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SCIENCE FICTION FANTASY

Miss Chadwicks Journey

Miss Chadwicks Journey

by spinneretagain
20 min read
4.68 (3200 views)
adultfiction

A Tale Concerning Miss Chadwick, of London, in which knowledge is conveyed concerning the Particular Customs of the City of Quaroun.

*****

Miss Anne Chadwick, of Jarrold Square, London, a spinster of three-and-thirty years, was seated in the gardens of her brother's house on an evening in the autumn of the year 19__, reading a volume of modern poetry, when the Gryphon of Lust descended from the moonlit sky and presented itself before her. There were a number of peculiarities in this scene, not least that a lady of Miss Chadwick's refinement should be seated alone outdoors at that hour, but nonetheless, such was the nature of the event.

Miss Chadwick put her book of poetry aside and assessed the creature before her. She considered the idea that she should flee in terror, but that response seemed foolish. For the gryphon possessed both formidable claws and the beak of a giant raptor, and had come to that place swiftly on its vast wings; if it wished her ill, it would surely have struck directly upon her from above and snuffed out her life in an instant. Rather, it appeared to be examining her with an enigmatic but not aggressive air.

Hence, acting on a curiosity which she had been told was unfeminine, Miss Chadwick examined the gryphon in return. She was uncertain of her points of comparison, as mythological creatures were rare in the better parts of London in those days, but it appeared to her to accord with all she had read or heard in passing of its species. At first, it had stood face-on to her and fixed its gaze upon her, but as she stepped forward cautiously to inspect its golden-brown plumage, it turned flank-on and sank to a recumbent posture. The implication of this act seemed clear, as it raised its wings to grant her access to its back.

Miss Chadwick was uncertain of the best response. To accept the creature's implied invitation might be considered rash, but to refuse might be considered impolite. Concluding after a moment that the wrath of a gryphon might be more harmful than the disapproval of society, Miss Chadwick stepped forward and carefully mounted the creature. Fortunately, the skirts which she was wearing were those which she had selected to facilitate her eccentric hobby of bicycling, and so were full enough to permit this action without discomfort or loss of dignity.

As soon as she was comfortably seated upon its back, the Gryphon of Lust rose once more to its feet, and in a continuous motion, leaped upwards, extending and beating its wings so that they carried it swiftly back into the sky. Thus was Miss Chadwick conveyed from the garden of her brother's house on Jarrold Square, observed by none save one passing off-duty footman, who thought it politic to say nothing of this matter, then or later.

The gryphon, and Miss Chadwick upon it, soon rose high into the sky, whereupon it turned its aquiline face to the south and east and flew on. Miss Chadwick attempted briefly to give it directions, but it simply ignored her, and she thus ceased the attempt lest her dignity be diminished by the attempt. The creature had a sense of purpose to its flight, and still showed no signs of hostility to its passenger, and so she simply relaxed and determined to admire the infinite variety of the moonlit cloudscape below her. Occasional partings in the clouds showed her dark forests and glittering seas.

It seemed to Miss Chadwick that flight granted a peculiar sense of timelessness. She could not say how long the journey took, and she did not think that she slept, and yet she felt no exhaustion or boredom when the sun arose on the horizon ahead of her and to her left, and the clouds below thinned to reveal a golden-yellow landscape that she assumed must be desert. Surveying the scene, she observed what was clearly a city some way off. It was clearly a fine community of stout towers and graceful domes, lit at that moment by the ruddy light of desert sunrise, and she decided that she would like to study it more closely.

Miss Chadwick was pleased when her motions and verbal encouragements now persuaded the gryphon to turn toward the city and attempt an approach. However, when the gryphon was still some leagues short of this destination, a dry and forceful headwind sprang up, strong enough that even the well-muscled gryphon could make no headway against it. The creature began circling the city, and it seemed to Miss Chadwick that the wind continued to press against it and encourage this, wherever it flew, keeping it at a specific distance. Looking down once more, she observed what was clearly a tent pitched upon the desert sand, and squinting against the desert sun, she also observed a string of camels, tethered hard by the tent. Deciding that fellow travellers might be able now to assist her, in one fashion or another, she induced the gryphon to descend in that direction.

As the gryphon came to rest on the sands, two men emerged from the tent, one perhaps a little younger than Miss Chadwick herself with fine, dark features and glittering eyes, the other somewhat older, a little lined by life and with a beard streaked with distinguished grey. Both appeared to Miss Chadwick to be fine, vigorous fellows. Both bowed courteously, and Miss Chadwick took care to dismount from the gryphon as elegantly as possible.

"Good morning," she said, "and I hope that I am not inconveniencing you by this visit. I fear that there is no-one to make correct introductions here, and so I must declare myself. I am Miss Anne Chadwick, of Jarrold Square, London." As she finished speaking, Miss Chadwick was startled to realise that she was speaking neither in her native English nor in her school-room French, but in an unfamiliar tongue which the men clearly comprehended. She did not yet know that it is one of the gifts of the Gryphon of Lust to enable communication in important matters by those who ride upon it.

"And hail to you also, o sorceress," said the younger man. "I am Numa the Merchant of the Three Oases, and this is Hanno the Drover of the Wild Sands, my partner in a trade-enterprise. Pray enter our humble tent and share coffee and salt with us."

"My thanks," said Miss Chadwick, stepping forward - for she remembered reading in tales of desert lands that hospitality, in the giving and the acceptance, was held sacred in those places, and she was a polite woman who rarely sought to give offence. "But I am no sorceress. Pray consider me only as Miss Chadwick."

"As you command, my lady Miss Chadwick," said Numa, and then he shared a smile with Hanno as Miss Chadwick entered their tent. If this visitor wished not to be thought a sorceress, it was only courteous and politic to humour her, but she had descended upon them riding upon a gryphon, which in truth was as unfamiliar a sight in the desert as in the better parts of London. Further, she was a woman of stern handsomeness, with strangely pale skin and dark-golden hair, wearing clothes in a bizarre and unfamiliar style that was surely too uncomfortable for any mortal creature. Logically, she could only be a puissant sorceress.

Within the tent, when all were seated on fine rugs, the men served Miss Chadwick strong coffee in beaten silver cups, salt, unleavened bread, and dates and olives. Miss Chadwick, who only ever breakfasted lightly, found this delightful, and expressed sincere appreciation.

"But tell me," she enquired politely, "which city, pray, is that nearby? I fear that I have been wandering without maps."

"That is the city of Quaroun," Numa the Merchant replied.

"Thank you," said Miss Chadwick. "It is quite strange, but the city appears to be suffering from most inconvenient weather. The gryphon seems unable to make headway against its winds. Is this common here?"

"That is the Warding of Quaroun," Hanno the Drover explained. "It is an ancient arrangement. No man or woman may enter the city, by any means, without performing the appropriate rites."

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"I see," said Miss Chadwick. "I am sure that the people of Quaroun have good cause for this arrangement, but it seems most inconvenient for the casual visitor. Might I ask if you gentlemen have knowledge of these appropriate rites?"

"We do," said Numa with a nod. "Indeed, our venture takes us to the city. We are intending to commence performance of the rites this morning."

Miss Chadwick sipped her strong coffee. "Are these rites theological or secular in nature?" she asked.

"They are famously entirely secular," Numa replied. "And there is nothing entailed in them from which I think a sorceress would refrain."

"I am no sorceress." Miss Chadwick said again, and Numa and Hannor smiled and nodded politely, for it is never wise to contradict a sorceress. "But no matter. There can be no harm in participation in a land's secular rites and customs, and I do desire to visit that handsome city. Would it be possible and convenient for a third party to join you in this performance?" she asked. "I have no wish to delay you or abuse your hospitality."

"There would be no inconvenience," Numa said. "Our tent is yours, and we would be happy for you to participate."

"Thank you," said Miss Chadwick, placing her silver cup on the sands. "What is required first for this?"

"First," Hanno declared, "it is necessary for you to disrobe."

Miss Chadwick blinked in startlement. "Disrobe entirely?" she enquired in a level tone.

"Yes indeed" Numa agreed.

Miss Chadwick gave this a moment's thought. These were not customs of a sort commonly obeyed in the better parts of London. However, her father, who had travelled to France and the Low Countries and occasionally to the German states, had more than once observed that, when in foreign parts, it was best to obey the local customs, even if they seemed a little strange.

"Excuse me one moment," she said, then rose to her feet and peered without the tent. The gryphon was still present, and had adopted a recumbent posture near the entrance. It looked at her with what she felt certain, for reasons she could never express, was an amiable and protective gaze. It seemed to her that she was safe from human harm with it nearby.

She turned back to the men. "Very well," she said, "but it is my own custom never to disrobe in company. Might I have use of this tent for a few minutes?"

"Of course," the men agreed with gracious nods of their heads, and stepped out into the morning sun. Miss Chadwick commenced immediately to disrobe, lest overmuch consideration should cause her to suffer doubts. Fortunately, she favoured rational dress, which enabled her to perform the process without the aid of a maid. When she was naked, she drew breath.

"Very well," she called out to the men, "that is done. What is the next requirement?"

"We must join you," Numa announced, and before Miss Chadwick could ask more, he and Hanno entered the tent. Now, Miss Chadwick observed that the customs and rites of this land had at least a degree of symmetry, for both men too had disrobed. She carefully refrained from showing shock at this, and to refrain from overmuch assessment of sights which she had only previously seen on classical statuary. Nonetheless, she saw enough to convince her that classical sculptors wilfully underestimated scale when depicting certain elements of human anatomy.

"And now?" she asked carefully.

"Best you recline," Numa said. "The large rug is silk, and pleasant on the skin."

Reminding herself once more of her father's advice, Miss Chadwick obeyed the suggestion, and was but a little bemused when the men too lay themselves down, one either side of her. When they placed their lips upon her face, and lips and hands upon her naked breasts, she drew a sharp breath, but then she reminded herself that these were customs applying before the gates of Quaroun, and not in Jarrold Square, London. Numa's kisses and caresses were, she decided, the more delicate and charming of the two, but Hanno's beard stimulated her skin in an interesting fashion, and when he took her left nipple gently between his teeth while caressing it with his tongue, she wondered if he had some special skill, or merely the experience appropriate to his greater years.

At this point, she observed various phenomena of which she had previously been ignorant. For example, she had long been aware that her nipples might, on occasion, grow puckered, erect, and sensitive, but they had only ever previously done so in response to uncomfortably cold temperatures. Finding them doing so in the warm shade of the tent was surprising, but not as unpleasant as the similar experience on winter days. It seemed to her that foreign customs might have their charms.

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She reflexively moved her arms to embrace both the men, appreciating as she did so the firm musculature that bespoke both's lives of adventure, and then ventured a few cautious kissed of her own on Numa's broad brows before presenting her right nipple to Hanno for attentions to match those he had given the left. As neither man criticised her for these actions, she concluded that they were not incompatible with the rites determined by the Warding of Quaroun.

Miss Chadwick was not a foolish or an entirely ignorant woman, and so when the two men placed hands upon her thighs and drew them apart, and then Hanno knelt between them, holding his most startlingly distended member in one hand as he did so, she recognised that she was being required to surrender her maidenhead to him. However, it seemed to her at that moment that her maidenhead had done but little for her in her life so far, and discarding it was not so terribly vast a price. Thus, she made no protest, and nor did she obstruct Numa when he reached down and parted her nether lips with his hand, opening her entirely to his business partner's approach. She sighed a little as she felt the warm tip of Hanno's member press against her, but the cry she gave when he pushed deeply into her had nothing of mourning in it.

As for Hanno, he was a man of wisdom and experience, and he realised at once that he had deflowered a virgin. At first he was concerned, because sorceresses are not in general noted for their conventional virtue, and the only reason he could imagine whereby one might have been induced to avoid male attentions ere now was that virginity was for her a source of power, and he had no wish to anger a sorceress. However, Miss Chadwick showed no signs of wrath, and so he resolved to give her good reason to feel kindly disposed to him, hoping thus to ameliorate any later anger. He set to work with a will, moving deeper into her courteously but unrelentingly, until he sensed that his testes were brushing against her buttocks. He paused for a moment at the thought of that, and smiled, for they were fine round buttocks whose profiles had been hidden by the peculiar skirts which she had worn when she had first arrived. Then, exerting the control over his animal enthusiasm which is the sign of a refined lover, he began to move his hips in a rotary motion, caressing Miss Chadwick's hidden parts with his own loins.

Miss Chadwick frowned momentarily at that point, for this was quite unexpected, and she wondered how much she had previously simply been ignorant of the ways of carnality, and how much she was learning of the admirable special customs of foreign lands. Upon that momentary consideration, however, she concluded that the question was of little concern to her at this time, whereas the effects upon her of Hanno's actions merited immediate attention.

She drew breath and closed her eyes, and clasped Hanno with arms and thighs. He in turn, seeking not to crush her with his greater weight, placed his hands flat on the ground and lifted the both of them up a little. He was amused to see Numa now sitting back to study this coupling, while idly caressing his own member as it responded to the vision his eyes reported. Miss Chadwick, the meanwhile, responded gratifyingly to Hanno's efforts. Her cries were small and wordless at first, but as she and they came to a climax, she called hoarsely upon her god. Only after that did she open her eyes once more, and then she blushed to see Hanno smiling at her at close quarters. Releasing the hold of her arms and thighs upon him, she fell back a short distance to the silk rug.

But she had not entirely released her grip on him, and he did not abandon his interest in her, instead taking this as license to commence a more vigorous but less subtle pattern of thrusting. Miss Chadwick gasped and looked wide-eyed and unnerved, as the sensitive lover who had just shown her something of her unrealised capacities now demonstrated an animalistic and self-indulgent energy. Within moments, Hanno gave a low growl and a last great thrust, and then ceased, drew breath, and drew out of her.

"And are many of the customs of Quaroun thus so enthralling?" Miss Chadwick enquired.

But Hanno was paying less attention to her than to Numa. "Young man," he suggested, "fetch wine and salves and scented oils. Our guest has spent blood in our honour, and must have her nerves calmed and her tenderness relieved ere you play your part in these rites."

"And so Numa too must perform these same acts upon me?" Miss Chadwick asked.

"That is the usual way of these rites," Numa confirmed as he drew a cork from a wine-bottle.

"Indeed." Miss Chadwick frowned. "I do hope that I am not inconveniencing you both, by making matters more complex. And I do not wish you to think me greedy."

"Your courtesy does you credit, o golden one," Numa replied as he drew vials of salves from a pack of medicines, "but we suffer no inconvenience."

"And you have no objections to the rites continuing?" Hanno asked.

"Of course not," Miss Chadwick replied, a little too swiftly. "I have undertaken this, and will complete the task."

Numa handed her a cup of wine, and she took small sips, as she had been taught was ladylike. "A sweet vintage," she observed, as Hanno dabbed drops of blood from her loins with a linen cloth. Then she sighed a little as he applied a little salve to that same location, and watched with interest as he moved aside to permit Numa to kneel between her thighs while holding an oil-flask. When Numa poured oil into his palm, she noticed a rich rose-scent, and then she sighed again, for he gently but pleasingly worked some of the scented oil onto her person before applying more of it to his own member. "That would appear to be a little shorter but thicker than Hanno's

part

," she commented. "Is such variation the norm?"

"Greater variations are known," Numa replied, as Hanno laughed hoarsely. "But thicker or not, I believe that you are adequately lubricated now. So, with your permission..."

"Of course," Miss Chadwick said with a nod, and then she watched with only a slight frown as Numa leaned forward and placed the tip of his part neatly between her nether lips. She then drew breath at the exact moment that he moved forward, and hastily opened her thighs wider to accommodate his muscular hips. No longer distracted by confusion or discomfort, she could now pay attention to the specific experience of the act, feeling her body entered and occupied in a way that might have been unpleasant, save that it was very pleasant indeed. For a moment, she lay quietly, seeking to muster her thoughts.

"My lady Miss Chadwick?" spake Numa, looking at her with concern.

"Master Merchant Numa," she replied, and kissed his cheek. Thus encouraged, Numa began moving, subtly rocking his entire body against her, so that not only were her loins caressed by his own, but her breasts were stimulated by his chest - which bore fine but wiry hair which made the effect all the more fascinating - while her belly brushed his and her thighs and his shared thin films of perspiration. Concentrating carefully on all of these sensations, Miss Chadwick commenced a pattern of slow, deep breathing. This continued for some minutes, but grew ever deeper, until her breaths became audible and hoarse. Ultimately, waves of passion washed over her, and she fell nigh unto fainting, and after a last series of deep inhalations, she sang a few bars of some half-forgotten symphonic melody. Numa, reassured that his gentlemanly duty was done for the moment, now permitted himself to relax into his own passions, which too came in slow waves, save with some twitching of his member which Miss Chadwick noted with interest.

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