Dread Rising

Dread Rising

Decius III

Decius was in the throes of pleasure when business found him again. In an upper salon of the Black Lotus, Torvuls' most famous and luxurious brothel, the sorcerer was fucking the tight young asshole of a slender girl that the madame had repeatedly assured him was fresh from the slave market. Between his legs was a high-priced courtesan with his balls in her mouth, and to his left, his page Cassio had mounted another whore from behind and was using her braids as reins to ride her tight young ass.

It was in the midst of all this, as Decius was concentrating on the blue bird of paradise that the girl had tattooed across her lower back, that a half-elf, clad in only a swordbelt, flopped himself down on the couch across from Decius with a whore under his arm. The half-elf looked the group of them over with glittering green eyes that made Decius' spine tingle. Decius paused mid-stroke, fixing the stranger with an exasperated stare.

"We're not taking additional partners," he said brusquely in the Common trade tongue of Torvuls, slamming his cock back into the girl's asshole. She squealed and quivered, the one leg she had planted on the floor shaking beneath her as her other foot flailed helplessly in the air. The stranger smiled, leaning back onto the couch and cupped his whore by her breast as his fingers pinched her rosy nipple between them.

"Yes," the half-elf replied in High Auric with a cool, lyrical voice that sent shivers up Decius' spine, "you look to be quite occupied at the moment. However, I come looking not for partners in bed, or on the couch, as it were, but for a business proposition. You are Decius Sallax Capricius, are you not?"

Decius did not immediately respond, for the courtesan between his legs had stopped her pleasuring. He looked down and met her warm green eyes with annoyance. She quickly returned her attention to his balls and only then did Decius return his attention to the stranger.

"I am," he replied, deciding that the half-elf would not be convinced otherwise and so it was useless to pretend. "And you are?"

"In Torvuls I am known as Draithan," the half-elf replied. He wound his hand through the whore's hair and lowered her head to his cock, which she obediently grabbed with her hands and put into her mouth.

Decius' mouth tightened. He was in the presence of one of the dreaded pirate lords, and without a stitch one him. Fortunately, Draithan was equally naked, but Decius felt painfully vulnerable all the same. The half-elf did not seem to notice Decius' anxiousness and instead ran his hand through the whore's hair, pulling it into a long ponytail that he wrapped around his hand.

"Your man," he said, again in High Auric, and indicated Cassio, "he is reliable?"

Decius mustered his wits and slammed his cock into the young girl's ass again. Somehow, it proved to focus his mind.

"He is a loyal servant of my family."

"Good," Draithan replied. "For my proposal must kept between us until the time is right." He sat up on the couch, driving his cock deeper into the whore's mouth. Decius twitched as the courtesan between his legs took both his balls in her mouth. He was growing tired of the interruption.

"Now is hardly the time," he growled, returning his attention to the young whore on his cock. He thrust into her again, his hips clapping against hers. The girl moaned and beside him, Cassio came in the other girl. The page withdrew his cock and lay it on her back, panting with exertion as he straddled the whore and looked to Decius in anticipation.

"Your man is ready," Draithan remarked with amusement. "Surely it behooves you to listen just for a moment. Unimaginable wealth passes through this city and some of it could be yours."

Decius groaned internally. All he had wanted during the long voyage here was to descend into drunken debauchery in the famous halls of the Black Lotus. After weeks with no amusement but Cassio and the captain's plain-faced concubine, he had disembarked and headed straight for the world's most famous pleasure palace with eager anticipation and a hard cock. The frustrations of the voyage had vanished from his mind when the madame trotted out a bevy of naked whores for him to choose from --- nubile or seasoned, pale, olive-skinned, or dark, blonde or redheaded... But now he was so cruelly wrenched from the throes of passion and forced to talk business again.

"Could you just let me fucking finish?" Decius snapped in exasperation. The half-elf smiled a cruel smile and gestured. "Proceed."

It was little use for Decius, who had already been thrown from his saddle. He fucked the slender whore's ass in angry silence, emitting only a few grunts as he listened to her performative wails. Cassio lay behind his whore and held her close, while the courtesan between Decius' legs pleasured his balls with hand and mouth, undisturbed by all the conversation around her. Decius tried to imitate her professionalism, but could not ignore Draithan's glittering green eyes that stared a hole in his soul.

A nearly naked waitress appeared, wearing nothing but a pair of fishnet stockings and a coin pouch on her belt and carrying a tray of elven sweetwine in crystal goblets. The half-elf snapped his fingers and pointed to the table set between his couch and Decius. Her eyes servilely downcast, the waitress set the goblets down and retreated hurriedly, though all three men present watched her go with great interest.

As she disappeared through a carved doorway, Decius turned his attention back to the two whores before him. Draithan picked up one of the goblets and swirled the wine in front of him. He sipped contentedly, the whore dutifully sucking him as his fingers plied her lips between her shapely white legs.

"The finest wines from Tirannion," he proclaimed, "but just a taste of the luxury available in this great city." For emphasis, he slapped the girl's bare ass, and she squealed, muffled by a mouthful of his cock. Decius looked from the handprint showing on her ass to the reddening ass of his own whore where his hips continued to slap against hers as he fucked. The sight of it set him off again, and he clutched her slim waist in both hands and drove his cock deeper into her tight young ass. She moaned through gritted teeth, her small hands clutching the windowsill of the salon in a white-knuckled grip.

The half-elf watched with the same crooked smile on his face, showing no acknowledgment of the girl sucking his cock. Decius put him out of mind again, his attention fixed on his cock and the girl on the end of it. As he withdrew each thrust, he could see the face of his courtesan below, staring up at him through her beautiful green eyes.

The half-elf had drunk his wine and now had enough watching. He lifted his whore up from his cock and lay her next to him on the couch. With one arm around her lithe chest, he guided his cock inside her with the other hand and began to fuck. Decius heard her moan with delight and nearly finished himself. By the grace of many years of experience fucking tight young holes, he mastered his cock and held back his cum to kept thrusting into her. The courtesan beneath them worked her deft tongue over his cock and balls, and he could see the spittle dripping down onto her bare, voluptuous breasts. To his side, Cassio lay watching, with the third whore fondling his cock.

Alas, Decius' experience could only keep his cock under control for so long under these conditions. The courtesan caressed and squeezed his balls in her soft hands, and he came at last. His toes curled and he shook, squirting a hot load of cum into the slender girl's ass as he groaned in satisfaction. He stood over her, panting for a moment, then withdrew his slackening cock and stepped back.

The courtesan smiled up at him, wiping her face clean where some of the dribble had fallen upon her. Decius held his cock in one hand as he smiled back, delighted and tired. Beside him, Draithan was merrily fucking away on the couch. The half-elf's whore lay on her back with her legs spread, while Draithan lay on his side next to her, his long cock thrusting in between her upraised legs to reach her pink, shaven sex. Decius watched the whore's tits bounce as Draithan fucked her and wondered if the half-elf would follow if he simply walked away?

But now that his cock was satisfied, Decius found himself somewhat intrigued by the half-elf's proposal. It was flattering that one of the dreaded pirate lords would seek him out to ask for anything, let alone an offer like the one he seemed to be preparing. And so, Decius seated himself on a padded footstool in the salon and settled his whore and courtesan by his side. Cassio watched with his own whore in his lap, caressing her naked belly and fondling her breasts as he watched the half-elf fuck.

Though he betrayed no interest in their presence, Draithan fucked harder and faster once Decius had finished. His hips worked in powerful strokes, clapping against those of his whore as she cried out in ecstasy and squeezed his arm in her hands. Her face contorted in delight and her whole body shook and shuddered. Draithan thrust hard into her one last time, then slowly withdrew his cock, trailing a line of cum. A solitary droplet fell to the floor as Draithan sat upright and laid the girl across his lap. She immediately took his cock between her hands and lips and set to stroking and kissing, preparing him for another turn.

"Now that we are both finished," the half-elf began after a moment, and Decius groaned internally. "Perhaps you would like to hear my proposal?"

"It seems I have little choice, for you will not take no for an answer." Decius settled himself onto a couch with the whore under one arm and the courtesan under another. He took some amusement in seeing a drop of his cum drip from the ass of the former to land on the polished wooden floor.

"Indeed, I will not," Draithan replied. "There is much to be gained for both of us."

"I am afraid that despite my victories, I am no sailor."

"Fear not that, my good man, for my victory will be earned on land." The half-elf continued speaking in High Auric, casting sideways glances at the courtesan, who wore only a contended expression common to those of her profession. "I speak of victories to be earned within the boundaries of this city."

"A heist?" Decius inquired. "

"Of sorts. Tell me, what do you know of this city and who rules it?"

"Queen Lamira rules," Decius replied. "And the pirate lords battle each other for the seats at her table."

"Aye, the queen rules, but not alone. She always has a consort, and now that consort is a dwarf---"

"Magnur Ironside, yes I know. But the consort rules only at the discretion of the queen."

"Indeed, though the rewards of the position are considerable. Not least of which is sharing her bed. Have you seen her? She is more beautiful than any woman in these pleasure palaces."

"And more terrible. I've heard the tales of what happens to those who run afoul of her. No whore here will flay the flesh from your bones and trap your mind in a gem to relieve your torment for eternity."

"Perhaps," Draithan mused, running a hand along his whore's chest and over her breasts. "Though there are whores who specialize in the delivery of exquisite pain to discerning clients. But no matter, that is not what I seek. Do you find yourself amenable to my proposal?"

"You still have not proposed anything, half-elf. All I have heard is what I already know; the queen is powerful and beautiful."

"Very well, sorcerer. But we must be careful. The walls have ears, even in sacred places such as this one. Now, you surely know that Magnur Ironside is not the queen's first consort. She has had six before him, and each of them overthrew their predecessor. They have then been allowed to sire a single child by the queen, sharing her bed and spoils as consort to the most powerful monarch of the sea."

"His Imperial Majesty would take slight at that. It is by the guns of his armada that Lamira's security is maintained, and his spies work tirelessly keep her place."

"He would say as much, but Lamira has reigned here for a thousand years, your emperor has clung to his throne for what? Forty? She pays her tribute and enforces the guild charter, but the queen rules the sea and the emperor the land. It has always been so."

"The queen rules the seas? Her fleet numbers barely twenty vessels, none so grand as even the common warships of the Imperial Armada. The emperor could end her long reign with the flick of his wrist and the dispatch of a letter to his admirals."

"Aye, the queen rules. For the pirate lords could close off the sea and the spice route at a whim, and the queen rules the pirate lords. Torvuls is the grandest port in all the world, and to defy the queen's will is to be exiled, a fate few can bear to endure."

Decius squeezed the slender young whore's ass and nodded in understanding. Beside him, Cassio was stroking his cock as he exchanged kisses with his whore, brushing her light brown hair back from her shapely breasts. Decius sighed in contentment.

"You can see why," Draithan continued with a smile, then slapped the girl in his lap across her bottom. She yelped in delighted surprise, then giggled around a mouthful of his cock. "This is the finest place in all the world to live. But it requires a great fortune to enjoy to its fullest, and one is always balanced on a knife's edge."

"And you require a great fortune?" Decius inquired.

"I have one already," the pirate lord replied. "What I require is a higher station, and there is only one higher station than mine."

Decius' eyes narrowed in understanding. He had not come here to shake up the city's notoriously deadly politics and told the half-elf as much, but he merely laughed.

"You have much to gain, do you not? I know why you have come, for I have spies in all ports. You need spice, as all sorcerers do, and the Guild has cut off your usual supply. After the Jade Circle's demise and Magnur's destruction of Iga's smuggling ring, your black-market sources grow few, and the Guild's stranglehold on the Collegium's gold tightens like a serpent's coils. You are here to find alternate sources. I know every smuggler in the city. The queen offers rich bounties for their heads, but I think you might pay more to keep them in business."

Decius did not reply. The pirate's spies were good, he had to concede. Everything the half-elf had said was true, and the Collegium's concern grew thicker with each passing day. Their coffers and storehouses both withered, and to be without the fuel for their magics spelt disaster for the Collegium, but also the Empire itself. Not that the Spicers' Guild would spare them, for the damnable merchants cared only for their own profits and would exploit their imperial charter to the hilt.

"You offer some proposal at last, then?" he asked calmly. Draithan smiled.

"Aye, I do. The queen is a tributary of the emperor, so any attack against her or her consort is an attack against the emperor. Magnur himself is no fool and has ingratiated himself with the Guild's representatives both here and in the Imperial City. I need someone in my camp who has the emperor's ear. Someone who could smooth things over in the event of Magnur's sudden death and replacement."

"The emperor listens to his curia officials, not to lesser sorcerers. But I do have highly placed relatives and I have spared him an expensive and tedious rebellion. So perhaps my word could sway him. Though I caution you that the Guild will raise an unholy racket should anything happen to their ally."

"I expect as much. But while the dwarf may be friends with the Guildsmen here, those in the Imperial City make the rules, and all they care about is coin. A few generous bribes and the waving of the emperor's scepter ought to buy their acquiescence."

"Then I hope you have a galleon full of gold, for the greed of the Guild is beyond my ability to relate."

"Two galleons," Draithan promised. "And the dwarf has fallen somewhat in their eyes. Oh, he destroyed a smugglers' ring, to be sure. But he has neglected his alliance. They crave more gold, and his lieutenants have taken to plundering the Guild's trade routes. Magnur has barely put to sea that past few years. His loyal captains are no longer so loyal, nor do they cluster about him in port. Two set sail for the Sapphire Sea last month, another went east through the Gates of Dawn. His faction is weak."

"I know your reputation for cunning, but it will take more than the two of us to effect such a coup," Decius replied slowly. Intrigues were always fraught with danger, and those of Torvuls more so than usual, but the desperation of the Collegium and the promise of rich reward was too enticing to resist. Despite the half-elf's rude manner of interruption, he found himself coming round to the plot. "But we will need accomplices."

"And we shall have them," Draithan replied. Excitement was in his eyes, and his cock hardened in the whore's mouth as she sucked. "I have not been idle while I waited for you to arrive. My web spreads throughout the city and its environs, I need only to snap my fingers and summon a gathering of luminaries who all want Magnur gone. Then it takes only a few words to set the plot in motion. I have lain in wait for many months, awaiting the last piece of my plan. And here you are."

Decius considered the offer. The Collegium would likely be furious about any unsanctioned actions, but if he returned with a hold full of spice, it would salve any wound.

"Then snap your fingers, and let us summon your plotters."

Draithan smiled with triumph. "It shall be as you say, but first," he gave the whore in his lap another slap on her ass. "We should not squander our time here."

"Indeed, for I have waited many weeks aboard a cramped ship to experience the pleasures of the Lotus and once our business is concluded, I will be found here again in the arms of these beauties."

"There are more beauties under this roof than you hope to fuck in a month," Draithan smiled, "So why should we fuck the same ones again? Lend me yours and I'll lend you mine."

"Very well," Decius replied, for the girl in Draithan's lap was pleasing to his eye. He raised up the slender whore and passed her over to Draithan. In return, Draithan lifted the girl from the couch and passed her to Decius, who took her in his arms with delight. She was young and slender, with blonde hair and shy green eyes that drank up every inch of his handsome body.

"What's her name?" the half-elf asked as he pulled Decius' whore into his lap. Decius shrugged. When he had seen her standing naked before him, shoulders hunched shyly and eyes cast toward the showroom's thick carpet, he had cared nothing for her name. His interest had been on her slender body, her little breasts, and her golden ringlets.

"What does it matter?"

"I like to ask for them by name if they're good."

"Her name is Alys, my lord," the courtesan answered. "She was just acquired from the market the other day. I watched her auction from a suite with a patron."

"Ah, so the good sorcerer Decius was the one to break you in, my dear?" Draithan inquired, taking the girl by her waist and sliding her onto his cock. "You are fortunate, some of the new girls get broken in by the minotaur door guards."

"That is a story the madame loves to tell," the courtesan continued, "but only happens as a special performance for discerning guests."

"You know all the ins and outs of the Black Lotus," Draithan commented appreciatively. "What is your name?"

"I am Jaya, my lord and this is my sixth year at the Lotus. I studied at the Temple of Nystra and worked at the House of Silk for three years until I earned a place here."