“Always love. Right now though I think, if it's not an imposition, I'd like to sleep, after drinking about four gallons of the coldest water I can find. I think I speak for everyone in that…”
His point was well made and Tor felt thirsty again too, now that it was mentioned. They let Maria explain everything, since she'd heard it all over and over again, she even got most of it right. Her telling made their walk, which had been mildly uncomfortable, sound like a death march and when she got to the part about Prince Alphonse and Countess Thorgood apologizing to the servants she grimaced and sounded a bit grudging.
“I have to grant that they had style about it. Everyone else was standing with their nose in the air as if our people weren't worth an apology, but they didn't. I thought the King was going to burst though, when Tor gave everyone that gold and invited us to stay here with him as personal guests. I didn't know what kind of place you'd have Tor, but I wasn't thinking this. It's the nicest place I've ever seen. I would have lived in one of the little magic houses, with everyone, before going back though.” She stopped for a second, looked around and continued with the Major Jarad story. She didn't spare her husband in it either.
“So it might have been just, if it had been Marvin alone. Sorry honey, but you have to keep better track of your children from now on. The man has every reason to be angry with you, and we need to repay Tor for the gold he delivered as soon as we can. Thank you for that Tor, it was most generous of you, and something we should have done ourselves already. Still, we should probably have the Major killed for what he did to everyone else.” She said it so casually that it almost slipped past him that it wasn't just an off-hand comment, or said in jest.
The Count gave her a small head bow and Trice looked more than a little bloodthirsty herself. The others all looked uneasy with the talk of killing, so at least there was that. Then they weren't high royals, just real people that had recent experience with abuse of power.
“No.” The word just slipped out of his mouth, but he smiled and shook his head to soften it.
“He made us uncomfortable and grumpy, but now it's his turn. That's justice. Doing more would be taking it too far. We'll give it a few days and set up a meeting with him, talk it all out and fix it so that it doesn't happen again. I mean, if someone got one of my sisters pregnant outside of wedlock and didn't marry her, I'd be doing a good bit more than making him stand out in the sun for a while. That these others were caught up in it is bad, but not worth the man’s death.” Of course he didn't say what that retribution would be exactly. Possibly a stern letter writing campaign? Tipping his cows until they didn’t produce milk anymore?
Most of the other men in the room nodded, which got a sour look from the Count, since it was a clear rebuke, and from most of the room, then he sighed.
“Fine. But he at least needs to apologize to each of the innocents harmed by his actions. In person if possible. If Prince Alphonse had to apologize for him the least he can do is make that part right for himself.” It didn't even sound overly bitter.
That got a nod from everyone else too. Tor figured he'd had his revenge already as far as that went. You couldn't reasonably expect a very good apology from a man you'd kicked in the head with intent, could you?
Collette moved into action like everything had already been planned almost startling in her efficiency and skill. It was seamless. All Tor had to do was drink more water from the tap in his bathroom until he couldn't hold anymore, take a quick shower, and sleep until he felt like getting up. That was his plan at least.
It wasn't to be, since at about one in the afternoon someone jumped on him. The shield caught the blow but he very nearly started swinging wildly before he heard the familiar warm chuckle.
“Ursa? Hey… how’s my favorite Countess doing?” It was a sleepy mutter and only her arm pulling at him kept him from going back to sleep. The bed was soft and the room was cool. He wore a shield but nothing else, since he'd almost fallen into bed. Giggling she asked him to drop the shield. Actually she said, “what kind of welcome is this? Drop the shield silly!”
So he did, and expected a kiss as a reward. That being the tradition. To his surprise she did something else entirely, her head going much lower. She did use her mouth for it though, a trail of kisses moving past his belly button. For a moment he felt awkward and ungainly and nearly pulled her head up. It was daylight out and he could see what she was about to do. This wasn't some fumbling or whispered lesson in the dark like before. Well, she'd never fumbled, but he had. A lot.
Tor thought about it and shrugged. Was it right to let her do something like this? Yes, her social rules said it was. More, he really liked her. If he got her pregnant would he marry her? Tor nearly nodded, but her mouth touched his lower parts, a warmth covering him slowly, pressure from her tongue swirling around him. She wasn't too hurried, but there was a sense of urgency about her actions that almost didn't fit his sleepy and drifty mood. Well, if it was to be quick, he'd have to do something for her at the same time, wouldn't he?
It took her a second to realize what he was moving in place for and another fifteen for her to get her clothes out of the way, not having magic ones yet.
He'd fix that.
It would make this all so much more convenient if nothing else. Tor found her sex with his mouth gently at first, hitting with rapid flicks of his tongue the little nib that he'd been told about, shown really, by her, come to think of it. Even with her on top of him he could see a lot more of her now than he had ever before. It was fascinating, the pink and light tan skin folds in the mound of golden blond hair. It was soft, and did get in his mouth as he worked on her, but he ignored it. If this gave her any pleasure at all, it was worth a little hair, right?
She moaned. At first it was soft, but eventually it was loud enough that he was glad her mouth was full to muffle it a bit. Well, the walls weren't walls and didn't pass sound, so it would likely be all right. The door would since it didn't fit with an air tight seal, but anyone listening at the door had their own problems, didn't they? It was all he could do to wait for her, trying to finish at the same time, using his sense of her field to help him do it. They both shuddered in each other’s mouths, throbbing in tune with their heart beats for a while, waves of pleasure washing over them both.
After that she used her tongue to make certain he was clean, so he did the same for her, she stiffened in brief surprise at it, but then purred at him, another sense of pleasure, not as physical, but at least as strong came off of her.
“Hmmm. Someone’s been getting some practice. Good. Just remember that I saw you first. Or at least got into your bed first, so I win.” She kissed him, using her tongue and lips in a way she hadn't before. It was ardent and serious, like she wanted to do more. After a second she broke from him.
“Since your awake now… I'm supposed to tell you that you're summoned to the palace for luncheon. Formal dress.”
Chapter two
“Oh? The King calling me onto the carpet already? If so I'm not really sure why. I mean, I get that he seemed upset with me yesterday,” Tor stopped and shook his head.
“This morning I mean. Still tired. But if he's going to ride me about locking up the city guard…” Then what could he do? Tor had actually done it. It was illegal to interfere with a guard on duty, and stripping them of clothes and locking them up had to count as that for sure. Tor would just have to take his lumps and hope the lash didn't hurt too bad. He'd sneak in an extra healing device just in case.
Ursala gave him a quick kiss. Then a longer one that probably didn't taste that good since he needed to brush his teeth. A shower would be in order as well. Pulling on her arms he dragged the young Countess into the bathroom with him and started the warm water flowing into the huge black tub. She climbed out of her clothing with a grin and joined him, since there was plenty of room. The space was nearly as big as his dorm room had been at school, about fifteen by fifteen. It had a full four person tub too. Overdone just for him, but the actual resource cost was only some water, he reminded himself and that got cleaned and returned to the river when he was finished, so the overall impact was minimal. If anything it improved the poor quality of the river slightly.