Kate awoke early in the morning. Her body was still a little sore yet felt so good at the same time. It had not even been a day and still, she had gotten fucked so fast by two different people in just that time. She wondered to herself if she could get out of this time at the pace new fuckers approached her or if this was the last stop on the journey she had just started.
The small room was lit up by a fireplace that was burning on its last log. The morning cold had started to creep in from the sheet-covered windows and she could feel it in her body. She sat up, looked around, and spotted her clothes on a chair right next to a tall mirror. She slowly got out of bed, stood up, and on shaky legs made her way over to the pile of clothes. She dressed, socks first, followed by her skirt, and as she stood in front of the mirror ready to put on her buttoned shirt she stopped.
On her belly, there seemed to be some sort of black markings, like ink. But as she looked the ink seemed to disappear and reappear in a steady motion. She stepped closer to the mirror and caressed the marking with her fingers while trying to get a better look.
The markings seemed to have the shape of a circle with what looked like a balled-up serpent in the middle. Kate knew she didn't have that tattoo before, and she was overcome with flashbacks of the hooded man. Was this mark his doing and what kind of magic had he used to do it? She could feel herself filled with terror and fear. Was the marking something dangerous, was it a way to track her, or was it just some markings he had done. She couldn't be sure, but she was sure this wasn't just some normal markings, something felt demonic about them.
As she was putting the last of her armor she noticed five gold coins laying on the chair. She looked at them with suspicion as she did not have any coins, she had spent all of it getting here on that ship. Yet she could still figure out who had left them there. Memories of last night flashed before her eyes as she was having a great time with the man. She had never met him before, but one thing she was sure of was that the man was a skilled bard. No normal man could seduce her that quickly and with so little effort, and she remembered how sensitive she had been last night which she assumed was another of the bard's powerful magics at work. She had a hatred for bards, as they had so much power over people if they wanted to. The power to seduce anyone from either the holiest of priestesses of devoted celibacy to break their vows or maybe get a queen to betray her king for the bards bastard.
Love or hate him, she wasn't sure which side to take and while she did not like him leaving her money like she was a common whore she still placed the coins in her empty pouch. She did wonder to herself if she would meet him again, she could not deny to herself that some of his power was something she enjoyed while getting fucked.
As she went down the stairs to the great hall she was greeted by a different site from the day before. The other night the entire room was filled with drunk and happy people, singing together and raising their mugs to toast whatever was going right for them at the moment. Now the great hall resembles a silent tomb, except for the very few guests eating their breakfast before setting off.
Kate didn't care for breakfast as she quickly exited the door into the streets. As she exited the building she started to look up and down the long street. Her eyes were searching for something that could help her. A church was not perhaps the best idea as she feared she might get imprisoned in its dungeons, but maybe a runesmith or some other religious order. She started to walk down the street, looking from building to building searching for something helpful. After some searching, she stopped as her gaze fell on a door with a blue flaming heart painted on it. She was sure this very symbol belonged to the Followers of Caana. Caana was a goddess of knowledge and her wisdom was shared with her followers that tried to help the lost souls seeking help.
She knew when it came to religious orders this was the best she could ask for as the followers would not reject nor turn her over even if she was possessed by a demon lord itself.
The room was dark and filled with piles of books and scrolls that were barely lit up by floating balls of light hanging above her head. Behind a counter stood an older man, bald and with a big bushy beard he was deep into a book. Kate stepped forward and greeted the man who didn't seem to react to her. His gaze was locked on the book as she just stood there and looked at him. She didn't want to rush or offend him as she waited for him to react.
After what felt like an eternity the man lifted his head and his white eyes looked into hers. She knew she now had his full attention and spared no details as she told her story. Her reasons for coming here, the hooded man, the amazing way he fucked her, all the way to this morning. She lifted her shirt to expose the markings to him as she started to explain how she had noticed them.
The man seemed to be lost in the moment for a while before he bent down, mumbling to himself as she could hear him looking through the counter for something. After a while, the man stood up and with a heavy thud placed a big book in front of her. The book was open and staring from the pages at her was the spitting image of the markings she had on her belly.
-"...let's see here..." His voice finally broke the silence as his finger pointed to the page.
-"...the sealed serpent" Kate looked where his finger had stopped. The symbol on the page looked exactly like the one she was marked with.
-"it is said that the sealed serpent is a mark left by a demon lord... a way to mark their brides for a coming of events"
Kate's eyes were filled with horror, had the hooded man been a demon lord from the underworld itself? She was unable to speak but as the man looked into her eyes it was like he could read her questions.
-"the brides... play a purpose in the demon lord's games..."
-"the true purpose only the lords know... as it can be anything from tipping the odds against other lords influence... from carrying their champions"