New Rider 2

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This work of fiction is part of a series; if you did not already read the preceding chapters, please do that before starting this part of the story.

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~~~ Wood Elf Kingdom ~~~

I'm not sure what I had expected the castle, palace, or whatever this place was meant to be for the wood elf kingdom to look like - trees, I guess. Everything was stone.

It didn't look like the habitation of any dwarven kings - but it didn't look at all like I had expected. If anything, it looked like a human castle - with an expansive courtyard surrounded by grey stone walls - sitting behind a river which, obviously, limited what a siege-engine would be able to do.

I didn't see an enclosed city. If it was behind the walls surrounding the castle or palace, it didn't match all of the stonework and I couldn't pick it out. Maybe the rest of the kingdom actually lived in the forests, as I had expected. The plains behind the walls were heavily wooded.

As we passed over the causeway, there were no trumpets or heralds to announce the return of the princess.

A mountain of a man (or elf) in gleaming armor stood just beyond the gate, waiting (it appeared) to receive us.

"Captain Arden," the man said.

"We have returned," the captain replied.

"Where are the rest of your men, the carriage, the horses, ...?"

"Lost to an orc war-party," Arden reported, matter-of-factly.

The man harrumphed at him and looked over the six of us.

"A prisoner? Why is it not in chains?"

"She attends me," the princess told the inquisitor.

He ignored Eryngium as if she didn't exist - and hadn't spoken out loud.

Up until then, I was fostering a growing dislike for the man. At that point, he earned my severe displeasure. I held my tongue, but my mental chart of accounts had him with a significant balance under the 'amounts owed' column - and the day was still young.

"Who is your friend?" he asked Arden.

"Lord Striker gave us shelter from the orcs and drove them off," the captain replied.

"Not all of them, apparently," the man said, derisively - obviously not able to let go of the fact that we had a feral orc in our company.

"Sometimes," I said, interrupting their private conversation about us, "it's better to show a hand of kindness or of friendship - especially when venturing into the unknown."

If he understood my suggestion that he change his tack, he ignored it.

"I will inform the king that you have returned," he told Captain Arden. "Wait at the guest quarters until your party is summoned."

Once we had arrived at the assigned quarters, Arden released Belim and Jergo to return to their homes. We never saw them again.

We sat around for a couple hours, dusk fell, and still no one arrived. No one acknowledged our presence. No one offered us food. We were simply ignored.

As I sat and watched soldiers move through their rounds and people go about their business, I tried to wrap my brain around the idea that this city (or small kingdom) had lost almost a dozen warriors, their mounts, and their supplies - as well as the transport that the princess had been riding in - and nobody came to ask questions.

I don't consider myself to be someone in need of the attentions of others, but Arden had clearly told the gate-commander that I had rescued them from an orc war-party that had killed, destroyed, or carried off that much of their persons or property - and that didn't warrant someone coming to speak to me?

Even without Arden and Eryn's warnings that their ruler (and father) cared little about them, I found it unfathomable that some kind of military leader wouldn't want to find out what had happened and what I was doing here. Generally, I avoided getting bogged down in the minutiae of life. On the other hand, I'm very careful about who I let wander around within my borders. Maybe I'm more unusual than I thought but it's definitely not how I handled things.

Maybe I was getting worked up because of the girls. I had found myself suddenly caring about far more things than I had before. If it had only been me, I would have just left. Now I had two lovely little minxes to worry about. I was worried about food, safe places to sleep, and hot showers.

We ate together from my pack, drank from our canteens, and I refilled them with water that I summoned from the air. The captain took the room on the right. The girls took the one on the left. I set wards nearby, leaned against the wall between the doors, and nodded off.

When I awoke, early the next morning, I removed my wards.

The others roused themselves soon after dawn and joined me on the stoop. We breakfasted from my stores, drank from our canteens, and used the nearby latrine. I emptied the washbasins in their rooms and refilled the pitchers with clean water.

The girls disappeared back inside to freshen themselves up. The captain did as well. They each returned in clothes that were free of road-dust. I slipped into the girls' room and changed into the clothes that I intended to wear when I met with Eryn's father.

It was past mid-morning before an escort arrived to convey us to our audience with the kingdom's ruler.

~~~ The King ~~~

As we were escorted into the receiving hall, the king bellowed, "What is that THING doing here?"

"She is my attendant," the princess replied.

"Not in my palace, it's not," he growled.

"Stay by me," I whispered to Tala. "Keep your eyes down for now. I don't ask this to shame you but so that you don't have to look at the man's ugly face."

A quiet chortle escaped from between her lips as she looked at the floor a couple paces in front of us.

Princess Eryngium hurried over, kissed her father's ring, and took what I assumed was her usual place - several paces to his left.

"Your majesty," Captain Arden intoned, loudly enough for all to hear, "may I introduce Lord Striker?"

The king looked from the commander to me.

"Good king," I said. "I had the great fortune of meeting your daughter in the course of her travels. I spent several days in her company and find her character to be as refined as her beauty. I seek her hand in marriage - a life-bond."

"I see. And what would you offer in exchange for her hand?" he asked.

"Coin," I told him.

"Trade?" he countered.

"I have little need of trade and my lands are a great distance away."

"Treaties?" he inquired.

"I need no allies."

"None?" he asked.

"None. I will defend your kingdom against unprovoked attacks but will not promise any other support."

"Coin, then?" he asked, simplifying it down to the terms I figured we'd arrive at in the end.

I nodded.

"What would you offer?"

"Thrice her weight in gold."

"Nuggets? Coins?"

"Pure, refined gold."

The king looked to his chamberlain and said, "Bring a fulcrum and a beam."

I had offered what I thought was a base starting price. I had expected him to counter. I had been willing to go as high as ten. Who am I kidding? I was enthralled with the young princess. As I had told her before we began this journey, I would pay whatever I had to.

As we waited, the king asked, "How came you by so much gold and how was it refined?"

"I am, your majesty," I replied to him, "an arch-mage. I have acquired this gold over years of service and adventure. I smelted it and purified it myself. I use a great many precious metals and gems as reagents for my magic."

He nodded but studied me intensely as we waited.

Several minutes later, a group of guards carried in a long beam and a large prism-shaped stone. The administrator situated the beam until it was mostly centered on the fulcrum - with slightly more length to the right - which brought that end to the ground.

I stepped over, picked up an empty wooden backed chair, pulled the legs off of it, and balanced the seat on the beam.

"Captain, if you please," I said to Arden.

He glanced at the king.

"Why do you need the captain?" the elf lord asked.

"I'll give you his weight in gold and retain him as your daughter's guardian - in addition to three times the girl's weight for your daughter's hand," I replied.

The king thought about it for a moment. His eyes ran over the man, his gear, and his clothes. He waved for the captain to sit. Arden sat on the seat.

"Princess," I called. Pointing for her to stand and wait.

She moved to the place I indicated and stopped.

When she paused, I looked to her father, and said, "Two more of her weight."

"The orc," he said without hesitating.

I had expected that choice and just smiled at him as I spoke to Tala.

"Please sit on the captain's lap, Tala."

I looked back to the king. He smirked and called out a name.

Eryn gasped and I knew, before the young woman even stepped out, that he had selected the fattest chicken in the hen-house. The poor girl waddled over. I pointed to Tala's lap, and she sat. Tala's eyes widened as the woman's full weight came to bear.

"Alright, captain?" I called to Arden.

"Never better, my lord," he replied - which elicited a growl from the king.

I had cringed, inwardly, when Arden had spoken the words. He'd been with me too long and had grown accustomed to calling me 'my lord'. I knew his king would take insult - though none had been intended. It reinforced my decision to take the captain home with us.

"Princess?" I called, pointing her to the precarious place on top of the rotund attendant.

Eryn rolled her eyes at me, climbed onto the beam, and planted her petite posterior between the other woman's breasts - atop her rounded stomach. (There was no room in her lap for a body to sit.)

I walked to the other end of the beam, pulled out a block of gold that I knew would outweigh whatever the king had selected, and lowered it onto the beam slowly - easily lifting the four people (and the chair seat) at the other end of the balance-beam - off of the ground.

The king frowned as the room erupted in applause. The crowd's response had added insult to the injury. I slowly lifted the cube from the beam, lowering my friends - and the king's hefty addition - back to the ground. I set the block of gold on the ground and stepped over to help each of the participants back to their feet.

"I could kiss you," Tala whispered to me as I helped her up.

"Hold that thought," I told her.

Arden clasped my wrist - and I his - and I pulled him up as well.

"Tread carefully," he whispered to me.

He brought me the wooden legs for the seat and, together, we reassembled the chair. He set it down on the floor and sat upon it - to show everyone that it was unharmed.

The king was still frowning.

"How is it, arch-mage," the king growled. "that you can pick up a block of gold that weighs as much as four people? I think you are cheating me with magic."

"If you suggest that I am a cheat, can I imply that you are a liar - or a simpleton? The proof is elementary. Have your men pick up your worthless prize."

"It is worthless, then?" he accused.

"It is solid gold, your lordship, as promised," I told him. "Obviously, you and I have differing values for people's lives. That block is easily twice what I offered you. You could have asked for ten times the girl's weight and it would still suffice. Have it broken down and weighed if you doubt me - but your accusations are baseless and you're making yourself look foolish."

He glared at me.

"Captain Arden," I said quietly. "We're leaving."

"Guards!" the king shouted.

I spoke one word, loudly: "Slow."

The tremors of my magically-enhanced command radiated from my mouth and struck everyone in the hall - everyone except Arden, Tala, and Eryn - who swept through the lethargic crowds of people in front of them and shoved their way out of the door.

Seconds later - as time resumed its normal flow - or so it seemed to the rest of those in the room - all eyes focused on me.

"Weigh the fucking gold and get a hold of yourself or these people will be choosing a new king," I told Eryn's father.

He opened his mouth to call me down. I stared at him and let the lightning bolts dart back and forth across the fronts of my eyes.

He directed the guards to pick up the block of gold.

Four burly oafs stepped forward and - with many grunts and curses - tried to pick it up. They only managed to roll the block onto its side. Their second attempt failed just as miserably - in exactly the same manner. They weren't even managing to roll it towards the dais that the king's throne was sitting on.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" I bellowed. "Move!"

I lifted the block into my arms and carried it up the steps and set it one pace to the left of the throne. I reached for my sword. A guard stepped up to my right and put his hand on my wrist.

I was tired. My temper was shorter than it should have been. I probably could have used a Snickers candy bar - whatever that is. I flicked my wrist at the man who'd put his hand on me, and he bounced off of the stone wall twenty feet away. I stood and looked at the rest of the guards.

"I'm going to draw my sword and cut the block into slices so that King Fuck-face here can stop calling me a thief and a liar. Unless you want to feel that man's pain (I pointed at the guard who still wasn't moving), I suggest you keep your fucking hands off of me. If I wanted to kill Eryn's dad, he would have long ago been turned into a lump of charcoal. As I hope you have figured out by now, I don't need a sword to kill someone."

I didn't bother looking at King Fuck-face. I was beyond caring what he thought at this point.

I drew my sword, knelt, and sliced the block of gold into four equal pieces. I stood up, sheathed my sword, and looked at the king.

"Hopefully, you have a guard around here who is man enough to pick each of those up. Our business is complete. Good day to you." I leaned closer and whispered, "If you were not already aware. Your throne is made of gold-plated wood. By my calculations, the thickest part of the plating is a quarter-inch thick. This cube weighs more than all of the gold in your throne."

I descended the stairs, walked past all of the people in the hall, and made my way to the entrance without being accosted. As I passed out through the doors, I found the captain waiting outside.

Arden said, "The girls went to get Eryn's things. They should be back any moment."

We stood and waited. I had just started twitching with nervous energy when the two of them came jogging up. Their packs were filled to the seams. I greedily accepted kisses from both of them.

One door guard looked at Tala and made a face like he was retching. I flicked a wrist at him, and he tumbled twenty feet across the courtyard. I looked at the other guard and he held up his hands and shook his head. I noted him as being more trainable than the rest.

We crossed the courtyard, collected the rest of the things from the rooms we had stayed in, and eventually approached the palace gate. The portcullis was down.

Two warriors, decked out in full battle gear, stood in front of the iron lattice-work gate. One was our friend from the previous day.

"Open the gate," Arden told them.

"Not without an order from the king," my new best friend said.

"How long will it take you to rebuild this?" I asked him.

"What?" he asked.

In the sing-song voice of a middle-school child (whatever that is), I said, "Loser says 'What?'"

"What?" he asked again.

I raised my palm towards him and shoved. I was still standing ten feet away from the two guards, but the man's body shot backwards like a cannonball. The bulk of his armored figure stopped when it collided with the bars of the gate. His head, hands, and feet didn't stop. They came to rest several feet beyond the heavy portcullis. The rest of his metal-covered torso was now part of the gate.

The other guard looked back at the mess and ran for his life. Had he ordered the gate opened, I might have been inclined to be nicer. He didn't. I hate having to deal with slow learners. I flicked my wrist at his back, and he tumbled onto his face. His armor dug a fifteen-foot-long furrow in the surface of the courtyard before his body finally stopped. I could hear him spitting gravel out of his mouth; apparently, he had survived. Lucky him!

I walked up to the portcullis, drew my sword, focused on the blade, and then used it to cut an archway through the bars to the left of the armored corpse that appeared to be welded to the gate. I grabbed the freshly-freed piece, lifted it out of the way, and laid it against the left wall of the gatehouse. I sheathed my blade.

Once Arden, Eryn, and Tala were through, I followed and then stepped over to the solid stone archway and laid my right hand on it.

Tremors began moving through the gatehouse. The metal shrieked. The stones began vibrating. The guards on the wall ran for the stairs. The tremors increased until, at last, the mortar crumbled, the stones came apart, and the whole structure fell into a pile. I used a bit of magic to brush the dust from my hands and turned to join the others.

~~~ Retreat ~~~

"You seem a little stressed-out, my lord," Tala said, snickering, glancing from the rubble to my face. "Maybe we should find you a nice girl and get you laid."

"You know any nice girls, Tala?" I asked, smirking at her fanged, mischievous grin.

"I know a naughty little wood elf that would like to get into your pants," she replied.

"Do you, now?" I asked. "Do you happen to know any naughty little orc girls that would like to join the fun?"

"Tonight should just be the princess, my lord," Tala replied, growing more serious.

I glanced over at Eryngium to see what she would say.

"I would love to have the first time just be with the two of us," Eryn cooed, stepping up close and fidgeting with my collar as she breathed heavily against my neck. "After that, I think my hand-maid should have some time alone with my lord as well."

"That won't take long," Tala told her, laughing. "I'm about to pop right here. Violence gets me stoked. I just about jizzed myself when he blew the idiot gate captain apart."

I slipped around the elf, stepped onto the toes of the orc's feet, shoved my hand down the front of her skirt, and began sliding my fingers across her hooded nub and then down the front of her sex - before reversing direction and ending up with my fingers giving her little bump a tiny squeeze. She squealed and leaned towards me as her knees quivered. I wrapped my left arm behind her to hold her in place.

I repeated that whole process - over and over again - moving faster and faster - not allowing her to escape from my grasp - until she came hard. I held her up as she lost the ability to stand on her own. I kissed her and ran my tongue over her cute little tusks until she could recompose herself. Then I grabbed the rounded globes of her ass in my palms, pulled her up for another hard kiss, and then set her back on her feet.

"That will have to hold you over until bedtime," I told her.

"Thank you, my lord," she purred as she recovered from her climax.

Eryn pinched her nipple and then capered along beside us as I held the orc's hand to steady her, and we began walking down the road.

I looked at the spritely little minx, wondering if her mother had been a river spirit or wood nymph of some kind - she was always so full of energy.

I still had so many questions about the king - and all of the stonework he seemed to prefer - but I decided that those were answers that I didn't need. Tala's steps seemed to be steady enough, so I released her hand. I captured the blonde's hand as she galloped by, swung her into my arms, ravaged her lips with my own, and set her back to her prancing once more.

She looked at me and smiled - it was like a beam of warm sunshine. She said nothing.

"What?" I asked her, laughing.