Part One
Chapter One
Night was falling and Arryn was getting nervous. The horseshoes of her "borrowed" horse clicked against the loose stones of the road as she crested a hill and let out a long sigh of relief. Ahead was a wooden walled village, flickering torches dotting the walls and the distant shapes of people visible moving about the streets. It was something like civilization out here in the wilderness, or the closest that someone might get to civilization in the depths of the countryside. They would probably be eager for coin and they would probably have a passable inn, or at least someone with a spare room.
"Fucking finally." She muttered, spurring her horse onward toward the town.
"Hold there!" A guard shouted, peering at her through the darkness. Arryn knew she must look a mess, her dark brown hair unkempt and wild, her face dusty and dirty from a long ride. She hadn't bathed in a few long days, aside from the occasional whore's bath from a creek or relatively clean pond. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles and she was slumped in the saddle. She pulled up the reins and slowed to a stop. The guard reached out and took the reins.
"You look like shit." He offered, bluntly.
"And apparently this is a town of assholes." She offered back. He shrugged.
"Just calls 'em as I sees 'em." He said. "Go on, there's an inn just there on the right. A few coins will get you a bath, a meal, and a room. I'd suggest them in that order." He wrinkled his nose and Arryn looked at the guard incredulously.
"Gee, thanks. Make a girl feel welcome." She said. He shrugged again and turned back to his post. Arryn spurred her horse on again under the wooden gatehouse and into the safety of civilization. Sort of. She eased her horse toward the stable tucked against the side of the inn building that the guard had pointed out. She dismounted and a young boy appeared out of nowhere, taking the reins and leading the horse into the stable.
"Brush him down for a copper!" He said. Arryn dug into her "borrowed" purse and tossed the boy two coppers. He grinned at her and rubbed the coins together. Arryn stepped up the wooden steps and pushed open the door, finding a nearly empty room lit by a crackling fire in a large stone hearth. There was an older woman behind the counter and two others sitting at a table drinking from tankards. They spared her a brief look when she walked in and then looked away.
Arryn was beginning to feel like she looked much worse than she thought.
"Want a bath?" The woman asked, looking up.
"Apparently I am in dire need of one, per the guard and your question, so yes." Arryn said. "And a room. Something to eat would be good. It's been a long road."
"Anyone that comes here has been on a long road, we're a long road away from anywhere else. Never you mind that dolt at the gate, the gods gifted him with a body and head and forget to do much else with either of them." The woman said, reaching back for a key that hung from a hook behind her. "Third door on the right, upstairs. That'll be yours. Give me ten minutes to draw something hot for you, food will be ready after that."
Arryn caught the key after the woman tossed it to her and nodded at the two men who spared her just one more glance. She trudged up the stairs and found her room, slipping the key into the lock. Inside she found a mirror and realized that, yes, she did need a bath first.
She was coated in dust and grime and a quick sniff confirmed she smelled both awful and intensely of horse. Her clothes were rumpled and the dirt from the road was worked deeply into it, coloring everything a dull brown. She shook her head.
She emptied out her satchel and set some things out, looking longingly at the bed. It would have to wait. After ten minutes she headed down and the woman tossed her another key.
"Baths are back there, on the left. Spare clothes too, I'll wash those rags for you. I'll have something for you to eat when you're done."
"Thank you." Arryn said. The woman was brusque but everything seemed nice enough for a small town. Those two men were gone now, leaving the inn empty but for Arryn and the woman behind the counter. Arryn made her way to the door and pushed it open, finding a lock on the inside that she slid across. The room was lit by a hanging lantern, windowless and full of steam from the bathwater. There was a bucket full of more steaming water in the corner, along with a cloth.
"Excellent." Arryn said, feeling some of the tension of the road leaving her shoulders already.
She unlaced her tunic, one at a time pulling the threading away until it fell open at the center. She pulled the tunic apart and stripped it off her arms, then her underclothes followed. She groaned at the feeling of relief. Her generously sized tits falling free of their constraints, she began to breathe again. Nothing like taking everything off after a long journey. She peeled off her trousers too and caught sight of herself in the mirror again.
She was somewhere around five foot nine, maybe ten. Her brown hair fell about her shoulders and back, tangled and messy. She knew she was shaped well and she had worked hard on that too, keeping her belly taut and her limbs defined. It worked well for her purposes, it was that much easier to "borrow" from foolish, lust-struck men. She stuck her leg forward and blew a kiss at herself, then giggled and strode to the bucket. Stripping layers of grime from her face, she wiped her neck and chest, her belly and legs. Once she was clean enough, she stepped to the steaming bath and lifted a leg. It washed over her toes like a soothing magic just releasing all that tension. She lowered her leg and moaned, stepping her other leg in and sinking into the tub until she was up to her neck in the water. There she floated for a time. She drifted, the hot water soaking into her muscles and loosening them. She combed her hair with her fingers and cleaned the worst out of it, until she felt presentable again. Then she felt a pang and looked at the door. It was locked.
