Ebonstone was a port city on the west coast of Enoriath, the second-largest continent of the world. It was also the capital of The Kingdom of Ebon, from which the city got its' name and home to Ebon's royal family and primary garrison of her forces. Ebonstone had a strong military presence, with a huge military wharf capable of housing a hundred warships and a castle of white stone that could garrison over 10,000 soldiers to defend her walls.
Such military assets were needed when you were of the Coast Kingdoms. There were seven of them, all situated along the west coast of Enoriath and locked in a struggle for supremacy for over 40 years. For every month of peace, most Kingdoms of the Coast saw another of war, and political intrigue and underhanded tactics were as common as fighting on the field of battle.
The larger, neighbouring kingdoms had so far not broken the fragile status quo of the coast, leaving all seven factions locked in even contest. Except for Ebon, which, for the past two years, had been on something of a losing streak that had culminated in the loss of almost 10% of her lands. Her strongest military force, her navy, had been able to do little against a ground invasion by the Kingdom of Orsa to the south.
Ebon's king had plans to rectify the poor situation. He would trade with the north, selling silk and skilfully woven fabrics for enough silver to train and arm the levies he could raise. However, a standing strong standing army and strategically-minded leader wouldn't win the war without help from a more... Dangerous, unpredictable and definitely illegal source.
That's where pirates came in. Specifically, the infamous Sea Fox and the same crew who once stole a thousand pounds of solid gold brick from Ebon's finest vessel of war and then set her alight to burn away in blinding defeat for all passing ships to see...
Nekala snatched the crossbow from the stinky sailor besides her and put her foot on the edge of the row boat. It was midnight and no torches were lit outside the city walls, only the moon could provide a little light through white pillows of cloud.
On invitation by the king of Ebon himself, Mirdas, captain of the Sea Fox, had been told to enter the city and meet a representative... In secret; for of course he could not pardon bandits of the sea, or let even his allies know of his plan to use them. And so Nekala found herself on a small fishing boat, directly under a wall that looked like it was half a mile high from where she was situated, holding a crossbow loaded with a grappling boat that was fastened to a long coil of rope.
"Need help using it?" Her Captain, Mirdas, asked with a grin.
"No, I'm fine," she hissed, mounting it against her shoulder and aiming up. The crossbow was, in a word, huge. It had to be, to hold enough power to shoot that grapple up over the wall.
"Then hurry up. My balls are freezing here," the Captain complained.
"Oh no! Perhaps we should abandon this stupid idea and go warm them up before they break off and you become a woman!" Nekala replied, with a hint of annoyance in her voice that was hard to hide.
"Don't start with that again," Mirdas snapped. "Just hurry and get it done."
The Seracian pulled the trigger, her finger squeezing hard and the grapple shooting up high into the air with an uncomfortably loud whistle. A few seconds later, they heard a series of clangs – metal against stone – to signify the grapple had caught something.
Nekala took the rope, which now fell from the top of the wall, and tugged as hard as she could. "It's secure."
"Good, I'll go up first and make sure the coast is- oi, Nekala, I didn't say you could go!"
The Seracian woman had already started climbing, with leather-bound hands gripping the rope tightly and pulling hard as she began to slowly push herself up the vertical brick road with her feet. Below her, she could hear Mirdas complaining about her not following orders and acting out of turn, but she cared not for his antics.
With soft pats, her bare feet continued to push her closer to the top, and below anyone looking up could likely see her pussy squatting high over them in the little moonlight available. Her choice of dress was brow-raising at best, with her wearing nothing but one of Mirdas' white shirts that came down to her mid-thighs.
Surprisingly, there was a good reason for her choice of attire... Or at least, a good enough reason in her point of view. She hated wearing uncomfortable tight clothing, and preferred the full freedom of nudity over conforming to society's dress code. Of course, the breeze against her bare legs was personal preference, and at least she knew to wear the shirt at least, which could act as a short dress and at least cover her modesty...
Unless they looked up at her from below, of course. None of the men on the boat had known that she wore no underwear, nor did they have any inkling why she wasn't. Nekala could almost hear the Captain roll his eyes at her.
After a few minutes passed, the Seracian beauty peered up over the edge of the wall and looked both ways down the top. There was a small tower a few yards down to the right, with torch-light through the window revealing the shadow of some sort of watchman. She would have to pacify him, considering that tower was the quickest way into the city streets.
She heaved herself up a final time and slipped through a crenulation, landing with a soft patter on the stone floor beneath her. Without so much as signalling to the others, she quickly began to sneak-step down towards the wooden door that entered the nearby bastion tower. When she reached it, she hugged the wall next to the hinges with her side and listened to the sound of a man singing quietly to himself as he moved towards her location.
