Remember...

Remember... Chapter 6: Moments of Delight

***

Yet another chapter that I hope you will enjoy.

CCG

***

Thunder and lightning crashed outside as the annular rain storm raged on the other side of the tall, ornate window. Jaraad sat at the head of a long table looking out as the men behind him reported on the latest development in Mamet.

"My lord, while I don't think House Norfald would risk outright conflict with us or the drows in the short term, I suspect they may try to probe our readiness, and I would not rule out more overt aggression in the next six to twelve months."

Jaraad frowned. "Sure, Norfald wouldn't likely attack us or the drows any time soon, but they could move against Hek instead."

The soldier blinked. "Um. Yes, my lord, but the treaty... That would be a declaration of war against both Rancer and Azin. Norfald would not risk a two front war."

Across the table from Jaraad, a happy, portly man shook his head. "That's fine and dandy, Charlie, but what if Norfald's got some sort of a secret agreement with Azin? Even if they don't, what if the drow just don't show up? We would be left fighting Norfald alone, while they can come in afterwards and just clean out the survivors."

"Yes, General, but that's always been a concern, and we have no reason to believe-"

"Right," Jaraad interrupted. "But Norfald's just re-arranged their whole ruling house. There's no telling what new relationships might have been forged behind our backs. Right now, we treat them as an unknown."

The soldier considered this for a moment, and nodded. "I'll have my men reevaluate the situation, and report back tomorrow, my lord." As the soldier took his leave, opening the door to the meeting hall, Jaraad spotted Mark pacing in the halls outside. Their eyes met for a moment.

Jaraad gracefully excused himself from the room of generals and stepped out.

"Hey, what's up?" He patted Mark on the back. "What happened to you? You look like crap."

"Hey, I need some help," Mark sighed. "This might take a while. I'll wait till your meeting is finished."

"Don't worry about it. We're done in there anyways," Jaraad smiled as he walked them to an adjacent room. Once he closed the door behind them, granting them some privacy, he turned to Mark. "What do you need my help with? And seriously, did you not sleep or something?"

"Something like that," Mark shrugged. "So you remember that incident last week with the Rogues?"

"How could I not? The Society Enforcer guys are still complaining to my guys about how we let rogues into the city and what not," he frowned. "How the hell were we supposed to know that they were rogues? It's not like they have a freaking sign around their necks. So now they're all 'Ooooh, you guys don't know how to do your job,' or 'Ooooh, the city can't be trusted to inattentive people like you'. I mean by the fucking spirits, I was about to just tell them to shove it and do it themselves if they think they can do better."

"Uh. Yeah, that one," he blinked.

Jaraad paused. "Sorry, about that," he smiled apologetically. "But yeah, I remember it. Some elves going through a bad part of town got grabbed."

"Right. One of the elves was the girl I was seeing."

"Oh woah, I'm sorry to hear that! I'll see who else I can spare from the flood preparations to put on that case-"

"Wait, wait, no, you don't have to do that. Probably better if you didn't, really."

"Err. Would you rather that she not be found? Because we can do that-"

"No! No, I want her," Mark shook his head. "I want her to be found, of course, but... well, basically, I didn't know she was even kidnapped, but her guardians contacted me because they thought I could help... because they're starting to suspect that I'm not a merchant like I've been telling them I am."

"Oh. That's... not good."

"Yeah, to put it mildly," Mark said as he ran his hand through his hair. "So basically just feed me whatever information you can get, but don't make it obvious that we're throwing more people at it."

"I see," Jaraad nodded. "I'll do what I can, but you should tell Andrew and Chris if you haven't already."

"Yeah, I'll do it later this afternoon. I'll see them anyways."

"Mark, once we find this girl, you must address the issue regarding her guardians' suspicions. You may need to leave her if necessary."

"I know, I know," he sighed, looking away. "I'll deal with that when the time times. It's not like this is the first time I have had to do this. Let me do one thing at a time ok?"

After a moment, Jaraad spoke again. "I'll do what I can, but you might also want to speak to the Society Enforcers. They were there first, and it's possible that they might have seen something that we didn't. They aren't really forthcoming to us with information about Rogues, so you might have to go ask them personally."

"Oh? Thanks for the tip. I'll check with them. And anyways, thanks for your help, and keep me updated."

Jaraad patted his brother on the shoulder. "No problem. Get some rest, will you? It's not good for you to be so tired when you're with Andrew."

Mark nodded as he opened door and stepped back out into the hall of the war ministry. Sleep was the last thing he wanted to think about. Thoughts of Amanda's kidnapping had occupied his mind since he found out five days ago. This sense of urgency and worry was strange and unfamiliar, something that he had only felt once before, when he had first received news of the Thelan earthquake so many years ago. Back when, the fate of Andrew's... no,

his

father and mother were still uncertain. Mark shook his head. As he breathed a small prayer to the spirits, he hoped that this time he would have better news.

-+-+-+-+-+

"You do want to help her, don't you?" the man with the ponytail asked with a voice oozing with false sincerity. "Right now, you're the only one that can help her!"

Amanda trembled as she picked up the large purple dildo from the floor, tossed in to her cell only moments before. It was almost the size of her forearm, and it had wooden handle at its base. "But this will kill her!"

"Nah! You'll need to lube her up a bit, sure, but she'll love it!"

Amanda looked at the massive tool in her hands, then back up at her guardian, bound to the metal bars of her cell. Ellisa's short blonde hair was a tangled mess, and hand-shaped bruises covered her otherwise flawless skin. She stared back at her charge with empty eyes, while a large red ball gag filled her mouth. The collar around her neck held only three charms this time, but even so, her hips still thrust absentmindedly against a bar of the cell, coating it with her juices.

"I can't!" Amanda shook her head. "I can't do this to her. You've hurt her so much already!"

"Of course you can. And you will, if you don't want her to suffer even more," Ponytail said, annoyed. He walked behind Ellisa and spanked her ass. Her eyes went wide for a moment as a wanton moan escaped from behind the gag. "If you don't fuck her with this dildo here, we'll rape her ass with it. You can be sure that'll hurt her a tad more than if it went in her cunt."

"You monster!" Amanda sobbed. "Fine. I'll... I'll do it."

"Oh don't look so upset. This whore here wants it, don't you?" he said as unbuckled the gag from her mouth, and spanked her again. "She just can't wait for you to rape her worthless cunt with it. C'mon, you slut, tell her how much you want that cock."

Ellisa moaned again like an animal in heat. "Fuck me. Rape my cunt. I want it all in me."

"See? She wants it bad," Ponytail winked at Amanda. "Now get over here and get this started."

Holding the dildo in her hands, Amanda tried to calm her nerves as she walked to her guardian, whose lidded eyes did not meet hers. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she knelt in front of her.

Ellisa looked down at Amanda blankly, and spread her legs to offer herself.

"No! I can't!" Amanda shook her head fiercely . "I won't hurt her!"

Ponytail sighed. "Shame. I was so looking forward to this bonding experience between you girls too. I guess we'll have to rape you with it now."

A sudden rising sense of fear threatened to overwhelm her, but Amanda fought it, betraying nothing to the man who would only use her emotions against her.

"Hmm. Not even a peep, eh?" he pursed his lips. "Well boys, since technically we're not the ones raping her, let's find out how lovely her screams-"

"Fuck me, my lady," Ellisa moaned. "Fuck me like the whore I am."

Ponytail smirked and raised his hand to stop his men.

"Ellisa, no! I won't hurt you-"

"I want that cock!" she moaned again as she grinded herself against the metal bars of the cell with increasing urgency. She paid no attention to Amanda's gaping mouth. "I want to fuck. I want to fuckfuckfuckfuck and fuck. I need a cock in me. I need that cock. Now!"

"Ellisa..." Amanda gasped.

"Fuck me," she panted. "Rape my mouth with it."

Amanda blinked. "Ellisa... I..."

"Rape my mouth, then rape my cunt with it," she said. "Please! Just fuck me. Just fuck me."

Biting her lower lip, Amanda stood and raised the purple cock to Ellisa's mouth, who, with a bit of struggle, took it in enthusiastically. She bobbed her head back and forth, fighting her gag reflex as more and more of the dildo disappeared down her throat. Tears from the gagging streamed down her face, but from the look in her eyes it was obvious that she was truly enjoying it.

Holding back tears, Amanda kept feeding the large dildo to her guardian until Ellisa's eyes began to roll up from the lack of air. Gasping, she quickly pulled it out. "I'm sorry! I-"

"No!" Ellisa panted, "Give me more! I want it all!"

Wide eyed, Amanda complied. Once Ellisa's breathing returned to normal, she again offered her the purple dildo. This time, the bound elf took it down much faster, until all that was left was the handle.

Pulling it all out, Amanda eyed her guardian with fear and uncertainty as she smiled a proud and triumphant smile. "Now fuck me with it!"

Dropping to her knees, Amanda aligned the purple cock with Ellisa's well lubricated sex, and gently pushed. It was going to be a tight fit.

Ellisa moaned loudly as she tried to still her body. "Oh goddess! Rape me! Hurry!"

With a forceful push, the head of the purple cock, along with almost half its length, disappeared into Ellisa's needy cunt. "Yes!" Her scream of pain and pleasure echoed through the room.

While Amanda froze in shock, Ellisa gripped the cell bars and began to thrust herself on the cock buried inside of her. "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop..." she moan over and over again as her voice took on a higher and higher pitch. With a final downward thrust, her body went rigid as she fucked herself to her first orgasm on the purple cock.

Amanda sobbed as Ellisa's eyes opened again. It was plain that whatever effects the charms had on her mind had worn off, if only for a while; a look of pain and humiliation replacing her previous enthusiasm. Even so, her guardian once again began to thrust up and down on the dildo. "Please," she moaned softly to her charge. "You must continue."

Sobbing, Amanda nodded and began to thrust back. It wasn't long before the pleasure overwhelmed Ellisa again.

---

"I'm sorry, but we will not speak about pending investigations," said the woman behind the counter with the "Hello my name is Miriam" nametag. "You will have to wait for the official announcement from the Society Enforcement Office just like everyone else."

"Wait, but I haven't even told you which investigation!" Mark objected. "This is important. I just need to know who I can talk to to find out more about what happened," Mark said as calmly as he could manage. He came off as rather icy. After queueing for hours at the Society Enforcement Office his patience was already running thin, and this woman who didn't even want to listen to him only made it that much worse.

"Yeah, well, lots of things are important, but that doesn't make your case any more special," My-name-is-Miriam admonished him. "You'll just have to wait for the announcement."

"This cannot wait- "

"Sorry-sir-it's-now-my-break-time-have-a-good-day!" The woman said quickly and immediately walked away, leaving Mark at the counter.

Mark stared daggers at the back of the woman's head as he took a deep breath to calm himself. Having spent most of his day waiting in the queue, there was little time to seek alternate sources of information now, but later tonight, one way or another he would get the information he needed.

He stormed past and through the lines of people still waiting for their chance to be neglected by My-name-is-Miriam's associates, ignoring the murmurs of complaints coming from the people around him. He had almost made it past the door when he felt a small hand grab him by the wrist. "Hey!" a woman shouted.

"What?" Mark yelled testily as he turned to face the new annoyance.

It was Mari.

"Urk... Hey Mari," Mark choked back the unpleasant things he had prepared to say.

"Finally! Did you not hear me?" She asked quizzically, "I was shouting your name."

"Err. No. Sorry about that," said Mark as he offered her an embarrassed smile. "I was... thinking."

"What were you thinking about? You ran over like half that line back there," she gestured with a nod of her head.

"Sorry," he muttered, and started walking out towards the open courtyard. Mari followed.

"Mark, what's wrong? You look kinda disheveled."

He was silent for a moment, in thought again. "I think I need your help," he said finally. "Can we talk privately?"

"Yeah, of course!" said Mari as she lead him to the nearby Society campus and into an empty classroom. They made small talk along the way, but Mark was obviously distracted by something, so she didn't force the matter.

"What do you need?" she asked as she sat down in a chair facing him.

"Amanda has been kidnapped, and I need to know if the Society Enforcers have had any Rogues locked up here from when that happened," said Mark as he watched Mari's eyes widen. "I was trying to find out, but my contact here isn't in town, and that lady there was less than helpful. If you can't help me, I might have to break in here later tonight."

Mari finally blinked. "Spirits! I'm so sorry! Is this why that elf, Falalie, wanted to see you last Friday? They think you had something to do with it?"

"No... well, kind of," he shrugged. "I don't think they suspect me, but Falalie figured out that I probably wasn't a merchant like I said I was, and asked me to help them find her. Either way, that's not important right now. I know Amanda was attacked by a group which included a few Rogues, and I need to know if they captured any afterwards, or if they know anything that might help."

"I don't know what I can find out, but I'll do everything I can to help. I'll find you the moment I know anything."

"Thank you, Mari," he said as he hugged her. "Thanks. I need to run now. It'll be my turn with Andrew soon."

"Alright. Say hi to him for me," Mari said, returning the hug. "Don't worry, Mark. I know you must be worried and stressed, but you need to get some rest."

"But-" Mark tried to protest.

"No 'but's Mark," she said as she held him, "You don't look like the usual calm and controlled Mark that I know. Being like this doesn't help you, and doesn't help Amanda. Give me one day to find out what I can, and take this time to rest and collect yourself. You need to think straight and be at your full strength for when we do find her."

Mark was quiet for a moment. He didn't want to stop his search, but... he knew she was right. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Alright. You're right. I'm just... I don't know. I haven't felt like this since the Thelan earthquake. It's... hard to explain."

Finally releasing him and stepping back, Mari smiled at him. "You're worried. It's normal. Haven't you felt worried before?"

"Not like this, no," he said, shrugging.

"Well, don't worry. We'll get her back."

+-+-+-+-+-

Chris patted Mark on the shoulder. "You should've told us this earlier. We'll ask Jaraad to get more guards to look for her."

"Wait, I just said that her guardians are sus-" Mark protested, but Andrew shook his head.

"Actually, this morning Ambassador Raelin asked us to 'redouble our efforts' to search for the girl."

"Huh? He told you that?"

"Well, he didn't seem too happy that our guards let some Rogues kidnap one of theirs. Apparently something like this hasn't happened in like... dozens of years," Chris shrugged, "and he was quite insistent that we do something about it."

"That's good at least," Mark said after a moment of thought. "But all this is assuming that she's still in the city. Damn, for all we know she could be in Hek or somewhere by now."

"You mean, 'Heck, for all we know...'" Chris began, but seeing Mark's scowl, quickly stopped his terrible pun. "Sorry... Cheer up, man. Don't think so negatively. You know she's still here. We've been monitoring shipments out of the city by land or water, and the Society has been monitoring Jump and Gate spells. She's definitely still here."

"Yeah, I know, I know," he shook his head in irritation. "It's just... I wish I knew where to even start looking. My contacts haven't really turned up anything, so I'm thinking whoever took her isn't a local group, but that just makes it worse because we have so many visitors and they move around so much for whatever reason that makes it really hard to keep track of where anyone is. The Society Enforcers are also mum about whether they know anything that could help, so I asked Mari to help me, but I don't know when she'll be able to find out anything."

"Mark. Calm down," said Chris. "You can't do this in a panic. You need to collect your thoughts and proceed in an orderly manner. Let's walk through this, ok?"

Mark nodded, but said nothing.

"You pursued your sub-legal contacts. That's good. It didn't turn up anything. That's fine for now. Don't just dwell on that, though. You next asked the Enforcers. That's good too. Trust Mari to do this for you, and stop worrying about it."

"Easier said than done," he said quietly.

"Yeah, well, try anyways," Chris shrugged. "Anyways, what's your next step?"

"I'm not sure," he frowned. "I was planning on speaking to some of the guards that were there that day again."

"Have you tried speaking to Amanda's guardians again?" Andrew asked.

Mark shook his head. "Of course not. They're suspicious of me enough already."

"Well, they might have useful information. They must have noticed something before the kidnapping, especially if they said they were betrayed by one of their own."

"I guess I can ask, but then I'll be pretty much dropping my 'merchant' facade completely. So even if I get her back, it's not like I'll be able to see her anymore."

Chris shrugged. "It was never meant to last anyways."

"Chris!" Andrew frowned.

Mark drew in a sharp breath, but said nothing. He knew it was true.

"Hey, I'm only telling the truth," Chris protested. "It's not like we can keep anyone around for that long if they're going to start asking questions, you know?"

"Yeah, but Mark knows that, right Mark? You didn't have to say that now!"

"It's ok, Andrew. I knew this was coming. It's not like I've had much luck with elves anyways," Mark observed cynically. "Well, ok. I'll go talk to them again tomorrow, and see if they've got anything."

"I'm sorry, Mark," Chris said. "I wish you luck in finding her. Anyways, I need to run. Got to go tsk-tsk at Hek for a while."

"Chris, remind them that they need to enforce stricter border controls. Tell them that the Society won't tolerate crap like that," said Andrew.

"Yeah, I'll tell them, but..." he shrugged, "I'm pretty sure they'll just shrug and put two guards at the border as a token gesture that does nothing. You know how they are."