Welcome back!
Wait? Wasn't 31 the last chapter?
Yes... Yes it was. This is the first of some "deleted scenes" I'm writing up that were skipped over for the sake of the story.
For those of you reading The Runesmith Chronicles for the first time I recommend going back and starting with the first book The Runesmith Chronicles (it's actually Oni and the Farmer but it's too late to change it here :P). Mostly so you have a better understanding of how things like the magic system works and what's going on as I often reference earlier chapters.
I update my Bio with the latest Chapters and projects I'm working on each time I put up a new post.
As always votes and feedback are greatly appreciated!
Enjoy!
-Blu
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Edited/Proofread by: oldfart and 2muchdiggity
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SftS Extra: Kal and Senshu
Later in the night after Kal wakes up from passing the trials.
One by one the girls left as the night wound down, leaving Senshu alone with Kal in the sitting room on the bottom floor. Graff and Velt had run off with Sera earlier, the gorgon stopping to give him a goodnight kiss before leaving. By her expression, he could tell that she wasn't happy about something and he thought it odd that she was going to bed with the vixen and doe instead of with him. It wasn't a big deal since his and Sera's bedroom was right across the hall from Velt and Graff's.
As the front door closed behind Molo and Oona, the last two to leave, Kal looked over at the silver lamia and thought back to what he knew about the regular mortal ones. To stand upright her body below her legs had to make a sharp turn upward as though rearing back to strike. This was helped by there being no spine between her tailbone and the start of her backbone on the snake portion of her body. Kal was extremely curious about how this worked since he hadn't read anything about it in the literature he currently owned. Lamias were one of the monster girls that formed colonies, with most located further south in warmer climates. The snake women were generally long-lived and universally against giving up one of their dead for dissection by a researcher. About the only thing he knew for certain was that Ikuno had told the truth when saying their sex and pseudo-anus, as one scholar called it, were connected and that their digestive tract extended down into their snake body. How exactly it all happened was still a mystery.
She was wearing her armor again, which seemed strange considering she had no problems showing off her assets during his trials.
"Don't you live with Molo and Oona?" he asked.
The six-armed woman blushed, "I do, but I was given the honor of showing you to your new sleeping quarters."
"New sleeping quarters?"
"You are the master of the tower now. Therefore, your bedroom has been moved from the guest rooms to the master's chambers."
"Oh... I see. Then please, lead the way," he said standing.
Senshu bowed her head slightly and made her way toward the spiral staircase. She completely missed the look of mild panic on the mage's face as he tried to figure out what he was going to do with a woman who had six arms and the body of a giant snake for legs. He sobered slightly as he realized this was why Sera appeared upset earlier.
"Did you draw straws or something?" he asked, trying to distract himself.
"No, the others felt I accepted you even before you passed Kit's test so I should be the first," she replied as she started up the stone steps.
"And Sera?"
"She grudgingly agreed though I don't think she would have if it had been Molo or one of the other girls instead."
"Why not?"
"Because we are both snake types. We have a lot of the same quirks and that gives us common ground for talking. It may only be five days since you arrived, but I think I can feel comfortable calling her my friend."
"She's been busy," he said, chuckling.
"In fairness, we all have while you were asleep. Much of the furniture has cleaning and repair enchantments but once all of that is done you still have decades of dust to remove. Since we have mortals in the tower again there is also making sure that the plumbing is fixed, the ovens in the kitchen work, any wood or stonework that needed repair is taken care of, and refreshing any enchantments that have faded since their last use. We got the plumbing mostly working but Cyrene will have to check on it when she gets here in a few days."
"Who is Cyrene?"
"She's a slime, which means she can travel through the pipes and fix things along the way."
"The slime is a plumber?"
"Among other things. I hope that we have used our time in a way that pleases you."
"Stop that."
Senshu froze on the stairs, "Stop what?"
"Talking like that. I understand that I'm stuck being your master since the tower is mine, but I would prefer to not be reminded constantly. Treat me like you did downstairs or before Kithana's trial."
The lamia arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
A smile played across her features, "You may regret that."
He returned her grin, "I've been with a few monster girls. As long as you don't try to squeeze the life out of me, I doubt it."
"And get dropped from the roof of the tower by my sisters? I don't think so. There is something far more enjoyable to squeeze out of you." The lamia blushed bright red as she realized what she just said.
"I like the sound of that. We should continue this conversation upstairs."
She held out a hand toward the steps leading up, "After you."
"Oh, no," said Kal mimicking her offer to go ahead. "After you, I insist." He leaned to one side and stared at her bottom appraisingly before meeting her eyes again, "Besides, the view is better from back here." Under his breath, he muttered, "Not to mention I don't know where I'm going."
Senshu gave him a look of exasperation before continuing upward. Kal could plainly see that she was exaggerating the sway of her bottom for his benefit. As they reached the floor with the library, which sat just above the guest rooms, she paused on the steps and looked over her shoulder as her armor melted away except for her helm. Now he had an unobstructed view of her rear and was surprised to find there was a small gap between her legs before they changed into the serpentine body. Kal's own body was reacting to the view, especially since he got occasional glimpses of her sex through the gap and the stairwell was now filled with the scent of her arousal.
She stopped at the next landing. Like the library, it had double doors but where the library's were mahogany in color these were painted white with delicate gold gilding around the edges. Turning around she said, "Welcome to your room," before pushing the doors open.
Crystals set into the ceiling began to shine as he stepped inside. His new bedroom could easily be described as opulent and took up the entire floor except for the master bath on the far side. Looking around in awe, he realized that by floorspace alone this single room was probably bigger than his entire house back in Telsin.
Lush rugs covered the polished wooden floor and felt so soft he was looking forward to kicking his boots off just to feel it with his bare feet. To one side was a study area with a large window in front of it that faced north, on the southern wall was the largest bed he had ever seen. The reason for its size was immediately apparent after glancing over at the lamia's large snake body.
Kal walked over to one of the tapestries hanging on the wall, it showed an aerial view from the tower looking over the forest in autumn. Off in the distance on the forest edge, there appeared to be a city. "That's Te'thalas?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Senshu, her voice tinged with sadness. "I heard that the bed was once on that side of the room but Father switched it around after the city was named. I think he liked watching over them."
"It's in amazing condition for being so old."