Love as a Form of Binding

**This started out as a long, seven pager. I know that some readers don't mind that, but on the other hand, some folks don't have that kind of time in one sitting, so I've split this one up. O_o

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Lily opened her eyes and looked around for Sharon after a moment. She was about to call for her when the blonde woman came into the chamber that they'd claimed for themselves and grinned at the demoness.

"I thought that you needed less sleep than I do," she laughed, "Come on, sleepy-head, you hang around in bed -- or what passes for that here for much longer, and you'll miss breakfast. I don't need to remind you that there are close to a hundred thousand mouths to feed around here."

She rolled her eyes a little as she continued chattering nervously to cover her uncertainty, "I know, I know, they've got their own way of doing that for themselves or something. But I wanted to whip up a meal for us and their leaders. I've been hard at work while you've been getting your beauty sleep, so come on."

Lily smiled in surprise, "Like that? The way that you're, ..."

"Ok, so I made a bit of an error in judgment," the human grinned, "It came to me while I was cooking the bacon with Tereth, alright? We had to dance a lot, that's all, and then I had to explain to him that dancing is not a normal part of the bacon-frying ritual. He seemed to be stuck on that for a while. Come on!"

Lily chuckled at the images in her mind as she sat up. "Sharon, you're naked. You've been out there cooking like that? I'd have loved to be able to see that."

"Well then you ought to get up a little earlier if you want to see something like that little breakfast miracle. I thought about how everybody is here. I know it's a bit different with the troops or whatever they are, but I felt like I wanted to be a part, sort of. You all run around without a stitch on and you're all fine with it. Besides, it's warm down here." She looked down at her running shoes. "There's just some rough parts to the floor and I haven't got tough feet yet."

"Well I like it, "Lily smiled as she stood up and kissed Sharon for a moment, but Sharon wasn't about to let Lily dawdle.

"Fine," the demoness said as her hand was pulled, "lead me then."

As they walked together, Lily chose her words a little carefully. "I just want you to know that things might get a little uncertain very soon. So I insist that if I tell you to get dressed, it's for your own safety, alright? Another thing is that you are the only human here and a bit delicate in the middle of thousands of demons, though these here are disciplined and polite. Just don't get stepped on. Other than that, I really like your idea."

"You do?" Sharon laughed, "I was a little afraid that I might be doing something wrong. I didn't know how you'd feel about it. I doubt that I could scrape up the courage if it was all humans around here, but I don't really feel shy at all."

The statement was true, though it wasn't all that accurate. Sharon felt fine in Lily's company and she was getting to feel very much at ease among the others. But there was an army out there. She'd felt a little nervous when she'd come on her own to get her girlfriend up.

Sharon almost dragged Lily to the kitchen so that she could serve her the meal. A few of the others were already there. The storm demon looked around after the pleasantries had been exchanged, but no one commented. When she asked, the others said genuinely that they thought that Sharon was lovely and that it was nice to see. The only one who said nothing was Tereth, who now worked over the grill.

"No words from you today, Tereth?" Lily asked.

He shook his head, "Not many. I wanted to help, but I only ruined everything that I set my hands to, so that was my meal, to eat what I'd made a mess of. The others here had no time for me because of their discussions over that army out there, and Megaera had no kind words for me at all. The human was the only one who wanted to teach me anything."

"It's because you're a piece of shit, Tereth," Megaera said in answer. She looked at Sharon, "And you ought to be a little more careful around him, Sharon. I don't think you'd be feeling as curious and helpful toward him if you knew some of the things that he's done to human females in his life."

"You live near to the same blade, Megaera," Mother remarked quietly, "How many wayward husbands have you sought to punish, using their own dreams against them to take their souls as you took their seed as well? More than a few thousand, I think. Those who didn't die from it became ill and died soon after. And if it didn't kill them, it certainly turned them into ruined men in poor health for the rest of their shortened lives.

The blood of a demon, "she said. "I do not think that a succubus can hold her head very high while she looks down on others. You did not tempt them while they were awake and able to decide. You chose men who had been unfaithful, some as few as one time, and you invaded their dreams to arouse them, stealing their seed before you killed them and then saying that it was justified."

"They deserved it," the dark demoness said. "They should have kept it in their pants or whatever they wore then."

"But not all of the wronged females wanted that, did they?" Mother asked.

"Some of them had enough love and forgiveness in their hearts to want to give their males another chance. It does work like that sometimes, you know. You took that chance from those females by killing their men. And you did nothing to the females who'd strayed at all. I have always wondered if you really acted out of well-meaning vengeance as you often said, or if that was just the excuse for you to take souls in a cruel way."

Megaera looked up defensively, "I'm trying to make a new life with Racephet. Since I've been with him, I haven't done that."

"True, "Mother smiled, "It is good to see in you, especially given that a spiteful and vindictive female such as you always were now enjoys the love of a male herself. You have remade your life.

And Tereth has been given the chance to change his life as well, though he has many more changes to go through than you have," Mother said gently, "You are still what you always have been. He struggles with what he has lost. I think that it speaks well of him to see him now. I think that a friend would help him far more than one who only throws stones, no matter what he does to improve."

"I'll consider it," Megaera said as she turned to Tereth. "I'm sorry, dirtbag," she said.

Then she stared as he brought her a plate of eggs with a stack of ham slices, backing away with a bow.

"Thank you," she said, "but why?"

"I saw that you liked the meal and looked for more but I'm out of bacon now," he shrugged, "I'm sorry if I upset you by being here, but I'm really trying. I don't see a long existence for me if I don't try to smooth the water a little."

"Alright, "the other one said with a grudging smile, "I'll try to hold my tongue. But you still ought to keep your snarly comments to yourself. I'm sorry that I hit you last night too, but there was no cause for what you said."

When Sharon had served Lily, Tereth asked her to sit and he served her meal to her. When she expressed surprise, Tereth had one of the moments that Lily knew that he had in him all along. Even so, she was still almost as surprised as the rest when it came.

"I want to thank you for your help," he said, "I know that it's nothing to a human, and it's not much to some of my kind, but I now know how to cook a little bit, and I'm grateful for your help. I know that it's not important how I feel, wise one," he said, turning to Lily, "but since you asked, I think that your human friend is as lovely as any of the females here. I know also that they wear their clothing out of shame and a need to stay warm, but I think it's wonderful that she is among us here like that. Humans have a nice shape to them. It only goes hidden away most of the time."

"If you would like a chance to get away from the heat of the grille there, "Racephet said, "Perhaps you could go to the heated pool and ask the pair of lovers to come to the meal."

Tereth nodded, "I'd be happy to, but I don't know the way, Lord."

"I'll take you, and we can go together when I'm finished here," Sharon smiled.

He nodded back and they walked out of the door after she'd pushed her platter away.

Mother looked out of the window opening at them, seeing the differences in the way that they walked. Sharon walked as the woman that she was. Tereth still walked as a male, though she could see that the changes in his form put him a little off-balance and he sought to find the fit in a manner of speaking. It was more a matter of weight distribution, since he was basically walking in a different body now for the loss of his upper body muscle mass.

She decided that it was nice to see, the way that her lover seemed to want to help him a little. Tereth was going to need at least one friend in this huge change that he was going through.

She smirked to herself as she watched them. They hadn't gone very far before they'd found themselves near the much larger fighters. About half of them were female, but that didn't affect the way that the pair must be feeling, she judged.

They had the eyes of many on them almost instantly, she noted, and as soon as they noticed it, they both felt a little self-conscious. It was obvious that neither of them had thought of this. Without really thinking about it, they reached out and continued to walk holding hands. The gesture made Mother grin because they looked a little sweet, like two young girls who'd suddenly found themselves walking through a huge pack of wolves. She also noted it when one of the slayers stepped quietly away from one of the groups far across the hall and began to walk toward them.

Her eyes took in the looks and then she watched them as they tried to get to the corner at the end of the large hall, Sharon's hips swaying naturally, and Tereth walking a little uncertainly with his tail following those new and slender hips of his. She imagined that things could get interesting for them soon.

She had a thought of taking both of them to her bed that night. She wasn't certain if it was too soon in Tereth's case, since he likely still didn't have much of a clue that there might be anything at all possible for him in a sexual way. Mother herself didn't really know if there was. It would depend on him, really, though she was almost certain that she could likely think of something. She thought that if he could demonstrate a few more of the moments like the one that he'd had, she might think of an addition or two to him as a gift to encourage him. Her reverie was cut short when she noticed them returning.

"I'm going to put on my clothes," Sharon said a little sadly a minute later, "I don't mind the looks that I'm getting -- I don't think -- but there are thousands of them, Lily. I was really enjoying the feeling of not wearing clothes around here, but I guess I'd better cover up."

"You don't need to cover up if you don't want to, I like seeing you like this." Mother replied, "What you need is a message, something which says that you are not without the care of someone powerful."

She turned to her daughter, and Zele pushed her empty platter away, "Zele will go too."

The slayers who had looked with such interest at them now had another reason to wonder when the naked human female re-emerged from the scullery on the back of a huge hellhound. Tereth emerged after them and walked alongside. Taking Lily's advice, Sharon sat looking a little haughty and disinterested this time.

"I have to agree with Lily, "Sharon said to Tereth after a minute, "Megaera was pretty rough on you. I don't know anything about you, but I can see that you're having a tough time. I can also see that you're trying very hard to be nice and that it's not usual for you to be that way."

Tereth looked over, "If you want the bitter truth, Sharon, Megaera was right. I've been a pretty cruel thing for a long time. Now," he looked down at the stone floor as he walked, "well I guess I've got to make the best out of, ... nothing."

"Why do you say that?" Sharon asked, "I don't understand. Is it because you were captured? Somebody told me that you were captured. Is it because that puts you at the bottom here or something?"

He exhaled, but said nothing for a moment.

"Yeah. I'm at the bottom. But I wasn't just captured. I was hunting Maezou for another lord, an awful bastard. He makes what I did look civilized -- or I think that's what you'd say." He walked for a moment longer and then he spoke again.

"When you're a hunter, you're supposed to bring back who you're sent for and that's it. But nobody really watches you. They're right about me. I'd go out on a hunt, but I'd mess up a lot of people along the way, just like she said. Nobody really cares much, but those were innocents, people I fucked over just for fun. I came here tracking Maezou. After they caught me, Maezou took ..."

Sharon looked, but she saw that he walked with his eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

"Tereth is not male anymore," Zele rumbled, "Maezou took this from him and changed his body. He is sad now."

She placed a 'before picture' into Sharon's mind and everything became clear to her in an instant. She thought about it for a moment and then she reached down and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Tereth? I know that you don't want to hear this from me right now, and I'm only a human anyway, but I still like you. It's also probably not what you'd want to hear, but I still think you're really pretty, even beautiful, and, ... if you need somebody to talk to, let me know ok?"

He looked up at her and for just an instant, she thought that he looked angry, but then she saw that he was trying to hold it together and it was the struggle of it that she'd seen. He had tears on his face, but he nodded.

Unnoticed by the group, the single large slayer was following at a distance, stopping now and then to speak with a comrade or two, though one eye was always on them. When they left the hall, the slayer waited.

"Tereth," the hellhound grumbled, "You wished for harm to come to my sister, and so I am watchful and not trusting. But there is something here for you to see. It is what makes the humans different from demons. They are weaker and they do not live long, but they have strong hearts. This one does not see how much danger she would be in if you were not changed, but she understands how you must feel and for her, your score is erased.

I am not your teacher. I only say that if you can, be thoughtful to her. You might have a friend when you need one most."

Tereth raised his eyes and looked at the back of Zele's ear and jaw as she walked before he looked up at Sharon again. "Thank you," he said very quietly.

Sharon nodded to him, but they both looked at Zele when she spoke, not looking back, "If I knew that it was to happen and if there was the time, I would have been waiting for you when you came to Toby's home. It would have started something with Lord Gorek, but I would have killed you then."

Zele didn't see it when he nodded, but Sharon did. She also heard his whispered reply.

"If I'd known what would happen, I'd have let you."

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They found Kerry on his front with Brinack against his side, her face just against his left shoulder blade and her arm over his waist. They were asleep, but Brinack had been a soldier for far too long to sleep through the sudden presence of others. She opened her eyes as Tereth stepped forward cautiously.

"What?" the general asked.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Tereth whispered humbly, "but I --we've been sent to fetch you both. There's a morning meal for you in the scullery."

Brinack lifted and stretched out the arm that had lain over Kerry's back for a moment. She put it back on him gently to hug him once with a smile before she sat up and slid into the pool to wash quickly. Kerry noticed her absence, and followed. She pulled on her armor afterward as he was still washing.

Feeling hot breath against her, she looked up and noticed the hellhound right in front of her looking down with a woman sitting on her back.

"I wish to say," the beast began in a low voice which startled Brinack, since hellhounds were supposed to lack this ability, "that I think that it is more important to love with someone out of love itself and to sleep together with them afterward than to only love with someone because one wants to."

"Look here, friend," the general said,"A minute ago, I was asleep. Now I try to wake up from a long night. To use words like this with me now is to waste your fine thoughts. What do your words mean?"

The red eyes glowed a little brighter in mirth for a moment. "I wish to say that it is good to see you loved and rested together with Kerry. It is to be seen by me that you have his heart."

"Thank you," Brin said a little cautiously, "What should I call you? I did not know that the lord here kept hounds."

"The lord here keeps me very well," the beast replied, "and I am called Zele."

The statement snapped Brin's head around. "Zele? I thought that Zele was the name of a fighter, a girl fighter here."

"It is," Zele replied, "and I am Zele, very well kept and happy to see you like this. I am sorry that I angered you, but I see that it went well in the end."

Brinack smirked a little, "The end is not where it went. That will take a little time with one like him. But it went well elsewhere and I look on the day a little better for it. How is it that you are a hound and a fighter as well?"

"I am, ... complicated," Zele replied, "it is why I am so hard to run into. I am four, and not only one. You will meet my other shapes if I wish, but not when it would make Sharon fall to the ground. Zele has no bad feeling to you. That is what was to be said and meant by me. Please come to the meal."

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They sat at the large table and ate while speaking of many things with the others.

"And now?" Racephet asked, "What do you feel for each other now, after so long and after last night?"

His question sounded a little eager for the knowledge to Kerry, but Megeara laughed, "The one that I love is large, but he carries a very romantic heart in him. He likes nothing better than to hear a love story. Well, almost nothing better."

Brin shrugged, "We know that what we have is what grew between a mismatched pair long ago. We have agreed to be careful with it to avoid missteps, but he has my heart, as he always has had. I never took a male for me for longer than something fast, even more cause for me to rue the way that I acted to Zele."

The large barbarian girl grinned back at Brinack, "I know what you mean to say. You would have wanted to wait, but all the time, and not knowing if it could be. It is easily understood."

The conversation went on with Kerry speaking now, but Brin's attention was drawn to the small pair who sat on a bench together in the corner by the open fire. They were silent, both glaring at the demon who had spoken to her at the pool. She saw that the reason that they glared was the way that he held the large knife in his hand and glowered back at them while cutting up some meat. When his grip tightened on the knife, the kobold reached with one hand for his axe, taking it from where it stood leaning against the wall to hold it with one hand.

Brinack had been in many fights such as the one that she knew was likely about to start here. She'd had to wade into roiling fights in many inns in her time to extract her slayers before there was too much blood spilled. She had a finely-honed fighter's sense that there was tension in the room and it was nearing the flashpoint.