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 90: Trouble
"Glad that's over," Jhul muttered to Caleldir once they left the party behind them and got into her rooms. Then her voice grew more audible as she decided what she wanted to do next. She still sounded tired, though. "Run us a bath, pet. And tell me more about that exchange you had with Hael'yss while you do so."
"Ah, yes, the spider-trainer." Caleldir glanced over at her for a moment, gauging her emotional state. Relieved to be back, mostly. And so, he took a deep breath. "Well, there is not all that much more to tell just yet. Hael'yss had been stalking me at the tables, and when she saw a chance to get at me alone, cornered me in one of those sound-muffling tents. I threatened her that I was on business for you and did not want to be delayed, but she used her spiders to restrain me. I managed to get a hand out of the tent before she pulled me back in, though, and a woman apparently saw it and stepped in. I am afraid that that particular woman was in a disguise, though. Some sort of glamor. After shooing the spider-trainer away, she gave me an antidote to the poison and mentioned that she had been at the party in order to look for allies for... well, you are all drow. It was for some odd plot I am sure. Anyway, best as I can figure, she was investigating if you would be sympathetic to her goals. She recognized me, apparently." All literally true.
"She was from House Duskhaven, actually, which is undergoing some intense internal struggle, it is said. Anyway, to stop being coy, she sent me to you with a message that House Duskhaven was looking for allies against rogue members of the House, and she would be contacting you later, possibly in person, possibly by relaying messages through me. She thought that you would make a more useful ally than your mother, apparently." Caleldir was a fantastic actor, and so as he told this tale he was effortlessly able to feign exactly the intonation to sell it the way he wanted. "Your thoughts?"
Jhul listened casually. As he did, she began to remove the layers of fancy party clothing. But, as he continued, she grew more attentive to his words. Duskhaven, eh, and they were struggling? And an emissary from such recognized him? A possible deal to be made? All were things to consider very, very carefully.
The drow waited until she was undressed and could slip into the warm, relaxing water before she said anything in response. She needed time to formulate her thoughts and words. "My thoughts," she began slowly. "I have to say, I am interested in what these Duskhavens want with me. But I don't much like the idea of you being the go-between. No. I would want to meet with them personally. Somewhere away from the Academy. It would be safer for the both of us... though perhaps I will not pursue that intrigue for a while. I had enough of that today."
She sighed, sinking down deeper into the water. Her next words came much more casually than she felt. "You said you knew them? How? I had thought you were only here in the Underdark for a little while before you were taken?"
Caleldir winced. He had meant to imply that Selene recognized him as Jhul'une's servant. But now she had specifically asked about it, he would have to answer honestly. Argh. He could say something like 'I did not say that I knew them, I said that she recognized me. Like with Hael'yss: I believe that she had seen me in company with you on campus.' But though that would all be completely true, it would sabotage later facts.
"Duskhaven sends rangers to the surface," he said. "I met two of those rangers at various points. Got roped into a spat between them. Managed not to be killed by either party. I do not think this particular Duskhaven was the female ranger, but she was in disguise. I would hazard that she recognized me from the surface, and had heard that I was working for you now." That was also true.
"Ah, yes. The Duskhaven rangers. I am aware of them. I recall one being fun at parties until she was estranged." She let out a short sound of amusement, little more than a breath blown more forcefully than usual out of her nose, accompanied by a brief grin. "And the other one's scandal... Talk is, 'ranger' is just another word for 'informally banished.'"
"Given their general behaviors, yeah. Yeah, I can definitely see 'ranger' being pretty much banished," Caleldir agreed with his own wry amusement. Ashyr had been rather on the disgraced side, he had gathered. Tsabdrin as well. "Ashyr and Tsabdrin, I seem to recall those two were named." He kept his tone from being as fond as he felt.
All this time, he had been removing his own clothing until he slid down into the tub water next to her. "But enough intrigue for now. Thinking about Duskhaven and all its problems - more all the time, seemingly - gives me a headache." Completely true. "I will tell you more about them later. For now, I am sure you do not want to be troubled with their drama and how they kept getting me into mortal danger." Killed, in fact. Not that she needed to know that.
Her hand fell to his thigh as he joined her in the tub. "You are right. Stories later. I'd rather focus on... other things." She turned toward him and nipped lightly at his neck. He welcomed her touch as a distraction from further pursuing that line of thought.
"Other things," he consented. Jhul'une wanted to relieve her stress, and he wanted her pleased with him and thoroughly distracted. Also, he did enjoy having sex with her. And so, their bath got a little steamy, predictably enough.
Once the bath was over, and Jhul's stress from the day was thoroughly relieved, there was only one thing on the drow's mind: sleep. And that was what she did, with Caleldir in the bed next to her as was usual. Though perhaps this night she held him a little bit tighter, a little bit longer. When she did finally drift off, there was actually a small, contented smile on her lips. What followed was one of the most restful slumbers she experienced in a long time.
He fell asleep beside her, noting how happy she seemed with a bit of guilt, wondering what she would do when she found out... he took a longer time to get to sleep
That is, until about an hour before she usually woke up the next cycle. The sound of her front door banging open sent Jhul jolting from her rest. Then there were footsteps marching down the hall. Jhul'une looked ready to blast a fireball through her closed bedroom door and down her own hallway. But the demanding voice of her mother gave her pause. "Jhul'une!" she said, which abruptly altered Jhul's focus. Now, she was fumbling on her robe while trying to simultaneously push Caleldir out of the bed.
Despite, or perhaps because of, his comparative fitful rest, Caleldir woke slightly before that point. Someone was running around like she owned the place, so not an attacker, he guessed. When Jhul'une started to push him out of the bed, Caleldir quickly complied, rolling out and rushing for his designated room. Hopefully, he could make it there before dear old Mother made her way to the room.
Unfortunately, Jhul's bedroom was at the end of the hallway, and Caleldir's at the beginning. By the time Caleldir opened the door to try to go where he was supposed to be, Iiv'lua was already partway down the hall. Upon seeing Caleldir, she made a motion with her hand, and one of the half-dozen or so mage-guards briefly walked in front of her to push the naked pleasure slave back into the room he came from. He paled as much as a drow could, and hardly needed to be pushed back into the room. Drat. He wished there had been an easier way to get back to his room.
Iiv'lua, dressed in a more practical outfit (for her, anyway) then walked through the open door to her daughter's bedroom. By that time, Jhul had barely managed to get to her feet to meet her mother with as much dignity as possible. Which wasn't much. Her robe was barely tied, her eyes were narrow and sleepy, and her hair was an absolute disaster. It would not have mattered quite so much, had there not also been several female mage-guards filing into the room behind her mother.
"What is the meaning of this?" Jhul demanded. She crossed her arms in front of her, pulling her robe around her more tightly. Normally, she didn't care if people saw her naked - but that was only when she was coupling or participating in an orgy. Right here, right now, this was terribly inappropriate and a clear violation of her privacy.
Caleldir scooted a bit behind the already robed Jhul'une, trying not to give all those drow soldiers an eyeful. He narrowed his eyes at the newcomers but stayed silent at first.
"I knew it! You are sleeping with it! I don't know why I had any doubts after your display at the gathering yesterday! When I was so generous as to procure this present for you, I had thought it would teach you how to take control! But he is walking all over you! And now I greatly fear that you have developed-" she let out an utterly disgusted noise, unable to even finish giving words to her awful suspicions. "Guards? Seize him."
As so, three of the women advanced on Caleldir to capture and hold him steady.