Chapter 8
By the time we reached the auditorium, our pace had left me a little sweaty and short of breath. Hyrranesus seemed to have no such issue--moving as quickly and effortlessly in the University as when we'd started at the farm. I couldn't tell if this was some natural skill on her part, a result of all her travels, or if I was in that much worse shape than the older forest nymph. Much faster than I had arrived, we were right back in the auditorium where I had begun my day.
We passed through the now-empty space and stopped at the room at the end of the hall. There, an open door revealed a woman sitting at a desk. Behind her was a vibrant red tapestry covered in an array of swirls.
Just before we entered, Hyrranesus stopped and pulled me to the side. She whispered, "Now, you seem like a kind and polite young person. I feel like I don't need to say this, but just for fair distribution of knowledge, I should let you know. I've seen... great and terrible things to those who have behaved rudely to Miss Frostberry."
"Miss Frostberry?"
"The Director's personal assistant," Hyrranesus explained. "Kind and good but... with little tolerance for rudeness. She is by far more powerful than the Director themself--probably more powerful than anybody at this university. She enforces the truce... and is the reason outsiders don't dare violate it."
I gave a blank sort of nod.
Hyrranesus bit her lip as she seemed to think about whether she should say more. "I say this because, in the past, some have mistaken her vocation and attire of choice for powerlessness. And we need her counsel as much as the Director's.
I nodded, understanding a little better. I certainly had never had any intent to be rude to anyone. But it was nice to feel in the know about the situation.
Hyrranesus and led me into the room. There, I smiled to and finally really saw Miss Frostberry--who scooted off her chair as we entered. When she did, I noted that I could no longer see her, not until she came out from behind her large wooden desk.
Miss Frostberry, it seemed, was a halfling who only stood a couple feet tall at most. She had pale skin, even more freckles than me, and red hair kept in tight ringlets. On her face was a pair of winged glasses on a chain that rested around her neck. She wore a white blouse--open to expose her large breasts--and a black miniskirt. Underneath, her legs were bare down to her black heels. Because of these, I nearly missed the outline of a patch of red hair on each foot.
For a moment, I was confused at why she was wearing the high-quality equivalent of a sexy Halloween outfit. Then I remembered where I was... and began to work it out. Magic here came from a sexual connection to oneself. Meaning, Miss Frostberry clearly felt sexy in the attire--adding to her power. In all honesty, it was also the kind of thing I would have also wanted to wear. Seemed I still had some past-world preconceptions to work through.
"Hyrranesus!" Miss Frostberry said, her tone sweet. She smiled warmly and took Hyrranesus's hand into her own to shake it. "It's so good to see that you are bringing your research here for the semester! It's been so long. To what do we owe your visit in the middle of the day, along with this student of yours? She's not in trouble, I hope?"
I blushed and shook my head, "No ma'am."
Hyrranesus removed her clipboard and presented it. "It is good to see you too Miss Frostberry. I hope you and your husband can come over for dinner this weekend to catch up."
Husband? For whatever reason, the thought had not really occurred to me that there would be married couples in a college devoted to kink. I looked again at her desk and, this time, noticed the array of knickknacks and paper. Among these was a small painting on an easel--featuring Miss Frostberry and Professor Ozgrub.
I thought about the pairing for a moment and it scared me a little... from an anatomical and geometric perspective. From their happy expressions in the painting, it seemed that she was perfectly content. Good for her.
"For now," Hyrranesus continued, "I think we may have a solution to the outbreak in the goblin village."
"Then I'm doubly glad you came," Miss Frostberry said, raising her eyebrows. She pushed her glasses up over the bridge of her nose and then waved her hand in the direction of the curtain. When she did so, the patterns in the red fabric began to twist and move--without the actual fabric even swaying. The patterns seemed to dance together... and began to take shape into the images of infinite human bodies tangled in pleasure.
To my surprise, the curtain did not just magically open like an ordinary curtain. Rather, there was a series of soft cracks. As if the curtain were made of... stone? Then, the curtain just fell into a cloud of dust. No--not dust--but rather mist that briefly revealed a rainbow where the light touched in before vanishing entirely.
