the word, "-Told me that the difference between a war and a series of battles is that in war you must win. Time and time and time again. But you need only lose once for it to be absolute. We fought to not lose until we felt we could fight to win."

"And you overestimated the need for caution," Thaletas nodded at the rebels who had started to mill about the courtyard and relieve the palace of its goods.

"Perhaps," Kassandra nodded, "But I would do the same a hundred times over."

"Better a later party with more in attendance," Kyra came to her defense.

"Aye, but it burns me to let her take all of the glory," Thaletas seemed only half-joking. Kyra and Kass both rolled their eyes.

"Perhaps we should simply enjoy our victory instead of second-guessing the road which brought it to us?" Kyra asked hopefully.

"It's that same insistence on drawing honor from losses instead of taking dull victories which will lose Sparta this war," Kass was also only half-joking.

By now the news of the death of Podarkes had spread across Mykonos. Those who had fought or been allied with the rebels had made their way up to the manor to celebrate. Kassandra locked off the chamber where they had left him. Those who had been neutral still saw barrels being rolled from storerooms and tapped, saw food being made in now-liberated kitchens. At that moment, even those who had shown loyalty to Podarkes, those who still lived at least, were able enough to blend in and relish in what looked to be a feast and festival to come. It was, perhaps, quintessentially Greek to celebrate the death of a tyrant, even one you had served without shame the day before. As the men brought the wine up from the cellars, Kassandra was constantly reaching out to keep them from knocking things over or chipping chunks out of the art that decorated the walls.

"Speaking of the war," Kassandra adjusted her belt, "Now that you have Mykonos, there are other lands with tyrants who need deposing. Other members of this cult that need a blade in their guts. I suppose you two had best enjoy the party before you have to clean up your new manor in the morning."

"Oh no, we have no interest in politics," Thaletas took Kyra's hand, "Podarkes has a villa in the country on the edge of town, we will be happy with that."

"Then may your days be many and peaceful from here on out," Kassandra nodded and then turned to leave.

"Oh, but, you will stay for your own party, won't you?" Kyra's face sank.

"I'm not one much for parties," Kass scratched the back of her head almost embarrassedly. "I feel more comfortable in my armor and with a sword on my belt."

"Then don't change," Kyra took a goblet and filled it from one of the casks. "Podarkes was hoarding the pride of Mykonos."

"There are many regions of Greece who claim to make wine that could make Dionysus himself blush." Kass took the goblet and gave it a questioning look.

"The brewing of this wine is as elusive a secret as the recipe of Greek fire, misthios." Kyra chuckled, "And the main difference between our wine and most others is that ours is far, far stronger."

Kassandra gave it another questioning look before sipping it and letting it sit on her tongue for a moment. She turned the dubious look to Kyra.

"That's funny, because it doesn't taste any different from any other wine."

"And yet, one glass of it is said to have the same effect as five, if not six glasses of any other wine."

"Really?" Kass took a skeptical sip and then smacked her lips, "I'll have to have Barnabas and some of the men come ashore to try it, I'm afraid my tolerance is quite high."

"You'll stay then?" Kyra smiled.

"We can delay setting off until the morning," Kassandra took a deep swig. "I guess the chances of the war completely ending before sunrise are slim."

"You'll want to be careful with that," Thaletas pointed at Kassandra's goblet, "Many doubt the power of Mykonos's wine and wind up regretting it."

"I would think after everything, the one thing you would trust me to be is careful," Kassandra laughed.

***

Kassandra laughed, stamped her feet, danced and sang. Most everybody at the party had gotten pleasantly drunk, but she was a step beyond them.

Kyra and Thaletas, themselves happily tipsy, had watched her drink nearly an entire barrel of the pride of Mykonos to herself. They had watched first in concern, then in horror, now finally in disbelief. The last time they had seen somebody drink half as much as she, the man had been rendered blind.

"Perhaps she wasn't joking about being a god," Thaletas murmured under his breath. "She should have been sick by now."

"Forget being sick, she shouldn't still be alive." Kyra sounded almost admiring.

"You don't think she really is...?" Thaletas made a halfhearted gesture toward her.

"It would certainly explain some things." Kyra tried to look like she wasn't staring when Kassandra turned and beamed at her.

"I can't help but admire her strength and her cunning, just like you can't help admire her beauty," Thaletas teased.

"As if you don't as well," Kyra elbowed him annoyedly.

"She intends to leave in the morning," Thaletas sighed, "You could either ask her now or spend the rest of your life wondering."

"Stop it," Kyra frowned. "She was just being nice."

"There's a line between nice and flirting," Thaletas smirked, "She was being nice to me, she was flirting with you."

"It's the other way around." Kyra blushed, "I thought quite distinctly that if she made a move for you, I was going to be helpless to stop you two."

"Well, I'm sure she would have shared-" Thaletas's teasing was cut off by Kyra shoving him.

Kassandra came bounding over like a happy dog and threw her arms around the pair of them suddenly, laughing and swaying.

"Friends, think of what we've accomplished!" Her voice was hoarse from shouting and singing. "Together, we can achieve anything!"

"If that's the case, perhaps there's something we could ask of you," Thaletas gave a knowing glance at Kyra, who blushed even deeper.

"What is it?" Kass seemed to sober somewhat, but her cheeks remained rosy and the hint of a grin kept at the corners of her mouth.

"There's more wine over at our villa, if you'd like to wind down the party just the three of us?" He ventured, Kyra freezing as he did.

Kass seemed to freeze too. Some part of her brain clearly registered the angle of what he was talking about, even drunk as she was. A bit of blush crept to her cheeks as well. While she was hanging on the brink of a decision, Kyra pulled herself out from under Kass's arm and suddenly stood up on the tips of her toes to kiss her. Though it was just a peck, both of them turned red as their wine. But a second later, the gears seemed to unlock in Kassandra's head. She wrapped her arms around Kyra's waist and pulled her back in for another kiss, this one deep enough that she bent Kyra over backwards and spilled wine down the back of her robes. When she pulled back up again, she gave Thaletas a quick kiss as well, which Kyra echoed. Her breath was heavy with alcohol and her lips with sweat.

"It would make both of us happy if you went with us," Kyra's voice was quiet and breathy.

Kassandra unfroze all at once and heaved a sigh of relief that turned into a belly laugh. She kissed both of them on the lips again before draining her goblet and tossing it aside.

"I've been wanting one or both of you since I landed." She shook her head, "But I didn't want to come between you. I wanted to respect your relationship."

"Then respect it from within," Kyra whispered as she grabbed one of Kass's large hands.

"It's a perfect opportunity," Thaletas smirked and took the free hand of both girls, "We can work off whatever tension remains from the rebellion, and you can be out before anything gets awkward."

The three of them left the party and began their walk against the coast out toward the villa. Kyra stood between the two, one of either hand in one of her own, a permanent slight smile on her face. Kassandra seemed to sober a little more as they walked and she talked, her eyes measured and fixed straight ahead in an almost-distant way. Kyra and Thaletas both sobered a bit as well, the closer they got to the villa in the cold night air, the more the mixture of anticipation and melancholy washed over them. The sense that no matter how passionate it was, no matter how little awkwardness there would be in the morning, this was the only chance they would have. There would still be a goodbye, and a long absence at best. As Kassandra sang a soft song, Kyra's hand gripped Thaletas's a little more firmly.

It was hard for Thaletas to feel anything other than ecstatic. The campaign had been long, the end stressful. Too dangerous for both rebel leaders to be in the same place together for long, too many other things to talk about and do when they did meet up. There had been a strain between him and Kyra, even if they both wanted to pretend there hadn't been. Love doesn't die in absence, but it does wilt.

But now, as enticing as the prospect of having his partner alone was, the concept of sharing her so long as it meant also getting a chance with the most famous warrior in Greece - not to mention the most beautiful - certainly had a unique appeal. Perhaps he was more simple than Kyra. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with that. When Kassandra stopped singing, he made a joke which made her laugh. Kyra chuckled and leaned more toward him.

Around the villa was room for growing nearly all that was grown on Mykonos. A wide field of wheat, brilliant green vines running up the walls and trellises with plump purple grapes hanging like they were fit to fall to the ground and burst, the shoots and leaves of tubers, gnarled olive trees like ashy pumice spikes that smelled like hazy memories. The building, shaped like a horseshoe, seemed as if it had grown up around a flowering decorative garden courtyard in the center. Amber plaster and soapstone like freckled skin. And in the garden among the flowers a table had been placed where a half-finished piece of pottery sat in the shade of the single large tree that grew in the center.

"You've picked a wonderful place," Kassandra sighed almost enviously.

"Beautiful, yes," Thaletas stepped into the courtyard brazenly and tossed the unfinished urn at the tree where it shattered, "Though there's a certain... stink which must be exorcized."

"We don't need to be rid of all of it," Kyra gestured to a molding at the top of one of the entryways which had been shaped into the likeness of Podarkes. "Just the ugly parts of it."

Kassandra chuckled and reached up, pushing her fingers into the eyes of the plaster decoration, sending little pebbles and dustings down until she drew her fingers back and a pair of empty sockets stared back out at them. Kyra made the gesture of spitting at it before Kassandra swept the rebel up in her arms and kissed her again. They made the awkward, waddling motions toward the bedroom of those trying stubbornly to walk with four legs instead of breaking contact. Thaletas eventually, either out of pity or impatience, worked his way between them and led them in.

A great, red-sheeted and red-pillowed bed sat against the rear curve of a crescent moon-shaped open-aired room. The long real wall was decorated with a dark brown fresco on an amber palette that spread like wings out from the tall headboard and seemed to close around them like a fist. A masculine figure in a solar crown rising above the bed and rows upon rows of supplicant bodies extending out to the corridors on either side, a great blade in one hand of the haloed man and a whip in the other. Some of the figures extended in relief, some furrowed in intaglio. The room otherwise was decorated extravagantly - but it became hard to pay much attention to the fine pottery or jeweled incense burners or even the bathtub which seemed to be carved out of pure marble - in the face of the tremendous, garish display which wrapped itself about the walls.

"Did Podarkes..." Kassandra sounded genuinely at a loss for words, "...consider himself a god?"

"Once upon a time, I might have answered no," Thaletas seemed equal parts stunned and horrified.

"I think as he grew more paranoid, he got worse." Kyra scowled. "More intent on convincing himself of his own invincibility."

"He wasn't the one he needed to convince," Kassandra smirked and opened her arms, "How much of this do you figure to keep?"

"It's too much..." Thaletas murmured.

"Don't be afraid to let yourself have nice things," Kassandra fingered one of the ornate incense burners disinterestedly before lighting it.

"The bed is nice," Kyra sighed as she made her way over to it and ran her hand along the sheet, "Though the sheets will need to be washed... And red isn't my color."

"I think you wear it quite well," Kass followed her and stood next to her.

"Where exactly-" Kyra started, then yelped as Kassandra grabbed her shoulders and unclasped her fibulae. Her chiton fell down around her chest, only stopped from falling all the way off by her leather zoster. As she crossed her arms to cover herself, Kassandra pulled her closer and gently pulled her arms away.

"Your cheeks look best in red," Kass held Kyra's arms to her sides as she leaned down to kiss her.

Kyra felt Thaletas come up behind her and his fingers working her zoster undone. She let herself relax, and when Kassandra let go of her arms, they stayed in place, even as her chiton loosened and eventually fell fully to the floor, even as one of Kassandra's large hands cupped the back of her head and grabbed her hair firmly. Thaletas wrapped his arms around her hips and then kissed Kyra's neck from behind. A second later, his hands had traveled up her lithe stomach and grabbed handfuls of her pale breasts. There was a tremendous wave of goosebumps, Kassandra's breath hot and sweet even though it all but reeked of alcohol. Thaletas's fingers squeezed and pinched at her nipples as he breathed in her ear. He was usually more one-track minded, more predictable, but now almost as intense as Kassandra was being. She could feel the skin of his bare chest on her back and even his quickening heartbeat.

Kassandra pulled her lips back from Kyra's and trailed kisses down her neck between her breasts, stroking her large hands over Kyra's hips and down her legs as she dropped to a knee and kissed down her waist until her lips were peppering Kyra's inner thighs and teasing her sex. Kyra whimpered as Kass pushed her legs apart with the same ease she'd held her arms open, wide wet tongue brushing her swollen clit and thick fingers pushing into her pussy. With almost inhuman ease, Kass worked her into a frenzy. Wetness leaking to be lapped up, panting and whimpering in their grasp. She reached out and started to grapple at the latches and buckles of Kassandra's shoulder armor. The mercenary looked up at her from between her legs and obliged her by helping them along with her free hand and shrugging out of the plates. Even as she removed her armor, Kass's fingers ground up into Kyra's cunt with forceful strength and expert precision. A woman who knew where and how other women wanted to be touched, especially one as charming and as strong-willed as Kass, was a dangerous thing.

Very quickly, Kass made Kyra cum on her fingers. Lapping her salty wetness eagerly as her movements left the rebel grabbing handfuls of her dark hair and shivering in the grasp of her pair of partners. She moaned and squeaked, suddenly going breathless and desperate. Kass chuckled from between her legs and Thaletas buried his face in her neck.

Things were getting away from Kyra fast. She realized it as her orgasm began to fade and Kassandra immediately went right back to work on her, not even giving time for her sensitivity to run its course. Kass was a dangerous woman indeed. She looked up from between Kyra's legs with a sort of single-minded desire. Like the look of pleasure on Kyra's face, the moments of helpless bliss she was going to give her, were the only things in the world she cared about. For as much as Kyra was tempted to just let herself be swept away on the tide, that wasn't the only thing she wanted tonight.

"Stop," She breathed, giving Kass's hair a tug, "Stop!"

"Are you still sensitive?" Kass looked at her with a sly smile and wiped her lips on the back of her hand.

Kyra reached down and grabbed Kass by the shoulder of her robe, pulling her back standing. Though really it was more that her pull suggested the direction that Kass then chose to go in. Kass popped up with the same smug grin on her face and Kyra pressed their faces together so hard that she managed to wipe the smirk away if just for a second. Kyra could taste herself on Kass's lips as she made the taller, sturdier woman take a step back. Then as she buried her face in Kass's neck and wrenched the shoulder of her robe down, the smell and taste of sweat filled her mouth.

"Careful now, she might swallow you whole," Thaletas teased, though it wasn't clear who to.

Kassandra was sweating slightly, dark olive skin glistening. Her muscles were tight against her skin like a perfect statue, strong veins bulging along her shoulders and arms down to her hands, her abdominals rippling under the skin of her stomach. She didn't seem to blush at being exposed to them, her smile deepening to the point where it almost seemed cocky. Dark brown nipples already hard on her perky, well-sized breasts as she held her arms open inviting Thelatas's look and Kyra's kisses. Her dark hair had already started to stick to her shoulders and back, windswept and wild now that it was untied. She seemed lean and dangerous as a lion, inviting as gold.

"Perhaps she is a demigod," Thaletas mumbled hornily as he pulled closer to Kassandra and kissed her shoulder.

"You're lucky I've come to like being treated like one," She chuckled as Kyra kissed her stomach and came kneeling before her. "Once upon a time, I might have been uncomfortable."

Her skin was salty as Kyra kissed down her navel toward the belt of her skirt. As she reached around and unfastened it, Kyra ran her hands up the inside of Kassandra's muscular thigh, making the mercenary suck her breath in through her teeth. The skirt falling away, Kassandra was left just standing in her subligaculum, tightly wound about her crotch. Kyra brought her lips to the bottom of it and kissed around Kassandra's inner thighs, feeling the intense heat radiate from between her legs. Kass sighed and leaned into Thaletas's touch, who was groping her breasts as he kissed her neck and shoulders.