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.
*****
Episode 130: Surprise
Gailwen Goldstar, the aasimar merchant from the southeastern Byzromine Empire, had not taken the opportunity to move into Port Afron despite being free to do so. Instead, she had been content to continue plying her businesses at the outlying towns and small docks away from the main metropolis. After all, this was where her contacts were.
At night, she slept in the small apartment above her warehouse. One of these days she would buy an actual house, but for now, she would just pour all that money into her business.
And security. One could not be too careful in these lands. Which was why she woke
up every few hours to do a quick check of the perimeter. Clad in her long, modest nightgown, she strode through the dark warehouse, light floating around her, making sure all windows and doors were secure.
In the darkness, a soft noise began to swell. At first, it sounded like wind brushing against the waters of the river. Then the sound of a woman's voice became increasingly distinct. It was a mournful song of tragedy and heartbreak: the sound of a woman who had lost all hope and sought to literally drown her sorrows.
The song's luring nature was twofold. It had a magical quality too, of course. All who heard it were drawn in... except for those who had been lulled into a magical slumber by a certain blonde fae. The only one left awake was Gailwen. If she had been an ordinary merchant, she would have instantly fallen underneath the rusalkas' sway. As she was, though, she was a Light-Elven Aasimar paladin blessed by the heavens, and highly resistant to mental manipulation.
Of course, when she heard the music she went anyway. Out of worried curiosity. She drew her sword, did not bother to get her armor, and ventured forth to investigate.
There on one of the smaller docks, lit by the pale light of a full moon, knelt a tragically beautiful woman. Her well kept crimson red hair and moderately embroidered emerald green dress marked her as a successful merchant or a daughter of one. She stared out at the river forlornly as she sang a soft song of heartbreak in a foreign dialect of common. The woman didn't seem to notice when Gailwen exited her place of business nearby.
Although Gailwen did not know about the rusalka, she had suspected a siren, a mermaid, or a banshee; when she saw an ordinary-looking human woman, she stopped, confused. She did not even appear evil! Gailwen dropped her guard and approached the girl.
"Your song is beautiful, but you seem distressed," she said in a gentle tone.
The red-haired woman twitched in genuine surprise, having apparently lost herself in the words of the song so much that she didn't hear the other woman's approach. She turned her tear-stained face to look at who approached. "Distressed?" She asked mournfully. "Yes, I suppose you could say that I am." The woman looked back out at the waters. "I... I must leave these lands soon. I thought that I would welcome such a thing... but I must now leave the father of my unborn here." Her voice dropped to an almost inaudible whisper. "I find myself at an uncertain edge..."
Gailwen melted a bit. She took a seat next to the red-haired woman. "I do not know the details of the situation," she said gently. "But it seems to me that, if you would rather stay with the father of your unborn, you should try to do so. What sort of man is he? Is he someone worth staying with? Does he want you to stay? Why must you leave?"
She listened to the other woman's questions in silence, her tearful eyes still gazing out at the moonlit waters.
"What sort of man?" she murmured after a few stretched-out moments of thought. "He seems an honorable, worthwhile man. Only, I know that that cannot be true. My sisters know. And he does not want me to stay. He wants me to leave this place with my family. I must be with my family. Family is the only worthwhile thing. Or so they say," she explained, her words as halting and confused as her mind
"He seems to be an honorable man," Gailwen said with narrowed eyes. "And yet, he did not marry you to have sex with you. That does not sound honorable to me. Does he know that you are pregnant? Does he not want to raise his own children? And your sisters, if they say that he cannot be honorable, but you think that he might be, are you wrong, or are they? How much do you trust them? I think that they may be right in saying that he is not worth it, but you seem less certain. Why do you seem uncertain?"
The first question, Mirjana knew, would have an awkward answer for the obviously good aasimar beside her. It might scare her off, which was the opposite of what she wanted. Thankfully, there was a deluge of other questions she could answer. "He knows I am pregnant and he has said before that he wants to be with his children. My sisters and I have to go back home, though, and he does not want to come with us. Though, I suppose I cannot blame him for that. My sisters are... overwhelming." To put it lightly. "And they think that no men are worthwhile, but I think they may be wrong. But my thoughts must be wrong because they go against everything I've been taught."
Gailwen leaned back, frowning as she thought over everything the woman told her. "Hmm... so you think that he might actually want to be with you, and you want to be with him, but your sisters do not want that, so they are sabotaging the relationship. Well, I think that if you can form a relationship with the father of your child, that would be best for the child. You should always do what is best for the child. And your sisters sound very toxic. It might be good for you to get away from them. Do you think that this man would treat you and your child better than your sisters would?"
The redhead hung her head and sighed. "The answer to that question is complicated. Would we be treated better? He would almost certainly be kinder and gentler. But would that be good for either of us? Wouldn't that cause us to become weak? I know that if I choose to stay, I can never go back home to my people. But what if that's not what she wants? If she wants to go back, she will not be equipped to live with her own people!"
"Ah, I think I understand a bit more," Gailwen realized. She smiled. "So, your paramour is one who would treat you kindly, while your sisters would not, and you are worried about that making your daughter and you weak. But that will not happen. Kindness is not weakness. If it was, then Evil races and cultures would triumph. But that is clearly not the case. Many of the Evil races are clearly stronger than their good counterparts. And yet, they always, always lose. If your daughter is raised in gentleness and righteousness, then she will be stronger than your relatives, not weaker."
The woman gave that explanation some thought for several long moments. "Gentleness and righteousness..." the redhead repeated slowly. She wasn't sure about the second part. Her people were instilled with the idea that the punishment of wicked men was a righteous cause. This aasimar, however, likely meant something very different. That aside, Mirjana had noticed the pattern. "Like when Lord Faust became corrupted..." she said softly. "The city suffered; Lady Althaia would have never been able to take over while Faust was, well, gentler. And now that Faust is-" she coughed. "Now that Phanuel is controlling the city, I see signs of Port Afron growing more powerful and prosperous than it ever was."
"Exactly! Exactly!" Gailwen agreed with a grin.
With that, she looked over to Gailwen with a slightly weak smile. But behind that expression was one of resolve. "My sisters will leave, and I will stay. Thank you for helping me decide. My name is Mirjana, by the way." With that, Mirjana gave Gailwen a long hug. A very long hug.
"Oh! You are much stronger than you look!" The aasimar almost squeaked. "But I am..." Gailwen began before she stopped, frowning. "How, how did you know that Faust and Phanuel are the same person?" she said with narrowed eyes.
