Chapter 2
The Job
Morena relished the feeling of freedom that came with flight. The broomstick was as uncomfortable as ever against her crotch, but it hardly mattered with the rush of wind in her face and her hair flowing wildly behind her. The thought that she was possibly flying towards certain death was present, but the excitement of the situation and the thrill of flying overshadowed her negative thoughts.
It wasn't long before she could see the distant lights of the Kingdom of Epetor, and she began searching the treeline for any sign of her target. Normally she would be flying as low as possible, but in the moonless night she was well- hidden even in the open sky. Before long she spotted it, a dim light a hundred or so meters into the forest.
Instead of approaching it directly, Morena had one last safeguard to prevent herself from walking into a trap. She landed instead in the field just south of the light, and began carefully surveying the area. She trusted in her abilities enough to at least escape him if he was alone and things went sour, but if he had a sizable escort with him preparing an ambush it might prove too much. Even with her training she had never been in real combat before.
Her eyes strained, looking for any signs of trampled grass, cart wheel tracks, or hoof marks, but everything seemed to be pristine. After nearly half an hour she was satisfied, and mounted her broom.
"I'm thrilled that you decided to trust me." King Spruce said as she landed. "As promised, and as a token of my appreciation, here is your payment. Again, if you wish to hear nothing more of my offer you are free to leave now without any repercussion."
He tossed a large bag of coins at her. She caught it, but stumbled back from its surprising weight. She recovered, and her eyes lingered on the man in front of her as she slowly opened it and dug her hand inside. She pulled out a gold coin that shined in the white light, which she only just recognized as the same type of light that rescued her all those years ago. Could she really trust him?
"I don't know if you've earned my trust yet," She said cautiously, "but you've certainly earned my curiosity. What is your request."
He smiled broadly. The most emotion Morena had seen from him. She also noticed that he was a little more plump than she expected him to be from his face in the orb. In his own basic traveling gear, he looked far less regal than before.
"Splendid!" he exclaimed, and began, "Now, please allow me to take my time with my explanation. I fear that I may scare you from this job if I am too direct, though as I promised, it is not in the least bit dangerous."
Morena nodded, her suspicion growing as she watched the King fidget nervously.
"You see, I am actually quite proficient in the field of magic that I wish to hire you for. I learned from a spell book I paid a hefty price for, and which I have brought with me tonight. The issue is not the magic itself, but rather the target, my daughter."
Morena cocked an eyebrow at him, but he quickly addressed her obvious next question.
"Nothing to hurt her of course! She is the jewel of my world and I would never let anything happen to her. She is just going through some... problems in accepting her role as princess."
He shifted uncomfortably, and for the first time Morena saw cracks in his regal demeanor. Her suspicion grew as her mind drifted to the possible requests that would warrant such extreme measures.
No obvious explanation presented itself, and he continued, "I fear I may lose everything as I age. She is my only child and will likely stay that way, but that means she is the only one who can inherit the Epetor throne when my time is done. It's already a near-impossible task to find a reputable prince that would agree to a matrilineal marriage, but what's even more damning is that she doesn't seem the least bit interested in princes, or in anyone for that matter."
"And what in the world am I supposed to do about it?" Morena asked. She couldn't imagine what kind of angle he was going for. He paused, and seemed hesitant to continue. The air of authority he had shown in the orb was diminishing rapidly. A man of such unwavering confidence was being reduced to a mere peasant before her eyes.
"Well... To put it directly... uhm... she doesn't seem particularly... uh-"
"Sir, you can be blunt." She said with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance at his babbling.
He took a deep breath to recompose himself and sighed, "Very well. Just please acknowledge that what I'm about to ask of you is purely out of interest for my kingdom and for her, and that I have thoroughly considered
every
possible alternative."
She nodded, still with no possible idea of what he could want. Everything she thought of could either be solved by the money of a king or the powers of a wizard, both of which he already had.
"Good. I'll just go ahead and say it then. She doesn't seem the least bit interested in anything sexual, or even physical for that matter."
Morena made no effort to hide her shock. He looked completely sincere as he fidgeted with an embarrassed grimace on his face. He continued.
"At first I thought she was just afraid or apprehensive, but as the years went on it became clear that she just didn't care, and in fact found the whole thing repulsive. What few potential suitors I managed to find at best described her as indifferent, and at worst would storm out in anger. I tried having her most trusted maid explain to her in detail what she was supposed to do with a man, and she just sent her out. I thought maybe she was just attracted to women, but it's all the same. Even pleasures as simple as kissing seem alien to her."
"A- Are you seriously about to ask me to perform magic on your daughter so that she is more receptive to sex?" asked Morena, mortified.
His composure collapsed again, "Y-yes... That's right. And also to t-teach her how to... you know... how to impress a prince in the bedroom. T-ten thousand Crowns is my o-offer" He said timidly.
Morena was dumbfounded. She had never even heard of Ori getting half of that in a single job. But on the other hand, she already had 2,000 in her pocket, which should last her until the anti-magic treaty is inevitably broken by someone. This also wouldn't improve her overall reputation as it would certainly be kept a closely guarded secret, and there was the other issue that Morena herself was also a virgin, so what good would she even be here?
But... ten THOUSAND Crowns. She could live comfortably off of that for at least a decade, and she would gain the favor of one of the most powerful kings in the region. She couldn't find anything in his demeanor or words that was untruthful, and she trusted Ori not to send her someone that would kill her. It was the most absurd thing she had ever heard, but the potential reward was too great.
"Ok," she said slowly, "I'm willing to try, but I still don't see how exactly I am supposed to help."
His face lit up in relief, and he quickly explained, "It's all in the book! But if you'll allow me I could demonstrate one such spell on you, that would both answer your question and provide a sort of example for you to know when you've gotten it right yourself."
Morena's suspicion peaked again, but hell, she had already come this far, "Alright, but I'm drawing my wand too, and Ori was right about my skills."
