~~~ Chapter Notes ~~~
Loki and Willa have permanently dealt with the thugs that were harassing the orphans. All chapters in this tale are complete and have been submitted. Hopefully, the kind, gracious, smartly-attired, and gorgeous admins will release a new episode every day or so.
~~~ Dora's Orphanage ~~~
The room was still filled with the sounds of soft snoring when I woke up. I opened my eyes to see Dora looking at me. I turned my head to see that Willa was awake as well.
"Breakfast?" I asked with a wink.
"Lecher..," Dora accused, grinning.
I gave both women a kiss and we quietly got up - being careful not to wake the little cherubs that shared Dora's bedroom. We got dressed and I headed out to the back yard to take a leak. I washed my hands and headed back inside.
Zima was up. I gave her a side-hug and got punched by Willa as the young girl blushed.
"Good morning, little sister," I told her.
"Good morning, master Loki," she replied.
We quickly got busy, getting the morning meal prepared. I was set to work cutting strips of meat from a familiar-looking ham hock. Zima ferried the meat to the cast-iron skillet to be browned by Willa as Dora worked on some kind of porridge.
"Take the weapons with you," Dora said, as we worked. "I've no use for those and they'll just raise questions if anybody comes looking for the missing items. I can explain away the blankets, platters, and other things."
"You gave her the coins?" I asked Willa.
"She did," Dora answered. "They're stored in the lockbox. You really shouldn't have."
"He really should," Willa told her. "You're doing a good work here. You need coins."
"I wouldn't need so much coin if... but you've solved that problem too," she said.
"We'll be back to check on you," Willa promised her, pinching her on the butt.
Zima giggled.
"There's no way to get word to us but we'll stop now and then to make sure you girls are okay," the thief told the woman.
"I'd appreciate that," Dora told her, looking deep into her eyes.
"You're not alone, sister," Willa said.
"That... That means more than you know," she answered.
"I know what it's like to be alone," Willa told her, "to have no one to depend on but yourself - only I didn't have all of these brats to tend to..."
"Hey!" Zima objected.
She squeaked when Willa pinched her on the butt and giggled.
Zima's eyes shot to mine and she blushed.
I raised my hands in surrender.
"I'm behaving, little sister," I told her.
She shook her head at me and giggled - and then spun and jammed her fingers into Willa's ribs - eliciting a shriek from the woman. I laughed as the two tussled.
"Not in here!" Dora yelled.
"Yes, Mother," the pair said at the same time, looking at one another, and then giggling.
I couldn't keep from laughing at them. Dora rounded on me and I quickly escaped to the common room. I plopped onto the couch and was quickly buried under a litter of tiny kittens. Alia claimed my lap but several of the other smallest orphans clung to my sides and shoulders.
"A story...," they begged.
"Did you even hear the end of the last?" I asked them.
"Again then!" they cheered.
I gave them an edited-for-time version of the story I'd told the previous night and finished up just as Dora called for them (and me) to head to the table.
Dora asked me to offer the prayer.
"All-Father," I said to the ceiling. "Keep your eyes on these little ones. May their hearts always be full of love and their tummies always full of yummy food."
"Yes!" Alia cheered, pumping her fist.
Willa and Dora laughed.
We started passing bowls to the left and soon everyone had a bowl of porridge and a couple strips of ham.
The little girl to my right tugged on my sleeve. I turned to look at her.
"Thank you for the ham," she said sweetly.
I tousled her hair and kissed her on the forehead.
"No problem, little sister," I said.
The adorable little cherub turned from me to look at Alia - and stuck out her tongue. Alia made to get out of her chair and I started to intervene but Dora was faster.
"Unless you want extra chores," she said, "you two had better knock it off."
"Yes, Mother," the two chorused.
I smothered a laugh and Willa slugged me in the shoulder.
After the meal, the clean-up crew started their work and the rest of the girls were dismissed to the back yard - with a reminder to make sure their beds were made.
Dora slipped outside with us to say good-bye. I got a hug and a kiss. I squeezed her ass while she kissed me. Willa got a hug and a quick peck on the lips.
"Thank you both so much...," she said.
"We'll drop by now and then," Willa told her. "Take care of yourself until we can come back to take care of you."
Dora blushed and giggled.
I suddenly realized that there might have been more to that phrase than I had first considered. I was still thinking about it when the door closed and Willa squeezed my dick.
"Come on, handsome," she said. "What's next on your agenda?"
"Exploring...," I replied. "If I run into a water-mage named Monika, I'm supposed to tell her that I healed Valeri's hand.
"I think I know where to find Monika," Willa said.
"Lead on...," I told her, hugging her from the side.
She took my hand and we headed towards the main thoroughfare.
A few blocks later, we passed the fire mage and I bid him good morning. He smiled and returned my greeting.
We turned south on the main road and I said, "This looks familiar..."
Willa laughed and bumped her shoulder against mine.
We passed the street where I had turned off to corral the sneak-thief the previous morning - and then continued along the main road. We bought a couple rat-skewers from the food-cart and were currently working on our second breakfast.
We came to the street where we'd taken a bath in the backyard the previous day and stopped to reclaim our now-dry clothes. After that, we returned to the main thoroughfare again.
We traveled probably another mile before we came to a market. Willa suggested trying to pawn the weapons that we had acquired. She said that we could have sold them to a weapons-maker but the man might have recognized the pieces and she wanted to avoid any accusations. She explained that the traders in the marketplace were usually traveling merchants and were more likely to buy without asking too many questions.
We found a guy that Willa recognized as being one of the larger operators. Her logic with choosing him was that he'd move more product and be willing to offer something closer to the true value of what we were selling - assuming that he could turn around and sell it quickly and not get stuck with it.
As he quoted what he was offering for each piece, I caught Willa nodding. I added the knife from the woman as well as a couple other blades that I'd picked up when I saved Nella.
I ended up with less money than I had passed along to Dora the previous day - but I was confident that my new fistful of coins would be more than enough to keep Willa and me supplied with rat-skewers.
As soon as my coins were tucked away, she dragged me off to a vendor who had sweet rolls. I bought one for each of us. They were so sweet that my teeth ached. I doubted that they had discovered granulated sugar in this world but - whatever they had used to make the icing - it was amazing. There was a dollop of goo in the corner of Willa's mouth and I lapped it up. She giggled and shoved me.
"How much does one of those bracelets cost?" I asked her.
I was tired of fighting with my pack and was hoping to pick up a magical storage-device.
"A lot more than you have...," she said matter-of-factly.
"I'll save my coins then," I told her.
She gave me a serious look and then nodded. I stole a quick kiss before she could defend herself - and then ran away before she could retaliate. She caught up with me and grabbed my hand to hold. We headed back for the main road and turned north again.
We traveled for another hour or so and the homes were getting nicer and nicer. The road was still just packed dirt, though. I wondered just how big this place was.
"Way! Make way! Any healers?"
I turned to see what the commotion was about and saw another palanquin. The sides were open on this one and it had even more guards than the last one. I heard Willa gasp and she stepped back, releasing my hand. She pushed me forward.
"Healer here!" she yelled.
She shoved me and I stumbled into the woman beside and in front of me.
"Healer here!" the woman shouted, taking up Willa's cry and pushing my arm into the air. "Healer!"
A burly guard rushed at me. He was massive. I gulped and froze.
"Healer?" he asked.
The only thing that allowed me the where-with-all to nod was that he had sheathed his heavy sword as he strode towards me and the old woman who was holding my arm.
"It's the prince...," the woman whispered almost reverently. "How was he hurt?"
The guard flashed a scowl at her that immediately quieted her. He grabbed my arm and hurried me forward. The young man in the carriage was bleeding from multiple wounds. One on his neck looked infected. A guard was squeezing the injured person's bicep. Blood streamed from between the big man's fingers at an alarming rate.
I pulled away from the grasp of my escort and hurried forward. The one holding the man's bicep glared at me.
"Don't do anything stupid. Heal him if you can. Fail and I will cut you down where you stand."
I gulped and nodded and reached to take hold of the limp hand that was the closest part of the young man that I could touch.
