A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 37: Negotiation

Author's Note:

A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.

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Episode 37: Negotiation

A few hours later Caleldir shifted in his sleep, moaning slightly. In his dreams, Selene had found him in the dryad's arms, and decided to punish him by joining her. Somehow, the nymphs of the valley got involved, and he vanished in a tangle of limbs, breasts, kisses, and pussies. Then he awoke with a disturbing erection. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his head. Selene and Naliira? Those two would kill each other, there was little doubt. His dream-self probably just put them together as all of the women who had forced him into sex. Probably why Ashyr had not been there, since she had never raped him. Conning Carlotta into doing so did not count. Smoothing down his tunic, noting the blanket that had been put over him, he visited the restroom for the usual reasons, scouted out the extra bedroom to diagnose its infection (three sheets) and returned to the kitchen to continue his work.

Naliira returned from her errands when she said she would: just before the sun began to color the horizon in brilliant oranges and reds. It had been a good four or five hours since she departed. On her back was slung several cumbersome-looking bags that looked far too heavy and awkward for her frame. She carried them with absolute ease and grace all the same. "I'm back, my love. I think I got all the things you wanted for the oven." Naliira announced as she set one of the bags filled with the red gem, wood, and gold coins. The other beg she placed on the kitchen counter.

"Oh! Thank you my dear." He said upon seeing the supplies. "I will take a break from the magical cleaning to build you a stove. Would not be a complete kitchen without it!" He put the half-finished sheet away and started looking through his new supplies. Yep. He could work with these. Their kitchen would be so much nicer with something to cook with. While raw fruits and vegetables were nice, he would eventually want bread and meat. "What do you think of the living room? Good as new, I think. Something that we do not have to be afraid to show to our guests." By the eternal! He was beginning to fall into her mindset!

"What with the living room and stove, I think I'll have to show off our improved home to someone." Naliira agreed with a sparkle of excitement in her features. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and planted a quick kiss against his lips. Then she walked back to the bag and pulled out a thick book. "I found this when I was trying to find the gold and gem. It's a novel I used to like to read." She smiled down at the very dusty, slightly ragged, but mostly intact pages. A shy look crossed her features, and she bit her lip. "I thought that maybe some quiet evenings we could read it aloud to each other. That is, if you don't mind." The last bit she said quickly and with slight embarrassment. She seemed to think that Caleldir would find it a silly idea. She handed it to him.

Caleldir opened the book to find mostly legible elven script filled with adventure and romance. "It looks interesting. How are you at reading aloud? If you would like to, perhaps you could read me the beginning while I work on finishing up our kitchen."

If possible, her eyes lit up more. "I love you so much right now." She declared. Once again, one of her hands came up to brush against the side of his face. She seemed to like doing that. It was proof that he was real, and that he was with her at that very moment. He wasn't just some perfect illusion of her maddened mind.

With an affectionate smile, Caleldir returned Naliira's quick kiss. "I love you too." He said. It was the first time he had said that, but he was beginning to fall into the illusion. It was too sweet and tempting for him to resist for long, and once he had started pretending to go along with her delusions, he had begun to half believe them himself, or at least acting like he did had become drastically easier.

Then she pulled away from him and took the book with her to settle down at the dining room table. "Get to work, love." She ordered with teasing seriousness. "I will certainly read to pass the time." Long fingers flipped to the first page of the book and she began to read aloud to him. She was good at it, too. Her voice was clear and well-modulated; she did not drone. There were even different voices for each character that spoke, though the voices that were meant to be manly gave her a bit of trouble. Her voice was too femininely smooth for it. She laughed at herself the first couple times she tried before settling for just making her voice a bit lower and leaving it at that.

He settled down to work, melding the red gemstones, gold, and Darkwood together as if they were liquids, mixing them rather strangely. He appeared to be using a mixture of minor spell and the effects of the ritual combination to warp the ingredients together, but ultimately the details were unimportant. He was not paying particular attention to his crafting, instead focusing more on the story. He smiled when Naliira laughed at herself. "It works better with magic." He said in a perfect impression of her voice. He continued on his own voice. "Granted, that drains your spell reserves rather quickly. Continue on: I am anxious to hear what happens next."

She paused in her reading to blink up at him. A bewildered grin formed across her face. "I don't think I could do that even if I wanted to!" She laughed. Naliira sounded rather impressed. It was a neat trick. She herself was clearly quite interested in how the story progressed, though she had read it before. The interruption didn't last long. Before the world got too dark, Naliira paused in her reading to poke at what looked like a decorative thing attached to the wall. A little bit of magical energy later, and it was lit up as if it had been a torch. There was no fire, and the light was completely cold to the touch. It lit up the room well enough for her to continue.

After a while, Naliira got up from her space at the dining room table and moved down to the living room. She didn't stop reading as she walked - apparently she instinctively knew where every knot and uneven surface was. It was unclear whether it was from her ages spent in the tree or an unconscious familiarity that went deeper than that. She flopped down upon the pile of pillows and blankets on the couch. "If you get bored or need a break, you can come over and read." She paused for long enough to stay. One hand pat at an empty space beside her.

--

In the end, it was the light that led them to the huge, partially decayed tree. Ashyr almost broke her neck climbing another tree to catch sight of it while Selene took down what must have been the twentieth golem they'd fought that day. At that point, they were thoroughly lost and thoroughly frustrated in the decayed forest. They couldn't find their way back out, let alone figure out where Caleldir was. The branch the older drow was on at the time fell and clobbered the thing. She would have come with it, too, had she not caught herself on a lower branch.

Several climbed trees later to regain their bearings, and they were at the foot of oak grove overgrown with both natural vines and decay. The largest one in the center was the one they were after; they could still see the light from it. Selene was already past exhausted, but both drow had long been overcome by a quiet, stubborn determination. They were going to rescue him, damn it. At that point it was their only choice.

--

Underneath Caleldir's careful hands the beginnings of the 'stove', such as it was, began to form. Or at least the heating element of it: a small darkly wooden plate-like object that had intricate golden runes inlaid around the sides. The red gemstones seemed to vanish within it, at least those which he had so far added. He wiped the sweat off of his brow. That had been some surprisingly intense work. He had actually poured some of his soul into the thing. Or something like that. It was nothing that he could not get back: he simply felt drained and exhausted. "I suppose that I could use a break. Might as well enjoy our new couch. Well, not a new couch: just one that we can finally use again."

He set his work carefully down and went over to the dryad and sat next to her. Not quite touching her; he was still too shy to initiate much contact, despite his increasing tendency to play along with her fantasy. It was his fantasy too, in a way: a quiet, domestic life with a pretty, devoted wife and a cozy house. Something that he had long ago decided was impossible for him. Perhaps he could even become a father. Yeah, maybe having a few cute daughters and, if he was lucky, a son, would be a nice thing to have running around...

Naliira, predictably, cuddled into Caleldir until they both reclined on the couch. It was easier to both read the book that way, after all. It was also extremely relaxing and comforting to feel him against her.

So he sat, and read the story along with her. Well, sort of. Mostly he did the male voices. Without the aid of magic, he was not particularly skilled at the female ones. When the hero and the heroine were in a conversation with one another, it was almost like they were speaking to each other. When he read out the lines of a male part, she'd nuzzle into him and revel in the vibrating sounds of his voice. As the night progressed and became chilly, she pulled a couple blankets over them. Naliira showed no signs of tiring; the story was engaging and this entire situation made her feel better than she had in hundreds of years.

After a little while of this, Caleldir halted in the middle of a monologue. "Wait... Naliira. Do you hear something strange?"

So focused was she on the story and on Caleldir, she noticed no noise other than him. "What? No, I don't hear anything." She said. Even if there was something, it didn't seem like much cause for worry. How would anyone manage to get into her tree? There were two solid vine-shut doors and a long passage to climb in between. She doubted that anyone could even get past the first door without being smacked to pieces by the wards (also known as her sentient oak tree.) Besides, there were plenty of common 'strange' noises in the form of twisted animals and golems.

--

They partially buried Althaia - who they had faithfully pulled along - in a hollow under some roots, set traps around the area, and made Bard guard her lifeless form. Then there was the issue of getting up in there undetected. Neither of them relished the idea of fighting that tainted... thing that had hold of Caleldir. It would be much better to sneak him out of there and torch the place as they ran. There was a little convincing that had to be done to get Selene to agree not to burn the place outright and wait for their 'Brave Knight' in distress to turn up. Ashyr did not want to burn Caleldir alive if she could help it, even if he would be fine afterwards.

Not touching the ground seemed to be the way forward, as they were pretty sure that a plant creature would know if plants around her home were being touched. One scroll of overland flight later, and they managed to come up with a plan that they were quite proud of: Selene could simply hover across the ground. After, there was the issue of getting through the barrier at the front door. There was no way that they could think of that would get Ashyr through that space undetected, while Selene could just blink into the center of the tree. The older drow was forced to stay behind. At least she could protect Althaia if anything went wrong with her.

So it was that a floating, slightly incorporeal Selene suddenly appeared from the main door in front of Naliira and Caleldir with death in her eyes and fire at her hands. The scene laid out before her, however, was enough to make her pause in bewilderment. Caleldir seemed to be... cuddling with some random woman? Well, he wasn't anymore; the woman yelped upon seeing Selene's fire spell and scrambled over the back of the couch.

Caleldir jumped up out of the dryad's grasp. "Selene! You found me!" Then he paused, an ashen creep appearing on his face. Oh dear. Naliira and her tree were not going to like this. Not at all. For that matter, Selene was probably not going to be all that happy either. She seemed all intent on rescuing him, and here he was, snuggling up to another woman, reading a book. Hardly the picture of desperation.

"Darling, who is this?" The dryad asked with a fear-trembling voice. It couldn't be one of the people who had captured him; she'd put them in a slumber so deep that it would take years for them to wake.

Selene lowered gracefully until her feet touched the ground. Then her blink spell wore off and she returned to her normal-looking self. A very pissed normal-looking self. So, really, she looked every bit like she usually did. Fire flared up in her hands, but she refrained from actually tossing the ball of searing light. She didn't want to burn down the tree with herself in it. No, that was only for if she became desperate. Vines began to whip up around the drow - not ones of her own making. "If you so much as touch me, I lose control of this spell. Explosions and unquenchable fire happens when I lose control." Selene threatened through bared teeth and growling voice. The treehouse shuddered and screamed with rage, but it did as she asked and refrained from touching her.

Below, a cracking noise made the tree shudder again. The maker of this noise, however did not have complete destruction to threaten the tree with. Selene's eyes widened for a moment "-And do not hurt her either!" She ordered as quickly as she could spit the words out. Lolth-damned Ashyr and her inability to be patient when separated from her mate... Oh yeah, Selene realized she had flared her spell. That had been the signal for danger. The sight of Caleldir with that thing had pissed the younger drow off enough to forget about that detail.

As Caleldir looked on the angry Selene, he wondered how he was going to talk his way out of this one. Oh dear. How to explain. He felt like a husband caught cheating during a confrontation between the wife and the mistress. Which was which, though, was impossible to say. He did note the effectiveness of her fire-magic, and cursed himself for not thinking of something like that earlier. He could have escaped before becoming all emotionally invested. "Naliira: this is Selene. Selene, Naliira. The two of you have a lot in common. Especially a tendency to force yourselves on me." Almost certainly the wrong thing to say, but sometimes he just could not help himself.

Before anyone could respond, roiling vines bubbled out from the door and deposited a very surprised Ashyr onto the ground beside Selene as proof of the older drow's continued unharmed state.

"It seems that Caleldir was doing just fine on his own, cousin dearest." Selene informed Ashyr with venom in her voice.

As awkward as the confrontation between Selene and Naliira had been, when Ashyr popped into the picture, Caleldir could not hold back his joy. "Ashyr!" He cried, and scooped the smaller drow up in his arms. "I missed you so much!"

Ashyr responded with answering joy when she found herself shoved from the somewhat terrifying grasp of the corrupted oak tree and into the happy embrace of Caleldir. With him in front of her, she cared little for what was going on around her. "Maybe leave a trail for me next time, love." Came her amused response.

At once, he became aware of all the eyes on him. He stepped away. "Err... so yes. This is awkward. Perhaps we can all talk something out with each other, and not do anything too drastic."

"Whats... going on?" Ashyr asked the crowd in general.

"You tell me!" Naliira declared with a trembling lower lip and tears in her fearful eyes. She had only taken her eyes off of the fire in Selene's hand for a moment to see her 'husband' embrace another woman with more joy than he'd ever displayed when interacting with her. Now her eyes darted between all three other people with fear and hurt. "I was... I was trying to enjoy a quiet night with my husband."

"I told you, Ashyr." Selene said in that same viper-like voice. "Caleldir didn't need our rescue after all. He has his wife." The word 'wife' was spat from her mouth like the most foul of profanities. "Naliira, was it?" She sneered at the dryad

The older drow looked over to Caleldir with furrowed brow. Selene seemed to have forgotten the fact that they, themselves witnessed him being raped by someone who was very probably that woman (just all corrupted and such). Ashyr, even given the opinion of Selene, was not so quick to come to negative conclusions about her mate. She placed a hand on Selene's fireball-carrying arm. "We're going to put that down, we're going to all calm down, and then we'll have a conversation." Ashyr said slowly, calmly.

The expression on Selene's face did not change, but she did let the prepared spell wink out as she lowered her arm. The other two women visibly relaxed. Naliira moved quickly up until she stood behind and slightly to the side of Caleldir so that she could peek out at the interlopers. No sign of terror-dryad yet. She was too afraid of returning fire to be angry.

Caleldir's heart sank. This was exactly the sort of situation he most hated: one where no matter what he did, someone's heart was going to be broken. Of course, there was really only one choice: to break the heart of the woman whose only claim to him was kidnapping and repeated rape. Wait. That described two of them. Well, one of those women was not related to his favorite person in the world, so he would have to break her heart. As much as it pained him to betray the poor old madwoman. "I am sorry." Caleldir said to Naliira, his tone very much emphasizing how sorry he really was. "But I am not your husband. Not really. In your pain and loneliness, you just imagined that I was."

"You are wrong!" Naliira insisted with tears now streaming down her face. Naliira's hands clung to Caleldir's arm as he turned back toward the drow. Her grip was nigh on bruising with its strength. "You are my husband, but you were taken from me so long ago that you have become confused." This was the point where rot began to creep into her feet and hair. Before she had just been afraid of death, but now, faced with the possibility of losing that which she had dreamed of having for a thousand years, she was beginning to feel desperate. At least there weren't vines accosting anyone yet; Caleldir was not actively trying to get away.

"I... you are right. I am confused. I have no idea what to do..." He replied to the dryad's pleas, enduring her painful grasp. Truly, sad women were his greatest weakness. Still, as the dryad had unconsciously noted, he was not attempting escape, only thinking about it.

Sorrowfully, he turned towards the two drow. "It is not all that hard to explain, in the end. The curse on this land and its inhabitants infected the soil and corrupted the fae. Most of the local dryads and nymphs or whatnot died from that corruption, but not their queen. She was too strong for that. But the curse drove her mad, and here she is, believing herself to be a wood-elf, and my husband. After a few days, I fell into her pleasant dream, and began to play along. For that, I am sorry." He sighed. He hoped against hope that the two groups would not come to blows, but that seemed to be unlikely in the extreme. Naliira could flash to queen of rot any moment, and Selene was not likely to accept any explanations.