Alice ran both hands through her thick, dark hair, letting her exhaustion seep through the motion. She finally finished wiping down every chair, counter, and surface in her inn. She plopped down in a chair, listening idly to the roll of thunder and the gentle march of rain from outside. Tiredness stuck to her very bones, yet, the feeling of longing was there. Ever since her husband had gone off to war, she would find a burning, roiling feeling in the pit of her gut, down so low as to tickle her nethers. It drove her mad, to the point where she tried to satisfy herself several times, but touching her rosebud or sticking fingers inside herself never quite did the trick, leaving her ever more frustrated as days rolled past. She sighed, annoyed, as one hand drifted down to her crotch to rub the soft swell of her womanhood. At least it felt good to start her self ministrations.
A knock at the door made her jump, her hand flying away from its perch and her cheeks suddenly burning red. She sat for a brief moment, stunned, waiting to see if it had actually happened. Another set of rapids taps.
"We're," she had to stop and clear her throat to be heard, "we're closed! No more ale tonight!" It might be Old Man Adred, she did not need him begging for booze on a night like this.
"Please!" A voice called back. A woman's voice. Definitely not Old Man Aldred. "I'm not from here, I've no where to stay. Just some shelter from the rain, if you would be so kind?"
Annoyance still stewed in her nethers, but her heart softened a bit. The accent did sound foreign, light and soft-edged, and it really was a miserable night.
"One moment!" She called back. Alice quickly inspected her skirt for suspicious water marks. None, thankfully, she'd been interrupted too early on in the process.
"Thank you! Divines bless you!!" The voice called back.
Alice hurried over to the door, skirt swishing around her ankles, and undid the bar and latch that held the portal shut. She whipped the door open and made a scooping motion with her other hand. "In! Come in, quickly now."
A figure wearing a hooded travel cape zipped in past her, and Alice closed the door against the incredible downpour.
"You're lucky, stranger," she started to say, "a night like this I'm not usually up this late -" She turned to regard her guest and the words fell out of her throat. Her first impression of the stranger was breasts. The cloak, a deep green Alice noted idly, was not quite closed over a substantial bosom that poked out between the front portions of the garment. Glistening with drops of rain water, whatever the woman wore underneath was not up to the task of covering the soft mounds, and they rolled up and down as the stranger took deep breaths. Alice abruptly realized she was staring and lowered her gaze, clearing her throat as she did so.
"Uh, anyway, very lucky." She said, cheeks burning once again. And what was this she felt on her loins? She hadn't felt that since -
"Eight blessings upon you, goodwoman." The stranger interrupted her musings, bowing slightly and showing, somehow, even more of her chest for a moment. "I was afeared I'd be lost out there with no kind doors open to me." The woman pulled back her hood, and Alice couldn't help but gasp, even after the other shocks of the evening. The woman's hair shone like copper, her eyes seemed as deep as fine-cut emeralds, and her youthful face tapered down to a soft point on her delicate chin. Beautiful, aye, but that was not what surprised Alice. The woman's ears stretched out to graceful points to either side of her head, and delicate golden tattoos of leafed vines ran up her neck and across her cheeks to end under each eye.
"An Elf." Alice breathed. Elves never came this far north, or so she thought. She had never met one, nor had anyone she knew. Everyone knew rumors of Elves and spoke them in excited whispers, but she knew as much about real Elves as she did the surface of the moon.
The Elf blushed, the color bright and startling under the shining tattoos. "I did not mean to startle you," she said, gaze dropping, "I'd have told ye at the door, but I did not know if my kind were welcome in these reaches.'
Alice shook her head to stop staring. It was like seeing a fairy tale creature come to life and realizing it to be far more enchanting than she could have ever imagined.
"Don't worry," Alice said hastily, embarrassed now, "I understand the deception and I'm still happy to give you a place. I'm Alice." She held out one hand as merchants would when greeting a new customer. She was entirely taken aback when the Elf swept past her hand and wrapped her in an embrace, arms tight around Alice's neck.
"I can't thank you enough," she said happily, "your kindness will be repaid." Alice tried not to notice the feeling of the Elf's soft breasts pressing into her own. The Elf stepped back, leaving a hand on each of Alice's shoulders. "In the Glades I am known as Fridafolund, but you may call me Frida if that is easier upon your tongue." Frida graced her with a beaming smile that made her stomach flutter like a whirlwind of Autumn leaves.
"It is good to meet you ... Frida." Alice managed. Her skin felt hot under the grasp of the Elf's delicate hands.
Frida released her grip and stepped back. "May I hang my cloak, friend Alice?"
"You may." Alice nodded, trying to wrap her mind around the exotic stranger and the new feelings tickling the bottom of her stomach.
Frida undid a starburst-shaped clasp under her bust and pulled off the wet cloak. Underneath she wore unusual clothing of green and black. The shirt-like portion of the outfit left her shoulders and cleavage bare, running down the Elf's sides to hang like a skirt off her appreciable hips and just down the tops of her thighs. An open line ran down the middle of the shirt, leaving a tiny window of pale skin from which her navel could be seen. Long, fingerless gloves ran from Frida's knuckles up to just shy of her shoulders; similarly, stockings traveled up her shapely legs to stop shy of the skirt, displaying a few inches of flesh. Looking closely, Alice realized that the tattoos on Frida's neck and cheeks also ran over her shoulders and down her thighs.
